Sporting shorts - No.10

One of the things I love about Australian sport is that in both the NRL and AFL they had themed rounds or matches. In the NRL this weekend we had our Indigenous Round. The AFL was business as usual, but more about that later..

NRL

• As I mentioned this round was the Indigenous Round. A couple of things, firstly it was awesome to see that the Maori were recognised  (for the first time), secondly I saw a picture showing the numbers painted on the field at Liechhardt Oval showed an Indigenous colouring.  It's the little things that make a difference. 
• I also loved that before each game rival teams exchanged gifts. 
• On to the action on the field. The Warriors were blown off the park by an in form Roosters outfit. It's no disgrace, but will be interesting to see how they respond. 
• I'm not convinced by Paul McGregor's claim that Souths are the benchmark yet - to me its still the Dragons or Storm. Though I have to admit the Rabbitohs have been impressive, and surprised me. 
• Not really surprised that Cameron Smith has retired from Representative football. He's a truly phenomenal athlete and has nothing left to prove. Don't actually think him retiring will hurt Queensland's chances in the State of Origin but we'll see... 

AFL

• Three really great games this weekend - the Showdown, the Swans-Hawks and the Richmond - Kangaroos games. 
• Goes without saying but Ben Ronke was the star for the Swans. Have to admit I don't know much about him.  I'm not reading too much into the Swans losses at home - they lost to North Melbourne by 2, Adelaide by 10 and Port Adelaide by 23 points. Aside from the game against Port Adelaide they had a good chance in each of them. 
• The Collingwood-Geelong game wasn't a great advertisement for the sport, and I suspect rule changes will be in the works.

Super Rugby

• The talking point of the round was be the elbow Joe Moody gave Kurtly Beale behind play which was missed by the referee, linesman and even the video referee. He eventually got a week suspension. Which to my mind is not enough. On the New Zealand teams cheat comment - I think all of the teams try to get away with as much as they can.
• The Hurricanes are now top of the New Zealand conference and looking like good contenders for the title. 
• The more exciting news is that New Zealand Rugby may be backing the inclusion of a Pacific Island based team. 

Cricket

• Really disappointed by Cricket Australia's decision to cancel the Bangladesh tour. Would have been great for the game and development of Bangladeshi Cricket.  
• The other awesome story is Ireland playing their first test. They're playing Pakistan in Dublin. It looks like Pakistan will win, but it has been an eventful game. Kevin O'Brien was the first Irish player to score a Test Century. 

Other

• Manchester City won the Premier League about 3 months ago, but this week became the first team with a 100 point season. 
• Barcelona lost their first game for the season - to Levante 4-5
• The next two weekends have more great European soccer with the FA Cup Final and Champions League Final, before we all stop and focus on the World Cup, which starts in almost exactly one month, Australia's first match is against France on June 16. 
• Ice Hockey, and the Stanley Cup will be won by Winnipeg, Las Vegas, Washington or Tampa Bay. The series between Winnipeg and Las Vegas is tied 1-1 Washington are leading 2-0. Both are best of 7, so there is a little way to go. 
• The NBA is at a similar stage - Boston, Cleveland, Golden State and Houston are the last four standing. Boston lead Cleveland 1-0 and Golden State lead Houston 1-0 too,