By Mark Geenty
November 4th 2009 @ 2:25am
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Carter cleared to play as Gatland baiting gets a rise
Assistant All Blacks rugby coach Wayne Smith effectively gave Daniel Carter the all-clear to face Wales this weekend then warned Warren Gatland’s baiting could backfire on the hosts.
The All Blacks had a training free day in rainy Cardiff to recover from the rigours of their Bledisloe Cup victory in Tokyo, with the hematoma in Carter’s [...]
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![The new interpretation of the breakdown laws promises to rewind Super Rugby back to the days when tries were the norm, rather than the exception. It’s exciting stuff, despite the risk that the pendulum will swing back too far and we’ll get a return to the bad old days of basketball scores.
Remember the 2004 final?
Brumbies [...] Andrew Logan: Super 14 is bursting with excitement machines](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/super-bulls-dynasty-th.jpg)
![I thought I was persona non grata with Football Federation Australia but at least someone appears to be reading my work, judging from the Memorandum of Understanding that was signed late last week by the FFA and its Indonesian counterpart, the Football Association of Indonesia or PSSI.
While it stops short of a joint World Cup [...] Jesse Fink: FFA’s Indonesia deal a watershed for Australia](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/poisoned-chalice-allsopp-th.jpg)
![The Fox Sports effects microphone has become a fair barometer of an A-League match’s excitement level. When you can hear the players and coaches cussing, it’s a fair indicator that the crowd isn’t really into the match. Sadly, it’s a common occurrence.
Aside from the raucous at Etihad Stadium caused by Melbourne’s passionate and large supporter [...] Adrian Musolino: Lack of atmosphere stifles A-League games](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/33-or-22-rounds-a-league-ryall-th.jpg)
![There’s no ‘I’ in team. At least that’s what coaches say, and most of the time they are correct. But on rare occasions in the world game a sensational talent comes along who single-handedly scores victories for his side.
This to me is what makes a one-man team, not a player who has a [...] Benjamin Conkey: The most dominant players in the history of club football](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/steven-gerrard-dominant-players-th.jpg)
![A couple of years ago I went to Yankee Stadium with my sons to see a World Series game. We were seated near the home plate and during the pre-game warm-ups you could hear the players chatting as they belted balls high into the inky-velvet darkness of the night sky.
The facilities at the ancient ground [...] Spiro Zavos: Yankee Stadium sport’s most iconic ground? No way](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/scg-th.jpg)
![I can’t pretend to have known much about Robert Enke, the German footballer who threw himself in front of a train this week, but I was more than familiar with the emotional architecture of his story, having written a piece on depression among sportspeople a few years ago for Inside Sport magazine.
In the sporting world, [...] Jesse Fink: The tragic fate of Germany’s Robert Enke](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/the-tragic-fate-robert-enke-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)
![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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![Last Friday, the Melbourne Knights announced Mark Viduka would be the team’s number one ticket holder for the new Victorian Premier League season.
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Interesting news that mostly [...] Davidde Corran: Viduka shows the way to embrace football’s roots](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/ACT-government-shoots-viduka-th.jpg)
![The AFL’s expansion to 18 teams means the talent pool will become more diluted and clubs are reacting to this by seeking new ways to find players. It presents a new challenge for footy clubs and it’s interesting to observe their different methods.
When the Gold Coast and West Sydney clubs do arrive on the AFL [...] Ben Somerford: AFL clubs beginning to think outside the square](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/AFL-clubs-think-outside-square-karmichael-hunt-broncos-th.jpg)
![There is a strange symmetry between environmentalists and rugby league fans at the moment with both groups pinning their hopes and dreams for the future on some meetings being held by their respective world leaders.
Leeds hasn’t seen a makeshift tent city spring up filled with rugby league fans demanding action and binding agreements, but [...] Steve Kaless: Countdown to league’s Copenhagen](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/financial-meltdown-gallop-th.jpg)



