By Robert Grant
November 8th 2009 @ 1:00am
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Whincup back to top form
Jamie Whincup won immediate redemption from his embarrassing Gold Coast flop by bouncing back to snare the first V8 Supercar race at the Phillip Island 300 on Saturday.
The Ford star’s victory gives him some breathing space at the head of the series, extending his lead over Holden rival Will Davison who finished in second spot, [...]
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![There are Test matches and there are testing at matches. Pakistan versus Sri Lankan at the National stadium in Karachi last week looked to be extraordinarily testing to all concerned, not least the poor bowlers who toiled on the unforgiving and relentless playing surface.
I can recall English seam bowler Paul Allot’s description of the [...] Geoff Lawson: Green wickets are vital for Test cricket](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/graeme-smith-green-wickets-th.jpg)
![Gold Coast Football Club has booked its place in the AFL for 2011, provisionally at least. It’s boom time for the Coast: A-League, AFL, NRL, NBL (or whatever it’ll be called) franchises and one of Australia’s most popular motorsport festivals. Everyone’s on board, but is it a road to nowhere?
A decade ago, none of [...] Adrian Musolino: Gold Coast expansion may be too much, too soon](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/gold-coast-expansion-mensink-bleiberg-buckley-th.jpg)
![The long wait ends this Friday night when AFL footy returns with the NAB Cup kicking off in Perth. But after a dramatic off-season the new campaign will offer plenty of subplots to keep everybody interested and the pre-season competition presents us with our first insights into it all.
Indeed, this season’s Trade Week was one [...] Ben Somerford: Five things to look out for this AFL pre-season](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/grant-birchall-hawthorn-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)
![It really is a funny old game this football. For six straight games, Branko Culina and his Newcastle Jets played with a back four, dished up some delightful football, and had very little to show for it.
At times, like against Melbourne in round 11, the football was top shelf, with Labinot Haliti and Michael [...] Tony Tannous: Old fashioned formation finally delivers Culina points](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/old-fashioned-formation-culina-th.jpg)
![Troy Bayliss continues imperiously towards his third World Superbike crown tonight at Vallelunga, Italy. When he claims the crown, it won’t command back page headlines or sports bulletins in Australia.
Sporting success by Aussie athletes competing overseas is taken for granted in this country.
But Bayliss deserves to be considered amongst the great Australian sporting exports.
In [...] Adrian Musolino: Bayliss one of Australia’s great sporting exports](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/troy-bayliss-th.jpg)
![This time last year, St Kilda didn’t have it in them to take a punt on Ben Cousins. They met with him more than once, they researched thoroughly – all part of what was labelled a “five-month process” – and at the end of it decided he was too big a risk.
Fast forward twelve months [...] Michael DiFabrizio: You can’t blame St Kilda for punting on Lovett](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/andrew-lovett-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)
![Rain interrupting cricket is annoying, but has its advantages. During the one-dayer between Australia and the West Indies at the SCG on Friday, I had interesting chats with the ABC radio team.
“I have an idea for a book for you, Kersi,” said Jim Maxwell, tongue-in-cheek. “Why don’t you write a book on tattooed Test cricketers.”
“It [...] Kersi Meher-Homji: Celebrating the ‘Bearded Ones’ in Test cricket](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/south-africa-cricket-hashim-amla-th.jpg)
![The biggest challenge facing the NRL isn’t ensuring Brad Fittler knows which is his hotel room but rather ensuring that the One RL dream becomes a reality.
While, Fittler was busy buying some extra strong nails and a jumbo hammer for a coffin with the headstone marked “my coaching career” it also emerged than [...] Steve Kaless: One rugby league vision is failing](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/david-gallop-th.jpg)
![The sight of Clint Bolton in a Melbourne Heart polo shirt in the week he wore the gloves for Sydney FC as they began their finals campaign didn’t go down too well with Sydney fans and football purists. But it will go down as a significant moment for Melbourne’s second franchise.
It was the moment they [...] Adrian Musolino: Finally the Melbourne Heart starts pumping](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/melbourne-heart-th.jpg)



