australian times newspaper: 3 july 2012 edition

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3 - 9 July 2012 – Issue: 419

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UP IN THE AIRUndecided on

London’s Imperial War Museum?

41434

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NAUGHTY LONDONPick-up lines in the capital

Australian lawyer released from LibyaAustrAliAn lawyer Melinda taylor has been released from libyan custody, almost a month after she was detained.

Ms taylor’s parents say they’re grateful for the Australian government’s support while their daughter has been held in libya.

Ms taylor was released yesterday, three and a half weeks after she and three other international Criminal Court (ICC) officials were detained in the libyan city of Zintan.

she is expected to be reunited with her husband Geoff and their two-year-old daughter Yasmina in the Hague today (tuesday).

Ms taylor’s mother Janelle says it’s been a particularly trying time for Ms taylor’s husband.

“Geoff has found it very difficult, as we have found it,” she told ABC radio.

“i think he’s found it a little bit more difficult, because he’s had to keep up a face for Yasmina and tell Yasmina that mummy had just gone for a little holiday.”

Ms taylor’s father John thanked the Department of Foreign Affairs and trade (DFAt) for its support during the ordeal.

“We’re most grateful for a lot of people, in particular to DFAt and to their employees and staff,” he said.

Foreign Minister Bob Carr has expressed “great relief” at the news.- AAP

HORSING AROUNDMedieval mastery in Siena

A CLEANER FUTURE? OZROLLS OUT CARBON TAXn The Australian government has been widely criticised after rolling out the historic carbon tax law, with the Opposition pledging to repeal the “toxic tax” should they win the next Federal Election.

MAJor corporations backing the carbon tax have been dismissed for having “no skin in this game”, as Australians wait to see by how much prices rise as the impost rolls through the economy.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard says there will be some flow-on price impacts as 294 big polluters start paying the $23 per tonne price on carbon emissions, which came into effect on sunday.

But she also said labor’s multibillion dollar compensation package for households will mitigate any rises and Australians would come to see it’s the right policy direction for the nation.

“it is appropriate with all of that doom has been spread around for months and months, for us to say to people, look the doomsayers were wrong,” she told Fairfax radio on Monday.

A consortium of almost 300 big businesses, including Westpac, AGl, unilever and GE, have signed a joint statement backing the tax and accused the coalition of creating uncertainty by promising to scrap it in government.

But the Australia Chamber of Commerce and industry (ACCi) says small and middle-ranking companies stand to lose and the consortium’s view is not mainstream.

the tax had little consequence for energy providers who would pass it on while banks “had no skin in this game”, ACCi director of economics and industry policy Greg Evans told AAP.

“our members are overwhelmingly price takers in the marketplace and are not in the position of being able to unilaterally set prices and simply pass those on down the chain,” he added.

opposition leader tony Abbott also rejected the consortium’s view, saying

if it wanted certainty it should back his position.

“We offer them the certainty of no carbon tax,” he told reporters in Geelong, Victoria.

Mr Abbott also said a coalition government will call on the Australian

Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to ensure prices fall once the tax is gone.

“the ACCC will have the job of ensuring people aren’t being ripped

IN THE (HILLTOP) HOODWe get up close and personal with Australia’s hippest hip-hop act | P7

3 - 9 July 20122 | News

the hard word> NATHAN MOTTON

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On: Job-hunting in London, made that little bit harderQuestion – Wouldn’t a good recruiting agency have read, re-read and shuffled your CV till it fit the role they were placing you in? After all you are tHEir shiny product :)

DeanAustralianTimes.co.uk/voices

Dean’s got it right! Also, that’s a fairly big typo mate :)

ChrisAustralianTimes.co.uk/voices

On: Australian Dollar may be safe haven currencysafe haven currency? How can you publish that in the headline then acknowledge in the very first sentence that it has been sold off because of the dampened demand for “risk assets”. the Aussie is the exact polar opposite of a safe haven. its falls are directly linked to risk aversion and the opposite is so of its gains. there is no currency on the planet more fundamentally opposite to a “safe

haven” than the Aussie dollar.Benaud

AustralianTimes.co.uk/news

On: Australian Olympian Stephanie Rice posts sexy swimwear pics“looking at the photo now, trying real hard to be offended. Just give me a few more minutes…”

ChichAustralianTimes.co.uk/sport

On: Soaring and screaming on the AFL rollercoaster Great read and i’m glad you mentioned Hurley’s “voodoo” line as i’d forgotten about that gem!

TomAustralianTimes.co.uk/sport

On: Peter Moody talks up Black Caviar for a Royal Ascot treatnot one English racegoer wants to see Black Caviar beaten and we all have great admiration for the owners decision to bring her over. However, Ascot is an uphill 6f so BC will need to stay every yard in softish ground with a very underated French horse in the field. Also please stop throwing Hay list, Foxwedge, ortensia and sepoy at us, they are not as good as you think. Great horses don’t run stinkers and they do.

Excelebration continually behind Frankel, apart from his debut, is unbeaaten in all his other races.

Alan StevensAustralianTimes.co.uk/sport

On: Why Aussies move to London Enjoyed your article, Bethany. However, my experience is the opposite when i ask Brits what they’re up to on the weekend. All too often is the reply ‘off to Paris’ replaced by ‘not much, just staying local’. seriously, because Brits are so close to everything, most are content to stay put, thinking they’ll ‘get there one day’. Few do.

LCAustralianTimes.co.uk/voices

On: Dollar for pound, Australia’s cities are ludicrously overpricedi’ve lived in london (& Germany, Belgium & China) for extended periods since the 80′s but go back to Melbourne most years for a month or two. i’m astonished how prices have risen relatively. Mates there say “it’s the strong dollar” but that’s not it at all!

DaleAustralianTimes.co.uk/voices

AustralianTimes.co.uk/voices

n Australia’s media industry has been handed some massive shake-ups in the last fortnight - what with the Fairfax cuts and the News Corp split - but how will this affect our media landscape?

The wane but rise of the fourth estate

it was undoubtedly a devastating blow to Australia’s ever-shrinking media industry.

one of our country’s oldest newspaper groups, Fairfax Media, announcing major job cuts in Melbourne and sydney. 1900 jobs will be cut over three years, up to 20% in editorial, and will force the sydney Morning Herald and the Melbourne Age to change from a broadsheet to tabloid-size by next year.

A partial pay wall will be introduced on both titles next year, while the company’s main printing presses in sydney and Melbourne will be closed by 2014.

“no one should be in any doubt that we are operating in very challenging times,” wailed Fairfax chief executive and managing director, Greg Hywood.

“readers’ behaviours have changed and will not change back. As a result we are taking decisive action to fundamentally change the way we do business.”

the federal communications minister, stephen Conroy, offered this in response: “the internet will continue its march and sectors that were profitable previously are going to continue to struggle as the internet cannibalises different parts of the economy... it’s not something you can stop, it’s something that will continue.”

Hardly inspiring stuff from a

minister who recently announced the Government will revisit media ownership laws, with implications for diversity and independence.

the total readership of the sMH and the Age has increased from 5.5m to 7.2m in the past five years. the problem is that 77% of those readers are online.

When i say problem, i don’t literally mean it’s a ‘problem’ as such, because online readership has opened up our industry to all sorts of new and exciting avenues. And while the game has changed, Fairfax journalist’s concerns about a lowering of editorial standards due to consistent staff cuts is a valid point.

the Hard Word has written previously about concerns that the Australian public are being robbed of an informed global debate about world news, but this is more than that.

Despite laws set out in the Broadcasting services Act 1992 Australia has one of the highest concentrations of media ownership in the world. ownership of the country’s national newspapers is restricted to two media corporations, news Corporation and John Fairfax Holdings. together they represent a staggering 90% of newspaper readership, of which around 70% belongs to the Murdoch press.

surely an environment where just two corporations control 90% of the media (in a democracy) is unsustainable.

Compare this to the uK. rupert Murdoch owns the sun, the times and sunday times and 39% of satellite network BskyB. Daily Mail

and General trust own the Daily Mail and Mail on sunday, and a number of other nationals, as well as a large proportion of regional media. Multi-millionaire English businessman richard Desmond owns the Daily Express and Daily star amongst others while russian oligarch Alexander lebedev owns the Evening standard and the independent. And the Guardian is part of the Guardian Media Group, owned by the scott trust limited.

And that’s just newspapers. there’s also one of the worlds pre-eminent public service broadcasters in the BBC, largely funded by licence fees.

While many of the uK newspapers operate at a loss year after year, the level of investment from individuals, companies and corporations is remarkable. it allows for one of the most competitive and demanding press industries in the world, and we the consumers are the beneficiaries.

Perhaps in Australia, foreign ownership is the answer. Perhaps not. Why can’t wealthy owners within our fair shores form some type of trust, similar to the scott trust which prospered here for so many decades. Why can’t there be more choice for Australian consumers? surely there is demand for more than just a single national newspaper. surely?

Australia’s media industry deserves more than this.

And more importantly, Australia’s consumers deserve more than this.

News | 3AustralianTimes.co.uk


Continued from p1...

Carbon tax business backers criticisedoff, when the carbon tax goes off and costs are appropriately reduced,” he said.

Both the labor government and the coalition have begun a two-week blitz on the carbon tax.

labor is hoping the broader community will come to see it as a good thing while Mr Abbott is campaigning to convince people the policy means financial pain with no environmental gain.

Public opposition to carbon pricing has risen three percentage points to 62 per cent and many believe they will be worse off, a nielsen poll published by Fairfax Media shows.

As well, the government’s support continues to languish, with the nielsen poll also showing its two-party preferred vote at 42 per cent against the coalition’s election winning 58 per cent.

resources Minister Martin Ferguson said the minority government will ride out the negativity.

“We will ride this out, fight this out, argue it out, and hopefully we can move on,” he told reporters in Canberra.

Meanwhile more than 2000 people gathered in Hyde Park in central sydney on sunday afternoon and then marched down to Belmore Park chanting “axe the tax” and waving around inflatable baseball bats and placards.

the lively crowd was addressed by a string of federal coalition MPs including Bronwyn Bishop, who said the opposition would abolish the tax immediately.

“the next election, whenever it will be held, will be a referendum on the carbon tax,” Ms Bishop said.

“those people who say we can’t abolish it are wrong - we can abolish it.”

“this tax on electricity, which is what it is, will get into every nook and cranny of your life.”

nationals MP Barnaby Joyce addressed protesters through a phone hook-up from Queensland.

“the Australian people are disgusted with this government, they’re disgusted with this tax,” Mr Joyce said.

Mr Joyce said the thermometer was the same temperature when he woke at midnight as it was earlier on saturday night.

liberal MP Craig Kelly said the federal government was destroying Australia’s prosperity by going after the country’s competitive advantage.

“this tax is a poisonous, toxic tax,” Mr Kelly said.

“once it got into our system it will go up and up.

“Every coalition member will sign a blood oath to get rid of this tax.”

the government is aiming to cut carbon emissions by five per cent by 2020, with the carbon tax shifting to an emissions trading scheme in 2015. Australia is the developed world’s worst polluter per head of population. - AAP

What do you think of the carbon tax law - love it or loathe it? Tell us at

3 - 9 July 20124 | Voices

tube talk> SANdRA TAHMASby

lost in london> LExxy LUTHER

Pick-up lines a la London

EVErY day i am reminded about my “first” time. Surprisingly, it was only 3 years ago and i was pretty good at it (even if i must say so myself!)

i was in charge and knew exactly where i wanted to go and what i wanted to get from this experience and i had a handy little thing called the tube map that showed me all the different ways of getting me around.

not knowing too much about this new encounter, I dove in head first and acted like i knew exactly what i was doing. it was a bonus for all those involved because it was quite a satisfying experience and we all know how awkward our first time can be.

there can be a lot of pressure to pop your ‘tube cherry’. it may be because all your friends are doing it or simply because it’s quick, reliable and takes you to places you have never been before!

these days i get in there, do what i have to do and get out! sometimes i even change my everyday routine and get off earlier than my usual stop just to spice things up!

You can easily tell when someone is having their ‘first’ time by a few

Do you remember your first time?simple warning signs.

First, they spend about 15 minutes at the ticket machine trying to figure out exactly where the place they were told to go is. then they try and work out how all these pretty coloured lines link up with their head buried in the tube map. often it becomes a little too much, so they give up and ask for help from the station conductor. nevertheless, they eventually get their ticket and away they go!

that was pretty easy they think! Definitely not like the movies though!

it’s when they get to second base that they think to themselves.. What have i got myself into??! Am i really ready for this?

standing on the platform looking up at the signs, pushing through the crowds of people, trying to MinD tHE GAP, all whilst wondering if they are on the correct line for their destination. Pretty daunting stuff!

Going with the flow, they jump on the next tube that arrives anyway. they are pushed out of the way by the more experienced passengers who rush to get a seat. looking up at the map on the carriage, they count on their fingers exactly how many stops until it’s time for their next move.

After reaching into their bag and grabbing some protection (hand sanitizer), they blankly stare around at people until they build the courage to ask someone.. “Does this go to leicester square?”

still unsure of their next move, they are again puzzled when they reach a station and the driver announces: “this train terminates here All CHAnGE PlEAsE, All CHAnGE.”

Almost being trampled in the stampede of people, they too rush off the tube and calculate their next move.

once they reach the escalators they stand on the left hand side (because that’s how it’s done in Australia) and are abruptly asked to move to the right. reaching the ticket gates and realising they are not at leicester square they ask for more directions. oh the joy!

“You need to get on the nortHErn line from this station and it’s literally like four stops away, yeah.”

the northern line of course is back down the escalators and across from the platform they were just at. starting to get hot and flustered, they rush back down to the platform just in time for the arrival of the next tube.

now they are where they want to be.. cool, calm and collected, they find a seat and in their minds they reassure themselves that they are on the right track. they check their tube map and take another look at the map on the carriage. They are finally getting into it.

Just when they are getting the hang of things they hear “tHis stAtion is lEiCEstEr sQuArE” and in a heartbeat it’s all over!

With a smile of satisfaction they hop off the tube and are on their way. Feeling chuffed with their performance they think, ‘next time will be better, i know what i am doing now’! Then mentally hi-five themselves on a job well done.

i guess popping your ‘tube cherry’ is like a rite of passage whilst living in london. You can always take things slow and walk around this wonderful city or jump on a passing bus, but i guarantee you won’t get the same experience.

there are many things i haven’t quite worked out yet (like men), but the tube, i know!

rEturninG from the rugby 7s in twickenham a month or two ago, i found myself on the train to Waterloo sans companions. taking the only chair available, i looked up and saw that i was opposite two guys - one dressed as what could only be described as the lovechild of Kurt

Von trapp and a wood-elf; the other as John travolta from Saturday Night Fever (if John travolta had decided what his character was really missing was a blonde mullet wig).

they were, at the time i joined the train, in the midst of trying to pick up two ladies sitting across the aisle. these girls looked as if they had accidently wandered out of an episode of Geordie Shore - set in an 80s aerobics class - and onto the train. Class!

to be fair, the lads weren’t doing too bad – they had convinced the ladies to join them in a singalong to their favorite natalie imbruglia songs, and

had even determined their mutual destination was Clapham Junction. Cue the point where i should have jumped in and played ‘Millionaire Matchmaker’ by recommending wood-elf suggests to whory Madonna (circa ‘into the Groove’) that it would be his pleasure if she would do him the honor of joining him for a cocktail at one of Clapham’s finer establishments.

instead, wood-elf took matters into his own hands, and, after seriously misjudging the room, tried to the seal the deal by saying:

“i’ll tell you what, i’ll buy you a pasty at the station!”

Even as an Australian new to these delicious meat stuffed pockets of goodness, this seemed to be an underwhelming offer. But, then again, he may have been onto a winning formula given the recipient of his affections had only just loudly declared The Only Way Is Essex as an “overrated and undervalued” show.

the last i saw of them was their matching pink leg warmers making their way off into the night, travolta and his breeched friend dutifully following behind. God speed wood-elf, god speed.

iF you’re having indulgent visions of leaving the uK before the miserable, dark, icy winter sets in and coming back to Australia’s bright and sunny days ... stop. Australia is not as warm as you remember.

Battling through the uK’s winter months is a testing experience for any Aussie, especially one who, like me, can’t get enough of lazy hot summer days.

so when trying to decide whether to pack up and go back to oz, rose-tinted memories of lying by the pool on sweltering 30-degree days are guaranteed to come flooding back.

After making up my own mind and deciding to book a one-way flight to Melbourne, i was faced with the tough task of packing up the belongings i had accumulated in my time abroad.

Courier and Customs fees are sky high, so you have to be ruthless.

All the crappy, faded, falling-apart Primark purchases went straight to the no pile. the majority of the books, CDs and DVDs in my modest collection also failed to survive the

Hold onto your coats! Australia is colder than you remember

life afterlondon

> SHANNON CRANE

cull.i left london in november, just as

winter was beginning to show itself, so i had no choice but to keep my big warm winter coats until my last day. But when that final day arrived i ditched those coats and headed to Heathrow. My spring coat was the only one i would need in my sunny homeland, i though naively. that wasn’t my smartest moment.

Despite friends warning me that “Melbourne does get pretty cold in the winter” and suggesting i keep them, i

could only picture the scorching hot Australian summer which lay ahead.

But now, seven months on and with Melbourne’s winter well and truly here, i wish i’d taken off my rose-tinted glasses and held on to those coats.

While the mornings and evenings are the only time i would actually need them here in Melbourne, and even then i would probably overheat in those 80% wool beauties, the icy wind that roars up the tram line is no match for my light-weight spring jacket.

so if you’re faced with the arduous task of culling your london wardrobe, heed my advice and hold on to those coats. For you never know what icy cold gust of wind the Australian winter has in store.

*Author’s note: Obviously, if you’re headed for any of Australia’s balmy states (Qld, NT and WA), you can probably ignore this entire article and leave behind every item in your London wardrobe. The bikini and singlets you wore while on holiday in Greece are probably the only items you’ll need. But then again, I’ve been wrong before.

AustralianTimes.co.uk/voices AustralianTimes.co.uk/voices


Voices | 5AustralianTimes.co.uk

history. this was pretty fascinating especially when you saw that one of the Queens’ staff was a double agent.

However, there are two exhibitions that are not for the faint of heart. the first is the Crimes Against Humanity exhibit which focuses on genocide and ethnic conflict. This exhibit features quite a disturbing video of which I lasted all of five minutes before leaving as I was too horrified by the graphic content. in fairness to the museum they do warn you – i’m just not as brave as i think i am. the other exhibit that bears this warning is the Holocaust exhibition which i confess i didn’t step foot into. it was all just a bit much.

However i did enjoy the Portrait Gallery and the lord Ashcroft Gallery, the latter features biographies and articles from those who have received the Victoria Cross. listening to tales of heroism and bravery was uplifting for the spirit after the last few exhibits. if you’re after an interactive experience you can volunteer to go into the trenches – well a replica, and participate in a blitz air siren and cower in a bomb shelter. Mostly though, the museum is all about reading through history and gazing at propaganda posters and spy devices.

Coming from the lucky country and being young enough to not be affected greatly by war i found the museum educational and sobering, which is a totally different experience to the historical and interesting museum visit i was expecting. i still enjoyed my time there though and it is definitely worth a visit but out of all the museums in the top 100 – probably not my favourite.

bron inthe don bRONWyN SPENCER

chris’s kitchen

> CHRIS ARK

n Our resident London adventurer loves a good museum but she found her latest one, the Imperial War Museum, to be a little more sobering than she first thought.

tHErE are so many great museums on my london’s top 100 list that when i get the chance to check one out, it is always hard to decide which one to head to. so, when three people separately raved to me about how great the imperial War Museum was i decided to head over to lambeth, check it out and tick off #64.

From what i had heard - only a couple of hours aren’t enough - you can get lost in all the information and it was all just so great and interesting. But i have to say the experience i had was very different from the one that i expected after such rave reviews.

Don’t get me wrong, the museum has heaps of different exhibitions from World War i to the troops currently serving in Afghanistan. Each exhibit features artefacts and paraphernalia alongside a wealth of information. the most impressive of these is the planes and tanks when you first enter the museum.

not only do they have a detailed timeline of both world wars filled with relics they also have an exhibit about the uK secret service and how they operated throughout

An eye opening visit to London’s imperial War Museum Rain, rain, go or stay?

By Bon8As i continue to curse this bloody awful weather, i can’t help but have a snigger about what’s going on here.

England is ‘gripped’ by drought, even though it’s wetter than an otters pocket! How can it be...We have hose pipe bans and water restrictions in a city you usually consider to be a soggy biscuit. But nobody is laughing here, that’s for sure.

the water companies are all blueing, the pipes are leaking and pensioners are complaining that watering cans are too damn heavy.

now i’m no expert and i’m sure as hell not a flammin’ greeny but eco warriors, carbon footprints and low Emission Zones seem a contradiction as i look up to see the constant air-traffic jam circling London whilst

dipping a spoon into my passion fruit that started life in Zimbabwe. no i’m just Joe Bloggs, trying to look at this from the logical point of view.

First of all, education seems lacking over here. recently when the locals in the area i live were informed that their houses would be fitted with water meters they where outraged. What? i’m surprised it has taken a country as old as this this long to start implementing water meters. People should be embracing such measures, not whinging about them.

secondly, why don’t we catch the water. oK, so the DiY centres all sell water butts and tanks, and that’s great but why isn’t there any regulation that enforces water catchment for all new buildings or building extensions. it seems bizarre that we stare at the water running down the drain without

a second thought. imagine a long drought here. imagine one that went on for 10 years (like it just did back home). Forget the financial crisis. london would be on its knees and rain dancers would be queuing up for Britain’s Got talent.

oz lives under the constant threat of drought. recently the rains have come and wet the whistle on the East Coast but for sure, the dry will return. i predict the same here. it already seems a distant memory after the wettest April on record but March was the third warmest month in British history! so although it’s as wet as a dogs nose at the moment, it’s really as dry as his bone. so lets all pray for some sun, er...rain...bloody hell....beer o’clock!!

it is pretty much a given that us Aussies love a good steak. And usually, we love one at least once a week. luckily for any Australians living in london, the uK has some of the finest beef on offer. With all the lush green pastures around, you can be sure you are getting tasty grass fed beef from your butcher.

When i go shopping for a good steak, i choose my reliable butcher as apposed to larger supermarkets. i can be sure i am getting non vacuum-packed beef and certified accreditation on breed and region.

Australian beef is widely available and there’s some Antipodean outlets that have an excellent range of Aussie beef over here, but when in the uK – sample the local cuisine (and as much as we hate to say it, you won’t be disappointed).

Choosing a good rump steak is easy. i look for a good covering of fat, which is a pale yellow colour, and then the meat holding a dry appearance on the flesh and fat. This is a good indicator that the butcher has stored his beef in the right climatatic conditions. Moisture is the greatest enemy in quality steaks so ask your butcher how long the beef has been aged for - i would steer clear of anything less than 32 days.

the rump steak has been considered the cheaper cut to the fillet and sirloin in the past. But this large muscle on the hindquarter of the beast is jammed packed full of flavour and loves to be char grilled to medium rare and rested before eating.

An important tip when cooking steaks is to allow the steak to rest once the desired cooking temperature is reached. this allows the juices and fibers in the meat to relax after the intense heat and become subtle. My big tip - sprinkle your meat with a little sea salt and reserve any juices for the saucepot.

this week i will share a simple rub i use after grilling my rump steak for the perfect steak sandwich with mates (this recipe will serve four). Enjoy and happy cooking!

The perfect rump steak

What you need:• 450g piece of top quality rump

steak• 1 jar of wood roasted peppers or

peeled marinated capsicums• 3tsp of freshly chopped tarragon• 3tsp of freshly chopped parsley• 1 finely diced plum tomato• 1 red onion finely chopped and

sautéed on the grill• light olive oil for cooking• sea salt and freshly cracked

black pepper

What to do:• take the steak out of the fridge

20 minutes before cooking.• Place a grill pan on a medium

heat or BBQ.• rub the steak with the olive oil

and sea salt and pepper.• Place the steak on the grill and

leave for five minutes sizzling away with an even sound and heat. turn up the heat if the steak is only just cooking or down if it

A steak sanga with a difference

is spitting all over your mates.• take a small bowl and mix all the

remaining ingredients together and pound together to form a paste to cover the steak.

• once the steak is browning on the cooked surface turn the steak and cook for a further 4 mins for medium rare.

• remove from the grill and place on a tray or plate and rest on a warm surface.

• spread the paste over the steak and allow the steak to rest for a good 15 minutes.

• take a large ciabatta and fill with your favorite fillings and chutney’s.

• take the steak and slice thin fillets on an angle and place on your ciabatta. Any juices or extra paste spread over the sandwich for extra flavor. slice and enjoy!

AustralianTimes.co.uk/voices AustralianTimes.co.uk/voices


3 - 9 July 20126 | Entertainment

What’s On

for full details......and more Aussie gigs go to:

AustralianTimes.co.uk/entertainment

Check out what we’re following today on AustralianTimes.co.uk and follow

us on Twitter @AustralianTimes

What we’re following

Prita3 July@ Troubadour, West Brompton

Hilltop Hoods4 July@ Electric Ballroom

Wolfmother6 July@ IndigO2,

James Morrison7 July@ Cadogan Hall, Sloane Sq

Cold Chisel 11 July@Shepherd’s Bush Empire

The Temper Trap11 July@ Somerset House

Bliss N Eso 17 July@ The Garage, Islington

Sneaky Sound System21 July@ Electric Brixton

BT River of Music - Oceania Stage21-22 July @ Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich

Xavier Rudd8 August@ Koko

Darren Hayes24 September@ IndigO2,

Gotye12 November@ Hammersmith Apollo

WE’VE got nothing you want? Oh, we think we do.Fill your cup with cheap wine and join the sweaty gang of Aussie misfits set to descend on the Shepherd’s Bush Empire next Wednesday, 11 July for the historic gig by the legendary Cold Chisel.We have five pairs of tickets to

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WitH less than a month to go until the hugely anticipated start of the london 2012 olympic Games, it’s an Australian group’s participation in the festivities that’s got everybody talking. the temper trap - that Aussie (now international) music phenomenon- will be playing a free concert in Hyde Park on Friday, 10 August as part of the Bt london live festival.

the popular band, best known for their global hit ‘sweet Disposition’, will join a host of sensational artists including tom Jones, McFly, newton Faulkner, the Beat and saint Etienne – with more artists yet to be named. the concerts are totally free and open to all members of the public, plus giant outdoor screens will be

Aussies set to crash the Brit Olympic partyn It has been announced that Australia’s music darlings, The Temper Trap, will play a free concert in Hyde Park during the Olympics as part of the BT London Live festival.

screening all of the olympic sports and Medal Ceremonies of the day live, in addition to a spectacular array of have-a-go activities.

But the temper trap aren’t the only Aussies to feature at the Bt london live festival. the overtones, “the uK’s hottest vocal harmony group”, will also be taking the stage and as the band’s booming baritone lachie Chapman is also an Aussie, Australia is set to be very well represented at the outdoor concerts. the overtones will play on thursday, 9 August.

For more information, updates and details, visitors can go to BTLondonLive.com

Beginning. Middle. End.Lawrence Leung back in LondonFrEsH from the Melbourne international Comedy Festival, Aussie funnyman lawrence leung returns to london’s soho theatre with his new, adventurous and “beautifully told” one man comedy show - Beginning. Middle. End.

the multi-award winning stand-up comic and creator of Australian tV shows Choose Your own Adventure and unbelievable is no stranger to london and his previous uK shows have included lawrence Wants A Jetpack and lawrence learns to Breakdance.

But this one is a little bit different.

After finding bizarre and disturbing erotic fan fiction about himself and one of the stars of neighbours, lawrence realised that everyone has a story to tell. But when it comes to his own life, he’s been asking himself the big question - ‘has he lost the plot?’ Beginning. Middle. End. is apparently a show about storytelling, friendship zones, accidental fist-fights, Colin Firth and whales. And about a little Aussie bloke making big london crowds laugh.

Don’t miss Beginning. Middle. End. at the soho theatre from 2 -14 July


#Stephanie Rice@BriggsGEWhy's everyone mad at Stephanie Rice in a bikini? That's like her work uniform? That's all you really see her in? Thats like casual friday.

@jamilaayeahHow funny. Stephanie Rice, a swimmer, got in trouble for wearing provocative swimmers. A swimmer got in trouble for wearing swimmers.

@BenWiseMelbI'm A-OK with Stephanie Rice posting her image...She'll probably be banned or something, though...

@allyouzombiesi feel that stephanie rice posting a photo of herself in swimwear has brought disgrace to the australian swim team and she should be dropped

Entertainment | 7AustralianTimes.co.uk


i’M crouched in the corner of the boardroom at my work, hiding from my boss and steeling my nerves as i prepare to talk to Australian hip-hop royalty. the Hilltop Hoods are more than just a great Aussie group, they’re an institution. they’re the band you get excited to see on a festival line-up, the album you put on when you’re driving to the coast with your mates, and the sound of our Aussie culture.

Your new album, and sixth studio album, is Drinking From The Sun. Living in London we don’t get to see much sun, but obviously back home – you do. How did you come up with the title?the idea behind the album name is that hip-hop started out as an underground culture in Australia and around the world - it started out as an underground movement and has now made its way into the limelight of the mainstream and is now reaping rewards and getting love and is a huge genre around the world.

Where does the inspiration for your music come from? it’s the sort of classic moments that are our sound; hip-hop, up-tempo, party tracks and some darker, moody, retrospective tracks. i get inspired by anything. What’s in the news, a movie, travelling, being on planes and tour buses, i get really inspired when i’m travelling so the inspiration comes from anywhere and everywhere.

Where is the strangest place you’ve heard your music being played? Probably a shop in Berlin, Germany. We were clothes shopping in some street-wear kind of store and they were playing our music.

Did they know it was you? no, they had no idea! it might have been that we were touring there and someone had given them that CD and said ‘these guys are playing’ or we had played last night so it just kind of came up, it was pretty bizarre!

What do you do when you hear your music come on? Obviously you know all the words, so do you sing along? Well i pull my hood over my head and hide [laughs]. it can be a little bit awkward when someone spots you in a shop or at a restaurant or a café or something when your music’s playing and they look at you and look at the counter like ‘can he hear his own

Chase that feeling The faithful Aussie sound of the Hilltop Hoodsn With the release of their latest album Drinking From The Sun, the Hilltop Hoods are gearing up for a massive UK/European summer where they will be taking their Speaking In Tongues tour on the road. Before the tour starts in London on Wednesday, PHOEBE LEE got the chance to talk to MC Pressure about their new album, missing Australia, rap battles, beards and being a wedding singer.

music?’ i’ve heard it enough times, trust me.

What’s the strangest place that you’re finding support for your music coming from? All the places that we shout out [in ‘i love it’ feat. sia] are places that we’ve gone and played shows at and got a bit of love. that’s just a little segment of all the places that we never would have expected to get some love so we shout them out in that track and that track is about being away from home for a long time on the road and despite all the hardships that you come across doing that we still love doing what we’re doing.

i guess some of the strangest places that people have sent us a bit of love that we have noticed is via social networking sites, which we still control ourselves - places like Johannesburg or Paris. Places like that are pretty far removed from where i would have thought they would’ve heard our music for sure, so it never ceases to amaze me what corner of the world our music has managed to make its way to.

It makes expat Aussies proud to share your music. When someone hears you guys on an iPod and asks ‘who is that’, we say proudly - ‘they’re our Aussie boys’. And that’s how it’s managed to travel, people from home taking it overseas and backpacking or moving there to live and they spread the word. it’s a beautiful thing.

There are a lot of Aussies and Kiwis living in London. Have you ever wanted to live away from Australia? i like coming home to Adelaide to be honest, it’s a pretty small city as far as city’s go but that’s probably a good thing with all the travelling, touring and partying that we get up to for six to nine months of the year so i think it’s nice to come back to somewhere quiet and remote.

i’ve never really wanted to live anywhere else in the world. i love travelling, i love Europe particularly, it’s an amazing place, lots of different cultures and things to get into but i think i’ll always call Adelaide home.

My friend Laker wants to move to Sweden and grow a beard! If you could move anywhere, where would you choose? [laughs] sweden and grow a beard? i’d have to say Vancouver, it’s a beautiful city. i love snowboarding and it’s a good sized city without being too big and i have a lot of friends there. Plus the people there are great and it’s down the road from Whistler, the greatest snowboarding place in the world.

A lot of Aussie expats struggle being away from home but you boys are away from home a lot and it comes

up in your music a fair bit. How do you handle being away from your friends and family? i’m in a relationship so it’s hard being away for months at a time and being away from my son, it’s really difficult, but it’s got to be done and despite all the hardships that go with it i love touring and playing live shows. You’ve just got to keep yourself occupied and keep in touch; it’s just about the only thing for it. it’s just one of the hazards of doing what we do but you make things work.

Your live shows are absolutely incredible! What’s your favourite song to play at a festival? Anything from the new album that i haven’t done 2,000 times live before [laughs]. it’s usually the up tempo tracks as well that are fun to play at the moment, i guess we’re enjoying playing tracks like ‘speaking in tongues’ and ‘i love it’ because they’re more up tempo, hard edge tracks from the new album. sometimes we throw in some old tracks but it’s always more fun playing new material.

What Aussie music do you boys listen to? Anything and everything! i listen to a fair bit of hip-hop but good music is good music. i don’t have one genre outside of hip-hop that i favour. i’m listening to a local Adelaide rapper at the moment called K21 who won our grant a couple of years ago and has put out an album.

Who would win a rap battle between you and The Herd? us of course! [laughs] i can’t say the Herd, can i?

Who else do you really want to work with? it’s kind of like a long bucket list and we’re gradually getting through them, we were lucky enough to tick a couple of those boxes in our last two albums but there’s still plenty of guys that i’d love to work with like Brother Ali and Chuck D from Public Enemy, it’s a long list i could go on forever.

If you met somebody and they had never heard your music - what one track would you give them to listen to? ‘Chase that Feeling’. i don’t know why, it’s just over the last few albums i think that song still resonates with me the most. it would be a good introductory song to our music.

What’s next from here for you guys?After our European and Australian tour finishes in mid September we’ll be having a month off so we can put some weight back on and recuperate, get some sleep and get DJ Debris off whatever addictions he gets himself while we’re overseas [laughs]. We’re going to north America in november, then we’re coming back and it looks like we’re going to play some festivals over new Years and the Australian summer and hopefully make a DVD. We might start making another record next year and then i might fall over and die from touring too much.

When I’m jammed into the tube with 500 strangers pressed against me I love listening to the Hilltops and hearing familiar Aussie voices, it really gets me through. Glad we could make your gloomy day in london brighter for you.

Do you guys do weddings? I’m getting married soon! Do weddings? [laughs] You really don’t want to get married to our music.

My mum would love it, I’m sure. i don’t know how that’s going to work for your bridal waltz. We don’t do weddings, so i’m going to have to decline [laughs] unless there’s a really big free tab of alcohol.

I’ll see what I can do.

Don’t miss the Hilltop Hoods at London’s Electric Ballroom, Wednesday 4 July

3 - 9 July 20128 | Travel

travel

oN THE MAP

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MarrakechiF Marrakech were a person, it would be the guy that runs the spice shop on the corner. He’s loud, uncompromising and pushy, and doesn’t want to let you leave his shop without buying some spices (and a spice rack to put them in). those i consulted before heading to the Moroccan capital had variously described it as unexpected, intense, challenging, fascinating, loud and grabby. And after spending six days there - in and around the Medina (the old fortified city) - I would agree with all these descriptions, and particularly the last. if a city can exhibit a physical gesture – then grabby would be it.

Riding the Moroccan rollercoasterFrom the minute you arrive until the minute you leave, it is a fast paced, enthusiastic rollercoaster of sights and shopping. of beautiful, tiled, quiet, walled palaces, and alleyways of yelling, action and noise. of people selling, and tourists buying. of men trying to get your attention, trying to keep your attention, and trying to swap you for camels. i am worth two. My travelling companion, apparently 100. i won’t quit my day job.

We arrive at 11.30pm, with the forewarned knowledge that we shouldn’t pay more than 100 dirham (about £7) for a taxi from the airport to the old city under any circumstances. However, at this time of night, and with other transport options like the 40 dirham bus not running (or so we’re told), it is difficult to argue with the quoted 200 dirham price at the taxi rank. A small win is gained in negotiating 20 dirham off, but as punishment we’re dropped at the edge of the old city, with a vague wave

Marrakech - More than meets the eyen When ALEX IVETT first dreamed of Morocco, see envisaged sand dunes, snake charmers and picturesque archways leading to Alice In Wonderland adventures. After her recent trip to Marrakech, she got all of that – and more.

down a dark alley and instructions it’s a two minute walk straight ahead. to be fair, it would have been difficult to fit a wheelie suitcase down these alleyways, let alone a cab, but it’s dark, we’re lost, and all we can see is high walls and Alice in Wonderland doors.

Nothing for free herethis is where the informal human Google map system of Marrakech steps in. Look slightly flummoxed anywhere in the city’s twisting alleyways and a local boy will step up to show you the way. A couple of turns down darker, smaller alleyways later and we’re at our hostel door. i turn to offer the leftover change (about £2 – not a bad earner for 30 seconds/50 meters work) and learn my first lesson – nothing in Marrakech is for free. or even for minimum wage. “not good enough, i want notes,” the eight year old Moroccan Bernie Madoff demands. Blustering and apologizing as only a white privileged tourist can in a developing country – simultaneously feeling guilty but pissed off at being abused - we escape behind the hostel walls.

Equity Point Hostel is an oasis of calm. And i use the term ‘hostel’ loosely, as behind the thick black door set in a high ochre wall is a series of courtyards, around which beautifully detailed rooms (£11 – 18 per night for dorms, and £45 – 60 per room for doubles and twins) and open sitting spaces are distributed. In the final courtyard is a pool, open to the sky. this could pass for a four-star hotel, let alone a hostel. the restaurant on the top floor (breakfast included) has tables dotted around the open rooftop spaces, and you can look out over the city imagining James Bond villains jumping and running from one uneven roof to the next.

Meandering through Marrakechtime in Marrakech is best spent wandering down the hidden alleyways of the Medina and up through the souks (marketplaces). these crowed passageways sell everything you can’t possibly fit back into your 10 kilo ryanair carry on, ranging from the expected - leather, jewelry, lanterns, carpets, spices, colorful bowls, ‘hand-woven scarves’, to the ridiculous – louis Vuitton covered soccer balls, crocodile skins and chameleons. As long as you don’t mind feeling like you’re in the middle of a late night shopping advert (“buy, buy, buy – this price won’t last long!!!”) then this is a fascinating, if a little touristy, area to get lost in.

For relief from the noise, the crowds and to keep your wallet full of dirham, there are a number of interesting historical sites in the old city lurking

behind those high thick walls. Palace Bahia, built in the 1860s for the ‘grand vizier’ (oooh, look at me, i have a fancy title and many women…), as well as the Dar si said House (oooh, look at me, i am the grand vizier’s brother and i equally have much money, and my women are more beautiful because they have their own indoor pool) are both amazing, beautifully decorated warrens of rooms and courtyards and gardens. set amongst the closely packed old city, its like walking into an Escher painting, as you wander through cool, quiet, intricately tiled, high ceilinged spaces that were unimaginable when outside in the hot crowed alleyways. At the Dar si said House, the guard notices me reading the (limited) English translations with amusement (a marble bath is referred to as ‘she’, with ‘garlicky decorations’) and gestures me to follow him behind a closed door. i am treated to my own private viewing of the concubine courtyard – not yet fully restored or open to the public, and all the more beautiful for its untouched crumbling tiled walls.

the Maison tiskiwin, behind another door, in an alleyway just around the corner, is also worth a visit. unlike the other sites, which are sparse in furnishings, this one is crowded with artifacts from the Moroccan to Mali trading route, collected and displayed by a Dutch anthropologist in his own house and accompanied by detailed English descriptions in a separate book if you’re so inclined in the 30 degree heat to learn things. Which i was not.

The square of lifeHowever, beyond these hidden sites, and central to what Marrakech really is, is the Jemaa el Fna square. Bordered with cafes and shops, and packed full of stalls selling freshly squeezed orange juice for 30 pence a glass, this massive square in the centre of the Medina is like a living embodiment of a ‘this is Morocco’ tourist poster you might see in the window of your local travel agent. You would start to think the nightly food markets, snake charmers, henna tattooists, musicians, story tellers and teeth pullers are all there for the tourists benefit, if it weren’t for the thousands of Moroccan’s crowding equally enthusiastically into the square. of course, they are unlikely to be charged £4 to take a photo of the snakes, or be pulled aggressively onto a bench to eat what was, to be honest, pretty mediocre food, but the square is nonetheless an experience, and one worth having.

Get out of townif you are like we were and faced with a few days to spare, it is worth taking a trip outside of Marrakech into the surrounding mountains and desert. Book once you’re there – prices quoted on the internet all seem to be double

Travel | 9AustralianTimes.co.uk

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Prices start from £419.00 p/p Valid on bookings made until end July 2012.

or triple what you’ll be charged once in Marrakech, although be prepared to be in a non-air-conditioned mini bus for long stretches of time. nothing in Morocco is close, no matter what your guide may tell you.

the scenery outside Marrakech is not your traditionally scenic vistas - it’s too bare, dusty and rocky for that. it is however, at first, dramatic - as you climb a twisting, single road up through the rocky outcrops dotted with goats, and then interesting - as that gives way to flatter expanses. Here, square, clay, flat-roofed villages of ochre and brown blend into the lumpy hills behind. Random fields of alfalfa and green wheat sometimes break up the monochrome, and at different points we have the opportunity to wander through villages, and fields, past donkeys and hardworking, head-scarfed women tending to their crop. I always find this kind of tourism at once insightful into a different way of life, and odd – it seems intrusive to be huddled in groups staring

at people as they go about their daily business. same as if a group came and stared at me at work while i pushed some paper clips around my desk.

Don’t get the humpPart of the ubiquitous Marrakech ‘out of town tour’ is the camel ride through the sand dunes to spend a night in a desert camp. All sounds well and good until you’ve spent an hour bumping uncomfortably around on a drooling, spitting, not-quite-a-horse like creature in the hot sun. However, watching the sunset over the yellow dunes, then spending the night under the stars, eating an impressively made (given the cooking facilities) chicken tagine, listening to our Berber guides banging out some Berber classics on goat skin drums, seems to make it all worth it. it would have, again, felt like a scene from a tourist poster if it had not been for the genuine warmth of the hosts AustralianTimes.co.uk/travel

and the natural beauty of the location.the 10 hour bus trip back to Marrakech

is broken up in its monotony only by a small boy at a rest stop coming through the group highfiving us all shyly, greeting us each with an ‘as-salam aleykum’ and a big smile. His Dad calls him away, and he backs up slowly, waving every step before giving us a final thumbs up and runs joyfully off. i can’t help but draw contrast to the similar aged boy who yelled at me in Marrakech. Marrakech is after all, exactly that - a city of contrasts. the hidden walled oasis’s of calm and space versus the hectic sweat of the alleys and square. the friendliness of many versus the aggressive rudeness of others. And of course, the obvious touristiness of it all versus the glimpses of real and unique Moroccan life. Whether it’s worth it, is up to you.

3 - 9 July 201210 | Travel


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siena

By Ben WiseWHEn people think of taking a trip to italy, and its must see destinations, places that inevitably roll off the tongue are rome, Florence, Venice, and Pisa. As one of the most amazing countries on earth though, italy has many hidden gems that travellers would be well advised to check out.

siena is one such place. Visitors to siena can have a sensational day simply walking around through the sandy coloured streets, with the narrow alleyways and gentle inclines providing a sense of charm. Plus, the town’s Duomo is definitely a visual highlight.

il Paliothough enchanting at any time of the year, the bi-yearly Palio held in siena’s famous square know as the Piazza del Campo is something that will always be remembered by those lucky enough to witness its spectacle. the Palio is an unrelenting horse race run around the perimeter of the Piazza (held on 2 July and 16 August every year). Fearless jockeys ride the horses bareback, and the fifty thousand raucous people watching from the centre of the racetrack assure an amazing atmosphere. thousands more look on from the bleachers and balconies in the Piazza on the outer.

A rather tranquil town at other times of the year, siena becomes a vibrant hub of excitement during il Palio. this spectacular medieval town is divided into 17 separate neighbourhoods known as contrada. Each contrada decorates the walls of their buildings with the colourful flags of their horses’ racing colours and the distinctive animal emblems representing their respective areas. the locals wear scarves and clothing proudly symbolising which contrada they are from. Whilst visitors may think that all the effort made is in the aid of tourism, this could not be further from the case. the event is very serious business to the sienese.

Over fast, celebrated slowthe race lasts only ninety seconds, but the elected captain of each contrada will have carried out months of preparation in selecting the horse and jockey that will represent their people. only ten horses will compete in the main event after a selection process comprising a ballot and inter contrada politics. the rivalry between certain contrada is intense, and even today it is ill advised for a local to

Medievalhorseracing,siena style

marry someone from a rival contrada. in the days leading up to the actual

Palio, there are trial races which offer the crowds a taste of the exhilaration to come. on the day of the main race, visitors are advised to get a position in the centre of the Piazza, which is free of charge, by around 4.30pm. After this, the area is sealed off until after the completion of the race. For those wanting to obtain a reserved seat in the bleachers, advance planning is a necessity. there is also the option of paying to witness the event from a private balcony.

From another world and timethe atmosphere on race day is unbelievable. the contrada sing their local anthems, fights can break out, and the booming sound from the canon firing never fails to startle. the whole Piazza is buzzing with anticipation. After the traditional pre-race formalities take place to the deafening cheers and singing from the crowd, the horses enter the Piazza and the madness is ready to begin.

the frenzied race is completed after the winning horse does three laps of the circuit. the ninety seconds is anything but uneventful, with horses breaking down under the strain and jockeys being thrown from their mounts. the winner does not even have to finish with its jockey, and often doesn’t. the celebrations at the end of the race are overwhelming to say the least.

As accommodation in siena during the Palio is scarce unless booked a long time in advance, it is a good idea to use Florence as a base for day trips to the Palio. the regular buses take just over an hour to arrive at siena’s main bus terminal, and it is a short walk to Piazza del Campo.

The race that starts Sienaother than the race, siena has so much to offer visitors around the period of the Palio. the evening before the event sees siena en masse have outdoor candlelit dinners where visitors can find themselves lucky enough to be adopted by a contrada. useful information about siena and the Palio can be accessed at www.terresiena.it.

if the Melbourne Cup is the race that stops the nation, the Palio is a race that definitely starts the beautiful town of siena.

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get in quick and you could save yourself up to almost £1500 on some of their

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as well as the staple classics – Italy, Germany, France and Amsterdam.

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3 - 9 July 201212 | Jobs & Money

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family Visit Visa Appeal

Yes, your cousin will indeed be able to appeal against the decision, but she must

contact us without any delay. Regarding your question on the new rules, yes, regulations were laid in Parliament that will set out who qualifies for a full right of appeal against a refusal of a visa to visit family in the UK. These regulations will come into force on 9 July 2012. The changes that are being made will only change the right to appeal, and not the rules governing who can qualify for entry to the UK as a visitor. The Home Office said that the new rules will change the appeal rights of family visit visa applicants and that those persons applying to visit an uncle, aunt, nephew, niece or first cousin, or a relative who does not have settled, refugee or humanitarian protection status in the UK, will no longer have a full right of appeal if refused. The UK Home Office further said that only a limited right of appeal will remain for these persons based on human rights and discrimination grounds.

My cousin’s application for a family visit visa to the UK has been refused. Will she be

able to appeal this decision? Is it true that there are new rules being implemented regarding appeals for family visit visas?

Q:

A:

tHE Australian Dollar gained on the positive news from the Eu summit on Friday. this latest drive by the Eu leaders to ease the cost of credit was well received by the market as the Aussie closed the week on $1.53 to the Pound.

this week started off factoring in the effects of the Chinese PMi Data released on Sunday. The official PMI reported for the month of June was 50.2, showing a slightly expanding economy versus the preliminary contractionary expectation reported in the HsBC PMi of 48.2. Both PMi indicators support the growing call for monetary and fiscal policy easing in the world’s biggest export country in an attempt to stimulate domestic demand.

“it is all about growth and employment,” said Mr Qu Hongbin, an economist at HsBC. “As external demand has weakened and domestic demand hasn’t shown a meaningful improvement in response to earlier easing measures, growth is likely to be on track for further slowdown.”

While the positive news at the Eu

Australian Dollar strengthens following EU Summit

summit on Friday eases the current debt crisis, the long term view still remains gloomy as the debt pile grows in the future. the market will continue to closely monitor developments in the Eurozone in the upcoming weeks and Euro movements will continue to be one of the main driving forces in the market.

Monday morning saw the release of the monthly Australian inflation rate which came in below the central bank’s target at 1.6 percent. the market will

look to the reserve Bank of Australia’s monthly board meeting on tuesday where sentiment suggests Governor Glenn stevens will keep the interest rate unchanged.

GBP / AUD: 1.5284EUR / AUD : 1.2347 USD / AUD : 0.9768NZD/ AUD : 0.7839

Exchange rates as of 08:38, 2 July 2012

[email protected] [email protected]

Sport | 13AustralianTimes.co.uk

Ask the Experts

AustralianTimes.co.uk/sport

By Lee CrossleylonDon swans have made a last-minute bid to be included in this year’s AFL London finals series action with a stunning 52-point upset over West london Wildcats on saturday at Ply Park in shoreditch.

A loss on saturday would almost certainly have consigned the swans to another year on the AFl london scrapheap, but the 14.10 (94) to 5.12 (42) win keeps their previously fledgling finals hopes alive.

they would have taken outright fourth, had top side Putney beaten north london as expected.

But the lions produced an upset of their own, toppling league leader Putney by 19 points at Bounds Green.

no surprises at Clapham, Wandsworth defeating Wimbledon to 17.12 (114) to 4.2 (26) to edge a game clear in top spot.

saturday’s results have again thrown the finals race wide open in what has been the most even competition in recent years.

Just three home-and-away rounds remain after this week’s bye and then it’s finals time.

Five teams – Wandsworth, Putney, West london, north london and london swans – are jostling for four spots with the order of the four also a mystery.

only Wandsworth and Putney appear to have booked finals berths, while it’s a race in three (West, north and swans are all locked on three wins) for third and fourth.

the swans’ percentage is so small they must win one more than the other two to make it.

swans president Chris Angus said the wins (swans also beat the raiders by 19 points in the conference game) have rejuvenated the whole club.

“if we lost then it would be been hard to keep the boys interested for the last three games,” he said.

“But wins in both games has kept us in the hunt and gives us a big reason to keep pushing ourselves to make the finals.

AFL London race thrown open with Swans in late finals bid

“We’ve never done the double against West london so that’s a great achievement for us given the stamp they’ve had on the competition for a long time.

“that’s important for us from a belief and confidence angle for both sides.”

two massive games – against Wandsworth and north london – await the swans after the bye weekend.

“We play against sides we are competing against for finals spots in the run home so it’s in our hands now,” Angus said.

“if we win all the games then we’ll probably go through. it’s nice not to be worrying about other results.

“it’s important for the competition that’s it’s so tight. if we’d dropped yesterday, the four would have been settled and the season just drags out.”

While conditions at shoreditch weren’t ideal – a strong breeze favoured one end all day – at least the sun provided some respite from the constant drab greyness we’ve been served up lately.

swans captain leigh Hogan provided the first surprise of the afternoon, winning the toss and opting to kick into the wind.

Perhaps Hogan knew something the rest of us didn’t for the swans booted seven goals to zip to set up a 43-point lead at quarter-time.

From there, it was an arm wrestle, with the swans booting another seven goals to the Cats’ four for the rest of the match.

Hence, it’s fair to say the swans set up their win with that dominant first term that simply left the Wildcats stunned and unable to recover.

Full forward trav Brand proved too much of a handful for the Wildcats’ defence, booting six goals after his haul of eight in round 6.

Mick lewis, with VFl experience with north Ballarat, gave the swans a 60m advantage with each kick, his raking left boot the source of many attacks on goal from defence.

the swans had winners everywhere – scott thomas and Chris laidlaw proved too strong a combination for trent Dunlop who shouldered the Cats’ ruck duties all day.

And then there was the Eu factor –

london again winning this contest, the highlight provided by a 55-metre Will Green goal after evading three Wildcats.

the day began with the swans posting a 14.8 (92) to 11.4 (70) Conference win over the raiders with swans skipper tommy Butlin dominating with five first-term goals and seven for the game.

the Cats, with three wins and strong percentage, now find themselves in the company of north london and the swans, who also have three wins but inferior percentage.

At this point of the season, on form, they are no certainties to make the four and the Cats will need a major shift in momentum in the run home. They’ll finish the season without rover Dave taylor – as the 2011 Grand Final medallist played his last game for the club on saturday.

Elsewhere, Putney made the trip to Bounds Green and felt the wrath of an in-form lions side, which won 8.17 (65) to 6.10 (46).

The Magpies went in firm favourites after knocking off Wandsworth last week but a week’s a long time in football.

Both teams were missing plenty of players: the lions went in with an unrecognisable forward line, while the Putney recruiting campaign via Fti


Images by Bernhard Elber

By Phillip BrownetHE try tag rugby All-stars squads depart on Friday 13 July for the world’s biggest tag rugby festival, the Pig n Porter tournament which is held in limerick, ireland.

the All stars will be sending two teams to compete in the tournament which will attract over 120 teams from ireland and abroad. the teams will be entered in the A grade and C grade divisions respectively.

the try tag rugby All-stars squads are as follows:

try tag rugby All-stars (A grade): Phillip Browne, ian Kerr, thomas Parsons, Dominic Wilde, Jay “ringo” Wilkinson, Patrick Wright, Jodie Bijorac, Claire McAteer, sarah o’neill, Phoebe robins & rachael speare ©

All members of the All-stars A grade squad are current representative players with four london Australia reps, six Great Britain & ireland world cup squad players and a london ireland rep player. this team has attracted plenty of interest from the locals and will be one to watch for the tournament.

try tag rugby All-stars (C grade): Maurice Collins, Alistair Davis, owen Dempster, Carl Duckels,

Try Tag rugby All-stars squads named for ireland

Martin lynch, Annette Franklin, sarah Miller, Katrina Mulhern & lauren taylor

the All-stars C grade squad is made up of Aussies, irish and English players and will be led by the experienced Carl Duckels.

Meanwhile, late summer tag rugby registrations in london & reading are now open. late summer competitions commence in late June/early July and are expected to break the current record season (Early summer 2012) participation figures of 142 teams!

leagues will take place at; Acton, Balham, Canada Water, Finsbury Park, Highbury, Hoxton, Reading, Richmond, Southfields, Wandsworth town, West Ham & White City.

if you would like to get involved in one of the fastest growing sports in london, new team and individual registrations are welcome. this is a great chance to develop a network of friends if you are new to london. To register for a Try Tag Rugby competition or event, go to www.trytagrugby.com or email [email protected] for more details.

QuEEnslAnD centre Anthony Faingaa has declared the reds the hungriest team in super rugby and stressed they won't be satisfied merely making the playoffs.

the defending champions are locked in a five-way battle for the last two finals spots and must beat the Highlanders and nsW at their suncorp stadium fortress to make the top six.

But Faingaa says the seventh-placed outfit is driven to repeat the success of 2011 and show their true colours after overcoming an injury-plagued start to the year.

"it's coming to the pointy end of the season and everyone's desperate but if anything we're hungrier than any other team," said the defensive linchpin.

"For us it's not just making the finals; we want to win this super championship."

Queensland started their three-week run into the playoffs impressively with a 32-17 bonus-point win over the Melbourne rebels.

With Quade Cooper back pulling the strings expertly in the first half, the reds looked like the exciting expansive outfit of 2011 to rack up a 24-3 halftime lead.

Faingaa and centre partner Mike Harris also enjoyed their best attacking games of the season but he warned there was plenty of improvement left, especially as the rebels worked

Reds hungry to repeat Super successtheir way back in the second half after Cooper (leg) was replaced.

"our performance on the weekend was very patchy," he said. "We had some good parts and some bad parts.

"We've still got a lot of good rugby in us and we haven't seen the best of Queensland yet.

"We have to keep improving and for us that's our big focus."

Cooper is expected to recover from a leg complaint to line up on Friday night against a Highlanders outfit which will be desperate to finish their season with a bang.

the Dunedin-based side were all but knocked out of the play-off race after the 27-21 loss to the table-topping Chiefs on Friday and have a final-round bye next week.

Cooper trained on Monday afternoon at Ballymore, as did centre Ben tapuai who is set to make his return from a broken collarbone.

But Queensland must wait until later in the week for Digby ioane (chest infection), Chris F'sautia (shoulder) and liam Gill (hamstring) to prove their fitness.

the reds will wear specially-designed jerseys to mark Queensland rugby's own indigenous round. - AAP


3 - 9 July 201214 | Sport


inside the cottage

> SCOTT MILLER

it is a common theme in professional football where you hear of yet another manager’s job under threat due to their team’s current league position or persistent bad performances.

it is so common nowadays that a manager seemingly comes and goes and the scenario is constantly the same - he is sacked, his replacement is given the job to get the results on the board and improve the performances, a new manager comes in... And so the cycle goes.

the world of the professional football manger is one in which danger and uncertainty hang over every match the team plays. it is often a lonely and somewhat isolated position for a manager, which can leave many in the top job vulnerable to health risks, due to stress related issues.

i have worked for five different managers during my time at the Fulham Football Club (Chris Coleman, lawrie sanchez, roy Hodgson, Mark Hughes and current man in charge - Martin Jol) and all of them have dealt with the demands and pressure of management in very different ways. individually, their capacity to deal with success, defeat and player management issues have all be very different.

The bossthe manager is the main man; he determines the tone of the week in his body language, training structure, and simply how he wants the training ground environment to be.

in today’s professional football sphere - the manger’s role encompasses the players, the club owners, the fans and lastly, the media. Just imagine the pressure involved in controlling all of these factors. Each of these factors place different, and often conflicting, demands on the manager, all of which are equally important. so, as you could easily imagine, this creates an intensely pressurised working environment.

The ‘Houllier’ syndromeWe have witnessed, in recent years, various managers developing health concerns and in particular Gerard Houllier provides proof that football management can be bad for your health. Houllier has been admitted to hospital on several occasions thanks to his position as manager of different football clubs. Famously, a decade ago when in charge of liverpool FC, the Frenchman underwent tests relating to his heart, and in worrying circumstances for his family and friends, underwent an 11 hour open heart surgery just to save his life.

unfortunately, this is not new territory. sam Allardyce, Graeme souness and Joe Kinnear are among

Football managers: Stress and health risks in the English Premier Leaguen The Australian First Team Fitness Coach for Fulham Football Club, SCOTT MILLER, gives us an exclusive insight into the world of English Premier League football and how managers cope and deal with the stress of their high-pressured jobs.

those who have suffered heart troubles related to the stress of football management.

the culture within a football club requires the manager to be strong and in control at all times, with no place for uncertainty or need for reassurance. the ego driven environment in which everyone is an expert, and the lack of control over one’s destiny as the players ultimately decide a manager’s fate through their performances - all contribute to possible stress related illness.

Each to their ownAs i mentioned above, all five of the mangers i have worked under have dealt with football related issues in different ways. i have seen players being pushed, verbally abused, bins thrown, kit skips being kicked, and i have even been used as a sounding board and copped an earful. sitting in such close proximity to the manager, such as on the bench during a game, you really do get a feel for how they deal with the pressure. some are worse at dealing with it than others, and it’s always interesting playing away from home and seeing how other managers deal with it. sometimes it’s almost as if some managers are suffering from borderline tourette’s syndrome and obscene language and mannerisms are not uncommon during periods of bad play from their team.

Gaffer alertthese are all ways in which frustration can be shown, however, is it right for the players to see this side of the manager? i believe in certain instances it most certainly is, every athlete needs to be told when things are not going well, however i have found that the best managers always provide a solution - and although you may be on the end of some aggressive criticism - the solution is usually provided for you to improve your performance.

A manager’s mind must be a minefield - swaying from positives to negatives on an hourly basis, and generally the manager’s mindset is always dependent on the outcome of the most recent match. it is a somewhat humorous situation when reflecting on a defeat and how the manager behaves, noone really wants to be the person to cop the grief, so there is a common saying such as “gaffer alert” which signifies that it’s wisest if you become wallpaper, and don’t say or do anything that could tip him over the edge!

A delicate balanceA mindset of ‘when you don’t win people don’t believe in you’ and

‘when you are winning you are never wrong’ all indicate a lack of stability and balance. When the team is winning, the manager is powerful; when losing or drawing, that false sense of security of short-lived success is dangerous, as the winning coaching philosophy suddenly comes into question.

We understand that low self confidence impacts a player’s contribution to the game, however what impact does this have on the manager? the consequences are huge for managers. if the results are poor - the owner will still be the owner and the key decision maker; the players who have signed four year contracts worth millions will still be playing; the fans will still support the club - it is always the manager that will be bear the brunt. sadly, in most cases, they are the cheapest to dispose of, and after all, it is their coaching philosophy determining the performances.

Who would be a manager?Managers live on a constant knife edge. the fortunes of a season can change for the better (or worse) in just three or four games. However, what is important is that the manager and the coaching staff absorb the pressure and allow the players to perform to their potential.

of course, there are different ways of dealing with stress, however the manager’s overriding principle must be ‘what do i want my players to perceive me as? - a nervous wreck or someone they can look to on the touchline and gain confidence and belief from’. At the end of the day, this might just determine his future (and his health).

Scott Miller is an Aussie expat living in London and the First Team Fitness Coach for Fulham Football Club. Follow him on Twitter at @ScottGMiller.

DurinG Wimbledon we are offering one lucky winner four tickets to the statoil Masters tennis at the breathtakingly beautiful royal Albert Hall on the evening of saturday 8 December 2012. With prime positioning in the first week of December, this is the perfect way to kick off the start of the festive season!

Watch a host of former world no.1′s and Grand slam Champions as they relive some of the greatest rivalries of all time. Former world no.1 and eight times Grand slam Champion, John McEnroe has confirmed his return the Albert Hall this year. McEnroe joins fellow Wimbledon Champions Goran ivanisevic and Australian tennis darling Pat Cash. the all-star line-up also includes Britain’s tim Henman, another Aussie in 2003 Wimbledon finalist Mark Philippoussis and the ever-popular

French trio, Henri leconte, Mansour Bahrami and Fabrice santoro. this tournament offers the perfect combination of drama and tension with competitive singles alongside entertaining doubles matches.

tickets to the statoil Masters tennis are on sale now from StatoilMastersTennis.com

For your chance to win tickets, head to:

AustralianTimes.co.uk/win

The Larrik Inn425 New Kings Rd, Fulham, SW6 4RNTel: 0207 371 9585 Email: [email protected]

.

Join us to watch

State of Origin 3...

NSW vs QLDWednesday, July 4th

State vs StateMate vs Mate

Doors open for breakfast at 10amLive at 11amReplay at 6pmBookings welcome

classification.But most significantly he remains

10 seconds behind race favourite Brad Wiggins, who is second overall, and four seconds behind fellow title contender russian Denis Menchov (sixth).

“We were well-positioned and so on and the team kept me out of trouble all day, that’s probably the first thing,” Evans said.

“the team is working well and functioning well and i’m glad to get one

road stage done and the routine going.”German Marcus Burghardt, one of

Evans’ top lieutenants, performed an impressive manoeuvre to avoid a potential crash in the closing kilometres.

Burghardt was at the front of the peloton, helping drive the pace, when he spotted a water bottle on the road and used his front wheel to flick the bottle away.

“Marcus took me along on the last flat section there to the bridge (approaching the final climb),” Evans said.

“We were doing 74 km/h just to move up on the flat.” - AAP

slow and steady for Aussie Evans in franceContinued from p16...

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Sport | 15AustralianTimes.co.uk


CounTDoWn To ThE LonDon oLyMPiCs 3 weeks to go

By Will Denton


THE RUBDOWN

Predictability is the AFL’s big mac-daddy

Unforgettable Australian Olympic moments

Rome 1960: Golden moment for hero Herb Herb Elliott’s victory in the 1500m in Rome (1960) is one of Australia’s greatest single Olympic achievements. Unbeaten and unmatched in his era, Elliott strung the field along for the first half of the race before stepping it up with an incredible, and sustained, kick to leave the rest of the field floundering. The heralded Aussie athlete won by 20 metres in a world record three minutes 35.6 seconds which would have won him gold in seven of the next nine Olympics, including in Atlanta 36 years later.French Silver medallist Michel Jazy said Elliott was “a being from another planet”, while American dyrol burleson, who finished sixth, described the run as “probably the most dominant performance in any race I ever ran”.





HunGrY JACKs PtY ltD avoided going into administration on the weekend by the skin of their thickshakes, as the unpredictability of the AFL finally got predictable. Well, nearly. ok in short, most of the big footy tipping comps around the nation have done a deal with HJ’s, that if you somehow manage to correctly tip all 9 winners that week, then you are entitled to a free whopper. And it’s not as easy as it seems (as we all know). until this week! And if it wasn’t for the Kangaroos turning up to play properly, (that’s two weeks in a row now) we would be asking indonesia if we can have a couple hundred thousand head of cattle back.

Everything was going to plan, and every match throughout the weekend was either a smashing, or a complete smashing by the favourite. Hawks looked slick and concise in their demolition of the Blues who are looking more and more like a team that don’t really like footy anymore. luckily for them, they’ve only got the Pies this Friday night, who did just enough in second gear to overcome Freo - a team that are still trying to win a game without actually scoring. As a side note to this match, Eddie Mcguire says he will declare war on

everyone starting with the Dockers if they manage to lure travis Cloke to the port city for a sea container load of cash. How about declaring war on something useful Eddie? like a ‘War on tinnitus’ or a ‘War on Dub step’? (i think the two may be linked).

in other news, Gold Coast are being investigated by the Feds for fraud, after the suns declared they are in fact a football team. Another team doing a bit of masquerading are the Bulldogs who would be lucky to get three numbers and a sup at this rate. the Crows played a little gag on their fans when it looked like they were going to get rolled by the tigers. “As if,” was one response by Adelaide coach Brenton sanderson, if he ever thought the match was in danger. “Pffft,” was another. the Giants did some of their best witches hat impersonation work for the year in their massive defeat against sydney, although sheeds claimed “it was the loss we had to have”. Port were a bit better but not much down in Geelong, although even Bear Grylls might have struggled with the conditions. And the roos turned up – and turned down a nation’s worth of free Whoppers! Bloody Boomer.

Australian cricket team dealing with English blushes

ranking seems far from fanciful before game three.

Even by English standards, it has been a miserable summer and Australia must bank on their fortunes being as changeable as the weather.

two changes, one injury enforced, were made by the tourists for sunday’s clash in south london and they are unlikely to be the last.

“i am never happy when we lose,” Clarke said.

“We work out what our best eleven is and we select that.”

seamers James Pattinson and Ben Hilfenhaus must come into consideration following Mitchell Johnson’s erratic return and Brett lee might be due for a rest; even if lee is one wicket away from becoming the highest one-day international wicket-taker for Australia.

there is not really much room to move on the batting side of things and Peter Forrest deserves another crack at England’s formidable bowling attack.

Particularly with steve smith the only other batting option on tour.

Australia have really missed Mike Hussey’s influence in the middle order, not for only his runs and steady head but his presence also allows the enterprising Matthew Wade to play up the order.

Australia have had massive problems scoring in the middle of the innings against England’s imposing four-pronged pace attack and spinner Graeme swann.

they scored a sleep-inducing 40 runs between the 20th and 35th overs on sunday at the oval.

“rotation of strike is an area of our game we continue to work on and what we need to improve is facing spin bowling,” Clarke said.

“that has always been talked about my whole career that we need to improve facing spin bowling and today was another example of that.”

Clarke spread the blame evenly between batsmen and bowlers.

“We have got the talent, it is about turning the talent into performance,”

he said.England have built up an imposing

record on home soil - they have won their past six one-day series and not been defeated in a test series in four years.

But despite the convincing nature of their wins in the opening two one-day matches against Australia, Cook is showing true English restraint in respect to talk of a clean sweep.

Has it popped into their heads?“no it doesn’t,” he said.“i am sure you guys are going to

start writing about it.”such a result would mean England

become the first nation to top the rankings in all three formats at the same time. - AAP


Aussie hopes at Wimbledon down to our junior star

of the 18-year-old’s budding career.saville, who backed up his

Wimbledon victory last year with success at the Australian open in January to join fellow Australians Pat Cash and Bernard tomic as a dual junior major winner, was chuffed to have received a wildcard into the Wimbledon men’s qualifying event.

But due to an administrative blunder and inflexible officials, the South Australian was removed from the qualifying draw.

“i was bitterly disappointed for a few days, but that’s in the past now,” saville told AAP ahead of his first-round clash with Frenchman lauren lokoli.

“i was entered in another tournament in Germany, a Futures (event), so that wasn’t too good, a bit of a mistake.

“the tournament was run by the itF and this is an AtP event and there was some ruling there that, if you’re entered in a tournament the same week, no matter what it is, the same week as Wimbledon, you can’t play the Wimbledon qualifying or the main draw.

“so they told me that news and i obviously wasn’t too happy with it, but what can you do?

“they told me and they kicked me out, so what can you do?”

saville hoped Wimbledon, being the most prestigious tournament in the world, would take precedence over a small-money, low-key, second-tier event in Germany and he’d be released from the draw.

“i’d think they would, but they didn’t let me, which was very, very unfortunate,” he said.

“But it’s all good, a bit of a mix up.

i’ve moved on.”With no choice but to, saville has

moved on to the challenge of joining rarified company as a triple junior grand slam champion.

He says that’s motivation enough to put the bureaucratic bungle behind him.

“i’ve had a great junior career,” he said.“i’ve won Wimbledon last year and

the Australian open, my home grand slam, so obviously i’m looking to win this one.

“But it’s six tough matches away. I’m looking at first round and it’s a tough one - he beat me last week (at the lead-up event) - so who knows what’s going to happen.

“But i played great last year here, I’m confident in my own ability and confident I can turn it around.” - AAP

Queensland will test Carney’s nerve

“We’ve seen this year how Johnathan (thurston) and Cooper (Cronk) have had to work on their games to try and gel together.

“Having the same two blokes in the seven and six has probably helped their game.”

smith, who is playing his 27th origin, said it would be special if he could lift the winner’s shield up in front of Queensland fans.

“it’d be great. i’ve had the opportunity to do it once (2008 when captain Darren lockyer was out of the series) before but that was down in sydney,” he said.

“i think three quarters of the crowd had left when i lifted it up so i was only lifting it in front of about 300 people,” he added with a laugh.

“i’m not really thinking about it to be honest.

“if you start thinking about the result or what you’re going to do after the full time siren you lose focus on what you need to do when you run out onto

the field.“Pressure-wise i feel great.“i feel comfortable in my role as

captain and i know there’s plenty of belief in the side that if we go out and all do our jobs we can win the game.”

While there will plenty of pressure on Carney in his first winner-takes-all bout at suncorp stadium, his partner-in-crime Pearce has been here before and sydney roosters coach Brian smith reckons Pearce is headed down the path where he can dominate games in the manner Andrew Johns and Darren lockyer once did.

“From being a young fella just making his debut and being a rookie - to being a solid, dependable, reliable (player) and then getting to the level to being a dominating, commanding player.

“they’re all the facets that we’ve watched the Andrew Johns’ and Darren lockyers - they’ve all gone on to develop those ultimate phases of their career ... i think Mitchell’s well on his way down that path.” - AAP


lAurEn Jackson’s minutes will be strictly monitored ahead of the olympic Games as she again underlined her importance to the opals’ gold medal cause on her return from injury.

Jackson poured in 15 points in 17 minutes on court in Australia’s 80-73 women’s basketball win over world no. 6 Brazil in Bendigo last week, securing their best-of-three series.

It is the first time Jackson has taken the court in the opals’ past four matches, and the 31-year-old’s presence and importance were obvious in her limited court time.

Advertisement: story continues belowHer equal team-high effort in less than

half a game suggests the hamstring issue that kept her out of matches against russia on their European tour and game one against Brazil is a minor one.

But coach Carrie Graf says the 31-year-old superstar will be eased back into the fray to ensure she is at her peak for

Opals ease Jackson in, in Olympic warm-upAustralia’s olympic Games opener against Britain on 28 July.

Jackson’s corralling has allowed other opals to step up in their two wins over Brazil. in both games, centre suzy Batkovic has been outstanding. liz Cambage impressed with game-high points in the first match in Melbourne on sunday, while free-shooting Belinda snell lit up game two from the perimeter with a 15-point haul.

With promising cameos elsewhere, Graf believes the pieces are coming together less than five weeks out from london.

Yet it’s clear Australia’s inside game and four quality bigs - Jackson, Batkovic, Cambage and Abby Bishop - will be their major point-scoring route. - AAP

TOURNY TIME AS SQUADS ANNOUNCED

Aussie Tag Rugby players getting ready for Irish assault

P13

n Queensland say they will apply the blowtorch early in Wednesday’s State of Origin decider, to see if inexperienced NSW five-eighth Todd Carney cracks under pressure in the Suncorp cauldron.

...continued on p15

MiCHAEl Clarke hinted at shaking up the battling Australian cricket team for Wednesday’s one-day clash with England at Edgbaston following tame showings in london.

the national side’s tour of the united Kingdom is in danger of unravelling after being outplayed at lord’s and the oval.

Young speedster Pat Cummins (side strain) is heading home and the prospect of a 5-0 humiliation and surrendering of the no.1

Aussies search for answers after Oval loss

...continued on p15

tWo weeks after being “kicked out” of Wimbledon qualifying, Australian teenage tennis ace luke saville has returned to the All England Club on a mission to defend his junior crown.

top-seeded saville has the chance to join all-time great stefan Edberg as a three-times junior grand slam champion.

Such a significant triumph would complete the most tumultuous month

...continued on p15

sTiCKing ThE BooT inSwans down the Wildcats to blow the AFL London finals race wide open | P13

Cadel Evans moves up Tour standingsCADEl EVAns’ BMC team picked up where they left off as the tour de France defending champion moved into the top 10 overall on sunday.

BMC again displayed the faultless teamwork that was crucial last year when Evans became the first Australian Tour winner.

they helped Evans stay out of trouble and he finished 20th in the 198km first stage from Liege to seraing in Belgium.

While his time gap to race leader Fabian Cancellara remained at 17 seconds, Evans improved from 13th to eighth on the general

...continued on p14

Aussie teen eyes Wimbledon glory, again

OPERATION CARNEY: MAROONS TO TARGET NSW MAIN MAN

QuEEnslAnD captain Cameron Smith says NSW five-eighth Todd Carney will be one of a number of Blues players whose games could fall apart if they are pressured during the state of origin decider.

After an ordinary game one, Carney was far more influential in the Sydney match but he’ll have a target on his head in the Suncorp Stadium finale on Wednesday with the Maroons well aware of his rocks or diamonds reputation.

“toddy’s a great player and he’s in great form this year but it’s a different environment playing (origin) at suncorp in front of 50,000 Queenslanders giving the Blues hell,” said Maroons skipper Cameron smith.

“if you apply a bit of pressure to those players they can fall into bad habits.

“We have to make sure we’re doing our job with the football first and then when the opportunities in defence present themselves to put pressure on those certain players we’ll do that.”

Carney admitted nerves got the better of him before origin i in Melbourne which lacks the in-your-face venom at suncorp stadium where fans are closer to the action.

stuart will be hoping Queensland don’t repeat their first 40 minutes of last year’s series decider when they farewelled skipper Darren lockyer on the back of a near flawless first half of controlled football in which they completed their first 20 sets without an error to lead 24-0.

this time around it’s prop Petero Civoniceva’s send off and a similar display would make it difficult for nsW to keep the sell out crowd out of the game.

smith conceded keeping Carney and Mitchell Pearce together for the opening two games had paid dividends for the Blues in sydney.

“in the past they’ve tended to switch their forward pack and probably the biggest thing (to get right) was their halves pairing,” he said.

Image by Bernhard Elber

australian times newspaper: 3 july 2012 edition

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