For we are,friends,at that time of year when the latter totally swamps the former. For the better part of the next month and a bitty,the usual NRL comp will stagger on while the Origin juggernaut swamps the airwaves,the net,print,and public attention. Is there another sporting competition in the world where the teams give over their best players to a different annual comp where the risk of injury is never higher?
NSW legend Andrew Johns was surprised to see the Blues move to Blue Mountains away from their "spiritual home" in Coogee.
I stand to be corrected,but think not.
And therein lies the problem. So overwhelming is the aforementioned juggernaut that it makes the regular comp look anaemic by comparison. When NSW puts Queensland to the sword with three minutes to go of Origin III –Dylan Edwards! He shimmies left,he shimmies right,he’s through! THROUGH! Try! Try! TRY! – who truly cares about the next Tigers-Eels match?
The way round it? The best I can offer is to take the NRL format back to a “final five”. At the moment,with all of eight teams making the play-offs,there is a certain meh quality to most matches. Every team that is half-decent will get in,so even when the Broncos get beaten by the Titans like they did last week,does it truly matter?
Blues debutants Cameron McInnes,Haumole Olakau’atu,Zac Lomax,Spencer Leniu,Dylan Edwards and Joseph Suaalii.Getty
Meh.
By narrowing the final field and shortening the finals period,you put more oomph into each match played by final-five contenders,and more oomph into the finals themselves. You know,like Origin!
And of course,Super Rugby must do the same. You only need to know that the Waratahs – despite having lost everything but the will to live in recent times – werestill a chance of making the finals to know that system must change,too.
If you need me,I will be in my trailer.
Beleaguered A-League
And speaking of comps that could do with a change in format,did you even know that the A-League grand final has just been played? I was only dimly aware. For your information,the Central Coast Mariners claimed their second consecutive championship in a 3-1 win last Saturday night over Melbourne Victory in front of a sold-out Gosford Stadium.
Alou Kuol of the Central Coast Mariners celebrates winning with fans on the pitch after the grand final.Getty
Bravo the Mariners,but the A-League itself is struggling under severe financial that would kill a brown dog;mass redundancies,and a shocking betting scandal now involving five players – including the captain – from Macarthur FC.
And yet? And yet,there are still great stories in it. Paul Waterhouse,my old producer from Channel Seven back in the days before it went mad and they had to shoot it,has just released a behind-the-scenes documentary series,A-Leagues All Access.
Last Thursday night they released their final,following Mariners captain/goalkeeper Danny Vukovic. A Socceroo who has had a 20-year professional career. He shares his journey of suspensions,family illness and now the ultimate triumph,all right before announcing his retirement post-match. When even I find it compelling,you KNOW it’s good!
C’est la vie,Rafa
And now,the end is near,and so he faces the final curtain.
As a player,Rafael Nadal was notable for many things,not least that no matter the position of the match,he fought with everything he had in him,scratching,biting and clawing if necessary,to extract the last ounce of energy he had left in him to win.
Nadal waves to the crowd as he walks off the court at the end of the match.Getty
Now,clearly,he is taking exactly the same approach to his overall career. Carrying as many injuries as your average casualty ward,he managed to make it on court for the first round of the French Open – which he has won a record 14 times – only to lose in straight sets.
The Nadal he was ten years ago would beat the Nadal he is now in straight sets and probably hand him a small tray of donuts – 6-0s and 40-0s to boot. On the one hand,it is nothing less than sad that we should see his powers fade before our eyes in this manner,a mere shadow of the player he was.
Most of us,I think,wish he’d just call it a day?
On the other hand,if you look at it with your head tilted to the right,you squint your eyes,and have the sun coming from over your right shoulder,you can maybe see a bit of inspiration in it. Given the player he was,how did we think that Nadal would finish any other way? Beyond his blistering array of shots,the very essence of his genius was his refusal to ever stop fighting. So of course he will be go down fighting until his last swing.
And there is this. Five yonks back the great St George and Kangaroos halfback,Billy Smith,finished up playing in reserve grade at the age of 35 – at a time when playing at such an age was the most unheard of thing anyone had ever heard of. I remember seeing an interview with him at the time when he was asked why he hadn’t retired at his height.
“I enjoy playing,” Smith said simply.
I suspect Nadal is exactly the same. We might find it sad that such a player finishes up like this,but it is not about us. He enjoys playing and still wants to play.
It’s not for him to go gently into the night. For him to rage,rage,against the dying of the light – and enjoy it right down to the last stroke.
Norman conquests
TFF wrote a this week noting how little I care for Olympic stats and dry analysis,and how much I love the yarns with colour,romance,chivalry and damn-the-torpedoes-full-speed-ahead-ed-ness. In passing,I mentioned the famous story of Australia’s own Peter Norman standing in quiet support of the African American athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos as they stood with their fists in the air to protest against the treatment of African-Americans in their own country.
Tommie Smith,centre,John Carlos and Peter Norman.AP
Smith and Carlos were expelled from the Mexico Games because of it,but it started such a friendship between Norman,Smith and Carlos that when the Australian died in 2006 they flew to Australia to carry his coffin.
Stories like that,for my money,are worth fifty times endless anodyne analysis. My friend Mark Morgan,however,raises one stat that does bear repeating,which is that nigh on six decades later Norman’s time on that night to win the silver medal – 20.06 seconds – isstill the Australian record! Truly remarkable.
As to what sort of a man Norman was,I interviewed him just before the 2000 Olympics and liked him immensely,particularly for his humility. The best illustration of that,as noted by one of the commenters on my story,concerned what happened when Smith’s alma mater,San Jose University,commissioned a statue of the iconic moment. Peter Norman insisted that his spot be left empty so that students and visitors could stand in his spot and momentarily be as one with the civil rights movement.
What they said
Andrew Johnson the NRL debut of John Hopoate’s son Lehi:“Hoppa has now had four sons playing in the NRL and a daughter in the NRLW. I said to him after the match,‘Mate,if you were a racehorse,you’d be worth a fortune’.”
Casper Ruud after beating Felipe Meligeni Alves in the first round of the French Open 29 years after Alves’ uncle,Fernando,beat Ruud’s father,Christian,at the 1995 Swedish Open:“I think both me and my dad wanted to get some revenge on the Meligeni family. It was worth the wait,I guess. It was many years we had to wait,but we got it today.”
Andy Murray on his French Open elimination:“There is no perfect ending in most scenarios. I’d like to go out with winning a match or winning a tournament,but it doesn’t really happen that way for most players.”
Rafael Nadal on his French Open elimination:“I cannot tell you if I will be[playing] or not in one month and a half[at the Olympics],because my body has been a jungle for two years. You don’t know what to expect. I wake up one day and I found a snake biting me. Another day a tiger.”
Nadal on whether this was his last tango in Paris: “I really hope to see you again,but I don’t know. Merci beaucoup.”
Aussie tennis playerMax Purcell after his French Open elimination:“I’m proud of the way that I fought. I should have walked off with the spoils,but that’s tennis,it’s a shit sport,you don’t always win when you’re winning.”
Do tennis players dress themselves? Not according toElena Rybakina:“These colours? These colours I didn’t choose. It was the brand who chose for me,so some other questions?”
Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes and manager Erik ten Hag with the trophy.AP
Manchester United managerErik Ten Hag crowing after winning the FA Cup: “Two trophies in two years is not bad,three finals in two years is not bad. If they don’t want me,then I go somewhere else to win trophies because that is what I do.”
Collingwood’sIsaac Quaynor appealed that he had managed to get a finger to the ball that went through the sticks. The umpires decreed he hadn’t. After the match,Quaynor said:“I’m not a liar,I didn’t touch it. But I was trying to claim it … I’m a liar to win a game,but once the game’s over,I’ll be honest. I didn’t touch it. I actually had a few people text me saying they thought I touched it as well,but no,the umpires got it right.”
Melbourne Victory coachTony Popovic after he lost his fifth grand final:“How do I feel? Five times I’ve been able to experience this seat and this emotion,five times. What does that mean? It means I’ve lost five grand finals as a head coach. That’s what that means. Also means I’ve arrived five times in the grand final. I haven’t been able to win one so far. That’s something that I’m trying to change.”
Broncos coachKevin Walters after the loss to the Titans:“We just weren’t ourselves.”
Carlton coachMichael Voss after they beat the Suns:“When you looked at our game,it was more us and the way we wanted to play.”
Adam Zampa on franchise cricket:“I don’t get enough out of franchise cricket. It’s great for certain aspects of your life,and it can be really enjoyable,but it’s not like being in the Aussie dressing room,not for me anyway. I don’t get the same buzz out of it.”
Team of the Week
Matildas. Play China in Sydney on Monday.
Oscar Piastri. The Australian F1 driver came second at the Monaco Grand Prix.
Waratahs. The season from hell is now over.
Socceroos. World Cup qualifier against Bangladesh next Thursday in Dhaka. But don’t panic,it’s organic. We – the goodies – have already qualified for the next round.
Women’s State of Origin. NSW hoping to wrap up the series in Newcastle on Thursday night.
Central Coast Mariners. Completed the treble of the grand final,premiership and AFC Cup after winning what I’m told was a dramatic grand final.
Geelong. Still haven’t won a match since TFF talked up their 7-0 start. Surely,they will beat Richmond today.
Sports news,results and expert commentary..