So today's blog covers three separate issues across three different sports. The good, the bad and the ugly. So let's get to it.
The Good: Sport can be cruel. Just ask the NSW Waratahs. The team embarked on its tour of South Africa needing to win three games from as many starts to remain in contention for rugby's Super 14 finals. They performed admirably, winning all three games as required in a champion effort. Luck however was to have to have the final say on their 2009 campaign, with the Crusaders win over the Blues leaving the Waratahs cruelly short of the finals. Just five points in their for-and-against differential made the difference, with NSW missing out on the finals but capturing the hearts of the sporting public with a fantastic tour, and three wins they can be proud of. So here's to the Waratahs, and wishing them every success in 2010. They won't be champions on the table but they are champions in our hearts.
The Bad: Australia's cricket selectors announced the touring party for this year's Ashes series today. For the most part the team picked should do the job admirably, and I for one look forward to seeing them succeed in the series. However, the decision to omit Andrew "Roy" Symonds is just plain dumb. To add to the idiocy, injury prone disappointment Shane Watson has again been included. This is a player who showed glimpses of greatness YEARS AGO, and hasn't been fit enough to repeat said feats for as long as most people's memories can reach. Symonds is a proven match winner. When the chips (or top order) are down, Roy is one of those gifted players who can make something out of nothing. He has saved Australia many a time with a brilliant innings just when it was needed. His experience and flair will be sorely missed. Let's hope Watson's battered body can hold up for more than one match this time, and then perhaps he can one day claim to be half the player that Andrew Symonds is.
The Ugly: Just what the NRL's Cronulla Sharks did not need. Already reeling from the New Zealand sex scandal and teetering on the edge of financial oblivion, the Sharks now have to contend with the positive drug test and subsequent provisional banning of second rower Reni Maitua. He has tested positive to the banned substance Clenbuterol, a performance enhancer. Maitua has shown patches of brilliance throughout a turbulent career in which he has made more headlines for his troubles off the field than his exploits on it. Cut from the Bulldogs at the end of 2008 for repeated misdemeanours, he was thrown a lifeline by Cronulla. Now he has betrayed their faith. Maitua and the Cronulla club now await the results of his "B" sample test - if it too is positive, he faces a lengthy ban which could signal the end of his career. It's such a shame for a player who showed so much promise early in his career.
That's all for today - you heard it here.
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