Top 5: Sam Kerr, Socceroos and A-League madness: The rugby stories that most resonated in 2022
Sam Kerr starred for club and country, the Socceroos made history and the A-League plunged into turmoil. Here are the football stories that most resonated in 2022.
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Sam Kerr’s star only kept rising, the Socceroos shocked doubters at a strange Qatar 2022 World Cup, while the A-League went through bitter club changes and a grand final sell-off that has plunged the game into explosive discontent.
Here are the five CODE Sports football stories that most resonated with readers in 2022.
Iceberg football: Why Kerr’s best is still to come
Sam Kerr is thriving after almost 100 games in two years of ‘iceberg football’. The scary thing is, the gruelling schedule is making Australian football’s greatest asset even better, wrote ADAM PEACOCK.
Watching Kerr play live at the ground, when the whole pitch is visible, is a tiring experience in itself.
It could be argued she plays iceberg football. What we see of her on or near the ball is only a little part of what actually exists.
Off the ball Kerr runs, and runs, and runs. Defensively, to close down those on the ball, often when it is two against one. Offensively, she will make run after run in behind the defensive line or toward the ball.
It all adds up to an incredible output for both club – Chelsea – and country.
Since September 2020, there has been no break. A season with Chelsea. Olympics. More Chelsea. Matildas friendlies. Asian Cup. More Chelsea. Nearly 100 games in less than two years. Phew. How much can she give?
“The more I keep going, the better I feel,” is Kerr’s mildly surprising answer.
Ninkovic unloads after Sydney split, Wanderers move
A bitter split with Sydney FC. A bombshell move to Wanderers. Disputes about why it happened. Milos Ninkovic gave his side of the story to ADAM PEACOCK, with no punches pulled.
Milos Ninkovic has a calm nature on and off the pitch.
His calmness on the pitch made him arguably the greatest import in A-League Men’s history. Off the pitch, he’s quiet, humble, down to earth.
Which is in total contrast to what has just happened.
Ninkovic, who made his name in Australia with Sydney FC, is now a Western Sydney Wanderer. For Sydney fans, it’s as if Luke Skywalker moved to the dark side. Some Wanderers fans were delighted with the signing. Others remain reserved, reluctant to fall for someone they’ve despised for seven years.
Ninkovic, though, has good reason to feel comfortable in his new surroundings.
“I haven’t played one second for Wanderers,” Ninkovic tells CODE Sports.
“And they showed me more respect than the club I played seven years with.”
What’s really missing from Qatar’s World Cup
Qatar’s controversial World Cup has a glaring absence and it’s not just alcohol. ADAM PEACOCK was on the ground in Doha and wrote that, amid the void, a loud shock awaited the Socceroos.
Hot. Open. Friendly. Clean. And yet, missing something.
No, not alcohol. You can find it, and it’s expensive, but no more so than a Justin Hemmes nightclub in a trendy part of Sydney.
Something else is lacking.
A vibe.
In five days-time Qatar hosts the World Cup. The impending arrival of the best footballers on the planet is well advertised in Doha, where seven of the eight stadiums are located. Banners line the streets. The stadiums themselves are dotted across the skyline. Less visible are where those who built them reside. Doha is a city creeping west, away from the bay which once formed the bedrock of the economy, with fishing and pearl diving. The discovery of oil and gas 100 years ago changed it all.
Analysis: Our greatest game, our greatest goal
It was the greatest goal in Socceroos' history and the greatest night. ADAM PEACOCK analysed a historic moment for Australian football.
Tell your kids. Tell your loved ones. Tell your mates.
Whisper it, yell it, scream it, put it on a T-shirt and wear it to bed.
Hard work gets you places.
The knockout stages of a World Cup, for starters.
An hour into one of the biggest Socceroos games in history, four days after the last one, hard work had got the Socceroos to a point, but more was needed.
Mat Leckie had spilt everything, when everything had already been given. The veteran, playing his ninth Socceroos World Cup match to equal the record held by Tim Cahill and Mark Bresciano, had already done as much running as the previous eight combined.
And then he was released on halfway with only Denmark’s Joakim Maehle for company.
Analysis: A-Leagues’ uncivil war
Right after the Socceroos’ glorious World Cup, the A-Leagues’ grand final sell-off has sent football fans into uproar. ADAM PEACOCK revealed how it came to this and who knew what.
Fans are planning a mass walkout of the Melbourne Derby this weekend.
Social media is on fire.
Players are blowing up.
Some clubs are mystified about the lack of consultation.
The decision of the Australian Professional Leagues to sell the A League Men’s and Women’s grand finals to Sydney for the next three years is well beyond controversial.
It has quickly turned into a monumental problem for the domestic game, just as the warm afterglow of the Socceroos’ World Cup performance radiated over everything good about Australian football.
How did it come to this?
Selling the grand final away was the easy part.
Selling the idea to fans, the bedrock of the sport, is swiftly turning into mission impossible.
Read the full story here - PLUS Adam Peacock’s eyewitness account of the ‘abomination’ at the Melbourne Derby
How a forced restart brought winning feeling back to Matildas
The Matildas were without a number of their Olympic stars and yet, the forced restart caused by line-up and combination changes did the trick for a much needed confidence boost.
Van Egmond strike the difference as Matildas scrape home
The Matildas have ended a three-game losing run with a 1-0 victory over the Korea Republic in Sydney as the interim coaching spell of Tom Sermanni draws to a close.
‘Don’t know what you’re doing’: Pressure piles up on Ange
Tottenham fans turned on beleaguered boss Ange Postecoglou, chanting “you don’t know what you’re doing” as Spurs’ poor run continued with defeat at Chelsea.
Why blockbuster A-League clash could decide coaches’ fates
Socceroos great Robbie Slater and Marco Monteverde assess the coaches under immense pressure heading into a blockbuster clash, an exodus at the Jets, and the blowtorch on Melbourne clubs.
Slater: Kerr brings positive vibes as Matildas search for killer blow
The match against Korea Republic may be a ‘friendly’, but there is a lot riding on this match for the Matildas, as ROBBIE SLATER explains.
Matildas rocked as star duo ruled out, another in doubt
The Matildas have suffered a major blow heading into their two-match series against Korea, with two key players ruled out, and a third in significant doubt.
