NEU » The days of wunderkinds winning Grand Slams could be a way off

Interested to see the best finals preparations - week off or regular footy?I am keen to see what works better between having a week off and recovering or playing intense, regular football. I am interested to see if either has an outcome in the game -- the Cowboys came off a hard game in Melbourne in Week 1 and then an Origin-style game of football at home against Brisbane and now they travel to Sydney.It will be fascinating to see what is the best style of approaching a finals campaign -- having the week off or continuing to play regardless of how hard it is.These days is the best our game has ever had it with professionalism so it will be interesting to see if we get a cracking game of football or does a week off make one team rusty or whether the travel and playing continuously puts the other team under pressure.?The Cowboys won the premiership last year after losing the first game but they went the hard road and we now know there was nothing wrong with the path they took.Hope to see a strong Chad Townsend response after being hooked last gameI am looking forward to seeing what Chad Townsend presents this weekend because he unfortunately didnt play a great deal of time two weeks ago in Canberra.It was a masterstroke from Shane Flanagan to replace him and put Jack Bird to the halves but I dont know what effect it will have on Chad Townsend -- how hes feeling and how his confidence level is sitting.I think coming up against Johnathan Thurston is a great game for him. If anyone feels like hes under pressure or down on confidence I think playing the best player in the game should be seen as a nice battle for yourself.I think Cronullas chances of success hinges a fair bit on how Chad Townsend performs -- the right edge of the Sharks in which Townsend and Luke Lewis sit will have to certainly send a fair bit of football at Johnathan Thurston and I think that will be a way of targeting the Cowboys and improving the Sharks chances of victory.Cooper Cronk 300-game milestone for MelbourneCooper Cronks 300 games for the Melbourne Storm will be a wonderful celebration -- they sell great milestones better than anyone in the NRL competition and I just think its a great rap for a great bloke.There are 25 people who have played 300-plus games, there are around 10 or 11 that have played 300-plus at the one club so I think its been an amazing career for him and a nice way to celebrate a milestone in such a big occasion.Hell look back at the end of the year and recognise hes played 300 games for the one club which is a fair milestone. I think Melbourne Storm players have been walking around in Cooper Cronk t-shirts all week so as much as hes playing it down and staying humble, I think there has already been a little celebration by the football club.Cronk and Melbourne is like the perfect marriage -- he couldve gone to another club that played ad-lib football and probably never had a career. Hes done a wonderful job to turn into the player he is. Nike ACG Sale . Jay Feely kicked a 41-yard field goal in overtime, and the Cardinals edged the Tennessee Titans 37-34 in overtime after blowing a 17-point lead late in the fourth quarter. Old Skool Sale .C. -- Chris Thorburn thinks one of the reasons the Winnipeg Jets have been successful under new coach Paul Maurice is that theyre playing together as a team. https://www.wholesaleshoesforcheap.com/nmd-sale/ . Clarke was injured while practicing on the Doha Golf Club range after the pro-am on Tuesday. The Northern Irishman arrived at the course on Wednesday hoping to start, but after hitting a few balls on the practice putting green Clarke advised officials he was not fit to play. Vapormax Sale . The Vancouver coach and an announced sellout crowd of 18,910 watched in dismay as the Canucks lost 7-4 to the New York Islanders on Monday night by squandering a 3-0 lead in the third period. Nike Air Scream Sale . SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. SINGAPORE -- The WTA Finals ended on a surprising note, with Dominika Cibulkova beating top-ranked Angelique Kerber?6-3, 6-4 for the title. The Slovakian ended a remarkable season by Kerber, who won two Grand Slam trophies and reached the final of a third.With the win, Cibulkova moved up to the No. 5 ranking in the world and showed she will be a legitimate threat moving forward. Heres what else we learned during the weeklong year-end championships:1. Womens tennis has never been more exciting: Yes, its more exciting and unpredictable than the ATP. These WTA Finals were a roller-coaster ride from start to finish because of the competitiveness between the players. Svetlana Kuznetsova only qualified by winning the Kremlin Cup final the day before the WTA Finals kicked off in Singapore, and both she and Karolina Pliskova had to save match points to win their opening round-robin matches. Cibulkova snuck into the semifinals despite losing two round-robin matches, but it could just as easily have been Simona Halep or Madison Keys in her place. From start to finish, the WTA Finals were filled with exciting, topsy-turvy matches.?2. Despite the loss, Kerber could be a long-term successor to Serena Williams: Despite losing the final to an inspired Cibulkova, Kerber only enhanced her growing reputation. Oozing with confidence and comfortable with her new status, the 28-year-old navigated her way to the final with clinical efficiency, dealing with everything that came her way. Even in the final, when Cibulkova played the match of her life, Kerber almost pulled it out of the fire, saving three match points before Cibulkova got a lucky break with a net cord that ended the contest.3. The days of wunderkinds winning Grand Slams could be a way off: Serena may have won herr first major as a teenager, but her biggest legacy may end up being inspiring older women to stick at it for longer.dddddddddddd Although the grueling round-robin nature of the WTA Finals should in theory benefit younger players, it instead favored the more experienced brigade. The four youngest players in the tournament were all eliminated after the round-robin phase, and the four semifinalists were all 27 and older.4. Madison Keys is a work in progress, but the wait could be worth it: Still just 21, she was the youngest player to qualify and clearly has all the weapons to dominate her opponents, with a thunderbolt serve and ferocious groundstrokes. The trick for her now is to get her temperament right, but she appears to have a good head on her shoulders. She admitted that her nerves got the better of her at times in Singapore but was mature enough to recognize thats an area she needs to fix. She also took note of what was happening on the other side of the net, watching how the older European players went about their business and consoling herself in the knowledge they also took their time before breaking through.5. Theres still a place in the game for smaller players: At 5-foot-3, Cibulkova could be riding in the Kentucky Derby if she werent such a good tennis player. But what she lacks in height she makes up for with sheer tenacity, with aggressive groundstrokes and never giving up, fetching more balls than a golden retriever. Hers was a win for the sports romantics, overcoming seemingly insurmountable odds to win the biggest tournament of her life at a time when most everyone is resigned to thinking that big is better. ' ' '