It'll Beale right in the end

I haven't been a sport writer for very long, but I do know that the "redemption" cliché is one to avoid. You can't watch US sporting commentary, for instance, without a bucket, because no American athlete can simply hit a home run or throw a touchdown pass without overcoming tragic deaths, serious injury or illness or total on-field collapse, which drove them into hiding for several years; or all three. But watching the Wallabies' epic win in Bloemfontein, it was hard to think of a sportsman who had travelled the emotional elevator from basement to penthouse in such a short time as Australian fullback Kurtley Beale did against the Springboks in the dying minutes of the weekend's Tri-Nations Test. Beale had been tremendous in the spark that he gave to Australia's attack and the ground that he had covered in defusing Springbok raids: he had also made the odd error, which is no surprise to anyone who has watched him in Waratah or Wallaby colours. But when the Australians were clinging to the lead with four minutes to go, trying to run the ball from their own half, and Beale slipped while waiting for a long Quade Cooper air-ball - slipped such that all he could do was head-butt the ball straight to the South Africans, who forced a penalty that Morne Steyn converted to reclaim the lead - it looked like the mishap that had lost the match. But a last-minute penalty gave the Australians an opportunity 55.6 metres from goal, and as everybody in Australia has probably seen by now, Beale belted it through with interest to claim the Wallabies' first win at altitude in South Africa since 1963, and put to rest the sickening sense of inevitability that seemed to suffuse the game for watching Australians. It was stirring stuff, but on the long flight back from the Republic there will be lots to ponder for Robbie Deans and the Wallabies' brains trust. For instance, how can you lead by 25 points only to give up 27 unanswered points to fall behind? How, when you have an opposition kicker like Steyn nailing them from everywhere, with no distance or angle too hard, can you keep giving away dumb penalties - especially the stupid tackle that Saia Faingaa laid, and for which he has deservedly been suspended for two weeks? Still, winning covers over some of these cracks, and at least the Wallabies go into the final Tri-Nations Test against the All Blacks in Sydney this Saturday with some confidence. Forget winning at altitude in South Africa: beating this New Zealand team for the first time in ten Tests has become an even bigger - and more urgent - hoodoo to be put to bed.

Pyke with double twist a winner

Take a bow, Brett Allison, Steve Taubert, Mark Stone and Michael Quinlan: your boy came good. I thought the most striking thing about Sydney's win against Carlton yesterday at the Olympic Stadium were the critical possessions gathered by ruckman Mike Pyke in the frenetic final few minutes. The big Canadian roosted the ball deep inside 50 twice, when his team was crying out for precisely that, and was a large part of why the Swans prevailed. He also contributed well in the ruck and gave good handballs when he had to. Considering Pyke only made his debut 16 months ago, he has been a massive improver: his clutch last-quarter possessions were actually handled like a footballer. When you think that all of his instincts come from rugby union, to keep his head as he did yesterday is an outstanding achievement in such a short time. As a contrast, think of how long St. Kilda fans have had to wait for Steven Milne, one of the most-highly skilled goal scorers in the game, to gather meaningful possessions in a finals match - and he has played the game all of his life. Pyke probably flew under Carlton's radar and I think that Brett Ratten's review of the tape will make for uncomfortable listening for Sam Jacobs and Robbie Warnock, who should have been able to exploit Pyke's inexperience - not be themselves exploited at the death. So for Michael Quinlan, the manager who recommended Pyke to the Swans; Brett Allison, the former Swans assistant coach, who oversaw much of Pyke's development in 2009; Steve Taubert, the Swans' ruck coach; and Mark Stone, the stoppages coach; well done on your work with Pyke. And for Pyke himself - congratulations on your achievements so far in the AFL. (Although he did grow up in Victoria - even if it was Victoria, BC.)

Diamonds come out of the pits to shine

If Rodney Eade wants to try something different this week, I suggest a phone call to Australian netball coach Norma Plummer, who somehow rebuilt her team's confidence after a 59-40 thrashing three days earlier to spark the Diamonds to a series-winning 46-40 turnaround in Auckland yesterday. The way the Australians were pummelled last week in Wellington was easily the equivalent of the Western Bulldogs' towelling at the hands of Collingwood on Saturday night, but Plummer made three changes to the line-up and somehow got her group up off the floor confidence-wise to take on the same opponents and turn the score around by 25 goals in half a week, a superb feat of coaching (although bringing in Medhurst is not an option for Eade.) Where the Australians had been all at sea in Wellington they were sharp as a knife yesterday, with breathtakingly slick ball movement and committed defence that took the New Zealanders apart. I played mixed netball and loved the game, and if you ever get the chance to watch these two teams going at each other, don't miss it: it's a high-quality, super-athletic skill-fest. If you missed the Constellation Cup series, which concluded yesterday with a 2-1 series win to the Australians, you're in luck, because the Diamonds and the Silver Ferns should play off in the gold medal match in Delhi next month, when the Kiwis defend their Commonwealth Games title. For mine, that will be one of the must-sees of the Commonwealth Games.

Storm blows out of town, 2011 weather uncertain

It was a strange day at AAMI Park yesterday in Melbourne, with the Melbourne Storm farewelling a turbulent 2010 - and five stars - with its 14th win, which should have had it preparing for the NRL Finals. The breaking of the Fellowship of the (Premiership) Ring was just as sad as it was in the Lord of the Rings, and an ordeal of a season with no reward showed clearly in the demeanour of the Storm. The question of just what sort of Storm side emerges from the aftermath of 2010 will be exercising the minds of many in the NRL: they will be depleted, but the club has shown a remarkable ability to recruit well and blood good new players continually. And it obviously has something special in terms of culture: it was staggering to hear the departing Greg Inglis talk of how he would like to come back, after his two-year contract with Brisbane ends! It is astonishing to AFL followers to hear this kind of thing, although AFL has only just started to experience it, with the in-season recruiting of players that Gold Coast has instituted. While it is regular for NRL players to announce halfway through a season that they are leaving at the end of it, such a thing is still anathema in the AFL. It's great that GI feels that way, but you have to wonder - what would the Broncos, his employer for 2011 and 2012, make of what he said?

Twit goes on Twitter, regrets it

England cricketer Dimitri Mascarenhas was a team-mate of Shane Warne's at Hampshire and Rajasthan Royals, so he should know all about the dangers of compulsive telecommunication. But the injured all-rounder, who last played for England in the T20 and one-day internationals against Australia in 2009, has just committed career hara-kiri on Twitter, calling the England chairman of selectors Geoff Miller a "complete knob" and an "F-ing prick." Mascarenhas' Twitter rant comes only days after former Kevin Pietersen - who also should have learned from Warne when at Hampshire - was told he will face an England and Wales Cricket Board disciplinary hearing for a similar outburst on Twitter, although Pietersen was complaining more at being dropped than sledging Miller personally. Evidently these players believe that their Twitter pearls of wisdom simply go off into the ether, and are never read by anybody. Oh, but they deleted the posts when warned that they might potentially have got out to the wider world than their followers. That's OK, then - problem solved.