Cowboys in Salary Cap Scandal (Averted)

UPDATE: The NRL has released a statement regarding investigations into reports that the North Queensland Cowboys bought land and built houses for 10 of its players over the last 10 years. 

This means that for now the NRL had avoided its largest salary cap scandal since the Melbourne Storm debacle in 2010 which saw the club lose its 3 Minor Premiership titles won in 2006, 2007 and 2008 and its Premiership titles in 2007 and 2009, as well as given the automatic wooden spoon in 2010.

Earlier, a tweet revealed the following text and triggered a fury of attention and intrigue. 

Fairfax subsequently released a report on its website about investigations into the connections between properties owned by the Cowboys CEO and players, and whether the salary cap had been breached as a result of the homes of the likes of Johnathan Thurston, James Tamou, etc. being deliberately excluded as part of player remuneration. 

Matthew Bowen and Luke O'Donnell are of course no longer with the Cowboys with Bowen now at Wigan and O'Donnell retiring at the end of the 2013 season after winning the Grand Final with the Sydney Roosters. 

All Blacks Rugby World Cup Squad - 2 Months Out?

The last 8 days have left All Blacks fans in a bit of a quandry - a good one nevertheless as many questions about the potential Rugby World Cup squad might have been answered after the performances on display in Wellington, Apia and even Suva.

We probably have an idea of what the final Rugby World Cup squad will look like - at 31, it will definitely be much abbreviated from the massive 41 plus Brad Weber, George Moala, etc. All Blacks squad. Nevertheless, one's place in the All Blacks is never guaranteed unless you're Richie McCaw or Dan Carter, and the form of several Highlanders and Hurricanes has asked more questions of some of the security of the so-called incumbents.

Questions in the outside backs remain - Ben Smith and Julian Savea are the only two guarantees for the World Cup on form and experience, and Israel Dagg is pretty close to joining them but Nehe Milner-Skudder and Waisake Naholo's form have definitely warranted serious consideration of them for this World Cup campaign. And there's still Charles Piutau even if he is now considered a pariah of New Zealand rugby due to his impending departure to Ulster in his early 20s.

Steve Hansen and co have spent the last few seasons building depth and if their record is anything to go by, there will be some heartbreak stories and surprises to come.

But here's my World Cup squad 2 months out from the tournament - barring injuries of course.

Hookers - Keven Mealamu, Dane Coles, Hika Elliot
Props - Tony Woodcock, Wyatt Crockett, Ben Franks, Owen Franks
Locks - Brodie Retallick, Sam Whitelock, Jeremy Thrush, James Broadhurst
Loose Forwards - Jerome Kaino, Richie McCaw, Kieran Read, Liam Messam, Sam Cane, Victor Vito
Halfbacks - Aaron Smith, TJ Perenara, Andy Ellis
First Fives - Dan Carter, Beauden Barrett, Colin Slade
Centres - Ma'a Nonu, Conrad Smith, Sonny Bill Williams, Malakai Fekitoa
Outside Backs - Ben Smith, Julian Savea, Waisake Naholo, Israel Dagg

Highlanders are 2015 Super Rugby Champions!

New Zealand once again clearly showed that it pretty much owns the game of rugby.

Super Rugby Finals featuring New Zealand sides have often been memorable epic encounters but the Final of 4 July 2015 must surely go down as the best Super Rugby Final in history.

While the Hurricanes v Highlanders game didn’t quite turn into the try-fest that many tipped based on both sides’ form, it was still highly energetic, brutal and courageous at times. Both sides didn’t deserve to lose but unfortunately, it was the home side, the Hurricanes who would be at the wrong end of the biggest upset in any Final.

The Hurricanes had billed this game as their long awaited arrival as champions and the perfect send-off for their stalwarts, Ma’a Nonu and Conrad Smith. Their record in Wellington in 2015 had been incredible – losing only once, scoring plenty of tries in the other games.

The Highlanders had had to travel from South Africa, then Invercargill, Napier, Auckland, Dunedin, Sydney and Wellington in the last two months so were a well travelled side – the Hurricanes had gotten their South Africa tour done at the start of the season and bar a trip to Brisbane, had been based in New Zealand since March.

Alas, having followed the Highlanders for 12 years as my team since emigrating to New Zealand – Dunedin was my first port of call, hence is my New Zealand hometown – I always knew that the Highlanders played their best footie when they were the underdogs. The Final this weekend, and the Semifinal last weekend in Sydney – and that Final back in 1999 - exemplified that perfectly.

The Highlanders are a much better team than people make them out to be – they do have that much heralded All Black laden backline and not long ago, Liam Coltman was being hailed as a potential All Black hooker. After his man-of-the-match performance, Elliot Dixon might still very well be in All Blacks contention this season – his utility could be handy in a compressed Rugby World Cup side particularly with Steven Luatua out for the season.

The fact is, the Highlanders are a start team with a star coach who has sucked the best out of all his players this season – and has done for the last 4 years since moving down from Wellington. Steve Hansen and the All Blacks need to thank Jamie Joseph for developing Aaron Smith, Ben Smith, Malakai Fekitoa and Waisake Naholo from unknowns into stars – and they probably do.

For so long, Dunedin had been slowly declining from its heyday as New Zealand’s richest city into a quiet backwater city in the South Island – the likes of Hamilton, Tauranga, Napier/Hastings and Palmerston North had overtaken it in the population rankings as more jobs and warmer weather drew more people to those places.

Dunedin’s university and place in the South Island kept its relevance going but a recent revival led by the construction of the new covered stadium, the revival of the long forgotten Vogel Street precinct, and the winning of Gigatown, has meant Dunedin is starting to come into the national attention – this win in the rugby will earn this great Southern city even more attention and there is no other team that fits the heritage, character and heart of Dunedin than this year’s Highlanders.

Written off, too small, limited. Now Super Rugby champions.

After 12 forgettable seasons, witnessing history in Wellington will be a sweet moment that will never be forgotten.

Go the Highlanders!

It was business as usual for Europe's big leagues in the post World Cup season.

Europe's current juggernauts, Chelsea, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Juventus and Paris St Germain were all crowned champion in pretty straightforward style and none of them needed the final round of games to decide their fate - indeed, this season was devoid of the thrilling finale that the Premier League and La Liga had the season before.

Thankfully, there's more to football than just watching the champions - otherwise, following the likes of Bayern Munich and Juventus dominate their leagues over the last few seasons would induce instant boredom.

Indeed, this season witnessed plenty of revivals of former champions.

PSV Eindhoven won their first Dutch league title in several years, breaking the recent domination of Ajax Amsterdam. 10 years ago, PSV were minutes away from meeting Liverpool in the Champions League Final, only for AC Milan to score a late away goal to go through. However, with Dutch football much further behind the rest of Europe - and star striker, Memphis Depay heading to Manchester United - it will be difficult to see PSV be competitive against the giants of Europe.

Around the same time, Lyon were in the middle of their dominance of French football that not even PSG can boast about for all their wealth. After 7 titles in a row, Lyon's decline began and 2nd behind eventual champions, Marseille in 2009-10 would be their best result over the next 6 seasons. This season saw a OL revival which only faded right at the end of the season and cost them the Ligue 1 title to billionaires, Paris St Germain.

Another former champion, Valencia, made the most of their new found wealth from Singapore and returned to the Champions League with an exciting young lineup led by young Spanish striker, Paco Alcacer. They were easily the 4th best team in Spain behind Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid, a side that they will hope to emulate next season and return to pushing the big city clubs like they did in the last decade.

However, the biggest revival story of this season was the return of Italian football as a respectable force in Europe.

In recent times, Italy's once numero uno Serie A has followed the country's economy into recession, with the likes of Internazionale and AC Milan hitting hard times - both clubs failed to make it into Europe, languishing in midtable. Juventus romped away with the Scudetto in their wake but the Old Lady of Turin struggled to make an impact on Europe until this season, as a determined effort saw them overcome last season's European champions, Real Madrid to book a place in the Final.

A pity that Napoli and Fiorentina both succumbed in the semifinal stages of the Europa League to Sevilla and Dnipro as it would have completed a fine return of form for Italian football - and along with Juve's appearance in Berlin, help boost Italian football's UEFA rankings and gain back another spot in the Champions League.

Italy's Serie A is still a long way from matching the Premier League and Bundesliga for offering a family friendly product as crowd violence and hooliganism in dilapidated stadia continue to be a problem, but the signs are that Serie A's revival is not far away with the likes of AC Milan, Roma, Verona, Lazio, etc. all planning new stadia to be built in the next 5 years.

The season also had its fair share of Cinderellas - most of them failed to meet their prince and missing shoe.

Basque club, Eibar and Northern Rhine club, Paderborn played their first seasons in the top flight and started brightly, only to fade away as fatigue and inexperience took their toll and both were sent back to the 2nd division.

On the other hand, last season's cinderellas, Italy's Sassuolo strengthened as they punched well above their weight and small base to easily secure their status in Serie A and continue to upset the likes of Milan.

However, the Cinderella story of the year in Europe was the rise of the Buffaloes of KAA Ghent to become Belgian champions for the first time in 115 years. Belgian football had always been about big stars playing in the big leagues and the domestic league had been dominated by the likes of Anderlecht from Brussels, Standard Liege from Liege and Club Brugge from Bruges, with pretty little Ghent in the background.

With every revival and Cinderella story, there were stories of decline - some tragic, some dramatic.

Parma's decline from respectable European contenders in Italy to relegation fodder was galling as the club from Emilia-Romagna lurched from financial crisis to another, only just paying its players thanks to donations from other clubs. The future of the former UEFA Cup winners is bleak with questions remaining about their financial viability. They could face a demotion not dissimilar to Fiorentina's at the start of the century.

In Germany, two former champions nearly lurched into disaster that is relegation from the Bundesliga. Stuttgart's late season revival which resulted in survival was remarkable in itself, having spent much of the season at the foot of the Bundesliga, while Hamburger SV once again disappointed and have to play Karlsruher SC to maintain their proud record of never having been relegated from the top flight.

The best players outside the Premier League and the likes of Barca, Real Madrid, PSG, Juventus and Bayern continued to press their cases for future stardom. Lyon's Nabil Fekir is subject to bids from Arsenal while Bayer Leverkusen's Korean star, Son is wanted by Liverpool who are still reeling after letting former target, Memphis Depay head to Manchester United.

Finally, it's time to say adieu, auf wiedersehen and adios. On the same day, Xavi said goodbye to the Camp Nou, Jurgen Klopp, Borussia Dortmund's fine and rugged trainer said goodbye after a tremendous last 7 seasons with the yellow and black giants, to pursue a future of being linked with the likes of Man City, Real Madrid and Liverpool.

Klopp is an absolute genius bringing out the best in youth, epitomising the recent German football revolution. He made Dortmund champions in two seasons and got them to a Champions League final where they only just lost to their rivals, Bayern Munich. He won't be out of a job soon.

So, Europe's football pitches take a break over the summer and the footballers take a well-deserved month break - for those who played in last year's World Cup and went straight back to pre-season training in July, it couldn't come soon enough.

The question remains, will anyone break the juggernaut of Bayern Munich, PSG, Juventus, Real Madrid and Barcelona? Even if they can't, at least they're still thrilling to watch.

Adios et Mucho Mucho Gracias Xavi!

Spain's La Liga came to a dramatic close on Saturday afternoon as 4 sides came into the final round with their future in the top flight still in the balance. Granada, Eibar, Almeria and former champions, Deportivo la Coruna were all in danger of relegation going into round 38, with only 2 spots left in the top flight.

In the end, Almeria and brave Eibar, who had only been promoted to the top flight for the first time in their history the season before would be the ones relegated as Granada and Deportivo secured draws against top dogs Atletico Madrid and champions Barcelona on the final day.

Indeed, Deportivo's draw with Barcelona at the Camp Nou was the most dramatic as they came from 2-0 down with 25 minutes to go to snatch a 2-2 draw - and send Eibar who were beating already relegated Cordoba 3-0 at the time back into the 2nd division after only one season.

It was a reminder that there is more to football than some overpaid league in England - how many Spanish clubs are in European cup finals this season? How about English clubs?

While the Gallician club's heroics were eye-catching, the main focus at the Camp Nou was saying farewell to long-time stalwart, Xavi.

The footballing career of Xavier "Xavi" Hernandez Creus is nowadays a rare one - a player who came through the ranks of his boyhood club and would stay there for all but for a few last years of his career.

Yes, between 1998 and 2015, Barcelona has seen plenty of stars come through the ranks, e.g. Rivaldo, the Dutch boys, Ronaldinho, Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez, but Xavi was always the Catalan heart of this superstar team along with his fellow compatriots, Carles Puyol, Andres Iniesta, Gerard Pique and Victor Valdes.

He was the grand heart of the midfield with a fabulous dribbling and passing game along with tremendous energy even in his later years. Steven Gerrard, Andrea Pirlo, Frank Lampard and Wesley Sneijder might have been more "famous" than Xavi who was very understated and a true team man. But I've always tended to pick Xavi in my World XIs particularly when La Rojas had their smashing run at the Euros and World Cup between 2008 and 2012.

I guess La Rojas' troubled World Cup campaign in Brazil last year coincided with the beginning of Xavi's decline - a sign of how influential and instrumental he was to Spain's most successful run in international football.

Indeed, Xavi's fall from grace continued this season with his game time for Barca limited, whether he was a substitute or starter. However, he still provided plenty of experience and presence in the dressing room and provided the perfect foil for his heir, Ivan Rakitic to bed into life at the Camp Nou.

Xavi does have two big games with Barcelona coming up with silverware at stake; the Copa del Rey Final next week at the Camp Nou - this game was always going to be the farewell game given that the Camp Nou will be considered a neutral ground and that a trophy is at stake - and then the Champions League Final in Berlin the week after.

Nevertheless, if there is one player who deserves an elongated farewell, Xavier "Xavi" Hernandez will be that player. Outside of Catalonia, Xavi's achievements and exploits will be better remembered in retirement and in football's new pastures of Qatar.

But for me, Xavi was the model footballer and in this day of age of prima donnas and overpaid actors, Xavi was a good reminder of what we love about the game.