Wakefield Trinity Wildcats 46-14 London Broncos

Wakefield Trinity Wildcats completely outclassed London Broncos 46-14 in a very one-sided match on Sunday afternoon at a packed Rapid Solicitors Stadium.

A hat trick of tries from Wildcats captain Danny Kirmond, aided by Lee Smith’s almost perfect kicking performance, gave Wakefield a much deserved victory.

Hat trick hero Danny Kirmond

It took just four minutes for the rout to begin, with winger Peter Fox going over in the corner after a superb team move by the West Yorkshire side. Poor defending by London then allowed full back Richie Mathers to waltz in to make it 12-0.

Wakefield, in total control by now, scored two more tries in a devastating five minute spell, with Kirmond scoring his first of the afternoon and then stand-off Paul Sykes ran in another to make it 24-0 after just 23 minutes.

The Broncos, fielding three debutants, could not get in the game and were defending woefully. Unsurprisingly, they soon allowed Kirmond his second of the game, with Lee Smith, having recently taken over kicking duties from Paul Sykes, adding the extras.

The Broncos finally made a breakthrough two minutes before half time, with winger Harry Colbon diving in to the corner in what was London’s first meaningful attack. However Shane Grady could not add the extras and the teams went in to half time with the home side leading 30-4.

The first half intensity that had been present had somewhat disappeared in the first 20 minutes of the second half, with Wakefield seemingly coasting to victory. However lively Broncos winger Keiran Dixon scored twice in a matter of six minutes, the second thanks to a wonderful run from Michael Robertson, to give the travelling faithful something to cheer.

This proved to be the turning point for Wakefield, and soon Kirmond had completed his hat trick in delightful style, piercing the London defence superbly. Wildcats then finished the game brilliantly, scoring two tries in three minutes from Frankie Mariano and Kyle Wood, respectively.

After the game, Wildcats head coach Richard Agar said about the first half: “It's definitely a case of job done. The first-half performance set up the win nicely.”

Broncos head coach Tony Rea said: “Once we found some rhythm as a team I thought the guys really stood up for each other and worked their way through the game okay.”

The Curious Case of the Cleveland Cavaliers

July 8th 2010: LeBron James' infamous "Decision" to take his talents to South Beach leaves the entire organisation, nay the entire City, in a state of shock.

2010-2011 season: Cleveland finish with the second worst record in the league, edging out the 17-65 Timberwolves with a 19-63 record. The season also included the longest losing streak in the NBA's history, and the joint-longest in any of the "Big 4" sports (NBA, NFL, NHL and MLB), with a 26-game losing run beginning on Decmber 20th and ending with an overtime victory against Los Angeles Clippers on February 11th.

The drop in win percentage from 2009-10 season was the largest in NBA history since the merger.

Cleveland also traded Mo Williams to LA Clippers for Baron Davis and an unprotected first round draft pick.

April 2011: Cavs win the NBA Draft lottery through LA Clippers' pick, and also get 4th pick through their own.

June 2011: Cavs select former Duke University Point Guard Kyrie Irving as the Number 1 draft pick, and also surprise a few faces by selecting Power Forward Tristan Thompson with the 4th pick.

2011-2012 season: Cavs improve slightly from the previous season, finishing 21-45 in a lockout-effected season. Kyrie Irving takes the league by storm, averaging 18.5 points per game, including game winners against OKC Thunder and Boston Celtics, and shoots .469% from the field. Safe to say he strolled his way to the Rookie of the Year crown.

But this was expected as Varejao was injured after 20 games, and Cavs had no backup C, eventually playing Thompson there. The serious lack of depth in this Cavs side was brought to light here.

June 2012: Cavs get 4th pick in the draft, and select a much-needed Shooting Guard in Dion Waiters. Cavs also trade 3 picks to Dallas Mavericks in exchange for Center Tyler Zeller.

Now we have a basic timeline of the post-LeBron era, I can go ahead and review this season so far.

In terms of transactions pre-season, Cavs were quite active. Veteran forward Antawn Jamison left as a free agent and joined a new-look Los Angeles Lakers. Manny Harris was waived.
Cavs went ahead an re-signed forwards Luke Harangody and Alonzo Gee, and also signed guards CJ Miles and Jeremy Pargo, and forward Jon Leuer, as free agents.

So by the start of the season, Cavs had put together a good, young starting line up (age in brackets):
PG - Irving (20)
SG - Waiters (20)

SF - Gee (25)

PF - Thompson (21)

C - Varejao (29)

2012-13 season so far: Cavs opened with a convincing win over Wizards, Varejao standing out with 23 rebounds, 9 assists and 9 points. This gave Cavs the best record in the NBA for about an hour. However things soon unravelled. 

Cavs went just 3-16 in November, but Thompson and Varejao dominating the boards was enouraging. They continued to do that throughout December as well, but still Cavs went just 3-13.

January was better. Cavs went 6-8, but disaster struck when it was announced Varejao, averaging 14.4 rebounds per game, had a blood clot in his lung and would be out for the rest of the season. Coach Scott quickly announced Tyler Zeller would be his replacement. Zeller fitted in well, and in his first 3 starts, Cavs went 3-0.

January 22nd, just one day after Varejao was officially out for the season, and Cavs pulled off an outstanding trade, giving Memphis Grizzlies Jon Leuer in exchange for Wayne Ellington, Marreese Speights, Josh Selby and a future draft pick.

Ellington and Speights fit in immediately, and Cavs beat Thunder to kick off another 3 game winning streak. Cavs were 16-37 at the all star break, and 11-12 in 2013. Cavs are 3-1 since then, giving them an 19-38 record.

With 25 games left, Cavs' realistic aim would probably be to win approximately half of them and get to around 28-54.

So despite having an all-star guard in Irving, an almost "walking double-double" in Thompson and an efficient shooter in Gee, Cavs are still struggling. It's no secret that the signings of Ellington and Speights, who despite being in their early-20s, add some experience to a side that very much needs some.

It's a very odd scenario. The team should be performing better, and on paper would beat a lot of teams they've lost to. But a game was never played on paper. Hopefully another experienced addition in summer, along with a high draft pick (despite what is looking like being an awful draft) will give them that firepower they need to get back into the playoffs.

8th seed, maybe even 6th with it being the East, is definitely within the sights of this young team next season, and barring injuries, I think everyone involved in the organisation, professionally or as a fan, would feel disappointed if they weren't playing in the post-season in 2014.

Occupational Hazards: Who is in the wrong?

78th minute of a Capital One Cup Semi-Final. Swansea 0-0 Chelsea. Swansea lead on aggregate after winning 2-0 at Stamford Bridge. Belgian starlet Eden Hazard tries to play a one-two with Chelsea right back César Azpilicueta, but the ball runs out of play. The Swansea ballboy lets the ball hit the hoardings, and walks towards it to pick it up. As he bends down, an impatient Hazard tries to pick it up also, and it ends with the ball boy on the floor, smothering the ball. A moment of madness ensues, with Hazard kicking the ball out from under the ball boy, but also catching him in the ribs.

The ball boy naturally clutches his ribs, and a mass fracas starts, with Swansea captain Ashley Williams leaping to the defence of the boy. After a lengthy talk between referee Chris Foy, Chelsea captain Frank Lampard and offender Eden Hazard, the red card is shown to the Belgian.

The incident basically scuppers any chance Chelsea had of getting back into the game and the match peters out.

(GIF courtesy of www.sbnation.com)

Now we've got the facts, let's examine what actually happened.

Obviously Eden Hazard has no right to get involved. It was a stupid thing to do and it was not his place to do so. He is completely in the wrong and no amount of defending him will make it right. A professional should be a role model for budding footballers, and he certainly did not act like one last night.

Now we move on to the ball boy. A 17 year old lad, Charlie Morgan, son of Swansea shareholder Martin Morgan, has taken his time over retrieving the ball and felt a push from Eden Hazard, so he hits the deck. Obviously, he shouldn't have gone down. He should have just picked the ball up, and slowly rolled it towards Swansea's goalkeeper, Gerhard Tremmel. It would still have wasted time, Morgan's clear aim, but would have worked out better for all parties involved. 

As soon as Hazard confronted him, something was going to happen. He should have realised that there was no scenario where he won't be viewed as the villain, and there was no scenario where he wasn't going to kick the ball boy as well as the ball.

Eden Hazard is 22 years old. Charlie Morgan is 17. 5 years isn't too big a difference, right? Wrong. It's not the age gap that makes this an issue, it's the fact that Hazard is a professional. My reaction would still have been the same, whether it be someone as young as Raheem Sterling, 18, or Eden Hazard, 22, or someone double the ball boy's age, like Frank Lampard, 34.

A professional, earning silly (or what I consider silly) money, has a duty to act like one and by kicking out simply because the game isn't going his way is entirely unprofessional. Most professionals keep their emotions in check, at least their physical ones anyway. I have no problem with players shouting at the ref in this situation, or shouting at Swansea players, or even shouting at the ball boy, but to then go and act on those emotions is wrong. Plain wrong.

This is what separates the professionals from the unprofessionals. The majority of players would have got annoyed, sure, but they would also not have confronted the ball boy. However Hazard is not in that majority, and he needs to learn to keep his physical emotions concealed whilst he's playing. Hopefully this should help him learn and grow as a footballer, as he is supremely talented and has a huge future head of him. This should not cast a shadow over his career, but if he fails to learn from what he has done, it will.

Quite frankly, the whole situation is very bizarre indeed, and I have never, nor will I ever again hopefully, seen anything like it. The only thing I will say, which is not defending Hazard's actions, is that Morgan should not have gone to ground. It was a silly thing to do and he should have, like I said earlier, just slowly rolled it back to Tremmel. 

Referee Chris Foy was excellent in all of this, it should be noted. He stayed professional and didn't get involved until he had to. By the time it had calmed down the ball boy had been lead off the pitch, he called over Lampard and Hazard to explain the situation. Lampard knew what was going to happen, and despite his weak protests, he could have no complaints when Foy correctly brandished the red card. Hazard, on the other hand, looked to be taken aback but accepted what he had done and disappeared down the tunnel.

So Hazard was 100% in the wrong. Charlie Morgan was also in the wrong, but he was also pushed to the ground, so he was about 50% in the wrong. Chris Foy was 0% in the wrong, and did excellently to keep the match under his control.