Cameron McMillan runs through the winners and losers from the sporting weekend.
Winners: Warriors and rugby league
How about them Warriors? The side seemed to be leading the office weekend catchup chatter yesterday after the remarkable comeback win in Cronulla. Many will be checking the NRL drawfor the next Warriors’ clash (FYI it’s at Knights, 8pm Sunday) as the hype builds around Andrew Webster’s side.
And what a moment for Shaun Johnson, a player who has a complicated legacy at the club. When it comes to his time in a Warriors jersey, well, he’s seen some things. After being a major part of the side’s last grand final run in 2011, he’s played under nine different coaches across his two stints where the Warriors have failed to get by round one of the playoffs. Unfortunately, he’s linked with that lack of success. But he was so happy and pleased with the team’s resilience in the post-match interview on Sunday.
Bandwagon jumpers beware. The side have a tough run coming up later in the month and into May — at Storm, home to Roosters, home to Panthers, at Bulldogs and home to Broncos — but the early signs show they seem worthy of sticking through the possible tough times.
Like the Warriors, the NRL is on a hot streak to start 2023. Every week there seems to be a big clash on the cards — Thursday night is Storm v Roosters. The momentum just continues to build for the 13-man code...
Soon to be losers: Super Rugby
...while Super Rugby Pacific is heading into regular byes. The competition has had back-to-back weeks of strong local derbies but the schedule can’t have the Blues, Chiefs or Crusaders featuring against each other every week.
A look ahead to the upcoming round and the game of the week is Hurricanes v Highlanders. Not exactly a ‘sorry honey, we’ve got to stay in for this one’ type of event. And the following week has both the Blues and Crusaders on the bye, which means a large chunk of All Blacks out of action, aka the reason people want to attend games or watch on TV.
Sadly the Aussie teams aren’t doing it for me while Moana Pasifika haven’t been competitive for three straight weeks, conceding 166 points. Mark April 29 in your calendar though: Chiefs v Crusaders. Might check back in then.
Winner: Erika Fairweather
Erika Fairweather in action. Photo / Photosport
Isn’t it great to have another world-class swimmer wearing the black cap? Fairweather is an absolute gun producing two great efforts at the swimming nationals, first smashing her own national record in the 200m and then doing the same in the 400m.
She certainly has confidence: “I didn’t quite nail that first 200m today so I’ll work on that but it’s a matter of when, not if, I’ll go under that four-minute mark.”
However, without talking down her chances I fear she’s picked the wrong discipline. She’s up against a stacked field with Canadian teen Summer McIntosh, Aussie Ariarne Titmus and, of course, the freestyle GOAT Katie Ledecky. Fairweather will need to cut another four seconds to possibly contend for a medal in the 400m final in Paris next year. Here’s hoping she gives it a good go.
Losers: Black Caps’ one-over eliminator strategy
Hindsight alert. Sri Lanka had the right idea on Sunday. Bowl spinner Maheesh Theekshana in the super over — sorry, one-over eliminator (OOE?). His quick spin was ideal with the short boundaries at Eden Park as he bowled tight and at the body. The Black Caps went the other way and chose pace-bowler Adam Milne. He bowled two slower balls to start the over, resulting in seven off the first two balls. Slower ball seemed like the right call to take the pace off, but if so wouldn’t it have been wiser to go with a spinner then?
Winner: Ish Sodhi
To hit a six for the tie and force the OOE, and then cooly walk off because the Black Caps still had a job to do. Maybe he should have earned the ball for the eliminator for that.
Loser: The case for Black Caps playing domestic cricket over internationals
Just saying, it would have been near impossible for Williamson to suffer a knee injury in Ahmedabad, putting his World Cup hopes in doubt, if he was playing a T20 for New Zealand in Auckland.
Losers: New F1 fans
Many have jumped onto the sport following the snackable content of the Drive to Survive series on Netflix, with four-day pass tickets at the Melbourne Grand Prix a reportedly 32 percent more than last season. But the race was a mess due to red flags and confusing scenarios after the final stoppage in the final few laps. An F1 superfan mate said it was a rubbish race, but there was a contrasting mix of views around the NZME office yesterday from ‘what an amazing race’ to ‘what a shambles’. At least it was entertaining.
