It’s looking like we’re in for a wet few days, so you might have to get your sporting fix indoors this weekend. Thankfully the televised sport forecast is a lot brighter. Here’s our weekly insight into what’s catching our eye at Strathfield Sports Club.
The match of the night on Friday will be the Super 15 derby between the Rebels and Waratahs. The Melbourne side have been unlucky but made huge strides this season and will be looking to back-up their strong win last week. They welcome back playmaker James O’Connor, buoyed by the news he is set to be first choice five-eighth for the Lions tour later this year.
Meanwhile the Waratahs will be seeking to continue their climb up the ladder against a side that has never beaten them. They will be pleased to have earned a draw last weekend against Australian Conference leaders the Brumbies but will need to secure a win preferably with a bonus point if they are to continue their mid-season surge and return to the finals.
With State of Origin just around the corner, rugby league’s best players will be out to give a timely reminder of their form to selectors. NSW will be looking to break seven-years of Maroon dominance in this year’s series and may need to turn to some fresh faces if they’re to break the Queenslanders stranglehold on the inter-state rivalry.
The biggest clash of the weekend will take place on Saturday night when the high-flying Roosters take on reining premiers Melbourne. The game will see potential NSW halves-pairing Mitchell Pearce and James Maloney go up against Queensland’s spine trio of Cameron Smith, Cooper Cronk and Billy Slater. While two crucial competition points will again be on offer you can be sure there will be plenty of passion in this one with rep jumpers up for grabs.
Also on throughout the weekend we’ll have highlights from the two Sydney teams in the AFL, NBA conference finals, Netball Championship match-ups and a replay of the Champions League final between German sides Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund.
Come Sunday night, the world’s best tennis players will be hitting the clay for the commencement of the French Open. Rafael Nadal will be looking to maintain his incredible record at the grand slam event and despite being seeded No.5 will no doubt be the player to beat in the Men’s draw. The King of Clay has been in fine form on the red stuff since returning from a seven month injury lay-off and will be hoping to claim his eighth crown in nine years to soar back up the world rankings.
The Women’s draw looks set to be more tightly contested with different winners taking out the Paris event for the past six years. World No.1 Serena Williams is on an incredible 24-match winning streak but has not won the event for over ten years. Aussie hopes will again rest with Sam Stosur, who made the final in 2010 but has seen her ranking slip to nine more recently.
We’ll have all the live play from the French Open for the following fortnight, so if you love your tennis make sure you drop in to SSC to catch all the action from the city of love.