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Thursday
September 2nd 2004
AFL
- Port's Finals Hopes
The
Power will be looking to change its abysmal finals
fortunes when it plays Geelong in Adelaide on Sunday.
Port Adelaide hasn't had much luck when it comes to
finals time, losing its first home final every year
for the past three years. This time, however, Port
Adelaide say things will be different when it takes
on Geelong. The Cats have been impressive all season
although have a poor interstate record but will have
James Bartel back after a two match suspension. The
winner of the Geelong-Power match goes through to
the preliminary final while the loser plays the winner
of the Sydney-West Coast clash.
The
other qualifying final puts defending premiers Brisbane
against St Kilda. The Lions will go into the match
as favourites after thrashing the Saints a fortnight
ago but will be without Alastair Lynch. The Saints
also have injury worries with Aaron Hamill and Leigh
Montagna ruled out of the match but Robert Harvey
and Heath Black return to after a rest week. The winner
of Friday's clash has a week off while the loser takes
on the winner of the Melbourne-Essendon battle.
Rugby League - Bulldogs, Roosters Fight for Minor
Premiership
The
minor premiership is up for the grabs as the NRL's
home and away season winds up. The Roosters and the
Bulldogs are both in with a chance of claiming top
spot on the ladder after the 26 rounds of the regular
season. If both teams win this weekend, the minor
premiership will go to the Roosters on points difference.
They take on Parramatta - a team out of finals contention.
The Bulldogs will also meet a side that won't feature
in the finals, traveling to New Zealand to play the
Warriors. The home team is welcoming back a number
of players from injury for its final match of the
year and needs a win to avoid the wooden spoon.
St George Illawarra, Melbourne and Penrith have no
hope of winning the minor premiership but all three
will be hoping to sneak into the top four. The Panthers
hold down the spot at the moment but will have to
beat Brisbane to keep it. The Storm will need a win
over Manly while the Dragons will be sweating on results
as they have the bye.
In
other matches Newcastle meets the Wests Tigers, the
Cowboys play Cronulla and Canberra hosts South Sydney.
Tennis
- Hewitt At Home in New York
Australian Lleyton Hewitt has shown he is a real chance
of winning this year's US Open. Hewitt has opened
his campaign at Flushing Meadows in style with a straight
sets win over South African Wayne Ferreira. The fourth
seed says he is playing as well as ever and will take
on Moroccan Hicham Arazi next.
There have been no real upsets in the men's draw so
far with the top ten seeds all advancing to the second
round. That's where world number one Roger Federer
will play unseeded Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis while
local favourite and number two seed Andy Roddick takes
on Rafael Nadal from Spain.
Samantha
Stosur and Nicole Pratt are the only two Australians
left in the women's draw and will play Russians Nadia
Petrova and Svetlana Kuznetsova respectively in the
second round.
World
number one Justine Henin-Hardenne will take on Tzipora
Obziler from Israel in the second round; second seed
Frenchwoman Amelie Mauresmo is already through to
the third round where she will meet Maria Vento-Kabchi
from Venezuela and Serena Williams in her very different
tennis outfits plays France's Tatiana Golvin in round
two.
Cricket
- India's Poor Form
The Australian cricket team will be keeping an eye
on the one-day series between India and England. The
ICC Champions Trophy starts in England next week but
the Indians have arrived early to get in some match
practice against the hosts. The first one day international
between the two sides has been an uneven affair with
home side England thrashing India by seven wickets
courtesy of some handy bowling from Steve Harmison
and debutante Alex Wharf. The win will be a massive
confidence booster for England as the side's one-day
form of late has been poor. India will be hoping for
a better performance in the second match on Friday
at The Oval but will again be without master batsman
Sachin Tendulkar who is still recovering from injury
ahead of the Champions Trophy. England will play Zimbabwe
in the opening match of the Champions Trophy at Edgebaston
while India's first game will be against Kenya at
Rosebowl.
Monday
September 6th 2004
AFL
- Saints, Geelong Looking to Bounce Back
Two
teams are out and only six remain in the hunt for
the AFL Premiership. Brisbane and Port Adelaide have
next weekend off while St Kilda battles Sydney and
Geelong tackles Essendon in finals games at the MCG
on Friday and Saturday. The Saints go into their match
after being completely out-classed by the defending
premiers but team officials have sworn they can bounce
back. Aaron Hamill is hoping to play against Sydney
after missing the Lions game with a knee injury.
The
Swans could not be in a more different mindset having
thrashed the West Coast Eagles last weekend. They
will have all players on deck for next Friday's game.
Meantime
Geelong has both injury and suspension worries ahead
of its semi final against the Bombers. At least one
player, Kent Kingsley, will face the Tribunal this
week after being charged with striking while there
are reports Gary Ablett Junior has suffered an ankle
injury in the big loss to the Power.
Essendon
is through to the semis after beating Melbourne and
will probably have Dean Rioli back for the Cats game
while Adam McPhee could also return.
Rugby League - Roosters & Bulldogs Set to Dominate
NRL Finals
The
Roosters and the Bulldogs go into the NRL finals series
as the raging favourites to contest this year's decider.
The Roosters and the Bulldogs go into the playoffs
having finished in first and second place on the ladder,
remaining the form teams of the competition. The Roosters
will start their finals campaign against the Raiders
who have snuck into the eight. Canberra won't be expected
to trouble the 2002 champions especially as Ruben
Wiki has been all but ruled out of the match after
suffering a serious ankle injury.
Canterbury meets the Cowboys on Saturday in North
Queensland's first game beyond the regular season.
The Bulldogs have no injury concerns while the Cowboys
will also be at full strength. Brisbane will welcome
back the likes of Darren Lockyer, Shaun Berrigan and
Tonie Carroll when the Broncos play Melbourne at home
but Brad Meyers and Carl Webb will struggle to be
fit after both suffered injuries in the round 26 loss
to Penrith.
The
Panthers are also likely to be without key personnel
in their final against the Dragons as Rhys Wesser
and Joe Galuvao are both in doubt for the Friday night
match.
Tennis
- Top Seeds Shine
The Williams sisters will play in two of the biggest
matches in the women's draw over the coming days at
the US Open. Serena Williams will take on compatriot
Jennifer Capriati in the quarter finals while Venus
Williams has also set up an all-American match against
Lindsay Davenport in the fourth round. All four players
are in amazing form as is world number one Justine
Henin-Hardenne. The Belgian is also through to the
fourth round and will next meet Russian 14th seed
Nadia Petrova.
Defending
men's champion Andy Roddick has easily advanced to
the round of 16 where he will play 18th seed Tommy
Robredo. Fellow American Andre Agassi has also quietly
moved through and will be expected to go further as
he meets unseeded Armenian Sargis Sargsian in the
fourth round. Men's world number one Roger Federer
will take on Andrei Pavel and even though the Romanian
is the tournament's 16th seed, he isn't expected to
trouble Federer who has had little trouble getting
this far.
Formula
One - Schumacher OK for Monza
Ferrari's
Michael Schumacher will contest the Italian Grand
Prix despite being involved in a high speed crash.
Schumacher has escaped injury after the accident in
a testing session at Monza but his car hasn't been
so lucky suffering serious damage. The crash has been
blamed on a problem with a rear tyre and may have
rattled the nerves of Schumacher ahead of Sunday's
Grand Prix at Monza. Schumacher, however, goes into
the race with no pressure having already won the drivers'
title two weeks ago in Belgium although a win in his
team's home country will surely be a goal for the
German.
Australian
driver Mark Webber finished seventh in his Jaguar
at Monza last year and will be hoping for another
good showing especially on the back of a disappointing
performance in Belgium. Webber had an accident very
early in the race after starting from seventh on the
grid and, as a result, failed to finish. After Italy
there are only three races left on the calendar: China,
Japan and the season ending Brazilian Grand Prix at
Sao Paulo.
Thursday
September 9th 2004
Rugby
League - Defending Premiers Open Finals Series
The
NRL finals series kicks off on Friday night with the
Panthers at home to the Dragons. Penrith comes into
the game after a confidence-boosting win over Brisbane
while St George Illawarra is arguably fresher after
having the bye last weekend. The Panthers will be
without Tony Puletua but Joe Galuvao and Rhys Wesser
have both been named in the team despite suffering
injuries in last weekend's game. The Dragons have
dominated the Panthers this season, winning both of
their encounters comfortably.
Brisbane
likewise has an enviable record against the Storm
who they play in their final on Saturday. The two
teams have clashed 12 times and Brisbane has won seven
of those games including the only time they played
in this year's regular season. The Broncos have a
few injury concerns but will benefit from the return
of the likes of Darren Lockyer and Shaun Berrigan.
The
Bulldogs could be challenged by finals debutants the
Cowboys in Saturday's other final while the Raiders
won't be expected to trouble the Roosters on Sunday
especially with captain Simon Woolford missing through
suspension and veteran Ruben Wiki out with an ankle
injury.
AFL
- Sydney Tipped to Swan over Saints
Two
teams will have their premiership dream shattered
this weekend. Sydney and St Kilda will contest this
weekend's first semi final on Friday night at the
MCG. The winner goes through to the preliminary final
against Port Adelaide while the loser goes home empty-handed.
The Swans will be without Nick Davis who has sustained
a foot injury while the Saints will also be missing
a key member of their team with Aaron Hamill yet to
recover from a knee problem. Sydney will have something
of a psychological edge over the Saints as the Swans
ended their opponent's lengthy winning streak in round
11. St Kilda also has a poor record at the MCG.
Meantime the Tribunal hasn't been kind to Geelong
this week. Kent Kingsley will miss Saturday's semi
against Essendon after receiving a one match suspension
for striking. Gary Ablett and Brenton Sanderson remain
in doubt for the match because of injury. Adam McPhee,
who has been battling a hamstring injury, is now a
good chance of playing for the Bombers but Dean Rioli
is out. The winner of the match will play Brisbane
next week.
Tennis - Red-Hot Hewitt
Australian
Lleyton Hewitt is continuing to impress at the US
Open. Hewitt has won through to a quarter final match
against comeback kid Tommy Haas without dropping a
set. The 23 year old has now won 14 matches in a row,
reaching the quarters in New York for the fifth successive
year. Haas is unseeded at the tournament after missing
the entire 2003 season with a serious shoulder injury.
Should Hewitt beat the big serving German, he will
probably face defending men's champion Andy Roddick
in the semi finals. The American number two seed has
also had a solid tournament so far and plays Swede
Joachim Johansson in the quarter finals.
The
women's draw has lost a number of big names in recent
days such as Serena and Venus Williams, Amelie Mauresmo
and most surprisingly world number one Justine Henin-Hardenne.
Still in contention, however, are Jennifer Capriati
who is seeded sixth and Russian Elena Dementieva.
They will play each other for a spot in the women's
final at Flushing Meadows, having advanced following
tough three set wins over more fancied opponents.
Cricket
- Australia Seeking First Champions Trophy
Australia is the favourite to win the ICC Champions
Trophy starting in England on Friday. The Champions
Trophy is the one piece of silverware the Australian
one-day cricket team has never won. That's likely
to change in a fortnight's time with the Aussies favourites
to win the tournament.
England
plays Zimbabwe on the opening day on September 10
at Edgbaston while the teams joining Australia in
Pool A, New Zealand and the United States of America,
also face off on the first day. Australia will play
its first match on September 13 against the Americans
at Rosebowl. The fast bowling combinations is expected
to prove the biggest selection headache for captain
Ricky Ponting but he is expected to go with Glenn
McGrath, Jason Gillespie and Michael Kasprowicz.
Bangladesh, South Africa and the West Indies make
up Pool B; India, Kenya and Pakistan are in Pool C
while England, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe are the teams
in Pool D. South Africa, India and England are expected
to be Australia's biggest threats.
Thursday,
September 16th 2004
AFL
- Injury Problems for Brisbane
Brisbane
is expected to wait until the last moment before confirming
its side to take on Geelong on Saturday. Brisbane's
Clark Keating, Alastair Lynch and Nigel Lappin are
all in doubt for the preliminary final against the
Cats at the MCG. The trio has trained lightly during
the week and Lions officials are expected to give
all three players until just before Saturday's game
to prove their fitness. In some good news for the
defending premiers Michael Voss and Justin Leppitsch
are both certain to play against Geelong who will
welcome Kent Kingsley back from suspension. In a bold
move Cats coach Mark Thompson is also entertaining
the thought of putting Cameron Mooney up against Brisbane's
Jonathan Brown.
Meantime Port Adelaide and St Kilda will battle for
a grand final spot on Friday night at a packed AAMI
Stadium. The Power is at full strength while the Saints
are still sweating on the fitness of Aaron Hamill
who has yet to fully recover from a knee injury. Port
Adelaide goes into the match with a significant home
ground advantage - the minor premiers have won their
last 11 games at AAMI Stadium.
Rugby League - Cowboys Riding High The Cowboys
are looking to continue the fairytale when they take
on the Broncos at home. Before this year North Queensland
had never made it past the regular season. Now the
Cowboys have found themselves still alive in the second
week of the finals series. Saturday's semi against
Brisbane will be played at Dairy Farmers Stadium in
Townsville but despite the Cowboys having the home
ground advantage the Broncos will go into the match
as favourites due to experience and the fact they've
never lost to North Queensland. Brisbane, however,
continues to have injury concerns with Shane Webcke
and Tonie Carroll still struggling to be fit but they
are expected to play.
The other elimination final will be contested on Sunday
at Aussie Stadium between the Bulldogs and the Storm.
Canterbury will have captain Steve Price on deck for
the match after being cleared of striking at the NRL
judiciary although Braith Anasta remains in doubt
with a sternum injury. Melbourne will have all players
available and will be looking for some sort of revenge
against the Bulldogs who bundled them out of the finals
last year.
Football - Spurs Challenging Chelsea
Tottenham has a tough job ahead if it wants to make
up for last weekend's disappointing result in the
Premiership. Spurs were expected to beat Norwich last
weekend but only managed a nil-all draw. This weekend
they take on Chelsea away after the Blues' confidence
boosting Champions League win over Paris St Germain.
Chelsea sits in second spot on the ladder while Tottenham
is in sixth position. Injuries to several players
will also affect Spurs.
The other big game this weekend sees Manchester United
at home to Liverpool. The Red Devils have had an unimpressive
start to the Premier League and are in unfamiliar
territory on the bottom half of the ladder.
Liverpool is faring better in eighth spot and will
go into the game after a good win in their first Champions
League match against Monaco. In comparison, Man U
was lucky to escape with a draw against Lyon. In other
games this weekend Arsenal meets Bolton, Birmingham
hosts Charlton, Blackburn takes on Portsmouth, Crystal
Palace plays Manchester City, Norwich is up against
Aston Villa, West Brom tackles Fulham, Southampton
plays Newcastle and Everton is at home to Middlesbrough.
Cricket
- Champions Trophy Hopes On the Line for Australia
Australia takes on New Zealand in a must-win match
at the ICC Champions Trophy tournament. The Aussies
and Kiwis have both easily beaten the USA and on Thursday
will play each other for a spot in the semi finals
of the Champions Trophy. There is no second chance
for the loser of the match to be played at The Oval.
Australia has yet to finalise its team for the game
but Brett Lee is expected to be overlooked in favour
of Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie and Michael Kasprowicz.
The
semi final contenders from the other pools will also
be decided over the coming days. England will play
Sri Lanka to determine who advances from Pool D on
Friday, the winner of the South Africa-West Indies
match on Saturday goes through as does the winner
of the Pool C match between Pakistan and India on
Sunday. The semi finals will be played next Tuesday
and Wednesday.
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