Right, well I'm back from my two week holiday and since this is the NASCAR section I won't bother going over the races from Martinsville, Atlanta and Texas in great detail as that would have already been done so let's have a look at the other stuff I post; V8's, Rugby and Marcos Ambrose.

Not that it feels like I'm home. We're supposed to be coming into Summer...which doesn't explain the fact that we're barely getting into double digits temperature-wise (deg C). Not going to get into Al Gore's territory but I thought the term 'global' meant that, not just some places scattered around the world.

Moving on; V8 Supercars first. Well, they've had two rounds since Bathurst and the Championship looks like it's Garth Tander's to lose. He had a great weekend on the Gold Coast and coupled with Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup's misfortune at Bahrain (yes, the V8's don't just race in Aussie and NZ) he leads the standings...despite his overenthusiastic teammate tapping him during one race (come on Rick, you did it to Craig last year but this is your teammate. Everyone knows rule number one is don't hit team cars, sheesh *rolls eyes*).

To Rugby then...both codes I guess. South Africa snuck by England to win their second William Webb Ellis trophy beating them 15 points to 6. No tries scored (take that all those people who reckon the only way to win is via an expansive game) but it was a gripping match to watch as both teams had monster forward packs and every yard was hard fought. On the League front, New Zealand look rubbish...a far cry from two years ago when they beat both Australia and Great Britain. First the Aussies thumped them by 50 odd points, then GB have beaten them the last two weekends. The new coach has come under fire and this week's game could be vital as to whether or not he stays on for the World Cup next year.

Well, it's been a rollercoaster few weeks for my man, Marcos. A few poor finishes had seen him drop to 10th (I think) in the Busch standings until the Memphis race...which I missed as I was at my friend's house. Anyway, to take pole position on his 'worst' type of track (he prefers the inters, not the short tracks) was one thing, but to storm through the field (different pit strategy) to take fourth was another. Reminds me of last year when I also missed his best races (Kentucky and Kansas)...I should get paid by Wood Brothers to take more holidays since he does this whenever I do.

Marcos shows off his first pole in his Busch Series career.

I shall update both the qualifying and race championships over the weekend...not looking forward to that since I've missed a few weeks but hey, if I don't no one else will since I'm the one with the spreadsheet *laugh*

Oh and if you're wondering why there appears to be two posts about this from me...blame technology. I had written this one then clicked post. That brought up the wonderful 'whoops' page so it didn't get posted. I then wrote a summary one as I couldn't be bothered rewriting this and find that it suddenly gets done too...go figure. Suffice to say, no point with the summary one after that so I deleted it.

First things first; I'm only putting this in both NFL and NASCAR since I make reference to them...it's not a post about either so if you don't want to read it knowing that now, then you don't have to.

We had the AFL Grand Final on Saturday afternoon which led nicely into the NRL Grand Final on Sunday night. The only shame about both matches was that they were a bit one-sided in the end.

The Melbourne Cricket Ground (or MCG as those in the know refer to it is) was the venue for the Aussie Rules matchup between the Geelong Cats and the Port Adelaide Power. Port won the premiership back in 2004, snapping the hopes of the Brisbane Lions winning four in a row, while Geelong haven't tasted success since, well, I can't remember...they usually lose the GF anyway.

But this season was different, Geelong were the minor premiers by quite a way (something I believe NASCAR should do with the Chase and give the driver leading after 26 races a nice little trophy or whatever) and were the favourites to win. Port were second on the ladder after the round robin games and went in as the marginal underdog despite thumping North Melbourne the week before in their semi. Geelong were under a bit more pressure due to the fact that one of their players, Jimmy Bartel, had won the Brownlow medal earlier in the week. The Brownlow is given to the best player, that hasn't been given any suspension, as voted by the umpires for the season (not including playoff games).

However, the Cats played like they had all season and kicked away from Port by halftime. The lead was over 50 points and they extended that to over 100 by fulltime (final score ended by being 163 to 44). That would probably be the equivalent of the Superbowl being won by 50+ points, or a NASCAR race by 5 laps.

So congratulations Geelong on a well-earned victory and I'll bet those Crown Lagers sure tasted sweet on Saturday night.

To Sunday then, where again we had the two best teams playing each other; the Melbourne Storm and the Manly Sea Eagles.

Stadium Australia in Sydney was the place to be as the game kicked off around 7:30pm local time. The first 20 minutes were a bruising affair as both teams seemed intent on smashing each other at every available opportunity. The Storm were the better team as they dominated territory, yet by halftime Manly had stayed in touch as they scored right on the buzzer to cut the lead to six points (10-4), just a converted try behind.

However, that was as close as they got as Melbourne, and Greg Inglis in particular, ran riot in the second half as they won the game by the scoreline of 34 to 8. This went some way to avenge their GF loss last year to the, very much underdogs, Brisbane Broncos and was just desserts for the team that has been the benchmark in the game for the past two seasons.

That was pretty much how I spent my weekend; watching two great showcases of Australian sport...I just wish both games had been a touch closer in the end.

One little pill...that's all it took.

I woke up yesterday morning to the news that Andrew "Joey" Johns had been arrested in London for being in the possession of drugs. For those unfamiliar with Andrew Johns, allow me to enlighten you a bit; he is considered by many to be the greatest Rugby League player the world has ever seen.

His achievements include two NRL Premierships in Australia, captaining New South Wales in State Of Origin and also captaining his country...in other words, he was bloody good. If you want a gauge of exactly how good, let's have a look at some stats from Newcastle, his club team. When Johns played, they were winning something in the order of 70% of their games...without him, it was under 30%; he was that good.

Sadly, earlier this year an injury forced him into premature retirement. But don't think he's a wuss that can't play with an injury; 1997 saw him play the Grand Final with a punctured lung...and it was he who threw the final pass that set up the matchwinning try in that game.

Andrew Johns about to throw a pass for his Newcastle Knights

So that's who he is, on to the events in London. He was let off with a caution after he told the police what had happened; namely that he was at a club and someone slipped the pill (later found to be ecstacy) into his pocket. He forgot all about it and so the police found it and cuffed him.

No problem right? Since he didn't take the thing he had no case...until last night.

For in an interview on 'The Footy Show' he admitted he had a drinking problem...and used drugs during his 12 year playing career.

The drinking I can understand, lots of people sturggle with that...but there isn't an excuse for the drugs (despite the fact that lots of people are addicted to that too). The NRL drug test players and Johns said he sweated many times over the results of his...and it is pure luck that none ever returned positive.

I don't know where he goes from here...he said after being chucked in jail for a night woke him up and he vowed to never touch drugs again. He also spoke how difficult it was to tell his seven year old son what had happened. The NRL has a program designed to help players with things like this so my guess is he'll use that.

I hope it works Joey, for, despite your incredible achievements on the playing field, you've just thrown away a heck of a lot of your reputation in my eyes, mate.

It's billed as "State against State, mate against mate"...and it's over for another 12 months.

Every time this year, as winter takes hold with the weather, Rugby League fans await in anticipation of who will come out on top in the traditional 'State of Origin' series played between Queensland (the Maroons) and New South Wales (the Blues).   

It is a rivalry that is rather hard to match across the globe given the following stats leading up to this years three game series;

matches played - 78
Qld game wins - 38
NSW game wins - 38
tied games - 2
Qld series wins - 11
NSW series wins - 12
tied series - 2
total Qld points scored - 1236
total NSW points scored - 1242

Any way you slice it, these two teams are about as close to equally matched as you could possibly get over Origin's 27 year history (started in 1980). The 2007 series was billed as a classic; would Queensland build on last years series win or would New South Wales proves that 2006 was a mere blip on the radar as they strived for 4 series wins in the past 5 years?

Game one at Lang Park, Brisbane, saw a capacity crowd (mostly wearing maroon to show their home support for the Queenslanders) watch a game of two halves. New South Wales dominated the first half while the Queenslanders looked tired as the 40 minutes drew to a close with the scoreline reading 18 - 6 in the Blues' favour.

But things started going a bit pear shaped for the Blues after the teams came out for the second half. Queensland suddenly found it a bit easier to gain the yardage up the middle of the field, they weren't dropping the ball or falling off tackles, and it was New South Wales that looked to be struggling a little.

A crucial mistake by the debutant winger, Jarryd Hayne, saw Queensland hit the front, a lead they would not surrender for the rest of the match as they took a one-nil lead heading into the game in Sydney three weeks later...at the ground where Queensland had never won before; Telstra Stadium.

That match was marred by a referring blunder which, potentially, robbed the Blues a win. A forward pass was missed by the officials and Queensland duly scored the match (and series) winning try from it.

Uncompromising defence that typifies State of Origin clashes

So the circus returned back to a bitterly cold winter's night in Queensland (by Brisbane standards anyway. I was watching it on TV in NZ with the fire, heater and about five layers of clothing on at 10pm) for the dead-rubber match. Queensland were looking for a series sweep while New South Wales wanted to prevent one. Halftime came and the score was 6-4 in favour of New South Wales...but it only told half the story. While New South Wales had their full compliment of four players they could bring in off the bench (you're allowed 12 interchanges throughout the 80 minutes so player rotation is vital), Queensland had one. Both Maroons' wingers were gone with leg injuries while a backup forward had been concussed in the first ten seconds of play attempting a tackle.

Now, usually, this gives a team extra motivation as they know they have to dig that little bit deeper to pull off a spectacular upset...but it rarely happens as the fast pace of the game catches up with them and the final twenty minutes becomes little more than a training session for the team with the fresh players.

Queensland have always had the reputation of doing the impossible (Mark Coyne's winning try in 1994 after the fulltime siren had sounded and the passage of play went through a ridiculous amount of passes, Tony Carroll's winning try in 1998 from a "hail Mary" kick from inside their own half also on fulltime are just two examples) and for 73 minutes it looked like they could do it again. The commentators couldn't speak highly enough about the effort from Queensland (I lost count of how many times Phil Gould, former New South Wales coach, said "unbelievable!" as the Maroons snuffed out yet another Blues attack) but, like all good things, it wasn't to last. The final score ended up 18 - 4 as New South Wales ran in two tries in the last seven minutes of play to edge back in front of overall points (they now lead 1284 to 1275).

A truly classic end to a hard-fought contest between, arguably, the two best League teams in the world...certainly a great way to beat those winter blues (and given the fact that I'm a Queenslander, the pun is very much intended).

Oh and by the way...these guys don't bother with padding or helmets.

Back-to-back series wins...is a three-peat on the cards in 2008?

Now I’m sure many of you have heard of the 'Commentator’s Curse' before, but do we have as much power as the guys (and girls) in the booth?

I reckon I do and let me explain why; The Melbourne Cup (Australia’s biggest horse race that happens on the second Tuesday of November every year).

My record of picking the winner since 1988 stands at 2 wins from 19 attempts…that’s rather pitiful and the sole reason why I haven’t slapped $5 on the race since 2002. On the plus side, I am due this year since my wins came in 1993 and 2000…a seven year itch by the looks of it.

Pocono; Denny Hamlin won, no, dominated that track in season 2006, scoring the pole and win in both starts there. Now I saved up a ‘Denny’ in my foxsports fantasy picks just for last week (and also picked him in Williamwilman’s trifecta)…and what happened? Bloody rain! I tell you I was looking real good over the first 50 odd laps before it all went pair shaped as Steve Letarte used up his ‘phone a friend’ and snatched it from under my nose.

"Lock in 'C' thanks; rain after the #99 pits and the #11 is behind us!"

What about season 2006? My favourite driver is Kasey Kahne who was pretty much untouchable about a third of the way through the year. I had decided to take a 6 week holiday around this time last year which allowed me to go to the race at Sonoma...from that point on, Kasey's season plummeted downhill at a great rate of knots and only a win and a third in the last few races managed to get him into the Chase. Sorry Kasey, I accept full responsibility for ruining your chances of the title.

How about some more "fan" proof? Take my fellow racing nut, photogr; he’s picked Jimmie Johnson in the last two races of Will's trifecta and has managed to completely destroy Jimmie’s momentum after a blown tyre and a crash…we shall see if Jeff Gordan suffers the same fate this weekend.

Now I’ll admit, sometimes you manage to hit on the perfect combination…I went with Sam Hornish to win last week in the IRL race and he did, while photogr cancelled out Jimmie’s performance  by going with the rookie sensation, Lewis Hamilton, who collected his maiden win in the Canadian GP. But that doesn't make for good reading so I'm not going down that road.

I shall now indulge everyone on the two best cases I’ve heard of the dreaded Curse, one by commentators and the other by a fan. One occurred just under a month ago in a Rugby League game played in Brisbane, Australia. One player managed to charge down a kick, pick up the ball, put a little kick over the top of the defence, re-gather and dive across the line right as the halftime siren went off.

What’s so bad about that you might think? Quite rightly too since it was a spectacular piece of skill to watch.

Well, midway through the second half, after receiving the praise from all the commentators, he threw a desperate pass to a teammate on his own goal line which was intercepted by an opposing player who scored the easiest points he’ll ever get in his career.

The other time happened nearly four years ago in the Rugby Union World Cup semi-final between New Zealand and Australia. I was watching it with my coworkers down at the bar and a guy shouted out "why doesn't he throw the ball out wide to the fast guys?!"

Thankfully, the NZ player was listening and did just that moments later...only for the pass to be picked off and an Aussie player raced 80 odd yards to touch down at the other end.

Now all the talk about people who will never support Dale Jr since he’s gone to Hendrick Motorsports has me thinking…that could very well be exactly what Jr needs since there are more of us fans than there are commentators.

If I was a betting man, I’d be heading down to the local TAB and putting a fiver on him to win his first title in 2008…but considering my record, I think I’ll keep my money through fear of jinxing the poor bloke.

"This win's for my Dad...and Tez who decided not to bet on me, thanks man!"