Flying High

The biggest sporting news of the week for many Kiwis was tennis player Marina Erakovic making it as far as the third round of Wimbledon.

Ok, not really. With all due respect to Erakovic, who actually did extremely well to progress past some highly-ranked opponents, the BIG (see what I did there?) news item of the week was undoubtedly Steven Adams. The 7 foot teen was announced by NBA Commissioner David Stern (I loved his broad American accent when pronouncing ‘Rotorooa, Noo Zeeeland’) as the 12th draft pick overall, which is an astounding achievement when you consider his past.

Not too many years ago at all Adams was on the verge of being just another statistic. By his own admission he was in with the wrong crowd and doing all the wrong things, and those ‘things’ didn't include going to school. But after the death of his father, he was shipped off to Wellington. He boarded with someone he now calls his Fairy Godmother and was accepted into the private school Scots College. All of a sudden Adams had rules and boundaries. He responded in the best way possible by becoming a studious role model. 

The Oklahoma City Thunder, which I only recently discovered were until 2008 the Seattle Supersonics, have undoubtedly picked Adams based on potential. His only season in U.S. College basketball was statistically average. But people ‘in the know’ obviously let him know that he was a serious contender to pick up a contract so he had the confidence to declare his availability for the draft and now he's in.

Some people will say that he was only picked because of his height. But there were eight other players in the 2013 NBA draft who are seven footers and numerous others who are approaching that height. So it's not just his size. The experts say that while his size is certainly an attractive selling point, he's also physical, determined, strong, athletic and, perhaps in part due to his early teen years, tough. He's also remarkably humble and genuinely doesn't know why there's so much fuss about him. That's a welcome change as so many of the other NBA contenders have clearly attended the University of Brash in Arrogantville.

He will, in all likelihood, spend the next season or more in the D-League (D for development, not D-grade) playing for the Thunder's feeder club, the Tulsa 66’ers. But if his rapid rise from the tough streets to the verge of making it big is anything to go by, don't be surprised if we see him on the Thunder's roster sooner rather than later.

Switch

I read this week that Sir JK is testing the waters by attempting to lure Benji Marshall into a code switch to join the Blues for next year’s Super Rugby season. This then morphed into an article about Marshall, Shaun Johnson and Sonny Bill all joining forces in an awesome league-inspired All Black Sevens team at the 2016 Olympics. As an aside I hate the use of the term All Blacks in any other team name. It very much feels like a further dilution of the once so much more powerful brand. These three athletes would certainly make excellent exponents of the sevens game. But I thought I’d go one step further by trying to make a killer rugby union team out of rugby league players.

Fullback

Shaun Johnson: His defence is a little suspect, but he’d be fantastic on the counter-attack and his kicking game would be very handy

Right wing

SBW: This one is, technically, cheating but he is after all currently a leaguie. Earle Kirton felt he’d be a very good winger in the 15 man code and I agree.
 

Left wing

Billy Slater: He must be an extremely annoying little bugger to play against. He's an amazing talent and would be an excellent winger.

Centre

Justin Hodges: He's a wonderful talent. I’d instruct him to throw some of those miracle one-handed passes in Sonny Bill's direction

Second Five
Greg Inglis: The man is a beast and almost the complete player. I believe he will eventually be remembered as the best rugby league player of all-time. He’d be a sensational inside centre, as long as he doesn't try any shoulder charges

First Five

Benji Marshall: Good kicking game, nice passer of the ball, wicked sidestep when on form. Again my team may have a defensive frailties but it’d be exciting to watch

Halfback

Isaac Luke: He's like a faster, smaller Piri Weepu.

Number 8

Manu Vatuvei: The super-fit 2013 version. He is, as per the nickname, a beast. I think he’d make a very good forward in league and he can start that journey by playing at the back of the scrum in my rugby team.

Openside Flanker

Lewis Brown: The Warrior-turned-Panther is the right build, strong and fit. He'll fill the role of forager nicely.

Blindside Flanker

Sam Burgess: I picture him playing like Jerome Kaino. Run hard, tackle hard, play hard.

Lock

Sam Lousi: I’m picking the Warriors youngster because he's two metres tall and I need some height for the lineout. I'll make him into the next Sam Whitelock.

Lock

Ben Matulino: He's my tighthead lock. A bit short for a top lock but he's a rampaging ball runner with exceptional defence. Perfect. He's in.

Prop

Konrad Hurrell: The Warriors centre is as wide as he is tall. He's also by all accounts immensely strong. A quick couple of sessions on scrummaging technique and he'll be up and running.

Prop

Sam Thaiday: The Broncos skipper has no regard for his own safety. He'll be my enforcer around the edge of the ruck.

Hooker

Jared Waerea-Hargreaves: No reason for this one. He just looks right for the role.

Summaries

Below are my summations of a few other sporting moments that have caught my eye this week. The self-imposed rule is that I must summarise in only two sentences, each containing 21 words. No reason for the rule; just thought I’d make it challenging…

Lions Update

The British and Irish and Several Other Nationalities Lions threw away a grand chance to clinch the series against the Wallabies. It was a fierce battle; neither team backed down but it's hard to argue that the Aussies didn't deserve the victory.

State of Origin

Game two saw the Banana Benders from Queensland destroy/dominate NSW in their quest for an unprecedented eight successive series victory. Over-hyped for sure but those guys produce some remarkable clashes with intensity not often matched; go the Blues in game three!

Sevens World Series (or whatever it's called)

It's a wonderful breeding and development ground for young players learning their trade who get to travel to some amazing places. I remember when the Hong Kong Sevens was a sporting calendar highlight for me - does anyone care about this series?

Black Caps

Proof they can only play white ball cricket well; one impressive 20/20 victory then the English weather applies the finishing touch. Although as the English will be focused entirely on the upcoming Ashes series, I wonder if they really cared about this?

Warriors

The influence of Matthew Elliot is clearer with every passing week as the Warriors play an accurate, direct brand of football. Their worst-ever performance has been followed by renewed self-belief, confidence, flair, passion, ruthlessness, evidence of fitness and five straight victories – wow!

Netball (ANZ Championship)

Hate to say it but the Australian teams have demonstrated superior skills, speed and depth - now the Magic have been eliminated. But refereeing decisions and interpretations continue to ignore the actual rules of netball which will become problematic if not dealt with.

Crusaders

They've been superior to most other NZ teams for some time and it was no different as they thrashed the Highlanders. The Highlanders are talented but Jamie Joseph has ‘lost’ them and there really must now be question marks over his coaching

Hurricanes

The nearly men of NZ rugby have served up their usual ‘finish one place outside the playoffs, frustrating their fans’ offering. They’re only missing a couple of quality players to move to the next level – they should start with a quality second five.

Till next time,

SG