By Adrian Warren
August 16th 2009 @ 6:44am
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Eels carry on push towards finals
Jarryd Hayne produced more razzle-dazzle and his teammates provided plenty of sizzle as Parramatta maintained their late-season bid for an NRL finals spot with a scintillating 40-4 win over the struggling Warriors at Parramatta Stadium.
The Eels climbed to seventh on the back of their fifth straight win and biggest victory of the season and will [...]
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![It’s difficult to empathise with one Florentino Pérez. When his team are not losing to a poor Milan side in the UEFA Champions League, the current president of Real Madrid is busily scheming the downfall of those hated separatists from Barcelona.
Pérez is a Wile E. Coyote-type figure on the European scene – constantly conjuring [...] Mike Tuckerman: How would a European Super League change football?](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/how-would-a-european-super-league-change-football-th.jpg)
![While my wife was in labour at Hammersmith Hospital in London for the birth of son number one, we passed the long hours of waiting by playing Scrabble. Such is the word-power and determination of Judy that she only succumbed to a defeat, after many victories, just before she was wheeled away to give birth.
My [...] Spiro Zavos: Scrabble is a five-lettered SPORT](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/scrabble-th.jpg)
![I don’t get the Melbourne Cup. Or what’s become at least. I appreciate it as a sporting contest – something that has been long debated – with a storied history intrinsically linked to Australian culture. But what is it really about?
I’m not condemning the event. Anything that has survived since 1861 must be [...] Adrian Musolino: The contradiction that is the Melbourne Cup](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/contradiction-melbourne-cup-shocking-brown-th.jpg)
![Football is increasingly becoming more and more defensive. The distance between lines has been shortened, space is becoming more and more squeezed, and 4-2-4 has become 4-5-1.
At the 1954 World Cup, an average of 5.38 goals were scored per match. Fifty-two years later at Germany 2006, that had dropped to 2.31.
The financial imbalance [...] Davidde Corran: Football isn’t a red card game](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/rename-epl-gpl-patrice-evra-th.jpg)
![With his team 14-6 up after 65 minutes at an ANZ Stadium that was resembling the adjacent Aquatic Centre more and more as the game wore on, it looked for all money that Michael Ennis had secured victory for the Bulldogs.
Four Rabbitohs tried in vain to keep a firm grip on the rain soaked [...] Gabriel Knowles: Rugby league is doing away with the push and shove](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/league-doing-away-ennis-th.jpg)
![Expect a steady stream of positive news stories to come out of the A-League this season. There’s a real buzz about the competition, which kicks off in less than a month.
No where is that more the case than in the west, where Perth Glory are banking on some high-profile signings to return them to [...] Mike Tuckerman: Rejuvenated Perth Glory great for the A-League](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/rejuvenated-perth-glory-rukavytsya-th.jpg)
![Last year was an annus horribilis for rugby, particularly in Australia. The 2010 season is shaping up to be a cracker, in my opinion.
Many of the factors that soured the rugby world for players and supporters last season have been resolved. And, in addition, there have been some interesting initiatives put in place for the [...] Spiro Zavos: The 2010 rugby season is shaping up to be a cracker](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/great-super-14-round-david-pocock-th.jpg)
![The chief executive of the ARU, John O’Neill, went out of his way to praise the efforts of Phil Coles, Kevan Gosper and John Coates in getting the IOC’s executive board to select Sevens Rugby as a new Olympic Sport, along with golf.
The implication in the praise is that Sevens Rugby will offer an opportunity [...] Spiro Zavos: Gold, gold for Australia with the new Olympic Sports](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/gold-australia-olympics-beijing-th.jpg)
![Forget for a moment the cause of Robbie Fowler’s tiff with North Queensland Fury coach Ian Ferguson – that type of disagreement can happen at any club in any league around the world. What’s been fascinating is the response from the public and media.
For the uninitiated, Fowler refused to play on Saturday night against [...] Adrian Musolino: Fowler ‘crisis’ shows A-League’s precarious state](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/fowler-smarts-th.jpg)
![Has FIFA President Sepp Blatter confirmed what we all should have expected? In a press conference in Madrid, Blatter has given his strongest hint yet that the World Cup is destined for a return to Europe in 2018, which would leave Australia with only 2022 as a possibility.
“From what I’ve discussed with the president of [...] Adrian Musolino: Europe set for 2018 World Cup, Australia eyes 2022](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/players-no-benefit-doubt-sepp-blatter-th.jpg)
![The annual debate on the NAB Cup has surfaced again, but this time it was AFL footy operations manager Adrian Anderson who instigated the discussion by admitting the introduction of more clubs has threatened the competition’s future.
Gold Coast will officially join the AFL in 2011, while the Greater West Sydney club will be added the [...] Ben Somerford: Calls to scrap pre-season competition off the mark](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/bombers-magpies-anzac-chris-bryan-th.jpg)
![Quick question, which professional footballer faced court last week with the threat of a custodial sentence? An NRL player? BZZZT! Wycliff Palu of the Waratahs.
The player escaped a jail sentence for being caught driving without licence for the second time but will pay a $1000 fine.
What struck me was the media’s treatment of [...] Steve Kaless: Why NRL players must want to play union](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/why-nrl-want-union-wycliff-palu-naqelevuki-th.jpg)



