Sporting Shorts - No 26

Well it is now September which means its almost footy finals time. The last round of the NRL was played, and AFL had their prefinals bye and the Rugby Championship had a week off.

AFL

• I have to admit, I'm not a fan of the week off, I do not really think it adds anything, and also reduces the advantage of finishing in the top four. 
• There are some intriguing match ups - Richmond v Hawthorn (Thursday), Melbourne v Geelong (Friday) and then the two Saturday games Sydney v Giants and West Coast v Collingwood. 
• I'm tipping Richmond to beat Hawthorn; Melbourne to beat Geelong, the Giants to beat Sydney and West Coast to beat Collingwood. 

NRL

• Was quite a fascinating round of Rugby League fixtures with the composition of the top eight not confirmed until after the Broncos-Manly game. With the top eight separated by just two points its been the closest finish in NRL history. 
• Was impressed with Penrith who travelled to Melbourne and won to cement their place in the eight, and maybe earn a home final. 
• The Roosters won their fourth minor premiership in six seasons after a comprehensive win over Parramatta. Is the reward for the Minor Premiers enough?
• The Warriors win was good for the form line of the team, but given other results may not mean too much. 
• Was glad to see Thurston go out a winner - will miss his humility, his laughter, his grace and just watching him play. 
• Here's the line up for the NRL Semi Finals - Storm - Rabbitohs, Panthers - Warriors, Roosters - Sharks, Broncos - Dragons. There's some pretty intriguing match ups. My predictions - Storm, Panthers, Roosters, Broncos.

Rugby

• The Rugby Championship has a week off which is good I guess, gives everyone a chance to recover :)

Other

• The other thing that caught my eye was the Umpire in the US Open who got down off his chair and gave Kyrgios a 'pep-talk'. I'm still trying to work out what I think about it. I don't think the talk changed the result of the match, but was asking Krygios if he was okay out of line?
• Don't really think there is too much more to say sports wise - the draw for the group stage of the European Champions League was made, still can't really see any surprises. I'll be expecting more of Manchester City this year.