WEEKEND IN SPORT - THE GOOD, THE BAD and THE DOWNRIGHT UGLY

By Paul Frederickson

THE GOOD

MELBOURNE GRAND PRIX

Daniel Ricciardo may have not made the podium in Sunday's Melbourne Grand Prix but his effervescence and constant smile has given the Australian Grand Prix a boost that event recent hero Mark Webber couldn't achieve. Melbourne started talking about 'its' Grand Prix again, something that has become almost taboo in recent years with the amount of state revenue involved for little financial, sporting or morale boost.

Ricciardo saves Melbourne Grand Prix

MANLY WINS AFTER HORROR WEEK

After losing their vaunted halves for next season and with months of reported disharmony Manly opened up a massive first half lead against the Melbourne Storm before holding on for an emotional win.

Manly survive Storm scare

JANKO'S RECORDING SCORING SPREE

After a slow start to the season Sydney FC's Mark Janko has broken the A-League record scoring in seven consecutive games, propelling Sydney into Premiers' Plate contention.

Janko destroys A-League records

THE BAD

AFL EXTENDED PRE-SEASON

At a time when the other football codes are now well into their grooves the AFL persists with an extended and meaningless pre-season. Scrap the pre-season and extend the season for purposes of draw fairness at the very least.

THE REDS START TO THE SEASON

The Queensland Reds' season was hijacked by the drug allegations leveled at star signing Karmichael Hunt. After a fiery and hard fought win in round run of the Super Rugby season their season already looks to be one that will be less than fruitful. In a competitive Brisbane market the Reds cannot afford to let another season slide, especially this early into a season.

THE DOWNRIGHT UGLY

A tie between the EPL's Sunderland who not only were thrashed 4 nil at home by fellow strugglers Aston Villa but had the ignominious state of a half empty stadium just before half time and the potential career ending drug scandal surrounding Fremantle Docker's Ryan Crowley.

 

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS? WHAT WERE YOUR GOOD, BAD AND DOWNRIGHT UGLY OF THE WEEKEND'S SPORT?

End of week sports geek - summary of the best of the weekend's sport

By Paul Frederickson

Another great weekend of sport awaits us! 

The AFL and NRL Grand Finals are complete and many sports lovers are in that lull period looking for their next sporting fixes. Fear not there are plenty of sports this weekend to whet your sporting appetites.

A-League 

With over 100,000 members for the 10 A-League clubs entering the competition's 10th year the season has a sense of symmetry to it. With the new money-men at Melbourne City bringing, temporarily, a world-renowned Spanish striker in David Villa the competition continues to grow. The second year of live Friday night free-to-air matches will expand the league's mainstream recognition. The competition starts Friday night with an expected forty thousand fans to watch the blockbuster between Melbourne Victory and the Western Sydney Wanderers.Expect color and passion in this match!

Everybody was Kung Fu fighting!

Bathurst 1000

With Ford announcing that it will be pulling out of the V8 Supercars in 2015 the historic and much loved endurance race will have even more poignancy this Sunday. Who will be named this year's King of the mountain? It would certainly be fitting if it was a Ford that was first across the line late this Sunday afternoon!

Can Ford conquer the mountain in their final tilt at V8 glory?

Matador Cup

No sooner has the football finals finished that the domestic one day national cricket competition has hit off. Much like the 2013/14 season the 2014 version will be condensed format with many of the preliminary games taking part in Queensland. Many of the games are telecast on GEM. You will be guaranteed many big shots in this format!

For fixtures, results and ladders visit;

Matador One Day Cup

South Australia take on Western Australia in the Matador BBQ One Day Cup

A great weekend of sport ahead! Which matches and sporting events are you looking forward to this weekend?

End of week sports geek - summary of the best of the weekend's sport

By Paul Frederickson

What a weekend of sport we have ahead of us!

Who will be laughing this Saturday afternoon?

AFL Grand Final

Hawthorn and Sydney have arguably been the best two AFL teams of the past few years, So who wins this weekend's sumptuous Grand Final? Buddy, Tippett, Reid and Goodes in the Swans forward line, wow! Against North Melbourne last week the Sydney forward line kicked 12 goals between them. If Sydney break even in the middle they win. Cheer, cheer the red and the white.

NRL Preliminary Finals

It's been a tough, bruising season in the NRL. A rest week, the chance to heal some wounds and relax sore muscles can make all the difference. For that reason next week's Grand Final will be the South Sydney Rabbitohs versus the Penrith Panthers.

World football

Liverpool versus Everton is always an exciting match and even this early in the season this is a pivotal game for both teams as they are desperate to kick-start their campaigns.

In much the same way as Liverpool versus Everton the Arsenal versus Tottenham game will have supporters in a frenzy and the experts sharpening their knives for whoever fails in this brilliant derby.

Schalke versus Borussia Dortmund shapes up as the pick of the rest of European football. Teams who have started off slowly and against expectations seem to be the theme of this week's world football section. Dortmund must win or even this early their European ambitions are in trouble and their Bundesliga ambitions are already finished.

NFL

The pick of the week is the Green Bay Packers versus the Chicago Bears in a pivotal NFC North clash. Rogers v Cutler in the battle of great quarterbacks. Green Bay have already lost two Conference games and cannot afford to lose against a divisional rival. At 1-3 and losing to a divisional rival Green Bay's season would be almost over even a quarter of a way into the season.

That's my best of the weekend's sporting world. What are your thoughts? What are you looking forward to the most?

Superbowl shows the way to the FFA

By Paul Frederickson

As I watch my beloved Miami Dolphins lose another winnable game I realise we are years away from playing in a Superbowl. Reflecting on the brilliant Superbowls I've seen over the years I can't help but think that the FFA have a clear example of how to continue to build our national league and the season ending grand final.

Seattle the current Super Bowl holders

The NFL has two conferences with internal divisions. The winners of each conference plays off in what we would consider the Grand Final, the Superbowl. With the distance and cost of travel for A-League teams, once large scale expansion occurs the concept should be investigated by the FFA. Each team could play the teams in their own conference twice and then teams from outside of their conference once, thus saving the teams money as well as keeping the players fresh with less travel fatigue endured.

The NFL regular season coverage is split between different free-to-air stations and pay television providers depending on where the games are played. The Superbowl on the other hand is exclusive to free-to-air. This allows for the premier event on the NFL calendar to be seen by as many people as possible. Not only has the Superbowl grown the national game it has become an international game. This has brought unprecedented revenue to the NFL and their franchises. With the huge potential Asian audience for the A-League as well as a growing domestic audience free-to-air coverage, now provided by SBS on Friday nights must continue to grow.

The huge audience for the Superbowl, estimated at over 105 million people, is a massive incentive for advertisers. It is estimated that an Superbowl advertisement can cost $25,000 per second and approximately $3 million dollars per advertising segment. Whilst the A-League could never expect such numbers, a bigger Asian audience will broaden the potential advertisers and revenue streams beyond what is domestically available.

The Superbowl moniker was conceived in 1966 and in a relatively short period has become the mega-event that it is today. Initially conceived as the competition between the initial NFL and rival AFL the hyperbole from coaching luminaries including Vince Lombardi has built the event. Traditionalists may believe that the Premier's Plate decides the best team of the season but the Australian public lauds Grand Final winners. We should play the final game on a Saturday night with both contesting teams having a week off to allow for injuries to heal, players to freshen up and for the build up to encourage media participation and anticipation.

The A-League grand final may never meet the heights of the Superbowl but that is not to say that we shouldn't aim for the same high standards.

What are your thoughts on what the FFA can learn from the NFL?

Asia, the vital next step for the Roar

By Paul Frederickson

If the Brisbane Roar can't win in Asia then the club is stalling in its progress and ambitions.

Thomas Broich making his point in the ACL

The Brisbane Roar have won two Premiers Plates and three Championships in the short history of the A-League. A very successful period started by Ange Postecoglou and re-vamped by Mike Mulvey caught the Australian football world's attention. So much so that Ange was tempted back to Melbourne with the Victory before taking on the Socceroos coaching role. Is this enough to satisfy the footballing public? No, not in a state and country divided by four competing football codes. Even with all of the club's recent efforts the club membership has only reached 10,000 for the first time before the start of the 2014/15 season.

Asian success and exposure on a larger stage should be the catalyst for the Roar to become one of the biggest clubs in Asia and in turn Australia.

The challenge for the best team in the first decade of the A-League is to not only aim for Asian success this season but to have sustained Asian Champions League success. This was not close to occurring in our previous stint in Asia's premier club competition. Three draws and three losses and a qualifying loss to Thailand Buriram United for the 2013 competition, in a game where the club gave away home ground advantage, does not make for pleasant reading. Asian success will attract a new breed of players, sponsors and fans outside of Australia. You only have to view European clubs tours of the far reaching corners of Asia to see the financial benefits associated.

2012 AFC Champions League Table Group F

It is easy to say that the Brisbane Roar need to be successful in Asia this season, but how can it be done? Home results would be a great place to start. With Suncorp Stadium a fortress for Brisbane in the A-League in recent years they have to translate the, "they shall not pass" mentality to the Asian game. Home wins and away draws, or at the very least don't be beaten at home should be the overriding mantra.

Brisbane Roar overall home record at Suncorp Stadium 

The style of play that the Roar have played in recent years has been based on possession and a steady build up that can be translated to the Asian forum. It is the inflexibility of both recent mentors to not alter their game plans in games that were not going the Roar's way that cost vital Asian Champions League points. Whilst it is commendable to trust that their style will ultimately win the day this can be a naive approach in uncharted group competitions.Winning ugly in qualification is not a sin, results before style will go a long way to ensuring supporters attend home Asian Champions League games as well.

A lack of success in Asia cannot be tolerated. Success should be demanded as we have seen with Adelaide United and more recently with the Western Sydney Wanderers. We have the players and mentors to win consistently in Asian competitions but until that happens we are the biggest fish in a small bowl.

As always, go the Roar!

Love my club but gee I hate what they do to me

By Paul Frederickson

Let's get this straight from the start, I don't take kindly to people making jokes about my club finishing 9th, only a fellow Richmond supporter is entitled to do that. So the secret is out, I'm a Richmond supporter. Whilst I have a sense of humor, or so I believe, our lack of success for the last 34 years is driving me to distraction and destruction. 

Richmond players after their loss to Port Adelaide in the 2014 Elimination Final

I've loved the club before I was born, as the first born son to a Richmond fanatic and being a child of the 70's I had little choice. In fact one of my first jumpers was a Richmond jumper with the number 10 stitched on the itchy woolen back of the jumper. My dad has repeatedly advised me that the number 10, which was Kevin Sheedy's at the time, was on my jumper to annoy my grandma who though he was a disgusting, vile and dirty Richmond player. That was something that Richmond use to pride themselves on, being loved by their fans and hated by the rest of the competition. Now we are many people's punchlines or even more insulting, their '2nd' team! '2nd' team means that we don't beat teams often enough, or win anything of significance that would annoy opposition supporters.

Even more insulting is when Richmond supporters are told that we are 'on the bandwagon' and 'coming out of the woodwork' when there is a hint of success. For goodness sake we've not won a Grand Final since 1980 and not played off in a Grand Final since our galling loss to Carlton in 1982. Damn you Helen D'Amico and your interfering streak!In fact in a competition that espouses equality with a salary cap and a national draft that rewards mediocrity and insipidness we have only made the finals series four times in the last 32 years! Even then in 2013 and again in 2014 we were knocked out in the elimination final. Even with all the pain we've endured as supporters our membership base has grown to be one of the biggest in the country with very little success as momentum.

To put this is context Fitzroy before there merger in 1996 appeared in the finals 4 times, Melbourne 6 times and St. Kilda 12 times including Grand Final appearances for both Melbourne and St. Kilda. We have made the finals a measly four times, not Grand Finals, finals.

Richmond ladder finishes and membership numbers since 2010

I won't lie to you, I've thrown my jumper out the window of a Frankston bound train, I've cheered ridiculously when we've kicked a goal after being 100 points down and I've helped create more false dawns than you could ever believe. My level of fanaticism and frustration mirrors many Richmond supporting friends and relatives that you may know!

Whilst I love/hate my club I also believe my club love/hates me. A relationship made in counselling heaven. So before you accuse me of being on the bandwagon or laugh at my team finishing 9th be aware, I've got 34 years of angst behind me!

 

Go TIGES!

Following the Socceroos is about winning, right?

By Paul Frederickson       September 11, 2014

As the Ange Postecoglou led Socceroos strive to find the right combination in the lead up to the home based 2015 Asia Cup are supporters struggling to know the right position to take?

Do we believe in a long-term coach who can deliver not only a vision for the Australian game but can deliver on that vision? This is presuming that supporters need to understand what Ange Postecoglou's vision and belief for our team actually is.

Whilst many people, including players who he has coached and mentored espouse his virtues it is the words and actions of the man himself that are the proof in the pudding.

In an ABC story by David Mark, Published June 10, 2014. Ange made statements that sum up what many people have articulated about his footballing philospohies.

"My job is to make sure the players are well prepared, that if an opportunity exists that they can take it.

"I think there's no secret, I love playing attacking football and I love playing proactive football. But it's all very, very well structured and everyone understands their roles within that."

These statements are simple and can be repeated ad nauseum to the footballing public, but the footballing public also want results that inspire their passion for the national football team.

Besides living up to Ange's belief in attacking football we still ended up losing all three of our group matches in the 2014 World Cup. A recent, mistake ridden, win over Saudi Arabia did little to allay fears that our team is not progressing as we would have liked under Ange's tutelage. There is no doubt that he can coach, his stints as coach at South Melbourne and the Brisbane Roar yielding 4 national Championships. Yet his time in charge of the National under-20's team and, currently, with the Socceroos have been largely unsuccessful in terms of the aim of the game - winning games.

That brings up the conundrum, is it the coach or the cattle? The 'golden generation' of Australian football is finished. It was bookmarked by the first World Cup appearance in 24 years but has been punctuated by comparisons to ensuing teams that consist of well travelled players combined with up and coming players still striving for footholds in the football world. We have fallen for the oldest footballing mistake in the world, we held on to too many older players at the expense of developing the following generation.

Entering the tenth year of the A-League it's success is no longer inextricably linked with the success of the national team, and that is a good thing! The Socceroos and the A-League can be seen as separate entities and be successful or not in their own rights.

Separating the national team from the national competition should we lower our footballing expectations for our national team or is that too much for the Australian sporting ethos? Will a successful 2015, home-based, Asia Cup satisfy the Australian football public? Is a successful Asia Cup and World Cup qualification the best we can hope for? And if we can be satisfied with these goals will future generations be inspired by those deeds?

What I do know is that I will still get up in the early hours of the morning to watch our national team, and I hope that more and more people over the years will join me!

What are your thoughts?