About

Marius - politics

John Howard, in the depths of Opposition, wrote off his own political life.

Famously, he was Mr 18% and by his own assessment, any chance of a political resurrection was: “Lazarus with a triple by-pass.”

He then opened the exit door on politics and looked out at the world beyond.

Whatever it was John Howard saw, he closed the door and went back to the long, long haul that eventually led to the door of the Prime Minister’s office.

In retrospect, it’s impossible to believe that the man who would be the Liberals second longest serving PM would ever leave politics - he was always a “lifer” - politics and life were interchangeable terms for him.

Malcolm Turnbull is completely unlike John Howard in every conceivable way; Howard is the dull solidity of Sydney’s leafy north shore compared with the glitter and bling of Turnbull’s eastern suburbs.

The Howard Way was always was one of political mono-mania, Turnbull’s a life of many parts.

In the mid-70’s, I was beginning a working life in journalism covering state parliament in NSW for the Daily Telegraph. The Tele shared an office in Macquarie Street, flanked to our right by AAP and on the left: 2SM Radio, the Bulletin, from memory the Nation Review and a few other radio stations.

That gaggle of outlets on our left was embodied in a single correspondent, one Malcolm Turnbull. My memory is of a whirlwind in a suit powering through the door, oscillating wildly over the phone and serving his many masters.

And that was between completing a law degree and launching a business career.

Malcolm Turnbull has always been riding a few horses in the circus of life, politics just one of them.

And the impression among some of his colleagues is that, while he is hurling his considerable energies into the Liberal cause now, any serious adversity - like losing an election - could see him swirl his cape spectacularly, bow deeply to the vastly amused audience and exit……stage left.

In a remarkable display of political candour last week Turnbull, Peter Costello and Ian MacFarlane all admitted the next election, especially if taken early, was probably lost.

For most observers, that is no more than a statement of the obvious, but the obvious is not something that is always admitted openly by politicians.

With discussion for some opposition members already turning to what happens after the anticipated loss, one unknown to be pondered is whether Malcolm Turnbull will stick around - quite apart from whether his colleagues will want him.

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Debbie - Sport

“I guess to have Jarryd up against Billy that’s really a promoter’s dream. It’s certainly the NRL’s dream given the season those two guys have had.”

These are not the words of some sporting conspiracy theorist, but a direct quote from the NRL’s chief executive David Gallop at this morning’s Grand Final Breakfast in Sydney.

I’ve spoken to plenty of sports fans this week who believe the NRL took the soft option allowing Jarryd Hayne to play in the Final, after the way he used his knees on the head of the Bulldogs’ Bryson Goodwin last Friday night. Mr Gallop’s words this morning are sure going to give those cynics plenty of ammunition to work with.

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When it comes to the Billy v Jarryd debate, you can put me firmly in the Slater camp.

Sure Hayne’s been impressive this year, but Slater’s been ripping defences to shreds with his sheer speed and uncanny anticipation for more than six seasons now. Opposition coaches have had plenty of time to go to school on what “Billy the Kid” does, but they haven’t found a way of shutting him down yet.

Let’s see how Hayne copes with being a marked man for a few more seasons before flinging around “the best in game” tags.

By the way, Slater’s skills aren’t confined to the demands of rugby league. I happened to catch just one episode of a show on Channel Nine earlier this year called “Australia’s Greatest Athlete”. Slater was representing rugby league against athletes from other sports including the AFL’s Brett Deledio, soccer’s Joel Griffiths, rugby union’s Lote Tuqiri, cricket’s Andrew Symonds and the Olympic pole vault gold medalist Steve Hooker. These stars competed against each other in a range of sporting challenges that included things like sprinting, golf, mini ironman, bench pressing. Channel flicking, I just happened to catch Slater taking on Hooker in the final of a rock climbing challenge.

I thought a fast, strong and agile Olympic athlete like Hooker would beat him easily, but Slater won. If you check the results of the 12 events, you’ll see Slater was top three in 10 of them. He won the title in a canter. And speaking of cantering, that’s a challenge that wasn’t included that Slater would’ve dominated: horse-riding. He was a champion show rider as a kid and rode track work for Gai Waterhouse for six months before deciding to make a career out of rugby league.

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As was the case with Geelong last week, Melbourne Storm go into this weekend’s Grand Final with the reputation of having been the benchmark team of the past four seasons.

Like Geelong, they’ve got recent experience: the disappointment of last year to spur them on and the advantage of having hit form with their best lineup on the paddock at the right end of the season.

And like Geelong, I think they’ll win.

For some real inside perspective on what to expect in Sunday evening’s big game, tune into Weekend Half Time this Sunday morning.

Scott Wales and I will talk tactics with two premiership winning coaches: Chris Anderson who coached the Storm to their first Final win in 1999 and Michael Hagan, who won a premiership in 2001 with Newcastle, and was in charge at Parramatta up until the end of last season.