Thou Shall Not Pass - 'Gate-gate' infuriates hockey fans

If Hockey Australia (HA) administrators make one more error in their quest for world-leading governance, I may just go back to university for the only intent and purpose of one day throwing my hat into the ring to help sort this mess out.

The governing body for hockey in this country has just entered what some are calling the ‘Hindenburg Phase’ of its plan to give the sport a ‘strong and positive public profile’, with a lack of foresight and common sense leading to a forgettable moment for the sporting body once lauded for its operational expertise.

The Australian Kookaburras – the number one ranked mens team in the world – played an international match against Argentina in Darwin last weekend, and believe it or not, fans were denied a chance to watch the team play when the gates were allegedly locked.  It’s a full on ‘gate-gate’, and what a debacle it proved to be.

Those turned away from the match were forced to go home, jump the fence, or peer through from the outside in order to catch a glimpse of their hockey heroes in action. Apparently a last-minute arrangement was made to allow the families of Australian debutants Josh Simmonds, Jack Welch and Jacob Anderson into the stadium, but other family and friends were left in the lurch. 

With no official explanation from HA forthcoming, many have been left to speculate the decision was made to monopolise the recent four nations event held in the city, with the friendly match seen as a ‘free kick’ for fans who didn’t want to pay to watch the side play a few days later.

Hockey has struggled mightily in the last 20 years to gain a foothold in the minds of Australian sport lovers, with this latest indiscretion sure to leave a sour taste in the mouths of the small, yet passionate and devoted fan base the sport desperately needs to stay connected to.

Why Northern Territory hockey fans would be denied a wonderful opportunity to engage and interact with the Kookaburras is beyond this writer. Did HA bow to local Government pressure? Maybe ticket sales for the upcoming invitational tournament had been poor? Or perhaps someone just forgot the keys?

Either way, hockey fans deserve an explanation.

So far in 2018, the Kookaburras have played eight games on home soil, and that number drops to seven if you don’t count the ‘lockout game’.  That’s not many opportunities to see the national side step out, and well short of what’s required to help build a ‘strong and positive public profile’, but that’s another story in itself.

One of hockey’s greatest strengths in bygone eras was its ability to resonate with people from all over the country. Hockey was a game for everyone, and many of the current Kookaburras and Hockeyroos were once inspired after watching their heroes don the green and gold at local events in their home cities.

Sadly on this occasion, the next Jeremy Hayward or Brooke Peris may have been turned away at the gate.

To add a little perspective (which also highlights the baffling nature of the HA decision), 15,000+ people attended a West Coast Eagles open training day in Perth on Monday ahead of the club’s grand final appearance on the weekend. Yep, you heard right…A TRAINING DAY!

And in the spirit of the crime thriller starring Denzel Washington (if you haven't watched the movie Training Day, do so quickly), ask yourself the following questions. Was the decision to lock fans out acceptable? Are you happy with how hockey is being governed in this country? And does the bottom line trump a free opportunity for hockey fans to watch their national team compete? 

Hockey is a wonderful sport that has been enjoyed by generations of Australians, but I fear it is quickly disappearing into the abyss, with black marks like this only magnifying our sport’s inability to engage and interact with two of its most important stakeholders – fans and future players.

Opportunities to forge connections with new fans and strengthen relationships with old ones are few and far between, so why did HA waste one in Darwin? And more importantly, what’s being done to ensure it doesn’t happen again?

If you read this HA, I’m removing my hat...

Orch's Weekend Wagers - Friday June 22

Each Friday I will throw out my brightest bets for the weekend ahead.

I'll dive head on into horse racing around the country, and try and stay on top of the mainstream sporting action all around the globe.

I'll even throw out my best multi bet for Saturday sport only, so if you want to have a weekend wager, I will hopefully make it a winning one.

Horsies

FLEMINGTON - Saturday marks the return of Nature Strip to the races after the best part of seven weeks off. The talented sprinter is now in the hands of master trainer Darren Weir, who said this week he "couldn't be happier" with the way the gelding has presented for his first run since a disappointing fourth in the Euclase Stakes in South Australia.

Will enjoy getting back to the wide open spaces of the Flemington track where he's run and won once before in the Inglis Dash, and with a change of jockey (Damian Lane takes over from Craig Williams) should be winning here.

My Bet - Back Weir, Drink Beer. Nature Strip WIN @ $2.05 POWERPLAY

DOOMBEN - The Tatts Tiara is the final Group 1 of the season and some kind of field has been assembled for Saturday's flagship race.

I like the look of two in this race. Champagne Cuddles will most likely start favourite and rightly so after two hard-earned thirds in both the Stradbroke Handicap and Kingsford-Smith Cup. Will appreciate the favourable barrier draw, and starting from gate four will no doubt ensure she stays closer to the leaders throughout the 1350m journey. Finds herself back against the girls this time around and is too consistent not to be there or thereabouts at the finish.

Siren's Fury is the other one that caught my eye after a barnstorming finish in the Group 2 Dane Ripper two weeks ago. Meets the winner of that race - Invincibella - two kgs better off after storming home from the back of the field to finish fourth by a length. A brilliant each-way chance and although she likes to get back, may be close enough from gate 2 to cause a boil over.

My Bets - Champagne Cuddles WIN @ $5.50
Siren's Fury EACHWAY @ $17.00 and $4.60

RANDWICK - I like Bandipur in the get out here, with the James Cummings trained colt forgoing an opportunity to take on Nature Strip in Melbourne to instead target this race.

Has seven career starts for three wins and three seconds with it's only miss coming in it's first ever race at the end of 2016. A noted wet weather performer (2/2 on soft tracks), Bandipur should handle a possible heavy track fairly well.

Has drawn wide (gate 11), but that may work into jockey Tye Angland's hands as the best part of the track should be wider late in the day. She Knows is the obvious threat, but will be backing Bandipur to continue it's six race pattern of 1-2-1-2-1-2.

My Bet - Bandipur WIN @ $3.40

Sport

TENNIS (Halle) - Borna Coric is a rising star of the men's tennis circuit. The young Croatian notched up his 100th tour win in a second round victory at Halle last night (Thursday), but will face a much sterner test  in the quarterfinals tonight when he runs into Italian journeyman Andreas Seppi

Coric doesn't have the best record on grass (only two career wins before Halle in 2018), while Seppi loves this time of year. He won one of only three career titles on grass (albeit way back in 2011) and is fresh of a destructive 6-2 6-4 victory over German Florian Mayer - who earlier in the tournament accounted for 8th seed Richard Gasquet in straight sets.

Seppi (ranked 50th) leads Coric (34th) head-to-head 1-0, with that victory coming over five sets at Wimbledon in 2015.

Coric is undoubtedly a player of the future, but Seppi will fancy his chances against the 21-year-old on a surface he rates as his favourite to play on.

My Bet - Andreas Seppi WIN @ $2.82

WORLD CUP - Our attention turns to World Cup action between Germany and Sweden for hopefully another safe bet of the weekend.

The Germans were caught off guard by a dangerous, counter-attacking Mexico in their first Group F encounter, going behind 1-0 early and then failing to overhaul the deficit despite throwing the kitchen sink at the Mexican defence.

The world number one side will be looking to respond in their next contest, and I believe a match-up with the Swedes - ranked 24th in the world - will see them regain their World Cup swagger.

A loss will most likely see Germany bow out of the World Cup, so not only will they be pushing for victory, I think their endeavour and intensity will rise a few notches, meaning more chances and more goals, especially early.

My Bet - Germany HT/FT @ $2.30

Saturday Multi - 

Fabergino WIN (Belmont R4) ---> Tradesman WIN (Doomben R6) ---> Belgium WIN (World Cup) ---> Hawthorn 40+ WIN (AFL)

TOTAL = $5.01

God speed and goodluck!

Note - All markets are offered by Sportsbet and please gamble responsibly.

In Case You Missed It - Monday June 18

Phil's Major Meltdown

Shinnecock Hills played host to the 118th US Open last week and boy did it hand out some punishment.

Defending champion Brooks Koepka held his nerve across four windswept days to win the event, marking the first time a player has gone back-to-back at the US Open since 1989.

But while the best golfers in the world were made to look like your average weekend hackers (Koepka's winning score was +1), this major will be remembered for the polarising play of Phil Mickelson.

During his third round, and on the par-4 13th hole, Mickelson found himself in a precarious position.

He had a downhill, left to right putt on a lightning fast surface, with a miss sure to result in his ball plunging back towards the despairing situation that awaited him at the front of the green.

Mickelson struck his ball and narrowly missed the hole. What happened next was as alarming as it was incredible (see below).

As you can see, Mickelson broke one of the fundamental rules of golf - you cannot play a shot while your ball is still moving.

In doing so, Mickelson blatantly cheated, and he admitted afterwards that he knew the rule and did it on purpose.

“It was meant to take advantage of the rules as best as you can. In that situation, I was just going back and forth. I’d gladly take the two shots over continuing that display,” he told FOX after his round ended.

It was amazing he avoided disqualification, with a separate rules fine print ensuring he remained in the field for the remainder for the event.

But where does this rank on the scale of sporting blunders? Was it a simple misdemeanour, solved with a slap on the wrist? Or has Mickelson tarnished his credentials as one of golf's most gifted of all-time?

He admitted it was a deliberate and preconceived action, but the fact it was made rashly, and in a split-second moment, lends me to think more leniently. I believe it was done out of frustration and due to him already languishing down the leaderboard at the US Open. 

Would he have done it if he were in contention? No. Does that make it right? Also no.

Either way I think Phil will wish he had that moment again. But is he sorry he did it? I don't think so.

Socceroos cop VAR-Y average decision

The Socceroo's fifth World Cup campaign got off to controversial start on Saturday night, with a dubious penalty decision ensuring France prevailed 2-1 in their Group C clash.

In a confusing passage of play, French striker Antoine Griezmann was awarded a second-half penalty after he was ruled to have been fouled in the box by Australian defender Josh Risdon.

The main reason the decision was contentious - referee Andres Kunha awarded the dot shot minutes after the actual incident occurred after watching a replay on the side of the pitch - marking the first time in World Cup history a penalty had been awarded using the VAR or Video Assistant Referee.

Griezmann calmly put Les Bleus ahead 1-0, but football fans worldwide were already incensed. 

The VAR was introduced to rule on four potentially match-altering scenarios - penalties, goals, red cards or cases of mistaken identity - and is only called for on the referees recommendation.

My first thought is that sport should be fair. So I am happy to introduce any means possible to ensure the contests I love are ruled fairly more often, and with that in mind VAR should be embraced. I would rather have a few moments of uncertainty in order to get the right decision, than live with a wrong call purely because people are impatient or simply willing to take the good with the bad.

Upon review however, it seems the decision to award a penalty was wrong. My limited knowledge of the exact wording of the rules means I have borrowed expert opinion to determine whether or not it was actually a penalty.

Listen to SBS's Craig Foster as he discusses the decision below, and then make up your mind on these two counts -

1) Was it a penalty?
2) Does the VAR have a place in the game?

(courtesy of SBS)

Ponga in line for State of Origin debut

Newcastle Knights wonderkid Kalyn Ponga looks set to make his State of Origin debut after being named in Queensland's 18-man squad for Game Two at ANZ Stadium on Sunday.

Ponga has set the NRL alight this season with several best-on-ground performances for a Newcastle side languishing in the bottom half of the ladder, and if included will most likely come off the bench, filling the role Anthony Milford failed to make his own in Game One. 

The 20-year-old fullback has earned rave reviews from several high profile players in the NRL this season, with many pundits saying his X-Factor qualities will make him a Queensland star for years to come.

Queensland lacked spark and speed in Game One in Melbourne, so the addition of Ponga, coupled with the expected return of Billy Slater is sure to make NSW a little restless.

The question must be asked though, what type of role can we expect from Ponga?

The utility bench position is often under utilised in SOO, and can fail to make the anticipated impact when used too late in matches.

My hope is Kevvie Walters unleashes Ponga late in the first half by shifting Hunt to hooker and giving Andrew McCullough a rest. Let Ponga play as a roaming second receiver and attack the edges of the ruck with his speed and illusiveness, and utilise his ball playing ability with the likes of Inglis and Slater outside him.

But how else can the Maroons make the most of the young mans supreme talents? 

I'd love to hear your thoughts as QLD desperately try to keep the series alive.

Queensland Squad for SOO2

Jai Arrow, Will Chambers, Gavin Cooper, Dane Gagai, Tim Glasby, Coen Hess, Valentine Holmes, Ben Hunt, Greg Inglis, Felise Kaufusi, Andrew McCullough, Josh McGuire, Cameron Munster, Dylan Napa, Josh Papalii, Kalyn Ponga, Billy Slater, Jarrod Wallace

The Undiagnosed Disease Program: The Search For a Diagnosis

As Heidi McNair made the long journey to Perth for another day of gruelling tests and appointments for her daughter Jessica, their tired, beat-up Daewoo Lanos, with the leaky roof and sticky clutch, began to stall. 

The spluttering back and forth motion of the vehicle – an upsetting imitation of McNair’s state of mind at the time – was enough to force her to the emergency lane of the freeway where the car rolled to a stop. As her daughter rested quietly in the back, McNair unbuckled her seatbelt, climbed from the driver’s seat, sat alone on the asphalt, and wept.

She called her mum from the side of the road. “I can’t do this anymore, it’s too hard. Why me? Why us?”

You see, Heidi and Jessica have a unique story, a collection of stories actually. About a girl who wasn’t expected to live more than a few days. A girl who was given no chance of walking or talking. A girl who is significantly undersized for her age. A girl who suffers from a disease that cannot be diagnosed.

Jessica Jackson at her home in Baldivis

Jessica is a medical mystery. Just ask Gareth Baynam.

Baynam is the clinical geneticist behind the Undiagnosed Disease Program. The UDP is an Australian-first initiative aimed at uncovering and ultimately diagnosing children who have unknown or rare diseases. Unfortunately, Jess’s case has him and his team still searching for answers.

“We really wish we could get a diagnosis for Jess,” he says. “We are still following up some leads. We are reviewing our gene test data following a suggestion from a doctor in the USA. We are also reviewing information with the aid of our knowledge management platform called ‘Patient Archive’. This is a new approach to share information with other experts around the world, in the hope we get an answer for Jess,” he says.

Heidi McNair doesn’t seem as hopeful.

“Everyone dreams of having the perfect child, maybe the next Bonds baby competition winner. No one wants their child to endure feeding tubes and hospital stays, or carry the scars from treatment - both physical and mental - around for the rest of their life. I'd just love an answer now. But I don’t think we’ll ever get one,” McNair says.

Unfortunately, Jess's story is only one example of the many which share a disturbingly common story. Each unique in its own right, but remaining loyal to the same overarching themes - frustration, anguish and the unknown.

The UDP was established in Perth in 2016, with some telling statistics supporting their work. Like how there are enough children with rare diseases in WA that if you got them all together, they would fill the new 60,000 seat Perth Stadium. Or that a third of rare disease sufferers have waited somewhere between 5 and 10 years for an accurate diagnosis. Most severe chronic undiagnosed diseases are rare diseases.

A handwritten note to UDP families in WA from Molly Meldrum. Photo provided by Gareth Baynam

Baynam, the Director of the UDP and Australia’s International UDP Network, is trying to change that. A cheerful man and father to two children, his wide smile and endearing eyes offer a point of difference from the sometimes glazed over, expressionless facades of many medical professionals. We talk about his beacon of hope: the UDP.

It was established as a paediatric-based program offered only to seriously ill children. "It aims to find diagnoses for children with long-standing severe and complex conditions who have remained undiagnosed after lengthy testing and medical evaluations for nameless diseases that are devastating their lives. A diagnosis opens the door to treatment,” he says.

The program has been running for almost two years, has seen nearly 20 patients, and has a successful diagnosis rate of around 50%, a number Baynam admits is a bit of a surprise. A welcome one though, and a platform to build on.

And the surprises don’t stop there.

The UDP is laying the foundations to expand with the transitional Undiagnosed Disease Program aiming to see patients between the ages of 16 and 25 from early next year. Baynam will direct the program, with experienced senior medical researcher Lauren Dreyer signing on as program manager. Dreyer is based at Linear Clinical Research in Nedlands. I find her tucked away in a small office, and quickly notice a stark contradiction between her workspace and the enormity of the plans and ambitions she has for the program.

During our discussion about the UDP and prospective tUDP, she mentions a Formula One racing analogy that intrigues me. “Essentially the UDP is the peak of what we’re capable of in the field of genetics, just like Formula One is at the forefront of the motor vehicle industry,” she says. I push for further clarification of this comparison, as I’m well aware many Australians knowledge of the Formula One landscape extends only as far as the WA bloke who drinks beer from his own shoe after races.

“Well, the hope is the research done in the UDP program will trickle down into various medical networks around Australia and even the world, like it would if Formula One made a breakthrough in the car industry,” she explains.

But with great heights, come harrowing depths. That’s where the undiagnosed sadly wait. “We acknowledge that we will not get a diagnosis for all children and we hope that if we do not, we still improve people's medical care and create some beneficial connections that help people to live the best lives possible,” Baynam says.

So, will the doors ever close on the search for Jess’s diagnosis?

Not if you ask Gareth Baynam.

Video courtesy of the ABC

The Transition - Who Am I Really?

It was famous U.S. fashionista Derek Zoolander who said “Who Am I?” as he peered poignantly into a puddle that bore his own reflection in the 2001 cult hit classic Zoolander, only moments after losing the Male Model of the Year award to Hansel.

In defeat, he lost his identity. If he wasn’t the best model on the planet anymore, then who the hell was he? Now I know the movie jests, but I have seriously asked myself the same question several times in the last 12 months during ‘the transition’.

The transition I speak of is the well-travelled journey of elite sportspeople from a fast-moving lifestyle that encompasses plenty of new and exciting, twists, turns and challenges, to a life of…well…not those things.

Long after the bright lights fade, and the ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ of the feverish crowds extinguish, and the body finally relents to the years of wear and tear, the mind still flickers…

“Who am I now?” It asks.

And it’s in the quieter moments, usually after retiring or being dropped from something you have worked your whole life to obtain, that the pressures and struggles of establishing your new identity gain momentum.

All of a sudden, a huge chunk of your identity, purpose and sense of belonging has been removed. A life that took not moments, not days, not weeks, but years of effort and devotion is gone, with nothing but a set of ‘guidelines’ and a good luck email left to help you overcome the slippery slopes of ‘the transition’.

Normal, everyday questions for sports people become obsolete. How much rest time do we have today? Where is today’s recovery session? I wonder if the game debrief will involve me? Why did I let that ball go? Who is talking about my performance, and on what social media platform? Seriously though, rest time is a thing. I still need rest time, and the ‘boyfriend chair’ at David Jones has become a serious enabler for me over this last year.

And the questions posed above usually, and stupidly, arise before we even get started on the intricacies and important issues of family life, work dilemmas, study clashes, health problems and everything else life can muster.

Lauren Jackson revealed earlier this year on SBS's Insight and the ABC's Four Corners the impact retirement had on her mental health. She admitted the sudden change in people's attitudes towards her while moving from being an elite athlete one day to a retired sports star the next took a toll on her. She said it felt like she had been "put out to pasture". I echo her sentiment and wonder what Basketball Australia is doing now that the cameras are turned off and Jackson has retreated to her new life.

It is a year since I last played hockey for Australia, yet I still deal with issues that arose during my time with the program.

I played at the top level with severe and chronic achilles tendonitis in the latter stages of my career. I was administered cortisone injection after cortisone injection in order to play and represent Australia where needed, but away from the televised events, I limped around the training ground for 18 months struggling from contest to contest.

I found the cortisone worked for a few weeks at a time, until the pain finally returned. It wasn’t a happy place to exist. I was also diagnosed with a generalised anxiety around the same time I was dealing with the achilles issue, something that can’t be attributed to my injury, but is well and truly related now.

I still wake up every morning and walk down my hallway in pain; I struggle to chase my 6-month old puppy around; I haven’t been able to play basketball, a love of my life, for over a year; and couldn’t wear Havaianas, Nikes or boots for the entire year Olympic preparation.

These might seem like trivial things to some, but one day it’s not unforeseeable that I could replace ‘dog’ with kids. ‘Basketball’ with walking. And ‘Entire Olympic preparation’ with entire life. I was receiving treatment and guidance for my ailment, but largely from a very helpful friend and ex-team physio.

Now that I’ve joined the ‘real’ world I expect those ‘mates-rates’ favours eventually to run out. Services that were supplemented before now cost money, and the reality is I have to earn a living somehow.

At the moment, I work casually doing brand development work for my hockey equipment sponsor Voodoo. I teach hockey to kids at Guildford Grammar School. I am at university two days a week (I graduate at the end of this year), I recently finished an internship at the Western Force, and I freelance write a bit.

Thankfully, money has never been a decisive or driving factor in my life. I’ve volunteered or worked unpaid at numerous places around Perth, always chasing an experience over a pay cheque.

I returned to competitive sport in June of this year, playing first grade club hockey for Fremantle in the Perth Hockey Competition.

Why? Because nothing can replace or replicate the joy that sport (and in particular, hockey with Freo) brings to my life. A sense of belonging, a family environment, a brotherhood of mates, a physical and mental challenge each and every week, and a home away from home.

I am still met with comments about looking ‘laboured’ or ‘sluggish’ at times. Another clip of the confidence, and more strain on the body and mind. Lucky I was quite fast before my injury, so now I just run at more of a regular pace. 

I can’t understand or accept a world where this is normal. Where those types of experiences are deemed acceptable because they adhere to the sports ‘guidelines’. And there are many others who have bravely attempted to navigate their way through the transition before, mostly without help, and without the acceptable level of care from their respective sporting bodies.

Unfortunately, and as we’ve seen publicly in the last 12 months, some won’t transition. Former Wallaby and family man Dan Vickerman took his own life earlier this year, after a long battle with what we can only assume was his own mind.

Vickerman was a poster boy for professional sportspeople who had successfully transitioned into life after sport, or so we all thought.

He chaired a joint Australian Rugby Union and Rugby Union Players Association committee, and had successfully carved out a career in property development with promotion to a role of funds manager.

Dan had arguably got through the worst of it. He has navigated his trickiest assignment, the initial few years post-retirement where you attempt to carve out a new life. And not a mediocre life either, one that hopefully resembles the remarkable and extraordinary sporting life you lived only years earlier.

The life that teaches you to reach for the stars; to push the boundaries of what you deem possible; to fight and grind your way through numerous ailments and setbacks; to endure the heartache of defeat; appreciate the fruits of victory; and be thankful, not bitter, about the sacrifices you made to get create those moments. Dan, seemingly, had done it.

And then the unthinkable happened. Dan committed suicide, aged 37. Dan, who “always had a plan”, was gone.

So who am I? At the very least, I’m a guy who doesn’t want this to happen to anyone else. I’m a guy that speaks openly and candidly, not only about my own struggles, but the struggles of others, in the hope a more balanced and well-rounded support program can be developed and introduced by the nations sporting bodies.

I’m a guy trying to educate, inform and engage people on the serious issues and challenges being posed to an industry that not only brings us some of the most inspiring and uplifting stories of our time, but some of the darkest and most disturbing as well.

So although I may not have found my true identity yet, I am hell bent on ensuring the next generation of sportspeople know exactly where to look for theirs.