Tag Archives: friday-musing

Friday musing – Ashes washup, Nat Fyffe…..

Chris Barwin HillsWell the Ashes are over and Australia has lost 3-2 with none of the five games going into the fifth day. When you examine the averages it is hard to see how Australia lost. Joe Root was the only English 1440188864611batsman to average more than 40 for the series, while Australia had Chris Rogers, Steve Smith & Dave Warner who all averaged over 40. Warner got a half century in each test without going on to get a hundred. Then you look at the bowling and while Stuart Broad took the most wickets with 21 the next best Englishman got 12 wickets, Australia had four bowlers who took 15 wickets or more.

In a series where the ball seemed to dominate the bat, no bowler really dominated. Broad’s 21 wickets has to be considered in the context of his match winning 8-15 in the fourth test, take that away and he averaged just over 1.5 wickets an innings. The 21 wickets is less than 2.5 wickets an innings which is hardly a domination compared to previous series. It was more like one bowler stood up each innings and then didn’t do much else and that applies to both sides.

In the final test Shane Warne was harping on about the selectors making a mistake and not playing Peter Siddle for Josh Hazlewood in the 4th test. To that stage Hazlewood had taken 16 wickets at an average of 25.75, not bad numbers really, but he was not really providing the Glenn McGrathish pressure that allowed them to playUnknown two left arm bowlers. Here I think was the major selection blunder playing the two left arm bowlers who were a bit all over the place. I would have dropped Mitchell Johnson for the last two tests and played Siddle or Cummins. They eventually played Siddle and he surprised everyone with a stellar performance in the final test.

Overall, if you win three games as easily as England did, you deserve to win back the Ashes.

Turning briefly to the AFL there was a lot of discussion earlier in the week with the Nat Fyffe incident with many of the pundits calling for his suspension. Quite rightly the MRP chose not to impose any fine or suspension. The incident was a free kick for too high, but nothing more than that. Having said that I am an unabashed Fyffe fan and hopes that he wins the Brownlow and goes on to get the Norm Smith medal in a Freemantle grand final winning team.

Have a great weekend!

Friday musing – Serena Slam v Grand Slam, Test match cricket, Cameron Smith plays 300

Chris Barwin HillsI first turn my attention to the Serena Slam. Apart from Serena Williams essentially referring to herself in the third person, I cannot understand why she is not considered a Grand Slam winner. I know it is considered to be holding all the championships in the one calendarUnknown-2 year, but I cannot see the difference. If any player holds all four championships at the same time they should be considered winners of the Grand Slam. Forget the Serena Slam it is a Grand Slam.

It is amazing the difference a week can make in cricket. I went to bed last Saturday night thinking that Australia had a good chance to bat through the day and consider launching an attack on the last day to try and win the test match in Cardiff. I was disappointed to wake up Unknownand hear they were all out and the top scoring batsman was Mitch Johnson. Surely if Johnson can make 77 runs, the other specialist batsmen should have been able to cobble together a decent score! The disappointment of last week was put aside this morning when I woke up to hear that Australia had amassed a score of 337 for the loss of one wicket.

This brings me to one of my hobby horses – test pitches. Too often these days pitches are prepared to favour the team that wins the toss and bats first. A traditional test match pitch should offer some hope to the bowlers in the first session, last night there was nothing in that pitch at all and the only wicket to fall was to a somewhat profligate shot. I think it might be time for the ICC to step in and have the match referee involved in the pitch preparation.

Congratulations to Cameron Smith for his 300th NRL game this weekend. I am not a huge NRL fan, but I must say that Cam Smith is one of the more impressive people in Australian sport. Not only is he a great player and a great leader, but he handles himself well in Unknown-1
public no better than the recent controversy that he was somehow landed in. He has chosen not to comment on the matter in public and wants to meet with Alex McKinnon and sort it out behind closed doors. How refreshing!

Have a great weekend!

Friday musing – State of Origin, NBA, Women’s World Cup, AFL

Chris Barwin HillsOn Wednesday night I ventured along to the MCG with 91,500 others to watch Game 2 of the State of Origin series between NSW & Queensland. It was certainly a much better game than Game 1 with an early try to both teams. However, the most exhilarating part of the night, the Greg Inglis near length of the field try, was disallowed by the video referee. I don’t claim to be an expert on Rugby League, but to the letter of the law it would seem the decisionUnknown was correct, but what an anti-climax! In the end the game was essentially decided on two very marginal video referee calls. The Josh Morris try where he appeared to only get a thumbnail worth of downward pressure on the ball and Myles knock-on which cost Inglis his try. Both decisions looked correct on review. I enjoyed the game, but I think rugby league is probably a better game to watch on television, particularly for the uninitiated. That observation may also explain why their club games do not draw big crowds.

The NBA final series came to a close earlier in the week and it was good to see Andrew Bogut celebrate his win with the Golden State Warriors, however, given he had no game time in the last two games and only a couple of minutes in game 4, it may be a slightly hollow feeling for him. He obviously deserved the accolades but it would have been good to see the coach put him on for the last couple of Unknownminutes given they had a reasonable lead at that stage. I hark back to the old days with football when you had the 19th & 20th men and the coach would bring them on for the last couple of minutes of a grand final just so they felt part of it. Continuing with the NBA it is hard to see how LeBron James could not be considered the MVP for the final series given his herculean performance, however, I understand that in American sport that the MVP would never go to a player in the losing team.

Great to see the Australian women’s soccer team, the Matildas, get through to the round of 16. I know the team from the United States is always strong in women’s soccer, but Australia was in the ‘GroupUnknown of Death’ together with the Nigerian and Swedish teams. To get through that group was a very good effort. They now come up against Brazil who are one of the tournament favourites so fingers crossed for the Matildas.

The “3rd man up” in ruck contests in the AFL is generating a bit of discussion at the moment and I think the way Geelong are using it with Mark Blicavs & Rhys Stanley has probably narrowed the discussion. It seemed to me that last week against Port Adelaide, imagesone of them was blocking Matthew Lobbe while the other one took the hit out. That would appear to be contrary to the rules, but not only that, what happens if each side sends another man up, then you have 4 players competing for the throw in and it begins to get farcical. I am starting to agree with Leigh Matthews that the “3rd man up” should be banned.

Have a great weekend!

Friday musing – Chris Judd, Neale Daniher, French Open, Stan Wawrinka

Chris Barwin HillsIt was sad to see a champion of the game in Chris Judd end his career as he did last weekend. He is most certainly one of the modern day champions and for a period of 5-8 years was the undisputed best player in the competition. In my opinion his best form was at West Coast which took in a Brownlow medal, a Norm Smith medal in a losing team and he captained their 2006 premiership team. In this team he stood out in a team of good Unknownplayers like Kerr, Cousins & Cox. While there was no doubt he was still an exceptional player at Carlton where he won three consecutive best & fairest awards and another Brownlow medal, he stood out because he was so much better than the rest of the team. I think champions deserve to go out on their own terms and maybe going out the way he did took emotion and the fanfare away from his retirement which probably, in some strange way, suited him.

Sticking with football, it was great to see the football world rally around Neale Daniher and his cause last weekend. Neale was one of the most sublimely skilled players I have seen much in the mould of a Unknown-1James Hird, but unfortunately his body let him down before he really established his greatness. Having said that, I remember Leigh Matthews rated him ahead of Bruce Doull as a half back flanker, even though he had only played 60-70 games before he did his knee. Unfortunately for Neale his body has also let him down in life, but not dulled his spirit.

Moving away from football it was refreshing to hear Novak Djokevic acknowledge that he was beaten by a better player on the day in his post match interview after the French Open tennis final against Stan Warwinka. Too many times you have the sour grapes post matchUnknown-2 interviews where the skill of the opposition is not respected. In tennis I doubt I have ever heard Serena Williams acknowledge she was beaten by a better player on the day and certainly, in soccer, Sir Alex Ferguson never did!

Have a great weekend!

Friday musing – Arsenal, Sepp Blatter, Adam Goodes & Adam Voges

Chris Barwin HillsWell it was great to see Arsenal salute in last weeks FA Cup final and what a comprehensive result. I don’t think Aston Vila had a shot on target for the entire game, whereas the Gunners put four past their goal keeper and he also made several good saves. This now makes the Gunners the most successful club in FA Cup history and whilethe Cup doesn’t carry the aura that it once had, it is still a significant alexis-sanchez-arsenal-burnley_3223813piece of silverware. The goal from Alexis Sanchez had to be seen to be believed and it certainly caught the Vila goal keeper by surprise. I thought I would not see a better goal for quite sometime, until I saw Lionel Messi’s slalom effort in the Spanish Cup final, unbelievable!

While we are on the World Game, it was no real surprise to see Sepp Blatter re-elected last Friday, but it was a big surprise to see him resign by Tuesday. He clearly has caught wind of further Unknown-1investigations which may involve him and yesterday we hear that Jack Warner from Trinidad & Tobago may be tipping the bucket on him. With 14 arrests already this organisation is clearly toxic and it will take someone of extreme integrity and resolve to sort it all out.

I was not going to weigh in on the Adam Goodes situation, but his behaviour last Friday night probably demands some comment. I have no particular issue with him doing the dance during the indigenous round, but it was clearly directed towards the Carlton supporters in the crowd. I have not booed Adam Goodes and nobody can say with certainty the booing is not racist, but for me it is his on-Adam-Coodesfield demeanour, coupled with his ability to escape suspension for issues that other players get weeks for which I don’t like about him. He is self congratulatory and a bit of a “look at me” character, you notice it at the ground particularly after he kicks a goal, he actually goes looking for his team mates to give him high-tens. He is also not the first and won’t be the last player to get booed consistently and most of the time those players that do get booed are absolute champions, like Wayne Carey and Diesel Williams. I think Goodes is a fantastic player and I don’t think the Hawthorn crowd that booed him would do so for racist reasons given they have at least three indigenous players in their ranks, including Cyril Rioli who is just about their most popular player.

It was great to see a 35 year old debutante make a century on debut over night in the West Indies. I saw Adam Voges playing in a domestic one-dayer about ten years ago and thought I had just seen the next Adam Gilchrist. Well that didn’t quite pan out as I expected,Unknown but he finally got his chance at test level and scored a remarkable century given no one else in the team could get past 39 and that was the number 11. This reminiscent of Mike Hussey and Chris Rogers coming into the team in their 30s and making a strong contribution.

Have a great weekend!

Friday musing – AFL, Malthouse, NRL, State of Origin, FIFA, Sepp Blatter & more

Chris Barwin HillsWell the Carlton/Malthouse issue was finally brought to a close this week with Mick challenging the board to make a decision which they duly did. While I have not been a supporter of Malthouse, it is sad that the coaching games record holder should go out in such an inglorious fashion. I also have an antipathy towards Carlton built up over many years, but watching them play Geelong last Friday nightUnknown was quite painful and I must say I felt sorry for them (a first). I didn’t think Geelong played all that well, but Carlton did not punish them for their plentiful mistakes. Something had to give and it is always the coach in that situation, but not usually so early in the season. With Carlton playing again tonight I think I might watch a movie as you would anticipate that the Swans will show no mercy.

I also watched the rugby league State of Origin game during the Dalligan & Gordieweek and while the game was close, I must say I found it rather boring. It did not have any real highlights and Queensland’s
experience in the end got them over line.

The FIFA situation with a number of delegates being arrested was probably the biggest issue in world sport and if every country was honest, Sepp Blatter should not be re-elected president. The problem will be that the delegates, who have been involved in the untoward activities, will probably feel safer with the existing regime that has propagated the issues that are under scrutiny now.

Well we have the dream final in the NBA with Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers, so we should have an Australian on the Unknownwinning team again. As stated last week I would like to see Andrew Bogut salute. He has been around for a long time and suffered a number of injuries, and not only that, he is an Essendon supporter!

Speaking of Essendon I cannot let the week go by without congratulating Dustin Fletcher on his 400th game. In his 23rd season at the age of 40 he has missed over 100 games through injury and suspension which makes his milestone all the more remarkable.

Have a great weekend!

Friday musing – A-League final, AFL, Mick Malthouse, NBA Playoffs, Andrew Bogut…..

Chris Barwin HillsThe biggest thing in local sport in the last week was the A-League grand final and what a comprehensive result for the Melbourne Victory. They were aggressive and positive from the start and played almost the complete game. Sydney FC only had two real shots on goal and both went straight to the keeper. Speaking of the keeper, Lawrence Thomas, in my far from expert opinion, he is better than
the injured Nathan Coe so they didn’t lose anything there. I think in Unknown-4the previous week Melbourne City put more pressure on the Victory defence for the same score line. This is perhaps the most complete side to take out the title and while they lost and drew a few games during the year that they should have won, it was evident that if they clicked no other side in the competition could beat them. Mark Milligan was a deserved winner of the Joe Marston Medal and it is surprising that he has not find greater success overseas.

In the AFL it is interesting to see the issue about the head high tackles and the tactics employed by the likes of Lindsay Thomas in drawing free kicks. I raised this issue earlier in the year and players Unknown-3that drop their knees and dip/raise their shoulders are almost impossible for the umpires to detect even though it is the equivalent of ducking the head. I think it is unfair to be critical of the likes of Thomas, the Selwoods, Shoey and Puopolo when coaches from all teams should be teaching the players the same tricks. Every supporter hates when these frees are paid against them, but delight when they go in their favour.

The heat on Mick Malthouse continues and it reminded me of when Ron Barassi went back to Melbourne. He had been successful at two clubs, but could not work his magic a third time. I think the main issue at Carlton is their atrocious disposal. They win the ball in Unknown-2contested situations and then give it straight back to the opposition. I think they could be a sneaky chance tonight against Geelong, but I am still not prepared to pick them. My upset for the round is the Saints to topple West Coast.

The NBA finals are entering the final phases and wouldn’t it be great Unknownif the Golden State Warriors played off against the Cleveland Cavaliers so we could be guaranteed an Australian was on the winning side. Andrew Bogut v Matthew Dellavadova. From a personal point of view I Unknown-1would like to see the Golden State Warriors win the title for Andrew Bogut given his constant battles with injury he deserves the reward.

Have a great weekend!

Friday musing – WADA wades in with an appeal in the Essendon supplements saga, A League final…

Chris Barwin HillsWell Tuesday morning I awoke from my slumbers to the news that I had not anticipated. WADA had lodged an appeal against the AFL Tribunal’s decision in the Essendon supplements saga. I had not considered that WADA would have much interest in a domestic sport where the team under investigation had not actually won anything, as opposed to the Lance Armstrong/Marion Jones cases.

This seems to be very much driven by ASADA’s Ben McDevitt as it is hard to see why WADA would instigate an appeal without a strong push from him. I must say his comments after the original decision 1427929273480was handed down smacked of sour grapes. In addition, if the case is as flimsy as was reported, it is hard to see why an international body would want to touch it. The big concern is still the very low standard of proof required.

Another confounding issue here is the innocence of the players. I don’t think any one thinks the players knowingly took a banned substance. I am sure the club didn’t sanction banned substances, so if banned substances were administered (and I understand there is no direct evidence that they were) why continue to pursue this matter?

There is no doubt the club should have taken more care to ensure that the records and the substances were all properly approved and documented, but the club has been dealt with by the AFL. What has Unknowncome out this week was that there was a spreadsheet as to what the club believes was administered. This should put to one side the comments that the club didn’t even know what was administered to the players, because clearly they knew what they believed was administered and anything else would have been administered without their knowledge and consent.

It is quite ironic that revelations regarding the use of stem cell injections to aid recovery from injury came out in the same week that WADA decided to appeal. I resolve not to make any further comments on this sorry issue until CAS decide on the appeal.

Moving away from this blight on the local sporting landscape to the A-League grand final, it would have been interesting to see what sort of crowd they may have got if the game was to be played at the graham-arnoldMCG. I have heard suggestions of 70,000 and that would not be out of the realms of possibility and would match the expected crowd for the Richmond -v- Collingwood game at the same venue. Either way you would think that the game would still attract a greater audience than the Western Bulldogs -v- Freemantle game at Etihad Stadium.

I am hoping for a Melbourne Victory win and while a lot of the focus has been on their strike power up forward, I think the key to this game will be the captain, Mark Milligan. Should the Victory win, I think he is every chance to be named the Joe Marston medalist.

Have a great weekend!

Friday musing – AFL, Premier League…..

Chris Barwin HillsThere has been a lot of discussion about the substitution rule in AFL recently and I am a bit bemused by some of the comments coming from coaches and ex-players who would have been familiar with the operation of the old 19th & 20th man which existed until 1978. I can see the merit in the current rule, but having spent time on the bench as a 19th or 20th man, I think reverting to the old interchange rule is best for all concerned. I would also cap the number of interchanges to twenty a quarter. If the number of interchanges allowable was higher perhaps you restrict the number of times an individual player could be interchanged in any one quarter.

Sticking with the AFL, I was very surprised to see the Gold Coast player Stephen May suspended for his bump with Tom Rockliff.It looked like both players were going for the ball and May did not line up Rockliff to hit or bump him, but they came together in a jostle for the ball. I didn’t see the front on vision or any slow motion footage, but on vision shown to explain the decision I did not see a problem and clearly neither did the umpire as no free kick was paid.

Well Chelsea have secured the EPL crown with three weeks to go and while I find Jose Mourinho annoying, you cannot doubt his quality as a manager. He has now led Chelsea to the title three times and also did the same with Inter Milan, Real Madrid and FC Porto. You also cannot doubt Chelsea is a justified title holder given they have the most miserly defence and are second behind Manchester City for goals scored. The race is now on for second and fingers crossed the Gunners can get there and then secure their second FA Cup in a row which would be a good stepping stone to the next Premier League season.

Have a great weekend!

Friday musing is back talking Mick Malthouse, Jock McHale, soccer….

Chris Barwin HillsWell this weekend we have one of the longest running records in VFL/AFL football broken. Mick Malthouse becomes the coaching games record holder and he breaks a record that has stood for 66 years.

There are a few points that are worth making when contrasting the careers of both men. The McHale record included five seasons as a Unknownplaying coach which at the time was not uncommon. This bolstered his record, but it should also be considered that he also coached in an era when the seasons extended to only 18 games (plus finals).

Unknown-1Without trying to denigrate Malthouse’s achievement, three premierships and a winning percentage of 57% pales a bit compared
to the McHale record of eight premierships and a winning percentage of 66%. To get to the record on the back of one premiership every ten years is a remarkable performance and I cannot see this record being broken in my lifetime.

It is also remarkable when you consider that two North Ballarat boys have broken two of the longest standing records in VFL/AFLUnknown-2 history with Malthouse taking the coaching record and Tony Lockett taking the goal kicking record from Collingwood’s Gordon Coventry.

While I am on the AFL, I watched the Anzac Day game and again the Essendon side has fallen into the trap of trying to play dry weather football in the wet. Everyone knows that when you get the ball you kick it as long as you can and get to the next contest. I blame the coaches.

I know there is little chance of any further representative games being added to the very busy international soccer calendar, but I was Unknown-3thinking the other day that it would be great to see a team representing the EPL playing a team representing the Spanish Primera Liga or the Bundesliga or Serie A. There is always a bit of chest thumping as to who has the best league so why not have a competition where they play each other. Imagine the Spanish team with Messi & Ronaldo in the same team. Who wouldn’t pay money to go and see that?

Have a great weekend!