How Will Tomic Fare in 2014?

Tomic's 2013 season has been capped with many ups and downs and a record of 25-21 which isn't flattering to say the least. Considering how interrupted his year has been he has done very well to finish ranked 55 in the world. He has yet again been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons. His father John being accused on assaulting his hitting partner and being banned from all ATP events. Leaving Bernie without his coach and mentor for the second half of the year. This aside the start of his year was very promising winning his first ATP tournament in Sydney. Then making the third round of Australian Open losing to Roger Federer arguably the best player of all time. Another highlight was making the fourth round of Wimbledon narrowly losing out to Tomas Berdych. His return to Davis Cup was also successful where the Aussies won their way back into the World-Group defeating Poland.

But how will Tomic's season go in 2014? Tennis is a tough sport both physically and mentally you can't blame anyone else when you lose and you can be the only one to take credit when you win. Physically you have to be able to have the fitness to potentially play a five hour match and then back it up again the next day. Bernard is just taking a bit of time for these facets of his game to improve he has all the talent in the world but if he wants to be a consistent tennis player contending in grand slams he needs to mentally and physically get a lot better. You can take Rafael Nadal for example he doesn't play on tour for eight months because of an injury comes back from his layoff and finishes the year ranked number 1 with a record of 68-5. There is plenty of inspiration around for Bernard to do well, his good friend Lleyton Hewitt is still going as strong as ever. Also with competition like Nadal, Djokovic you have to be improving every year or you just won't be able to keep up with the pace.

If Bernard can put everything together in 2014 he can immediately see results. With his talent alone it can only get him so far, he has to potential to be a top 10 player. In 2013 we saw how could he can be in patches but it just wasn't consistent enough. The consistency is the key for Tomic not just having one or two good matches in a tournament but being able to go all the way and win is something we all know he can do. Tennis has a long year of tournaments all over the world on different surfaces and if he can find that ability to play well year round he will finish the year in the top 10.


Twitter:@GranthamDaniel

O'Connor and ARU Part Ways

The ARU and James O'Connor have come to a mutual agreement to terminate his contract immediately.

This announcement comes after a number of off-field incidents where he has been removed from an airport for being intoxicated and was seen at a Burger King at 3am days before the Wallabies clash with the British & Irish Lions.

His form all season long has been patchy at best and moving him to five-eighth during the British & Irish Lions series was a failure where he made poor decisions with the ball in hand and failed to control the game in tight situations. He currently hasn't been signed by any club in the Super 15 and their was speculation on whether he was worth the risk for many clubs.

This means O'Connor will miss out on $500,000 of top ups from the ARU and is already linked with more lucrative moves to the NRL and Japanese rugby. Where he could be earning millions of dollars. We are yet to hear from him at all and it is unclear what his future holds. 

Twitter: @GranthamDaniel

Photo Credit: The Australian

Cooper Cronk Wins Dally M in a Tight Finish

In one of the most tightly contested Dally M Medal nights in recent history where at the NRLs night of nights stars such as Russell Crowe, Rob Mills and politicians Anthony Albanese and Joe Hockey turned to show their support for NRL the winner was Cooper Cronk who won by 2 points from Thurston, Carney, Cherry-Evans. 

It was a great night overall with the players dressing up and getting a chance to wind down and catch up with mates while have a quiet beer. Overall the best player won on the night having a excellent run of form towards the end of the the season culminating in another origin victory with QLD and a successful season with the Melbourne Storm ending prematurely in heartbreak losing to Newcastle Knights 14-16 in the Preliminary Final.

Cronk just seems to be getting better every year with his composure and understanding of the game: whether to kick, pass or run himself. He is also becoming a leader who his teammates all aspire to be like with such leadership qualities really guiding his team through tight, tough games which he has showed in his many origin and finals games. Can he take his team to a premiership in 2014?

Twitter: @GranthamDaniel

Photo Credit: Gregg Porteous