Innholdsfortegnelse for July 2016 i Inside Sport

It’s time to move State of Origin to Saturday night. Everything has to change some time ... even us! You might notice we’ve had a bit of a nip and tuck this issue with a facelift for our look and feel, and a few tweaks in content to bring you even more of the in-depth features you love and the amazing photography that is the hallmark of Inside Sport. We hope you like it and we’ll refine it even more in the months to come, along with some more exciting developments for Inside Sport later in the year. But on the topic of change, is it time for a rethink on one of Australia’s annual sporting landmarks? Is it time – and I know this is close to blasphemy in…

Betting on the Olympics? The thought would make the old IOC president Avery Brundage’s head explode. But if you’re game enough to gamble on these random events (hello, BMX!) that take place in a fleeting, once-in-four-years moment, there are markets aplenty. So this month, we present the Olympics: Patriotic Edition, where we look at the bets that could bring in gold for Australia, and some for yourself. Swimming 100m backstroke MEN MITCH LARKIN $1.65 WOMEN EMILY SEEBOHM $2.15 Only David Theile, who backed-to-backed the 100m in 1956 and ’60, has won among our men; no Aussie woman has ever claimed a backstroke gold. Enter Larkin and Seebohm, reigning world champs over both distances. Larkin will face down a US stranglehold on the stroke (Americans have won the last five). Seebohm…

Re-Formulated Is Azerbaijan in Europe or Asia? Bernie Ecclestone plainly thinks the former, as the European Grand Prix (June 19) has been revived after a three-year hiatus and relocated from its former haunts in Spain to Baku. If you’re like us, the extent of what you know about Azerbaijan comes from the “Land of Fire” campaign that Atletico Madrid wore on their jerseys a couple of years ago. This race, set against the backdrop of Baku’s medieval walls and the Caspian Sea, will be irresistibly exotic, as Formula One’s track designer of choice, Hermann Tilke, was brought in to fashion what he calls the fastest street circuit on the calendar. Series leader Nico Rosberg (above), having claimed the Russian GP in Sochi earlier this year, will be chasing the Caucasian…

LEON CAMERON wants to make something clear from the outset: “Some people are writing that ‘the Giants are away, so look out’ but it’s not the case,” he said. “I want it to be looked upon as just the start. It’s been a struggle, it hasn’t been easy, and there’s been a commitment by everybody associated with the club which will sustain it, regardless of short-term results, through thick and through thin.” As coach of the AFL’s most exciting team, the Greater Western Sydney Giants, Cameron does allow himself to concede that after four years of pain, development and growth, “There’s now some light.” But then he checks himself, adding: “There’s light because they’ve done the hard yards. But there is actually going to be a different set of hard…

Jon Jones Occupation Mixed martial artist Origin Albuquerque, New Mexico Born July 19, 1987 Height 1.93m Weight 93kg Status UFC interim light heavyweight champion HEAD Jones’ physical advantages are so manifest that his sole drawback might be psychological. The youngest champ in UFC history when he won his title at 23, he’s experienced more trouble outside the Octagon than in it, including drink-driving charges, a failed drug test for cocaine and accusations of dirty fighting from opponents. Most recently, he was stripped of his belt over a hit-and-run incident. “Jones made a lot of money at a very young age, and he dominated opponents with what he now admits was relatively little effort in the practice room,” says MMA Junkie’s John Morgan. “But Jones says he’s had his ‘rock bottom’…

RADRADRA IS A CULT HERO, RIGHT WHEN HIS SIDE NEEDS ONE. The first thing you notice when standing before Semi Radradra is his sheer size. It’s not just his 190cm, 100kg frame. There’s also an intangible presence; a quiet, yet enigmatic way about him that oozes omnipotence. Semi Radradra Turagasoli Waqavatu is power personified, a man mountain. He’s a winger by position and number, but also a carrier of hopes for rugby league’s most dysfunctional club. In their quest for a saviour, someone, something – anything – to lift them out of a three-decade premiership mire, the Parramatta Eels have uncovered one in the gifted Fijian. Uncovered is the operative word, as the club that has endured more than enough self-inflicted misery in recent times discovered the genuine superstar for…

GREAT SHOT The Fujifilm X-Pro2 offers the world’s only Hybrid Multi Viewfinder and features a brand-new 24MP X-Trans III sensor. This Hybrid Viewfinder is capable of instantly switching between optical and electronic finders. Fujinon X-Mount lenses, combined with colour reproduction technology accumulated over eight decades, has resulted in the Fujifilm X-Pro2 delivering the best-ever results from an X-series camera. Fujifilm X-Pro2 (body only) RRP $2699. Visit www.fujifilm.com.au for more info. FEELING BLUE The NSW Winning 2016 VB Blues Captains Jersey is a tribute to some of State of Origin’s greatest players. It features all nine victorious NSW captains in some of the most iconic Blues moments, such as current NSW captain Paul Gallen lifting the Origin shield in 2014. Other notable mentions are Steve Mortimer, Andrew Johns, Laurie Daley, Danny…

After scoring the first pole position of his still relatively young F1 career, 26-year-old Ricciardo leads the field around Monte Carlo behind the safety car, with the circuit still submerged in water. Ricciardo pits for a rapid tyre change on lap 24 (pictured). Later, the track somewhat dried-out, Ricciardo enters the pits on lap 32 to change into super-softs, but with Red Bull’s engineers and mechanics seemingly on different pages, the tyres Ricciardo ordered aren’t in place by the time he arrives. The bundled swap-over costs Ricciardo seven vital seconds. While all this is going on, British driver and defending world champion Lewis Hamilton screams past Ricciardo to take the lead as the Aussie is leaving the pits. Hamilton holds on for the win at the most glamorous stop on…

UFC 200 1 The Ultimate Fighting Championship’s signature pay-per-view event reaches another round-number milestone. And in keeping with the momentous spirit, UFC200 in Las Vegas will feature three title fights, headlined by the light heavyweight match-up of Jon Jones versus Daniel Cormier (right). 2 UFC1 dates back to 1993, when mixed martial legend Royce Gracie won an eight-man tournament in Denver. When Zuffa took over the organisation eight years later, its first event was UFC30. Another eight years after that in 2009, it was staging UFC100, which still stands as a landmark for promotion. With the Brock Lesnar-Frank Mir heavyweight fight at the top of the card, UFC100 set a company record for pay-per-view purchases, reported to be 1.6 million. 3 That record might well be surpassed at UFC200, as…

The saying goes that as long as the waterfall in the foyer of Canterbury League Club is flowing, the mighty Bulldogs are in good fettle. Specifically, consenting adults plonking ever more gold into the club’s poker machines means the footy club can have Des Hasler as coach, James Graham as captain and Josh Reynolds as crazy-man-in-chief. If you’ve twigged early to the slant of this piece, a free spin on The Queen of the Nile for you. Yes – the pokies, the font of ridiculous revenue which flows from gamblers into licensed clubs and onwards into your footy team, trickling back to the community in the form of cheap chicken parmigiana, footy socks for the kids and Bob the mini-bus driver, who’ll shuttle home punters once they’ve bled their last.…

AS A ROSTER of ageing Queensland superstars contemplates life after State of Origin, a collective sigh can be heard from Eden in the south to Byron Bay in the north. Could it possibly, maybe, FINALLY, be the turn of New South Wales to keep the shield – for a little while, at least? But celebrating glory for the Blues won’t just be a case of waiting for Johnathan Thurston, Cooper Cronk, Billy Slater, Cameron Smith, Greg Inglis and Corey Parker to retire. Sorry NSW, there’s plenty more where they came from … No, really. Inside Sport has identified eight Maroons rising stars who are not just being groomed to take over from the current squad: in some cases they’re ready to rock now. Back in February, a band of these…

Shelley Watts gets the question often. What drives a bright, articulate, prospective lawyer to enter the boxing ring? The 28-year-old sees it as natural, and not in the bloodlust sense. She didn’t go seeking an outlet for pent-up aggression, or the rush of combat. She had ripped up her knee playing soccer six years ago and was looking for a way to stay fit. “It started in my lounge room in the Orion [College] unit in Southern Cross University,” she says. “I just started punching pads with a friend.” There was no epiphany, no punch landed (or taken) that hooked Watts on the virtues of the sweet science. She recalls an occasion sparring with a friend, who she dropped with a body shot. “Then she didn’t want to spar me…

Germany head coach Joachim Loew was recently snapped hanging with some friends during a training session in the lead-up to Euro 2016. Come up with a funny caption for this pic to go into the running to win a $150 CANTERBURY GIFT VOUCHER to enjoy shopping at your nearest Canterbury store or online at Canterbury.com.au. (Email your entries to iscomps@insidesport.com.au, or check out our website: www.insidesport.com.au. You can also post your entries the traditional way to Freeze Frame Comp, Inside Sport, PO Box 5555, St Leonards, NSW 1590.) WIN A $150 CANTERBURY WARDROBE! For over 110 years, Canterbury has built its foundations on authentic quality. From New Zealand grassroots to the global sporting stage, their iconic products endure and evolve, and continue to inspire sports enthusiasts and professionals alike. Here…

1 South Korea’s Olympic committee unveiled a uniform for its athletes that won’t likely become the hot fashion item of Rio. But the tracksuit is infused with mosquito repellent, which is intended to allay any Korean Olympian’s Zika virus fears this August. 2 As two Madrid clubs locked out both ends of the UEFA Champions League and Sevilla claimed the Europa Cup, it was another banner season for Spanish football. Spain’s clubs went 15 from 15 against teams from other countries in knockout rounds in European competition in 2015-16, and in their past 18 meetings against English Premier League opponents they’ve lost once. 3 Australia is fired up to see what its swimmers can do at the Olympics; not so Germany with its contestants. Swimming coach Henning Lambertz gave a…

THE EQUATION If the NRL salary cap of $6.8m was divided equally among 25 players: $272,000 From that average, subtract the NRL’s minimum salary: $82,500 Parramatta was reportedly $570,000 over the cap. That extra spend = Three extra first-graders US$6,923 What Jason Day made per swing of the golf club in taking the Players Championship, golf’s richest tournament purse, in Florida. £1,500,000 Deal signed by Kurtley Beale to play for London Wasps for two years, making him the most expensive player in English rugby. Then he got injured. $2570.25 What Bernard Tomic made per minute after retiring in the first round of the Rome Masters in eight minutes. > $10,000,000 Tomic’s suggestion of his wealth at age 23, which he brought up to a reporter when questioned whether he cared.…

In the 1980s, Canberra bid for a team in the newly formed national competition. Despite failing to secure one, in the years following there had been further attempts to entice AFL clubs to play regular matches in the capital, namely North Melbourne, Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs. But none were prepared to invest in the region to the extent GWS has. “We love playing there and our winning record is getting better,” says Leon Cameron. “I’m seeing a lot more orange, grey and white in the crowd, too. So, to have that support and to be winning games there is really pleasing. We are showing the community of Canberra and surrounding areas that the Giants are there to stay. We’ve got to make sure that in the NSW and ACT…

In all of NRL and AFL, just a handful of clubs have no direct access to poker machine funding. The Fremantle Dockers, Sydney Swans, South Sydney Rabbitohs, New Zealand Warriors and West Coast Eagles don’t own poker machine venues but are sponsored by casinos full of pokies. Greater Western Sydney takes no poker machine money but looked into it, and counts TABCorp as a sponsor, who have a “gaming solutions” arm. Adelaide Crows have no income from gambling but recently did. Only North Melbourne, the famous “Shinboners”, have since 2008 made do – even flourished – without receiving a cent of gambling income of any form. It’s a model Senator Nick Xenophon would hold up like the monkey did the Lion King’s cub. “I went to North Melbourne to see…

FOR better sporting performance, you play like you eat. Each month, Insider will look at the most nutritious foods and the best ways to approach eating for athletic activity, as well as tell you how to prepare meals, with the help of Healthy Food Guide magazine’s Brooke Longfield. In this edition, we focus on a food that’s become a staple of trainers trying to get their athletes in shape for competition ... SALMON is an excellent source of high-quality protein which plays a key role in post-exercise recovery and repair. Consuming foods rich in protein immediately after training is important to enhance the uptake of protein and amino acids into the muscle, which promotes muscle rebuilding. A 150g fillet of salmon provides more than 30g of protein, which will also…

QUICK READ SOA PALELEI A fixture on Australia’s mixed martial arts scene for a decade, Soa “The Hulk” Palelei has penned his memoir, Face Your Fears. We chat to Hulk about his hard-knock life, his encounters with Jonah Lomu and the amazing rise of the UFC. You certainly had the hard life that many fighters have. What drew you to fighting? I just needed to find something that would get my frustrations out. As I had my first fight, it ended up like an addictive kind of thing. It was kind of hiding what I had inside, what I was going through. When I used to win, it was like, “Wow, I’m not always a loser. My whole life hasn’t been a loss.” You had some prospects as a rugby…