For the greater good

I didn’t exactly barrack for the opposition, but I wasn’t disappointed when the underdogs won either.

I wrote a recent column about how totally awesome women’s sport is currently. Of special note is tennis and cricket, where our ladies are absolutely ruling the world. Not only are they at the top of the world rankings, but also tops when it comes to humility, pride, inclusiveness, an appreciation of their position and the responsibility that goes with it. Shout out to our world number one tennis player Ash Barty. What a champion, and I don’t just mean because she’s winning. Sure, she just won the season ending tournament in China, and 6 million bucks to boot. But rather than it being ‘all about her’, the first thing out of her mouth was to thank and praise her opponent. She told the adoring crowd how thrilled she was to have been playing her opponent, and how much she respected her. She congratulated the other lady on her achievements and said how much she was looking forward to playing her in the future. What a legend. She’s only 23 and she’s really got it going on. Now, in a real turn up for the books, she’s the one to catch. If she continues her giant killing ways and stays at number one for a year or so, will the media and the public start to shoot down the tall poppy as so often happens in our country? Let’s hope not.

Jump to our world beating women’s cricketers. Not only are they the best in the world (by a country mile), but the sheer excitement and happiness they show when they’re being interviewed is an absolute joy, it’s worth tuning in just for that. After the matches they hanging around with fans, grabbing the microphone and interviewing each other (often chatting to opposition players) and showing their genuine appreciation for the privileged position they’re in. You all know we have a lovely young lady from Orange in the big leagues – Phoebe has demonstrated her cricketing brilliance and sublime touch, breaking a few records already. But more importantly, she’s hanging around with the right kind of people. She’s very grounded, and certainly not going to get a big head, and she has shown herself to be adept and most humble in front of the camera too.

I’m sure you all saw the Kangaroos rugby league team last week. They were playing Tonga. The ‘Roos have never lost to them. Ever. Walk in the park. Training run. Bigger fish to fry. Yep, we all know what happened then. The passion that had been building amongst the players from the island nation, many of whom play in our NRL comp, simply boiled over. From the time they took the lead in the second half, they were never going to be headed. They held on for one of the greatest against the odds victories of modern times. Now, I’m as true blue as the next person, but a part of me was a little thrilled to see the Tongans get up. They lurch from one scandal to the next in that sport, safe in the knowledge that we’re the best in the world and the folks will always tune in. A few more losses and they simply won’t tune in. Fickle like that, we are. I hope the ‘enquiry’ into the loss goes a lot deeper and wider than just the 80 minutes of the Tonga game. I hope it looks into toning down the boozing, the Mad Monday’s, the ridiculous breaking of contracts and the associated demands, the domestic violence cases, the silly late-night episodes. Lookout League, maybe we’ll all just start tuning in to those who don’t take their place in elite sport for granted.