David Edwards
NormWeekend Wrap – New Beginnings
March 4th 2007 12:03
March is one of the most exciting months on the sporting calender. Whilst September holds championships and premierships, it is in March that all supporters believe that their side can take the title in the long months ahead, and the first weekend can many sporting fans a taste of the action and excitement of the coming months.
Whilst March is known as the time of new beginnings, in the NBL the season is wrapping up, with Brisbane Bullets and the Melbourne Tigers squaring up in the best of five Grand Final series. Brisbane, who took away the minor premiership, kept their unbeaten run alive, taking away their 21st straight victory and the first match of the finals on Friday, edging out the Tigers in Brisbane 98-95. However the Tigers are by now means intimidated by the strength the Bullets have shown this season, and evened out the series, taking the second match on Sunday 105-91. The Tigers were in fact looking like they were going to be behind by two matches by half time, nine points and outplayed by Brisbane, but in the third quarter performed absolutely brilliantly, and were able to shock the Bullets to take the lead, outscoring them in the third quarter by an amazing 39-16 points. Whilst the Bullets tried valiantly to get back into the match in the final quarter, they were unable to match the Tigers at home, and now look at a 1-1 tie going into the third game in Brisbane in what is looking like going to be an nail-biter finals series.
In the AFL NAB Cup the Kangaroos, Carlton, Geelong and Brisbane all advance to the semi-finals after winning this weekend. The Brisbane Lions were able to pull an upset over the raging Western Bulldogs, winning by 32 points in Melbourne, 2.12.12 (102) to 2.7.10 (70). The Blues, the underdogs of the league for a number of years, have taken one step closer to redeeming themselves after winning a nail-biter against Hawthorn 1.9.12 (75) to 2.7.8 (68). The Hawks, who were trailing for most of the match were able to level the match early in the final quarter with a supergoal, but were kept at arms left after Andrew Carrazzo scored a great goal with five minutes to spare, and was unable to upset the Blues in the dying seconds of the match.
In the other matches, the Kangaroos were able to win in a tight match against the Fremantle Dockers. Both sides fought hard in the first half, with only two points separating them at half-time. But the Kangaroos were able to pull away in the third quarter, and despite a last minute surge by the Dockers they were able to win 1.14.7 (100) to 0.13.13 (91). Geelong also won this weekend, but hard to do it in the worst conditions imaginable. After a horrid flight that caused the squad to lose two hours of the training session, they had to play in a torrential downpour in Darwin against Port Adelaide, which ended up going into extra time after both sides were tied up at full time. However the Cats persevered, and in the end were able to notch up a very close win, taking the victory by 3 points 0.9.6 (60) to 0.7.15 (57). Geelong will now face up against Brisbane at home, whilst the Kangaroos with host Carlton at the Gold Coast to decide who will be in the NAB Cup final.
The V8 Supercars started its 2007 season in Adelaide, and could not have hoped for a better start. Sell out crowds and a boost in television viewers after moving to channel seven saw Todd Kelly take out round one of the championship. Kelly was able to take out race one, beating James Courtney and Jamie Whincup to take first honours. Courtney was in fact on fire in race one, taking out pole position and picking up the lap record of one minute, 22.81 seconds to take his best ever race result. In race two, Todd’s brother Rick took away the chequered flag, but with his sibling in close pursuit followed by Courtney in third place Todd was able to take the lead after the first round of the Supercars.
In the NRL Trail Matches the biggest news this weekend is not who won in their matches, but rather who was injured before the season started. The two biggest shocks to hit the injury list is Melbourne’s Steve Turner who will be out for about three months with an ankle injury in the Storm’s game against the Broncos, whilst the Dragons are reeling after their star player Mark Gasnier has been ruled out of the season after rupturing his pectoral muscle. Gasnier was injured during a rountine tackle during the Charity Match against South Sydney, and has already been given six months to recover, and will most probably take the field during the 2007 season. This is a massive hit for the Dragons, who were preparing him to the unfamiliar five-eighth position, and now will have to completely change their playing strategy they have been organising all summer.
Despite the loss, the Dragons were able to take away the match, scoring from a wayward pass to take the match 16-14. In other games, Manly were able to defend against the Cowboys to win 14-12, the Raiders thrashed a near-full Tigers squad 26-4, the Warriors beat the Bulldogs 36-6, the Titans looked strong beating Penrith 28-6, the Storm beat the premiers Broncos 46-0, the Sydney Rooster edged out the Eels 30-22, and Newcastle narrowly beat Cronulla 12-10.
In the Super 14’s the Sharks were able to steal victory two minutes after the final siren by constantly attacking to take the full-time try and win against the Crusaders 27-26. Queensland suffered their forth straight loss this season, playing ‘dumb rugby’ and letting their lead slip to their opponents the Lions, who took away the 26-20. In other games, the Blues were able to keep their on-game form, downing the Highlanders 28-9, the Stormers upset the Hurricanes 30-17, the Bulls down the Brumbies 19-7, the Waratahs tied with the Western Force 16-16, and the Cheetahs drew with the Cheifs 22-22.
That’s it for another weekend, but this week we will start to look at how the AFL and NRL season’s are shaping up, which sides will be the upsets, and above all, are the Dragons now looking at a long and dark season after their entire pre-season training down the drain with the loss of Gasnier.
Until next time, sports minds.
Whilst March is known as the time of new beginnings, in the NBL the season is wrapping up, with Brisbane Bullets and the Melbourne Tigers squaring up in the best of five Grand Final series. Brisbane, who took away the minor premiership, kept their unbeaten run alive, taking away their 21st straight victory and the first match of the finals on Friday, edging out the Tigers in Brisbane 98-95. However the Tigers are by now means intimidated by the strength the Bullets have shown this season, and evened out the series, taking the second match on Sunday 105-91. The Tigers were in fact looking like they were going to be behind by two matches by half time, nine points and outplayed by Brisbane, but in the third quarter performed absolutely brilliantly, and were able to shock the Bullets to take the lead, outscoring them in the third quarter by an amazing 39-16 points. Whilst the Bullets tried valiantly to get back into the match in the final quarter, they were unable to match the Tigers at home, and now look at a 1-1 tie going into the third game in Brisbane in what is looking like going to be an nail-biter finals series.
In the AFL NAB Cup the Kangaroos, Carlton, Geelong and Brisbane all advance to the semi-finals after winning this weekend. The Brisbane Lions were able to pull an upset over the raging Western Bulldogs, winning by 32 points in Melbourne, 2.12.12 (102) to 2.7.10 (70). The Blues, the underdogs of the league for a number of years, have taken one step closer to redeeming themselves after winning a nail-biter against Hawthorn 1.9.12 (75) to 2.7.8 (68). The Hawks, who were trailing for most of the match were able to level the match early in the final quarter with a supergoal, but were kept at arms left after Andrew Carrazzo scored a great goal with five minutes to spare, and was unable to upset the Blues in the dying seconds of the match.
In the other matches, the Kangaroos were able to win in a tight match against the Fremantle Dockers. Both sides fought hard in the first half, with only two points separating them at half-time. But the Kangaroos were able to pull away in the third quarter, and despite a last minute surge by the Dockers they were able to win 1.14.7 (100) to 0.13.13 (91). Geelong also won this weekend, but hard to do it in the worst conditions imaginable. After a horrid flight that caused the squad to lose two hours of the training session, they had to play in a torrential downpour in Darwin against Port Adelaide, which ended up going into extra time after both sides were tied up at full time. However the Cats persevered, and in the end were able to notch up a very close win, taking the victory by 3 points 0.9.6 (60) to 0.7.15 (57). Geelong will now face up against Brisbane at home, whilst the Kangaroos with host Carlton at the Gold Coast to decide who will be in the NAB Cup final.
The V8 Supercars started its 2007 season in Adelaide, and could not have hoped for a better start. Sell out crowds and a boost in television viewers after moving to channel seven saw Todd Kelly take out round one of the championship. Kelly was able to take out race one, beating James Courtney and Jamie Whincup to take first honours. Courtney was in fact on fire in race one, taking out pole position and picking up the lap record of one minute, 22.81 seconds to take his best ever race result. In race two, Todd’s brother Rick took away the chequered flag, but with his sibling in close pursuit followed by Courtney in third place Todd was able to take the lead after the first round of the Supercars.
In the NRL Trail Matches the biggest news this weekend is not who won in their matches, but rather who was injured before the season started. The two biggest shocks to hit the injury list is Melbourne’s Steve Turner who will be out for about three months with an ankle injury in the Storm’s game against the Broncos, whilst the Dragons are reeling after their star player Mark Gasnier has been ruled out of the season after rupturing his pectoral muscle. Gasnier was injured during a rountine tackle during the Charity Match against South Sydney, and has already been given six months to recover, and will most probably take the field during the 2007 season. This is a massive hit for the Dragons, who were preparing him to the unfamiliar five-eighth position, and now will have to completely change their playing strategy they have been organising all summer.
Despite the loss, the Dragons were able to take away the match, scoring from a wayward pass to take the match 16-14. In other games, Manly were able to defend against the Cowboys to win 14-12, the Raiders thrashed a near-full Tigers squad 26-4, the Warriors beat the Bulldogs 36-6, the Titans looked strong beating Penrith 28-6, the Storm beat the premiers Broncos 46-0, the Sydney Rooster edged out the Eels 30-22, and Newcastle narrowly beat Cronulla 12-10.
In the Super 14’s the Sharks were able to steal victory two minutes after the final siren by constantly attacking to take the full-time try and win against the Crusaders 27-26. Queensland suffered their forth straight loss this season, playing ‘dumb rugby’ and letting their lead slip to their opponents the Lions, who took away the 26-20. In other games, the Blues were able to keep their on-game form, downing the Highlanders 28-9, the Stormers upset the Hurricanes 30-17, the Bulls down the Brumbies 19-7, the Waratahs tied with the Western Force 16-16, and the Cheetahs drew with the Cheifs 22-22.
That’s it for another weekend, but this week we will start to look at how the AFL and NRL season’s are shaping up, which sides will be the upsets, and above all, are the Dragons now looking at a long and dark season after their entire pre-season training down the drain with the loss of Gasnier.
Until next time, sports minds.
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