Umpire John Blom in the middle of a match at Wimbledon: “Ladies and gentlemen, if you are opening a bottle of champagne, don’t do it as the players are about to serve.” And would those of you have just joined us from the Long Room – you pompous prats – please pipe down? But so is the Russian invasion of Ukraine. I respected her decision.” Azarenka thought it unfair which is.
The Belarusian, Victoria Azarenka, on the Wimbledon crowd booing her after losing a thriller to Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina, and not waiting for her at the net: “What should I have done? Stayed and waited? She doesn’t want to shake hands with Russian, Belarusian people. The SMH headline above Andrew Webster’s piece summed up Origin III perfectly: “Blues waltz their way to victory just when it matters least.”Īnge Postecoglou at his first Tottenham press conference: “For me to come from where I’ve come, and be sitting here today, I needed to have that instinct to know when to move on because I’ve had to be faultless in my career to get here – that’s because no one’s going to rate an Australian manager, are they?” A hint of hubris, but good luck to him. The lads are having the time of their young lives, and the game goes on! Who’s been winning? Well, the honours have been split, but it is a little beside the point. And yes, of course, there has been a fair measure of sneaking out of the hotel late at night and carrying on into the wee hours, raising hell, but that, too, is traditional – and is just the Dads, after all. In between there have been amateur boxing matches after lights out, karaoke on the bus, a search for two lost credit cards and one missing tooth. In that one, the expectation is their opponents will be offside. The lads got the same warm reception at Culverden and Kaikoura and will shortly go up against Christchurch Rugby Club – home of the great Richie McCaw. Ah, how the boys chrtld!Īs is the way, there were speeches, exchanges of beanies and jerseys, and thanks for coming. And now to the pies, burgers and soft drinks, before marvelling how their hosts have mastered saying words like “falafel” without using a single vowel. The lads from opposite sides of the ditch showered together, rinsing off muck, singing songs and swapping yarns. Of course, being NZ it was so windy, wet and muddy that by game’s end it was hard to determine who was who, but no matter.
No, let them have their home dressing room so the Chatswood lads could sit in the same seats as All Black legends, their names on the wall – Andrew Mehrtens, Dan Carter and Richard Loe. When the “Stags and Highlanders” first played at the High School Old Boys Club in Christchurch their hosts decided the visitors’ dressing room was not good enough for them. Displaying deadpan brilliance throughout, on and off the field, he was simply wonderful to watch.
The all-rounder – you heard me – was a cross between Ian Botham, Rowan Atkinson and a stick of dynamite. And the fact that it drove Piers Morgan mad was a wonderful bonus.Īnd then there was Mark Wood in the English cricket team. You Canberra Raiders who organised the try celebration mimicking the stumping of Jonny Bairstow? Bravo. What I treasured most were the displays of character and personality throughout, far more than the mere results. And yes, there was the disappointment of the Wallabies flailing and failing against the Boks, but we’ll get over it. All in the space of a few days we have had a magnificent Ashes Test – even if this time the baddies won – some extraordinary tennis at Wimbledon an Australian doing well in the Tour de France a couple of great NRL matches, and NSW finally troubling the scorer in the Origin series, even if it clearly was a pity they had saved the Best till last.
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