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Australia heads into this summer's Ashes defence after a tough run in recent Test matches, certainly struggling to score enough runs to win matches. Some of the pieces of that batting puzzle are immovable, but just how far does Australia go in the retention of elder statesmen or the introduction of rookies. Today's discussion will cover a similar situation that occurred for Australia back in 2013,...

NSW finds itself in lockdown again, and once again rugby league is played in front of no crowds. For some clubs over the weekend that was the best news they could have as they didn’t have to let their paying faithful put up with seeing them play at schoolboy level. Today on In League with the NRL we’ll have the weekend wrap of a somewhat amazing weekend of league, before we go into today’s Talking...

Discussions on the future Australian cricket captaincy have already begun. There is a point in the not too distant future where the captaincy of all three Australian teams will come up for re-negotiation. Tim Paine looks set to take the Test team through the Australian summer, while Aaron Finch has secured the reigns to the T20 World Cup team and looks to be in the box seat to be in charge of the...

How did the weekend without NRL work out for everyone? Get bored? Did you actually spend time with your partners and kids because you had nothing to watch all weekend? Anyway, today I will vent over the men’s 2nd Origin match of the season because no matter whether the Blues win or lose it seems difficult to get a balance in the way the match runs out, so I’ll cast my one-eyed thoughts over the ou...

Today we’ll take a look at the World Test final, and discuss where the winning and the losing of the game came about. I’ll also use the discussion that has occurred during and since the game over whether the WTC is worth pursuing, and direct that into talking about whether there are some small tweaks that could be made in order to make it an ever better event in the future. We might even have a lo...

Round 14 of the AFL competition saw the final split bye round of the season and gives us all a chance to once again be back on par with how the ladder stands at the end of the round. With just five games taking place, there isn’t too much ground to cover this week, not even a random covid case. In today’s Talking Point I’ll have a bit of a ramble about the prospects of a 19th AFL team being introd...

What a week it has been. The occasional close game between teams next to each other on the ladder, the odd complete thrashing of teams that must occasionally wonder if they are in the right sport, and another round of exasperated coaches trying to justify their positions, given they know that it is they who are facing the sack and not their underperforming rosters. Oh, and everyone is having next...

Last week the ICC announced its international programme for the next decade, including expanding the current ODI and T20 World Cups and reintroducing the Champions Trophy. It means there will be an international tournament every year from now until 2031. Today I discuss the implications to the annual cricket calendar with so many additional tournaments, and whether the benefits will outweigh the d...

It was a mixed round over the weekend, with some dreadful excuses of footy mixed with some cracking games of AFL. i give you a rundown on the good and the bad. Today's Talking Point focuses on the resignation of Nathan Buckley as Collingwood coach, and what his legacy may be. Then we look forward to the final week of the byes split round and wonder if the finals race is already over.

In this week's edition of my NRL podcast, I take a look at the way the round unfolded, especially the two one-point victories that could have been embarrassing for the team that had been so far in front before allowing a comeback from their opponents. Today's Talking Point focuses on last week's first Origin match, and where the series will progress from that result. And then I'll discuss the logj...

After last week's false alarm, England made sure of it this week by being completely outplayed by New Zealand in the 2nd Test and losing the series, their first at home in seven years. Today I take a look at the ails that England face heading into their next Test series against India. Then I discuss the merits of both New Zealand and India in preparation for their clash for the first ever World Te...

Australia are touring the West Indies in July, but seven of our top cricketers look likely to miss it citing 'bubble fatigue', and yet they all appear likely to want to return to UAE in September to complete the Indian Premier League competition. Today I discuss this situation, and if playing for Australia is no longer the priority, then should those players be automatic selections for the team in...

On this week's cricket related podcast episode, I take a look back at the good and the bad of the 1st Test between England and New Zealand, and wonder whether England's self belief in one day cricket will ever transfer to the Test arena. I also discuss one of my pet peeves in slow over rates which England took to a new level in this Test. And finally we discuss Ollie Robinson's wonderful debut tha...

The first of the three split rounds provided some entertainment and a couple of surprises, while also confirming a couple of teams whose seasons are pretty much over at the halfway mark. Today's Talking Point takes a sterner look at Carlton's continued fall, and consider that if indeed 2021 is now a lost cause for playing finals, just what can they do to improve after 20 years of mediocrity.

It's a split round with half of the competition having the week off, a third sitting on the bench because of State of Origin, and the other poor saps having to play to pretty average crowds. We cast our gaze over those superb matches, and then discuss if, in the modern age, this is the way to keep fans interested in the game as a whole.

Test cricket returns to our screens this week, as England take on New Zealand in a two Test series that for England acts as a big test for their rotation selection policy and as a warm up for the Black Caps crack at the World Test Championship final. We preview both teams here today. Also, we discuss the efforts of the BCCI to complete this season's IPL competition and what hurdles they face to ge...

It's been a tough few days in the AFL with fixture changes and favourites being smashed and others doing a bit of smashing of their own. We take a look back on the nine matches of round 11, before we dive into the Talking Point of the week, which discusses just what the Victorian Lockdown may do to the current AFL draw for the next one to three weeks. Then listen as I completely muck up my tips ag...

Welcome to another edition of my NRL podcast, where we check out the latest round of footy and try to decipher who is at the top of the tree and who is diving quickly down the ravine. Today's Talking Point is all about the upcoming State of Origin series, and just how much it may be impacted if the current interpretation of the laws continues in this series. I'll also offer my tips for next weeken...

Welcome back for another week of AFL highlights. Following a run down on the results from last weekend, today's Talking Point discusses the lack of consistency in the ruling of such laws as the ball being pushed out deliberately, whether players are off or not after taking a mark, and just plain old holding the ball. Then I offer you some wisdom in who not to tip for next weekend's matches.

In two weeks rugby league has gone from an exciting game filled with everything that makes it one of the best sports to watch, into a havoc-ridden, stop start, penalty sin bin send off game that is starting to wear thin on long time watchers of the NRL. On today's episode I speak to Steve Holz for some clarification as to how and why we have reached this position. Beyond that, as always we run dow...

Week 9 proved to be a shocker for some of the big teams from the 70's and 80's, but impressive from the resurgent clubs at the top of the ladder. After a look back on round 9 I once again turn my attention to that basket case known as the Collingwood Football Club, before showing off my non-existent tipping skills for round 10.

In my newly reshaped and retitled cricket sub-podcast titled "The Casual Mankadder", today we will discuss the same thing the rest of the cricket media has dredged up this week, with more discussion about the sandpaper incident of 2018. So let's get it all out there again, and discuss why this keeps being brought up all the time, when every other incident of ball tampering in the history of cricke...

Welcome to today’s episode of Thoughts from the Metal Cavern, and in particular this week’s instalment of In League with the NRL. Magic Round has been and gone, and there was plenty of action on the field that we’ll have a short discussion on. Then we’ll move along into week’s Talking Point, which today has a look at the onset of players being chased and signed for next season when we are barely a...

More AFL talk for you diehards who like AFL and like listening to some bozo talking about it. After having a quick look at last week's matches, today's Talking Point delves into the debate over playing strips, both the ones that some restrict one club from wearing, and a discussion on the need for 'clash' jerseys to come into play for all clubs. Finally my tips for next weekend are made available...

Round 9 of the NRL competition has been run and won, and I have a look back on the matches played and give a short analysis of what went right and wrong. And in today's Talking Point I look back on the end of the first half of the Eels vs Roosters match, and discuss the ins and outs of refereeing decisions and the worth of the Bunker and what can be done to avoid it happening again.