The Weekly A-Z

Posted on July 30, 2021July 30, 2021 | Posted by Digby Beacham

A – AFL

Normally it stands for Australian Football League. For the sake of the exercise in this week’s edition of the A to Z, let’s go with Absolute Flawed Logic. The league this week declared that boxing sessions, betting known as sparring, between teammates is prohibited in clubland. Yet the game’s hierarchy and the AFL Tribunal seemingly don’t have a major issue with players throwing back elbows that collect an opponent during a game. Lance Franklin escaped suspension this week for his ordinary act against Fremantle defender Luke Ryan because the league was pathetic in its response to similar incidents earlier in the season. Many of us acknowledge what is a worse look and it’s not what happens behind four walls at a club in a boxing ring.

B – BLUE MURDER

David Teague has been walking a tightrope for most of 2021. The horrible loss to wooden spoon favourites North Melbourne last weekend brought his tenure at the helm of Carlton into the sharpest of focus. The Blues’ inability to defend with intent and cohesion has been the club’s Achilles Heel and it would take a minor miracle from this point for Teague to see out the final year of his contract next season.

C –  CLARKO WALKS

A week after declaring he would honour his current contract and remain at Hawthorn until the end of 2022, Alastair Clarkson has resigned. Who would have thought? The Hawks announced this morning that Clarkson, the greatest coach of the modern era and boasting four flags from six grand final appearances, would finish up after the completion of this season. It could be even sooner. This is a right royal mess and so un-Hawthorn like. As great as they have been, bad clubs leak. Hawthorn right now are a bad club and leaking like a sieve.

D – DOUBLE DELIGHT

Ash Barty’s Olympic Games campaign hasn’t gone to plan. A shock first-round singles loss last Sunday was followed by a quarter-final exit alongside Storm Sanders in the women’s doubles. But it’s not over until it’s over. And that is why a great deal of interest still surrounds Barty’s participation in Tokyo. The Queenslander has teamed up with WA’s John Peers to reach the semi-finals of this afternoon’s mixed doubles against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Andre Rublev. Win and they advance to the gold medal match.

E – EM-PHATIC

In a powerful Australian swim team, Emma McKeon has had a target on her back for a little while now. She arrived in Japan with the fastest pre-Games time of 2021 in the 100m freestyle … a 52.19 swim in the Olympic trials in Adelaide. In the heats, McKeon went even faster, touching in an Olympic record of 52.13 before she qualified fastest for this morning’s final. With the weight of the nation on her shoulders and her angular frame in the sights of seven rivals, McKeon produced a new Olympic record of 51.96 to clinch gold in a performance that underlines her brilliance. And in a further boost to the Australian team, veteran Cate Campbell swam the race of her life to touch in third and earn a well deserved bronze medal.

F – F-BOMB

Kaylee McKeown can sure create a headline. The Queenslander claimed gold earlier this week in the 100m backstroke and when interviewed poolside dropped the F-bomb before following up with it “oh, shit” as she realised what she had just said. Given McKeown lost her father Sholto to brain cancer last year, I think we can all roll with an innocent slip of the tongue on this occasion and appreciate an athlete showing wonderful physical and mental strength on the biggest stage of all.

G – GIDDEY UP

Australian basketball sensation Josh Giddey admits he was disappointed not to be included in the Boomers’ squad for Tokyo. Having shown his capabilities in the lead-up tournament in Las Vegas, the teenager wouldn’t have been out of place alongside some of the game’s biggest names. But he will soon get his chance to pit his skills against the biggest and baddest players in the world after being taken with pick six by OKC in this morning’s NBA Draft. There will be others taken in the lottery with a greater skillset than Giddey, but his basketball IQ is elite and will carry him a long way.

H – HOODOO GURU

For years, the travel requirements of the West Coast Eagles and Fremantle Dockers were said to be the reason why our WA-based players didn’t rack up as many games as their interstate counterparts. That myth was dispelled by Matthew Pavlich amassing 353 games for Fremantle and Dean Cox and Glen Jakovich totalling 566 between him. We now have witnessed David Mundy also chalk up his 350th appearance last weekend and tomorrow at the MCG, Shannon Hurn will become the first Eagle to play 300 games. The understated defender, the club’s 2018 premiership captain, has been a wonderful role model for an extended period and richly deserves his moment in the sun, as much as he would prefer not to be the centre of attention.

I – ISOLATION

That is where the 63 members of the Australian track and field team found themselves yesterday in the wake of American pole vault star Sam Kendricks returning a positive COVID-19 test, ruling him out of the Olympics. The Australians and Americans are in close proximity in the athletes village and it was feared many Aussies would suffer the same fate as Kendricks. But after undergoing testing and returning negative results, they were cleared to resume normal activities. Fingers crossed there are no further complications with the athletics now underway.

J – JESS DO IT

Australian hearts sank when golden girl Jess Fox was unable to capitalise on a wonderful opportunity to claim gold in the K1. The pain was evident on her face when she realised she had to settle with bronze. But yesterday, in the freshly introduced C1, the French-born, Penrith-based slalom canoeist produced a run for the ages, finishing more than three seconds clear of her nearest rival, Great Britain’s Mallory Franklin. If there was any Aussie athlete deserving of a gold medal at these Olympics, it was Fox, a multiple world champion at the peak of her powers.

K – KEEPING IT IN THE FAMILY

It has been a slow burn for Mark Kavanagh to rebuild his training operation after the cobalt saga. There have been glimpses of some growth in recent times and he is hoping the decision to form a training partnership with his son Levi will thrust the family name back into the headlines for all the right reasons. We are yet to learn what date the partnership will take effect, but the paperwork has been lodged.

L – LIFE SUPPORT

Back-to-back losses to Geelong and Sydney, heavy ones at that, have left Fremantle with precious little wriggle room if they are to qualify for the finals. So much so that it would be a shock if the Dockers were to be active in September. No Nat Fyfe, Michael Walters and Alex Pearce for this week’s home game against Richmond, who aren’t exactly humming themselves, has them on the brink. If, as expected, Fremantle do miss the finals it’s imperative they finish the year strongly and take a scalp on the run home, regardless of the personnel issues they are encountering.

M – MAJOR SURPRISE

Most golf enthusiasts in Australia, especially here in WA, went to bed on Sunday evening thinking Minjee Lee was too far back. It made perfect sense. Even after carding a 65 on the Saturday, she still found herself seven shots adrift of the leader in the Evian Championship. But the 25-year-old West Australian, destined to be a major champion in the eyes of many, peeled off a 64 to earn a berth in a play-off, which she duly won with a tap-in birdie on the first hole. She now joins fellow West Aussie Hannah Green as a major champion. And in a further boost to the game here in WA, the pair will fly the Australian flag in Tokyo.

N – NICK OF TIME

Nick Kay does not know how to play a bad game of basketball when representing the Boomers. Whatever he is required to do, he does it. With a minimum of fuss. The former Perth Wildcat was outstanding in Wednesday’s thrilling win over Italy, totalling 15 points and seven rebounds off the bench. With Aron Baynes set to miss the rest of the Games because of a neck injury, Kay could find himself elevated to the starting line-up for tomorrow’s pool match against Germany. Rest easy everyone, he will do the country proud.

O – OARSOME ACHIEVEMENT

Australians had reason to cheer this week when our women’s and men’s fours rowing crew triumphed on Tokyo Bay, snaring the fourth and fifth gold medals of what has been an enormously successful first week. Lucy Stephan, Rosemary Popa, Jessica Morrison and Annabelle McIntyre defied choppy conditions and a courageous Dutch crew to prevail before the men’s boat, featuring Alexander Purnell, Spencer Turrin, Jack Hargreaves and Alexander Hill went out hard and fast and then had to dig deep to fight off the surging Romanians and Italy to snare gold.

P – PERSPECTIVE

All Australian Rules lovers had a chance to appreciate some when news dropped that North Melbourne midfielder Ben Cunnington underwent emergency surgery this week to remove a testicle tumour. Scans on Monday discovered the cancerous growth and he was operated on within 24 hours. Cunnington is expected to miss the rest of the season, but that matters little. His long-term health and wellbeing is all that matters.

Q – QUICK START NEEDED

The Opals were dealt a blow ahead of the Olympics when their standout No.1 performer, Liz Cambage, ruled herself out, citing mental health issues. Even in her absence, they should have beaten Belgium in their opening pool game. We now know that wasn’t the case, raising the stakes for tonight’s clash with China. A loss would leave them in all sorts and if coach Sandy Brondello could wish for anything, it would be a fast start to settle the nerves.

R – ROGER THAT

After kicking up a stink that would make a recalcitrant 12-year-old proud, Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers has returned to work. The veteran, arguably the most gifted player to have ever started at the quarterback position, reported for the team’s training camp as he was required, and in doing so, avoided a $75,000 fine that would have been imposed for every day a player holds out. Rodgers is still at odds with the Packers’ officialdom over their recruiting and handling of his requests, but his presence will no doubt give Green Bay an enormous advantage as they try to win yet another NFC North division title.

S – SIGNED, SEALED AND DELIVERED

There has hardly been a race meeting held in the metropolitan and provincial areas over the past six to nine months that hasn’t featured Chris Parnham. He has worked overtime for a long time. And the old saying the harder you work, the luckier you get applies to the youngest of the three Parnham brothers who will be crowned Australia’s leading jockey for the 2020-21 season. He even committed to a rare riding stint in Carnarvon today to see off the challenge of Blaike McDougall. It is a huge accomplishment given the dominance of William Pike here in WA and maybe, just maybe, could see the balance of power in the local jockey ranks shift ever so slightly. If you want to back him in Carnarvon, I’d suggest you do so because it’s not shaping as something that will become a regular occurrence.

T – TITMUS TEST

The world’s best female 200m and 400m freestyle swimmers were always going to be up against it. If toppling the great Katie Ledecky wasn’t a daunting enough assignment, then there was the presence of Ariarne Titmus, aka The Terminator, to contend with. Aussie young gun Titmus flexed her muscles and scaled heights only some of the great athletes in this country have managed. She won gold in both events, with her effort in the 400m against the revered American sure to be one of those “Remember where you were when …” moments.

U – UNIQUE

I’m not sure Olympic organisers thought one of the 160,000 condoms handed out to athletes in Tokyo would be used to repair a kayak. In fairness, how could they? But that is exactly what occurred with Australian golden girl Jess Fox taking to social media to show her placing a condom over the nose of her kayak, which had a carbon mixture applied to it by technicians. That mixture was then held in place by the protective equipment. These are unprecedented times we are living in, after all!!!

V – VACCINE REQUIRED

Money speaks all languages. It has been a saying that has stood the test of time and it remains apt to this day. The NFL, the multi-billion-dollar business that dwarfs all other sports in America, is testament to that. The league announced this week that nearly 90 per cent of the players had received at least one COVID-19 shot. The figure has gone up from around 75 per cent just a week ago. The reason for the spike? Teams have been told that if they cannot field a suitable line-up because of an outbreak, they will forfeit the fixture and players will not be paid. In a further shot across the bow of players, those who haven’t been vaccinated face daily testing and mask requirements whereas players who are vaccinated are required to only submit to one test every fortnight.

W – WHOA UP

It might be time for those piling on American gymnast Simone Biles to pull up. And now would be a good time. Biles withdrew from the teams competition this week, not because she was injured as was first reported, rather due to mental health issues. Arguably the greatest gymnast the world has ever seen and one Olympian in Tokyo to transcend sport, Biles’ very participation for the remainder of the Games is up in the air. She is more than deserving of some empathy, not vitriol.

X – XERRI ON TOP

North Melbourne supporters will be hoping Todd Goldstein hangs around for another couple of seasons at least. But when the time comes for the durable and celebrated ruckman to finally hang up the boots, Shinboners everywhere can be comfortable that the club has a successor in Tristan Xerri, that while raw, is going to be a player. Referred to his teammates as the “Big X”, Xerri is mixing his time between attack and deputising for Goldstein when he needs a rest. Some of the 22-year-old’s tap work has been of the highest calibre and it seems logical that he is going to play a part in a developing midfield that has enormous upside.

Y – YIPS ARE GETTING BIGGER

Melbourne’s best is really good. We all acknowledge that. But their defence is not as sound as it was earlier in the season and the midfield, whilst remaining prolific, hasn’t bossed an opposition on-ball unit for several weeks. However, the major issue for Simon Goodwin and his coaching staff is inadequacy in attack. For five successive weeks, the Demons have kicked more behinds than goals, a shortcoming that has been costly given they aren’t a side with a heavy emphasis on attack. Melbourne need to get to work now and remedy their shortcomings if they are to deliver their long-suffering fans some premiership joy.

Z – ZIPPED LIPS

If the trend is your friend, don’t expect Naomi Osaka to become a regular at media conferences. The Japanese star made a shock third-round exit from the singles draw at Tokyo this week and opted against speaking to the media afterwards. She was quoted in the aftermath explaining the reasons behind her loss, but it seems her anxiety and mental health concerns will very much dictate how much media she does undertake. With the US Open fast approaching, the next six weeks are going to be fascinating.