By Daniel Brettig
October 23rd 2009 @ 6:15am
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Testing time for Australia’s new breed on suncontinent
Australian cricket’s new breed are about to learn whether or not they can handle the harshest spotlight the international game has to offer – India.
Eighteen months out from a World Cup to be played on the subcontinent, an injury-affected and young touring party are preparing to confront the home nation in seven matches in 18 [...]
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![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)
![With a number of second-year players, including Nick Naitanui, retaining their eligibility, the race for this year’s Rising Star award is already looking like it will be the one of the most hotly-contested since the award began.
Contesting the award alongside the second-year players will be a number of 2009 draftees that look set to make [...] Michael DiFabrizio: The rising stars set to shine in 2010](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/eagles-nick-naitanui-th.jpg)
![Rugby and Adelaide make unlikely bedfellows when the International Rugby Sevens series stops off in the City of Churches on its global tour this weekend at the Adelaide Oval.
The tournament has found a niche audience in Adelaide thanks to the support of the state government – who were instrumental in bringing the event to the [...] Adrian Musolino: Rugby’s missed opportunity](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/gold-olympic-world-rugby-james-oconnor-th.jpg)
![The next chapter in rugby league looks set to begin in 2010, and while the symbolism may be huge, in reality it may just mean another day at the office.
With News Ltd and the ARL set to make way for an independent commission to run rugby league, many supporters are praising the heavens that they [...] Steve Kaless: New league commission really just more of the same](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/david-gallop-th.jpg)
![Despite the giant strides made in the game from the Socceroos World Cup showing and the development of the A-League, football continues to fight for attention in the mainstream press, on free to air television and in print. It seems an ingrained ignorance still exists, judging by the pitiful coverage in certain sections of the [...] Adrian Musolino: Why does the mainstream media ignore football?](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/newcastle-jets-grand-final-th.jpg)
![The concessions to be given to the new Gold Coast club have given rise to this year’s draft being termed as “the last uncompromised draft.” But should clubs really be all that worried?
Paul Roos fronted the media this week expressing his fear over what may lie ahead in coming years. “We can’t go down for [...] Michael DiFabrizio: Clubs can benefit from compromised draft](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/clubs-benefit-gold-coast-th.jpg)
![Troy Taylor was one of the feel-good stories of the draft. Nabbed by Richmond at pick 51, the 188cm teen from the Northern Territory had made it to the AFL despite his troubled past. At the beginning of last year, it would have looked like an impossible dream.
As The Age reported prior to the draft: [...] Michael DiFabrizio: Troy Taylor a work in progress, on and off field](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/troy-taylor-th.jpg)
![Aside from the token gesture that was the Hall of Fame Tribute Match held in 2008, the concept of State of Origin footy has been outside the AFL landscape for over a decade now.
The last true Origin clash was in 1999, when Victoria defeated South Australia by 17 points. In front of only 26,063 fans.
The [...] Michael DiFabrizio: It’s time to bring back the AFL State of Origin](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/afl-demetriou-rudd-th.jpg)
![Many long time fans of the European game will remember Ruud Hesp as the Barcelona custodian during the Louis van Gaal era in the late 1990s, when the Dutchmen teamed-up to win back-to-back La Liga titles and a Copa del Rey.
Hesp also featured in the Dutch national squad in a couple of major championships, at [...] Tony Tannous: Ruud reality: Verbeek needs to scatter his square lines](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/ruud-reality-pim-verbook-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)
![D-day looms for New Zealand’s All Whites. They are one game away from World Cup qualification for the first time since 1982, and they face a do or die clash in Wellington on Saturday in a similar scenario to what the Socceroos faced in November 2005.
And like the Socceroos’ playoff qualification, victory for the [...] Adrian Musolino: Australia should back All Whites for World Cup](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/australia-back-all-whites-world-cup-katlego-mashego-th.jpg)
![The race-fixing scandal involving the Renault F1 team is getting ugly with the team commencing legal proceedings against Nelson Piquet for defamation and blackmail following his bombshell accusations. The saga is only going to get uglier.
For the uninitiated, Renault have been accused of fixing the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix by allegedly ordering Nelson Piquet [...] Adrian Musolino: The ramifications of race-fixing saga will run deep](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/is-formula-1-rotten.jpg)



