By Darren Walton
November 5th 2009 @ 2:35am
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I’m not here to carry bags, says Toomua
Matt Toomua is a young man in a hurry, the Wallabies’s latest recruit not content to merely make up the numbers after joining the grand slam tourists in London.
“I see this as a learning experience – definitely developmental – but, in saying that, I’m not here just to carry bags or anything like that,” the [...]
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![When Martyn Williams placed the ball for Cardiff’s seventh and fatal kick in the penalty shoot-out to decide the winner of the Heineken Cup semi-final, the unctuous television commentator rabbited on about how ‘professional’ he was, and unlikely to miskick.
But how tragic it would be for him if he did.
Williams then proceeded to duff-hook his [...] Spiro Zavos: Rugby’s penalty shoot-out is a real winner](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/rugby-penalty-shoot-out-scott-hamilton-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.
“To preserve [Test cricket's] future, which we must – less is in fact more – [...] Kersi Meher-Homji: Gilly’s suggestion of cutting Test cricket is a no-no](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/gilchrist-suggestion-th.jpg)
![It’s an issue that never seems to be far away, and never fails to polarise public opinion. Our country’s multicultural past has played a huge part in the state of football in Australia today, and players claiming different nationalities through ancestry has been a direct by-product.
But while it has allowed Australian players to more readily [...] Paddy Higgs: Dual nationality can be a double-edged sword](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/dual-nationality-vince-grella-th.jpg)
![There are two things to talk about amongst English rugby league fans: one is the depressing state of the English economy and the second is the arrival in the NRL of Sam Burgess.
As I sat on a ridiculously expensive, yet on-time train (and compared to NSW, it actually existed), I pondered how closely the [...] Steve Kaless: Plummeting pound is a blessing for the NRL](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/plummeting-pound-blessing-nrl-burgess-th.jpg)
![Despite individual brilliance, Pakistan has not reached its full potential in Test cricket. They have made headlines of the wrong sort in their 57 years as a Test nation. Internal dissensions, captaincy disputes and accusations of ball-tampering, bribery, and match-throwing are often associated with their national teams.
One might say, when Pakistanis play a match, can [...] Kersi Meher-Homji: Are the Pakistan cricket controversies really justified?](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/are-pakistan-cricketers-shoaib-malik-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)
![The doomsayers are preparing the obituary. Tennis in this country is dying – as evidenced by the mammoth drop in television ratings for the Australian Open that shows a 40 per cent decrease in viewers from last year.
The magnitude of such a drop cannot be ignored. And there must be an underlying fault somewhere to [...] Adrian Musolino: Channel 7 has stifled this year’s Australian Open](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/federer-courier-seven-th.jpg)
![Jarryd Hayne’s last touch in the 2009 NRL Grand Final, a dropped ball, summed up his play throughout the match. Nothing he tried came off. His opposite number, Billy Slater, had a tremendous match, scoring a try, running the ball back strongly and injecting himself into the line to try and make something happen for [...] Spiro Zavos: Slater beats Hayne for a deserved Storm victory](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/slater-beats-hayne-storm-victory-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)
![Word games involving cricketers have long been a juvenile pleasure for myself and a handful of mates. Whole elevens have been selected and pitted in battle.
For example, the “Ancient Professions” – Archer, Butcher, Fletcher, Ironmonger, King, Knight, Laird, Slater, Taylor, Bishop and, of course, (Halford) Hooker – continually duel against the “Modern” – such [...] Andrew Jones: The top five most Edible Cricketers](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/top-five-edible-cricketers-graham-onions-th.jpg)
![The Roar has been told that Mark Gerrard wants to come back to Australian rugby in 2011, with the aim of giving the Rugby World Cup squad a real crack. This is, or should be, good news for the game here.
One of the Super Rugby clubs, the Melbourne Rebels, perhaps, should make him a workable [...] Spiro Zavos: Mark Gerrard should be welcomed back to Australia](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/mark-gerrard-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)



