Sporting shorts, No 21

A little late this week, but here they are.

Super Rugby

• Semi final time, and the Waratahs certainly gave a great account of themselves. Leading the Lions 14-0 before succumbing 26-44. The Lions now play the Crusaders in the final. The Crusaders were way to good for the Hurricanes winning 30-12. I feel the score line flatters the Hurricanes. 
• The Crusaders are red hot favourites to win the title, but the joy of sport is that nothing is certain. 
• I feel the Bledisloe Cup series will be interesting this year. The Wallabies won the last test, and a certainly a chance to repeat the dose. 

NRL

• The theme for the weekend is comebacks, with Souths, Penrith and North Queensland winning after trailing for a significant period of the game. Penrith scored four tries in six minutes to defeated Manly. Manly have their worst point return at round 19 in their history.
• Briefly on the Warriors, given their performance against Gold Coast, it seems the Warriors have found a new way to disappoint their fans. After being in the top four for most of the season, they’re the team most likely to drop out of the eight. The Tigers loss means the gap between the two clubs is two wins. With the two clubs having similar runs home, the Warriors might just hold on. Time will tell. 
• Disappointed with the continued criticism of the referees. I’m not convinced they’ve been that bad. The reality is that they will make mistakes, just like the players. With the continued criticism refereeing isn’t something people want to do and that will only harm the game.

AFL

• I recall the Swans were at one stage 10-3, they’ve since gone 1-4. The last two losses mean they’ve slipped out of the eight. On the last two weeks form, I can’t see them beating Collingwood, Melbourne, GWS or Hawthorn. Yes, a number of key players are out, or out of form, but I still was expecting more. 
• Richmond are at the moment a four or five goal better team than the other contenders. With a number of key ins, I feel their biggest challenge could be the Giants.
• Not surprising, but there are a lot of key games this weekend. Adelaide, Sydney and Essendon have to win or it becomes too hard for them to make the eight. Geelong will strengthen their position with an upset win over the Tigers. 

Other

• Following on from the talk about referees, I wonder if technology has changed the way referees approach making decisions, or not making decisions, if they can send it for review after the play has concluded. Likewise, I wonder how having decisions overturned impacts umpires in Cricket. This is certainly an area which is worth exploring. Especially seeing as technology, for better or worse, is here to stay. 
• I’m getting tired of coaches and fans blaming referee or umpire mistakes for costing their teams the game. It’s part of sport, some days you’ll get the rub of the green, and other days you don’t. Mistakes are part of the human element of sport.