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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Sport
Geoff Lemon

Australia sportwatch: Magpies comeback thriller, Raiders beat Eels and more – as it happened

Josh Gibson of the Hawks
Josh Gibson of the Hawks handballs while being tackled by Daniel Wells of the Magpies at the MCG. Photograph: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images

And we're out

Thanks for joining us for the first attempt at our new multi-sport blog on the Guardian. Like anything, we’ll be refining it as we go along, so if you have suggestions for improvements then fire them in our general direction. We’ll be back for all of Sunday’s Australian sport action with Adam Collins tomorrow afternoon. In the meantime, I’ve been Geoff Lemon, you’ve been tremendous, and we’re all being wished a good night.

Song of the day

This one, of course, for Richmond.

Re the NRL, lots of claims that Daly Cherry-Evans might have laid claims to an Origin spot to replace Johnathan Thurston. There’ll be plenty more speculation about that squad right down to the final seconds before it comes out. Nate Myles won’t play for Queensland after hurting his knee tonight.

A few good observations from the end of the day’s AFL.

1. With the random punching late in the game, yes.

2. Not sure if this is remotely true, but it is a good clip.

3. Hard to argue.

In case you missed it

NRL: Titans lost to Manly 10-30; Eels lost to Raiders 16-22
AFL: Swans lost to Saints 68-118; Giants beat Tigers 78-75; Lions lost to Crows 60-140; Magpies beat Hawks 90-72
Super Netball: Lightning beat Swifts 63-49; Fever lost to Magpies 42-49
Super Rugby: Force lost to Highlanders 6-55

Updated

Interesting point from Brad Johnson on the telly re that Richmond game. When Dustin Martin had that attempted long shot late in the game, Jeremy Cameron smothered it. But he’d managed to stooge the umpire and get several metres over the mark, by coming up to replace the man who was on the mark originally. Tom Scully crept back up near the line of the mark as well, and with the umpire’s eyes on him perhaps, Cameron came in from the side and smothered the ball almost as Martin kicked it. Even if the kick hadn’t been a goal, the umpire should have given 50 metres for breaching the mark. And that would have taken Martin to the goal line. Hmmmm indeed.

I stopped talking about the Brisbane-Adelaide game in the end to spare us all the embarrassment. Cameron kicked four, Greenwood kicked three - a couple of young kids. They didn’t even need their stars. Well, ok, Betts and Walker and Lynch all kicked three as well. But you get what I mean. Not much for Brisbane, a couple each for Barrett and Zorko. It was 60-140 in the end.

How quickly things change. Exhaustion kicks in during the last couple of minutes: the Fever give up a couple of fouls, a couple of missed passes, and the (netball) Magpies kick out to a seven-goal win, 42-49 over in the west. It’s a double Magpie night.

It’s 42-44 in the netball, the Fever won’t give up. They’ve trailed most of the game, they were level for a brief moment, then it went back to five goals, now they’re back to two against the Magpies. Four minutes left.

Updated

Collingwood (12.12.90) beat Hawthorn (11.6.72)

Well, Buckley could have had “Embattled” added by deed poll before “Nathan” this season. But he crafts his first win over Hawthorn in a substantial career, and a massive comeback is sealed. It was 43 points in favour of Hawthorn midway through the second quarter, and still 40 near the end of it. But Collingwood dragged back a couple of goals just before half time, then five unanswered in the third term. Breust got the first in the last, but it was to be Hawthorn’s only goal for the half, as the Magpies eventually scrambled four more, most of them late in the term.

Pies win it, and Hodge loses it. A tight contest in Collingwood’s forward pocket. Taylor Adams gave Hodge a whack, Hodge charged back into the pick and drove him into the ground. Pendlebury pulled Hodge up, and Hodge gave him a left jab to the jaw. Will miss a week or two there. In the meantime, the ball was knocked clear, Josh Smith ran onto it, and snapped the winner. It’s 90 plays 72 with a minute and a half left.

Ooof, should have been a 50-metre penalty there. Free kick to Hawthorn at half-forward, Goldsack kicked the ball well over the player’s head. The umpire is kind, says that it was close enough to the player. It is a tough rule - a simple skill error and a player could concede a key goal. Instead the forward entry is repelled by Collingwood.

Collingwood out to 13 points. The ball loose inside 50, Sidebottom snaps from the pocket and sedns through a magnificent one. Alistair Clarkson is looking grim in the coach’s box. It’s 84-71 to the Pies now, after haing been 43 points down in the first half.

Pendlebury again at the MCG. What a couple of minutes. And he was just strolling there. Roved a pack at the 50, had so much time that he just jogged a little wider to 40, took his time, sized up the goals and sailed it. 78-71 Collingwood. In Perth, the Fever miss a chance to take the lead, and the Magpies in that game get a couple of quick ones. 33-35 to them.

Scores level in the netball as well. The Fever goal to make it 32-32. Magpies are in tight games all over the country.

Pies back in front. A ball to the teeth of goal is punched down its throat for a rushed behind. Ball comes out again, turns around, goes back. Clears a contest on the bounce and Pendlebury is waiting out the back. Slips a sideways handball to Elliott, who loves a snap under pressure. Gets it. It’s 72-71 to Collingwood over Hawthorn with 10 minutes left in the last quarter.

The Brisbane Loins, as my dad calls them, are not being very fruitful. Their deficit is out to 85 points now as the Crows will take top of the ladder back from the Giants, in a very brief stay, with a big percentage boost. It’s 45 plays 130 at the Gabba.

The other Magpies are in front, over in the Super Netball, and they need the win. It’s 25-29 to the Pies against the West Coast Fever midway through the third quarter.

Updated

Goal for Hawthorn! Collingwood nearly scramble out of defence, but after a lot of frazzled play the ball comes back one too many times. Hodge’s long ball in, Breust reads the crumb, and the Hawks are back in front by si.

The carnage ends at 6-55 for the Western Force in Perth, and when you’re playing like that, you can be forgiven for wondering why anyone is fighting to retain a rugby team over there.

Very apt time to read Bret Harris’ take on Australian rugby teams being so regularly punished by those from New Zealand.

Make that scores level. Wells again running out to meet the ball on the half volley on the 50. Handballs out to Elliott, who finds Crisp. His set shot gives the ball a ride, and it just clears the goal line from out near the Southern Stand boundary to tie things up. Wellity wellity well. Hawthorn scored one point to begin the last quarter, then didn’t score again as Collingwood kicked five goals in a row. Settle in for a fai finish.

One goal the difference at the MCG! Darcy Moore runs into an open goal after a sensational bit of play and narrows the deficit to six. Daniel Wells in the middle had a long ball out of defence land in front of him. He punched it about 40 metres forward with a mighty swipe, and with most of Hawthorn’s players down the other end, Moore ran hardest to finish off the counterattack.

In the meantime, Adelaide are blitzing Brisbane in the AFL. They haven’t just put the foot down, they’ve fired the solid-fuel boosters and are reaching low-earth orbit. Currently 6.5 this quarter, versus 1.0 for Brisbane. Charlie Cameron has kicked 3.1. The score is 42-104.

NRL: Parrammatta (16) lost to Canberra (22)

Last set of six for Parra with 90 seconds on the clock. Some brilliant runs, some incisions. For a second it looks like they’re through. Then the Raiders apply some brutal team defence, smashing the ball loose and winning a scrum. They’re just running the clock down, picking and driving straight into tackles to whittle off the last seconds, and that is it. Couple of losses in a row for the Eels.

It’s funereal on Victorian radio about the Tigers in the AFL, I’ll tell you what. Losses by three points tot he Giants this week two points to Fremantle, last week, and five points to the Dogs the week before. Apparently only about a dozen teams in the last century or so have lost three in a row by under a goal. To play devil’s avocado, if you’re losing by less than a goal then you’re not playing that badly, are you?

Try! The Raiders go ahead. Austin to Jack Wighton, slides it wide to Jordan Rapana, and he reaches out his left arm to plant the ball in the corner. Croker gets the important sideline kick, it’s 16-22 in Canberra’s favour.

Also - hello. A couple of goals to Jeremy Howe and Darcy Moore, and the AFL’s Magpies are coming back as well...

It’s neck and neck in the NRL, and those are some impressive necks. Siosaia Vave went over for Parra eight minutes into the half, then Blake Austin responded, at last, for the Raiders. Now it’s 16-all with 10 minutes to play. Another close finish shaping up, it’s been Squeaky Saturday.

Super Rugby: Highlanders denied another try after a high ball is ruled knocked-on in the in-goal. But then Rob Thompson receives a clever pass over the top, almost a fadeaway jump shot, and gets in for an unequivocal score. Marty Banks lines up from the sideline and drills the kick. It’s 6-38 in favour of the visitors over in Perth, with the Force mired in fourth spot in the Australian conference.

Speaking of the west, I’ve been neglecting the Western Force. Sadly, they’ve been neglecting themselves as well. They’re 24-6 behind the Highlanders as some dense and unusual rain comes down in Perth at the start of the second half, and they’ve just lost the ball after having won a scrum feed near their try-line. Not much going right for them tonight.

Sunhine Coast Lightning (63) beat NSW Swifts (49)

A fumble for the Swifts at the end, a full-court pass for Caitlin Bassett, and she’s robbed by the buzzer of her 50th goal. So she has tied the Lightning score single-handedly. Mind you, Sam Wallace got... 39? 40? of those Swifts goals. A margin reflective of the dominance, really, the Lightning were too good throughout. The Fever and the Magpies is the next Super Netball game tonight, coming over from the west.

At half time, the Brisbane Lions slip to 65-35 behind the Crows, while Collingwood chipped away with four goals in the second quarter to be 64-30 behind the Hawks.

The Lightning have punched out to a 61-46 lead, and the Swifts call a timeout with four minutes left. “We can do this, we’re good enough to pull this back,” is the punching message within the circle. The clock is back on. But it doesn’t do the job, as the Lightning score first before Wallace nails another Swifts long-ranger.

Here comes the comeback, and Ricky Stuart won’t be happy. Parra score twice in the last six minutes, first Manu Ma’u capitalising on a Raiders error near the line for his first try of the season, grabbing a loose ball, before some brilliant dancing from Semi freed up Jennings to go over. They convert the second try, and it’s 10-all at the half.

Hello, Brisbane. Jake Barrett closes the gap to two points, and some ferocious tackling then gives Brisbane the chance to hit the front, but they muff it. The ball streams down the other end, and basketballer Hugh Greenwood runs off the back of a pack to crumb his first goal on debut. There’s a theme tonight, and this one won’t be taken back by the umpire. From the centre bounce, Jacobs gets a great tap for the Crows, there’s a kick to 50, and Greenwood does exactly the same thing to rove that pack, runs inside 50 and slots another from 40 out! That’s how quick the punishment can be against good teams. It’s suddenly 47-33 in favour of the Crows.

Swifts get a penalty and convert it, but mess up the follow-up. Then another forward attempt. Three times this quarter they’ve given Wallace far too much to do up forward, trying to lob the ball over her opponents or pass when she’s outnumbered. Even at 193cm, there’s only so much she can do. The Lightning keep scoring on the counter, and their buffer remains roughly where it has been since before half time, at nine goals. It’s 46-37 as they call another time-out.

Finally a goal for the Magpies (that’s AFL, not netball), with Brayden Maynard gets their first, but Luke Breust answers immediately with Hawthorn’s seventh. It’s 44 plays 7 at the MCG. Looks pretty full but not completely packed. Adelaide goes past Brisbane, normal service resumed, then Eddie Betts dribbles a miracle goal from the pocket, normal service also resumed. Eddie’s miracles are other people’s multigrain toast. It’s 34-24 to the Crows in that game, second quarter.

Updated

Somerville bombs a long goal, Wallace nearly does the splits to take another ball that she then converts. The Swifts are scoring in more spectacular fashion, but the Lightning tend to score on the counter with comparative ease. The gap is 38-31 in favour of the Sunny Coast.

Parramatta besiege the Canberra try-line for a good while, but can’t break through. Some heavy hits already in this game too.

I haven’t looked, but I’m quietly confident that the salty responses to this tweet will now have swelled into a mighty inland sea.

Leilua adds another Canberra try to Cotric’s dive that squeezed one in right in the corner, and this time Croker nails the kick. The Raiders lead by 10 against the Eels.

The Lions in the AFL are the surprise of the round so far, not just nine points up on the Crows but they’ve kicked 3.6 so far. Nine shots to five. Hawthorn, meanwhile, are smashing the Magpies, who kicked only a point to quarter time.

Super Netball: Sunshine Coast Lightning are streaking ahead of the NSW Swifts in the second quarter, currently at 31-23 though the Lightning have taken a time-out in order to plan for being even more gooderer. Their passing game has been off tap this quarter, although the Swifts have hauled them back a touch in the last few minutes. Sam Wallace, the Trinidadian import, has been knocking down goals at every opportunity.

Last time these teams played it was a five-goal margin. But this is a tough team to beat. They’re the most accurate shooters in the league, firing at 89%, which is ridiculous. Caitlin Basset is the most accurate shooter in the comp bar none, at 94%. The Swifts are second for accuracy, but the Lightning have best defence really, top for rebounds and intercepts.

The last couple of minutes ticks by to half time, and it’s 33-26 to the Lightning.

The Hurricanes out of Wellington absolutely destroyed the Cheetahs earlier, 61-7. But Australian attention will be on the Force game which is about to get underway, the Perth team taking on the Highlanders.

Two more AFL games have started, with Brisbane-Adelaide and Collingwood-Hawthorn, plus in the NRL the Canberra Raiders have an early try against Parra. But for now let’s have a look at the Super Netball...

Full time at the Titans-Manly game as well. Dylan Walker, despite being the match’s Long John Silver, gets over for an emphasis try to cap off the win, and Manly have done it 10-30 in the end. The Storm must be even more annoyed at having coughed up that high-scoring loss to Gold Coast last weekend. Was a good game, but not for Melbourne.

GWS Giants (11.12.78) beat Richmond (10.15.75)

“I just thought I’d throw it on the boot and hopefully it’d go through and luckily enough it did.” Jeremy Cameron with his analysis of the last goal, as Cameron Mooney asks the hard questions on the telly. Hmmm.

“Euphoria, mate. I enjoyed last week, I don’t know if this one’s better, but bloody hell it was good.” A bit more fun from Toby Greene.

Jubilation from the orange fans up in the west of Sydney. Another heartbreaker for the Tiges. Had they won the last two weeks they’d be top of the ladder. Now they’re at risk of falling out of the top eight. They missed too many easy shots today, and didn’t put the game out of reach when they had the chance.

One last surge forward, Riewoldt surrounded on the 50. The ball comes to ground. GWS clear the defensive zone. Steve Johnson is running into space on the wing. Picks it up. Keeps his head. Calls Cameron to lead to him. Chips the pass and Cameron marks 70 out. With only 15 seconds left on the clock, it’s enough. Twice in two weeks, the Tigers have lost one at the death. And twice in two weeks, Johnson has been the key cameo appearance at the death to help the Giants snatch a win. What a game. Giants win by three.

Shai Bolton with the winner! Surely, must be. Would you believe that. Free kick at half forward, the long ball to Riewoldt who stays down when four Giants go up. Gets the ball. His snap smothered. Bolton, in his first game, so quickly gets it onto boot and snaps the goal. But it’s been touched! Score review rules the GWS defenders got a touch as it was kicked. Three points up. Ball goes down the other end. Cameron picks up the loose ball and goals! Giants in front with a minute to play.

Updated

Richmond coach Damien Hardwick spoke light-heartedly before the game about setting up better in close games in the last two minutes. Well, he’s got an immediate chance to come good on those words.

Fast and furious, this game now. The Giants put together a string of circus-level possessions on the wing, trick-shots ahoy. But the final kick is smothered going forward. Martin marks 60 out and pumps it into the man on the mark. Cleans up his own spillage but can’t find a target by foot while being tackled. Two minutes left, two points the difference.

Uncork it.

Remember how I said the AFL game wasn’t over yet? Well, the Giants have kicked four in the last quarter. Greene to start. Reid with his second. Taranto with his first. Then Heath Shaw sprints down the wing to put one on the chest of Matt de Boer. Remember him? The former Fremantle player who came in today? He makes the margin one point with six minutes left.

Given there’s no football happening today, you should at least read David Squires’ cartoon. Which, as always, is very good.

Another one for Manly! The lock Jake Trbojevic crashes over next to the left post, and the conversion is notched. Out to 6-24. This despite the fact that Walker can’t do the thing his name suggests, with his knee still sore from that big collision earlier.

But as I type this, the Titans get one back. Taylor’s little low kick, Anthony Don catches it and gets fingers to the ball with about three inches of in-goal left. Taylor’s kick for the conversion though is not so good. It’s 10-24.

NRL: Manly and Gold Coast come back just after half time with the scores still at that point of 6-18 in favour of the Seagles. The flurry of activity in the first half has settled again. Walker is smashed hard while looking for Uate out wide and can’t get the final pass away that might have opened up the Titans.

Giants and Tigers, but no bears. Oh my. Daniel Rioli pulls out a beautifully slick move to backhand the ball behind himself when it’s about to go out of bounds on centre wing, then run onto the rebound. Just runs out of space and gets caught. But it was sliiiiiiiick. Tyres squealing. Richmond have been masters of cocking things up at times, they’ve had many more shots but they’re only 20 points up.

Then Menadue gets his second, after coming into the team today, before Riewoldt makes space with a clever double-back lead and kicks two for himself. The lead gets out to 31 points, but some fast linking play gets Zac Williams free in front of the Giants’ goal and he snaps truly. With seconds to go in the third quarter, Riewoldt has his bell run by a late spoil from Shane Mumford that clatters him in the head. He’s shaken, but more irritated than anything after Houli marks from the play-on advantage and slides his shot from 50 wide after the siren.

It’s 45-70 at three-quarter time, 25 points in Richmond’s favour. Tigers lost a thriller last week, Giants won one. I wouldn’t remotely call this match settled yet.

If you search for ‘Giants and Tigers and Bears’ the only result is this Skyrim video. In the 30 seconds that I watched, I can warn you that it’s full of violence and swears. Giants and violence and swears, oh my. Be warned.

Updated

Forgive a self-indulgent moment, but... this seems unsettlingly accurate.

Trading tries on the Gold Coast, as Akuila Uate goes over and Matthew Wright nails the conversion. Then there’s... let’s be honest, a hilarious score. Manly pushing forward, there’s a bullet pass straight into a teammate’s head, and Ash Taylor grabs the rebound, bolts into the corner for a try, and slots the resulting goal from the sideline.

Brilliant stuff, but Manly atone with two tries in four minutes to Dylan Walker and Apisai Koroisau, both converted. It’s suddenly 6-18.

Women’s AFL star Daisy Pearce was very direct in her Fairfax column today, talking about male athletes using each other’s families as the basis for sledging attacks.

The crux of her take: “the dismissal of incidents like these, regardless of how often they occur or how few of them there are, and the ongoing tone of objectification and sexualisation when it comes to commentary about player’s partners continues to hold us back from making true progress in this area. The wives and partners of players are often referred to like possessions or accessories and still depicted as disruptive and shallow; gold-diggers who are seeking fame and the “problem” when players want to return to their home state.”

And it feeds into that devaluing of women that is all part of the deep and inherent social problems we have with violence in all its forms. Case in point, former AFL player Justin Murphy being given a paltry six-month sentence this week for a sustained series of attacks on his former partner. This kind of thing keeps being treated like a surprise, pushed out with shock-value headlines, but it’s happening to real people and it’s happening every day.

Rugby. Rugbies? We’ve got league, we’ve got union. Call it rugby legion. Manly and the Gold Coast are seven minutes deep in the NRL, and the Hurricanes and Cheetahs have just started in the Super comp. Both games are yet to see a score.

Of course he did. Probably restored a priceless vase or something at stumps as well.

Meantime, the Tigers are finding space inside 50 very easily against the Giants. 10 marks in that region so far. But they’ve missed half a dozen shots at goal to keep the scores at 42-20 in favour of the Victorian visitors.

If you want a more in-depth take on the Force’s chances of keeping rugby in Perth, check out Matt Cleary’s take from yesterday.

If dance is more your thing, you may enjoy this. I’ve never been so stylish at a press conference.

Rugby union: The Melbourne Rebels aren’t playing today (they take on the Waratahs tomorrow), but they’re playing shots off the field as the ARU continues to faff about deciding who should be cut from the league. This was the latest release from the Melbourne team’s management.

“The Melbourne Rebels wish to reiterate its clear legal position that the ARU has no legal right to “cut” them as a team in the Super Rugby competition. The ARU must come out and publicly put an end to the speculation. For the avoidance of any doubt whatsoever, neither the Melbourne Rebels nor its owners will engage with the ARU in relation to the sale or cancellation of its Super Rugby licence.”

Makes things even more interesting for the Western Force, the other team that could be on the chopping block. They’re playing Otago’s finest, the Highlanders, later tonight.

Updated

Meantime, the Tigers had a goal after nine seconds to Trent Cotchin, after a perfect centre clearance. Then another one within two minutes to Grigg (who is also a handy middle-order bat, I can testify after seeing him turn out once in Endeavour Hills), and Jack Riewoldt has just added a third after marking at point-blank range. Jez Cameron has kicked one for the Giants. Lively fast stuff so far.

Is it just me, or is this a great season? The Cats flying, then crashing, then getting airborne again last night. The Hawks and Swans getting dire, then coming back up. Adelaide ascendant, then brought down by North. Richmond, Melbourne, St Kilda all turning in some really impressive games but still being flawed. Not to mention the reigning premiers floating around. No one has really got the measure of the rest of the competition.

Updated

I mentioned Franklin’s late burst against the Saints. Check out this 55-metre left-foot snap. Hero off a half step, turtle power.

So it’s Richmond heading up to Spotless to take on GWS. The Giants have been flying high, the Tigers had a crushing loss after the siren last week against Fremantle.

Himmelberg, Coniglio and Smith are out for the Giants, Greene, Perryman and de Boer are in. Note that de Boer is a former Docker, maybe to psyche out Richmond before the bounce?

The Tigers have six changes. Sam Lloyd, Ivan Soldo, Anthony Miles, Dion Prestia, Connor Menadue and the debutant Shai Bolton are in. Out go Batchelor, Caddy, Ellis, Markov, Butler and Elton.

Updated

Sydney (18.10.118) smash St Kilda (10.8.68)

Full time at Docklands under blue Melbourne skies with the stadium’s roof open wide. The Saints hung in there for a fair while, but once the Swans got a run on they weren’t to be stopped. Franklin kicked 4, there were 2 for Cunningham, Papley and Hannebery, and there were more single than a Tinder binge. For the Saints, Riewoldt did his usual hard work for 3, Gresham and Membrey got a couple, and Acres, McCartin and Roberton got the ones.

Nick Riewoldt of the Saints takes a mark during the match between the St Kilda Saints and the Sydney Swans at Etihad Stadium in Melbourne.
Nick Riewoldt of the Saints takes a mark during the match between the St Kilda Saints and the Sydney Swans at Etihad Stadium in Melbourne. Photograph: Tracey Nearmy/AAP

Updated

Some AFL first, because nothing else has started yet. Those wily foxes. The Swans have got their act together after a shocking start. They’ve been too fast and too direct for St Kilda, who have tried to play a high-precision game kicking to unmanned players, but haven’t had the foot skill to pull it off. The Swans have been full of pressure, as is their trademark when they’re going well.

Also apparently some of the St Kilda fans have been booing Lance Frankland whenever he gets the ball, which is not a great look. Especially from a club that didn’t win a lot of admiration last week, with a sustained sledging attack on Carlton’s Marc Murphy using his wife as the subject matter. All class.

In response, this burn doesn’t seem at all unfair.

Nor do the two goals Franklin has kicked in the two minutes that I’ve been writing this post.

Hello world, and as the great HG Nelson would once have said on a Sunday afternoon, welcome to another show where too much sport is barely enough. Welcome also to the Guardian’s new live blog style, we hope you like it. All the codes, all the action, and hopefully plenty of interaction on top of that.

To take the new ball up the hill into the wind, my name’s Geoff Lemon, and it’s nice to have your company. Make your presence felt - you can get in touch about anything good, bad, or otherwise, on the blog, in the wolrd, or in the games. Get me on Twitter at @GeoffLemonSport, or use the hashtage #sportwatch. Email me at geoff.lemon@theguardian.com. Or comments will be open below the line on this page, so leave something there and I’ll try to brave the battleground when I work up the courage.

There’s plenty on this Saturday afternoon. In the AFL, Sydney and St Kilda are in the second half of a contest that was fairly even to half time, but the Swans are kicking well away at the start of the last quarter. The Giants take on Richmond for the twilight game, then tonight there’s Brisbane versus Adelaide, and the big Collingwood-Hawthorn match to fill the mighty MCG.

In the NRL later this arvo, Gold Coast take on Manly, after those two teams were at opposite ends of the fixture for the double-header at Suncorp last week. The Titans tipped Melbourne Storm off the top of the ladder in a last-minute upset. In the other game, the Eels and the Raiders are next-door neighbours on the ladder at 9th and 10th, so they’ll look to throw some hard rubbish over each other’s fences. Bring on the credenza war.

In Super Rugby, the Stormers beat the Blues in the early hours of this morning. We’ll have the Hurricanes versus Cheetahs in a couple of hours, then Force-Highlanders tonight, Sunwolves and Sharks later tonight, and the ARU versus half its clubs for about another three years on current form.

In the Super Netball, Sunshine Coast Swifts will take on the NSW Lightning in Sippy Downs, which is also what I call it when I fall over at the pub, and the West Coast Fever will afflict the Magpies. Both of those are evening games so more on them later.

Any or happening that I’m missing in the world of sport, be it wide or narrow, send it through, we’re not above anything.

Let’s play ball.

Updated

Geoff will be here shortly. In the meantime, why not have a look at our most-read piece of the past seven days: Paul Connolly’s excellent review of the state of football in Australia.

It seems reasonable to suggest that despite its compelling finale, the A-League season failed to live up to its early promise. It wasn’t just that a stellar Sydney won the premiership by the length of the straight, which took away a good deal of suspense and, arguably, gave to the second half of the season the same clock-slowing feel of a long layover in an airport transit lounge. Outside of this there was also an undercurrent of discontent that lapped at the game’s ankles and now seems to be heading towards its knees.

Read the full piece here:

Updated

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