If you haven’t seen the video of Adrian Trinidad’s dive in the A-League on the weekend, here it is. If you have already seen it then watch it again, because it’s pretty unbelievable that we are allowing this to go on in our national competition.
What a goose!
Now I’m sorry, but this is send off was simply a joke. Trinidad should have been the one given his matching orders for acting the fool. If there’s one thing I think all soccer fans agree on, it’s that we they hate diving. It shouldn’t be a part of the game and the sooner we get rid of it the better.
Understandably, Sydney FC coach John Kosmina was unhappy with the incident.
He has since called for diving, or ‘simulation’ as soccer types seem insistent on calling it, to be more heavily policed and punished in the A-League, and I reckon he’s got it spot on.
Perhaps the biggest problem with diving is that in can be difficult to pick up when watching the game live. That’s why I believe the A-League should be using a match review committee to be looking more closely at these incidents and punishing the offenders. Make an example of someone. It’s the only way.
Now I’m not the only one blowing up about this. Wally the Fly has written a good article about the incident. I reckon he’s spot on. Diving, simulation, whatever you want to call it, its cheating and it has to go.
In my opinion there is no way Fyfe should have copped a suspension for tapping Trinidad on the head. This type of theatrics may be acceptable in Europe, but we are a far more hardened bunch here in Australia. We like our sports hard and rough. League, Union and AFL are three of the most physical sports in the world. In a game of rugby if you got suspended every time you tapped a bloke on the head we wouldn’t have any players left!
Hence if soccer is ever going to truly break into the mainstream, and win the hearts and minds of us Aussies, they need to eliminate this type of rubbish and do it quick smart.
Check a few of these out. This is deadest one of the funniest videos I have ever seen and demonstrates exactly why diving is the biggest blight on ‘the world game’.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Time to take a piece of history
So it’s Grand Final time and yet again we have two teams that everybody loves to hate. The whingers from south of the border versus the silvertails from the Northern Beaches. But what Melbourne and Manly lack in likeability, they have made up for in their sheer brilliance throughout the year, and not to mention a fierce rivalry that should make for an absolute cracker of a decider.
This year’s rematch is filled with plenty of intriguing subplots and snippets of history, befitting of rugby league’s centenary decider. Melbourne has a chance to achieve a true rarity in the today’s game by claiming back-to-back premierships. In this modern era of salary caps and European rugby, keeping a star team together for more than a couple of years is a near impossibility. What this has taught us is that any great side, no matter how talented, only ever has a small window of opportunity to mark their place in history. And one need only to look at previous seasons to see just how difficult consecutive premierships can be.
In the early part of this decade the Roosters sat atop the NRL table for several years. side. However despite making three consecutive Grand Final’s from 2002-2004, they were unable to achieve back-to-back success, finishing 2003 and 2004 with disappointment.
Similarly in the mid-nineties Manly was the dominant side in the competition, and despite entering three consecutive Grand Final’s as favourites, they only have one premiership to show for their era of success.
In fact if we don’t count the split competition in 1997, in order find back-to-back premiers one has to go back as far as 1993, to when Brisbane defeated St George in the decider.
And then we come to Melbourne. Few would argue that the Storm has been the most consistent side in the competition for the past three years. They took out last year’s decider with ease and were robbed at the eleventh hour by Brisbane the year before. However with the rest of the league closing the gap, and with several key players including Israel Folau and Mick Crocker set to leave the club at the end of this year, Melbourne’s glory days could be coming to an end. But they have one last chance to make history on Sunday, by becoming only the second team in the past 20 years to successfully defend their title. It would certainly be quite a legacy, and would ensure the Storm are remembered as the dominant team of this decade.
Manly on the other hand have their own piece of history to contend with. The adage that you must lost a grand final before you win one seemed to be confirmed by Melbourne last year. The question now is whether Manly can overcome the big game pressure, and indeed the favourites tag, to claim their first title since 1996. The timing seems right for the Sea Eagles. They won it in ’87 and again in ’96. Now in ’08 they are at their peak again. I don’t think they will ever get a better opportunity to win the premiership.
So there you have it. Both sides have it all to play for. Both are looking to to etch their names into the history books. Will Cameron Smith and the Storm have the last laugh? Can the Eagles send Beaver out a winner? Can Orford silence his critics once and for all? The possibilities are endless but one thing I am sure of, it is going to be an historic 80 minutes.
PS:
For those of you that, like me, enjoy basking in the misery of Manly fans, here’s a reminder of what happened the last time Manly entered a Grand Final as favourites. Enjoy the game on Sunday.
This year’s rematch is filled with plenty of intriguing subplots and snippets of history, befitting of rugby league’s centenary decider. Melbourne has a chance to achieve a true rarity in the today’s game by claiming back-to-back premierships. In this modern era of salary caps and European rugby, keeping a star team together for more than a couple of years is a near impossibility. What this has taught us is that any great side, no matter how talented, only ever has a small window of opportunity to mark their place in history. And one need only to look at previous seasons to see just how difficult consecutive premierships can be.
In the early part of this decade the Roosters sat atop the NRL table for several years. side. However despite making three consecutive Grand Final’s from 2002-2004, they were unable to achieve back-to-back success, finishing 2003 and 2004 with disappointment.
Similarly in the mid-nineties Manly was the dominant side in the competition, and despite entering three consecutive Grand Final’s as favourites, they only have one premiership to show for their era of success.
In fact if we don’t count the split competition in 1997, in order find back-to-back premiers one has to go back as far as 1993, to when Brisbane defeated St George in the decider.
And then we come to Melbourne. Few would argue that the Storm has been the most consistent side in the competition for the past three years. They took out last year’s decider with ease and were robbed at the eleventh hour by Brisbane the year before. However with the rest of the league closing the gap, and with several key players including Israel Folau and Mick Crocker set to leave the club at the end of this year, Melbourne’s glory days could be coming to an end. But they have one last chance to make history on Sunday, by becoming only the second team in the past 20 years to successfully defend their title. It would certainly be quite a legacy, and would ensure the Storm are remembered as the dominant team of this decade.
Manly on the other hand have their own piece of history to contend with. The adage that you must lost a grand final before you win one seemed to be confirmed by Melbourne last year. The question now is whether Manly can overcome the big game pressure, and indeed the favourites tag, to claim their first title since 1996. The timing seems right for the Sea Eagles. They won it in ’87 and again in ’96. Now in ’08 they are at their peak again. I don’t think they will ever get a better opportunity to win the premiership.
So there you have it. Both sides have it all to play for. Both are looking to to etch their names into the history books. Will Cameron Smith and the Storm have the last laugh? Can the Eagles send Beaver out a winner? Can Orford silence his critics once and for all? The possibilities are endless but one thing I am sure of, it is going to be an historic 80 minutes.
PS:
For those of you that, like me, enjoy basking in the misery of Manly fans, here’s a reminder of what happened the last time Manly entered a Grand Final as favourites. Enjoy the game on Sunday.
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