The Sporting Day: Some Sporting Observations

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Some Sporting Observations

8. The Tour De France looks set to be another good one for Aussie riders with Robbie McEwen scoring one of the most amazing victories ever in stage one. McEwen, who was caught in a crash and had a number of punctures, showed unbelievable strength in the dying stages to surge to the front and hold off the challenges of Tom Boonen and Thor Hushovd. Robbie McEwen is the raging hot favourite for the green jersey and if he races up to his stage one form, he should collect plenty of stage wins along the way. McEwen isn’t the only one with a hope with Cadel Evans among the favourites to claim the big one. His chances will be assessed once the Tour reaches the mountains.

7. Roger Federer was brilliant in winning his fifth consecutive Wimbledon title, equaling the incredible feat of Bjorn Borg. The victory was his eleventh grand slam title and his 54th consecutive win on grass. There simply aren’t enough superlatives for Federer, who looks like he can continue on for another five years at this standard. It would take a game man to suggest Federer won’t be able to make it a decade long string of Wimbledon dominance. Full credit must also go to Rafael Nadal, who took the Swiss master to five sets. It looks like he is the sole threat to Federer for the span of the foreseeable future.

6. The Socceroos did not have the start to their Asian Cup campaign they would have been hoping for with a one all draw against Oman. Australia were firm favourites to win the lot pre-tournament and backers would no doubt have been sweating as heavily as the Socceroo stars as Australia looked set for a shock loss. It took a late Tim Cahill special to save the Australian’s from a heartbreaking defeat. Australia were clearly not suited by the conditions but more telling was the fact Australia seemed unprepared for the toughness of the Asian Confederation. They won’t make that mistake again.

5. The AFL is definitely onto a winner with their heritage round. It was tremendous to see clubs recognise their roots with clubs donning some old-time strips and the umpires in the plain white. And the goal umpires looked fantastic in the old coat and hat. The AFL is an organisation that has always respected their heritage and other codes should take heed as it draws in the fans and provides a link to the forerunners who paved the way. A hearty congratulation’s to the AFL.

4. Australia cannot afford to start the way they did on Saturday evening if the team is to be any hope in the World Cup. Against an under-strength South African outfit, the Wallabies were soon down 17-0. To their credit the Wallabies were quick to bounce back and in the end won comfortably. Nevertheless, there would be plenty of worry in the Wallabies camp with the lack of focus shown in the first twenty minutes. If the Wallabies are to make a threat on the Cup, they need to play hard for eighty minutes.

3. The brilliant golden point field goal of Bronco legend Darren Lockyer on Friday evening showed how ageless greatness can be. Brilliance is brilliance and Lockyer proved that. There is no substitute for it. While there are plenty of young guns coming through the ranks, the guile and experience of the best of the older brigade. Darren Lockyer is a man who has done it all and his time left in rugby league should be savoured. His type doesn’t come along too often.

2. There has been a great deal of comment in recent days about protecting kickers after Brett Kimmorley was injured when Steven Price missed a charge down. There is no doubt that kickers are put in danger every time they kick the ball and while they need to be protected from clipping (which the rules currently allow for) they cannot be allowed to have free rein when kicking. Calls for a protected area are ridiculous as this will only perpetuate the dominance of kicking in the game. It also fails to account for the fact that a number of players, Brett Kimmorley included, run at the line before kicking. The charge down is an important area of the game and specialists like Steve Price should not have this skill removed. The only sensible rule change would be to prohibit players from diving at a kicker. This allows charge downs while protecting the stationary leg of the kicker.

1. The NRL needs to seriously look at changing the video referee system after some more appalling decisions on the weekend. The worst of the lot was the decision to disallow Wade Mackinnon a try in the Cowboys-Warriors clash on Saturday evening. The video referee disallowed the try and awarded an obstruction penalty to the Cowboys despite the fact the interference was completely incidental and the player “interfered” was no hope of getting close to Mackinnon. This was yet another decision that infuriated fans of rugby league who are sick of seeing so many obvious mistakes made by video referees. The NRL should look at implementing a challenge system similar to the NFL where the on-field referee reviews the decision and then makes a decision. Of course, if video referees applied common sense, none of this would be an issue.

Upper of the Week: The courage of Dallas Johnson. He took an awful knock in the first tackle of Origin Three but returned in the second half to defend and defend and defend as his teammates fell by the wayside. He should not have been allowed to return after his heavy concussion but that takes nothing away from the courage he showed.

Downer of the Week: The injury to James Hird in his 250th match. It was sad to see such a great player and a player who has suffered many an injury setback fail to finish a milestone game. Hopefully he returns soon the play out the rest of his final season.