Sports shorts No 19

What a great weekend of sport with the Wimbledon finals, the World Cup final and the usual footy action. But this weekend I will begin with the tennis and specifically Serena Williams. 

Wimbledon

• The tournament certainly was a reminder about how great Serena Williams is. She won her last Grand Slam title while pregnant and made the Wimbledon Final less than a year after giving birth. 
• Kerber certainly is a deserving champion. 
• After the Isner v Anderson match, I have started to think about changing from the advantage rule to tiebreak in the fifth set. The game isn’t served by a 26-24 fifth set.

NRL

• I do feel the top eight is set but Brisbane are in the most danger of slipping out should Canberra hit a rich vein of form. Mainly because of their differential of - 26.
• The Warriors were kind on my heart, going out to a 26-0 lead before conceding the least try. 
• Looking forward to the Storm-Rabbits game in a few weeks. They seem to be the two form teams of the competition. 

AFL

• Bad week for injuries with some key players including Kennedy, Nic Naitanui, and Patrick Ryder joining the injured list. These injuries may reshape the finals. 
• Couple of big results this weekend reopening the finals race, including Brisbane defeating Hawthorn, GWS beating Richmond, and Adelaide beating Geelong. With Adelaide and Essendon only one game, and Fremantle two games out of the eight. I do feel however the top eight we have now will be the top eight at the end of the season. 
• Great win for Sydney too, it was pretty tough on my heart though. Really enjoyed watching Aliir Aliir play against Majak Daws. 

Super Rugby

•  Final round this weekend and the four semifinals are Hurricanes v Chiefs, Crusaders v Sharks, Waratahs v Highlanders and Lions v Jaguares. I feel the four winners will be Hurricanes, Crusaders, Waratahs and Lions, but we’ll see. 

World Cup

• It’s been a great tournament so far. At the time of writing, before the final, there were an average goal per game, and only one scoreless game. The golden boot was shared by Harry Kane (Eng) and Roman Lukaku (Belgium) with 6 goals each. Belgium were the most attacking team with 16 goals (1 penalty) four more than the next best, England. 
• Amazingly there were over 20 penalties. I’m not sure but expect that could be a record and maybe due to the new Video Review System. 
• Onto the final, while Croatia certainly can win it, I expect France will. I anticipate a tight game and probably 1-0, but we’ll see :)