It’s called the silly season for a reason but this is just getting stupid.
A dramatic series of events played out in Formula One overnight – and at this point nothing has been resolved.
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The circus began when Fernando Alonso stunned Alpine by revealing he was fleeing the team to join Aston Martin, which needed a new driver after Sebastian Vettel’s retirement.
That left Alpine with egg on its face and in an attempt to remove said egg the fourth-ranked outfit announced it was promoting Australian young gun Oscar Piastri to the vacant seat.
Piastri, who has served as Alpine’s reserve driver this season after winning back-to-back F2 and F3 championships, is destined to join the grid in 2023 and appeared to have his future decided when this release was posted just after 2am (AEST).
But less than two hours later Piastri embarrassed Alpine further by rubbishing its claim he had agreed to the promotion.
“I understand that, without my agreement, Alpine F1 have put out a press release late this afternoon that I am driving for them next year,” Piastri said. “This is wrong and I have not signed a contract with Alpine for 2023. I will not be driving for Alpine next year.”
But that’s only half the story.
The other uncomfortable development for Aussie racing fans were reports Piastri is on a collision course with his compatriot Daniel Ricciardo.
Ricciardo last week re-affirmed his commitment to McLaren but has endured the rockiest of times as Lando Norris’ partner in recent years.
It appears Piastri – and his manager Aussie F1 legend Mark Webber – read the tea leaves and were eyeing off Ricciardo’s seat before they knew Alonso was about to make room at Alpine.
There was even a report that claimed they had a deal in place with the British manufacturer, which will no doubt be tested in court if Alpine believes it breaches its agreement with the 21-year-old from Melbourne.
Piastri has been made to bid his time as Alpine’s reserve driver this year, despite winning three consecutive titles in a stellar junior racing career.
F1 commentator Martin Brundle had predicted last month the Aussie would find a way to the 2023 grid.
“Piastri has got to be in F1 next year whatever it is and whatever comes his way he has got to take it,” Brundle said.
“He has to outperform whatever he gets as Mark Webber did at Minardi and (Ayrton) Senna did at Toleman for example.
“It won’t be easy for Oscar but it’s not out of the question.”
There was speculation he could be loaned to Williams as a replacement for underperforming Canadian Nicholas Latifi but Alonso’s exit has created a domino effect that’s left the only three Aussies to race at the top level since the early 1990s suddenly at odds.
AFL great Eddie Betts has revealed just how damaging the Adelaide Crows training camp held in 2018 was.
The infamous leadership camp, following the Crows’ 2017 AFL Grand Final loss at the hands of Richmond, thrust the club into the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.
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A number of players and officials walked away from the club in the wake of the camp and now Betts has detailed even more behind the scenes information in his upcoming autobiography ‘The Boy from Boomerang Crescent’.
The four-day camp held on the Gold Coast left Betts feeling “like a piece of me was brainwashed” with excerpts being reported by the Sydney Morning Herald.
Betts revealed confidential information he had shared in counseling sessions had been misused while writing that the camp misappropriated sensitive Aboriginal cultural rituals.
“The camp ended up appropriating a First Nations peoples’ ritual of a ‘talking stick’ and attempting to apply it to all of us, even the non-Indigenous players and coaches,” he wrote.
“In my view, the talking stick was used incorrectly, and I was not aware that any Elder had given permission for it to be used either.
“There was all sorts of weird shit that was disrespectful to many cultures, but particularly and extremely disrespectful to my culture.”
Betts confirmed the Richmond theme song was played repeatedly during a training session and he was put in a body harness and told to fight his way towards a knife as camp instructors hurled verbal abuse his way.
“Things were yelled at me that I had disclosed to the camp’s ‘counsellors’ about my upbringing. All the people present heard these things,” he wrote.
“I was exhausted, drained and distressed about the details being shared.
“Another camp-dude jumped on my back and started to berate me about my mother, something so deeply personal that I was absolutely shattered to hear it come out of his mouth.”
Following the now infamous camp, Betts approached the club and voiced his concerns with the camp and said he wouldn’t take part in any future mind-training exercises. Three weeks later he was dropped from the leadership group.
“After a meeting with all the Blackfullas at the club, I decided to address the playing group and talk about how I found the camp, mainly addressing the cultural safety implications for us brothers,” Betts revealed.
“I sought permission to remove all the Aboriginal boys from any further interactions with the ‘leadership specialists’ and their mind-training exercises.
“I told the club I wouldn’t be involved in any more mind-training exercises at all.”
The camp had a major impact on Betts’ on-field form and left the star forward questioning his place in the game. Betts left the Crows and returned to Carlton at the end of 2019 before retiring at the end of 2021.
The Crows were cleared of any work health and safety breaches after an independent investigation into the training camp by SafeWork SA.
Australia have wrapped up the Commonwealth Rugby Sevens gold medal in a 22-12 win over Fiji in a dominant display.
It’s redemption for the Aussies after a heartbreaking loss at the previous Commonwealth Games in Australia.
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Australia lost an epic final in 2018 on the Gold Coast, down 17-12 in extra-time to New Zealand.
But after edging past the Kiwis in a dramatic semi-final and losing a pool game to Fiji, Australia made no mistake in the final.
Faith Nathan scored a first half double as well as a try to Madison Ashby opened up a massive 17-0 lead at halftime.
The Aussies then scored immediately after the half through Maddison Levi, making it a 22-0 lead.
Although the Fijians finally got a pass to stick and scored a try as well as a consolation two minutes after full-time, it was nowhere near enough as the Aussies claimed the gold medal.
It had been the one medal Australia had been missing, having won in Rio in 2016, and coming into the tournament as the reigning Rugby Sevens women’s world champions after winning four of the six tournaments in the 2021-22 World Series.
Aussie star Charlotte Caslick said it was nearly a perfect performance from gold medalists.
“I think in those physical contests, we dominated nearly every single one of those and that’s what we had to do,” Caslick said after the match.
“I wouldn’t say it was perfect (performance) but it was close to.
“We’ve had an amazing World Series and been dominant year so to be rewarded in front of an awesome crowd is pretty special.”
And it was more redemption after Australia was bundled out of the Tokyo Olympics in a 19-0 quarterfinal thrashing by Fiji.
While the women’s side will bring home the extra baggage of the gold medals, the men couldn’t follow suit.
After a semi-final loss to South Africa earlier in the day, the Aussies fell 26-12 to New Zealand in the bronze medal match to miss the podium.
It was a tough break for Australia who are second on the World Series ladder behind South Africa with one tournament left in Los Angeles in late August.
South Africa broke to the men’s title in a 31-7 obliteration of Fiji.
England won a major women’s tournament for the first time as Chloe Kelly’s extra-time goal secured a 2-1 victory over Germany at a sold out Wembley on Sunday.
In front of a record crowd of 87,192 for any match in the history of the European Championships, Kelly prodded home a loose ball from close range to end English football’s 56-year wait for a World Cup or Euro victory.
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England looked set for victory in the 90 minutes when substitute Ella Toone’s sublime chip over Merle Frohms put the hosts in front.
Germany showed remarkable resilience to bounce back as Lina Magull leveled 11 minutes from time.
But for once, England were not to be denied a major tournament success. Kelly fought back from an anterior cruciate ligament tear to be fit in time for the tournament and made herself a national hero by being in the right place to pounce when Germany failed to clear a corner in the 110th minute.
The Manchester City winger tore her shirt off in celebration in scenes reminiscent of Mia Hamm’s famous reaction to scoring the winning penalty for the USA at the 1999 World Cup.
Fortune did not favor Germany, who lost captain and top goalscorer Alexandra Popp to a muscle injury in the warm-up.
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But England will feel their time for some luck was due as 12 months on from the Three Lions’ defeat on penalties to Italy in the Euro 2020 men’s final, the nation’s women went one better.
While England enjoy the celebrations, Germany manager Martin Voss-Tecklenburg was left aggrieved by the decision not to award a penalty to her side in the first half of Sunday’s Euro 2022 final defeat to England.
Lionesses captain Leah Williamson escaped after the ball hit her hand in a goalmouth scramble with the score still at 0-0.
After a VAR check, Ukrainian referee Kateryna Monzul was not told to review her initial decision not to give a penalty.
“On this level at the end of the European Championships this shouldn’t happen,” said Voss-Tecklenburg.
“I’d like to have a discussion why did not one look at it? This is something I would really like to ask. It happened to us today, but if it had happened to them I would feel the same. It really bothers me.”
Football’s home. (Photo by Naomi Baker/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
Germany suffered a major blow even before kick-off when captain and top goalscorer Alexandra Popp was forced to pull out in the warm-up due to a muscle injury.
Voss-Tecklenburg said the Wolfsburg striker, who had scored six goals in five games in the tournament, had suffered the injury in training on Saturday.
“We tried everything. Yesterday at the end of final training there were some problems, which we didn’t expect,” she added.
“This morning it looked a bit better but it was clear the decision had to be hers. I trusted her 1000 percent and today she said she couldn’t run or shoot properly.
“I have even higher respect to her to say that after such a special tournament, she won’t play a final. She is a great personality.”
German newspaper Bild called the final “another Wembley fraud”. England’s only previous major tournament win in either the men’s or women’s game came in the 1966 World Cup with a 4-2 win over West Germany that is still remembered for the Three Lions’ controversial third goal that may not have crossed the line.
All flights out of Perth Airport have been canceled after a power outage sparked chaos.
All flights scheduled to depart after 7.30pm were initially delayed, but passengers have now been told to go home for the night.
Plans that were already on the way to Perth were able to land.
Footage taken at the airport showed the terminal plunged into darkness as the lights failed.
Some passengers reported being stuck on planes that had landed, because air bridges could not work without electricity.
Others who had landed were having trouble collecting the luggage, with disgruntled travelers complaining of “massive crowds”.
Some people appeared to be locked out of the airport altogether.
The outage was caused by wild weather which lashed Perth on Tuesday. Winds with speeds of up to 70km/h battered the west coast on Tuesday, and the Bureau of Meteorology expects the turbulent weather to continue until Thursday.
It is not known how long the damage will take to fix.
“Perth Airport will be delaying all outbound services scheduled to depart before 7.30pm,” the airport tweeted.
“All inbound flights currently in the air will be able to arrive safely. All scheduled flights into Perth which have not yet departed will be delayed until further notice.
“Passengers should expect delays/cancellations. The safety of everyone who works in or is traveling through our airport remains our highest priority. We apologize to passengers and customers for any inconvenience.”
Anthony Albanese has been caught in a fresh parliamentary scandal after questions were raised about the legitimacy of his moves on the footy field.
The Prime Minister joined the Parliamentary Friends of Rugby League on Tuesday morning for their fourth annual State of Origin touch football match.
Just before half time in the clash against Queensland, Mr Albanese dived to plant the ball on the try line to give NSW the upper hand.
Sports Minister Anika Wells protested, claiming she had tagged Mr Albanese before he scored.
The referee ultimately gave Mr Albanese the benefit of the doubt, awarding NSW what would turn out to be the final try of the day.
The parliamentary Blues ended up taking home bragging rights, winning 3-1.
Asked about the dubious try later in the day, Ms Wells laughed off the controversy.
“I think we can all agree that the referee is going to be the next governor-general based on that decision and I think we can say ultimately, glory to Queensland,” she said.
On if the Prime Minister could be trusted given his shady moves on the footy field, Ms Wells left that question unanswered.
But she joked NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo should take the inquiry straight to the league’s commission as a “top priority”.
Speaking earlier, Mr Albanese took issue with former Wallaby turned Senator David Pocock joining the Queenslanders for the grudge match.
“I can report the greatest scandal since (Greg Inglis) playing for Queensland. David Pocock from the ACT pulling on a Queensland jumper,” Mr Albanese told Nine.
“They will stop at nothing.”
He also complained about former deputy prime minister and NSW MP Barnaby Joyce also donning the Queensland jersey.
“Barnaby has very short stints on the field. Even though he represents the NSW seat, he has a Maroons jersey on as well,” Mr Albanese said.
“Look, there should be an inquiry into some of these players and where they are playing for, I tell you.”
Lions forward Eric Hipwood insists Brisbane can win the AFL premiership from anywhere in the top eight, saying form – rather than ladder position – was the key heading into next month’s finals series.
Brisbane has dropped to fifth spot after their seven-point weekend loss to Richmond at the MCG.
With three rounds of the regular season remaining, the Lions should still make the top four if they can beat Carlton, St Kilda and Melbourne this month.
But if Brisbane has to settle for a spot in the bottom half of the top eight, Hipwood believes his side can still win the flag, provided form and consistency is found in the next three weeks.
Under the current finals system, the Western Bulldogs are the only team to clinch the premiership from outside the top four, having won the flag in 2016 after finishing seventh on the ladder.
“That’s what you strive for at the start of the season, to get that double chance (by finishing in the top four), but you’ve seen teams win the grand final from outside the top four,” Hipwood said.
“We’d like (a top-four spot), but we just want to be competitive come the end of the season.”
Hipwood was adamant Brisbane would find form before the finals, saying there were “positives” to take from the loss to the Tigers, who fought back from 42 points down to win and keep alive their hopes of playing football finals this season.
“It was disappointing that we did lose, but we’re still optimistic. We had a lot of opportunities to win the game and we just couldn’t ice it,” Hipwood said.
“We played some really good footy, especially in that first half.”
“What hasn’t been spoken about enough is that Richmond are a bloody good team.
“They’re certainly up there with the best and they brought that on the weekend. I don’t think the ladder position (ninth) represents where they’re at.”
Despite Brisbane’s loss, the towering Hipwood had his best game since returning in round nine after 10 months on the sidelines following a knee reconstruction.
He kicked four goals and grabbed six marks in an encouraging sign with the finals approaching.
“I’ve been quite inconsistent and I’m quick to identify that myself but I am building,” Hipwood said.
“I didn’t really have any practice games or anything like that prior to coming (back) into the AFL.
“I’m getting better week-in, week-out – that’s all that really matters.”
We have just witnessed one of the most insane days to ever unfold in Aussie cycling with Matthew Glaetzer winning gold in the men’s 1000m time trial.
The Aussie team was expected to be wiped out from the medals when they were inadvertently sabotaged by their own team in another farcical equipment blunder unfolding just hours before the event.
AusCycling officials announced its handlebars for the event were not safe at the eleventh hour—forcing the Aussie riders to use inferior, bulkier, slower bars at the Lee Valley VeloPark.
Aussie cycling legend Katey Bates said the decision to use heavier, less aerodynamic handlebars could cost the riders up to 1.5 seconds in the event that takes 60 seconds to complete.
Nobody could have predicted what came next.
Despite the last-minute equipment sabotage, Glaetzer produced one of the great rides to take gold in the final ride of the event, knocking Aussie teammate Tom Cornish to silver.
A fifth Commonwealth Games gold medal taken Glaetzer equal with Aussie cycling icon Anna Meares for career gold medals won.
Aussie Matthew Richardson, who won gold in the men’s sprint on Monday, was relegated to fourth spot after Nicholas Paul took bronze for Trinidad and Tobago.
Richardson would almost certainly have won the bronze if able to use the handlebars he was expecting to.
It’s why Bates was absolutely stunned when Glaetzer powered to the gold medal.
“I cannot believe my eyes. I cannot believe what I’m seeing here,” she said.
“That was absolutely staggering. This is becoming the velodrome where records are broken and dreams are made.”
Earlier, an AusCycling review into the handlebars was only completed at the last minute. The review found the bars could not handle the force that the riders put through them, particularly when exploding off the start line.
Aussie legend Scott McGrory said the decision was a “devastating blow” to the Aussie trio.
“It’s a major hindrance,” he told Channel 7.
“The aerodynamic bars are so much faster.
“It’s a devastating blow for the Australians.”
AusCycling executive general manager of performance Jesse Korf spoke to Channel 7 before the event and defended the late decision. He said the review was started earlier this year, but could not have been completed earlier because of testing issues with its suppliers and other officials.
Korf said in a statement released by AusCycling the decision was made after testing revealed the riders would generate significantly more power than the bars could handle.
“We acknowledge that this decision has created a degree of disappointment, but the riders and the broader team understand that safety is our top priority,” Korf said.
“We have made significant changes to procedures, team structure and process since the Tokyo Olympics and this decision is reflective of a new and thorough approach to long-term engineering excellence, competitive success, and athlete welfare.”
Bates said the decision would be a hammer blow to the Aussies, who have dedicated their lives for moments like this one.
“We’re talking 1 second to 1.5 seconds, it won’t just cost a gold medal, it will cost a medal,” she said.
“That’s devastating. When you look back on your career, these are the moments that define it, for good or for bad. I really feel for the athletes, to be honest.”
McGrory suggested there were other options that the Aussies could have used, including equipment readily available at the track, rather than going with such heavy handlebars.
Richardson was the first Aussie to hit the track and he left McGrory and Bates stunned when he shot straight to the top spot on the time sheets with a 1:00.152.
Tom Cornish then pushed into first place with a 1:00.036.
Glaetzer then took the gold when he smashed to 59,505.
Glaetzer was on Monday robbed of a bronze medal after being relegated in the third race of the bronze medal event following marginal contact with his opponent in the men’s sprint race.
The handlebar disaster in Birmingham comes after the Aussie equipment failed at the Tokyo Olympics.
Richardson was seen looking distressed after his ride and collapsed to the floor while appearing to suffer from cramping and other issues. Bates suggested he was about to vomit from the exhaustion and build up of lactic acid.
It was truly an unforgettable day in Australian cycling.
Collingwood midfield star Taylor Adams will resume running this Friday having “had a sook” over the groin injury which he’s adamant won’t keep him out of this year’s finals.
Adams was subbed out of the Magpies’ six-point win over Port Adelaide at half-time last Saturday and subsequent scans confirmed he suffered a groin strain.
The 28-year-old said on Tuesday he was extremely disappointed when the initial prognosis was delivered with the Magpies on a 10-game winning streak and a chance to finish in the top four under first-year coach Craig McRae.
But he quickly focused on the “silver lining” which was the chance to return in time for the first final, aided by the pre-finals bye which should give him enough time to be ready to play.
“I’ve got all the sooking out of my system. It could be better but it could be far worse,” Adams told RSN.
“I’m seeing the silver lining. I will start running again on Friday and that will give me a really good lead in to make sure that I come back fit and strong and able to sustain a full game.
“You have to shift your mindset from a situation that’s not ideal to turning it into something which is really positive. I’ve been in this situation before .. you can either sook about it for four or five days or you can get over it and put a plan in place and get back to work.
“I’m in that headspace at the moment and I’m confident if I put the work in I’ll be right. I’ve got a plan in place now and I’ll get to work and get ready to come back.”
Adams had until now played every game this season bar two, missing the round 4 defeat to West Coast while in the AFL’s Covid protocols then sitting out the narrow round 18 win over Adelaide because of a concussion.
He is first at the club for contested possessions this season, second in tackles and inside 50s, third in groundball-gets and sixth in disposals, so he is a significant loss for Craig McRae’s team at a crucial juncture.
The Magpies have won 10 matches in a row, including seven by single-digit margins, to move into third place on the ladder with reigning premier Melbourne, in-form Sydney and Carlton to come.
Only eighth-placed St Kilda, which has three fewer victories, has a worse percentage than Collingwood’s 106.2, so it will likely need to win at least twice in the final three rounds to maintain a top-four spot.
There are reinforcements on the way, with Brodie Grundy (knee) successfully negotiating his VFL comeback on Saturday, while McRae said after the Power victory that he expected Brody Mihocek (hip) to be available.
The coach stopped short of guaranteeing Grundy’s return but he played almost a full match while amassing 11 disposals, 21 hit-outs and eight tackles.
Mason Cox will be the player to make way if Grundy is recalled, unless Mihocek fails to prove his fitness.
Defender Jeremy Howe (corked buttock) sat out most of the last quarter at the weekend but should be fine for Friday night’s clash with his old side the Demons.
Newcastle’s torrid season has gone from bad to worse, with enforcer David Klemmer issued a show cause notice over an on-field disciplinary issue.
The incident in question, according to The Daily Telegraph’s Paul Kent, came in the 71st minute of the Knights’ 24-10 loss to the Bulldogs.
Klemmer is said to have refused to come off the field and allegedly verbally abused Newcastle trainer Hayden Knowles, who was trying to make the substitution happen.
“It happened over a series of tackles throughout the last minutes of the game, where they continually tried to get him off the field,” Kent said on Fox League’s ‘NRL 360’.
“Now Klemmer just refused to go. He’s been disciplined, he hasn’t been chosen after this weekend’s game.”
The Knights released a statement on Tuesday confirming an on-field disciplinary matter had taken place, although they opted against going into any further details.
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The Daily Telegraph’s Paul Crawley described the show cause notice as “strange” given Newcastle had taken action by dropping Klemmer before giving him a chance to explain himself.
That was not all Crawley had to say though, with the veteran rugby league reporter claiming that Klemmer’s incident was only a smaller part of much bigger problems in the Hunter.
“It’s bigger than this,” Crawley said.
“There’s a problem up at Newcastle that everyone’s ducking and covering from, there’s players up there that aren’t happy. There’s a division within the club and no one can deny it. You’ve just got to look at their performances.
“There’s obviously some players out there that aren’t real happy and David Klemmer on the weekend has probably fired up.
“Something’s happened to him on the field, he didn’t want to come off but I assure you there’s got to be more to it.”
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David Klemmer is out of the Newcastle line-up this week. (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
Crawley’s theory was supported by Braith Anasta, who said blow-ups like the one Klemmer had on Sunday afternoon to being substituted off “happen every weekend”.
“That happens every weekend at a club where a player doesn’t want to come off the field or will argue with his trainers,” Anasta said.
“I don’t know to what extent, but a show cause notice is very dramatic at 6pm on a Tuesday night where they haven’t picked him in the side. There’s got to be more to it. There just has to be.”
As Kent went on to point out, there were reports that Parramatta was looking to snare Klemmer before the mid-season transfer deadline, only adding fuel to the fire.
“It’s interesting yesterday Parramatta approached the Knights to get him on a loan deal,” Kent said.
“My understanding is Klemmer was willing to go, but he’s got next year at Newcastle. He wanted next year at Parramatta plus the year after, which they were not willing to go to, which suggested the fact that maybe he was happy to leave Newcastle.”
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Former teammate James Graham said that Klemmer “looks very frustrated” and could understand why he may have pushed against coming from the field.
“He has very high expectations of himself and takes pride in his performances and especially his numbers,” Graham said.
“He can be one of those guys who is reluctant to leave the field of play. This is against his old club from him as well. I can understand why he may have wanted to stay out there.
“There were times the rotation with those middle forwards and Klemmer would protest leaving the field of play if he thought he could have an impact on the result.”
Corey Parker though called it “a load of BS”, taking aim at Newcastle for disciplining Klemmer, who he called a “the alpha male of the club”.
“Seriously, dropping someone because he said no to coming off to the trainer,” Parker said.
“I played 16 years and everytime I was asked to come off I was reluctant to a point where I would say to the trainer a few expletives to let him know I didn’t want to come off. He’s the alpha male of the club playing against his former club.
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“Are we playing rugby league? He’s the front rower of a rugby league club, is he just going to bow and come off? I played with and against Klem and he’s a tough, uncompromising, resilient front rower.”
Graham though responded by pointing out that sometimes a player has to put their own personal thoughts to the side and prioritize the team’s best interests.
In this case, even though he thought the decision to take Klemmer off was “strange”, Graham said coach O’Brien may have been trying to set a standard by dropping the enforcer.
“No one wants to come off but if your club is seeing something and you’re part of a rotation and it’s coming from the top,” Graham said.
“It does seem strange [to take him off then]. We’ve all sprayed trainers. I think it’s the fact he didn’t come from the field of play. Personally, I think it’s they’ve had a bad week, O’Brien is trying to set a precedent and build his club from him.
“We’ve heard about O’Brien setting standards for next year.”
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The drama is hardly what Newcastle needed as it looks to arrest a concerning form slump which has seen the club drop four-straight games and lose 14 of its past 17 to plummet down the ladder.
Knights coach Adam O’Brien came under fire earlier in the week for his comments after the latest loss to the Bulldogs, in which he pointed out his involvement in “four grand finals.”
“It is a hard one for me as well,” O’Brien said at the post-match press conference.
“Previous to getting this job here I was involved in four grand finals.
“I know how those teams prepared. I know the systems they used defensively.
“You don’t unlearn that knowledge. Applying it and getting it ingrained is going to take some time clearly.
“Week to week we can talk about one area of that defense and we can fix it in seven days, but then we will let another area of our defense down.
“It is going to take a bit of time and I know some people don’t want to wait that long, but it is.”
Adam O’Brien’s coaching has come under scrutiny. (Photo by Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
O’Brien spoke to the media again on Tuesday to clarify those comments, admitting he would “like to have” that press conference back.
“I clearly did not articulate the message I was going to get across and I apologize for that,” he said.
“It looks like I’m an egomaniac. I was trying to get my message across to the supporter who sits on the hill that must be wondering do they practice defense and tackle technique? Are they fit, tough?
“I was trying to talk to them that the boys are training at a really high standard. I’ve tried to give hope to people on the hill that we are training at a high level – that’s not translating to the field and that responsibility is squarely on me.
“I’m not taking the accolades of the success at those clubs, that is Craig (Bellamy’s) and Trent (Robinson’s) work. I’m trying to create that here. We are on the path but we aren’t there yet.”
