Maria Sharapova and Meldonium

Maria Sharapova and Meldonium

Paul Thomas2016-03-25 So tennis superstar Maria Sharapova has tested positive to a banned substance, been dumped by some big brand sponsors and faces a lengthy ban.Oh dear. How sad. Every now and again, one’s raw, spontaneous reaction to something that, on the face of...
Martin Crowe: Requiem for a Perfectionist

Martin Crowe: Requiem for a Perfectionist

Paul Thomas2016-03-11 Two of the new faces in the 1977/78 Auckland cricket training squad were a journeyman all-rounder (me) and a 15 year old Auckland Grammar boy named Martin Crowe. When I arrived at Eden Park for the first training session, Crowe was having a...
Big and Bigger – Jonah Lomu

Big and Bigger - Jonah Lomu

Paul Thomas2015-12-05 Jonah Lomu’s death was a reminder of sport’s essentially ephemeral nature and its paradoxical capacity to engage emotions and transcend race, language and geography. New Zealand Rugby and Richie McCaw contemplated delaying the announcement of his...
It’s Our Game

It’s Our Game

Paul Thomas2015-11-14 And with a single result we were free.The All Blacks’ Rugby World Cup triumph is laden with significance but perhaps its single greatest merit from the New Zealand rugby public ‘s perspective is that it delivers peace of mind: for at least a few...
Boksing on

Boksing on

Paul Thomas2015-10-31 Given that the build-up often verged on the surreal, the All Blacks’ Rugby World Cup quarter-final performance against France was appropriately out of this world. All week the talk had been of bogey teams and hoodoos, coups and smokescreens. Just...