What the hell is a team, anyway?
I mean, what is it beyond the obvious definition of an assembly of people that take the field within the parameters of the rules of a game?
I say that, at its best, it is a collective of teammates where the sum of the parts is greater than the whole, where a certain magic takes place to unite them and give them the force of two closed fists rather than a whole bunch of separate fingers operating independently.
My metaphor, or simile, or allegory – one of those things, I am never sure which – might be a little violent, but you surely get the drift?
The next question is, what makes a successful team, beyond assembling talent, getting them fit and drilling them until their noses bleed?
I say the X-factor is getting the team to care for their colours, for each other, for the people who support them, and I say that more often than not it comes from having old-stagers in and around the team. You need a critical mass of those who have worn those colours for many years, who know what they represent, who – beyond their own input on the day – also act as a bridge to previous generations, to link the present with the past and get the present to understand and care for the duty, the DEBT, they owe to those who have gone before!
And what truly amazes me is how often, in the professional age of sport, those basic facts get lost.
Look at Souths, with Adam Reynolds, a few years ago. If even a passive observer like me could see that he was the beating heart of the team, the one capable of embarrassing the others should they not get close to matching his own extraordinary efforts every game, why couldn’t Souths? But no, they let him go to the Broncos, at which point the Rabbitohs immediately started blowing smoke from their starboard and port engines, and losing altitude, even as the Broncos started to soar.
The Wallabies without Michael Hooper and other old-stagers at last year’s World Cup? On a bad day they looked like a bunch of 22-year-olds thrown Wallabies jerseys the previous Tuesday and told they were playing for Australia. It just didn’t work. Beyond James Slipper, they just didn’t have the gritty gravitas needed to compete at that level and the result was catastrophic.
A couple of weeks ago, the news broke that the Parramatta Eels no longer wanted their captain and fullback, Clint Gutherson.
Eels captain Clint Gutherson.Credit: NRL Photos
Friends? Madness, complete and utter madness. I have watched Gutherson for years. Ever and always it was not just him putting in the finest performances, but also him holding the others to account behind the try line after disaster, shortly before exhorting them forward when pressing the opponents’ line. But, suddenly, Clint, here’s your hat and what’s your hurry, don’t let the door hit your arse on the way out – for we can do better than you!
I say they can’t. I say rushing a bloke like him out the door says it really is just a business after all, and you are just employees. Even blokes who treat it as more than that can be savagely cut, so don’t forget to Bundy on, and Bundy off later. As for the link to the past great players they have played with, that link is broken.
And the latest, greatest example of this madness is new Broncos coach Madge McGuire breaking ties with Alfie Langer – regarded as maybe the greatest Bronco of the lot, and a ubiquitous figure running water as a trainer ever since, all while barking instructions from the coach and holding them to account.
Look, maybe Alfie walked in loyalty to the sacked Kevin Walters – or maybe McGuire did indeed bring in the new broom. It makes no difference. McGuire’s job is to find a way to keep Langer in the frame. Who better than Langer to move them beyond being just a casual collective? Who better than Langer to take Reece Walsh aside, and tell him to pull his head in? Who better than Langer to act as the link to so many generations of players past? The answer is, no-one. Madness, absolute madness. And if even I can see it, why can’t they?
Why Madame Butterfly is giving up her gig
It was the great American writer and TFF’s hero – thanks for caring – Hunter S. Thompson who said it best: “The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs.”
It applies, trust me, to the electronic media generally and the greatest of all traditions in those gigs is you NEVER resign from the money trench, you hold on till they come for you, cleaning out office after office around you, until they drag you, kicking and screaming out the door, replaced by somebody younger, sharper and faster – even when you know they are IMPOSTERS!
But, last week, the most staggering thing happened.
Susie O’Neill – Madame Butterfly – despite holding down a lucrative gig on Nova Breakfast in Brissie, suddenly announced, a little tearily, that she was quitting in a few weeks.
No more early-morning starts: Susie O’Neill.Credit: Getty Images
“I do this with a heavy heart. The decision wasn’t easy. It’s hard for me to articulate exactly why I’m leaving.”
Yesterday, for an interview for my Q&A column in the Sun-Herald, I asked her to try and articulate it anyway, and she did for 30 minutes or so. She loved the Hunter S quote and laughed uproariously.
“I got precisely that advice,” she told me. “‘Hang in there!’ from friends who had been previously cleaned out, dragged out, kicking and screaming, as you describe. They said, ‘Take the money and just do your life around this job.’ ‘Soon enough, you won’t have a job, so enjoy this while it lasts!’”
But … nuh.
The answer to why she’s leaving is really quite moving. You can see it tomorrow, but what it boils down to is this. Deep in her makeup is the ability to not just chase, but suffer while doing so – and it was one of the sources of her greatness.
“I really was good at hurting myself,” she said. “I felt like I could cut my head off from my body – torturing my body, while still feeling OK in my head. I just kept chasing, chasing, chasing lower times.”
And she chased in the media, too, and achieved huge things.
So why suddenly stop now?
Very broadly, Madame Butterfly is 50 and wants to stop chasing. For at least a bit, and maybe longer, Madame Butterfly wants to alight on a flower and let the world flutter by without her, while she decides what to do next. Whatever it is, I am betting it will be gentle, and involve no more the very early mornings she has known through swimming and radio. Brava. She deserves it.
What They Said
The winning jockey in The Everest – which I think was that big horse race at Randwick last Saturday? – Craig Williams: “You’ve got to be that bloke pushing the rock up the hill and after you’ve conquered one hill, you’ve got another mountain to get up to … But I couldn’t do it without [my horse] Bella Nipotina’s guts and determination.” Mighty big of you, Tex.
Senator David Pocock on AFL/NRL and gambling companies lobbying the Prime Minister vis a vis gambling ads: “This must stop – reducing harm and ensuring the wellbeing of Australian communities must be the prime minister’s priority, not pandering to the gambling lobby.”
Hamish McLennan on Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii: “Joseph has already driven massive interest in rugby union and paid for himself over and over again. He’s a global rugby superstar before he has even pulled on a Wallaby jumper, and he’ll be a wonderful role model for aspiring young players.”
McLennan: “I’d be having a crack at the likes of Nathan Cleary and a few others.”
Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii at his first Wallabies camp.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
Novak Djokovic after playing Rafael Nadal for probably the last time: “The rivalry has been incredible, it has been very intense, so I hope we will have a chance to sit on the beach somewhere and have a drink reflecting on life and talking about something else. It’s been an incredible honour and pleasure to share the court with you. It’s an emotional moment and an emotional day, we’ve been playing so many matches over so many years.”
Jannik Sinner looking to develop this kind of rivalry with Carlos Alcaraz: “This kind of rivalries, this kind of players, they push us always to our 100%.”
Boxer Tim Tszyu after a tough day at the office: “After the first shot, things didn’t go according to plan.” Shades of Mike Tyson’s famous line, that “everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth,” which in turn owes something, ultimately to Prussian Field Marshal Helmuth von Moltke the Elder’s“No plan of operations can with any safety include more than the first collision with the enemy’s main body.”
Bakhram Murtazaliev taunting Tszyu after the brutal bashing of a fight:“Who’s your Daddy now?”
Bakhram Murtazaliev lands a punch on Tim Tszyu last weekend.Credit: No Limit
LA Mayor Karen Bass on bringing some of that Paris Magic to LA: “What we want to do is dissect what we saw. What I loved about it was the way the whole city was engaged. What’s the secret sauce in that?”
David Warner has already had enough of hanging around the house: “I’m always available, just got to pick up the phone … I did retire for the right reasons to finish the game and I wanted to finish. [But] my hand is up if they desperately need someone. I’m not going to shy away from that.”
Hockey Australia CEO David Pryles on hockey not being on the menu at Glasgow 2026: “It is a disappointing announcement, not just for hockey but for all of the sports who have missed out in the reduced format.”
World Rugby: “While understanding the unique circumstances of the 2026 Games … the absence of rugby sevens, along with other team sports, at Glasgow 2026 is a significant loss for players, fans, and the Games themselves.”
Recently retired Broncos winger Corey Oates on the troubles Ezra Mam is dealing with:“I know that this is definitely not him.”
NY Jets interim coach Jeff Ulbrich after they were outscored 24-0 in the second half: “That game, especially that second half, that’s not who this team is.”
Indianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson on his new haircut: “This haircut transition for me is just a breath of fresh air to see who I’m gonna be in these next few years.” Self-absorbed, much?
Team of the Week
The Commonwealth Game. In hugely truncated form, it will take place in Glasgow in 2026. Just 10 sports. Why bother. Australia could phone in its performance and no doubt still get 50 gold medals.
New Zealand. Won the America’s Cup for the third straight time, their men defeated India in Test cricket in India while their women won the T20 World Cup, and their Black Ferns netball side beat our Diamonds twice in a row. (I know. Me too. I was hoping all of the above was a whole series of typos, resulting in a catastrophic misunderstanding, but it’s all true!)
Laura Enever. The Australian surfer was crowned female Surfer of the Year.
Bronny James. Played with his father LeBron James in the first Lakers game of the season, to be the first father-son in the NBA to play together. He only played for three minutes, missed all three shots and had one rebound.
Hannah Green. Aussie golfer won the BMW Ladies Championship in South Korea. Her third LPGA tournament win of the year.
Yankees & Dodgers. Contesting this year’s World Series.
Sports news, results and expert commentary. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.
