Another Tuesday where I take a brief look at some of the goings on of Australia.

BIG NEWS

The Queensland Government is trying to sell the naming rights to The Gabba, because apparently it will fall into disrepair without sponsors’ money.

We can pull this off in a few ways:

Sell it to Nickelodeon who can name it the Yo Gabba Gabba.

Warner Bros. , who can name it the Yabba Dabba Gabba Doooooo!

A butchery in Brisbane (I’ve been recommended to Annerley Meats) to name it The Gabbatoir when Australia plays their test matches there.

But I’m hoping Tony Galati pulls out a few million so they can call it Spud Shed Stadium.

It’s an appropriate name, since the Lions are full of them.

AFL

So after nine games of the pre-season, trying to understand these rule changes is on par with watching Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films, and then reading Tolkien’s novels- You may think you know what’s going on, but then you realise you’ve got absolutely no clue.

Expect to see umpires plucking out random free kicks for 6-6-6 infringements during March and April and holding up games by a minute, which I did see happen in the Eagles-Cats on Friday and again yesterday in the Fremantle-Collingwood match, with both teams being penalised for not having a player start in the defensive goal square (Part of the 6-6-6 rule).

Thus, it shall be dubbed, the Satan Rule.

In the meantime, the final JLT games begin on Thursday when Geelong plays Essendon at Kardinia Park.

NRL

Just a day after I detailed the Shark cull, Cronulla CEO Barry Russell has announced he’s stepping down in April.

Apparently some senior Sharks officials didn’t like him self reporting their salary cap problems to the league…. Even though it spared them an extra $500,000 in fines.

And now apparently the NRL wants to expand the 2020 finals to 10 teams by including a ‘Wild Card Weekend’, an idea laughed at by many commentators, former players and fans alike.

Cock-eyed logic- Something to get the teenagers laughing.

Supercars

The paddock’s resident Whinging Pom, Triple Eight supremo Roland Dane, has found a new gripe, saying that the new Mustang is already too powerful after it took both pole positions and Scott McLaughlin won both races of the Adelaide 500.

Funny how he didn’t make a peep last year when the ZB Commodore debuted at Adelaide against a three-year-old FG X Falcon and absolutely dominated.

But to be fair, Dane did say the onus is on his engineering company PWR to “engineer an unfair advantage” to close the gap.

Rugby

Australia’s women’s rugby captain Liz Patu was given a 6-match ban after being accused of biting the arm of fellow Wallaroo Rebecca Clough while playing for Queensland against WA in their Super W match on Sunday, ruling her out for the rest of the season.

When asked about the incident after the marathon hearing on Monday night, Patu said Clough “tasted like chicken.”

According to sources, her favourite band is the Fine Young Cannibals.

The Thoroughbreds

A mass of thick black clouds has formed over Golden Slipper favourite Tassort, after James Cummings was forced to scratch the colt from the weekend’s Todman Stakes due to a bruised foot.

Cummings has described his chances of racing in the Slipper as “50/50,” but fortunately for the Blue Army, Cummings is going so well with the juveniles this season that he only has the second and third favourites Microphone and Exhilirates to fall back on.

Meanwhile, the final 14-horse field for the All-Star Mile is confirmed, with the final three wildcards handed out.

Guineas winner Mystic Journey (Tasmania) gives every state a runner in the field, Godolphin’s old warrior Hartnell (NSW), and in a surprise, the Hayes trained Guineas runner-up Hawkshot (Victoria) is the 14th runner, raising a few eyebrows…. especially considering that Lindsay Park didn’t even bother to nominate the colt for the ASM.

UPDATE: We’ve finally had an update on the condition of fallen Sydney hoop Tye Angland

Cricket

The Australia-India series rolls on to Nagpur this afternoon for the Second ODI, and it looks like Shaun Marsh is ready to make his return. As much as we ignore it, the Aussies’ recent form in the 50-over format is now 4 wins in 25 matches.

Meanwhile the bowlers have struck back in the Sheffield Shield, especially in the two matches on Sunday, when 28 wickets fell between NSW & Queensland and WA & SA.

The four first innings scores were: 150 (NSW), 185 (QLD), 159 (SA) and 157 (WA), but then again, a first innings total of 157 for WA is akin to another team reaching 400.

Victoria vs Tasmania began this morning.

COMING UP TOMORROW: CELEBRATING THE BIRTHDAY OF A VERY SPECIAL STADIUM!