By David V.
September 6th 2009 @ 2:24am
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Malaysia malaise as Singapore surges
There can be few stark contrasts in fortunes as the rise of Singapore and the fall of Malaysia, both of whom began at around the same point of time in the 1990s.
Malaysia had once been a dominant player in South East Asia, and even gave the more illustrious names in Asia a fright although never [...]
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![Everyone seems to have an opinion on Peter Roebuck. Via his columns in The Age and Sydney Morning Herald, he has become the highest profile cricket writer in the Antipodes. He was recently elevated into the next stratosphere, though, after the Test match in Sydney, becoming a bona fide identity in his own right.
Now, [...] David Wiseman: ‘Maybe I should have toned it down’, says Peter Roebuck](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/peter-roebuck.jpg)
![The brutal execution of John Howard’s hope to be the Chief Commissioner for a new independent Rugby League Commission by the Labor Left hard man, the Federal MP Anthony Albanese, was totally predictable.
Rugby league, traditionally, has been the Labor Party in NSW and Queensland at play. There is no way the party is going to [...] Spiro Zavos: Why John Howard is out of his league](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/why-john-howard-league-th.jpg)
![This Saturday night, top flight rugby league is being played in Western Australia again, which gives the people of Perth the chance to show the NRL whether or not their state is ready for a team again.
Only a handful of NRL games have been played in Perth since the Reds were disbanded following the [...] Gabriel Knowles: Should the NRL give the Wild West another chance?](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/david-gallop-th.jpg)
![It’s been a week of extremes for the A-League, from the invisibility of a week off to the thrilling finals matches in Wellington and Sydney.
The week just past has been a fascinating microcosm of how the promising developments for the wider Australian football community are sometimes the same factors that impede the growth of the [...] Adrian Musolino: The Catch-22s that continue to impede the A-League](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/five-reasons-a-league-th.jpg)
![Only six points cover the bottom six on the A-League table with the finals series fast approaching. With five rounds left, plus three matches left to complete the floating Round 19, which clubs will book their finals place with a top six finish?
With Sydney, Melbourne and Gold Coast three points clear of the rest, and [...] Adrian Musolino: Which teams will be playing finals football?](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/jets-fury-daal-th.jpg)
![As we try to cope with post-Ashes depression, let us select the best Australian and England cricket XIs based on their Ashes performances over the years in England. Call it a stimulus package after a lost weekend in rugby and cricket.
By using certain criteria and qualifications (aggregates in runs scored/wickets taken/dismissals made in Ashes [...] Kersi Meher-Homji: Ponting the only current player among Ashes titans](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/ponting-only-current-player-th.jpg)
![As the fallout from Tim Cahill’s stoush with News Limited continues, what is becoming clear is the relationship between sports stars and the media, especially in the current climate of trash tabloid stories, is being damaged. As a result sports stars are being more guarded with their media dealings and the fans are losing out. [...] Adrian Musolino: We can’t have sports stars bypassing the media](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/ffa-cahill-th.jpg)
![There have been several controversial suggestions recently on how to make rugby a more spectator friendly game. Most of them have centered around the ELVs.
This assumes that there is some sort of problem with the mechanics of rugby and, as such, the issue has been approached in much the same way that a mechanic [...] Andrew Logan: Forget Stellenbosch Laws. Introduce Narrabri Principles](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/waratahs-try-tries-mortlock-th.jpg)
![The other day I was handed an advance copy of a book to go on sale today. In it was one of those wonderful little Kevin-Baconesque degrees of rugby separation that make reading worthwhile.
On July 25, 1981, a group of anti-apartheid protestors were baton charged and mercilessly beaten in Wellington’s Molesworth St as they protested [...] Andrew Logan: Firepower: the most spectacular fraud in Australian history](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/western-force-firepower-fraud-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)
![Oh what a fickle bunch we are! Three months ago the Sharks were everyone’s sneaky tip for the Grand Final now you are hard pressed to find anyone who reckons they deserve a place in the comp.
They become a punching bag for the press and if there is one thing that everyone seems to [...] Steve Kaless: The Sharks are worth fighting for](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/sharks-out-of-depth-quinn-th.jpg)
![I’m still shaking my head in disbelief at the astonishing attack on Football Federation Australia made in New Zealand’s Sunday Times yesterday. In the article, writer Simon Plumb implores readers not to “hold your breath waiting for an annual Socceroos-All Whites clash – the arrogant Aussies don’t want to know about it.”
“Despite agreeing to a [...] Davidde Corran: Arrogant, irritating Aussies are New Zealand’s best hope](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/new-zealand-all-whites-th.jpg)



