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Monday
July 12th
Rugby
League - Bulldogs Eyeing the Minor Premiership
The Bulldogs have joined the Roosters at the top of
the NRL ladder. The Bulldogs are on the same number
of points as the Roosters but are behind on for and
against following their fifth win in a row - the weekend
victory over Melbourne. Canterbury has the chance
to claim top position outright when it next meets
Cronulla. The Sharks have now put together two consecutive
wins, scraping into the top eight and could have David
Peachy back for the Bulldogs match. Brett Kimmorley,
however, is unlikely to play due to his hamstring
injury.
Meantime
the Warriors have plunged to the bottom of the ladder
after yet another loss. The New Zealanders went down
to the Sharks and are now looking to next season with
speculation Bulldogs captain Steve Price will sign
with the side sometime this week. Canberra's Ruben
Wiki has already announced he will move to New Zealand
next year. The Warriors take on the Rabbitohs next
weekend at Ericsson Stadium with South Sydney no doubt
confident of victory after its upset win over Penrith.
AFL
- St Kilda's Mid-Season of Pain
St
Kilda's mid season form slump is showing no sign of
ending. The Saints have now been joined by Melbourne,
Brisbane and Port Adelaide as the leaders of the competition
after another thrashing, this time by the Demons.
Round 16 sees the Saints taking on Richmond in a desperate
bid to prove they are still premiership contenders.
The match will be played at the Telstra Dome - a ground
which the Saints have excelled on so far this season.
The Wizard Cup winners will, however, be a depleted
unit with Fraser Gehrig still out through suspension
and Matt Maguire and Luke Penny also likely to be
sidelined after hurting a groin and hamstring respectively
in the Demons match.
Meantime
Brisbane has its chance to take over top spot when
it meets Collingwood this weekend in a grand final
re-match. The Lions could be without Jonathan Brown
who has been reported for striking the Bulldogs Chris
Grant. Magpie Alan Didak will miss the match after
injuring his jaw in the loss to Geelong. Another defeat
this weekend will mean the end of Collingwood's finals
hopes.
Golf
- Aussie Onslaught at Royal Troon
There
will be another record turnout of Australians at this
year's British Open at Royal Troon. When the Open
starts on Thursday, there will be 21 Australians in
the field hoping to win the major come Sunday. Greg
Norman, the last Australian to win the British Open
in 1993, will also be there. If he is victorious,
49 year old Norman will become the oldest player ever
to claim a major. Adam Scott, however, is the Australian
most likely to end up on top of the leader-board.
Other Australians in contention include Robert Allenby,
Stuart Appleby and Aaron Baddeley but not Steve Elkington
who has pulled out because of a groin strain.
American
Ben Curtis won the Open last year but it's another
American, Tiger Woods, who is expected to win it this
year. The champion in 2000, Woods hasn't won a major
in eight outings and victory at Royal Troon this week
will mean his status as the world's number one golfer
will also be secured. At present it's under threat
from players such as South African Ernie Els who was
the 2002 British Open champion.
Rugby
Union - Battle for the Bledisloe
New Zealand will be looking for some sort of revenge
when it meets Australia in the first Bledisloe Cup
match in Wellington on Saturday. Australia famously
kept the All Blacks out of the World Cup final last
year despite the predictions New Zealand would smash
the Wallabies in their semi-final encounter. The All
Blacks are coming off a win over the Pacific Islanders
with no outstanding injury concerns however Doug Howlett
remains in doubt for the Wallabies game with a shoulder
injury. If he fails a fitness test his spot will be
taken by Rico Gear. The All Blacks have named defence
as a key area they will have to improve on if they're
to beat Australia and have conceded their attack plan
will change from the one implemented in the Pacific
Islanders match.
Meantime
Australia is still sweating on the fitness of captain
George Gregan after he hurt his shoulder in the victory
over the Islanders earlier this month. Chris Whitaker
will wear the number 9 jersey if Gregan is ruled out.
Chris Latham is expected to come in for the injured
Joe Roff instead of Matt Burke while Matt Giteau will
take over the kicking duties.
Thursday
15th July
Rugby
League - Dragons Lacking Fire-Power
The
Dragons will be the underdogs when they meet the Sydney
Roosters on Friday night. St George-Illawarra will
be without a number of key players such as Trent Barrett
and Mark Riddell for the round 19 match against the
Roosters at Aussie Stadium. Nathan Blacklock, however,
has been promoted to first grade from Premier League
while Ben Hornby and Lincoln Withers come into the
side for Barrett and Riddell. The Dragons are the
sixth team on the NRL ladder and will be looking to
consolidate a position in the top eight with a win
while the Roosters' status as leaders of the competition
is in jeopardy with the Bulldogs now on the same number
of points as the 2002 champions.
Meantime
the Wests Tigers will need to beat Melbourne this
weekend at Leichhardt if their finals hopes are to
be realized. They've lost four in a row and have plunged
to 12th spot on the ladder while the Storm is in fourth.
In other matches Penrith takes on the Raiders, the
Cowboys are at home to Parramatta, the Warriors meet
the Rabbitohs, Cronulla tackles the Bulldogs and Newcastle
plays Brisbane.
AFL
- Defence Expected to Headline Swans, Cats Clash
Sydney is looking to continue its march up the AFL
ladder when the Swans meet Geelong on Saturday. Sydney
is likely to welcome back Nic Fosdike and Amos Buchanan
for the match against the Cats. Many are expecting
a low scoring game with Geelong and the Swans both
very strong in defence. In a boost for the Cats, Matthew
Scarlett is free to play after beating a kneeing charge
at the Tribunal and is expected to line up against
the in-form Barry Hall in a tantalising match-up.
Meantime St Kilda will be hoping to end its embarrassing
losing streak and keep a hold on top spot on the ladder
when the side meets Richmond. Injury problems, however,
are plaguing the Saints with Max Hudghton and Troy
Schwarze the latest to drop out causing headaches
for coach Grant Thomas as he looks for a defender
able and willing to take on the Tigers Matthew Richardson.
In
other matches West Coast meets Essendon, Carlton takes
on the Kangaroos, Collingwood and Brisbane face-off
at the MCG, Adelaide plays Fremantle, Hawthorn tackles
Port Adelaide and Melbourne clashes with the Western
Bulldogs.
Rugby Union - Injury Troubles All Blacks and Wallabies
New Zealand is favoured to win both the Bledisloe
Cup match against Australia on Saturday and the Tri
Nations. The test between the All Blacks and the Wallabies
in Wellington kicks off the Tri Nations series with
South Africa to play New Zealand on Saturday week.
The ravages of injury means Australia is a different
looking team to the side which beat their Kiwi opponents
in the World Cup semi-final last year with players
such as George Gregan and Joe Roff taking no part
in the match. Gregan has been replaced by Chris Whitaker
on the field while Queenslander Nathan Sharpe is the
new captain. Chris Latham has come in for Roff at
fullback while Clyde Rathbone will once again start
on the wing leaving Wendell Sailor on the bench.
New
Zealand's preparation for the match hasn't been without
drama with Richie McCaw pulling out because of ongoing
headaches and Keith Robinson in doubt with a back
injury. Marty Holah has taken McCaw's place and Simon
Maling is on stand-by in case Robinson is unable to
play.
Golf - Tiger Touted for Troon Triumph
Tiger
Woods and Ernie Els are expected to battle it out
for British Open supremacy. Tiger Woods hasn't won
a Major in over two years but he is still expected
to be on top of the leader board when the British
Open wraps up at Royal Troon on Sunday. South African
Ernie Els, however, could spoil Tiger's return to
the winners circle. Els has hit form and will be looking
to make up for his disappointing performance at the
US Open.
There
are 20 Australians in the field this year and Adam
Scott has been labeled the Australian most likely
to take hold of the Claret Jug. Scott has made an
impact in the US winning the Players Championship
and the Booz Allen Classic and is a chance of claiming
his first Major with victory in Scotland. Defending
champion Ben Curtis is also at Troon and says he can
win back-to-back British Opens. Recent rain has somewhat
slowed the greens but the wind is expected to trouble
more than a few players. Australian Peter O'Malley
will be the first player on the course.
Monday
July 19th
Rugby
League - Tigers Form Turnaround
The Wests Tigers have turned around a form slump with
a win over the Storm. The Wests Tigers needed to beat
Melbourne to keep its finals hopes alive after losing
four games in a row. They did that, however the victory
has been overshadowed by an ugly incident where Melbourne's
Danny Williams has king-hit Tiger Mark O'Neill. The
impact left O'Neill concussed and even though it appears
not to have caused serious damage, he could miss the
Friday night match against the Bulldogs. O'Neill has
also been placed on report for a high tackle on Williams
just prior to the incident but many are predicting
Williams will be given a lengthy suspension for the
hit.
Meantime
Penrith has also rebounded from a form slump, celebrating
the return of Craig Gower and Ryan Girdler with a
win over Canberra. The Panthers have the bye next
weekend which will allow stars Girdler and Joe Galavao
to recover from injuries sustained in the match but
Ben Ross and Joel Clinton could run into trouble at
the judiciary for a lifting tackle, forcing them out
of the round 21 game against the Bulldogs.
AFL
- Cats Claw up the Ladder
Geelong
owns fifth spot on the ladder this week after Sunday's
win over the Swans. The top of the ladder remains
crowded with St Kilda, Brisbane, Port Adelaide and
Melbourne all on 48 points. On 40 points, however,
and in outright fifth spot is Geelong after the team's
15 point victory over Sydney. Geelong has come through
the game relatively unscathed but Peter Riccardi has
suffered a hamstring injury and Cameron Mooney didn't
play because of a groin problem. The Cats' next opponent
is Carlton - a team desperate for a win to edge into
finals contention. The 11th placed Blues should have
all players on deck for the match after the weekend
win over the Kangaroos.
Fremantle,
Sydney and Essendon fill out the top eight and are
all on 36 points meaning their upcoming games will
be crucial for ladder position. Of the three, Fremantle
was the only team to post a win in round 16. The Dockers
take on the Swans in round 17 at Subiaco while Essendon
will be missing a number of key players for its Friday
night match against the Saints but captain James Hird
could return from injury for the clash.
Rugby Union - Boks v Blacks
Australia has a week off after again losing the Bledisloe
Cup. The loss to New Zealand at Wellington's Westpac
Trust Stadium in atrocious conditions means the Bledisloe
Cup will once again grace the shelves of the All Black's
trophy cabinet for another year. The Wallabies will
now turn their attention to winning the Tri Nations
but have the weekend off before taking on South Africa
in Perth on Saturday week.
The Springboks travel to Christchurch this weekend
to play the All Blacks in their first Tri Nations
game. They go into the encounter after a win over
the Pacific Islanders in which the forward pack showed
how dominant it has become. The All Blacks have no
injury concerns following the game against Australia
and Zealand could also have Richie McCaw back for
the Springboks game if he recovers in time from a
head injury. The Kiwis also escaped reprimand from
the judiciary for a brawl in the second half of the
Bledisloe Cup match for which Wallabies hooker Brendan
Cannon has been given a two week suspension.
Formula
One - F1 in Germany
As
Formula One action moves to Germany for the 12th race
of the season, the question once again is can anyone
stop Michael Schumacher? Ferrari's number one driver,
Michael Schumacher, will be looking for his 11th victory
this year at his home ground prix. The best Schumacher
could do at Hockenheim last year was seventh with
the race won by Juan Pablo Montoya from Williams BMW.
The
German is coming off a win at the British Grand Prix
but another driver who will have gained almost as
much from that race is McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen. Raikkonen
finished in second spot- his first podium finish this
year.
Australia's
Mark Webber took a point from Silverstone after finishing
in eighth position in his Jaguar bringing his season's
tally so far to four points. Webber didn't finish
the German Grand Prix last year after an accident.
Hockenheim has been the home of the German Grand Prix
since the late 1970's and is a race run over 67 laps
with a total distance of just over 306 kilometres.
Thursday
July 22nd
Rugby
League - Seasons on the Line
The battle of Sydney's south will be played out this
weekend when the Dragons take on Cronulla. The local
derby on Sunday at Oki Jubilee Stadium means more
than just which team is the best in the south - a
win is crucial for both sides as they look to cement
their positions in the top eight. St George Illawarra
is still plagued by injury with Mark Gasnier out until
at least the start of the finals after again hurting
his collarbone and Shaun Timmins on the sideline with
a cheekbone injury. Cronulla's Jason Kent has been
cleared to play after recovering from a thumb problem.
The
stakes are also high in the match between Newcastle
and North Queensland. The Knights have lost two in
a row and are sitting in 10th while the Cowboys are
one ahead in 9th. In a show of determination, Newcastle
fullback Robbie O'Davis will take part in the match
and all others until the end of the season despite
suffering a fractured jaw.
Other
matches this weekend see the Wests Tigers up against
the Bulldogs, Brisbane meets Manly, the Rabbitohs
play the Roosters, Melbourne is at home to Parramatta
and the Raiders tackle the Warriors.
AFL
- The Beginning of the End for Schwab
All eyes will be on Hawthorn to see how the side reacts
on the field to the news coach Peter Schwab is leaving.
Schwab will stay with the Hawks until the end of the
season but even though his contract is until the end
of 2005, he will leave as soon as this year is over.
Hawthorn has only won two games so far despite Schwab's
pledge at the beginning of the season his team would
win the premiership. The Hawks meet the Kangaroos
this weekend with the ninth placed Roos looking to
break into the top eight. They'll be without Brady
Rawlings who has received a one match ban for striking.
Meantime
Sydney is likely to play Adam Goodes in its away game
against the Dockers even though he hurt his knee last
weekend. Fremantle's Jeff Farmer will also be on the
field after beating a kneeing charge at the Tribunal.
With just six games left in the regular season, only
percentages separate the Dockers on 6th and the Swans
in 7th position.
In
other games St Kilda plays Essendon, Brisbane takes
on Adelaide, the Western Bulldogs meet Collingwood,
Port Adelaide is up against the West Coast Eagles,
Geelong tackles Carlton and Richmond plays Melbourne.
Rugby
Union - Tummy Troubles for All Blacks
It has been a tough week for the All Blacks with many
in the team plagued by a stomach bug. New Zealand
has had to not only recover from the grueling Bledisloe
Cup victory over Australia in the lead-up to its second
Tri Nations match against South Africa, but a large
proportion of the team has suffered the effects of
a gastric illness. Blockbuster winger Joe Rokocoko
is the latest player to be struck down by the virus
with Carlos Spencer, Justin Marshall, Daniel Carter
and Keven Mealamu just some of the players also affected.
Injuries have also ruled Keith Robinson, Richie McCaw
and Jono Gibbes out of Saturday's match in Christchurch.
The Springboks have made two changes to the side that
beat the Pacific Islanders in their last outing. Albert
van den Berg comes in for Gerrie Britz who has suffered
a broken nose while Fourie du Preez is in for halfback
Bolla Conradie. New Zealand is on top of the Tri Nations
table after a first match win over Australia. The
Wallabies take on South Africa on Saturday week in
Perth.
Formula
One - Schumacher the Hot Favourite at Hockenheim
Renault's Jarno Trulli will line-up for the German
Grand Prix despite a sickening crash at Silverstone.
Trulli says he is fine and will race at Hockenheim
this weekend after recovering from an accident at
the British Grand Prix which saw the Italian crash
into a barrier at over 240 kilometres an hour. Trulli
finished third at last year's German Grand Prix and
maintains despite the drama surrounding his last outing
in the car, he can repeat that feat and could even
do better. No one, however, is expected to get close
to Michael Schumacher in his Ferrari at his home Grand
Prix. The German says he believes Sunday's race will
be tough but he is confident of turning around his
lack lustre record at Hockenheim. Schumacher finished
in seventh position last year with Juan Pablo Montoya
from Williams-BMW winning the 2003 German Grand Prix
ahead of McLaren's David Coulthard. Ferrari has the
chance to claim the Constructors' title with a good
result this weekend.
Monday
July 26th
Rugby
League - Beware the Bulldogs
The
Bulldogs are threatening the Roosters for the minor
premiership having now won seven games in a row. Canterbury
sits behind the Roosters at the top of the ladder
but only on percentages and is arguably the team to
beat, not only for the minor premiership but for the
title of NRL champions. The win over the Tigers on
the weekend was hard-fought and, at times, controversial
but it showcased the form of players such as Matt
Utai and Braith Anasta with only six games until the
end of the regular season. The Bulldogs meet defending
premiers Penrith next weekend with no injury concerns.
The Panthers had the bye this weekend.
Brisbane
is sitting in third position on the ladder and is
also looking dangerous in the lead-up to the finals
after putting away Manly on Saturday. There are, however,
question marks over the fitness of a number of Broncos
players such as Brent Tate and Gordon Tallis. Brisbane
next takes on the Sharks who are hoping to return
to the top eight after losing ladder position with
the loss to the Dragons.
AFL
- Lions Back on Top
The
Lions have wrested top spot on the AFL ladder from
St Kilda with five rounds to go until the finals.
Brisbane is now the league's number one team after
17 rounds after its 141 point thrashing of Adelaide
at the weekend. All of the big name Lions performed
in the match with Alastair Lynch booting six goals
but some of those players are likely to miss Brisbane's
round 18 encounter with Sydney. Justin Leppitsch and
Jamie Charman are among the injured with back and
knee problems respectively.
The Swans go into Saturday's game at the SCG after
a disappointing loss to Fremantle. Sydney is only
just in the eight but did manage to get through the
Dockers game without any injury worries.
Meantime
the Cats have put in another solid performance to
keep fifth spot on the ladder ahead of their next
match against the Saints. The 57 point win over Carlton
came at a price, however, with defender Brenton Sanderson
suffering a knee injury. He is expected to miss the
game against the St Kilda.
Rugby
Union - Wallabies with the Edge
Australia
needs to beat South Africa on Saturday if it has any
chance of winning the Tri Nations series. The Springboks
come to Australia for the match-up in Perth after
going the way of the Wallabies in New Zealand. Defeat
was handed to South Africa in the dying moments of
the game against the All Blacks leaving the Kiwis
alone on top of the Tri Nations table with two wins
from two games. The narrow loss at the end of a tough
match will likely mean the Wallabies will have the
psychological edge over the Springboks who had been
so close to their first win in New Zealand in four
years.
Despite the result, South Africa will probably have
the full complement of players to choose from for
the Australia test with no noticeable injury worries.
The Wallabies will welcome back captain George Gregan
for his 100th test match but hooker Brendan Cannon
will miss the game through suspension and will be
replaced by Adam Freier. Flanker George Smith is set
to return to the starting side at the expense of Radike
Samo.
Olympics
- Australia Set to Paint Athens Green and Gold
The
Olympics might not be in Sydney but Australia's athletes
are still expected to collect a swag of medals. The
Athens Games start in three weeks time and will run
for a fortnight. By the end of those two weeks, the
Australian Olympic Committee is expecting our team,
the biggest barring the side which competed at the
Sydney Games, to be among the top five nations winning
medals. Most of the gold is expected to again come
in the pool with Ian Thorpe and Grant Hackett leading
the charge. On the track, Jana Pittman is considered
the Australian most likely to bring home gold when
she competes in the 400 metres hurdles. Australia
is also expected to fare well in team sports such
as hockey and basketball. Despite the recent drugs
scandal involving members of Australia's cycling team,
medals are expected to come in all colours at the
velodrome and on the road. After winning the sprinter's
green jersey at the Tour de France, Robbie McEwen
is now one of the favourites to take out the men's
road race at Athens.
Sports
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