Weekend Wrap

Another weekend gone and another wrap to write.  With so much sport happening it is amazing that I don't have plenty of thoughts running through my head that I want to put down on paper, well little pixels that make up letters on the screen would be more correct.  I will leave all references on NRL to a separate post.

Liverpool Look Out of Depth

Never thought I would be so negative but Liverpool are playing like they should be at the bottom of the table fighting relegation.  Nothing seems to be going right for them and there seems to be a total lack of cohesion in the team.  When it comes to creating and finishing off chances it all falls apart.  Those with more in depth knowledge of Liverpool will have their opinions of what is wrong and it is not hard to find negative articles.  Sacking the coach is not one and turning on the club is not an answer either.  But at some point Kenny Dalglish needs to realise that some of the so called potential stars are not that.  Or if they are potential stars then obviously they are not deserving of starting spots. Or is there other forces in play? Have Liverpool given up on the top four and focusing purely on the FA Cup.  Which ever way Liverpool go, there may not be too many more late nights for me this season with the performances I am seeing.  But my wife will attest that regardless of performance I will always watch Liverpool play if it is possible.

Roar Lacklustre

Brisbane roar have missed another golden opportunity with Central Coast mariners going down in Perth.  On that, the Roar were lucky not to lose themselves in what was a very ordinary, sluggish and mediocre performance.  They managed to dominate performance but it was the poor passing and slow speed with or to the ball that really cost them in this game.  Both teams were coming off midweek games but at least the Roar didn't have to travel all over the world to back up.  Broich is playing under obvious injury and his effort on goal were as bad as I have seen from my under 9's.  Hopefully this is just a one off bad game for the Roar but any more performances like this and the starting team could be looking for a shuffle.  I also notice many comments during the game blaming the pitch for the injury to Brattan, but watching highlights it was clearly due to the late hit by Malik that for some reason the ref deemed was not worthy of a card.  Yes the pitch was bad and if three games are going to be played over a weekend the Roar should be the first of the three, but do not blame the pitch for an injury that is caused by a reckless player.

Reds Win Another Tight Game

The commentators will have you believe the Rebels were unlucky not to defeat the Reds on the weekend.  But then while the commentary team is made up of the likes of Greg Martin this will always be the case.  Yet again it was forgotten that the Reds actually scored a try to nil and if not for continual double standards in the officials take on play then it would have been a lot bigger margin.  In fact it was so inconsistent even the Rebels were bemused at stages when they got penalised for things they were getting away with earlier.  My sideline reporter will be adamant in his confirmation that the assistance that the Rebels and other Australian teams get when they play the Reds is why they struggle in New Zealand and South Africa.  If these teams want to be taken seriously then they need to learn how to win without the help of beneficial calls and biased commentary, stand on their own two feet and win the games they shouldn't win.

Bulls Earn Home Final

With many different outcomes possible for the Final make-up, it was only fitting that the Bulls smashed the Redbacks and with Western Australia faltering, earnt the right to host the final.  Overall the Bulls have been the dominant force in the Shield and the start to the year, had everyone believing they would host the final. A few hiccups after Christmas which we are used to with Queensland, should be out of the memory now with our bowlers yet again showing what got Queensland on top.  I am backing McDermott to have a big game and show the Australian selectors why Queensland were thankful that they didn't look at him in the same light as other young bowlers who wear caps of a blue colour.  It is this time of year that I miss being in Brisbane and would be there this weekend if possible.