Thanks for the comment Elliot. You make some good points and I hope you are right. After being in a similar position last season behind Leicester and falling away- I have adopted the usual Spurs supporter negative mindset and keeping expectations low

Thanks for the well researched comment.
He had a great list as you have mentioned. It is still difficult to take a team from the 3-6 ladder position and turn them into a premiership winning outfit. Lyon was mighty close to achieving that. he dramatically changed the team structure, took 1 season to equal what Thomas achieved and then took them to 2 grand finals. I have already outlined his achievements at Freo above. Overall- 2 clubs, 10 seasons (for 8 finals series), 3 GF and an overall winning percentage of 63%. Impressive coaching stats by anyones standards

Thanks for the comment TonyJ.
If I could put my supporters hat on for a second I would echo those sentiments about not wanting Chelsea to even if someone else did at the expense of Spurs. Title race over I think. Chelsea need 14 points from a possible 21 (assuming Spurs get 21 from 21 which is highly unlikely) and with a moderate run home, they have done enough. As for Liverpool- coutinho seems to miss a bit through injury and Manes absence through the ACN and his subsequent injury have been unfortunate. Still you are in the box seat to qualify for the UCL and I’m sure that would mark a very successful season. Pick up a strong DMF and central defensive cover in the offseason, then with a bit of luck you should be able to push for the title

Thanks for the comment Kaks. I did not rate Llalana previously but I think He has improved significantly this season under Klopp. His 7 goals and 7 assists (4 & 6 in 2015/2016) thus far provides a metric value to his output.
For mine Liverpool lack a real defensive midfielder and haven’t had one since alonso/macherano. Henderson is more of a box to box type. Whilst I also cannot understand why he is rated so highly, Steve gerard in his autobiography mentions his leadership and organisational skills as being crucial to the team, not to mention he is the closest thing they have to a DMF outside of the ageing Lucas Leiva.

Thanks Marcel. Duly noted 🙂

Thanks for the comment Post_hoc. Watched Jansen a bit more closely (albeit on tv) and I think he will be an asset next season. He plays more on the edge of the line with his back to goal which can offer the team something different. Some players need slightly longer to adjust to the EPL eg. Lamela and I think with a bit of confidence, Jansen will get better over the next season or two

Nice read.
The notion of loyalty in the AFL is
Not the same as it was a decade or more ago but is still superior to other codes both in Australia and around the world. The free agency and trade rules mean that is much harder for players to move clubs than in other codes. AFL has probably got the balance right here.
As you alluded to, loyalty is often seen as a one way street. We demand and expect players to stay as long as they can at 1 club yet clubs delist and trade at their behest to serve the clubs best interest. We should also be mindful of the fact that players only have a small window of opportunity to make money and secure their future. Whilst this goes against our romantic ideals of football loyalty, we must be understanding of the financial pragmatism that often underlies player movement

Nice read.
Used to love the concept especially as a Carlton supporter. It is a brilliant round of football but these days I think it’s better to spread these games over the season so that each round can have a ‘rivalry match’ rather than use them up all in 1 round.
Also I suspect there are issues with scheduling ‘equity’ that made it difficult to always have a rivalry round

Excellent piece. Brilliant analysis of the ruck rules and its impact. Great to read about the on field action rather than off field dramas.
I was a bit stumped when Rory Sloane contested the centre ruck duel and put it down to the fact the ruckman might have gone off and it was a stuff up from Adelaide but reading this article it makes a lot more sense. I have to hand it to the coaches for their innovation.

Nice read.
Hard to go past Russell as everyone on this thread has said. The numbers tell the story and as you well know – number never lie. No one has had to carry his team as much as Russell Westbrook.
There is 1 smokey that you have left out – Isaiah Thomas from Boston. He is averaging 29.1 peg, 6 assists pg and 3 rebounds. Obviously won’t win it as his number are not near enough to Russells or Hardens but worth a mention in the conversation given his outstanding season thus far.

Haha, Thanks Maggie. without wanting to bite the hand that feeds me – I will say headlines are a tricky business.

Great read Kate.
Completely agree. 5 set tennis is the pinnacle of mens tennis and as you said is only played at 4 grand slams, davis cup and olympics. If viewers can’t tolerate it for the aforementioned tournaments then they shouldn’t be watching at all.
Davis cup only plays 5 ties over a weekend, to reduce to best of three would be ill advised.

Nice read.
I hope he continues to play on. He is still a superstar of the NRL and injury-permitting still should have a couple of seasons at the top left in him. As a Storm supporter it will be sad to see him go but he has been a magnificent servant of this club for many many years and Im sure his legacy will live on whether in retirement or as a player in a sydney based club.

Thanks for the comment Maggie.
I think you could pull a few decisions from each match that were incorrect in every match of every season for the entire history of AFL. AFL is a difficult sport to umpire with interpretation and adjudicating on player intention making life very difficult for on field umpires.
Prior opportunity has long been an issue though and it is a tough one. It requires the umpires to have a certain feel for the game. Personally, I wasn’t too perturbed by it over the last 2 rounds and would rather them be stricter rather than looser on it. But What constitutes prior opportunity?According to the laws of the game prior opportunity is where player is 1. balanced and steady (reasonable time to dispose of ball) 2.Has chosen to take a player on or 3. Had the opportunity to dispose of football but chose not to. If they stick to that can’t go too wrong but like a lot of rules in AFL – applying that to a heater skelter physical game is tricky.
The Almir decision was a poor one – no question. But I still think the umps are doing a fair job of it so far.

Thanks for the comment Braintrust. You raise some good points. I am not sure though that the BCCI doctored a pitch to create and quick result to manage fatigue of the indian players. Indian cricketers have been lazy in the field years ago- but this is a stretch. I think the reason for the first test result is a combination of Indian complacency, good australian cricket with the aussie spinners bowling beautifully on an unpredictable “souped up” deck.

Yeah agree that was a crucial point in the series as well.

Thanks for the comment Matthew H. All excellent points. It would have been a great battle between Jadeja and Starc to see which number 8 could do the most damage. The only positive out of the stars injury was the re-emergence of Pat Cummins.
Agree that there are real issues with batting. Not sure the choice of Mitch Marsh at 6 only to not really bowl him when that his perceived strength. He averages 21 with bat and 37 with ball – not great numbers. Glenn Maxwell did a reasonable job but not sure he is No. 6 position messiah that everyone makes out to be. Very early days and at this stage he has played 6 tests for 10 innings with an average of 23. Meanwhile Usman Khawaja sits at home with a test average of 48. I would think he could easily slot in at number 4 to replace Shaun Marsh. Rodney Hogg mentioned the lack of an all rounder/5th bowler in India. I agree that in the indian conditions they missed a 5th bowler but I think in Australia the attack of Starc, Cummins, Halewood and Lyon will get the job done in the upcoming Ashes series.

Thanks for the comment Brasstax.
Yes you make a good point. What I meant (but didn’t clarify) was that if Saha had been out then Australia would have had a chance at the tail. For india that would be Yadav, Yadav and Kumar. For Australia the tail is cummins, lyon, SOK and Halewood.
They scored a combined 65 runs between all of them in the last test so I think had Saha been caught, Australia would have ended the first innings with a decent lead

Great read Vince. Miami have really turned their fortunes around. Really enjoyed whiteside ply his trade in the paint. Winning form come finals is the most important thing. Whilst a showdown against the cavs would be great tv I don’t think they would have a chance there. But if they can avoid the cavs first round then anything is possible

Fair point. I used to be in on the FTA bandwagon. Quite simply it isn’t financially viable or lucrative for the main FTA channels to invest. Slightly surprised that isn’t broadcast on the side channels e.g. GEM, GO, 7mate etc that generally have drivel on anyway. Doubt it would cost much to run this series given the lack of interest from most FTA providers. But it in era of money, mustn’t be felt to be financially lucrative enough to invest.

As previously mentioned, I miss the ABC radio coverage. I remember listening the coverage back in the tour of India in 2001. Gripping series that I only followed on radio and didn’t feel like I missed out despite not having Foxtel at the time.

Unfortunately, I can understand Foxtel is not financially viable for many households but the reality is if you want to follow multiple sports you have no option but to pay the $600 or so for a foxtel package. As I said to my wife, as long as i have $600 to my account I will always have Foxtel. Also there was the previous issue of FTA channels buying rights e.g. NSL and then treating the purchased sport with contempt both denying the viewer the chance to watch it and preventing Foxtel from showing it as well. When Foxtel have the rights, you know you will get outstanding coverage of the event.

Ange has his formation and game style and it is proven to work at club level. He also won the Asian Cup and so there is no question about his success whilst managing the socceroos. International management is a tricky business. He has a proven game style and I would stick with that. Chopping and changing formations when you only get your players for a small teaching window is fraught with danger. Yes we have struggled slightly in the 2 recent WCQ but we are still 3rd (only 1 point behind Saudi and Japan) and have 3 home games left.

This is a recurring issue every season. Yet I don’t think there is a real solution currently. The stadium trust needs to make money and balancing the competing commercial interests of NRL, union and HAL is difficult. The NRL isn’t going to move its games from SFS on Thursday night to appease Sydney FC and nor should they be expected to. With regards to the HAL GF, you cannot reserve stadiums around the country on the off chance the final may be played there and as long as we have the current finals format this will forever be a problem whenever Sydney or Brisbane are a chance to make the final.
Interestingly (as you noted) – AAMI park is shared by Storm, Rebels, Victory and City yet doesn’t seem to suffer the same issues that the SFS does. Hoping someone else knows the reasons for this.
At the end of the day (as Pie Thrower mentioned), the only solution is build a new stadium that just houses soccer (the financial viability, location would be huge impediments to this) or identify ways to create a better, more durable surface (if possible).

well researched article. Based on your article, there is clearly dearth of quality strikers playing abroad that could fill the socceroos striking lineup. Might be worth looking internally at the A-league at the likes of McLaren or Taggart to fill the spot in the socceroos line up. They are young, still have lots of potential, have good records at club level this season and are playing regularly.
We can lament the lack of strikers currently but everything tends to go in phases. There will be good times and bad times – unfortunately we are in the midst of a difficult time finding strikers. The bigger question is whether this is cyclical or are the player training pathways hindering the progress and development of our future stars. I don’t have enough understanding to comment and will leave it to the heavyweights to argue that one out.

Nice article Hugh. Interesting as to what changed to cause Federer’s improved showing against in the AO final. Maybe it is his new found attitude to the court. It is likely multiple things including not having played Nadal for some time prior to the AO final allowing him to reset the focus on his own game rather than mull over past failings – things he alluded in a post match interview.
Yes Nadal has dominated Federer if you look at it purely from a head to head perspective. But looking a little deeper – they have played numerous times on clay with Nadal winning each of the 5 times they have met at the French Open (overall 13-2 on clay). They have met 4 times at AO and Nadal leads 3-1 (overall 9-9 on indoor and outdoor hard court). At wimbledon it is 2-1 Federer. Interestingly, they have never met at the US open – a surface that Roger would have the distinct advantage. Stats are stats but I think the H2H record is skewed given the high number of times they have played on clay (42%) – a surface that clearly favours Nadal.
Lets hope the resurgence continues!

Hi Jean, agree with your sentiments about cam smith. He has been helping with the play making for quite a few seasons mainly from dummy half.. The left foot kicking game complements Cronk nicely.