sidelined

When I was a lad, Australian rugby was on the up. Not quite the world beaters but an impressive, exciting team to watch. Even the 2003 version I saw in the World Cup final was good value. But now, hard to bring myself to watch an Aussie Super 14 team given how dreary it has [...]

Taking out the woeful form of the Eels, the first two rounds of the NRL have been quite entertaining with some good footy. The Warriors, the Cowboys and the Rabbitohs are the three form teams (Melbourne, Newcastle and Manly also have 2 from 2 but not as impressive).
But bursting of the blocks doesn’t mean [...]

You got to hand it to Australia rugby. As we flounder in the Super 14 rumours of the demise of Reds coach Eddie Jones start to circulate.
It seems that Eddie is staying for now but Waratahs coach, Ewan Mckenzie has come out swinging at national coach John Connolly.

New South Wales coach Ewen McKenzie, [...]

I’ve been looking through the round and the bookies do not like the Aussies. The Brumbies are at $3.90, the Reds $4.00 and the Waratahs have blown out to $7.00. You can’t blame the bookies, apart from the Force the Aussie teams are showing they have nothing. And the ARU seems to be continuing its [...]

You wanna bag my tipping? Then you got to put your own tips on the line. My preview and tips for round 2 of the NRL over the fold. Leave yours in the comments.

Eels center Timana Tahu has switched codes and signed a four year deal with the Waratahs from 2008. It was unexpected at Tahu had earlier claimed that:
he would not consider playing rugby “as a last resort”, claiming he had no interest in handling the ball only “two times in a game”.
Tahu now claims that [...]

Ok, so my tipping wasn’t crash hot for round 1 but hey, it was the first round so plenty of time to ease myself into the race. Which is what the Eels and their fans are hoping after a dismal first half against the Warriors. Full credit to the Warriors who out muscled and out [...]

I don’t get League, but I get Souths. It’s because I like history I guess. They are a battlers’ team from a battlers’ area. They wear their colours because they used to get blood all over their green shirts because they had to flog rabbits before the games. They once were mighty - in fact [...]

Very sad news from the Crcket World Cup with the death of Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer.
Kamran Abbasi comments on Woolmer’s passing at Cricinfo. Ryan Patrick at the West Indies Cricket Blog has a tribute as does Omar at Omar Loves Cricket .

Begorah! 4:30 this morning found me with baby watching Pakistan stumble towards 131 against Ireland in the ICC World Cup. We eventually got to sleep before Ireland’s innings began but I had the thought that Ireland could be in with a chance.
And indeed it was a St Patrick’s day to remember as Ireland beat [...]