In the dressing room with three captains

The Chappell brothers and Tim Paine lead a tour of the SCG dressing room

Sporting social event of the week was clearly the annual fundraising dinner at the SCG for the Chappell Foundation, which raises cash to provide a helping hand to homeless young people.

All three Chappell brothers — Ian, Greg and Trevor — were there for the event on Wednesday night, which starts with drinks out on the hallowed turf.

Highlight of the night was a tour of the SCG dressing room with three Australian captains — two Chappells and incumbent Tim Paine — who all told a few tales, most of them true, about what might have gone on in there back in the day. Apparently the punters were eating out of their hands.

The captains were joined by a solid turnout from the Australian sporting community.

After main course was dealt with, Paine was grilled at length by award-winning journalist Tracey Holmes and revealed he’d be perfectly happy for Steve Smith to return to the top job when he steps down.

Paine’s strike bowler Josh Hazlewood — who isn’t detained in the Maldives like some of his mates — was on the top table.

Cricket Australia chairman Earl Eddings hosted a table, sitting not far from Australian Cricketers Association chair Greg Dyer and CEO Todd Greenberg.

Former NRL and soccer boss David Gallop made an appearance as did former prime minister John Howard and former Wallabies coach Michael Cheika. SCG Trust supremo Tony Shepherd was also present along with Fox Sports boss Steve Crawley.

Former Test bowler and Fox Cricket commentator Brendan Julian was spotted chatting to former Socceroos goalkeeper Mark Bosnich.

It was a terrific night which benefited a great cause — Chappell Foundation chairman, the incomparable Darshak Mehta, reports more than $300,000 was raised to help fund programs that get homeless young people off the streets.

The Australian’s cricket guru Pete Lalor is on the Chappell Foundation board and oversaw another excellent dinner.

Demons fight omens

There’s a fair bit riding on Melbourne Demons winning the AFL flag this year — perhaps more than you might think.

According to our friends at Useless AFL Stats, Melbourne is the 31st team since 1897 to start a season with an 8-0 record.

Eleven of those teams have gone on to win a flag. But what might disturb the Demons is that among the 19 teams that started with an 8-0 bang and then didn’t go all the way, Melbourne leads all comers. They have done it three times — in 1928, 1937 and 1965.

St Kilda is among the teams who have managed to win at least their first eight games and then not taken the flag a couple of times (2004 and 2009) — Geelong (1953, 2008), West Coast (1991, 2005), Sydney (1932, 1936) and North Melbourne (1978, 2016) have also done it twice.

But the Saints hold the record for the longest opening undefeated streak by a team that didn’t win the premiership. The Saints side won its first 19 games and then bombed out in the grand final, going down to Geelong in a 12-point thriller.

Now there’s a record Melbourne could break — win its first 20 games and then lose the grand final. Perish the thought.

Pitfalls of a sweet deal

Sponsorship deals don’t normally attract too much attention from AWAAT, but Rugby Australia’s new deal with Cadbury presents some tantalising possibilities — and the opportunity for a host of bad jokes.

Just imagine the moments before the next Bledisloe Test. On one side, 22 fearsome All Blacks performing the haka, on the other a team of chocolate soldiers with a glass and a half of full cream milk on their jerseys. It hardly sounds like a fair fight.

Rugby Australia reckons it’s a sweet deal — sorry, couldn’t resist — but let’s hope there aren’t too many soft-centres in the Wallabies’ favourites box … or that they melt in the heat of battle.

Like I said, lots of bad jokes. And then there’s the fact that Cadbury makes Flake?

Real Olympians only

Aussie golfer Adam Scott isn’t going to the Tokyo Olympics. Neither is world No 1 Dustin Johnson. Meanwhile, Rafael Nadal has adopted a wait-and-see approach, but doesn’t sound as if he is likely to go.

“We need to be flexible,” the Spanish world No 3 says. “We need to adapt to the things that are happening.” And already Japanese tennis players Kei Nishikori and Naomi Osaka have raised doubts about whether the Games should go ahead at all.

Have you spotted the pattern that is starting to emerge here?

I haven’t noticed a lot of swimmers or track and field athletes announcing that the COVID-19 situation has put them off going to Tokyo. Or wrestlers or table tennis players or fencers.

It’s only in sports where the Olympics is not the pinnacle that athletes are thinking twice, because it just doesn’t mean that much to them.

All of which illustrates why golf and tennis should not be Olympic sports.

Can you imagine Johnson deciding that playing the US Masters was a bit too risky? And I’m pretty sure Nadal will be in Paris for the French Open at the end of the month.

Winning such events means a great deal more to them than winning an Olympic gold medal.

The Olympics is the sporting zenith, where the world’s best compete for the greatest honours available to them. In athletics, and swimming, and hockey and handball and a dozen other sports there is nothing more important than an Olympic gold medal. These are the sports that deserve their place in the Games.

@walmason
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