Last weekend was a good one for Aussie sport, well the sports that I follow at least. Here’s my personal team of the week.
Leading off who could go past Steve Smith and Mitchell Johnson in the Second Test at Lord’s? Smith silenced his English critics with a double ton plus a rapid fire fifty while Mitchell Johnson similarly silenced the Barmy Army that had taunted him in 2009, with six wickets and a few shell-shocked Pommy batsmen.
Next is the pairing of Lleyton Hewitt and Sam Groth. They teamed up for the doubles to keep Australia in their Davis Cup tie against Kazakhstan before bringing it home in the singles. Classic stuff. Back in his youth Lleyton was as annoying as either Nick or Bernie, but matured to become beloved as a quintessential Aussie. Let’s hope our two tennis brats can learn something from him.
They shared the win at the J-Bay Open World Surf League event in South Africa, but Mick Fanning and Julian Wilson shared a whole lot more. Three was definitely company and what ended up as a YouTube hit could have easily been a tragedy. Well played both men.
Over in Adelaide there was a memorable Showdown in honour of late Crows coach, Phil Walsh. The quality of this match temporarily silenced the doubters who reckon the great Australian game is in decline. Scott Thompson won the inaugural Phil Walsh Medal to be arguably the most prominent player of the week. Which underplays the effort of North Melbourne’s Todd Goldstein on Friday night footy. He took advantage of Essendon’s recent tactic of playing non-ruckmen in the ruck and had a picnic, maybe the best game by a ruckman ever. And on Sunday in Melbourne the Riewoldt cousins, Nick and Jack, turned what would have been a match of little consequence into a celebration of Maddie Riewoldt and the foundation set up in her memory.
That’s my top ten, the best performers of the weekend. I couldn’t get any women in there, sorry ladies, your turn will surely come (maybe in this week’s women’s Ashes). But late breaking news might get one female on the subs bench; Gabi Grecko has announced she’s split from Geoffrey Edelsten, one of the best sports stories of the week.
Steve Smith (Australia)
Mitch Johnson (Australia)
Lleyton Hewitt (Australia)
Sam Groth (Australia)
Mick Fanning (Australia)
Julian Wilson (Australia)
Scott Thompson (Adelaide)
Todd Goldstein (North Melbourne)
Nick Riewoldt (St Kilda)
Jack Riewoldt (Richmond)
Gabi Grecko (sub) (looking for a contract at a new team)
Quinn Walsh aussie of the week
Hi Phil
That’s a good list to get us going.
I wouldn’t include Lleyton Hewitt and Sam Groth in that list. They beat Kazakhstan, hardly what I would think of as a big challenge.
In their place I would add Ellyse Perry for her knock of 78 in the ODI against England and Cyril for a stunning performance on Saturday night.
Cheers
As The People’s Elbow once said about Gabi Grecko; “Ms Grecko and her publicists have asked for as much publicity as possible during this very difficult time…”
Team of the week – a great idea. Are the players wearing black armbands as a mark of respect to Jules Bianchi who sadly succumbed to his injuries from last year’s Japanese F1 GP?
Looking forward to more T.O.T.W from you!
Trucker Slim,
Ellyse did her good work after I did the write up, but I must have had a premonition when I suggested maybe a women’s Ashes nomination was not far away. While I accept your point re Kazakhstan if we’d been bundled out by them it would have been a national disgrace, therefore Lleyton and Sam get their nominations as much for what they achieved as for what they saved us from.
Second Rulebook’s suggestion
Bronnie Bishop’s missed out again.
Bronwyn didn’t have Gabi’s sporting connection, if she’d taken one of those Red Bull Air Race machines instead of a chopper she’d have been right in the mix.