TFF has previously written of being at the packed Memorial Service of Gough Whitlam in 2014 at Sydney Town Hall, and being able to measure the level of acclaim for previous prime ministers from the true believers, by how much applause they attracted when they walked down the centre aisle. (Paul Keating won, given a rock-star welcome when he arrived in the company of his former wife, Annita. Bob Hawke was just behind that, while Kevin Rudd drew polite applause only.)

So it was on Friday at a packed lunch for the Go Foundation – raising money for Indigenous scholarships – at the Sheraton on the Park. Each table had a celebrity and MC Adam Spencer moved through them, as the crowd applauded to a certain level. No doubt about it, the founders of the Go Foundation, Adam Goodes, and Michael OLoughlin, drew rapturous applause, as did Buddy Franklin and Kurtley Beale. Hugo Weaving, Deborah Hutton, Helen Dalley, Jude Bolton, and Emma Alberici were also warmly welcomed among others.

But who did the crowd truly go off for, actually lift the roof for in their acclaim?

Kurt Fearnley. The crowd went NUTS for our favourite Paralympian. And rightly so. Something has happened to the wheelchair racer since those Commonwealth Games. Maybe it was his slew of medals – now 42 in total – or the fact he bore the flag for the closing ceremony, or his retirement, or his acclaimed speech on the virtues of inclusion after winning Silver at 1500 metres, but whatever it is, the love of the people for this bloke has gone to a new level.

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Spencer interviewed him on stage and, again, as Kurt told something of his story, the awe was palpable. Growing up in the wonderful NSW burgh of Carcoar – just west of the Black Stump, and a little south of Woop Woop – he was 14 when some of the fine citizens of that town decided to put money together to get him a wheelchair racer, and send him to Denver to race.

“My parents tried to stop them,” Kurt recounted, “but they said, you stay out of this – its between us and the young fella.”

In two weeks theyd raised ten grand, and he was on his way, winning the race for his age division. “My whole world changed,” he said. “I realised there were people just like me, and lots of them. Id found my community. They changed my life.” It brought the house down. Fearnleys message was perfect and the Go Foundation raised tens of thousands to help with scholarships for 68 Indigenous youth.

Going out on top

The Cameron Smith rep retirement? Good luck to him. With the possible exception of Brad Thorn no footballer could possibly go to his rest surer in the knowledge that he had squeezed his footballing lemon to the very last ounce of juice it had in it. And the reasons he gave, as I noted in my column on Thursday, were good ones. Basically, he couldnt bounce back the way he used to, and it was time to put his family first by limiting the amount of time he would be away from them in Origin and Kangaroo camps, etc. Two things, for me, remain unexplained – only one of which is important.

Why now? Why with three weeks to go to Origin I, leave your team in the lurch in this manner? By his own admission, he realised last year he could no longer bounce back, and the idea to put his family first was most certainly not a new one. So, why? If I was his Queensland coach, Kevin Walters, Id be more than a little underwhelmed at the disservice to the team.

On a much more minor matter, does it stun you, as it stuns me, that Billy Slater, his team-mate of more than a decade, and his likely successor as Queensland captain, wasnt told by Smith himself. Slater, as he told Fox, found out when a journalist asked him about it!

For years, my own assumption has been that the great Storm/Queensland/Australia triumvirate of Smith/Slater/Cronk must be personally close to each other, having experienced so much triumph over so many years. Apparently, though, no? Smith didnt Slater first? Weird!

Smith didnt manage to make it to Cronks wedding late last year? Weirder still!

Strange days indeed. Most peculiar, Mama.

A pleasant suprise and a grim ending

So there I was, Saturday evening, “home alone,” as they say in the classics, when I realised the Waratahs match was on against the Crusaders, in Christchurch. Imagine my surprise, and delight, dear readers, when I saw that, with 30 minutes to go, the Tahs were leading by 29-17. Wonderful! A few minutes into the commentary I realised the context. While it was one thing to be leading by that much, with only 30 minutes to go, it was quite another to realise that they had blown a 29-0 lead in the first half, and were struggling to beat the buggers back.

And then the Crusaders scored another try. And a goal. And a try.

As we all know, they ended up going down by 31-29, for a devastating loss. But wait!

Instead of just focusing on the huge disappointment of blowing the lead, can we glory for a moment in the achievement of massing such a lead, and in Christchurch, how well they played to score the tries they did? It proves that Australian rugby is capable of putting it together on the day – its just that they need to do it all day, every day!

Time for Folau to find focus

As to Israel Folau, no-one played better than him. In a welcome return to form, every time he touched the ball he looked like he did in his first few matches with the Waratahs – that is, every time he touched the ball, he looked dangerous, as the defence scrambled to stop him, creating gaps all around him. It was far and away his best performance of the year, and if he could play like that in a Wallaby jersey, our chances would lift still.

On that subject, Michael Cheika, in his comments this week, hinted they might have found a way forward on Folaus problematic posts. I hope my reading is correct and that both Cheika and the team have made clear: Israel, youve had your say, and if Jesus does come again and casts all sinners into the furthest reaches of hell, no-one can say, “But Israel didnt warn us!”

You have warned everybody. But now, the task is to beat, first the Irish, and then the All Blacks. To do that, we need focus. We need disciplined training, fierce focus on the task at hand, and stopping all activities that will distract the team from performing at our absolute optimum. Get it? Got it? Good!

They said it

Trevor Gillmeister on Cameron Smith becoming an Immortal. “Its not a matter of time, its when.”

Smith reflecting on the beginning of his decision to retire from representative football: “I couldnt quite back up after any of those Origin matches, and maybe that was a sign there that it was time. Because I have always been very proud of my ability to back up.”

He goes on: “I wasnt offering much at home, either as a father or a husband … The people that have sacrificed the most are my family. My beautiful wife Barbara and my children. My eldest has been to pretty much every rep game. Ive been away from you for a long time …”

Kevin Walters on Smith retiring from representative football
“Weve lost our captain, our leader and our goal-kicker so its a big loss for Queensland but it had to happen one day.”

Stephen Hoiles, commentating, after a number of contentious incidents went against the Waratahs on Saturday night: “The reality is, weve got to start cheating better.” Hoiles later retracted the comment.

Joe Roff on Canberra Stadium: “You see around the world a shift towards smaller stadiums where the experience is every seat in the house is high quality and that's exactly what Canberra needs.”

Essendons football chief, Dan Richardson on a coaching reshuffle, that saw assistant coach Mark Neeld quit the club on Monday: “This is an opportunity for [coach] John [Worsfold ]and the performance coaches to create greater clarity and alignment in the brand of football we want to play."

David Gallop on whether Tim Cahill is in the World Cup squad for marketing purposes: “Have a look at Tim Cahills track record. Hes a guy who has produced for the Socceroos and Australia so many times. Hes going to Turkey, hes got a few weeks of intense training and hell be right up there [for final selection].”

Raelene Castle on dealing with the nuances of rugby: “The freedom of speech movement in this country is a very vocal one and I don't use the word 'complex' lightly . . . Certainly we are the first sport in Australia to have a high-profile athlete use this platform to share his personal religious views. There's no precedent to look at so it's made the whole process very difficult. We continue to work through it with Israel.”

Local hero Craig Johnston unhappy with the A-League Grand Final
“Our people are different folk. We are grounded in working-class roots, we are low maintenance and dont make a fuss. We are also good hosts and good losers as you have probably noticed. Please forgive us, but what we are not good at is waiting 10 long years for a shot at glory, only to be dudded by administrative bodies who blow into town overnight, take our ticket money and deny us a fair go at winning a grand final, with a flawed refereeing system.”

Mark Waugh on Test cricket. “So it's really only Australia, India and England where Test cricket is alive and well. For me that's a concern.”

ESPNs Jeff Van Gundy on the state of the Cleveland Cavaliers: “The Cavs eye roll each other more than a couple in a bad marriage.”

Australian cricketer David Hussey, on twitter: “Anyone else over the goings on with the Royal wedding? Over with what Megans half sister says? And the goings on with Megans dad? Is it time Australia became a republic? #EnoughIsEnough.” Let me hear you say, RAH!

The crowd at Christchurch delighted in singing the gay anthem, and dancing along, as a reminder to the visiting Waratahs fullback Israel Folau that he did not enjoy their support: “Its fun to stay at the YMCA, fun to stay at the YMCA.A.A.A!”

Team of the Week

Cameron Smith. End of an era with him hanging up the Maroon boots. Remains to be seen if this makes any difference to the end result

Ben Ronke. In just his third match in the big leagues, Ben Ronke slotted seven goals for the Swans against Hawthorne. A star is born.

Sydney Swans. Great win against Hawthorn last week but need some help at home so TFF is tipping the Dockers.

Richmond and West Coast. Top of the table teams go at it in what will likely be an epic encounter out West tomorrow.

Ireland. Played their first cricket Test match against Pakistan.

Dwane Casey. Named NBA coach of the year, and was fired by the Toronto Raptors two days later.

World Rugby. Rocked by disqualifications due to player ineligibility to the extent that Romania is out of the World Cup and Russia is in.

ISA Firsts Basketball. Boasting players from St Augustine, Oakhill and Central Coast Grammar, they had a clean sweep of the competition, besting GPS, AICES, and CAS. This is the first time since records have been kept (18 years) that ISA have achieved this.

RIP Keith Hawke OAM 1932-2018. An enormous figure in ACT rugby, particularly as Patron of the Royals, he was also one of the best five-eighths of his era, captaining ACT against all of the All Blacks, Springboks and New Zealand Maori in the 1950s. Vale, of good and faithful servant of the game.

Twitter: @Peter_Fitz

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Peter FitzSimons is a Herald journalist, columnist and author, based in Sydney. He is also a former Wallabies player.

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