By Roger Vaughan
November 23rd 2009 @ 6:01am
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Anna Meares makes rivals look like mere mortals
Track cycling star Anna Meares won her third gold medal at the Melbourne World Cup with the same move that nearly killed her.
Caught out of position, Meares launched a scorching charge from the rear of the field with two laps left in Saturday night’s keirin final.
No-one could follow her and she stayed clear for an [...]
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![Seventy-odd years ago, former Surrey and England captain Percy Fender noticed Don Bradman step away from a short pitched ball on a news reel. It was footage from Australia’s 1930 tour of England. Word got around to Douglas Jardine, that this Bradman may not be perfect afterall.
And so Bodyline was born.
Today, that ‘news reel’ [...] Benjamin Conkey: Phil Hughes treated like Bradman by the English](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/phil-hughes-treated-like-bradman-th.jpg)
![There have been disparaging comments from the usual suspects in the British rugby media suggesting that the Bledisloe Cup Test in Tokyo is a commercially-oriented nonsense. Nonsense to that, I say.
Whenever Australia plays New Zealand at rugby, it is a good thing for the game, for supporters of the teams, for the lucky people who [...] Spiro Zavos: The fourth Bledisloe Cup Test is a good thing for rugby](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/the-fourth-bledisloe-cup-th.jpg)
![While globalistation is now considered an antiquated and accepted concept of the twentieth century, it seems its effects are hitting the biggest domestic sporting leagues.
With the NBA and NFL having staged sell out matches in London, and the EPL floating the 39th game idea, sport is set to face one its biggest shake ups. [...] Adrian Musolino: Why sports should never abandon their heartland](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/never-abandon-heartland-barrichello-th.jpg)
![I was lucky enough to get back to Australia for the festive season and, while I’ve just returned to Europe, my time home got me thinking about the changes our game is going through.
It was interesting to see how Australian football has developed over the last seven or so months, and to compare things with [...] Davidde Corran: Five things I’d like to see change in the A-League](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/a-league-failing-online-fans-th.jpg)
![There’s been some interesting sporting experiments in recent years: Nadal and Federer playing on a half-clay, half-grass court; the ICC World XI playing Australia in a Super Test and three one-day internationals; and the golfing obsession of seeing how the best females would go on the men’s tour.
They didn’t really prove much.
We already knew [...] Benjamin Conkey: Let’s test today’s champions using yesterday’s equipment](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/giggs-football-immortality-th.jpg)
![None of the New Zealand pundits got anywhere near picking the 33 players selected for the All Blacks Spring tour. Four of the tourists have never played Test rugby (Mike Delany, Tamati Ellison, Zac Guilford and Ben Smith).
Three of them have six Tests between them (Tom Donnelly 1, Tawerau Latimer 3, and Liam [...] Spiro Zavos: All Blacks revolution: new players and ‘new’ coaches](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/All-Blacks-revolution-Graham-Henry-th.jpg)
![As a contributor to SBS website The World Game, I often find myself perusing the site’s long-standing and mildly infamous forum. A hodge-podge of nationalist flag-waving and juvenile humour, it can be a diverting way to spend a couple of hours.
They’re an unforgiving lot on the forum, quick to highlight mistakes, ready to pounce on [...] Mike Tuckerman: Time to unite ‘new dawners’ and ‘bitters’ supporters](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/time-to-unite-socceroos-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)
![It may seem like a ridiculous question at first glance, especially to the blue-collar worker who battles for every dollar, but it is worth exploring. The average AFL wage is $230,000 per season. While appearing exorbitant – it is not a pittance either – the figure is hardly enormous when you compare it with other [...] Luke D'Anello: At an average of $230,000, are AFL players underpaid?](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/grant-birchall-hawthorn-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)
![It was a good weekend for the underdogs in the Four Nations, and it’s almost beyond comprehension that England finished top of the table after their first forty minutes against France.
Without question the side that most impressed over the weekend was New Zealand.
Hit hard by injuries, the Kiwis showed their World [...] Steve Kaless: Four Nations review: Kiwis look the goods](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/four-nations-kiwis-warriors-th.jpg)
![Despite the rugby season kicking off on Friday night, and even though all this debate (and I use the word loosely) about the supposed death of the 50 over game is, frankly, boring me to tears, I am determined to press on writing about cricket for the time being.
But given I’m not likely to win [...] Brett McKay: Any surprises for the tour of New Zealand?](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/new-zealand-cricket-th.jpg)



