The outgoing Richmond coach took the Tigers from a laughing stock to a colossus but his impact has reverberated much further afield“Let’s be honest,” Brendan Gale told author and journalist Konrad Marshall. “He inherited a piece of shit.” Even by Richmond standards, 2009 was a rough year. Terry Wallace’s final weeks as coach were particularly unedifying. The Herald Sun ran with the headline “Death Row”. He departed mid-season and retreated to his bolt hole, barricading himself in his home theatre.His replacement was a Kevin Sheedy man. Damian Hardwick had the Sheedy cunning, the Sheedy mongrel. He’d narrowly missed out on four senior coaching roles. He was pipped for the Essendon job after his computer short circuited during the interview. Continue...
The Queensland Maroons and NSW Blues squads boast proven experience and untried talent but there is rust and risk in both state’s selectionsNew South Wales have gone back to the future for State of Origin 2023, recalling a host of stars to their Game One squad while Queensland have overhauled their winning combinations from last year to blood a batch of young guns and forge a new dynasty.Blues coach Brad Fittler was first to name his Origin squad on Monday morning, confirming the return of box-office players Latrell Mitchell and Tom Trbojevic in the centres and moving swiftly to amend his big mistake from 2022 by recalling electric Bulldogs flier Josh Addo-Carr on the wing. Continue reading...
Against a backdrop of complex issues named for a man of multiple talents, Essendon and Richmond’s contrasting styles delivered sweet pandemoniumFootball is constantly lurching from the sublime to the farcical and the execrable. The Sir Doug Nicholls Round was no exception. Like the man it honoured - a boxer, footballer, professional sprinter, Minister, social worker, Governor and leader of his people – the round contained multitudes. From the riveting (Collingwood), to the rickety (Carlton) and wretched (West Coast), this round had the lot.You have to suspend disbelief as a football fan sometimes. An hour after a coach who denies an accusation of pressuring an Aboriginal couple to terminate a pregnancy stepped down, the league endorsed a Voice to Parliament. A...
With the narrative focused on the impact on Clarkson and Fagan, the stories of First Nations families appear all but erasedOn 4 July 2018, Norm Smith medallist and three-time All-Australian Cyril Rioli announced his retirement from football, effective immediately.Rioli was an adornment to the game. One of a few who possessed the skill and joie de vivre you would pay money to see. At the time, the reporting on the reason for his sudden retirement leant towards his difficult season the year prior, during which his father, Cyril Snr, died from a heart attack. Continue reading...
The bowler’s pace and style will be sorely missed, as will the highly anticipated rematch with Steve Smith and companyIf you started following cricket recently, you might wonder why the fuss about Jofra Archer missing this year’s Ashes. A player with 13 Tests for England, the last well over two years ago, and 42 wickets averaging 31. Those who watched four years ago will know why Archer is imprinted on an Australian cricket consciousness as firmly as on England’s. His earlier work in Australia’s domestic T20 league had already introduced an incredible athlete in the field and a force with the ball. Then he showed up in the second Ashes match of 2019 in place of the injured James Anderson.Weeks...