There was plenty going on in the sporting world this week but a couple events in the mother country caught the eye of The Area News sports journalist Ben Jaffrey and Michael ‘Speedy’ Stratton.
In this week’s At The Bar, the pair discuss the World Club Series and the FA Cup.
Ben: We’re – metaphorically – travelling to England this week, mate. You’re my correspondent for the World Club Challenge. Safe to say it was a disappointing week for the Aussie sides?
Speedy: It was a shockaroo, that’s what I reckon.
Ben: Well, both the Broncos and the Sharks were red hot favourites.
Speedy: I think Broncos led 12-0 at one stage but Warrington never gave in and rolled over the top of them.
Ben: A game goes for 80 minutes and you have to be switched on the whole time.
Speedy: Exactly, and as far as the Sharks go – they were missing a few players but you can’t be using that as an excuse.
Ben: You can’t – they were just beaten by the better side in Wigan.
Speedy: But while it’s no good for the NRL teams, it’s probably one of the best things to happen in the world of international rugby league.
Ben: No doubt, we’ve been all over them in the last couple of years.
Speedy: I wonder if the Queen will knight them?
Ben: Is the Queen a rugby league fan?
Speedy: She knows a bit about polo and the game with the stick and the round wooden ball.
Ben: Croquet?
Speedy: Yeah, croquet but she’ll probably know about rugby league now. It was the shot in the arm international rugby league needs.
Ben: Now, I want to talk about the FA Cup, too. Do you follow it?
Speedy: I do, I’m a Tottenham Hotspur fanatic.
Ben: Well, one of the stories of the competition was a bloke by the name of Wayne Shaw from non-league side Sutton United.
Speedy: What’d he do? Win a game for them?
Ben: Not quite. He’s the reserve goalkeeper and, as you do, while the match against Arsenal was going, he nicked off to the canteen and grabbed himself a meat pie to eat on the sideline.
Speedy: He sounds more like a reserve to the reserve goalkeeper.
Ben: These stories are the ones I love reading about in this sort of competition. We have the FFA Cup over here but how good would it be for all sports to have a similar competition?
Speedy: It’s terrific, it’s happened a few times over there in the FA Cup. I can just picture the Hillston Swans knocking over Collingwood.
Ben: Everyone would love an upset like that.
Speedy: That’s not an upset. If Hillston beat Essendon, now that’s an upset.
