The Sporting Hack

Welcome to That Friday Feeling folks, it’s that time of the week where we delve in to the world of sport and combine a glance at the week just gone with a stare of anticipation at the week ahead. Get involved as always on Twitter and, crucially, enjoy. Becks' Appeal 'off-pitch' The decision by David Beckham to retire from football at the end of this season is one that will cause few ripples on English shores. Ever since ‘Golden Balls’ swapped Manchester for Madrid – or even more so Madrid for Los Angeles – he has had little impact on the footballing conscience of Britain. Beckham’s career will be remembered by two distinct phases – ‘The Manchester United years’ and ‘adventures abroad’ – largely due to the fact he performed better, seemingly, in the former rather than the latter. Never blessed with outstanding pace, Becks showed that with unerring accuracy players could still be an asset in the modern game. All the while, however, ‘Brand Beckham’ was developing a...

South Sydney Rabbitohs 28-10 North Queensland Cowboys NRL Round 9 ANZ Stadium Attendance: 15,972 England head coach Steve McNamara recently went on record as saying that his side “could not be in better shape” ahead of hosting this year’s world cup, which kicks off in October. How many exiles he picks for his squad remains to be seen, but South Sydney Rabbitohs youngster George Burgess (right) can’t be doing much more right now and should make early morning viewings of the NRL easy for McNamara. The uncapped 20 year old, often just referred to as ‘Sam’s younger brother’, is rapidly making a name for himself down under and he did his reputation no harm when coming off the bench in Friday night's defeat of North Queensland Cowboys. It wasn’t until the introduction of the giant prop forward on twenty minutes that this game came to life.  Though Antonio Winterstein had gone over on eleven minutes for the visitors, there was little between the two sides in a ni...

Welcome to this week's edition of TFF. A few technical difficulties lately, have lead to our absence, but we're back, bigger than ever and here to stay, so stick with us and enjoy! You're hired! The master and the apprentice The big news of the week, of course, centres on the retirement of Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson. Tributes and endorsements from all over the footballing world have poured in for the Scot who, aged 71, has called time on his 27 year stint at Old Trafford. His legendary status as the greatest manager in the history of the game will overshadow the rest of the Premier League season – which his team won for the 13 th time in his tenure – and, perhaps, the efforts of the next incumbent, David Moyes. The Red Devil’s loss could be football’s gain. Though Moyes is one of the best British managers around, he has yet to win a major trophy and possesses scant experience of European football which brings the responsibility of utilising ...

Sydney Roosters 30-6 Penrith Panthers NRL Round 8 Allianz Stadium Attendance: 11,176 The boot of James Maloney (left) ensured that the Australian Children’s Charities with which his Sydney Roosters side and sponsors Streggles are associated reached the $1M mark.  The initiative, which has been in operation for over three years, sees players and sponsors donate $250 and $1000 respectively for every point that the side win by. The Children’s Cancer Institute Australia, Lifestart, Children’s Health Foundation Queensland and The Royal Institute for Deaf and Blind Children have, and will continue – on today’s impressive showing - to benefit from the best efforts of Trent Robinson’s outfit, who sit third in the league. The bruising Kiwi forward pair of Jared Waerea-Hargreaves and Sonny Bill Williams laid the foundations for the 24-point win with a less than charitable approach to their opposition. Without touching the ball, the Panthers were 6-0 down after four ...

Melbourne Storm 20-24 Canberra Raiders NRL Round 8 AAMI Park Attendance: 15464 A moment of magic from Reece Robinson (right) sent league leaders Melbourne Storm crashing to a surprise defeat at the hands of Canberra, for the third successive year at AAMI Park, in the season’s biggest upset so far. The full back’s 53 rd minute try proved to be the difference between the teams as he shuffled and shimmied his way through the narrowest of gaps from 60 metres out to round opposite number Billy Slater and cap a memorable evening as the hosts were beaten at their own game by the fearless visitors. The defending champions were lacklustre throughout and, after a scare versus bottom side New Zealand Warriors on Anzac Weekend, were subsequently punished by the less-forgiving Raiders. The hosts, who now have South Sydney Rabbitohs breathing down their necks, were notably below par upfront and in their decision making.  It is perhaps excusable for Craig Bellamy’s s...