Ranking the four 'Super' playoffs
PLUS: The links and news that mattered from the long weekend
The first-round of the bloated playoffs has a few nice storylines, but no derbies and little suspense other than the prospect of four New Zealand teams making the semifinals.
Still, there’ll be those of us who watch them all, some with more relish than others.
1. Brumbies v Hurricanes, Saturday 9.35pm, GIO Stadium
Anticipating a Brumbies’ match can bring as much giddy excitement as waiting for a mechanic’s invoice but if nothing else this shapes as the hardest quarter-final to pick. The Hurricanes won a “meaningless” match against the Crusaders that was anything but given their previous difficulties against New Zealand opposition. Personally, I can do without the Dane Coles’ Greatest Hits repertoire, but it does create good storylines, which this tournament desperately needs. Not that you should preview sport through the prism of betting odds, but this is the only quarter-final without embarrassingly lopsided odds, with the Hurricanes slightly favoured at the Australian TAB and a little more generously favoured in New Zealand.
Further reading: “Coles has last laugh over rival Codie Taylor.
2=. Chiefs v Reds, Saturday 4.35pm, FMG Stadium
People with short memories may have forgotten that just a month ago the Reds beat the Chiefs at home. Those with slightly better memories will recall that the home was New Plymouth and the Chiefs rested a bunch of players. Those in Dunedin may remember that if the Chiefs had taken that match slightly more seriously, they would be in the playoffs (not that they deserved to be). If the Reds repeat the dose, colour me shocked.
Further reading: “Chiefs remain hot favourites but don’t count out Crusaders.”
2=. Crusaders v Fijian Drua, Saturday 7.05pm, Orangetheory Stadium
My initial thoughts were that the Crusaders will make them pay for the Lautoka boilover, and there’s a chance they will, but… watching the Drua dispatch the Reds in Brisbane is a good indication of how fast the Fijians have improved. If this was the afternoon kickoff I’d be tempted to give them a puncher’s chance, but regardless it should be PtII of a decent Saturday triple-deader.
Further reading: “Drua win for bereaved coach Mick the Kick.”
4. Blues v Waratahs, Friday 7.35pm, Eden Park
Both teams have slipped their motors into reverse and backed into the playoffs, with the Waratahs losing two on the bounce, including at home to the previously winless Moana Pasifika, while a bowl of spaghetti thrown against a wall would have had more aesthetic appeal than the Blues’ 16-9 win over the Highlanders. If you’d rather spend your Friday night cleaning your kids’ finger marks off the wainscoting, I understand.
Further reading: “Blues still searching for top form.”
Grace Nweke had 73 shots in the ANZ Premiership final and scored 70 of them. You’re not going to lose many games with numbers like that and her Mystics duly thumped crosstown rivals the Stars 74-56, sending Sulu Fitzpatrick out in style.
In matters of national importance, Noeline Taurua names her World Championships squad tomorrow and the Mairangi Bay Netball Oracle, who has been a little quiet since guaranteeing the Pulse would beat the Stars in the elimination final, has the scoop.
Her 12-player squad:
Attack: Grace Nweke, Ameliaranne Ekenasio, Maia Wilson, Te Huinga Reo Selby-Rickit.
Midcourt: Kate Heffernan, Maddy Gordon, Gina Crampton, Whitney Souness.
Defence: Jane Watson, Phoenix Karaka, Kelly Jury, Karin Burger.
And three travelling reserves:
Amelia Walmsley, Michaela Sokolich-Beatson, Peta Toeava.
I don’t know enough to argue, but I wouldn’t rule out the versatile Claire Kersten for a final campaign, even as one of the reserves, before retiring.
The tournament starts in South Africa at the end of next month.
The top five 11 teams in the NRL are separated by five points. That’s one competitive competition.
The Warriors 30-8 win over the ocean-going mammals who we’re not supposed to call Redcliffe despite 76 years of history felt like a blueprint, but that’s probably not the first and last time we’ll say that this season.
The forwards dominated the first half but were not rewarded with points, before Shaun Johnson took over in the second, running at the tiring big men.
Wayne Bennett was dead impressed, and this has to be the quote of the week (emphasis mine).
“He has been a long time in the NRL and he has had a lot of moods, but he has always been a quality player. At different stages I don’t think he has always been happy with himself the way he has played.
“He seems happy here right now and in a good place and that’s the challenge with these guys is getting them in a good place and in a good environment where he is enjoying his footy and he is obviously enjoying his footy and he played great tonight…
“Sometimes you have got to look at a bit more than their performances as to why they are performing well or performing bad. He is obviously in a happy environment here right now. He is enjoying his footy, so it is easy for him to come and play.
“It is when you are in a place where you are not happy and the club is not working the way it should and I think Shaun has been in those places.”
When you watch Johnson play like that, it makes it even more frustrating when he has those matches where he spends the entire 80 minutes trying to ‘game-manage’ rather than demonstrating his extraordinary game-breaking ability.
It takes a special kind of sickness to wear a shirt like this in public, the reference being the 97 Liverpool supporters who died due to the Hillsborough disaster.
Football’s enduring rivalries add so much to the sport, but this goes so far beyond that.
An interesting scenario played out at Lord’s where an overmatched Ireland had to make a judgement call in the second innings as whether to bat the injured James McCollum, who had retired hurt on 12 after suffering suspected ligament damage in his ankle when trying to avoid a bouncer, as allrounder Andy McBrine was nearing a treasured century.
The ninth Ireland wicket fell when McBrine was battling on 86 but captain Andy Balbirnie closed the innings, leaving England needing 11 to win. The target was immaterial, it was just whether they were willing to let McCollum hobble out there with McBrine a few lusty blows from a century that would see his name etched onto the Lord’s honours board for eternity.
Test centuries are not easy to come by for Ireland. They’ve only notched four in their short test history. No batter has more than one.
A potentially awkward situation was made easier, according to Balbirnie, when McBrine at the tea interval told the camp he didn’t want to see McCollum hobble out there. That’s a good team man there - there would be plenty of others less charitable.
The final of the second edition of the World Test Championship starts Wednesday night at The Oval. Here is everything you need to know, including weather forecast, squad members and how Australia and India got to, and prepared for, the final.
There was a messy situation in the French Open women’s doubles.
Miyu Kato and Aldila Sutjiadi were disqualified after a ball hit by Kato struck a ball girl during their women's doubles third-round match. Kato and Sutjiadi were a set down to Marie Bouzkova and Sara Sorribes Tormo but 3-1 up in the second when Kato fired a ball to the far end of the court, hitting the unsuspecting ball girl and leaving her distressed and bleeding.
The umpire called a warning but Bouzkova and Tormo lobbied to have them disqualified, prompting the match officials to confer and subsequently call the disqualification.
Rules are rules and I don’t have a quibble about the right call being made - it just seems really weak for one team to try to have the other DQ’ed.
Meanwhile, Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic look set for a collision course in the semifinals of the French Open Alcaraz has the tougher quarter by the looks, having to go through No5-seed Stephanos Tsitsipas.
THIS WEEK
Am on the road this week but will aim to fire out a midweek newsletter for $ subscribers on Thursday morning that will cover off day one of the WTC final and bits and pieces missed today. The Friday newsletter should hit same time, same place.
Do you read the plot the ball sustack Dylan? There was a good article midweek on potential coming through plunket shield, using a slightly different statistical angle. I'm interested in your thoughts.
https://open.substack.com/pub/plottheball/p/new-order?r=2o1dc&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=post
Enjoy the mighty Manawatu!