Roar Guru
Joined January 2013
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Formerly The Master Mind, I cover mostly AFL and tennis, as well as some NRL and other sports.
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After nearly a decade in the doldrums, the drums are continuing to beat louder at the Gabba as the Brisbane Lions close in on a long-awaited return to finals football.
With six rounds remaining, including this weekend, the race for finals spots will continue to heat up this weekend.
What a showdown we’ll have to conclude the 2019 edition of the Wimbledon Championships, with Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer to duke it out for tennis’ holy grail in tonight’s gentlemen’s singles final. Leading up to the tournament, there was some conjecture over the decision to reverse the seedings of Federer (ranked world number three) […]
In Part 1, I previewed the teams currently in the eight. Here, I look at what chance the teams outside the eight have of reaching the finals, or even avoiding the wooden spoon.
State of Origin is over for another year, and for the second year in a row it is New South Wales who are victorious.
With seven rounds remaining, the race for finals positions is heating up. In this two-part analysis, I will detail the run home, predict where your team will finish at the end of 23 rounds and the first week of the finals series. Part 1 will detail the teams currently in the top eight, while Part […]
The stage is set for what promises to be a massive State of Origin decider, with the Blues on the verge of not only claiming consecutive series victories for the first time since 2005 but also potentially winning the series in front of their fans for the first time since 2004.
After an action-packed first week at Wimbledon, there is so much to talk about as the men’s Big Three and Ashleigh Barty close in on glory at the All England Club.
While Australia’s Ashleigh Barty progressed to the third round, matching her performance from the previous year, another major obstacle has been removed from her path to a first Wimbledon title.
With the bye rounds over, the run to the finals begins in earnest this weekend, with several matches set to shape the eight and decide who drifts further away from qualifying for September this year.
With the State of Origin decider just around the corner, the second reduced NRL round takes place this weekend, and it starts on Thursday night with a decimated St George Illawarra side hosting the Melbourne Storm in Wollongong.
The men’s and women’s draws at Wimbledon have been released, and it has thrown up a large number of potential match-ups that will keep you glued to the television over the next fortnight.
One of the year’s most prestigious sporting events is just around the corner, and if the form of several of the world’s best players are anything to go by, it could be the biggest Wimbledon yet.
With one hand on the State of Origin shield, Queensland can reclaim the series with a win in Game Two, which will be played at Perth’s Optus Stadium this Sunday night.
The last of the reduced rounds sees two grand final rematches from yesteryear, a Thursday night clash in the west and one of Melbourne’s favourite sons returning to the MCG to face his old side.
The second of three shortened rounds is upon us, and it sees the return of Thursday night football for three weeks, the first of which features the 2017 grand final rematch between the Adelaide Crows and Richmond.
The French Open is over for another year, and while Rafael Nadal became the first person to win 12 titles at any one Major, the women’s draw saw a first-time champion for the fourth consecutive year.
Thanks for the heads up. Sometimes it is hard to keep count when the most celebrated trio in men’s tennis (namely Djokovic, Nadal and Federer) have won so many titles that you tend to miss out on their exact figures by one or two.
I think Djokovic will be the fresher for the fact that 1) he played his semi-final first and 2) he was barely stretched by Roberto Bautista-Agut in his semi though he did drop the second set. He’s also 3-1 against Federer in Major finals (2-0 at Wimbledon and 1-1 at the US Open) so that will also play a factor.
Wimbledon 2019: Men's final preview
CLARIFICATION: “…having lost two of his three finals at the All England Club against the Serb”
Two of the three Wimbledon finals he has lost were to the Serb, while the other was against Nadal in 2008. Other than that, he has won eight Wimbledon titles.
Wimbledon 2019: Men's final preview
Completely forgot about that, thanks for the heads up.
2019 AFL season: Round 16 preview
Well, if Kyrgios does make it to round two, you can bet revenge will be on Nadal’s mind.
I still think the Spaniard is spitting chips at the fact he took his Australian opponent very lightly in 2014, as well as the fact he’d also lost to him after holding a match point in Acapulco earlier this year.
Wimbledon 2019: Mega preview
It was a game is missing; this is an error on my end.
2019 AFL season: Round 15 preview
Completely forgot about that game, thanks for the heads up. For the record, I have tipped Collingwood.
2019 AFL season: Round 15 preview
Completely forgot about that, thanks for the heads up.
Also of note is that Vondrousova is the first teen to reach a Major final since Caroline Wozniacki at the 2009 US Open, and first teen to reach the French Open final since Ana Ivanovic in 2007.
2019 French Open: Women's final preview
Let me clarify – Australia’s first Grand Slam singles triumph.
Defending champion Halep falls, new major winner guaranteed at Roland Garros
Cheers. While I expect Nadal and Djokovic to again feature at the pointy end I would not be surprised to see a first-time Major finalist here, like we did with Dominic Thiem last year.
Stefanos Tsitsipas in particular has had an impressive 2019 season taking down Federer and Nadal on hard and clay courts respectively, as well as reaching the final in Madrid (where he lost to Djokovic) and the semis in Rome (lost to Nadal). After reaching the semis at the Australian Open I wouldn’t be surprised if he again goes deep at Roland Garros.
As for the women’s, you can’t really pick a winner with any real confidence. Osaka’s form has been down since January, and Pliskova has been exposed as wanting at recent Majors. However, I think the latter is the dark horse, as her form in Rome showed. Halep will be under the most pressure as the defending champion and her form too has suffered in the past twelve months. Thus, I would not be surprised if there is a first-time winner in the women’s draw.
2019 French Open: Mega-preview
Fair to say American tennis (on the men’s front) has suffered since the great Pete Sampras retired in 2002 or 2003.
Andy Roddick was seen as his natural successor and indeed he lived up to expectations when he won the US Open in 2003, but that was as good as it got for him. I always say this – he was probably unfortunate that his career peak came at the same time as that of Federer and (to a lesser extent) Nadal.
Without Federer in his way, Roddick could so easily have won at least two or three Majors. The 2009 Wimbledon final defeat must surely rank as the most devastating defeat of his career for many reasons…. IIRC the American was only broken once in the entire match, at the very death.
On the women’s front Madison Keys is one of my favourite players and I hope she gets another chance to win a Major title. The US Open is her best shot.
R.I.P. American tennis
That would also be a fantastic idea; though as Singapore has the same time zone as Perth, the scheduling would be a massive issue (refer to the Optus Stadium section of the article).
All teams would fly to Singapore on the same day (say Monday or Tuesday), and then fly back to Australia as immediately as possible so as to recover and prepare for their next match.
This would also generate millions of dollars for the Singapore market, too.
Potential future venues for the NRL's Magic Round
I’m not suggesting the AFL should have a bye round should Marvel Stadium host Magic Round; rather they can still have a round of matches in that weekend provided they don’t schedule any matches at the venue.
Example – round 23 of the AFL this year will not have a match at the Docklands venue due to a basketball match.
Potential future venues for the NRL's Magic Round
I went for Marvel over AAMI because it’s closer to the Melbourne CBD plus the fact that it’s now called Marvel Stadium means the kids can enjoy what it has to offer with regards to the Marvel retail store inside the ground, certain movie characters being shown in and outside of the stadium precinct, and the potential entertainment before or in between matches (think the various Marvel movies).
I wouldn’t be against AAMI hosting Magic Round, though; it’s still a good ground to host the concept and it would light up Melbourne Park especially if there are any AFL matches being played nearby so fans can enjoy the best of both codes.
Potential future venues for the NRL's Magic Round
I also think it was that overconfidence which cost them against Fremantle in round five.
These days, you can’t go into a match just expecting to win, like the Cats appeared to do in round four. You have to play for it.
A Giant task awaits at the MCG on Sunday
This has also happened in the AFL in the noughties, when the Western Bulldogs and Melbourne took home games against the Sydney Swans and Brisbane Lions to the SCG and Gabba, respectively, effectively giving those tenant clubs an extra home game.
I think the reason the Sea Eagles want to play the Broncos at Suncorp is to generate money to upgrade the badly outdated Brookvale Oval. That’s my theory, I could be wrong.
Also, I can recall at least 2014 and 2017 when the Dragons played “home” games against the Wests Tigers and Bulldogs at ANZ Stadium, which is used by those two clubs as their home grounds.
If Magic Round is to alternate every year, another venue I could suggest is Marvel Stadium in Melbourne, though this would require the AFL to vacate the ground for one round of matches (as a matter of fact, no matches are scheduled at the venue in round 23 of their season, due to a basketball match). A such round at Adelaide Oval or Perth Stadium would have to be held during one of the AFL’s bye rounds, during which there would be no games in Adelaide or Perth respectively.
2019 NRL Magic Round preview
Yes the Swans do have the youngest squad across the entire league. Last week vs the Giants was their most inexperienced side since Horse took over at the start of the 2011 season.
Is it time for John Longmire to leave the Sydney Swans?
It is true that Michael Voss’ influence in the final five minutes won the Lions the flag, but back then, the judges had to cast their votes before the final siren so that the votes could be compiled in time for the post-match ceremony. It must be noted that at three-quarter-time, the Pies trailed by only four points and were in it for the most part until Jason Akermanis’ late goal sealed the Lions’ second (of three consecutive) flag.
The voting procedure was changed following that year’s Grand Final, and since then there’s been one Norm Smith Medallist that came from the losing side – Chris Judd (West Coast) in 2005.
Lions and Pies set for Easter Thursday Bris Vegas showdown
Correction: “…their three-point loss to the Gold Coast Suns at Metricon Stadium in Round 1…”
It was Round 2, which was what I originally wrote, not Round 1.
All eyes on Gaff in Saturday's spiteful Western Derby
Yeah I heard about James Roberts’ withdrawal this afternoon; tough timing considering I wrote this article yesterday (normally I write my NRL previews on Mondays).
Another tough task awaits the Broncos against the Roosters
SPELLING CORRECTION: “in the lead-up to preliminary final wee”
Should be “preliminary final week”.
Crows soar to AFLW supremacy
I just think the Eagles will be a very angry side this Saturday night. We’ve seen instances like these happen in the past, such as in 2017 when the GWS Giants got thrashed by the Adelaide Crows by 56 points in round one, then beat the Gold Coast Suns by 102 points off a six-day break.
They’ll also want to honour several of their players who will be celebrating milestones – Shannon Hurn (250th game), Chris Masten (200th) and Josh Kennedy (200th game for the Eagles) – with a big win, not to mention the Eagles will also be unfurling their premiership flag too.
2019 AFL season: Round 2 preview
Another loss that also stands out is the 104-point loss to St Kilda that occurred in round two, 2010. Brent Harvey endured the worst match of his career picking up only five possessions (or so). But it’s worth noting that they did hit back with a win over West Coast the following week.
North Melbourne's worst losses under Brad Scott
The reason why Fitzroy went from spooners to premiers in 1916 was because due to World War I, only four teams (Carlton, Collingwood, Fitzroy and Richmond) participated, and all teams were to play finals regardless of where they finished.
Outside of that season, no team in the history of professional Australian rules football has gone from spooners to premiers within 12 months. The closest any team has come to doing this was Essendon in 1907-08 and Collingwood in 1976-77 when they finished last and then finished runners-up. The swiftest rise from spooners to premiers came when Essendon finished last in 1921 and then won back-to-back flags in 1923-24.
2019 AFLW grand final preview
Not only that, the Eagles will also be unfurling their 2018 premiership flag too.
You’ll also remember that Fraser Gehrig, in his 200th AFL game in 2005, ran Leo Barry ragged for the whole match kicking seven goals as St Kilda thrashed Sydney by 43 points.
For Josh Kennedy it’ll be his 200th club game for West Coast (222nd game overall after 22 games with Carlton between 2006-07); Chris Masten also brings up the double-ton (ironically, he was drafted by the Eagles with the pick they received as part of the Judd-Kennedy trade) and Shannon Hurn brings up a quarter of a kilo. Should be a huge night for the club.
Also a shame that the match won’t be on free-to-air in Melbourne given the occasion.
2019 AFL season: Round 2 preview
Another thing that I must note was that it took Djokovic 56 minutes less than it took for him to beat Nadal in the 2012 Australian Open final, in which the final set went to 7-5. One of the all-time great matches.
Final thoughts on Wimbledon 2019