By Jim Morton
February 6th 2009 @ 2:40am
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Ioane inspires Reds comeback
A David Pocock hat-trick and a 19-0 lead wasn’t enough for the Western Force as a Digby Ioane-inspired Queensland stormed to a 22-19 Super 14 trial win at Ballymore.
It was a case of ‘anything you can do I can do better’ for Ioane who watched Wallabies teammate Pocock cross for three tries in 42 minutes [...]
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![When Fox Sports’ tactical formation caption came up ahead of the Gold Coast United’s A-League opener against Brisbane, you could have been forgiven for thinking Miron Bleiberg had pulled one over the Fox producer. It showed the new club shaping up in a rather outrageous looking 2-4-2-2 in front of Scott Higgins.
It featured stoppers [...] Tony Tannous: Advanced wing-backs are key in Bleiberg’s 2-4-2-2](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/gold-coast-expansion-mensink-bleiberg-buckley-th.jpg)
![There was an interesting piece in the News Limited press on the ten ways the AFL can be improved which shows that AFL journos have run out of things to write about in this baron period, and that there is a general consensus emerging that the game needs to backtrack in certain areas.
The piece, [...] Adrian Musolino: AFL can improve, but needs to go back to basics](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/the-winners-losers-afl-trade-darren-jolly-th.jpg)
![February has proved to be a fabulous month for cricket in all forms. We had a spine-tingling Test in Kolkata, followed by a nail-biting One-day International at Jaipur, and a landmark double century by the evergreen Sachin Tendulkar in the second ODI in Gwalior on Wednesday.
On 21 February, New Zealand defeated Australia by 2 runs [...] Kersi Meher-Homji: Tendulkar stakes his claim as best batsman in all forms](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/ipl-dog-sachin-tendulkar-th.jpg)
![It was a good weekend for the underdogs in the Four Nations, and it’s almost beyond comprehension that England finished top of the table after their first forty minutes against France.
Without question the side that most impressed over the weekend was New Zealand.
Hit hard by injuries, the Kiwis showed their World [...] Steve Kaless: Four Nations review: Kiwis look the goods](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/four-nations-kiwis-warriors-th.jpg)
![It has now been confirmed that Michael Clarke left the tour of New Zealand to return home and comfort his fiancée, Lara Bingle, who is involved in the nude photo scandal engulfing the press. But the question must be asked: was this an appropriate decision from a player earmarked as the next Test captain?
Yes, Bingle [...] Adrian Musolino: Clarke shows why he is anything but captain material](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/michael-clarke-th.jpg)
![Earlier this year I attended a conference of sports historians talking about the history and future of rugby union.
The main speech was delivered by an English academic, Dr Tony Collins, an expert and passionate supporter of rugby league, and currently writing a history of rugby union in the 20th century.
Dr Collins’ main theme [...] Spiro Zavos: Does rugby league need a dose of the ELVs?](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/eels-roosters-th.jpg)
![As primarily a rugby league fan I always find this time of the European football season fascinating. Players are traded across the continent as huge sums of money is transferred from one brimming account to another and players seemingly find themselves with the need to find an apartment in Wigan pronto. And all this, while [...] Steve Kaless: Rugby league needs a new window](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/rugby-league-new-window-braith-anasta-th.jpg)
![There’s no two ways about this. This is a column I never would have dreamt writing not all that long ago. I’m sure I’m not the first person to admit that I’ve never been a big fan of Nathan Hauritz as a spin-bowling option.
Just as I maintain about Cameron White now, I also used to [...] Brett McKay: Hard to believe, but Hauritz is winning me over](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/australias-spin-future-hauritz-th.jpg)
![Agendas. Surely they’re the one thing a journalist shouldn’t have. Yet, so many do. It was a topic of conversation between a bunch of Australian and foreign journalists in Cairo recently.
Sitting around a table at an Egyptian restaurant the day after the Young Socceroos had made their exit from the U20 World Cup, the point [...] Davidde Corran: What cost are we willing to pay for a World Cup?](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/What-cost-are-we-willing-to-pay-for-a-World-Cup.jpg)
![Australia’s football codes have all waged war on violence over recent years keen to win over mums and girlfriends and grow their markets. Left behind have been many male fans who miss the old days of rough and tumble on the pitch or a less sanitized experience in the stands. Step forward the Ultimate Fighting [...] Steve Kaless: UFC brings back biff … and bucks](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/ufc-th.jpg)
![1993 was a good time to be an Australian in Britain, especially if you were the sort of Aussie who likes sport. Which, really, is the only sort of Aussie who ends up in Britain.
The Wallabies had just backed up the Rugby World Cup win with a successful tour of Ireland and Wales, marred only [...] Matthew Horan: How I missed cricket’s Ball of the Century](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/how-i-missed-cricket-shane-warne-th.jpg)
![In wake of Geelong’s Matthew Stokes’ alleged possession and trafficking of cocaine, the AFL has again been forced to defend its illicit drugs policy, which was introduced in 2005 with the assistance of the AFL Players’ Association.
Stokes is facing criminal charges and there is no proof, at this stage, that he has actually taken any [...] Luke D'Anello: Forget the criticism, AFL’s drug testing not a soft hand](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/is-there-place-bump-ben-cousins-th.jpg)



