By Larine Statham
July 14th 2009 @ 1:28am
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Thunderbirds secure place in preliminary finals
The Adelaide Thunderbirds will play for a spot in the trans Tasman netball grand final after ending the Southern Steel’s season with a 51-45 minor semi-final win at ETSA Park on Monday night.
The Steel will go back to New Zealand without a win across the Tasman in 2009 while the Thunderbirds are go for a [...]
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![The AFL dominates the Australian sporting landscape because it delivers entertainment like that. Geelong and St Kilda ensured the greatest day on our sporting calendar lived up to the occasion with the Cats confirming their greatness in a thrilling Grand Final.
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Instead of column inches being filled by the build up of what should be a cracker of a match between the Dragons [...] Gabriel Knowles: Punish indiscretions with comp points](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/punish-indiscretions-brett-stewart-th.jpg)
![The Melbourne Storm will enter the NRL season as world champions after out muscling the Leeds Rhinos 18-10 at Elland Rd on Sunday, but like nearly every other winning NRL club this weekend, they will be seeing it more as good result in their build up to the 2010 season.
Don’t get me wrong, NRL clubs [...] Steve Kaless: Pre-season wins provide few clues about season proper](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/why-do-melbourne-teams-storm-th.jpg)
![So Melbourne Heart wants a piece of Mark Viduka and Josip Skoko? They’ve also expressed passing interest in Michael Petkovic and Ljubo Milicevic.
Can Football Federation Australia check the licence again and make sure “heart” wasn’t a typo? It wasn’t Melbourne Hajduk, was it?
In all seriousness, though, the FFA would be well served getting as [...] Jesse Fink: Melbourne’s new rivalry will revive the A-League](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/how-important-names-colours-schip-a-league-th.jpg)
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The problem, certainly from where I’m sitting, [...] Alec Swann: One day cricket is a case of familiarity breeding contempt](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/ecb-forces-one-day-cricket-james-hopes-th.jpg)
![A week or so ago India won their Test against England with the biggest second innings run chase ever on the sub-continent. Now, on Sunday, South Africa have scored 414 to win the first Test against Australia at Perth, the highest winning second innings run chase ever recorded in Australia.
Where have all the bowlers gone?
In [...] Spiro Zavos: World cricket: where have all the bowlers gone?](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/pakistan-cricket-th.jpg)
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![Speaking for the Sir Colin Cowdrey Lecture at Lord’s on Wednesday, Adam Gilchrist called for a dramatic reduction in the number of Tests in a move he believes will preserve the five-day format in the face of the Twenty20 challenge.
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