By Ed Jackson
December 25th 2009 @ 12:13am
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McKinna unfazed by Mariners’ slump
Central Coast Mariners coach Lawrie McKinna is hoping some Christmas cheer will help his players end their recent slump in form.
After Wednesday’s 1-0 A-league loss to Sydney FC at the Sydney Football Stadium, the Mariners have now lost a club record four regular season matches in a row and are in danger of slipping out [...]
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![As the fallout from Tim Cahill’s stoush with News Limited continues, what is becoming clear is the relationship between sports stars and the media, especially in the current climate of trash tabloid stories, is being damaged. As a result sports stars are being more guarded with their media dealings and the fans are losing out. [...] Adrian Musolino: We can’t have sports stars bypassing the media](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/ffa-cahill-th.jpg)
![A recent story in the Sydney Morning Herald referred to a new development in cricket bats, with about a quarter of the back of it flattened and rolled so that a batsman, especially in Twenty-20 cricket, could use both sides of it as a switch hitter.
If the development is a success, it will represent the [...] Spiro Zavos: Double-bladed bats have the wood on tradition](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/double-handed-bats.jpg)
![There’s an issue lingering in the backdrop of tonight’s clash between Collingwood and St Kilda. And like just about everything to do with this game – the marketing, the media attention – Luke Ball is in the middle of it.
His move from the Saints to the black and white has been intrinsically linked to the [...] Michael DiFabrizio: Free agency? Sort out third-party payments first](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/luke-ball-th.jpg)
![Enough is enough. It’s time for the FFA and Melbourne Heart chief executive Scott Munn and chairman Peter Sidwell to bite the bullet, ignore the competition to name the club being run in the Herald Sun, and keep the working title of Melbourne’s second A-League franchise.
In case you haven’t been following the saga [...] Adrian Musolino: The Melbourne Heart name saga rolls on](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/how-important-names-colours-schip-a-league-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)
![I’ve been in New York for over a week now and I haven’t heard the Big Apples’ Major League Soccer team, the New York Red Bulls, mentioned once, despite being one of the few local franchises currently in season.
Yet, like in Australia, there are signs the world game is thriving.
Last week, pubs [...] Adrian Musolino: Despite the indifference, football is thriving in America](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/despite-indifference-soccer-beckham-th.jpg)
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For such a professional sport I would have thought a more professional outcome would have been achieved. How hard is it for [...] Justin Rodski: Restricted free agency in the AFL is a cop out](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/afl-demetriou-rudd-th.jpg)
![Since the Wallaby winger Ian Williams moved to Japan to work and play rugby for Kobe Steel in 1991, there has been an influx of players and coaches who have followed to ply their trade and experience the intricate and ancient culture of Japan.
The national team, the Cherry Blossoms, are without doubt the rugby Asian [...] Todd Louden: Japanese rugby: it’s just different!](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/japanese-rugby.jpg)
![As the inaugural Champions League Twenty20 moves toward the end of the second round league stage, there must be some very anxious and dissatisfied Indian Premier League team owners on the subcontinent currently.
The two biggest disappointments of the CLT20 in my mind have been the state of the pitches at the Feroz Shah Kotla [...] Brett McKay: IPL sides struggle against champion teams](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/IPL-sides-struggle-rohit-sharma-th.jpg)
![Lance Armstrong and his lycra clad buddies are in Adelaide, Federer and co. are in Melbourne, the Aussie cricketers are touring the nation, as the A-League is coming down to a thrilling conclusion, and the AFL and rugby folk gear up for another season.
Plenty to keep us entertained. So is Australia the sporting capital [...] Adrian Musolino: Is Australia the sporting capital of the world?](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/ffa-crowds.jpg)
![For all the success of the NRL’s inaugural All Stars match – a bumper crowd and thrilling match – there’s a flaw in the concept that will blight our nation should it continue into the future. By pitting the best Indigenous players against the best of the rest, the NRL will continue to segregate race [...] Adrian Musolino: Sport should unite race and colour, not segregate](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/nrl-all-stars-wendell-sailor-th.jpg)



