Excellent article / point of view, I have never seen that perspective, of being constantly scrutinised for a Socceroos spot.
With Cahill it was just about money and the chance to live a few years in NY plus more marketing opportunities or better lifestyle for family, to name a few, lots of reasons.

A-League should try and become a great nursery for not only Socceroos but a solid platform to get noticed across European clubs, that is my hope for the WSW team, a springboard for some of Australia’s finest players.

Johnson has been talking this garbage talk for 2 – 3 years in the hope that a coach, the fans and selectors will believe in him again. The bowling team has gone strength to strength without him there.

He has an inaccurate and unpredictable bowling technique that the English (and therefore the rest of the world) have worked out….
Leave the ball outside off and whip the inswinger off the pads, ALL DAY. Then banter something about his family so he wipes his tears whilst running in for the next delivery.

Not only does Johnson go for lots of runs in test matches but he also cannot be relied upon to bowl to a plan in the bowling unit. It is important to bowl as a group or pack and with Johnson this is just impossible. He needs to show Australia through some seriously impressive bowling figures that he should return and boot out one of the current quicks.

Mitch Starc can do everything Johnson can, with more accuracy however he needs more of a presence at the crease which will come with age.

Truly remarkable player the classic all rounder who can do it all, including a great pair of hands at slip. His averages speak for themselves, especially batting, his bowling of constant out swingers on a length is also very handy and makes him one the best ever.

Unfortunately I feel Kallis is the last of a dying breed the all rounder, now as the article points out most players are either one or the other in terms of bowler or batter and then specialised training loses one skill somewhat. Then whatever all rounder does exist usually only plays in T20 / IPL plus most the all rounders nowadays cannot score the masses of runs Kallis has, hell most of Australia’s top order can’t to be fair.

On a final note, his wife is super hot and I have had even more respect since witnessing this, well played Kallis, well played.

Good on Timmy ! Everton needed the money for Pienaar who would offer more than Tim, plus now he gets to live in the US which would be unreal and better weather than England. Good to see there wasn’t a fallout either, both parties exited gracefully.

If anyone could successfully move Hayne too 5/8 it’s Sticky, because he has his respect and is not scared of his ego. But the work rate is probably too much for Hayne hence why he doesn’t like it.

On another note, I hope Sticky can sign Tim Grant from Panthers, that’d be a good replacement for Hindmarsh 😀

Unfortunately mate this happen against every opposition Parra plays week in week out. So many juniors lost to rivals who go on to great things, Paul Gallen is biggest name I can think of off the top of my head but there would be close too 30 players doing well at other clubs, I think Kearney spent more time rectifying the youth retention policies than the head coach position, which is understandable as that has been his job at Melbourne and NZ.

Sepp Blatter is the worst thing for FIFA / football at the moment and needs to leave. The corruption and politics is very obvious add to that this dinosaur who does not want to see the progression of football.

Blatter also hates the EPL and English teams mainly, because, well they’re English and would be burning that Chelsea won the CL this year. Hence, why suddenly there needs to be a change to the penalty shoot out situation and goal line technology which has been banging on the door since the South African world cup.

Sour grapes from the sore losing silvertails and they wonder why they are so hated among RL clubs and fans.

RD has also developed more players and a bigger squad than what I can remember other coaches doing, which means giving lots of guys chances, which doesn’t always work but will reap benefits later on.

The only problem RD seems to have is he is unable to the beat one of the greatest All Black sides ever, just like everyone else.

Could you please explain how RL is more tactical than RU.

RU tactics include, ruck, mauls, scrums, line outs and kicking for field position. Plus the running aspects and skills seen in RL.
I have no idea why RL fans get so worked up about facts that the games are different and that RU is more tactical, it shouldn’t be an insult but rather plain facts.

Also RL body shapes are all becoming the same, 6foot whatever tall and 90-100kgs who can run fast. AFL and RU body shapes need to be various and therefore more inclusive, for example, the larger frame player for the front row in rugby is important, so too the tall lanky ruck man in AFL.

No coach can survive with a board like Parramatta’s, not even Ricky, they’ll butt heads constantly and the team will most likely under perform.

Might be better buying Toad Greenberg to clean it up in the boardrooms, or maybe John O’Neil ?

It means Park and Owen are gone twice as fast ;).

Scholes played well after he came back, he did what we needed, can’t ask for much more than that, but where was the hindsight of his retirement ? Having Anderson and Cleverly both unproven players at the moment, surely was never going to be successful, needed to buy someone I would have thought, but then again I am not Fergie.

” Darren Fletcher looks to be on the verge of retirement having failed to take a decent dump since 2006 ” this comment made me laugh out loud, geez did you give it to Manchester United.

The great thing is they lost by goal difference in the last seconds of the season, with more than half the team injured, inconsistent or being over 30.

They need a world class player in the centre and I would to see them get rid of Park, Giggs, Scholes, Carrick, Owen, Anderson. Owen, Park and Berbs are gone I think.

Aren’t they mostly all media trained, hence they spit out the same dribble, to stay out of trouble and not say anything that could get them or the club in trouble, which is sad as it kills off many personalities.

Stephan Kearney is my pick for worst of the cliches ! Every press conference since he took the job is exactly the same no matter how the team plays.

Example: ” I thought the lads had a good effort tonight, the effort was definitely there. ” Drives me nuts, I just want to shake him so he wakes up and drills the team on another shocking performance.

And have you seen Hindmarsh after a game ? Looks like death and the poor bloke is dragged infront of the media, what do you expect him to say in that level of understandable exhaustion.

Ahaha, it’s all too true mate.

Great analysis JVGO.

I think it was a much harder sell for the AFL into the Sydney(s) market, then for RU to push and promote more RU in NSW. Yet the AFL have been more proactive and aggressive, particularly in the Western Sydney area, with their rumored 100 million dollar investment…. RU instead of turning it’s back and saying RL and RU are completely different, they could have acknowledged the similarities, explained the differences and enticed more people to the game.

Come on WW, name names mate ! Name names, only joking, haha.

If neither team has the ability, skill or attitude to beat their opposition within 80 minutes of football, that should be the end of it. Or to put it nicer, if both teams are equal on the day/night they should be rewarded with 1 point each.

The only reason the NRL has it for the TV money.

I am so excited for the EPL to start up again and to watch my beloved Red Devils !! But honestly we are no chance of Modric, with Real Madrid willing to pay 30-35 million for him, we need 2 mids one defensive and 1 attacking and I’m hearing rumours Erikson is a possibility but I won’t hold my breath, I’ll just keep dreaming !!

Berb won’t be warming the bench boys, definitely gone, maybe Liverpool will buy him, they seem desperate for a tall striker, what do you reckon Nicholas ? 😛

United need to keep building towards not only EPL winners but also European champions. Chelsea will be their biggest threat this year along with Man City of course, however Chelsea have bought some fantastic players, and if Di Matteo can keep getting his players in amazing form, watch out. Also look for a resurgent Tottenham, after signing AVB and Bale to new contracts, this dynamic young team, can charge for top 3 no doubt, depending on how they cope with Modric’s departure…. and AVB’s trench coats …

Bring on the EPL !!

Agreed Steve Price has done nothing for his reputation by airing his dirty laundry in public, with no one knowing what on earth he is talking about.

Dragon critics this season have (and rightly so) been critical of their poor attacking tactics and execution. Price goes on about people bagging the culture and other nonsense. Also their little involvement in signing new players while half the group seem to be signing with Newcastle, has some asking good honest questions about Steve and the officials.

Thicker skin needed, Steve.

Jeznez, wouldn’t Cooper get 1 week if pleading guilty ? And get off completely if pleaded not guilty and won. Think that is the reason for his plead.

All speculation of course 🙂

“Get the tahs to re-connect with sydney”

The only time I hear something about the tahs is when I am in the city (only a few times a year at the moment) and see a billboard or when someone from the media is ripping them to shreds.

The ARU would be stupid to turn it’s back on Western Sydney if they thought it was only going to lose to NRL and AFL. People in Western Sydney love SPORT, develop and work hard with the young kids and who knows where they’ll finish. But a more prominent team to aspire too would help as well.

Western Sydney is too big a population to not fight for and the ARU cannot turn it’s back on this area.

Yeah these two displays have not done much for our boy’s confidence, especially against the swinging ball and conditions.

But lets be realistic. This is our first international after a long break half way around the world with a relatively new team, who I think very few have played in England.

But being a professional sport, we expect results all year round. The ODI team seems to be very unsettled and almost experiment like with the terrible selections, mentioned earlier.

The only thing this tour will do is give our boys mental scarring and the English more confidence and ammunition when the Ashes roll around. Not sure why CA agreed to the tour, hopefully they don’t give away any secrets !!

Why not punish India, by allowing the team who wishes to use DRS to use it while India go without ?

Surely the ICC cannot continue to be bullied by the BCCI board because of the financial benefits from India. That is a dangerous road the further they go down.

Yeah, good luck to the young man.

Thrown to the wolves by no fault of his own with relentless media speculation and pressure. South Australia will be good for him, hopefully can focus only on cricket and his game, particularly the short ball weakness. Maybe throw some dollars at the curator for a bouncy pitch ? 😉