Innholdsfortegnelse for October 2017 i Inside Sport

They’re still the glamour. Their retral colleagues might save games up back, but these blokes win them. Their co-workers in the midfield might attract the most umpire attention and win gongs, but the sight of a tall forward cleaving a pack like a splitter thumping a block of ghost gum, running in to slot a set shot, or concluding the matter from general play with large mammal’s rhythm and grace, is still a reminder to all of us why we watched the game in the first place. These pashas of the paddock are of the lineage of Lockett, Hudson, Dunstall, Carey, Hart, McKenna. Those men themselves evolved from an earlier generation of centurions who were, ironically as we shall see, known for their agility and ball-getting ability, before coaches structured…

ACCORDING to the lyrics of a Cyndi Lauper smash hit released a year after Steve Roach’s 1982 Sydney first grade rugby league debut, girls just wanna have fun. And, of course, they’re very entitled to it. After all, who doesn’t? Likewise, if you put it to the aforementioned Balmain Tigers legend of the blokes’ preference for a good time, they just want to have a bit of fun of their own. However, from his vantage point, Roach fears the demands on the current young player base just might be taking too much fun out of the modern version of the elite game. These days Blocka is a regular panel member on Fox Sports’ weekly show On The Couch With Sterlo. He also commentates on a regular basis on match days…

“At the end of the day we have this red vs blue battle which is still burning brightly across the Supercars landscape.” The thing that has most surprised me about the 2017 Supercars season has been the genuine improvement at DJR Team Penske. As a result, we have the makings of a return to the great Ford vs Holden rivalries from touring cars’ greatest eras. The sport in Australia has grown up on Peter Brock vs Allan Moffat and Brock vs Dick Johnson throughout the ages, or maybe even yours truly vs Glenn Seton. In more modern times it’s been Jamie Whincup vs Mark Winterbottom. Whether you’re talking Labor vs Liberal, Collingwood vs Carlton or Ford vs Holden, all are rivalries representative of the social fabric of Australia. Personally, this…

In this finals series, a number of goliaths of the goalsquare – and beyond - will have a say in the way their team performs. Here are the ones who will be most influential: GWS: JEREMY CAMERON, RORY LOBB, JONATHON PATTON Which of this trio will dominate depends on the circumstance. It’s unusual for a team to have triple towers standing up front, but they seem to work together well, their entire forward environment is productive and experienced, and GWS have the funds to keep them playing together – a huge bonus. It’s enough that this trio can feed one another as well as kick goals. But then you add the genius of the outgoing Steve Johnson, the immense experience of Brett Deledio, and all-Australians like Toby Greene. Connect them…

Between Dante Exum, Ben Simmons, Thon Maker and most recently Jonah Bolden, the stream of talent from Australia to the NBA has become well-established. Is there a place for Australia’s league in that flow? The NBL has produced players who have gone on to long NBA careers, including the likes of Stephen Jackson. But rather than being a stop for hoops vagabonds, the league hopes to position itself as a destination on basketball’s developmental ladder. The possibilities were evident with Terrance Ferguson (inset), the American who bypassed college to play for the Adelaide 36ers last year. The teen was expected to be chosen in the NBA Draft after spending the mandatory year out of high school, and he was duly picked no.21 last June by Oklahoma City. In a fillip…

For the first time since 1975 – when Christine Gibson ran fifth outright – the Australian touring car championship (now Supercars) has a full-time female driver on the grid. Whether this long-awaited sequel is a means of filling a moral void or whether it’s powered solely by commercial urgency doesn’t matter nearly as much as the practical outcome. The recruitment of 28-year-old Simona de Silvestro means that a wickedly long period of female absence from a major Australian sport is at an end. And it’s ended with a pretty hefty full stop. De Silvestro, a Swiss-born former IndyCar pilot, is widely regarded as the best female driver in the world. So for that reason alone, her signature on a long-term Australian contract must be regarded as a coup – even…

MUST-WATCH Based on Neil Gaiman’s comic book antihero, this TV series follows Lucifer, who has become dissatisfied with his life in hell. After abandoning his throne and retiring to Los Angeles, Lucifer indulges in women, wine and song – until a murder takes place outside of his nightclub, attracting the attention of a detective named Chloe. As they work together to solve the murder, Lucifer is struck by Chloe’s inherent goodness and begins to wonder if there’s hope for his soul. Lucifer Seasons 1 and 2 is new on Blu-Ray and DVD. RRP $59.95. OLD-SCHOOL FOOTY Reminisce about the “good old” times with a new Heritage Classic Jersey (like this Parramatta Eels bolter from 1998) which you can wear with pride while supporting your team. These “gone but not forgotten”…

1 Sporting success: all in the length of your fingers, reportedly. To be more precise, it’s the length of the index finger compared to the ring finger, what is known as digit ratio. A study by the University of South Australia found that a longer ring finger, and thus a smaller digit ratio, was associated with testosterone in fetal development, as well as better muscular development in boys. “Our study shows that boys with lower digit ratios have better handgrip strength and this is irrespective of their age or body size,” author Dr Grant Tomkinson said. 2 Best sporting crossover of the month? Think we were going to say Conor McGregor, who swapped the UFC’s octagon for a boxing ring? Nope – we nominate basketball star Stephen Curry, who teed…

Don’t for a moment think the NBL lives or dies on the quality of the imports alone. October marks the start of NBL ’18 – a 40th birthday celebration of Australia’s national basketball competition. At times, it has not looked like reaching that milestone. But now, it can be claimed, life has never been better. Yes the ’90s are regarded as the NBL’s glory days, but consider this. Last year, eight vibrant clubs contested the tightest competition the league has ever had. More people attended games than ever before – the average crowd figure of 5,939 surpassed the previous best of 5,692 of 1994. Television ratings on Fox Sports shot up 19 percent on the previous season. Page views of the NBL website were up 38,000 per week on the…

Secret of the NFL’s success: they leave you wanting more. The last we saw of the gridiron was New England’s sublime comeback against Atlanta in the Super Bowl, winning the first overtime in the big game’s history. The Patriots are solidly favoured to make it back to SB LII (that’s 52 in non-Roman) – but that’s about the only certainty to be found in the fog of parity that the NFL lives to create. New England Patriots $4.75 Curious fact: during the Bill Belichick-Tom Brady era, a run that has accumulated five titles, the Pats have only backed up once – and that happened to be 12 years ago. It’s not an indictment; it’s testimony to how good NE has been for so long, which we were all reminded of…

AFTER A DECORATED 356-game career as a player in the AFL and VFL, Paul Roos sat down with a clean sheet of paper. He wasn’t altogether sure what this exercise was for – he hadn’t decided yet to pursue coaching. But he did feel an urge to write down the thoughts and impressions he’d gathered over his playing career, about the way he and his teams had been coached, before the passage of time and nostalgia would obscure his footballing memory. Roos would indeed go on to become a defining figure in this era of AFL coaches, taking the Sydney Swans to a long-awaited premiership in 2005. Beyond the accomplishment of winning a flag, Roos was at the forefront of new organisational thinking that swept the league, as he ushered…

 How did a Sydney boy find his way to the cusp of the National Hockey League? Watching The Mighty Ducks and then my older brother starting to play, that’s what kicked it off. It all started when I was younger. My older brother played, and being the younger brother, you just want to follow what he’s doing. I slowly started progressing through the ranks here in Australia, and figured one day I’d rather see what I can do against kids overseas my age and be on the ice every day. Is it true that things like The Mighty Ducks movies helped get you into the sport? For sure. Between watching The Mighty Ducks and then my older brother starting to play, that’s what kicked it off,…

It has been quite a 2017. What have been your thoughts on the year? Yeah, it’s been enjoyable – mostly because I am not injured [laughs]. Most of the year has been great because the teams I have been playing in have had success, which is the most important thing. And of course it is always fun to score goals! In fact, this is the first time in two years you’ve been uninterrupted by injury. How did that time battling those setbacks shape you as the player you are today? I think for me I changed a lot when I was injured. I matured a lot. When you have had so many injuries, you can’t just do the same things. Not only has the way I think about football –…

SUPERCARS DRIVER Will Davison (left) had already competed in a handful of triathlons, but the Sunshine Coast 70.3 Half-Ironman was next-level, extra-curricular pursuit for even a fitness fanatic like the 34-year-old two-time winner of Bathurst. To say he engaged the right man to help him prepare is an understatement of epic proportions. Enter Courtney Atkinson, Olympian, six-time Australian triathlon champion and elite-level tri competitor across 15 years. Together, the Polar ambassadors worked to get Davison to the starting line of his first-ever Half-Ironman, with Atkinson – these days a professional inspirer and motivator – playing the role of mentor. Davison’s 70.3 challenge was a 1.9km swim, 90km bike and 21.1km run. This calibre of triathlon takes athletes to all sorts of strange, deep, personal places in the minds and bodies…