Innholdsfortegnelse for August 2017 i Inside Sport

We expect world-class performance in our sport, even when we can’t pay at a world-class level. ONE OF my sporting ventures this month was to the Brazil-Argentina football match at the MCG. I was among the 95,000 drawn out by Leo Messi and company, but really I was pulled along by my ten-year-old nephew, who has the kind of unsullied enthusiasm for the sport you only ever have when you are ten years old. He has a remarkably deep knowledge of a football played on the other side of the planet, thanks in large part to the FIFA video game. As he talked non-stop about the relative qualities of Argentina’s reserve forwards – Inter’s Mauro Icardi is a favourite – it started me thinking about how different his evolution as…

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1 Athletics’ biggest event outside of the Olympics revisits the site of the London 2012 Games, returning the stadium to its original purpose from August 4-13, before West Ham gets its season going. It’s fitting that these world championships head to London, as it will serve as a farewell party for a pair of stars of 2012 and all-time luminaries of the track – Usain Bolt and Mo Farah will bow out of top-level competition at these worlds. 2 Bolt, who turns 31 in late August, has talked retirement after the 2017 worlds since sweeping the sprint treble again in Rio (and then his 2008 relay gold was stripped because of a team-mate’s doping violation). His final race in his native Jamaica became a 30,000-strong lovefest, where Bolt won but…

€742M WORTHIES According to the go-to website Transfermarkt, to assemble the world’s most expensive XI, it would cost nearly three-quarters of a billion euro, led by literal MVP Lionel Messi (his price: €120m). And this is a playable team – it doesn’t even have room for €100m Cristiano Ronaldo, who plays the same spot as Neymar. But it also reinforces that the big money really goes to the guys who score, as defenders go for half what the forwards and midfielders get. £34.7m NET GAINERS If defenders get the cheap end (relatively), goalies get it worse – although they got one back this window, as Ederson set a record price for stoppers. The new Man City keeper broke the mark of Italian stalwart Gigi Buffon, who fetched a price of…

One of the benefits of NZ's program is the consistency of coaching and the messaging. THEY CALL him “Mick The Kick”, the skills guru who came from Australian rules to teach players from both rugby codes how to drill a drop punt. But there’s always been more to the man. He’s helped line-out jumpers "mark" the ball, helped tight-head props throw spiral passes left to right. He grew up playing league and union. He played 167 games for Melbourne, Hawthorn and Sydney Swans. In 2005, many in New Zealand were sceptical (to say the very least) when an Australian was signed by the All Blacks, particularly after their quarter-final exit in the 2007 World Cup. But after Daniel Carter lauded him, Israel Dagg added 20m to his torpedo, and the…

Occupation Quarterback for the NFL’s New England Patriots. Origin San Mateo, northern California, United States Born August 3, 1977 Height 193cm Weight 102kg Status One of only two players, and only QB, to win five Super Bowls; four-time Super Bowl MVP; holds NFL records for most playoff games played, and most wins among quarterbacks; two-time NFL MVP; no losing seasons in 15 years as a starter. ARM He’s never been the most impressive-looking of passers – as he noted on social media at draft time, the scouts knocked him back in 2000 for not being able to throw a tight spiral. But Brady is highly accurate, thanks to the consistency of his throwing mechanics. Working with former baseball pitching coach Tom House, Brady has refined his motion and release time…

THE CAPTAIN CLASS THE HIDDEN FORCE THAT CREATES THE WORLD’S GREATEST TEAMS BY SAM WALKER, VIKING, $32.99 The core insight of this book might not seem so revelatory to Australian eyes; of course the captain is integral to the success of a team. But in the coach-centric universe of American and other sporting cultures, that’s not so obvious. And The Captain Class actually takes the point a step further – we’re not just talking about the key to team success, but what made the greatest teams succeed. To figure this out, there was another, arguably more intricate task involved: who indeed is in the class of greatest teams? This is where author Sam Walker, a former sports editor of the Wall Street Journal, exhibits impressive range. He scours the world…

With the British and Irish Lions having just levelled the scores 3-3 in the Second Test, Sonny Bill Williams goes in on the tourists' winger, Anthony Watson. Williams doesn’t use his arms in the tackle, and the upstairs oÿcial makes a call ... Sonny Bill is shown a straight red card, becoming the first All Black to be sent off in 50 years. Williams leaves his team shorthanded with 55 minutes left, although the All Blacks stretch an 18-9 lead midway through the second half. The Lions rally, and become the first team to beat the All Blacks at home since 2009. Williams is later banned for four weeks.…

This year’s PGA Championship will have an odd familiarity – it’s one of those rare cases in which a major heads to a regular tour venue. In this case, it’s Quail Hollow in North Carolina, which is famed for hosting the tournament that spoils the players the most (it was the first event to provide Mercedes as courtesy cars). The perks might not be as good this August, but with the last shot at major glory for 2017, it won’t matter. Rory McIlroy $6.50 Despite some curious form this year, it will be hard to go past McIlroy as favourite. The reason: he flat-out owns Quail Hollow, or at least has in the tour events played there. In seven appearances at the club, he’s won twice, and only finished out…

Title Match It’s hard to gin up enthusiasm for the UEFA Super Cup (Aug 8) – who gets excited about watching Sevilla lose? But it’s a bit different this year, as the ritual, start-of-season match-up between the Champions and Europa League winners will deliver us Real Madrid vs Manchester United (casual fans rejoice!) This is nothing less than the two biggest clubs in all of football-dom – Real is the world’s most powerful club brand, United’s the most valuable, according to consultancy Brand Finance. And the fact Ronaldo and company are being made to go to Skopje, Macedonia, to play a match they don’t particularly care to, is deeply amusing. The stadium in Skopje is named after Philip II, father of Alexander the Great. Can you believe that? Props to…

“There’s not too many his size that are capable below their feet like he is with his agility and sideways movement. He’s a special talent. The typical tall forward these days.” Two things that football supporters of different generations share in common is debating the potential of the newest young talent, comparing them with the greats of yesteryear. Take Essendon as a case in point – in the late 1930s and throughout the 1940s, whenever the Bombers introduced a young rover with just a hint of talent, he was soon carrying the weight of being “the next Dick Reynolds”. And anyone who kicked a bag of goals was lumped with the expectation of having to be “the next John Coleman”. Considering Reynolds and Coleman were both named in the AFL…

"THE COMMON THEME IS: IF YOU TRAIN HARD, IT CAN ACTUALLY PROTECT YOU AGAINST INJURY.” MONDAY, usually the day that AFL clubs ease back into their weekly rhythm. Game review sessions primarily, with some light workouts. The Sydney Swans’ Dane Rampe had just gone over his team’s round-one loss to Port Adelaide, and headed out later that morning on a recovery run outside the club’s headquarters at the SCG. On his way back, Rampe was a short kick from the front door of the office when he went to leap over a chain fence. He mistimed his jump, tripped onto the concrete and landed on his arm, suffering a small crack below his elbow. And with that, the All-Australian defender was out for the next seven weeks, and entered into…

BY EXPLOITING the “accidental and incidental” provision [of the Tobacco Advertising Prohibition Act] it was possible for the tobacco companies to achieve as much or even more coverage than had they been legally advertising. It has been calculated that during a day’s play of a cricket match sponsored by Benson & Hedges televised from Sydney in 1988, the brand name received a full 88 minutes of the day’s seven hours of coverage. By comparison, the sponsor of a top-rating television program could expect to get about seven minutes of coverage in an hour. Marlboro’s sponsorship during the Australian Grand Prix in Adelaide involved painting its cars in the colour and design of a packet of Marlboro, and it has been calculated that during the 1989 Grand Prix the company gained…

Expect a feast of entertainment both on and off the track as Singapore celebrates this FORMULA 1 milestone. Off track, it’s a star-studded entertainment lineup that includes Calvin Harris, Ariana Grande, The Chainsmokers, OneRepublic, Seal and Duran Duran. On track, it’s the unique and sensational experience of the first FORMULA 1 street circuit race to be held at night. As a sight and sound experience, there is nothing in world motor racing that can match the FORMULA 1 SINGAPORE AIRLINES SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX. And there is perhaps no more challenging race for the drivers. As a street circuit, Singapore presents drivers with a range of difficulties. Mastering the Marina Bay Street Circuit and keeping off the walls that line almost all of its 5km is no easy achievement – in…

NET RETURN The Net Return is the world’s only golf net that automatically returns the ball back to the user. The Pro Series can handle golf ball speeds of 360km/h with ease but is designed for years of use for a variety of sports – with no modifications necessary – including golf, soccer, baseball, softball, lacrosse and hockey. It only takes one person to set it up in five minutes thanks to a handy push-button assembly mechanism (no tools required). Also features a quick and easy colour connect system. Meanwhile, it can be taken anywhere in its own carry bag. RRP from $895 (includes delivery to Australian metropolitan areas). Visit www.thenetreturn.net.au to find out more. SECOND SKINS SKINS has stepped-up game-day performance with the release of its all-new DNAmic TEAM…

1 We used to have landmark industrial disputes in Australia, in places such as the docks or the railways. Now we have to look at cricketers earning the six figures for the same kind of action, as the players and administrators hit the point of acrimony in their negotiation over a new pay deal. 2 Lost amid the cricket dispute, the Southern Stars changed their official name to ... the Australian Women’s Cricket Team. Props for the clarity, but it does have a bit of the Greendale Community College Humans to it. 3 New sports added to the Olympic program for 2020: three-on-three basketball (the new beach volleyball!), mixed relays in track and swimming, as well as other mixed events in archery, judo and table tennis. If you’re confused about…

“Oh wait. Too much footy? Get the violin out for these blokes. Their job is to play footy. That’s not even a job! That’s living the dream!” after 1 beer REASONED ARGUMENTS IF YOU THINK THERE’S TOO MUCH NRL “Our footy seasons have never been more chockers. Take this year’s pre-season, for instance. The premiers had to fly to Britain for the World Club Challenge, then there’s the Charity Shield, Auckland Nines and the All-Star game. Then every club plays two trial matches. After all that’s over: right, let’s play 26 rounds of home and away. Oh yeah, and three Origins, plus the finals and grand final. PLUS a World Cup this year.” IF YOU THINK THERE’S TOO MUCH AFL “We have the same issues related to hectic pre-seasons…

The 2017 winners of The Clubbies, this magazine’s community sports awards co-presented with the Confederation of Australian Sport and our presenting partner Polar, represented the pick of another superb class of entries this year. In receiving their awards, the winners in each of the five categories were given prizes relating to their sport. Inside Sport and its partners again congratulate our Clubbies recipients, who represent what grassroots sport means to the Australian community. BEST CLUB: East Bankstown FC (NSW) The Kookaburras celebrate their 75th anniversary in 2017. Befitting their location in one of Sydney’s distinctly multicultural districts, East Bankstown has served to break down barriers in their community with a commitment to diversity. Thanks to our prize partners The Net Return (thenetreturn.net.au) and SKLZ (sklz.com.au) BEST COACH: David “Charlie” Whetu,…

“Personally, I felt not ready for Origin that young. I’d only played 25 games then. It has played a part in being motivated to do well.” Some animals are created for speed. Lions, tigers and wildebeest are quick. But the cheetah is the fastest land animal in the world. It has a long-legged body, built for pace. They are slightly smaller than other “big cats”, but make up for their lack of size with their ability to outrun everything. Valentine Holmes is the NRL’s equivalent of a cheetah. He isn’t particularly bulky or tall. He’s quick, though – seriously fast. The kind of pace that scares opposition fullbacks. Playing for Cronulla against North Queensland last year, after taking an intercept on his try-line, he ran straight at Cowboys custodian Lachlan…

A horde of the world’s media awaited in the bowels of Wembley Stadium. Huddersfield Town had just ended 45 years out of England’s top division in the most Cinderella of stories, winning the Championship playoff final against Reading FC on penalties. Huddersfield, one of the lowest spenders in the division, the small club tipped for relegation by many, had somehow managed to secure promotion to the English Premier League. One of the reasons behind this tiny West Yorkshire outfit’s meteoric rise was a quiet, reserved kid from Blacktown. It was Aaron Mooy’s crucial penalty at Wembley, with the Terriers behind 3-2 in the penalty shootout, that gave them a lifeline. Miss, and Huddersfield was dead in the water. But he stepped up to the spot, placed the ball down and…

What’s the deal with turmeric? It’s used widely in Asian cooking, but news of the health benefits of this bright yellow spice has recently broadened its appeal. You might have seen it in trendy golden turmeric teas and protein balls, and it’s gaining popularity not just for the flavour and colour it adds (watch out — it stains hands and tablecloths badly!), but also for its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant benefits. It’s actually the yellow pigment in turmeric, called curcumin, that’s thought to bring about its many health benefits. Research shows these include helping with Alzheimer’s disease, rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease – and it may also help to lower cholesterol. Emerging research on turmeric’s anti-cancer properties also looks promising. So far, trials have been mainly lab-based, but there is reason…