PETE’S PUNCHLINE
- Loved this head line in the Australian press: ‘Afghani-stunner’. Prefectly describes the outcome of that T20 World Cup Super 8 fixture. These Afghans are not to be trifled with. This was a great result for the tournament, Australia getting beat. Probably messed up the betting though. While the betting was turned on its head the Afghan batting was not bad at all and Maxwell cracked a few good ones too.
- Origin II will blow the roof off the G (if it had one) because of all those Queenslanders and NSW fans making the trek down to Victoria. And also those Vics, they know how to rock the joint. I’m picking a Blues win. By 8 points.
- Justin Olam was a late scratching for the Tigers and the guy who came in for him, Adam Doueihi, was pretty alright. The Tigers have found their roar. Don’t worry folks, Olam will be back in the line-up when he’s back to full fitness. Brent Naden will make way for our boy.
- Glasgow Warriors go to Pretoria and beat the Bulls in the URC final. Happy for the Scots, they get to celebrate a title in rugby union. Am I worried about the Saffas? No sir. They’ll always be there or thereabouts. The Springboks might just bag the Rugby Championship and that’ll balance things out nicely. And if they don’t, well there’s always the next world cup.
- The Aucklanders proved they are the best Super Rugby outfit beating the Chiefs quite easily in the end at Eden Park. Coach Vern Cotter is just one of many great ones New Zealand has produced over time. The Wallabies also have Schmidt and then there’s Robertson, who will name his All Blacks squad today. They’ve got an assembly line down there.
- PNG is going to have a very small team to the Olympics and there is no justification whatsoever for the PNG Sports Foundation to send anyone. There are hardworking sports officials behind the scenes who don’t get to attend the Games so why should bureaucrats travel at the taxpayer expense, especially when they have not yet accounted for K3 million of Team PNG money for Honiara? The PNG team will be: athletics (1), swimming (2), taekwondo (2) and weightlifting (1). Just six athletes in total.
- One scribe, who isn’t familiar with sports terminology, described it as “heat up matches”. Okay, nice. I like the effort.
- Lions rained goals on the Power in a massive win at the Adelaide Oval to the tune of 23:14 (152) to Port’s 10.13 (73). Brisbane half-forward Eric Hipwood nailed 5 goals. Can I call him the “Hipster” now?
- Not interested in Jake Paul squaring off against Iron Mike but I did appreciate his brother Logan’s interview with Trump. They know a champ when they see one. – PGTP ([email protected])