48 hours: First the boot, then the soccer

It's time to say hello to football's World Cup, after a weekend of goodbyes to:

Craig Mcmillan

Black Caps manager Lindsay Crocker is saying all the right things but honestly, has McMillan really got another comeback in him?

Surely the bottom line with McMillan is this - his batting technique just doesn't stand up, over the long haul, to the blowtorch of international bowling attacks. He's given us flashes of terrific entertainment, but the show is going to go on without him.

Even by New Zealand's erratic standards, McMillan is too hit and miss, miss, miss.

It's time to invest elsewhere. Which is what New Zealand Cricket has done with its latest list of contracted players.

Chris Harris

The veteran cricketer also missed out on a contract and it seems time is up for one of our favourite sporting sons, a batting and battling all-rounder.

Harris the fielder will always have a particularly fond place in the memory. New Zealand has produced terrific outfielders - Mark Burgess and co set high standards from the 1970s on.

But Harris set the standards even higher - a fielding freak. As for his bowling ... dribbly things that the finest of batsmen struggled to hit on a Harris good day and a slow pitch. What endeared Harris to the fans was his willingness to give it his all.

A player with a common and uncommon touch.

The Waratahs (again)

To steal a line from Morgan Turinui, you've got to laugh at them sometimes. The Waratahs, that is.

Turinui may have had a light-hearted dig at the light-pigmented New Zealand Maori team. But his claim that they were an "invitational" team resulted in a staunch RSVP from the visitors. The Maori turned up all right, and did the business.

And Wallaby discards like Turinui did their futures little good in rotten Sydney conditions on Friday night.

Even if Turinui had a point, he could hardly point the finger. Because what the heck were those Waratahs anyway? Mumm, Hand, Mann-Rea. Not exactly household names, even in the most ardent rugby homes. And then it emerges the Wallaby selectors are pulling the strings, determining where Al Baxter will scrum.

So was that a real Waratahs team? Yes, of course it was. Because when push comes to shove, they always bomb out.

Logic

St George-Illawarra and Parramatta played out one of the strangest league games in history, won by St George 8-1.

As for the three Aussie punters who actually picked the score - stark raving mad, or else their TABs must be very close to a watering hole.

The Warriors' chances

It's all over now, for sure, after the Broncos won at Mt Smart. It's been a tough opening for the new Warriors CEO and coaches. The Warriors really didn't stand a chance of making the playoffs anyway, with the squad at their disposal and the four-point penalty. Still, it was a decent game of footy on a wet weekend, with little else in the way of football around town to whet the appetite.

Question: How does Steve Price keep pulling off those charge-downs, his sixth of the season setting up a Ruben Wiki try.

Price had turned his back and still got a block in. How a prop has managed to become the undisputed charge-down king of the NRL is a major mystery.

Crucial moment: Jerome Ropati's first-half spill on the first tackle which let the Broncos canter in for a try. Ropati has plenty of ability, but remains bungle-prone.

High

The Diamonds upsetting the Magic in a netball showdown. A rare sporting success for Auckland this year, and a rare defeat for Irene van Dyk.

Low

None to speak of ... although for the touring Irish team's information, it's hardly a good omen turning up to your first training dressed like the Warriors.