Innholdsfortegnelse for October 2019 i Inside Sport

While putting this particular edition together, that tried and true – and admittedly daggy – belief that grand final day is Christmas Day for footy fans remained firmly in the back of the mind. It really is, isn’t it? Recall your favourite actual Christmas Day. I’m sure it was a blast, back when your favourite Uncle was still with us, and the kids were still too young to escape into the wild with their own so-called grown-up mates. It was a great day, hey? Now, what year was that? If you can recall it in an instant, fair enough; you're doing well. Now recall where you were the day your favourite footy grand final played out. No doubt you can not only recall the year, you likely know the final…

1 International athletics holds its top-level event from September 28, ready to deliver up the men and women we’ll be pointing at in Tokyo next August and saying, “They should be favoured, they’re the world champion.” Such pressure is unavoidable with the shadow of the Olympics looming, but it’s better to be the champ than not, whatever scrutiny it might bring. Another thing in the spotlight: the host city of Doha, another step along the path to football’s big show in Qatar in ’22. 2 The big news story in the lead-up to the Worlds has been Caster Semenya’s ongoing battle with oÿcialdom, as the IAAF’s new rules on testosterone levels will stop the dual Olympic gold-medallist in the 800m from competing. The South African star mounted a legal challenge…

GRAND FINAL DAY has been a much beloved day on the calendar for rugby league fans. Traditionally the occasion was the ideal time to have a barbecue lunch with family and friends before watching the match in the afternoon. As with many things in sport and society, however, commercial and corporate demands prompt change. One of many notable changes has been the staging of grand finals at night (inaugurated in 2001). Television ratings have remained strong regardless of the timeslot. The competition has also transformed, having been the New South Wales Rugby Football League (NSWRFL), then the New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL), then the Australian Rugby League (ARL), and then the National Rugby League (NRL), while “Super League” existed for one year. With grand finals having only become permanent…

SINCE the first-ever cricket Test match played between England and Australia way back in 1877 (even before the birth of the Ashes legend in 1882), sport’s most prestigious and historic rivalry has never failed to produce an evocative narrative or sensational headline in the coverage of it. Nor has it ever failed to produce outstanding images. Over the years the action out in the middle has attracted press snappers from all parts of the globe like months to an outdoor porch light; their lenses perched like cannons awaiting the next move from the enemy. As per tradition, the wordsmiths have been scribbling away and smashing hard on their keyboards in the coverage of the 2019 Ashes – both the men’s and women’s series – and the best sports photographers have…

The Polls Close Early Much like the Oscars – which is what it really aspires to be, for the Melbourne social scene – the Brownlow Medal Night (Sep 23) has a runtime problem. It goes on way too long for what is essentially a bloke reading out names and numbers, so blessedly, AFL boss Gillon McLachlan saw fit to cut an hour from the broadcast. In other changes: Bruce McAvaney departs as host, to be replaced by Hamish McLachlan, aka Gillon’s bro, which will surely give the ceremony a nice, family feel. Chas watchers are calling it as one of the closer medal races in recent history, with Brownlow familiars such as Patrick Dangerfield and Nat Fyfe in the mix, alongside the likes of Tim Kelly and Lachie Neale. The…

IN A WORLD CUP THE WALLABIES ARE PART OF A GLOBAL CONVERSATION THAT LEAGUIES AND AFL TYPES COULD ONLY CONFECT. EVEN VICTORIANS BACK ‘EM. RUGBY in Australia needs success at the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan like Burke and Wills needed to listen to locals and find a waterhole. The game – by which we mean the pointy, professional end of rugby as opposed to the one people play for fun – has known several years of malaise. It’s been a mini-dynasty of malaise, of dipping interest, of ambivalence. And that’s among the game’s rusted-on fans, much less the greater populace of our nation state of disparate former colonies. Rugby needs an enema. A strong showing in the World Cup would be that enema. The Rugby World Cup is…

For those of you out there who are still yet to have heard of a man named Robert Whittaker, that will almost certainly change one way or another by the time October 6 rolls around. It’s on that date the Australian mixed martial arts superstar will defend his UFC middleweight championship belt against flamboyant New Zealander Israel Adesanya at Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium for what is being predicted will draw the biggest crowd in the UFC’s 26-year history. Crowd figure aside, UFC 243 is also widely seen as being the most significant combat sports event in Australasian history – Whittaker hasn’t lost a fight in five and a half years, while the Nigerian-born Adesanya is undefeated in his MMA career (17-0). But while Whittaker has now well and truly climbed the…

RHALI DOBSON is a full-time occupational therapist who currently enjoys spending one half of the year in Newcastle and the other half in Melbourne. The 27-year-old, while having enjoyed stints with Newcastle Jets in the past, is now entering her third season with Melbourne City in the W-League. The versatile attacker always valued education as a child, knowing it would be difficult to make it as a full-time professional female athlete. She is currently enjoying life with her partner Matt Stonham and has not ruled out any opportunities for an overseas playing stint that may come her way. The 2019-20 W-League season is fast approaching. Here, Dobson explains how she gets back into the rhythm of the W-League, and also shares her football journey from childhood. DON’T OVERDO IT It…

A whopping 52,079 packed Marvel Stadium in late August for the second and final game of the Australian Boomers vs USA FIBA exhibition series. The arena itself felt packed to the brim even an hour ahead of tip off; the court itself occupied only by the USA’s Donovan Mitchell – alone, headphones donned, seemingly oblivious to the thousands of fans staring at every effortlessly smooth move he made. That careless, USA swagger that comes from supreme confidence and talent brought fans nationwide to see America’s national basketball team play Down Under. Maybe it ended up playing against Mitchell and his team-mates; it might just have been the cause of Australia’s historic upset. This particular version of the USA team didn’t enter the country to the fanfare predicted when the series…

MARK WILLIAMS 2004 Port Adelaide coach Mark Williams had many reasons to be happy with the 2004 premiership win. There were the obvious ones: premiership cup, win over Brisbane who were short odds to win their fourth consecutively. But there was also sweet retribution. Williams’ team had been labelled big-game chokers in their own press after dropping consecutive preliminary finals. Furthermore, in 2003, an incident occurred which caused comment in this very magazine about the entitlement sponsors feel they possess to have a say in the running of clubs. Adelaide trucking magnate and club sponsor, Allan Scott, publicly called for Williams’ head, saying they’d never win a title under his tutelage. Just before the final siren sounded on Port’s upset 40-point win in a savage contest, Williams came onto the…

DAVID POCOCK Yes, there’s a chance he won’t start in the big games for Australia, but when he does, he is the most influential player for Australia. Michael Hooper is better to watch, a fun-running gun, all-action. Hooper had big games against the All Blacks wearing the No.7 and has apparently been anointed the starting open-side flanker forever by dint of the captaincy. It’s wrong. Because Pocock, when he’s on the park, is the most influential man on the park. Because he gets the ball. And he wins penalties. And via them, games. When Pocock gets to the breakdown, he is the best at getting the ball. And that’s it! And that’s why he should wear the No.7. Like, duh! JAMES RYAN A huge, big thing, a lock who Irish…

The first time I met Russell Hughes, I found myself riding with him on the back of a flatbed truck from Bulahdelah to Sydney with my good friend John Witzig. It was probably 1963 – could have been ’64. Exactly how Russ ended up with us on the tail end of our surf trip to Queensland escapes me. John and I were on a surfari to Noosa Heads, and I guess Russ had organised with John to get a lift to Sydney. Two-thirds of the way to the city, we blew up Mrs Witzig’s VW beetle, which John borrowed regularly to go on our surfaris. After a day of dicking around in Bulahdelah, we were forced to leave the thing behind. For some reason, a nice truckie took pity on…