Innholdsfortegnelse for November 2018 i Inside Sport

IT IS THE story we’ve been waiting to run since March, a time of year that we’ve usually checked out of cricket to dive into the footy season. It was then that the biggest, broadest story in Australian sport in 2018 occurred. And if another comes along to surpass it, it will have to be big (nice try, Serena Williams). We are referring, of course, to the ball-tampering scandal that engulfed the Australian team in South Africa. It was a shocking turn of events, and the reaction to it also surprised with its fraught quality – the controversy touched a nerve that went beyond sport to become a wider social question. Australians had conveniently overlooked their cricket side’s previous hard-edged behaviour. Premeditated cheating, however, crossed the famed line that Aussie…

1 Sydney sports fans will be witnesses to history when the first-ever full-format hurling game ever to be played outside of Ireland takes place in the harbour city. A Kilkenny vs Galway match will be part of the inaugural Magners Sydney Irish Festival, to be held at Sydney Showgrounds across November 10-11. The Festival will be a fusion of art, culture, music, dance, food and drink and will culminate in this highly anticipated match between two championship-winning teams. 2 Dating back to the 7th century, hurling is one of the national sports of Ireland and is a physical-contact venture. The Inside Sport team watched a video on YouTube as research for this article: it described hurling as a game showcasing the skills of lacrosse, baseball and field hockey players. Played…

Horse sense Australia looks to the Melbourne Cup (Nov 6) as a rite of observance, the day we recall our roots as a nation that loves racing (or just loves to stage workplace parties). With respect to the venerable 3200m at Flemington, which drew a record number of international entries again this year, the centre of attention in terms of sporting interest this spring might well be the Cox Plate (Oct 27). The hook is obvious: Winx chases a fourth straight win in the weight-for-age classic, a feat that would further establish the mare in the pantheon of great horses in Australian racing. But the raiders will be out at Moonee Valley too – the big name is Poet’s Word, the Sir Michael Stoute-trained winner coming off a pair of…

“The players quickly pick up on the leader’s intentions and they will follow suit … if the captain wants the game to be played hard but fair, then all he has to do is perform in that manner.” The best way to improve as a captain is to do the job and quickly learn from any mistakes. Mind you, make a few major blunders and you won’t be in the role for long. On appointment, an international captain needs to adopt the approach of: “All the wins and losses go against my name.” Fully understand this principle and you have taken the first step to being a successful captain. Incorporating this strategy is crucial in the modern game because there are so many support staff around a team that it’s…

The Sydney Morning Herald’s chief sports writer (and former Inside Sport staffer) Andrew Webster’s previous book subjects include rugby league coach Jack Gibson. His latest tome focuses on another legend: sprinter Peter Norman. (This interview has been edited for length and clarity.) His story seems more relevant than ever, but what drew you to the tale of Peter Norman? The head of publishing for nonfiction at Pan Macmillan; we sat down and he said, “What if I said the name ‘Peter Norman’ to you?” And I said, “You’ve got me, I’m in already.” Like everyone, I was so fascinated by – and I hate to use this term because Peter hated it as well – the white guy in the photo. I’d known about it vaguely; I’d read what had…

Coomera Cutters have wrapped up a massive season both on and off the pitch. The 2018 Sportscover Clubbies winners had eight teams playing finals football and, for the first time, boasted a Division 1 grand-finalist. Silverware might have eluded them, but there’s no stopping this juggernaut, which has grown to be the second-biggest junior rugby league club on the Gold Coast in just five years. Named the Best Club in the national grassroots sports awards, the culturally diverse Cutters are slicing and dicing the competition when it comes to growth, sponsorship and all-in commitment. A glowing write-up on the NRL website proved the 700-plus participants have finally reached cut-through, and armed with $5000 in Intersport vouchers from their Clubbies win, next season could be their best yet. “We got a…

Following the Bancroft-Warner ball-tampering blow-up, Steve Smith calmly and authoritatively announced his intention to continue his leadership, feeling no need to feel any different. Soon after, he was smashed by the million-pound shit-hammer of anagnorisis, ambushed by crisis: he’d forgotten his holy duty to protect, nourish and perpetuate; left his first love. Those tempted to believe he was being hard on himself were soon set straight by The Colony’s extravagant reaction. Dissolving like unseasonal snow before our eyes, Smith left a messiah-sized hole through which we anxiously glimpsed a vast, desolate, uncharted tract without markers of meaning. The Colony’s most audible voice – media – swung into action, not exclusively to repair, but build bridges of sense, stockades. Some tilted caps embellished with cockades of derisive smartness. Others wielded batons…

The money on offer in modern footy, particularly for the superstars of our major codes, can make life pretty sweet, whether your team finishes last or takes home the trophy at the end of the year. On grand final day though, there’s no talk of coin. It’s all about passion, desire, doing it for your team-mates. You know, commitment to the cause and all that. You can read it on the winners’ faces after full-time. Delirium. They’re not on planet Earth in that moment of exultation. Imagine the head space of 28-year-old Luke Shuey. A Norm Smith Medal around his neck, the premiership cup in his right hand, screaming in ecstasy with the army of Eagles supporters perched high up in the stands of the MCG. Real and unreal all…

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“It gives the general public a physical understanding of what we go through, and illustrates the journey we’ve been on." Brendan Hardman can’t remember what the argument with his wife, Monique, was about. Something inconsequential, the dishes going undone, maybe. They went to bed, and Monique fell asleep, but Hardman couldn’t let it go. “I spiralled out of control with my mindset,” he says. “I wanted to end it there.” It had been a year since Hardman had left the army, having served as an artillery oÿcer in Afghanistan. He had suffered a series of back injuries in the line of duty, which left him unable to feel his feet, and eventually required surgery. He was in constant pain, and on a lot of opioids. Yet that wasn’t the extent…

“Call me a cynic, but I’ll be running my eye over the field for the invaders and plonking my hard earned on them.” REASONED ARGUMENTS ADVANCING AUSTRALIA I was reading an article the other day that got me thinking, “Geez, there are a lot of foreign horses coming over to race in the Melbourne Cup these days, aren’t there?” It all started about 25 years ago when that Irish bloke Dermot Weld brung Vintage Crop over and won. And it’s been downhill for Aussie racing ever since. I’m just a bit sick of foreign-owned horses coming over and winning our best race. Don’t they have their own races to compete in? WELCOME MAT Times are changing, mate. The international appeal of the Melbourne Cup makes the race a fantastic advertisement…

They’ve always liked the look of him: fluent batting technique; efficient glove-work; carries himself well on and off the park. A good style of a bloke, as the old boys would say. Good kid. Good bloke. Good cricketer. And thus they’ve always picked him – even without runs. Tim Paine’s latest incarnation as a Test cricketer didn’t come because of runs. It wasn’t because of wicket-keeping – he was second-choice in Tasmania. Rather his name was notched into notebooks because selectors knew what he’d been, who he was, and what he still could be. He was picked on belief, not numbers. And then in the maelstrom of the sandpaper-in-the-pants imbroglio, after years of pointing fingers, our poor cricket nation’s innocence was slain like a harpoon through baby Jesus when we…

The grand finals might be won and done, but the footy continues in 2018, thanks to the Kangaroos’ rugby league Tests and of course the Wallabies’ end of season internationals. Back in July of 1998, Australian captain John Eales had some passionate words to share with his troops before they took on the mighty All Blacks in Melbourne. If you can come up with a quote for Mr Eales which suits the photo to the left, and we think it’s cleverer than all the others we receive, you’ll score an amazing footy book prize pack, made up of four current hot sports titles: The Wallabies At War, Sons Of Guns, Sam Mitchell’s Relentless and Tries, Lies And Meat Pies by Sam Thaiday. For your chance to win, head to www.insidesport.com.au/win…