FREE MAN FOLAU

As of last night (Friday 30th of April) Israel Folau is a free agent. Folau had been given a deadline by the Brisbane Broncos to reply to the club’s contract extension by Friday the 30th of April and Folau didn’t wish to renew his Contract with the NRL club. This meaning that at the end of the 2010 season Israel Folau is off contract.

Israel Folau is attracting a lot of attention from other codes including AFL and Super 14 Rugby Union (soon to be Super 15). There are 2 clubs that are willing to splash out big money for the 21 year old to be in their colours over the next few years. Those clubs are the newest franchises in their code, being the Melbourne Rebels (Super 15 Rugby Union) and the Greater Western Sydney AFL Club.

Both of these clubs are willing to pay Israel Folau a WOPPING 1 MILLION DOLLARS A SEASON, and I can see why he didn’t want to renew his contract with the Brisbane Broncos.

Kevin Sheedy the Greater Western Sydney head Coach is putting forward a big push for Folau to follow former Brisbane Broncos team mate Karmichael Hunt (who left the broncos and signed with incoming AFL team Gold Coast) and make the switch to AFL. I personally think that Israel Folau will make a good career in AFL and he has the goods to succeed in the sport. We have already seen his jumping and marking skills on the Rugby League pitch when he raises well above the rest to catch the ball and 8 times out of 10 scores a try from him. Of course he may need to drop a few kilos and get more accustomed to running more metres than he would playing in the NRL, but that’s not hard to do when you have professional coaches and trainers.

No one quite knows as of yet what the 21 year old is planning on doing but it has caused some controversy in the Representative side of Rugby League. With the ANZAC Test to be played next Friday Night and State Of Origin just around the corner many believe that Israel Folau shouldn’t be allowed to play and shouldn’t be picked in either of those sides because it doesn’t seem that it is in his intentions to stay in the game for next season (otherwise he would of resigned with the Broncos).

I personally believe that he is a great player and should be able be picked in his respective position and should he leave the game then he has the chance to do so on a high note rather then just being ousted.

GILMORE TAKES OUT RITCHEST SURFING EVENT!

The ANZAC DAY long weekend saw Dee Why host the world’s richest women’s surf event, The Commonwealth Bank Beachley Classic which is event number 4 of the ASP Women’s Pro Surfing Tour.

The Commonwealth Bank Beachley Classic kicked off at Dee Why Beach on Wednesday the 21st of April and the final was held on Monday 26th of April which saw 3 time and reigning world champ Stephanie Gilmore take on fellow Australian and current world number 2 surfer Sally Fitzgibbons.

In a thrilling climax to event no.4 of the 2010 ASP Women’s World Tour, the world-class Dee Why point break delivered the ultimate finale, churning out high-scoring, quality waves and a massive 2000-plus crowd for the world’s top female surfers.

Gilmore came from behind to win, showing experience and patience in building 4-6ft (1.5-metre waves) at the host venue of Dee Why. Gilmore made a perfect start to the 35-minute decider, showing plenty of speed, power and flow to net a 7.00 before Fitzgibbons hit back to take the lead for the majority of the final.

With just under five minutes remaining and holding wave priority, Gilmore jagged a set wave, throwing out a mix of powerful, top-to-bottom manoeuvres with seamless transitions to take the win with a 7.20, to finish with a two-wave combined total of 14.20 (out of a possible 20) to Fitzgibbon’s 12.40 total and Gilmore claimed her third Beachley Classic title and took home a generous US$20,000.

Stephanie Gilmore has now won3 of the 4 events she has contested this year after taking victory on the Gold Coast in early March before winning at Bells Beach in the same month.

The 22 year old Stephanie Gilmore is well on track to win her 4th consecutive ASP Women’s World title if she keeps up this amazing form as she is sitting 700 point clear of her next rival which is her fellow Australian counterpart Sally Fitzgibbons.

MEMORABLE VICTORY FOR MICKELSON!

2010 US Masters Leaderboard
1 Phil Mickelson -16
2 Lee Westwood -13
3 Anthony Kim -12
T4 Tiger Woods -11
T4 K.J. Choi -11


US star Phil Mickelson won his third US Masters title and fourth major crown in dramatic fashion, while Tiger Woods could only ponder his mistakes and wonder what might have been.

Mickelson fired three birdies in four holes starting at the par-three 12th and hit an epic approach at 13, his view of the green blocked by a tree, on the way to a bogey-free five-under par 67 and a three-stroke victory over Lee Westwood.

The 39-year-old left-hander finished 72 holes on 16-under par 272 with Englishman Westwood settling for second, his best major finish, by a stroke over American Anthony Kim, with Woods and South Korean K.J. Choi fourth on 277.

This victory for Mickelson would be the most memorable not only for joining the 3 time winners list but also because this mighty victory was for his wife, mother and his family. His wife and his mother are both enduring breast cancer at the moment. Mickelson’s wife has been too unwell to get out to the Augusta course to watch hubby Phil and had opted to stay at their rented property not too far from the famous course. But she did make sure she was there to watch him play his final round (the most important one of all) and to seal the victory by 3 strokes by birdying the 18th hole.

Mickelson survived a late surge from youngster Anthony Kim who shot a final round of 7 under 65 to finish the tournament with a total of 12 under par. Mickelson also fought of pressure from fellow playing partner Lee Westwood who always made Phil was aware of his presence snapping at his toes.

TIGER TIME!

At 5:45am Sydney local time the US Masters will tee off. This Golf event is the biggest golfing major championship in the world and this year is set to be even bigger than it has ever been before. The reason is that TIGER WOODS is back on the golf course!

Tiger Woods has had a 5 month hiatus from the sport after his sex affair scandal broke out earlier this year. He hasn’t played in a tournament since November when he competed and WON the Australian Masters also knows as the JBWere Masters for sponsorship reasons.

Tiger Woods is the odds on favorite to win his 5th green jacket (this is the traditional Green blazer/jacket awarded to the winner of the championship) at Augusta National even though he hasn’t competed since November last year.

Will Tiger Woods win? Well that’s any bodies guess the bookies seem to think so and I think he can win it also but it comes down to a matter of whether or not he can. Tiger says that his head space is better than it ever has been because he has gone back to the basics and not taking golf for granted anymore which said he has done over the last few years due to him being so used to the world of winning all the time.

There will be about 12 golfers in the field who will compete for the Green Jacket and Tiger is definitely near the top of that group of 12. His only down fall is that he hasn’t competed and been in the atmosphere of golf competitions for 5 months now and the rustyness of his game will finally come out even considering he has been nonstop practicing for a couple of months it’s that tournament golf that he is lacking compared to the rest of the field.

Tiger Woods stated “that the more you practice the easier it is to play in a high pressured situation” and this is all that Tiger Woods has been doing for the past couple of months and that 1st round on Thursday morning at Augusta will be highly pressured for Tiger. He will have to deal with a record crowd and record galleries (people following him from hole to hole).

This year’s US Masters is set to hold the record for the most watched sporting event and NBC expect it to beat the amount of viewers who tuned in to watch the Barack Obama inauguration (which has a record for most watched TV broadcast for a single event).

Will Tiger win…. Tune in to find out, you can watch the US Master LIVE on ONE HD from 5:45am on Friday morning, Saturday morning, Sunday Morning and the final round on Monday morning.