Greg Russell's Contributions

A man robbed a bank, got home with the money, decided he had done wrong, and so he went and handed the money back to the bank. Would the man be regarded as a role model for "sportsmanship"? Of course not. He would be punished for committing a crime, with a reduced sentence for handing the money back. This is basically what has happened with the Bell/Dhoni incident, so it is nothing short of a perversion of justice - and extreme human stupidity - that Dhoni somehow or other comes out of this smelling of roses. How is it that someone can be regarded as a good sport simply because they realise they have committed a heinous act of unsportsmanship? The Indians seem to have a knack for this sort of thing. Another one is that Symonds somehow emerged a villain because he had been racially abused by Harbhajan, who was painted as a hero. Even if in the exceedingly unlikely event that there was no racial abuse at the SCG (who honestly believes that?), it is on-the-record fact that Harbhajan racially abused Symonds in two ODIs in the preceding series in India. Incidentally, I think Dhoni is a fabulous captain, a very good cricketer, and a decent person. But this episode has to be seen in the proper context.

Bell’s end: Standing in Dhoni’s shoes

2 Aug 2011

Sheek, as a fellow oldie I'm sure that Genia's try also made you think of Matt Burke's magnificent 70 m solo run against the All Blacks at Ballymore in 1996. That try was made by the line that Ben Tune ran in support, which kept the defence hanging off Burke; similarly Cooper in support of Genia on Saturday night. This was two rugby geniuses working in instinctive harmony.

Reds victory could be gold for the Wallabies

11 Jul 2011

"a probable wake-up call for the All Black coaches to devise ways of beating this brilliant and winning way of playing modern rugby." A disastrous start for the All Black selectors, who seemingly have not taken on board some of the major lessons from the S15 final: 1. The need for specialist backup at 7. Matt Todd or Luke Braid could perform the Liam Gill role for NZ, but at this stage Henry has declined to name such a player. (On the basis of Saturday night one could actually argue that Todd and Braid should have been chosen ahead of McCaw, but let's see how the champion fares as he gets more footy under his belt.) 2. At this stage Sivivatu, New Zealand's most dangerous broken-field runner, is not in the top 30. The final surely emphasized how important creative, broken-field running is going to be this year. Simply having magnificent finishers on the wing is of no use if, because of committed, organized defence, there is nothing to finish. In this context Zac Guildford seems a wasted selection to me. He is a terrific all-round footballer, but he is not big, he is not particularly fast, and he creates nothing. Maybe wing is not his optimum position? 3. Henry has said that in a squad of 30, there is room for only one specialist loose-head prop. So at this stage Crockett has missed out, and will only be deputizing for Woodcock while he's injured. Meanwhile, props in South Africa and Australia rejoice at getting such a lucky break ...

Reds victory could be gold for the Wallabies

11 Jul 2011