Tag Archives: tom-hawkins

Weekend musing – Jumper punches, World Cup qualifiers…..

June 11, 2017 sportzfan Leave a comment

Whilst there was not all that much to tweak my interest this week, I did think Tom Hawkins was dead set stiff for copping a suspension when his hit was quite minor compared to the Cotchin, Cunnington & Jones hits of the previous few weeks. Having said that, you would think with all the publicity attached to those recent hits, he wasn’t using his brains to grab a jumper and then punch someone. The AFL were going to make a stand at some stage and Hawkins was the first one to be subject to the Match Review Panel’s crack down.

I was pleased to see that Josh Schache re-signed with Brisbane. Brisbane have coughed up a lot of players over the last couple of years and it is good to see one of their top draft picks choosing to stay. It’s about time things started to run their way.

It was also good to see the Socceroos succeed against Saudi Arabia on Friday night. Despite an indifferent performance they got the win and evened up the points with the Saudis and now only trail by goal difference. The pressure is on this team to make the World Cup finals and, if they make it, it will be a testament to the coaching of Ange Postecoglou. From what I see this current Australian team is a bit short on talent compared to more recent World Cup campaigns and while they have not yet confirmed qualification for the World Cup, they are still the only team in the group to be undefeated. Clearly, the match against the Blue Samurai in Japan in August will be crucial to qualification for both teams. Japan has the harder draw as they then play Saudi Arabia away in their last game while the Socceroos play bottom of the table Thailand in Australia.

Have a great weekend!

Sports

Weekend musing – Muhammad Ali, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Tom Hawkins…..

June 11, 2016 sportzfan Leave a comment

Chris Barwin Hills The biggest sports story this week was the passing of Muhammad Ali. Ali was a sporting icon and was voted in one publication as the athlete of the 20th century. He had not fought for 35 years and yet ali my 14 and 22 year old sons knew who he was, I think everyone knew who he was because he was not only a sporting icon, but also a champion of human rights. Ali was a wonderful promoter of the sport of boxing, but also with his 30 year battle with Parkinson’s Disease was also a testament to the dangers of boxing. When I was growing up boxing was a prominent global sport, however, the sport has now lost its way and unfortunately now lost its reatest son.

I read with interest during the week about the likely transfer of Zlatan Ibrahimovic to Manchester United and Jamie Vardy to Zlatan Ibrahimovic celebrates scoring for Paris Saint Germain against St Etienne. Arsenal. My feelings here were quite mixed. I thought it would be great to see Ibrahimovic in the EPL even if it is in the twilight of his career as he is still one of the best strikers in the world. However, going to Manchester United gives me no joy at all. With Vardy, I am happy he is considering a move to Arsenal, but equally I would like to see him stick with Leicester City to continue that Cinderella story.

Like most AFL fans I was a little shocked to see Tom Hawkins cop a suspension for his hit on Phil Davis. Yes he hit him in the head, but the degree of force was so minor that Davis threw his head back tom more in surprise than due to the impact of the strike. If this is the standard of impact that is required for a report why wasn’t Matthew Pavlich reported for slapping Patrick Ambrose in the face on Saturday night! My guess is that Hawkins was carrying an injury and probably needed a week off otherwise they would have challenged the report.

Have a great weekend!

News, Sports

Friday musing – AFL, final eight, Richmond FC, Essendon FC…..

August 22, 2014 sportzfan Leave a comment

Well it is getting to the business end of the AFL season with still a few spots up for grabs and the final order still to be decided.

Richmond have come out of nowhere to put pressure on the lower reaches of the final eight, but the final game against the Swans in Sydney may spell the end of an inspired run. Some sides have failed to consolidate their spots and in the case of Collingwood & Gold Coast they have actually relinquished their positions in the eight. In my opinion it has now come down to Essendon, Adelaide and Richmond competing for the last two positions. If Essendon win this week and Adelaide lose to North, then I think the Bombers will be safe. At least there is still some interest coming into the final two rounds.

I must say I did not think Brenton Sanderson did his team any favours by having a whine about having to play Brisbane in Brisbane on a day when it was 24 degrees. Adelaide is not known for it’s freezing winters and 24 degrees is not uncommon come September. I went to the 2001 Grand Final and it got to about 28 degrees that day. If you go back to 1986 or 1987 and the Grand Final was played when it was 32 degrees. By complaining about having to play in those conditions he was making an excuse for his team against Richmond before they had even played! Not a good move in my opinion.

Another issue to come out of the Adelaide -v- Richmond game was the score review system denying Rory Sloane a goal. I have harped on about the SRS before and I think it is unnecessary and we should just rely on the goal umpire who is usually in the best position to judge. It is unusual to have howlers like the Tom Hawkins goal in the 2009 grand final, but the game should just live with the consequences.

Have a great weekend!

News, Sports

Friday musing – Back to basics with umpiring decisions……

November 22, 2013 sportzfan Leave a comment

Due to work commitments getting in the way of a good time, I didn’t see or hear much about the first day of the first Ashes test yesterday so I don’t know if there were any controversial decisions. But that got me to thinking about the Decision Review System (DRS). When it was first introduced I thought it was a good idea, because the umpires were coming under increasing scrutiny due to the technology available to the television broadcasters. Taking into consideration what happened in England in the last Ashes series, I think the system should be scrapped and it should return to just adjudicating on run-outs and stumpings. It would seem the DRS has created more issues than it has solved. The umpires decision is final and it should remain so. If the technology reveals that umpires are making mistakes then get better umpires.

I think this also carries over to the AFL. The goal review system was introduced to avert the howlers like the Tom Hawkins goal in the 2009 grand final. From what I have seen, the camera angles are inadequate and so it is impossible to come to a definitive conclusion and it usually comes back to the goal umpire. I think that system should also be scrapped and we should go back to relying on the goal umpire’s decision.

There is a push for goal line technology in the world game and if the experience in cricket and AFL football is any guide I would avoid it all costs.

One sport where the technology does seem to work is in tennis.