By Laine Clark
May 20th 2009 @ 6:55am
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Quietly spoken A-League rookies think big
They may not be as outspoken as fellow A-League newcomers Gold Coast United but clearly North Queensland Fury are thinking big.
The quietly spoken 2009-10 debutants have booked a pre-season opener in Singapore this month as part of a bold plan to grab a major piece of the Asian market.
The Fury have confirmed they will take [...]
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![Losing may not have been an option according to the marketers, but for much of the first half last night, Omani attacking midfielder Fawzi Basheer threatened to shift Australia’s planning post-South Africa from Qatar to Brazil.
Had Hassan Rabea taken the chance that Basheer delightfully teed up for him midway through the half, and had [...] Tony Tannous: Qatar dream alive, but much to do ahead of South Africa](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/qatar-dream-alive-kewell-th.jpg)
![More than two million viewers tuned in to see Jelena Dokic lose to Dinara Safina in her quarter-final. Two million! That’s more than any cricket match could attract. Actually, make that most male sports.
It’s a sign of how far women’s tennis has come.
The fact that women’s Grand Slam tennis rates so well is the main [...] Benjamin Conkey: Women tennis stars need to play best of five-sets](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/maria-sharapova-grunts-th.jpg)
![A few weeks ago, I wrote about the sudden collapse of Womens Pro Soccer side, the Los Angelas Sol, after just one season. The inaugural regular season champions paid the price for taking a “big spender” approach.
The WPS’ administrators had the option to fund the Sol out of their own pocket for another season, but [...] Davidde Corran: Should FFA cut the North Queensland Fury loose?](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/jets-fury-daal-th.jpg)
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![Rain interrupting cricket is annoying, but has its advantages. During the one-dayer between Australia and the West Indies at the SCG on Friday, I had interesting chats with the ABC radio team.
“I have an idea for a book for you, Kersi,” said Jim Maxwell, tongue-in-cheek. “Why don’t you write a book on tattooed Test cricketers.”
“It [...] Kersi Meher-Homji: Celebrating the ‘Bearded Ones’ in Test cricket](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/south-africa-cricket-hashim-amla-th.jpg)
![The Roar has been told that Mark Gerrard wants to come back to Australian rugby in 2011, with the aim of giving the Rugby World Cup squad a real crack. This is, or should be, good news for the game here.
One of the Super Rugby clubs, the Melbourne Rebels, perhaps, should make him a workable [...] Spiro Zavos: Mark Gerrard should be welcomed back to Australia](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/mark-gerrard-th.jpg)
![While Matthew Lloyd’s reckless hit on Brad Sewell has inevitably received plenty of attention this week in the midst of the debate about ‘the bump’, the Essendon forward’s act should also initiate discussion about the need for a send-off rule in AFL footy.
With his side trailing by 22 points at the main break, the Bombers [...] Ben Somerford: Lloyd’s hit raises the question of the send-off rule](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/lloyds-hit-raises-th.jpg)
![It may seem like a ridiculous question at first glance, especially to the blue-collar worker who battles for every dollar, but it is worth exploring. The average AFL wage is $230,000 per season. While appearing exorbitant – it is not a pittance either – the figure is hardly enormous when you compare it with other [...] Luke D'Anello: At an average of $230,000, are AFL players underpaid?](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/grant-birchall-hawthorn-th.jpg)
![After almost 20,000 fans packed out Christchurch’s AMI Stadium for last weekend’s Wellington-Adelaide clash, many pundits have been asking whether the South Island’s largest city should be a site for future A-League expansion.
Last Saturday’s brilliant crowd turn-out definitely suggests there is an appetite for football in Christchurch, and with a population of just under 400,000 [...] Ben Somerford: Can NZ accommodate a second A-League team?](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/wellington-phoenix-tim-brown-th.jpg)
![‘AFL: In A League Of Its Own’ was the catch cry of the 2009 AFL season promo. It was an aggressive marketing ploy that put the other codes firmly in their place. Its underlying message was backed up with another solid season for the juggernaut code.
A peak audience of 3.62 million viewers for the Grand [...] Adrian Musolino: The AFL backed up its tough talk in 2009](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/much-hyped-showdown-afl-th.jpg)
![So another FA Cup final on a poor Wembley pitch and another Chelsea game involving a controversial refereeing decision. In the end, Florent Malouda’s disallowed second-half goal was meaningless, but the thought has been nagging away at me all week. What if it had mattered?
If Everton had managed an equaliser, I’m guessing we wouldn’t [...] Davidde Corran: By not acting on goal-line technology, FIFA are crossing the line](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/goal-technology-th.jpg)



