Taine Tuaupiki of the Warriors. Photo / Photosport
OPINION
Chris Rattue ranks the top sporting events to watch over the next few days.
How bad are the Black Ferns? We’re about to get a further indication.
Having lost to Canada, they get a soft assignment against Australia, who are winless in the Pacific Four competition.
The Aussies might fancy their first victory over the Ferns, although it’s still very unlikely in this final Pacific Four clash.
The Black Ferns need to hit their straps at North Harbour Stadium and given the opposition, they probably will. It won’t allay the concerns about the state of a once-great team though.
We’ll skip the Boston Celtics v Indiana Pacers Eastern Conference final and head over to the Anthony Edwards show out west.
Edwards, of the Minnesota Timberwolves, is the latest rising star of the NBA. His team faces the Dallas Mavericks, featuring the superstar talents of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving.
The 22-year-old Edwards has not only been compared to, drum roll, Michael Jordan, but few seem to feel this tag is an unfair burden. He has it all.
Worth checking out on the Edwards factor alone, and there’s always the chance that the mercurial Irving will have one of his fabulous matches. Game two of the best-of-seven series is on Saturday afternoon.
Wouldn’t normally rate highly in my book, given that the FA Cup isn’t what it used to be. But it’s the Manchester derby this year, a tantalising prospect. Struggling United will be desperate to topple mighty City, who have just won their fourth consecutive English Premier League title. English football rivalries are hard to beat.
New Zealand’s interest in the race has already been boosted after Scott McLaughlin claimed pole position in record time. And his Team Penske are Indy500 specialists.
The most significant rugby battle of the moment involves a belligerent professional players union threatening to break away from the national administration.
Is this a piece of grandstanding, or is New Zealand rugby really - as many are saying - in a civil war?
But let’s consider the rugby briefly.
The Chiefs will want to cut loose in front of their home crowd, and probably will. The Hurricanes are no slouches in the attack department. This game shapes as a tit-for-tat points bonanza.
Elsewhere (Saturday, 7.05pm), the Crusaders need to be put out of their misery by the Blues.
That a team so bad (10 losses, 2 wins) has kept its playoff chances going for so long is a further indictment on this wonky competition and the rugby landscape in general.
The rugby league Warriors are back on home turf to face a Dolphins team that is laden with Kiwis and ex-Warriors.
The Warriors need to follow up their miraculous win over an out-of-sorts Penrith to prove they are back on the right track in the NRL. And they might be greatly assisted by the return of Marata Niukore.
Of perhaps greater importance is the form of star prop Addin Fonua-Blake, who had his worst game for the Warriors last week.
Coach Andrew Webster and a lot of others will be hoping Fonua-Blake’s move to the Sharks after this season is not starting to affect his game.
Warriors aficionados noted, with some concern, that the big man with brilliant feet seemed strangely divorced from all the excitement at Suncorp Stadium.
Chris Rattue has been a journalist since 1980 and is one of the most respected opinion writers in New Zealand sports journalism.
All the key NRL fixtures for the Warriors.