I was reading the Wall Street Journal this week (because I’m deep and sophisticated) and the reporter covering Trump and Ukraine was opining about the fact we were seeing a New World Order taking shape.
It’s the sort of story that made me realise two things: A) the news I cover is decidedly low stakes in comparison and B) come to think of it, there’s a few examples of sporting tectonic plates shifting within sport both home and abroad.
Jannik Sinner negotiated a deal with WADA to ensure he would be banned for three months, conveniently missing no grand slam tennis. Andy Roddick described it as being suspended from college while you’re “on spring break”. Novak Djokovic was more pointed, arguing it was evidence the system was rotten and spoke to a lack of fairness
. Novak once tried to sneak into COVID-traumatised Melbourne unvaccinated, so he knows about special treatment. The fact he's the principal voice of dissent and reason on Sinner speaks to a changing of the guard. You wonder if Novak would be so vocal if Jannik didn’t happen to be a major impediment to his chase for a 25th slam.
Speaking of shifts in thinking, do you remember the level of fury and derision when LIV signed Cam Smith as the Saudi PIF up-ended the golfing ecosystem? There was reasonable discomfort as Adelaide hosted the first raucous event in 2023. Spin forward to last weekend, and the biggest bone of contention appeared to be which DJ golf bros were most excited to see at The Grange. Forget Scheffler vs Rory, it was Dom Dolla vs Fisher. New LIV CEO Scott O’Neill granted us a rare interview
. He is the quintessential brainy American. Taking uncomfortable topics and re-working them into rhetorical questions which he answers with unbridled positivity. It was clear from this conversation, the Saudi-backed rebel league isn’t preparing to fade away… it’s ramping up.
Latrell Mitchell has been a star of the NRL, which explains both his million-dollar annual contract and relentless patience of his employer South Sydney. After season 2024 where he was suspended for on and off-field dramas and battled injury, it was hoped that 2025 would be a return to peak Trell. Instead, we have an early hamstring injury that sees at least two months on the sidelines. It might be a garden variety injury, it might also be the start of a decline.
The Matildas have long been Australia’s darlings, but the national team continues to squander its considerable goodwill. When Tom Sermanni took over from Tony Gustavsson, he was seen as a great palate cleanse. A lemon sorbet to reset the palate after Swedish meatballs. As we watched the Australians be dismantled by Japan at the SheBelieves Cup, it was evident that an interim coach will inevitably leave you in footballing purgatory. Sermanni is an excellent coach and an even better man, but as the Matildas head towards a home Asian Cup there is a sense that they’re being left behind by their contemporaries.
The world order is always being re-imagined.
