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Following in Adrian’s footsteps, I’d like to introduce my first The Final Word – Monday Wrap (or just The Monday Wrap for short), taking a look at the week that was in all sports and covering a fair few issues in a short amount of time, so ENJOY!

Some things change, some things stay the same

Australia’s exit from the World Cup on Thursday night signaled to most people a final changing of the guard (if it hasn’t happened already) in world cricket. But just as one long Cricket World Cup streak is over, another has continued. The perennial chokers of the World Cup, South Africa, are at it again (As predicted in my ICC World Cup Preview), losing their quarter final to the hot and cold Kiwis, who realistically shouldn’t go on to win the whole thing, but still could. Their spin based attack with Nathan McCullum and departing skipper Daniel Vettori caused plenty of problems for South Africa, but I’d say its a safe bet this attack won’t worry the 3 other sub-continental sides left in the tournament.

GI finally fires

Its the headline Soufs fans have been eagerly awaiting, and after Friday night’s victory over the Eels, it may have come. GI has fired, to a certain extent, and the Bunnies put the Eels to the sword as Inglis set up a try for Talanoa off a majestic ball from Rhys Wesser, and then carved up the Eels right-hand defence to score himself and secure the points. It may be a little early to say that Inglis is living up to his value on the field, but at least he has helped put Johnny Lang’s quadrupedal by-pass off for a week or two!

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no…………yes?

In a week where not a whole lot of controversy emerged in rugby league circles, this emerges as probably the most interesting piece of them all. It was revealed mid-week that Phillip Ronald ‘Gus’ Gould had a meeting with St George Illawarra CEO Peter Doust, and they had spoken about the plan should super-coach Wayne Bennett move on at the end of his contract this year. Whilst Doust claims it was just him gaining knowledge from one of the great rugby league brains, Gould revealed EXCLUSIVELY to the SMH on Saturday morning that he would not say no to ever coaching again. His one rider, that the independent commission is in place, and he likes the look of the games administration. Well, I’m happy to tell you Gus, this should be done within weeks, and hopefully NSW’s most successful Origin coach can make a comeback to the NRL. Just think of the post-match press conferences! One sticky though is his Channel Nine contract, ending after 2012, which he has categorically said he would not break. This leaves a year-long gap for the Dragons to fill, and I’d say no coach, regardless of how young and eager they are, would take a job which they are going to lose in a years time no matter how successful they are.

Pause for crowd reaction

So, the Tahs got up in a nail biter in Canberra and after being booed off the park at home against the Cheetahs last week, how will they be greeted when they return home this Friday to face the Chiefs? Will the fickle crowd turn their backs on last time’s poor performance and come out in force to get NSW back on track, or will they stay away and voice their disappointment in another fashion? After the shellacking that Matt Burke got about his column on Friday’s SMH saying the fans don’t know what its like because they haven’t played Super Rugby, we could have a very interesting situation. Stay tuned to this one!

Red Bull…….minus the wings

So the season doesn’t get off to a great start for great Aussie hope Mark Webber in the F1. Another 5th place in his home race at Albert Park, and not the start he was looking for to what many people are saying is a do-or-die season for possibly Australia’s best F1 driver since the great Alan Jones (No, not the one on 2GB) or Jack Brabham. Whilst his teammate and rival Sebastian Vettell got off to the perfect start with a race win, Webber will be keen to get back on track at the next race in Kuala Lumpur or risk falling out of contention and wasting another season of false hope.

Tigers left with a gaping hole

Despite coming away from Campbelltown with an impressive victory over pre-season competition dark-horses Canberra, the Wests Tigers have payed a heavy price, losing the left side of their attack, their most potent, with Lote Tuqiri and Chris Lawrence both succumbing to long-term injuries. Whilst Tuqiri looks set to spend 4-6 weeks on the sidelines with a fractured forearm, Lawrence’s Origin hopes are in tatters with his dislocated hip putting him out for around three months. Scans over the next few days will reveal more for both players, but this little injury crisis, which sees the Tigers missing six of their starting 17 at this time of the year, is really testing the Tigers mooted depth in a season which much has been thrown on the shoulders of key play-makers Benji Marshall and Robbie Farah.

Mönchengladbach Calling!

The Socceroos 2014 World Cup preparations begin this Wednesday morning with a ‘friendly’ against 2010 World Cup foes Germany. After a disappointing end to an impressive Asian Cup assault, many eyes will be on the Aussies as they battle one of the top sides in the world, hot off a professional 4-0 victory over Kazakhstan to put them eight points clear in qualifying for Euro 2012. The Socceroos will be without linchpin Tim Cahill who has a foot injury, but with his place likely to be taken by A-League product Robbie Kruse things aren’t too gloomy for the Green and Golds. Youngsters Adam Sarota, John Holland and Brent McGrath have also been added to the squad, in what could be a view of the exciting times ahead for Australian football.

Macquarie Street Cleanout

A little off topic, but I’d like to congratulate big Bazza, Barry O’Farrell, on his election win on the weekend. As a noted Wests Tigers fanatic (and therefore clearly a top bloke!), O’Farrell cleaned the slate of the trouble-ridden NSW Labor party to the point where SportingBet were paying out $1.01 odds on a Coalition victory a week ago! Whilst some seats (including mine in Balmain!) are yet to be decided, O’Farrell and his Liberal/National Coalition have clearly taken control, and good luck to them. Some people say State Government is now irrelevant, and that may be the case, but maybe, just maybe, now we can get those bloody trains running on time! In addition, the Greens could actually miss out on a Lower House seat after their two high profile protesters Fiona Byrne and Jamie Parker weren’t as popular as they had hoped. Maybe if they weren’t spending so much time telling people to boycott countries and trying to legalise life-threatening drugs they would have realised that!

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So that’s it for the FIRST EVER edition of The Monday Wrap. If you have an opinion about any of the issues I’ve discussed, or anything else which came up this week, get in touch with us via our email (whosplayingwho@gmail.com), our Facebook page, or by leaving a comment below.