Cowboys’ title hopes up in the Ayr
THERE are still plenty of creases to iron out, but skipper Michael Morgan believes the Cowboys’ pre-season hit out in Ayr will provide an ideal launch pad into the NRL season.
After a disrupted 2020 campaign due to a shoulder injury, the Queensland utility is feeling fresh again and is ready to fire in Round 1 after Saturday’s scrimmage with Townsville Blackhawks.
Morgan said the trial was “as close to a game as you can get”, but while he was comfortable with the team’s direction, some key areas still needed addressing.
“We’ve still got a bit of work to do. I thought simple errors are still hurting us a bit,” Morgan said.
“But I think the way we want to play is changing, so the more we can do sessions like this the better it is for us to prepare.
“The shoulder’s feeling good, body’s feeling good – touch wood
– so looking forward into games again.”
Cowboys coach Todd Payten had his first chance to see how his side was tracking.
Payten, said basic errors in the Townsville heat were affecting decision-making and ball-handling.
“Physically they can get through the session, it’s the decisions they make in those conditions that probably opened my eyes up again to how difficult it is to handle what we have up here.” to getting
BRISBANE Roar have lost their goalscoring mojo after being kept scoreless for the second match in a row in Sunday’s 0-0 draw with the Newcastle Jets at Dolphin Stadium.
Having scored 13 times in a fourmatch winning streak that at one stage had them on top of the A-League ladder, the Roar’s goals have suddenly dried up.
Beaten 2-0 at home last Tuesday night by Macarthur FC, Brisbane again lacked penetration, and a knockout blow, against the resilient Jets.
The Roar have dropped to third on the table, five points behind leaders Central Coast and one point adrift of second-placed Macarthur.
In their first game since the
permanent appointment of Craig Deans as coach, the seventh-placed Jets moved to eight points from eight matches.
The Roar thought they had taken the lead in the 37th minute through Riku Danzaki, who headed the ball into the net from close range.
However assistant referee Ashley Beecham ruled the ball had floated out of play in the build-up before Brisbane striker Scott McDonald was able direct it into the path of the Japanese midfielder.
There was further frustration for Danzaki in the 59th minute when he again had the ball in the net only to be correctly ruled offside.
“If we want to be where we want to be, we’ve got to take our chances and score goals,” frustrated Roar skipper
Tom Aldred told Fox Sports.
Two of the competition’s most exciting players – the Roar’s Dylan Wenzel-Halls and Newcastle’s Valentino Yuel – went head-to-head.
Before the match the pair had scored nine goals between them – Wenzel-Halls five and Yuel four – and both spurned chances in the first half.
Wenzel-Halls forced a good save out of Jets goalkeeper Jack Duncan in the 39th minute, although the referee incorrectly awarded Newcastle a goalkick rather than the Roar a corner
It was Yuel’s turn three minutes later to show his worth with a fierce longdistance strike that had Roar goalkeeper Jamie Young beaten before smashing into the post and the young winger was a menace for the Roar defence all game.
TEN days after being beaten in a super tie-breaker during the Yarra Valley Classic, unseeded American Shelby Rogers says she is primed for another crack at world No.1 Ash Barty.
The pair will meet in the Australian Open fourth round today, after Rogers said Barty “kicked my butt a bit” with a 7-5, 2-6 (10-4) win in the quarter-final of the lead-up event.
That was just the second time Barty and Rogers had faced off.
They had also met in the 2017 Australian Open. Barty won the second-round match on that occasion, 7-5, 6-1.
“I’m excited to get another shot,” Rogers said. “Unfortunately again, the fans won’t be there. But maybe that’s in my favour this time. The Barty Party won’t be present.
“I’m excited again to play the best players in the world. That’s what we all strive to do every day and you’ve got to beat the best to be the best.”
Rogers, the world No.57, overcame 21st seed Anett Kontaveit in straight sets on Saturday to progress to the fourth round of a grand slam for just the third time. However, playing a fit and in-form Barty in her home event shapes as arguably the biggest challenge in women’s tennis.
The Australian cruised through her own third-round match against 29th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-2, 6-4 on Saturday and again played down a lingering leg injury which resulted in her being withdrawn from the doubles competition.
Barty completed some practice at Melbourne Park on Sunday without strapping on her sore left leg, revealing some bruising.
“We are doing all the right things to make it as good as possible,” Barty said of the injury on Saturday night.
“It won’t affect me at all. I’ll be ready to go no matter what.”
Barty said the lack of a supportive home crowd “doesn’t change” how she goes about her game on court and she was preparing for an “exceptionally tough” match against Rogers.
“She’s got the ability to take the game away from you,” Barty said. “That’s something I’m going to have to try and nullify and neutralise as best I can.
“At times it will be me scrapping and fighting.
“Other times I will be trying to take the more aggressive option.
“Other times, sometimes you have to almost dangle a carrot in a way where you tempt her to try and take some risks.”