Most of all he was a true allrounder, on and off the field, and leaves behind a legacy of greatnessTo a generation of 21st-century cricket fans, Andrew Symonds was a real-life action hero. He had Superman’s physique, Batman’s mystery, The Hulk’s power and The Flash’s agility. Little wonder cricket-mad kids worshipped him across three decades. With a few swings of his bat, an over of crafty medium pace or off-spin, or a spectacular leap, dive and throw in the field, Symonds could turn a game on its head.He was a gifted athlete, a born entertainer and a reluctant celebrity. Most of all, a true allrounder, on and off the field. The news of his death is tragic. He leaves behind...
The Australian’s arrival in Glasgow was greeted by some with scepticism but for others a title in his first year is hardly surprising Some 26 years ago, back when the late Tommy Burns was manager of Celtic, a 20-something Ange Postecoglou was working as a bank teller in Melbourne’s CBD. He was in the middle of serving customers when he received a call from South Melbourne, the National Soccer League club with whom he had won titles as a player (including one under the tutelage of Ferenc Puskás) and was now assistant coach.“They said, ‘look, you’ve got the job for the next three games just as a caretaker coach, and then we’ll make a decision for next year’,” Postecoglou told...
His issues with Collingwood and Nathan Buckley seem unresolvable but there are other voices emergingIn football, the dogs bark, and the caravan moves on. There’s always next week. There’s always a new hero, a new villain, a new outrage. For years, Collingwood hoped, or assumed, that Héritier Lumumba would simply go away. He was living on the other side of the world. Most of the major players in the controversy were no longer at the club. Collingwood had positioned itself as a more progressive organisation.Indeed, for years, every time Lumumba would air his grievances, my flinch reaction was always the same: Heritier, you need to let this go. This has been going on for nearly a decade now. Collingwood did...
The forward’s magical second goal against Manchester United was a snapshot of her incredible ability and beliefAbout four years ago, as the 2017-18 Ashes reached Perth, someone organised a game of football between the travelling English media and their West Australian counterparts. We assembled on some nondescript piece of suburban scrubland, the standard was extremely mixed and after Michael Vaughan slotted home the winning penalty we all retired to the bar for the most important business of the day.As we sat there with our schooners, a local women’s team was heading out to train on the pitch we had just vacated. One of them was incredible. She had feet like hands. She had a head like a foot. She had...
Last year there was a very real chance he was lost to football; on Saturday Dusty was back with a bang On those rare occasions when things aren’t going Dustin Martin’s way on the football field, he repeats three words to himself: Strong. Aggressive. Unstoppable. It’s staggering, really. He has all the talent, all the medals, and all the money in the world. An entire football club was built around him. An entire competition was unable to lay a glove on him. He had an oaken constitution, and the perfect physique for his sport. Even in the ad breaks, he was swanning about in his underwear, seemingly without a care in the world. Turns out he was like so many...