Drug scandals, charity drives, ‘acts of bastardry’ and Hall of Fame acclaim… somewhere in all the madness, some exquisite football was playedThe week in footy began, as these things do, with a Texan in protective goggles tearing the Queens Birthday game to shreds. It proved that people are still willing to go to the football in large numbers. It revealed all sorts of cracks in the reigning premiers. It saw a rollicking finish from Collingwood. It compressed the ladder, and threw the premiership race wide open. It raised millions more for Motor Neurone Disease research.It then quickly moved, as the week in footy always does, to the negative. It zeroed in on an 18-year-old No 1 draft pick. It emphasised...
Australia are off to the World Cup. Now we must ask ourselves what we expect when they are in QatarIt is an oft-repeated expression that “opinions are like arseholes, in that everyone has one”. Tim Minchin used this once during a speech to university graduates, and then clarified that “opinions differ significantly from arseholes, in that yours should be constantly and thoroughly examined”. The comedian-composer said we should be hard on our beliefs, “take them out onto the verandah and beat them with a cricket bat”.It feels like an uncomfortable but worthwhile exercise after the Socceroos qualified for the World Cup, particularly when it comes to opinions regarding the coach. Today, a quick Google search of “Graham Arnold” brings up...
Losses, leaked texts and drunken brawls between teammates are inevitabilities in the AFL’s alpha male world but at a club like Melbourne, they matterIn 1995, the previously undefeated Carlton hit a flat spot, dropping games to the bottom two sides. At training on Monday, captain Stephen Kernahan stopped the group mid lap and growled in that gravelly gutted voice of his – “we’re not losing another fucking game!” They completed their lap, beat Hawthorn by 102 points that weekend, won their next 16 games, and coasted to the Premiership. They were one of the great teams, a team that bridged the semi and fully professional eras, a team that pretty much coached itself, a team whipped back into shape with...
A great sporting rivalry returned to the fore as fans at a packed stadium in Sydney tried to put the pandemic behind themState of Origin rose up afresh on Wednesday night and a crowd of 80,512 fans rose up with it. They came from cities and suburbs, country towns and specks on the map, up and down the east coast of Australia. On planes, trains and buses, in cars and cabs, on foot and phone, they argued allegiances all the way to the stadium. At the kick-off, they made a sound to behold: exorcised frustration from pandemic days and deep passion for “the fiercest rivalry in sport”.Queensland defied injury and underdog status to defeat New South Wales 16-10. Of course...
No one rode the play like the veteran caller and no one saw the game and its combatants like he didRay Warren was the feeling of rugby league as much as its voice. He called the game for so long and felt the game so deeply that it came to speak through him. That warm rumble that ran through Warren’s larynx as he rode the play – a trickle of adrenaline that could build to a torrent in seconds – made fans feel the crunch of tackles, the exhilaration of line-breaks, the desolation of defeat, and the pure joy of tries scored and sports battles won.After 55 years of broadcasting, 45 grand finals and 99 State of Origins, the “voice...