NRL round one just a big mirage

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A WISE sports punter once said nothing was ever as good or bad as it looked in round one of the NRL premiership.

The punter reckoned everyone is so pent up for the season to start that everything in Round 1 is overanalysed.

Every victor seems a potential premier. Every loser is in for a miserable winter. The truth lies somewhere in between and is often the opposite of what we think.

I liked this theory so much that after every Round 1 each year, I do what we might call the contrarian's index where we try and see good in the bad and bad in the good in the hope of gettingto get a more measured feel about what lies ahead.

So here's the upside down view of key parts of Round 1.

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SOUTHS

Yes, yes … we all know the story. No premiership since 1971 but this is the year because they are bigger, stronger, fitter, faster and more experienced.

Maybe, but I am actually tipping them to be beaten by Manly next weekend.

Souths may have stampeded the Roosters on Thursday but they can earn nothing of substance until grand final day because anything less than a premiership is beneath a pass mark which is brutal pressure for any side. They will spend the next seven months as taut as if they are wearing a dinner suit with a tight top button.

Former Souths coach John Lang once said that, even in battling times, Souths only had to win a match or two to double the amount of onlookers at training and create a tsunami of interest. With extra interest comes pressure and the pressureheat on the Bunnies is enormous already high.

ROOSTERS

Their 28-8 loss to the Rabbitohs was enough to start a string of discussions about how tough is it to win back-to-back premierships and how the force of gravity gets you in the end.

Don't be fooled.

They'll have their little let-down and just float nicely in the top four and then, come September, watch them ­explode from the shadows.

BRONCOS

They did exceptionally well to throttle the Bulldogs and there were noticeable positives at both ends of the field.

But greater tests await them.

There was an element of mystery about the new-model Broncos and how they would play and their new patterns, particularly those relating to Ben Barba, will be studied closely by rival teams. It is significant that since landing in Brisbane, Barba has bought a house and got a driver's licence – signs he is settling down, but he will be a marked man throughout the this season.

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STORM

The Melbourne Storm have reinvented themselves more times than Madonna and just keep performing.

To come from 20-0 down away from home against Manly was stunning – but the Storm traditionally start the season as if they were shot out of a cannon as they must do with a team structured around three main players.

Their big question is whether their magnificent Holy Trinity of Slater, Smith and Cronk can stay fit and firing until September. We still think the $7 about a Storm premiership may be too short.

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COWBOYS

Had a mixed night against the Raiders but the club's new coaching staff must be asking themselves whether they really want to win a premiership and be photographed in their new checkered club shirts.

They may have been purchased when the club first opened its doors in 1995 and someone has just found them in a bottom drawer.

RAIDERS

Most teams would be heartbroken to give up a 16-0 lead as they did against the Cowboys but something is brewing here.

They are still very much the unfinished product but the night showed the best of the Raiders is great to watch and the best of Anthony Milford gobsmacking. Broncos fans are drooling at the prospect of he and Barba uniting next season for the club will instantly become premiership chances.

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PANTHERS

They were many people's sneaky tip to make the finals and those people are feeling very comfortable with their tip after they flogged Newcastle.

But we need to see more. Penrith in Penrith normally find a pulse. Newcastle had more injuries than a Combat moviehospital ward.

The Panthers may have just had a hot day.

That's the joy of round one. It creates more questions as it answers.

23.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Eels must cut Sandow, says Sterlo

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PARRAMATTA'S greatest halfback Peter Sterling has urged Eels hierarchy to jettison Chris Sandow, insisting the troubled playmaker needs a fresh start to have any hope of reviving his NRL career.

Sterling's stance came as the prospect of a Queensland homecoming appears doomed, with the Broncos, Titans and Cowboys baulking at a lifeline for the Cherbourg product.

Sandow was hailed as Parramatta's finest halfback hope since Sterling when he signed in 2012, but instead he has become the Eels' high-maintenance $550,000-a-season headache.

Instead of calling the shots in Parramatta's season opener against the Warriors yesterday, the recovering gambling addict turned out for NSW Cup side Wentworthville 24 hours earlier.

Four-time premiership-winner Sterling had hoped Sandow would be the man to break Parramatta's 27-year title drought, but fears the halfback's position at the club is untenable.

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"I think it would be mutually beneficial if Chris Sandow pursued his career elsewhere," said Sterling, a veteran of 227 first-grade games who piloted the Eels to their last grand-final victory in 1986.

"The writing is on the wall really that he is going to struggle to play first grade again at Parramatta.

"It's a shame to see what has transpired, but both parties need a fresh start and maybe that might be the best thing for Chris' career as well.

"It would be good for Parramatta and Chris if they severed ties."

It is understood the Eels are amenable to an immediate release and would help subsidise any move, but it is unclear how many NRL rivals are prepared to roll the dice with Sandow.

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The former Queensland Emerging Origin squad member's name was thrown up to the Broncos, but Brisbane coach Anthony Griffin said on Friday he had no interest in the pint-sized schemer.

The Titans are unlikely to be interested given that they axed him in 2008 for disciplinary reasons, while the Cowboys have three halfback options in Robert Lui, Michael Morgan and Ray Thompson.

Sterling said the Eels had the ability to move on from Sandow, praising the potential of new scrumbase pairing Luke Kelly and former Broncos utility Corey Norman.

"I like Corey Norman. The fact he has been paired with Luke Kelly is a good sign," he said.

"Luke is a level-headed guy, not a flashy player but he plays with good control.

"He is the kind of No.7 the Eels need to get them to where they need to be and that will allow Corey to play his natural game and play a bit of football. That can be a nice combination and one that suits the team.

"I don't know if Chris Sandow has any other offers, I don't know if it's an urban myth but there is talk around the Broncos could be showing interest.

"Parramatta might have to carry a significant amount of the contract money Sandow is on if he went elsewhere, but that would free up some money to add to the team in other areas."

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Opening Twenty20 washed out

The St Georges Park pitch is covered as rain continues to fall. Picture: Michael Sheehan. Source: Michael Sheehan / AFP

AUSTRALIA'S Twenty20 clash with South Africa in Port Elizabeth has been washed out without a single ball being bowled.

The three-match T20 series was set to start at 2.30pm on Sunday (11.30pm AEDT).

Heavy rain soaked St George's Park overnight, but it eased for around half an hour and umpires made an optimistic pitch inspection at 3pm (midnight AEDT).

Within minutes of the centre-wicket covers coming off, showers returned and the game was finally abandoned at 3.45pm.

Both sides had hoped to use the match as an ideal tune-up for the upcoming T20 World Cup in Bangladesh.

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"As competitive as these three games will be, I know both teams will have one eye on Bangladesh and starting to get some things nutted out for that tournament,'' Australia T20 captain George Bailey told AAP.

"They'll be hard fought games of cricket, but the results won't be as vital.''

The side's quest to win the only major piece of cricket silverware to elude Australia begins on March 23 against Pakistan in Dhaka.

The Proteas and Australia travel to Durban on Monday, with the next clash of the T20 series to be held at Kingsmead on Wednesday.

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Injury report: Stewart out for month

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A GOLDEN point loss after leading 20-0 was bad enough but it is about to get worse for Manly.

Star fullback Brett Stewart could be missing through injury for up to four weeks. The injury will certainly rule him out of Friday night's big match against South Sydney at Gosford.

Stewart did not return after half-time on Saturday night when his Sea Eagles led Melbourne 20-4.

Things went south from that point for Manly.

Storm skipper Cam Smith kicked a golden point field goal to give his side a dramatic 23-22 win at Brookvale.

Stewart was unable to even drive home after the match.

Brett Stewart of the Sea Eagles. Source: Getty Images

Manly coach Geoff Toovey was still assessing Stewart's injury yesterday but it is understood he may not be back for about a month.

"I'm not sure at the moment,'' Toovey said. "We will wait and see what happens after scans.''

Melbourne received five successive penalties in the second half, pinched the momentum and then stole the match.

"Five straight penalties and the momentum swung,'' Toovey said.

"We will asses the game after looking at the video. We made a couple of silly errors.

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"At the end when we had a chance to win but we made some poor decisions and mistakes. They were uncharacteristic mistakes. But we will lick our wounds and get up for Souths. They are on a high at the moment.

"It is a short turnaround for us and it will be another tough game. But we will bounce back.''

Missing Melbourne halfback Cooper Cronk is expected to return for Saturday afternoon's game against Penrith in Melbourne.

Meanwhile Newcastle was left battered after a 30-8 loss to Penrith on Saturday.

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Kurt Gidley (concussion), Tyrone Roberts (concussion) and Darius Boyd (hamstring) are all in doubt for Sunday night's match against Canberra at Hunter Stadium.

Boyd may be out for up to two weeks.

Newcastle is already missing star five-eighth Jarrod Mullen, injured in the Auckland Nines.

"We lost quality players across the park,'' said Newcastle coach Wayne Bennett. "We lost key players in key positions. Darius has done a hamstring, hopefully it's not too bad, it might be a couple of weeks.''

Penrith also copped some bumps and bruises but nothing too serious. "It was a war of attrition,'' said Panthers coach Ivan Cleary.

Newcastle led 8-6 at half-time before Penrith stormed home to record a robust first-up win.

Casualty ward from round one:

Mitch Brown (concussion, round two)

Todd Lowrie (concussion, round two)

Tyrone Roberts (concussion, round two)

Kurt Gidley (concussion, round two)

Darius Boyd (hamstring, round four)

Brett Stewart (hamstring, round five)

Dave Simmons (knee-cap, scans)

Liam Fulton (concussion, round two)

Jack De Belin (leg, scans)

Michael Witt (dislocated shoulder, scans)

Judiciary watch:

Justin Horo (high tackle)

Sonny Bill Williams (shoulder charge)

Anthony Minichiello (dangerous contact - knee)

Andrew McCullough (high tackle)

Martin Kennedy (high tackle)

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What we learnt from NRL round one

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1) Ben Barba is baaaack and set for an absolutely bumper season.

2) Champion Souths fullback Greg Inglis is without doubt a future immortal.

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3) David Gallop showed his old boss John Grant how to fill a stadium.

4) Face of the game Anthony Minichiello might have played one year too many.

5) ANZ Stadium is killing club football atmosphere and should be strictly saved for Origin and grand finals.

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6) Nothing has changed with Phillip Ronald Gould who is as irritating and annoying as ever.

7) Adam Reynolds will challenge Mitch Pearce for the Origin No. 7 jersey. Pearce had one run for seven metres.

8) The Dogs still have a big problem with T-Rex's work ethic. He made only 70 metres and missed three tackles.

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9) Boom Broncos winger Lachlan Maranta should play State of Origin this year.

10) NRL boss Dave Smith won't answer his mobile phone (reception can't be all that good in limos or Lucio's)

11) Brookvale Oval had the best atmosphere of all the weekend games. Long live suburban football.

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12) The Broncos can't make the finals with Ben Hunt at halfback and Josh Hoffman at five-eighth.

13) The Roosters desperately missed the strength and fear factor that Luke O'Donnell provided last year.

14) Channel Nine man-of-the-match judges need an appointment at Specsavers. How did Greg Inglis not get the award on Thursday night?

15) Every season opener should be on a Friday night at Allianz Stadium – with a 7.30pm kick-off.

16) The Knights lack direction and can't win footy games without Jarrod Mullen as playmaker.

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17) Storm have unearthed the perfect replacement for Gareth Widdop – boom playmaker Ben Hampton.

18) Panthers winger Josh Mansour is not just a powerhouse. His second try against the Knights was pure class and magnificent skill.

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19) The Sharks have a sensational young hooker in Michael Lichaa who scored three tries in five minutes in NSW Cup. Pity he's likely to go to the Bulldogs.

20) Brett Stewart should be the NSW State of Origin fullback, even if Josh Dugan is fit.

21) The Panthers' five-year plan has become a six-month plan. They could make the top four.

22) Manly is already missing the defence strategies that Brad Arthur put in place last year before he left for Parramatta.

23) Golden point should be golden try. It's still a lottery.

24) Jamie Lyon and Michael Ennis are still the quinella of best whingers in the competition.

25) Cameron Smith still handles pressure better than any other player in the competition, as shown by his calm match-winning field goal.

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26) Ricky Stuart can coach and the Raiders will improve on last season.

27) I didn't think it was possible, but Johnathan Thurston is getting even better. He so deserves to win a premiership.

28) Cowboy Jason Taumalolo has the ability to become one of the NRL's most damaging forwards. He made 207 metres and five tackle busts against the Raiders.

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29) Tipping winners is getting harder every year. I'm sitting on 1 from 7.

30) Stop the presses. Referees survived the weekend without a major blunder, although there is one game to go.

31) Ian Roberts' brain damage revelations showed why the shoulder charge and punching had to be banned.

32) Kade Snowden is the most over paid player in the game. Props on $450,000 should make more than 75 metres.

33) George Burgess on half his salary made 145 metres in one half against the Roosters.

34) Joel Caine has got 10 lengths on Tom Waterhouse as an odds spruiker.

35) The Knights have unearthed a future superstar in 16-year-old Harold Matthews fullback Matt Cooper. He scored SIX tries against the Dragons on Saturday.

36) Tigers rookie Luke Brooks is a wonderful prospect but needs to work on his defence. He missed seven tackles yesterday, a la Benji Marshall.

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37) Parramatta's 21-year-old Fijian flyer Semi Radradra is an extra special talent.

38) So too is second-rower Manu Ma'u who was outstanding last night against the Warriors.

39) Will Hopoate has lost pace in the two years he was out of the game.

40) Mick Potter is under even more pressure at the Wests Tigers.

41) Dragons five-eighth Gareth Widdop is a very early candidate for buy-of-the-year. Yesterday he produced four try-assists and kicked eight from eight.

42) Parramatta don't have as many fans as the Wanderers.

43) Nothing has changed – the Warriors can't travel.

44) Nothing has changed with $500,000-a-year Adam Blair who made only 44 metres for the Wests Tigers.

45) The Roosters not only have the best senior roster in the NRL but also the hottest kids. Their SG Ball side thumped the Cronulla Sharks 60-6.

46) Braith Anasta is a fine media talent and should have retired last season … or even the year before.

47) Wests Tigers against the Dragons should have been shown live on Channel Nine. And it about time David Gyngell showed us the footy in HD.

48) Good luck Triple M … 2GB's Ray Hadley and Andrew Moore are still the two best rugby league radio callers by the length of a football field.

49) Steve Price can actually coach.

50) The Rabbitohs were clearly the best side we saw in the opening round. The TAB agrees because they have now installed Souths as $4.50 premiership favourites.

23.01 | 0 komentar | Read More

Sit skiing taking heavy toll

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THEY'VE been described as the craziest athletes at the Sochi Paralympics.

All it takes is one slight bump to start in motion a fall that quickly descends into out-of-control chaos for sit skiers who are locked into a chair attached to a ski and are hurtling down the mountain at over 100km/h.

The downhill race - where competitors start at the top of a steep, winding mountain and it's fastest to the bottom wins - was marred by repeated carnage on Saturday when 11 of the 27 competitors in their mono-skis failed to finish.

Some were lucky and skid off course before sliding sideways into a fence.

The picture of himself that Kyle Walker posted on social media after his crash. Source: Supplied

Others like American Tyler Walker, Briton Anna Turney, Mexican Arly Velasquez and German Franz Hanfstingl fell violently, bounced repeatedly off the ground and catapulted high into the air before finally coming to rest hundreds of metres from where the drama started.

In some cases the ski snapped from their chair and equipment worth thousands of dollars was sprawled across the snow like a train wreck.

Walker cartwheeled several times before coming to a stop where he lay motionless before medical staff arrived and he was airlifted from the mountain in a helicopter.

The US team later announced the 27-year-old, who was born with lumbar sacral agenesis and had both legs amputated at the knee at the age of four, was stable and conscious.

He later tweeted:

Great Britain's Anna Turney, who is paralysed from the waist down, remarkably emerged from her high-speed crash at Rosa Khutor with little more than a swollen lip.

"This is an extreme downhill damn it and I really wanted to win it," Turney said.

"I really wanted it and at the end of the day I got my line slightly wrong, then it was so bumpy and I just popped out," Turney said.

"It's challenging and certainly where I crashed that was bumpy, but I think the course guys have worked really hard and made it as safe as they could.

"I don't think it was unsafe, it was challenging.

"There's a knuckle you bounce over and then it's quite like undulating snow, ice really, and everyone is like 'oh, it's so dangerous' but it's a downhill at the end of the day."

Mexico's Arly Velasquez falls during the men's downhill. Source: AFP

Turney barely had time to think when her sit ski kicked into the air and she was tumbling downward.

"I was just thinking 'go straight, go straight, go straight' and trying to be on a flat ski.

"I came over that jump, I landed on one edge and bounced onto the other edge, I felt like I was thrown around a bit and suddenly I was falling because it's very quick - it's so annoying."

Some sit-skiers have no legs while others have little or no function in them and they are strapped into a large seat that sits inches off the snow with only their arms free to hold out-riggers in the hope they can stay on course.

Matthias Lanzinger: "For me in disabled sport, all the guys are heroes." Source: AFP

Austrian Matthias Lanzinger was a world class able-bodied skier before losing his left leg in a racing crash and is now at the Sochi Paralympics where he competes in the standing class with a prosthetic.

Days before competition began Lanzinger said he was in awe of the sit skiers.

"For me in disabled sport, all the guys are heroes," Lanzinger said.

"But the sitting category are all absolutely crazy and heroes."

Australia has one sit skier in its team in Sochi, Victoria Pendergast, who will compete in the slower but more technical slalom event this week.

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Smith: ‘I quit for my family’

Family man... Graeme Smith with wife Morgan Deane and children Cadence and Carter. Picture: Morne de Klerk/Getty Images Source: Morne de Klerk / Getty Images

SOUTH Africa captain Graeme Smith, who last week announced his retirement from international cricket, was influenced by his family in taking the decision, media reported today.

Smith, 33, told the Sunday Times newspaper that he knew he had made the right decision while at the hospital bedside of his 18-month-old daughter, who had suffered burns from hot water.

He says the toddler reached out to him and touched his Proteas badge.

"That's all she's known of me really.''

"She sees me on the TV and that was a moment where I realised I'm pretty happy with the decision I've made,'' he said.

The Proteas captain stunned the cricketing world on Monday when he announced he would quit international cricket at the end of the Test series against Australia.

"I'll have more time to see my children grow and I'll be mentally more there.''

Smith is the most capped Test captain in the history of the game with 9,262 Test runs at an average of 48.49 with 27 hundreds and 38 half-centuries.

He has captained the Proteas for 12 years since the age of 22.

"As a captain, even when you are at home your brain is still elsewhere a lot of the time,'' he said.

The batsman, who married Irish pop singer Morgan Deane in 2011 also has an Irish citizenship, but says he has no plans of playing for his second country.

"I won't be picking up a bat for that country. I won't be playing for Ireland.''

"If am going to play for anyone, it would be the Proteas,'' he said.

He said breaking the news of his decision to his team was difficult, and he struggled to get his words out.

"After I'd said my piece, I had to get out and get some fresh air because I was a bit of a wreck.''

The skipper said his wife has carrying the load of raising their two young children while he played cricket.

"I think of her with the two kids travelling to wherever I am in the world, and making it work. She is a strong woman.''

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Sheffield Utd reach FA Cup semis

Sheffield United's John Brayford scores their second goal. Picture: Nick Potts/AP Source: Nick Potts / AP

THIRD division Sheffield United continued their remarkable journey in the FA Cup by upsetting second-division Charlton Athletic 2-0 to reach the semi-finals.

Managed by Nigel Clough, son of legendary former Nottingham Forest manager Brian, United became the first team from the third tier to reach the last four since Wycombe Wanderers in 2001.

"I'm just delighted for everybody that we're going to Wembley, especially the players,'' Clough, whose late father never won the tournament, told BT Sport.

"To win nine games on the spin, they deserve an immense amount of credit. At some clubs they have an element of mediocrity off the pitch, but we try not to have that here.

"We hope to play a lot more big games like this in the future.''

Having previously accounted for Premier League sides Fulham and Aston Villa, as well as second-tier Forest, the Blades prevailed thanks to quick-fire goals from Ryan Flynn and John Brayford midway through the second-half at Bramall Lane.

United's Jamie Murphy, right, battles with Charlton Athletic's Callum Harriott. Picture: Nick Potts/AP Source: AP

Charlton winger Callum Harriott had just poked the ball wide of an open goal from a Marcus Tudgay cross when Flynn put the hosts in front in the 65th minute.

Former Everton trainee Jose Baxter swept an inviting cross into the penalty area from wide on the left and Flynn stole in at the back post to prod the ball home with the studs of his right boot.

Brayford's deflected shot made it 2-0 to the League One club just two minutes later, leaving United's fans to savour the prospect of a semi-final date at Wembley Stadium.

Clough's side join Arsenal — 4-1 victors over Everton on Saturday — in the draw for the semi-finals and will learn the identity of their last-four opponents later today.

Sunderland visit Hull City later, before Manchester City bid to avenge their shock 1-0 defeat in last season's final when they welcome second-tier Wigan Athletic to the Etihad Stadium.

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