Team Sky will target stage wins for the rest of the Tour de France as their Tour leader Bradley Wiggins recovers from a broken collarbone and prepares for a possible assault on the world championships at the end of the season, the team said.

Asked where Wiggins’s departure on Friday leaves him, Geraint Thomas said simply “off the front”, meaning that he will be looking for a chance to get in any escapes.

“It would be a shame to go under the radar, get our heads down for a few days,” said Thomas. “The days when there will be breakaways will go soon, it’s the next few days, so we have to turn it round right away and race hard. If Bradley was still here we would be doing a job for him, but now we have a chance to get up the road.”

When asked what he had told the team after Wiggins’s return to Britain, Sky’s team principal Dave Brailsford said: “I said to the guys this is an opportunity for them.”

“The likes of Geraint and Edvald Boasson Hagen were going to commit themselves totally to Brad, now they have an opportunity to ride with free will, with abandon, looking for stage victories. We need to see what development opportunities there are, what people can learn for their careers in the longer-term.”

Wiggins was flown out of a military airport near Châteauroux on a private flight to Manchester on Friday night. The flight left late, meaning that it was not possible to operate on his broken left collarbone, but the operation was expected to take place on Saturday.

The fracture is clean, and while a plate will remain in place for up to two years, most cyclists with similar injuries may resume training on a home trainer after five days, returning to the road after 10 days.

There is speculation that Wiggins may race the Tour of Spain in order to prepare for the world road time-trial championship in Denmark at the end of September. The Vuelta starts on 20 August and there is speculation that a possible comeback race for the triple Olympic gold medallist could be the Tour of Denmark from 3-7 August.

“I’d fully endorse [Sky' senior sports director] Sean Yates’s thoughts on Brad riding at least one grand tour this season,” said head coach Shane Sutton, who has been responsible for Wiggins’s preparation this season together with the former Australian swimming coach Tim Kerrison. Wiggins was expected to race the Tour of Britain from 11-18 September but would have to miss it if he opted for the Tour of Spain.

Sutton said that much of the team’s racing programme for the end of the season would have to be re-evaluated in the light of Wiggins’s withdrawal from the Tour.

“I would like him to consider the Vuelta, not just riding it but being competitive. We need to see how Brad feels about it. He’s well up for the world time-trial and off the back of what he has done this year, 10 days off the road isn’t going to be a lot.”

guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010

Published via the Guardian News Feed plugin for WordPress.

This article titled “Team Sky riders to be let loose as Bradley Wiggins undergoes surgery” was written by William Fotheringham at Super-Besse Sancy, for The Guardian on Saturday 9th July 2011 10.10 UTC

Team Sky riders to be let loose as Bradley Wiggins undergoes surgery is a post from: worldwormweb

New fixtures released

The eagerly-awaited fixtures for the 2010/11 Barclays Premier League season have now been released.

Champions Chelsea begin the defence of their Barclays Premier League title at home to newly-promoted West Bromwich Albion managed by former Stamford Bridge favourite Roberto di Matteo.

Runners-up Manchester United also kick off against a promoted side as Newcastle United visit Old Trafford. Click here to see all the fixtures in chronological format or click here to see club by club fixtures.

It is a re-run of the opening-day fixture in 2008/09 when the sides drew 1-1. At the end of the campaign, the Magpies were relegated and United went on to win the title.

The other new-boys Blackpool’s first ever Barclays Premier League fixture will be a local derby at home to Wigan Athletic. They then go to Arsenal before hosting Fulham.

But perhaps the pick of the opening day fixtures is a re-run of last season’s intriguing battle for a Champions League place.

After pipping Manchester City for fourth spot, Tottenham Hotspur begin at home to Roberto Mancini’s side while Liverpool host Arsenal who finished third last season.

It promises to be a mouth-watering start to the new campaign. Aston Villa who finished sixth begin at home to West Ham United who just avoided relegation and who will be playing their first match under new manager Avram Grant.

Local rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers and Stoke City meet at Molineux and Sunderland manager Steve Bruce faces his old club Birmingham City at the Stadium of Light.

Everton make the short journey to Blackburn Rovers while Bolton Wanderers are at home to Fulham.

key matches

Fans will be keen to see the key matches between the teams who finished in the top four last season, although fixture dates are still subject to change.

The first of these is currently scheduled for 2nd October when champions Chelsea host Arsenal.

The first meeting between last season’s top two comes at Stamford Bridge on 18th December and the sides do battle again a fortnight before the end of the season as Chelsea visit Old Trafford on 7th May.

There is a festive feast on Boxing Day when Arsenal host Chelsea and the first real heavyweight encounter comes on 18th September when Manchester United meet Liverpool at Old Trafford.

intriguing finale

The season boils up to an intriguing finale with champions Chelsea finishing at Everton while title hopefuls United host Blackpool.

Arsenal are at Fulham, Liverpool go to Aston Villa and Manchester City visit Bolton while Spurs finish at home to Birmingham. Newly-promoted sides Newcastle and West Brom face each other at St James’ Park.

Click here to see all the fixtures in chronological format or click here to see club by club fixtures.

All dates and kick-off times have still to be confirmed and the fixtures are still subject to change.

Opening day fixtures

Aston Villa v West Ham
Blackburn v Everton
Blackpool v Wigan
Bolton v Fulham
Chelsea v West Brom
Liverpool v Arsenal
Man Utd v Newcastle
Sunderland v Birmingham
Tottenham v Man City
Wolverhampton v Stoke

Boxing Day fixtures

Arsenal v Chelsea
Aston Villa v Tottenham
Blackburn v Stoke
Blackpool v Liverpool
Bolton v West Brom
Everton v Birmingham
Fulham v West Ham
Man Utd v Sunderland
Newcastle v Man City
Wolverhampton v Wigan

Final day fixtures

Aston Villa v Liverpool
Bolton v Man City
Everton v Chelsea
Fulham v Arsenal
Man Utd v Blackpool
Newcastle v West Brom
Stoke v Wigan
Tottenham v Birmingham
West Ham v Sunderland
Wolverhampton v Blackburn

All fixtures are still provisional and subject to change.

New fixture released

Club by Club Fixtures

2010/11 EPL Fixture out today is a post from: worldwormweb

More from jamesallenonf1.com

Ferrari and McLaren were left with egg on their faces after totally misjudging the weather conditions in qualifying for the Malaysian Grand Prix.

Their four drivers will start from the back of the grid after their teams held them back at the start of a rain soaked first part of qualifying.

They presented an open goal to their title rivals Red Bull and Mercedes, who took full advantage.

Mark Webber was the only driver to gamble on intermediate tyres in the final session and took pole by a big margin, with team mate Vettel third. Nico Rosberg did a great job to take second, his first front row start and a full second ahead of his rain master team mate Schumacher who starts 8th.

The session was full of drama. The track was damp at the start of Q1, but there was more rainfall during the session. So it was important to be out on track at the right time.

While Robert Kubica and Sebastian Vettel got on with it early on, both Ferrari drivers, both McLarens and Mercedes stayed in the garage. Unfortunately for them the track was its fastest in the first 10 minutes and the rain began falling more heavily as those cars went out on track.

Button and Schumacher were the first of those cars on track and just managed to get in, but Button subsequently aquaplaned off the track having set 13th fastest time at that point, meanwhile Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa were forced to go for full wet tyres in an attempt to get into the game. They failed, Alonso having a lurid triple spin.

It was extraordinary that the leading teams should have misread the weather situation so badly, especially as the rain had been falling pretty consistently at that time of day all week.

“We got it wrong, we thought that first rainstorm was it, ” said Button. “I aquaplaned off and got stuck in the gravel. Very disappointing, strange session with both Ferraris and both McLarens off. I’m in front of three of my championship rivals, but behind others.”

The top teams’ misfortunes were good news for Virgin Racing and Lotus, who both got a car through to Q2. Kovalainen qualified 15th, with Glock 16th.

The second session challenged the drivers’ and teams’ tactical acumen. It started on a damp track but with rain forecast five minutes in. Most runners took a second set of intermediates, Red Bull went for full wets.

The Renault was handy in these conditions, with Kubica fastest in Q1 and second in Q2 as was Adrian Sutil in the Force India. Sebastian Vettel judged it perfectly and was fastest in Q2. The rain held off until two minutes before the end and the track was at its fastest in the few minutes before that. It was a question of being out there on the intermediate tyres with fuel in the car at the right moment.

Both Williams drivers made it through to the top ten shootout as did both Force India cars.

The decisive final part of qualifying was held in traditional Malaysian monsoon conditions. Robert Kubica cheekily drove around the queue of cars in the pitlane to get out on track first. But the session was stopped after three minutes before any of the cars had managed a lap.

At the restart, with seven minutes left on the clock, most drivers went for full wet tyres, Webber went for the intermediate. Initially it looked like the wrong choice, but on his second flying lap he took provisional pole and then found another 1.1 secs on his third lap.

Team principal Christian Horner confirmed that the decision to take the inters was Webber’s own.

Adrian Sutil qualified fourth and Nico Hulkenberg an impressive fifth.

MALAYSIAN GP QUALIFYING

1.	Webber	Red Bull-Renault	1:51.886	1:48.210	1:49.327
2.	Rosberg	Mercedes	1:52.560	1:47.417	1:50.673
3.	Vettel	Red Bull-Renault	1:47.632	1:46.828	1:50.789
4.	Sutil	Force India-Mercedes	1:49.479	1:47.085	1:50.914
5.	Hulkenberg	Williams-Cosworth	1:49.664	1:47.346	1:51.001
6.	Kubica	Renault	1:46.283	1:46.951	1:51.051
7.	Barrichello	Williams-Cosworth	1:50.301	1:48.371	1:51.511
8.	Schumacher	Mercedes	1:52.239	1:48.400	1:51.717
9.	Kobayashi	Sauber-Ferrari	1:48.467	1:47.792	1:51.767
10.	Liuzzi	Force India-Mercedes	1:49.922	1:48.238	1:52.254
11.	Petrov	Renault	1:47.952	1:48.760	-
12.	de la Rosa	Sauber-Ferrari	1:47.153	1:48.771	-
13.	Buemi	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	1:48.945	1:49.207	-
14.	Alguersuari	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	1:48.655	1:49.464	-
15.	Kovalainen	Lotus-Cosworth	1:52.875	1:52.270	-
16.	Glock	Virgin-Cosworth	1:52.398	1:52.520	-
17.	Button	McLaren-Mercedes	1:52.211	No Time	-
18.	Trulli	Lotus-Cosworth	1:52.884	-	-
19.	Alonso	Ferrari	1:53.044	-	-
20.	Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	1:53.050	-	-
21.	Massa	Ferrari	1:53.283	-	-
22.	Chandhok	HRT-Cosworth	1:56.299	-	-
23.	Senna	HRT-Cosworth	1:57.269	-	-
24.	di Grassi	Virgin-Cosworth	1:59.977	-	-

Webber on Pole as big names cock it up in the wet is a post from: worldwormweb

Best mobile Twitter client:

Winner – Twitterific
Honourable Mention – Tweetdeck

Best mobile phone:

Winner – Apple iPhone
Honourable Mention – Nexus One (This might have won had it been available here in Australia!!)

Best Office Suite:

Winner – Microsoft Office 2007
Honourable Mention 1  – Openoffice.org
Honourable Mention 2 – Google Docs (its just not quite there yet in my opinion)

Best Browser

Winner – Firefox 3.6
Honourable Mention – Safari

Best desktop twitter client

Winner – Tweetdeck
Honourable Mention – Seesmic for Windows

Best social media tool

Winner – Twitter
Honourable Mention – Facebook

Best Online news source

Winner – Google News
Honourable Mention – SMH.com.au

Best Technology news source

Winner – techcrunch.com
Honourable Mention – mashable.com

Best Radio Station

Winner – ABC 702 Sydney
Honourable Mention – triple j

Best Digital only radio station

Winner – ABC Grandstand
Honourable Mention – Radar

TV Channel of the Year – Free to air

Winner – ONE HD
Honourable Mention – SBS

TV Channel of the Year – Pay TV

Winner –Eurosport
Honourable Mention – UKTV

Australian TV show of the Year

Winner – Packed to the Rafters
Honourable Mention – Offsiders

International TV Show of the year

Winner – Top Gear (UK)
Honourable Mention – QI

Best piece of Technology

Winner – Apple iPod Touch
Honourable Mention – Foxtel IQ2

Australian Sports-person of the year

Winner – Mark Webber
Honourable Mention – Casey Stoner

International Sports-person of the year

Winner – Jenson Button
Honourable Mention – Ryan Giggs

Sports team of the year

Winner – Brawn GP
Honourable Mention – Manchester United

Song of the year

Winner – Muse – United States of Eurasia
Honourable Mention – Lily Allen – Not Fair

Wormy Thing of the Year

Winner – Google Reader

I just can’t start my day with out a browse through my subscriptions on Google Reader.

The 1st Official World Worm Web Awards – The Wormy’s is a post from: worldwormweb

This would be good if they can pull it off. Even if we don’t get the World Cup, Sydney needs this.

[gmap]

ANZ Stadium to get roof for World Cup is a post from: worldwormweb

More at cyclingnews.com

[mappress]

Astarloza: Drug Cheat is a post from: worldwormweb

The Australian clocked one minute 32.230 to finish ahead of Brawn GP’s Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button.  Sebastian Vettel was fourth in the second Red Bull as the unpredictable weather made for a thrilling afternoon.  The improving McLaren of Lewis Hamilton will start fifth, equalling his best qualifying performance of the season.

Read More at BBC.co.uk

Webber secures maiden pole position in Germany is a post from: worldwormweb

The spots ended with Budweiser expressing second thoughts: “You do the football; we’ll do the beer.”

Now an American cable broadcaster, ESPN, is poised to “do the football” in Britain. Last month, ESPN bought the rights to show live English Premier League matches, picking them up after the British arm of Setanta, an Irish pay-TV company, collapsed. So is it time for British soccer fans to prepare for “soccertainment” when the new season begins in mid-August?

Not to worry, said Russell Wolff, managing director of ESPN International.

“We have a deep football culture within our company,” he said. “We have football fans, professionals and aficionados. We’re going to build on that experience.”

With channels in more than a hundred countries, ESPN already shows a lot of soccer. But the new agreement is different, highlighting ESPN’s push to broaden itself from an American powerhouse into a force in international sports broadcasting.

Televising Premier League matches in Asia, as ESPN does in a venture with the News Corporation, is one thing; showing matches in Britain is quite another. Imagine, for example, if the BBC were to acquire the rights to Major League Baseball games in the United States.

“It’s a big step forward for our business,” Mr. Wolff said. “We are looking to make our channels ever more locally relevant and exciting for sports fans around the world.”

ESPN, which is majority-owned by the Walt Disney Company, is already available in more than 200 million households outside the United States, twice its potential American audience. But in many international markets, particularly in Europe, it attracts only small audiences.

ESPN has tried to break into the big leagues of European soccer before, bidding unsuccessfully for domestic rights to the German Bundesliga last year. ESPN also tried three years ago to acquire English Premier League rights, but lost out to Setanta.

Setanta got its opening because European regulators objected to a long-running exclusive relationship between the league and British Sky Broadcasting, which is controlled by News Corporation. Sky has retained a majority of the matches since then, but Setanta won the rights to broadcast 46 games a season, one-third of the total, from 2007 through the 2009-10 season. Those games will now be taken over by ESPN, along with 23 matches in each of the next three seasons.

ESPN declined to say how much it had paid, though reports in Britain put the price at about £240 million, or $392 million, for the four seasons.

Analysts say ESPN’s move to acquire the Premier League rights could set up a battle between ESPN and Sky when negotiations for the next round of domestic rights agreements take place in 2012. Backed by Disney, they say, ESPN might try to wrest a larger share of the rights away from Sky.

“I think this could change the sport broadcasting landscape,” said Simon Chadwick, professor of sports business strategy at Coventry University. “Up until now, it has been a bilateral landscape.”

For now, Sky and ESPN play down talk of conflict, adding that the companies have already reached an agreement to show the ESPN games via Sky’s satellite system. “We look forward to working with ESPN to bring their Premier League coverage to Sky customers,” said Robert Fraser, a Sky spokesman.

Mr. Wolff said that with just six weeks to go until the season begins, ESPN was focusing on getting broadcast crews and announcers in place, as well as securing rights to other events to round out ESPN’s programming in Britain.

ESPN already has two channels there, one of which shows reruns of classic sports events. The other has mostly imported sports like baseball, basketball, hockey and American football. It will probably be combined with the Premier League matches and other events on a new premium-price channel, analysts say.

Can ESPN succeed where Setanta failed? Backed by Disney and the Hearst Corporation, which owns 20 percent of ESPN, the company does not have to worry about paying the bills month to month, which Setanta was unable to do. Analysts say Setanta also overpaid for sports rights, while ESPN has a reputation for being more conservative in its spending.

But ESPN will have to make its mark quickly, analysts say, because it will have fewer games after the coming season.

“If they haven’t established the coverage with the Premier League next season, then they are going to have a lot of ground to cover,” said Tim Westcott, an analyst at Screen Digest, a research company in London.

As Mr. Wolff noted, ESPN has considerable experience with international sports. It used to own 33 percent of Eurosport, a pan-European channel controlled by the French broadcaster TF1, but sold that in 2002. It showed World Cup soccer matches in Brazil in 2006 and broadcasts top cricket events in India. It produces SportsCenter, a sports news show, in 14 versions for audiences around the world.

ESPN also owns Web sites with global appeal, like Cricinfo, which is about cricket; Scrum, which covers rugby; and Racing Live, about Formula 1 auto racing.

Still, few sports fans are as demanding, or as tribal in their passions, as followers of Premier League soccer. American involvement in the game has been a sore subject at clubs like Manchester United and Liverpool, where fans objected to takeovers by American owners.

In a reference to ESPN’s controlling owner, Disney, the tabloid The Daily Mail joked that the broadcaster might try to rename the F.A. Cup, a venerable English soccer tournament, the “Mickey Mouse Cup.”

With everything related to ESPN’s coverage of the Premier League, from camera angles to analyst comments, likely to be scrutinized for signs of a hidden agenda of Disneyfication, Mr. Chadwick had some advice for ESPN: “There is a strong sense of counterculture in English football. They can’t be too glitzy, they can’t be too showbiz, they can’t be too American.”

Fans in Britain Cringe as ESPN Takes Over Broadcasting Soccer is a post from: worldwormweb

It left the sports pay-TV company one step closer to administration.

The Premier League will now sell its 46 live games for next season to the highest bidder. A decision is expected next week.

The move comes after last-ditch efforts to bail out the Irish company failed.

American tycoon Len Blavatnik’s Access Industries found Setanta had an outstanding VAT bill of up to £50million.

Administrators Deloitte could now be called in within days.

Setanta issued a statement last night saying it will “consider its options this weekend”.

It added: “In the meantime, Setanta’s sports channels continue on air.”

The broadcaster had already missed a £3million payment to the Scottish Premier League.

Setanta has around 1.2 million subscribers but it needs a reported 1.9 million to break even. Customer numbers have been hit by the recession.

For more go to thesun.co.uk

Setanta on the cusp of death is a post from: worldwormweb

The threat by members of the F1 Teams Association (Fota) escalates their row with world motorsport boss Max Mosley over his budget cap proposals.

“The teams have declined to alter their original conditional entries to the 2010 F1 Championship,” said the teams.

“We’ve no alternative than to commence preparation for a new championship.”

Mosley was insistent on introducing a voluntary £40m budget cap for teams to curtail a “financial arms race” in F1.

But Fota refused to agree to his conditions, prompting championship leader Brawn GP, Ferrari, McLaren, Renault, Toyota, BMW Sauber, Red Bull Racing and Toro Rosso to take their drastic action.

They announced their decision following a four-hour meeting on Thursday night ahead of this weekend’s British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

Read more @ bbc.co.uk

BBC SPORT | F1 teams drop breakaway bombshell is a post from: worldwormweb

IMG_0493, originally uploaded by Andrew Farmer.

This is from the car I was driving down the main Straight at Eastern Creek Raceway today

Industry drive day @ Eastern Creek is a post from: worldwormweb

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Australian World Cup Bid News | Come Play! is a post from: worldwormweb

It’s time to go….. Barry Hal… is a post from: worldwormweb

Spurred on by a partisan crowd of 44, 235, the Swans had victory well in hand at the long break with a 39-point advantage after a dominant first-half display.

The undermanned Eagles simply had no answer for the in-form Swans who continued to employ a more direct approach with good effect on their way to a 62-point victory.

New recruit Martin Mattner continued his impressive start to the season with 25 touches but he was not alone – Ted Richards (23), Tadhg Kennelly (21), and Michael O’Loughlin (four goals) among the pick of an impressive bunch.

In contrast West Coast’s big guns had minimal impact – Daniel Kerr managing just 15 touches as he was well held by Kieran Jack – Ben McKinley’s four goals as well as the performance of Matt Rosa (23), the only bright spots on a dismal night for the 2006 Premiers.

The Swans’ emphatic display was tarnished, however, by a moment of madness from Barry Hall who was reported for striking Brent Staker with a fearsome blow to the jaw which left the 23-year-old badly shaken late in the first-term.

Staker played no further part in the match while Hall faces a lengthy vacation, although the Sydney spearhead would probably have been absent regardless, having injured his wrist during the last-quarter after slamming into the boundary hoardings and some metal bars behind it.

O’Loughlin was sharp early booting the first two majors as the hosts skipped away early in the contest.

The Swans continued to dominate with goals to Hall and former Adelaide Crow Mattner – his first major for the Sydney siders.

McKinley gave the Eagles’ faithful a glimmer of hope with a goal in the shadows of quarter-time to cut the deficit to 18 at the first break.

The Swans were full of running in the second quarter adding three goals to their tally with Jarrad McVeigh, Adam Goodes and Ryan O’Keefe all getting in on the action.

As he had done in the first-term, McKinley answered for the Eagles just before the break before Brett Kirk kicked his first to re-establish the Swans’ 39-point advantage at half-time.

The hosts had plenty of contributors in the first-half with Tadhg Kennelly (15 possessions), Mattner and Kirk (14 apiece) leading the way.

But the second-term belonged to Adam Goodes who grabbed eight touches and added a goal in a dominant display while, for West Coast, Rosa gathered 10-first-half possessions as Kerr was well held with just six.

Two-goals in the first-four minutes of the third saw the Swans extend their advantage to 51-points.

The Swans added to the Eagles misery with four unanswered goals to start the final quarter before McInley booted his fourth goal for the Eagles in the final minute.

SWANS: 4.2, 8.6,12.8, 16.11(107)
EAGLES: 1.2, 2.3, 4.5, 5.15(45)

GOALS: Swans: O’Loughlin 4, McVeigh 2, Barlow 2, Hall, Mattner, Goodes, O’Keefe, Kirk, J.Bolton, Jolly, Jack,
West Coast: McKinley 4, Armstrong,
BEST: Swans: Mattner, Kirk, Kennelly, Goodes, O’Loughlin.
West Coast: Matt Rosa, Ben McInley.
INJURIES: Swans:
West Coast: Brent Staker (jaw),
REPORTS: Barry Hall for striking Brent Staker in the 26th minute of the first quarter.
CHANGES: Luke Brennan in for Heath Grundy (foot).
UMPIRES: Donlon, Kennedy, Wenn.
CROWD: 44,235 at ANZ Stadium.

Source – Sportal.com.au

Swans punish dismal Eagles is a post from: worldwormweb

The Swans’ hard, contested style of footy was back on show as they subdued a disappointing Port winning 22.14(146) to 11.12(78).

Barry Hall, with a game-high five goals, showed he was back with a confident display harking back to Big Barry’s golden days.

The win was set up by a dominant third quarter from the Swans who rolled a tiring Port 7.5 to 0.1 to take a 62 point advantage into the final break. The Bloods were never going to lose it from there as their superior fitness shone through as they kept their feet on the pedal in the last quarter.

Best for the home side were Hall, Michael O’Loughlin with four goals, Ryan O’Keefe, Marty Mattner and Jude Bolton while youngsters Kieren Jack, Jarrad McVeigh, Craig Bird and Ed Barlow used the ball well and ran hard all day in 25 degree heat.

In defence, Leo Barry kept small forward Brett Ebert very quiet.

An even spread of scorers throughout showed the Swans weren’t as “Hall-focused” as they have been in the past, a stat that would’ve pleased coach Roos.

And even though Port dominated the hitouts, the Swans’ won the clearances. However, an ankle injury to ruckman Darren Jolly mid-way through the second quarter will be a worry for Paul Roos. The return of big Spida Everitt in a fortnight will be most timely.

On a balmy day, the Swans led at each break to delight the 24,700 crowd. The Swans began kicking to the Paddington end and Roos, coaching from the bench, witnessed a seesawing first term.

The Swans scored the first major after two minutes. Barry Hall marking confidently on his chest just outside the 50m found a running Kieren Jack who blasted home from 30m to get the home side on the scoreboard for the game’s first major.

But the Power using the flanks well booted the next three goals to take the sting out of the Bloods. The Swans kicked the next five to take the lead into the break.

Despite the talented Port ruckman Brendon Lade dominating the hitouts against the tag team of Jolly and Roberts-Thomson, the Swans held their lead going into the main break going in 22 points to the good.

However, if spearhead Warren Tredrea had been more accurate, the margin could’ve been much closer.

The Swans started the second half strongly but four points from the first four shots at goals kept the home side’s lead within Port’s grasp. However, McVeigh’s snap from 40m pushed the lead out and the Swans sensed the win was in their grasp.

For Port, two losses from their first two games is not the ideal lead up to next week’s grudge match against the Crows.

Shaun Burgoyne, however, stood up today with a dominating disposals stat with 19 and four goals.

Nevertheless, the victory will give the Swans a much-needed shot of confidence ahead of next week’s match against the Lions in Brisbane, whose coach Leigh Matthews was watching.

The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.

Sydney Swans 6.2 10.5 17.10 22.13 (146)

Port Adelaide 4.1 6.7 7.8 11.12 (78)

GOALS
Swans: Hall 5, O’Loughlin 4, Bevan 2, Kirk 2, McVeigh 2, Goodes, Jack, Roberts-Thomson, Grundy, Barlow,, J. Bolton. Barry
Port: S Burgoyne 4 D Motlop 2, Tredrea 2,, K Cornes, Pettigrew, Rodan
BEST
Swans: Hall, O’Loughlin, Mattner, J Bolton, Jack, McVeigh
Port: Lade, S Burgoyne, Tredrea, Rodan, Salopek

INJURIES
Swans: Jolly (ankle)
Port:Nil

Reports: Nil

Umpires: McLaren, Rosebury, Stevic

Official crowd: 24,700 at SCG

Author: Aidan Ormond

Source AFL.com.au

Swans smash Port is a post from: worldwormweb

Andrew Symonds is congratulated by captain Ricky Ponting after he dismissed India's Rahul Dravid. Photo: Reuters

The tourists were dismissed for 161, earning the home side a 337-run victory in extreme conditions at the MCG.

The home side were halfway towards completing the job of bowling India out a second time this match at tea, when the tourists were precariously placed at 5-134, still needing another 365 runs to win.

Even Sourav Ganguly, the last of the specialist batsmen, found the going tough as he needed attention for heat distress towards the end of the session on another dry, hot day.

In another disciplined bowling effort by Australia, they gradually broke down the tourists through accuracy and relentless pressure from the fielders.

India were comfortably placed at 1-55 just before lunch and looking capable of batting out long periods but Andrew Symonds chose the perfect time to bowl offspin and trapped Rahul Dravid (16) in front in the last over of the first session.

Then in the middle session, Brett Lee snared the key wicket of Sachin Tendulkar (15), VVS Laxman let himself down after a determined 42 with a soft shot to cover off Stuart Clark's bowling, and Brad Hogg made it more misery for Yuvraj Singh just before tea.

Hogg fired through a quicker delivery which beat Yuvraj for pace and hit him plumb LBW, for five.

That left Ganguly (36 not out) and wicketkeeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (one not out) with a massive job to do just to take the match into a fifth day.

By the time tea was taken, the home side's bowlers were performing like they expected a wicket every ball, even on a slow pitch.

Lee's (2-43) dismissal of Wasim Jaffer in the eighth over of the day earned Adam Gilchrist Australia's wicketkeeping record from his predecessor Ian Healy, and Gilchrist's catch to remove Tendulkar took his tally to 397.

Clark again proved the master of control in claiming 1-20 from 15 overs, while Hogg again troubled Ganguly, as the former Indian skipper twice edged just out of reach of first slip.

Hogg finished the session with 1-38 and Symonds 1-25.

Source – SMH

Aussies thrash tourists is a post from: worldwormweb

India also chose two spinners with Harbhajan Singh joining Anil Kumble on a pitch Ponting expected to be very slow and which displayed a few small cracks on the first morning. After a week of unseasonal heavy rain that washed out India's only warm-up match Melbourne turned on a sunny Boxing Day and the forecast did not indicate any showers over the next five days.

Australia decided against choosing a four-man pace attack and instead handed Brad Hogg his fifth Test cap, more than 11 years after he made his debut. Hogg waited an Australian record of 78 games for his second Test but then stalled on four, spending another 45 Tests watching on before being called up for Boxing Day in Stuart MacGill's absence.

Mitchell Johnson won the third fast-bowling position, which he held during the Sri Lanka series, despite a strong push for Tait to rattle India with his extreme speed. The selectors may have been swayed not only by Johnson's impressive Test entry last month but also by his form against India – he was the leading wicket-taker on Australia's recent ODI tour there.

The visitors could not find a spot for Virender Sehwag, who etched his name into MCG history with 195 the last time India played a Test at the ground. Sourav Ganguly became the seventh India player to reach 100 Tests and depending on which authority one believes the MCG might also have reached triple-figures – or its 101st Test.

Australia 1 Matthew Hayden, 2 Phil Jaques, 3 Ricky Ponting (capt), 4 Michael Hussey, 5 Michael Clarke, 6 Andrew Symonds, 7 Adam Gilchrist (wk), 8 Brad Hogg, 9 Brett Lee, 10 Mitchell Johnson, 11 Stuart Clark.

India 1 Wasim Jaffer, 2 Rahul Dravid, 3 VVS Laxman, 4 Sachin Tendulkar, 5 Sourav Ganguly, 6 Yuvraj Singh, 7 MS Dhoni (wk), 8 Anil Kumble (capt), 9 Zaheer Khan, 10 RP Singh, 11 Harbhajan Singh.

Source – www.baggygreen.com.au

Australia win the toss and bat first is a post from: worldwormweb

Webber was happy with his driving form but frustrated at the RB3's habit of breaking during races.

The Australian comprehensively out-qualified teammate David Coulthard but the Scot edged ahead in the points chase as finishing became a lottery for the pair.

Coulthard finished tenth in the championship and Webber 12th, although the Aussie finished ahead of the Scot in the annual AutoSport magazine rankings.

Red Bull Racing boss Christian Horner has promised reliability will be the main target for 2008.

While the team finished fifth in the manufacturers' championship, Red Bull suffered a a rash of race-ending gearbox and hydraulics problems.

“We learnt many lessons during 2007 and obviously reliability is a key topic that the design and development groups are fully focused on,” Horner told the official F1 website.

“In 2007 we gave away approximately 24 points as a result of poor reliability, without which we would have been much closer to Renault and ahead of Williams.”

The team has raised its sights for 2008 and is now looking at challenging Renault which has re-employed former dual world champion Fernando Alonso, who fled McLaren after a messy season.

“With the same engine as the factory Renault team they, more than any other team, are our barometer,” Horner said.

Red Bull will debut its new RB4 car during the first major test of 2008, at Jerez in mid-January.

With a stable driver line-up and former Honda technical chief Geoff Willis working with design guru Adrian Newey, Horner is confident the team has a good platform to build on its 2007 progress.

“For the first time in our short history, there is continuity within the design group, with our engine partner and with the drivers,” he said.

Horner praised Webber and Coulthard, saying “they did an excellent job for the team in 2007 and remain one of the strongest driver line-ups in F1.”

Red Bull Renault made a big step forwards in 2007 in terms of pure pace, securing 24 championship points, 11 points clear of the heavily-funded Toyota.

But gearbox, clutch and hydraulic failures proved to be ongoing issues with the RB3 as both Webber and Coulthard notched up seven retirements each from the 17 races this year.

Webber's season was highlighted by a third place at the European Grand Prix but the low point was being taken out by Torro Rosso's Sebastian Vettel while running second in the wet Japanese GP.

AAP

Source – SMH

Webber banking on better Bull is a post from: worldwormweb

In front of a record crowd of 17,514, Sydney twice came from behind in their postponed round 15 match.

The visitors recovered from an early two-goal deficit and again fought back late to grab an injury time penalty to Ufuk Talay to catapult them past Adelaide United into fourth spot.

Sydney trailed 3-2 after 63 minutes, led 4-3 after 76 when replacement Brendon Santalab volleyed home and finally grabbed the winner after the Mariners had levelled with just four minutes remaining.

After leading 2-0 after 15 minutes, the Mariners lost goalkeeper Danny Vukovic when he hand-balled under pressure from striker Alex Brosque.

Source – SMH

Sydney move into top four is a post from: worldwormweb

“Yeah, no worries, mate. Do what you like,” came the drawl from the other end of the line down on the farm in Wagga Wagga.

Kelly had just been told that after five years in moth balls, the club had decided to bring his famous No.14 jumper back out and present it to rookie Craig Bird.

The No.14 is significant at the Swans, having adorned the back of two of the club's legends – Kelly and Bob Skilton. Skilton spent 237 games in the jumper, 165 of those as captain, winning nine best and fairests and three Brownlow medals. Kelly played 234 games in No.14, was captain in a club record 182 of those games, won four best and fairests and the 1995 Brownlow medal.

It hasn't been seen since Kelly retired at the end of 2002, with some thinking it may have been retired permanently.

“I spoke to both Kell and Bobby Skilton and they are both excited about seeing the jumper running around again,” Roos said.

“If you're a guy who played in it and you don't see it running around it almost leaves a bit of a void. Bobby was just extremely happy to think: 'Gee, it's great I'm going to have a young kid to follow who's going to be wearing my jumper'.

“Kell was down in Wagga: 'What do you want, Roosy? Yeah, no worries, mate, do what you like'. He wanted to know a bit about Birdy as a player and I told him … they are both rapt and happy for the club to make the decision, but out of respect for them I wanted to call and make sure they were both comfortable with it.”

Roos said he felt it was significant that Bird – from Nelson Bay – take the jumper, as he was the club's first recipient of the AFL's NSW Scholarship (a program focused on developing NSW talent) and, like Kelly, is also a NSW youngster.

He said the club believed that Bird's “pedigree” is very good.

“It's a pretty big honour to be given the No.14, and I'm really excited to be given the opportunity, but I was pretty stunned, to be honest,” Bird said of being told the number could be his.

“I didn't think I'd be given the chance to wear it. It took me a few days to decide whether I wanted to take it or not. I knew there was a lot of history behind it but I got my head around it and decided to take it.

“I spoke to a lot of the coaches to see what they thought about it, and I spoke to my dad and a few of the other players and they thought it was a good idea and about time the jersey got brought back out.”

Roos said that there would naturally be some pressure with the jumper, but the longer you wait, the more that pressure builds. He added that he needed to check to see if there was a reason why he couldn't bring the No.14 back onto Sydney's list.

“I went to Andrew [Ireland, general manager of football] and said, 'Are we allowed to use that jumper?' and Andrew said, 'I think so', so then I went to the board and the board said I don't know why you couldn't use it,” Roos explained. “It's probably one of those things where certainly for the first 12 months-two years, it was a conscious thing [not to use it], then I think everyone got a bit scared about bringing it back out and no one spoke about it.

“But everyone, the board, Andrew, all said let's get it back out there.

“Obviously it's a bit daunting if you're aware of the history of the jumper, but once he's out on the field and once he's running around and people see it [the jumper], then it becomes a number and it's his number and he's got to make his own name.”

Rookie Swan to fly high in jumper No.14 is a post from: worldwormweb