GOOD
Let’s kick and punch our way into this week’s edition with Corban Mita winning the WKA 72kg National title in a stirring Muay Thai bout at the ‘Masterton Mayhem’ fight night.
Long-distance runner Debbie Donald continued the national championship-winning theme, crossing the line first in the iconic Rotorua Marathon and being crowned New Zealand champ for the second straight year.
Wairarapa’s junior bowlers [under five years bowling] broke a 25-year drought, winning their quadrangular tournament ahead of Kāpiti, Wellington and Manawatū.
It’s always good to see new teams and hats off to the Martinborough Football Club, fielding a women’s team for the first time. Staying with the round ball code, Douglas Villa [7-0] and Greytown [2-1] continued their impressive runs in Capital One and Two.
There was a local involvement at last weekend’s Singapore Sevens, with former Chanel College student James Perry, the number two ref in Singapore, an assistant referee for the final round of the world series. Both Kiwi teams won, with the women also claiming the series title.
The Hurricanes returned to winning ways, whipping the woeful Waratahs 41–12. A tasty heavyweight encounter with the Blues at Eden Park awaits, with the winner likely to grab the all-important home advantage for the playoffs.
Nothing like seeing a long losing streak snapped, and the faces of the southern faithful said it all as their beloved Steel took the sparkle off the Stars, 63–61, in an overtime thriller.
The Central Pulse showed they’d lost none of their heart, fighting back from an 11-goal deficit at halftime to mystify the Mystics 52–47 and remain unbeaten after four rounds.
Brit Lando Norris landed his maiden victory and McLaren’s first F1 chequered flag since 2021 in the Miami Grand Prix – a special day for the team that carries the name of one of my boyhood heroes.
Go the Canucks! Into the second round of the Stanely Cup playoffs, the Vancouverites left it until the final two minutes to win their series over the Nashville Predators 4–2. Next up, the Edmonton Oilers in an all-Canadian conference semifinal.
The NHL and NBA certainly know how to turn it on with their nail-biting seven-game series. Yeah, it’s all about the dollars, but they do it well.
BAD
Maybe it’s sad rather than bad, but Wairarapa Premier One netball will have a different feel with no Harcourts taking the court. The champion side has pulled the pin, citing a lack of numbers. Although not everyone’s cuppa tea, one must admire Harcourts’ outstanding record of winning 15 of the last 24 championships, including 10 from 11 straight finals appearances.
Going to club rugby and not knowing who is who!
Gone are the days of arriving at the local ground and getting a match-day team list, with the exception of Carterton, to my knowledge, the only ones who still hand out a valuable piece of paper for those of us who want to put names to the numbers.
At least most clubs, but not all, put the team lists up on Facebook. It would be great if those that don’t would do so and make it easy for us old codgers, so we can get it right for Tuesday’s Times-Age.
UGLY
The New Zealand Warriors need to look in the mirror and see how ugly their woeful effort in losing 14–8 in an even uglier encounter in the torrential rain in Newcastle really was. Da Wahs are looking anything but top-four contenders after their fourth poor showing in a row, and they certainly have nothing to crow about with the cock-a-hoop Roosters next in the pecking order.
Crystal Palace 4 Manchester United 0 – enough said, it was the ugliest of ugly – let’s move on to next season as soon as possible.
And that wraps up another completely one-eyed perspective of the week in sport!
