Sporting Shorts - No. 14

A confession, in last week’s post, I had got the top four wrong so there weren’t four Sydney team in the NRL top four, just three.  With that acknowledgement out of the way back to the on field action.

NRL

• The Warriors won again, and are nestled safely in the top four. The Origin period is often a good one, but with the NZ team playing in the US they will be slightly impacted. 
• I’m not a fan of the constant bagging of the referees and how they officiate the game. The players do need to take a share of the blame for the increasing number of penalties. The game will die if we stop seeing people come through to be top grade referees. 
• I don’t get why teams are awarded points for a bye.

AFL 

• Wasn’t a great round with most of the games decided early. Fremantle’s win over Adelaide was a big shock. 
• On the Swans, great to see them start really well. I’m looking forward to their game against West Coast (1 v 3) on the ladder. 
• Like the NRL, I’m looking forward to a week when everybody plays.
• I hear mumourings that big rule changes are on the way for next year. 

Rugby

• The first week of international rugby. Impressive outing from the Wallabies. So great to see David Pocock back on the field playing well. 
• On the All Blacks, it was the best start to an international season for a long time. Yes there were decisions that favoured them, I find it hard to accept that the team are cheats. I feel they play in the same manner as every other nation. Was quite an impressive second half, with the All Blacks scoring 44 unanswered points, to win the test 52-11. 

Cricket

• Quite a week of cricket. Scotland defeat England for the first time, India host Afghanistan for the laters first test. 
• In the Women’s game, New Zealand posted three consecutive scores of over 400, including the new international record of 490. 
• This morning New Zealander Amelia Kerr made 232 and took 5/17. This being the first time in One Day cricket a player scored a century and taken 5 wickets. 

World Cup

• So looking forward to the tournament. The last in the current format featuring 32 teams. 
• Sadly we’re going to see VAR in the tournament. I’d rather technology stayed out of the game.
• Will be interesting to see how Spain go after dismissing their coach after he signed with Real Madrid.
• Hoping Australia steal a draw against France, but I don’t think it’s highly likely
• The 2026 World Cup will be held in the US, Canada and Mexico, and will likely feature 48 teams. As an aside, hard to understand that while Football is expanding to 48 teams (25 percent  of member nations), cricket is reducing the number of teams in the a World Cup. 

Tennis

• Just a phenomenal performance from Nadal. Winning his eleventh French Open. Making him equal Margaret Court for wins at a single tournament. Hard to think of a more dominant player on a single surface.