Arnab Bhattacharya's Roar Profile

In the battle of the Kiwi number 6s, it was Nikorima who easily won that battle. Good shift in defence and then set up the Lemuelu try to bring the Phins back. Katoa continues to impress. Next week v Warriors at home is gonna be some game given how the Phins play better at home

Five and a Kick: Herbie goes bananas with blistering try as Dolphins give Eels the slip

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Yes that is true re Mbappe. And tbh, it’s the best thing to happen to Luis Enrique. Mbappe was/is lazy with his off ball work and he can’t track back to help the midfield in key moments. Enrique’s tactics rely on his front three to track back and work hard off the ball. No more superstar culture at the club anymore which has helped them.

'Different beast': Donnarumma magic denies Gunners as PSG storm into Champions League final

Gutted for the players. Gave it their all. Donnarumma was unreal. Raya the same. I sincerely hope Denver Nuggets end up winning the NBA because that’s the only way I see Kroenkes getting his head out of his @**e and spending the cash on 2 attackers. PSG will beat Inter with the quality they have in their front three

Jokes aside, 2 UCL finals in 3 seasons for Inter. They’re a bloody well coached team

Inter Milan 7, Barcelona 6: 'Triumph for the ages' as Italians edge astonishing Champions League semi

Someone dope test Mkhi because this man at 36 years old should not be able to run non stop for 75+ mins in the midfield while he was struggling to breathe after 5 mins when he was playing under Wenger and Emery at North London

What I’ve seen with the Tigers is that despite the huge improvement, the lack of winning culture over the past decade or so sees them struggle to control big leads. And it will happen a few more times this year. But they will learn from these experiences in the future and learn how to handle big leads better, especially for the younger boys who have had to deal with 3 wooden spoons in the last 3 years

NRL Magic Round Talking Points: Forget ninth, Tigers will definitely play finals this year

Haven’t seen the Gunners play so poorly at home in those first 20 mins under Arteta since lockdown. Arteta got it horribly wrong by benching Zinchenko today. The guy is a known midfielder first who is perfect for the 6 role given Partey suspended and Jorginho injured. Got a bit unlucky given Donnarumma was brilliant. But at the same time, could’ve easily been 3-0 PSG had they taken their chances late. I think the Gunners are still within a chance given it’s only 1-0 + Dembele likely to miss the second leg and Partey back in midfield. Merino needs to fire up front

It's no Thomas, no party for Gunners as Dembele and Donnarumma give 'superb' PSG edge in CL semi

Another thing that really helped was improving the grounds. Players in Sachin and Dravid’s generation couldn’t field properly as the grounds were in poor shape. That started changing around the time Kaif and Yuvraj came through the ranks which started a fielding culture in India. Now we see some players such as Ramandeep Singh solely make an IPL XI based off their fielding with his batting being a secondary skill

Australia's stars reduced to mere onlookers at IPL as cricket's new world order takes shape

Legally he can’t even buy a vape yet he was smoking the Gujarat bowlers all over the park

'Incredible innings': 14-year-old prodigy blasts second-fastest IPL ton of all time to announce Royal arrival

The lack of consistency amongst the high shots was the takeaway for me
Curran was lucky not to get sent off for his shot on Haas. That was Suaaliiesque. Tuiponua lifting both his knees and not even getting a bin let alone a send off was surprising. And then we see Montoya binned the next play
Nikorima binned while two crushers and a shoulder charge by Horsburgh ignored. During the comeback guess what happens? Horsburgh plays a part in a Raiders try when he should’ve been in the bin. You want to take a crackdown on high shots? That’s fine. Just be consistent on them instead of some black and white interpretation on the high tackles

NRL Round 8 Talking Points: Keep binning ‘em till they stop hitting ‘em

Seeing Sunrisers lose is my personal happiness after how Kaavya Maaran treated Warner. She’s not fit to own an IPL franchise and should stick to producing movies

Cummins, Head set to make early exit from IPL with Sunrisers going down

Thank god for VAR or else I’d have been fuming at that penalty call. No Partey for the first leg a huge loss, especially if Jorginho isn’t fit. Then again, this team barely got out of second gear when they comfortably beat PSG 2-0. Lot of questions to ponder for RM. Rubbish across two legs. I was more nervous for Socceroos v Syria Asian Cup than I was for this game

'Very proud': Arsenal make 16-year CL history to end Real Madrid's title defence, Bayern star takes out ballkid

Richardson won’t release him unless there’s a monetary compensation or they get an outside back in a swap deal as the Tigers seem lacking in the outside back department regarding their depth

NRL News: 'Here comes the money' - Teammates turn on Galvin, Gus calls situation 'untenable', Turbo set for switch

Another difference would be that Luai and Turuva never badmouthed Ivan Cleary or Penrith at all. Galvin has outed the coach. Say Galvin was to leave tomorrow. Would the Tigers regret it? No chance. Let’s also not forget the JFH saga last year. Quietly asked for a release without it leaking to the media. Accepted by Penrith. Wahs sign him a few days later. Neither club or management badmouthed the other.

Can confirm re Pole that’s true. I follow him on Instagram and he’s been liking comments on his latest post where fans have been slandering Galvin and praising him for staying loyal

Having issues editing again so I’ll add this too. The Tigers have done everything to build a team around Galvin. Outside of Isaiya Katoa at the Dolphins, I don’t see any other team currently building a team around a young player in the halves. Despite all that, his management has requested release after release. Good on Shane Richardson for backing Benji and not bowing down to Isaac Moses. I remember when Richo had to fight against Roosters and Knights to sign Kyle Turner. Turner stood by the Rabbits for less money because he wanted to win with the Rabbits. Guess what? He was a crucial part to the 2014 win for Souths. Galvin was offered a million a season for five years. How do you as a 19 year old not even consider that? Oh well all it’s done is strengthen the resolve of the players at Wests imo. The players have rallied hard under Benji while those not backing Benji will be felt like outsiders at the club.

The press conference tomorrow is gonna be fun to watch. I thought Luai’s story was a great dig at Galvin. Turuva? Not so much. Surely given what’s gone on, a close friends story would easily be leaked which is exactly what’s happened. But at the same time, it seems that Galvin has been an outcast from the leadership and playing group. Sure, Luai and Turuva got better deals at the Tigers. But they both left a hugely successful club for a new project.
Galvin as a half would be lucky to have made his debut at any other club so early into his career given his age and that too play frequently. Now the question ponders on whether the squad dislikes Galvin because they feel Galvin has an inflated ego or because of his manager Isaac Moses.

That statement was 100% written by Richo and aimed at that snake of a manager who got into Galvin’s head.

NRL News: 'Disappointed' Tigers react to Galvin $5m rejection, Manly under fire over anti-tampering claims

No matter what the Knights try re their halves pairing, it’s consistently rubbish and relies too much on Ponga to bail them out of trouble. Peter O’Sullivan needs to land a dream halfback signing like the Phins did with by getting Katoa out of Penrith’s nose out of nowhere.

I thought Katoa showed Penrith on Thursday how badly they botched it by not keeping him. Penrith have a great nursery of kids who will all develop into good players in due time. But not keeping him as Luai’s backup for two seasons and then unleashing him with Cleary together this season would’ve been another solid halves pairing for Panthers.

Apparently 70k+ expected for Accor on Friday. Good luck NSW public transport handling arguably the biggest good Friday crowd + Easter show.

Round 6 Talking Points: Meet footy's most under-rated prop, and WA proves it's a must-have

Letting go of May but defending Leniu. Great man of integrity is Robbo

'F--king c--t': Thurston breaks silence over sideline stoush with Leniu as 'snitch' dig at Bronco revealed

I just know you were so happy while writing this Tony. Scary to think it could’ve easily been 6 or 7-0 if not for Courtois. I reckon first half next leg Arteta will play to get one more goal. After that, it’s shut up shop that’s more defensive than an average Diego Simeone coached team. I still can’t believe a team with bugger all European pedigree has smashed Real like that

'Astounding' Gunners crush Real with 'best performance in Europe', Bayern beaten at home by Inter

Apr

Katoa is one of the few young halves who actually want to thrive in the halfback role from the get go. People forget how good he was both at league and union as a young kid. The fact that Penrith let him slip was a huge surprise to me. I think the running side of things isn’t too surprising given I’ve seen him take the line on for Tonga. Dolphins v Penrith going to be a great clash. I’ve seen the Phins improve after the uncertainty before Rd 1 and slowly get to a good level. They keep it up, they can come back from a slow start.

NRL Round 5 Talking Points: The high contact crackdown is on… or is it?

Been a huge fan of Katoa and he keeps on turning up. I feel over the past 2 or 3 games, he’s made an effort to mix when to pass or when to take the line on and for a young halfback who’s already got a great kicking game, his running game is now an added bonus. It seems Woolf had given Katoa full reign on how he wants to run the team in attack after four losses and it clicked. And being away from the NSW limelight ensures he can continue to develop without the added scrutiny life at a NSW club would have.

Even after 3 down, I felt Carey would steady the ship given he did something similar at Christchurch last yr. Sangha outstanding this season. So happy for him. And Jake Lehmann you beauty. 67 in the One Day Cup final. Ton in the Shield final. For someone who saw the dark times with SA, he definitely cranked it up for SA when it mattered.

Sangha, Carey tons seal SA's record-breaking Shield final run chase, end 29-year drought in wild scenes

Mar

Batting has gotten easier after a frantic first day. SA don’t need to bat out of their skins. Just bat normally and play good shots. Runs will flow and they can get it done. However on flatter surfaces, I back Vidler to make this a nervy run chase and possibly keep the drought continuing for SA

Back to back Jacks as dynamic duo deliver timely tons to revive Bulls hopes of chasing down SA in Shield final

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