Shane van Gisbergen sends off Pukekohe in style, Blackcaps struggle with the bat and things don't get much better in the sevens - Cheree Kinnear gives the highs and lows of the weekend's sport all in 90 seconds. Video / Sky Sport / Spark Sport
OPINION:
LOSER: Auckland…as it farewells Pukekohe motor racing
The circumstances are different to other cases, but losing Pukekohe as a motor racing venue feels like yet another stadium stuff up in the Auckland region.
The Supercars series over the weekend represented the big-time motor racing farewell for the circuit.
Horseracing owns the land, so they've got every right to turn it into an anonymous training facility.
The stadium situation is an absolute mess in this city, writes Chris Rattue. Photo / Photosport
But heck, horse racing is a non-event in national life these days. In terms of profile, it has collapsed compared to long-ago days when it was a sport of household names.
I remember returning to New Zealand in the mid 1980s to find that 'someone' called Bonecrusher was a national hero. People talked about the horse as if it was a person.
Those of a certain vintage were brought up around hugely famous racing names such as Phar Lap, Sunline, Grey Way, Graeme Rogerson, Cardigan Bay, Noodlum, Reg Clapp, Linda Jones, a couple of Skeltons, David Peake, Patrick Hogan, Sir Tristram, the Best Bets…and on and on and on.
Even if you didn't like a punt, racing could get the heart racing.
This was once the land of rugby, racing and beer, but racing is small beer these days.
Yet Supercars was about the last cool thing standing in Auckland sport. Look at the Pukekohe crowds.
The stadium situation is an absolute mess in this city.
Spark Arena is the only modern venue up to the job, and classy outdoor venues are tragically lacking. Auckland local bodies have been caught way out of their depth or simply lacked the desperation to deal with the problem, instead writing endless reports full of mad musical-chairs proposals that got nowhere.
Go on - name an arena that attracts and enhances outstanding sport.
Yet Pukekohe had history, charm, and could still come up with the motor racing goods. It was still part of our DNA.
Alas, no more.
WINNER: Shane van Gisbergen
Shane van Gisbergen celebrates winning the Auckland SuperSprint. Photo / Photosport
At least the Kiwi Supercars ace provided Pukekohe with a fitting farewell, winning two races over the weekend. He's sure to overtake Scott McLaughlin's record of 18 wins in a season.
He's had some rough times, through being unable to live up to Kiwi America's Cup glories past. But Barker has always come across with a lot of dignity and class.
Hearing how he very quietly battled bowel cancer treatment in the lead-up to the 2021 regatta will endear him to more people I think.
And there is a message for all.
A specialist told me a few years ago of his frustration around a lack of comprehensive bowel cancer screening compared to many other countries, because the issue is so quick to find and deal with. So many lives could be saved and improved.
Screening for over 60s is now being pushed. From my own experience, I would say it is something worthy of investigating further for many people.
Or to put it another way, don't be complacent.
WINNER/LOSER: New Zealand rugby
Making the World Cup sevens finals was a good effort from the men's and women's teams. Losing them to Fiji and Australia reinforced the impression that New Zealand rugby has lost its mojo.
WINNER: Kendra Cocksedge
Kendra Cocksedge of Canterbury celebrates winning the Farah Palmer Cup final. Photo / Photosport
As the World Cup approaches, the question facing the women's game is whether there are sufficient new stars rising in the 15s and sevens games.
WINNER: Kiwi IndyCar power
Scott Dixon couldn't grab a seventh series title to equal the AJ Foyt record. But it was a proud moment for Kiwi motorsport, as Dixon and compatriot Scott McLaughlin finished in the top four for the season.
McLaughlin has exceeded expectations and will be a real contender in his third season next year, although brilliant performances from Alex Palou and Josef Newgarden in the final 2022 race in California highlighted the quality of the IndyCar field.
As for Dixon - what an absolute legend.
LOSERS: Kiwi cricketers in Australia
Kane Williamson's mob were swept by Australia in the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy in Cairns.
We might snigger at the Australian rugby side these days, but our cricket record against Australia is far worse.
This is a voodoo issue for sure.
As the former Kiwi cricketer Andre Adams said, it's about their mindset, not skillset.
Kane Williamson walks from the field after getting run out. Photo / Photosport
LOSER: The EPL
As an ardent anti-royalist, it was sad to find the English Premier League matches had been postponed, to honour the late Queen Elizabeth II.
She was a good old stick, and one heck of a worker. You'd have trouble finding anyone with a bad word to say about her, mainly because she stayed neutral and aloof.
But she represented a system of entitlement, privilege and far-flung exploitation that deserves far greater scrutiny than the 'Firm's' pop star status seems to allow.
Sport, sadly, has played a big part in the incredibly successful re-branding of the royals, particularly the way their new young stars were paraded at the 2012 London Olympics.
Put it this way - there will be no bending of the knee in this column.
LOSER/WINNER: Chess
It's like swiping all the pieces off the board.
Magnus Carlsen, amongst a handful of the greatest players in history, apparently stormed off after losing to 19-year-old upstart Hans Niemann in an $800,000 St Louis tournament.
The inference is that the young American cheated to end the Norwegian's 53-match unbeaten streak.
Niemann admits he has cheated online in the past i.e. he used computer help. And the sport is facing a new type of scrutiny, after many big-money tournaments were forced online during Covid.
One competitor says players would have to play "naked in a locked room" to ensure there was no cheating by use of secret buzzers and the like.
Making it even more suspicious, Niemannn was playing with the black pieces, a disadvantage so great it's like Australia taking on the All Blacks at Eden Park.
The chess world is in an uproar, which is bad for chess, but also great for its profile.
WINNER: Golf's Rory McIlroy
Rory McIlroy in action during the BMW PGA Championship. Photo / AP
Well, he came second in the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.
McIlroy should be delighted though, in his role as the lead defender of the traditional tours against the Saudi Arabia/LIV invaders.
In this war of the golf world meeting in Surrey, McIlroy and his mates filled the top three spots.
WINNER/LOSER: Tom Walsh
Can't bring myself to call Tom Walsh an outright loser. But the Kiwi shot put legend has definitely fallen off the pace, as brilliant Americans Joe Kovacs and Ryan Crouser continued their domination in the Diamond League finals. Walsh sounds frustrated - he's in top shape but has lost his magic touch.
LOSER: Warriors
They are out of the NRL finals but the hits keep coming.
The first weekend of playoffs confirmed Ivan Cleary (Panthers) and Todd Payten (Cowboys) as the top coaches in the game. Both slipped through the Auckland club's unsafe hands.
WINNER/LOSER: NRL
The brutal Rabbitohs-Roosters clash was an epic in the making. Then it lost the plot with too much sin bin and head injury chaos.
WINNERS: Football Ferns
Yes, you read that right.
This is from the thankful-for-small-mercies department though.
For the first time in nearly a decade, New Zealand's women footballers have scored consecutive wins in matches outside of our region, beating Mexico and the Philippines in California.
It's a bit of positive news, as they prepare for next year's World Cup on home soil.
LOSER: Strange but true…Aussie cricketer had an edge
Durham's Nic Maddinson had his bat confiscated after it was found to be oversized.
The spine of Maddinson's bat apparently caught on the bat gauge during a County Championship division two game.
(I didn't even know there was such a thing as a bat gauge.)
