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Ricky Stuart - Your boys took one hell of a beating!

After all the cockiness that had come out from Down Under over the last three or four weeks, the Australian press have finally been shown that Australia didn't have their name etched on the World Cup trophy after all.

With claims such as "no point turning up" because Australia were 'superior', that superiority went out the window in the final played in Brisbane earlier today. Did they have the bottle?

No, New Zealand did. And they made sure they won it in style too. No doubt the Australian media will claim that Ashley Klein and Steve Ganson did all their best to help the Kiwis win it, but that's the fickle nature of the press Down Under.

Australia started the most dominant side and were playing to keep hold of a trophy that had been in their possession for 33 years.

And domination quickly turned to points with Billy Slater - named World Player of the Year, sliced through the Kiwis' defence before turning a pass inside to supporting Darren Lockyer. And it was quickly followed by a David Williams try.

The game could have been over quicker than it had started, had Darren Lockyer managed to hold on to the ball with the line beckoning but this gave New Zealand the opportunity to bounce back.

And they took the lead against Australia with tries from Salford bound Jeremy Smith and a debatable try from Jerome Ropati. Cue Ganson-gate number 2.

But the Kiwis headed in behind with Lockyer grabbing his second shortly before half-time.

The second-half was completely different with New Zealand showing resonance and prowess to grab the victory and lift the World Cup trophy for the first time in their history. Needless to say they were helped by some catastrophic Aussie errors.

Firstly, Lance Hohaia crossed and that was soon succeeded by a Benji Marshall try after Slater whom - on his own line - threw the ball...........err, enough said I think.

Inglis salvaged hope for Australia when he crossed, but two tries put the icing on the cake for the Kiwis. A penalty try was awarded to Lance Hohaia after the full-back-come-hooker was taken out by Joel Monaghan after he chased a Nathan Fien kick.

And Adam Blair crossed in the 75th minute to win it for the black and whites.

In a competition that has been less than satisfactory for England, this is sure to leave a lingering wry smile on the faces of the Brits - even for only a temporary moment.

Flo - a neverending story

Tomorrow Tore Andre Flo can get his debut for his 10th club. Earlier today it was confirmed that he has signed a loan deal with MK Dons until the end of the season.

Flo retired in March, and has just finished participating in the Norwegian version of Dancing With the Stars. He reached the final, but glamour model Lene Alexandra won.

But let's focus on his football career, because that is what this is all about.

He has been a professional player on top level since 1993, when he joined his Sogndal from his local amateur club, Florø. There he played together with his two brothers, Jostein (who is now a director of football at Strømsgodset) and Jarle. He scored 21 goals in 44 matches before being transferred to Tromsø when Sogndal were relegated in 1994.

Flos only season in Tromsø was 1995. He played 26 matches, and scored incredible 18 goals.

In 1996 and 1997 the striker scored his goals with Brann. Although he during this stay was becoming one of Norways best attackers. But during the first half of the 1997 season, many Brann fans started disliking him because he was having his mind set on a move to Chelsea. But most Brann-fans have fond last memories of his Brann-career, when he left Brann Stadion with a hat-trick against his former club Sogndal.

Flo left Brann for Chelsea for a fee of £300,000 ($540,000). The relatively small transfer fee was due to the fact that he would become a Bosman player at the end of the season.

In his Chelsea-debut, Flo scored Chelseas only goal in a 2-1 loss to Coventry. Flo scored 15 goalsin his first season at Stamford Bridge, a season in which Chelsea won the League Cup and Cup Winners' Cup.

The next season Flo scored ten goals, but manager Gianluca Viallis rotation and the signing of Pierluigi Casiraghi, compromised the number of games Flo played.

In 99-00 Flo was Chelseas top goalscorer with 19 goals. He helped the club win the FA Cup and reach the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League. In total Flo made 163 appearances for Chelsea (69 of which were as a substitute) and scored 50 goals.

In November 2000 Flo was sold to SPL team Rangers, in a record £12 million deal ($21 million US dollars), making Flo the most expensive Norwegian player ever, the most expensive SPL signing ever and Chelsea's most expensive sale before the sale of Arjen Robben in 2007.

Flo scored on his debut in a 5-1 thrashing of Rangers' arch rival Celtic, and hit 18 goals in 30 SPL games, but in general Flo was not considered a success in Scotland mainly due to the price tag and his goals to games ratio.

Flos debut match for Sunderland was a 1-1 draw with Manchester United, and Flo was Sunderlands goal scorer. Flo struggled in his Sunderland-career and scored only 6 goals (4 of them in the Premiership) completing only 11 of the 23 league games he started. Totally, Flo had 33 appearances for Sunderland.

After leaving Sunderland, Flo played two seasons for the Italian club Siena. There he scored 13 goals in 63 matches. But the family had trouble with settling in Southern Europe, and therefore he moved back to Norway in July 2005, signing for Vålerenga. When Vålerenga signed Flo he had an injury, and this injury would hurt his Vålerenga-career quite much. Flo was not offered a new contract at the end of the 2006-season, and was therefore free to speak to other clubs.

The next club he came to was Leeds United. Flo debuted as a sub against West Bromwich in the FA-cup. Leeds lost the match 3-1, and Flo left the pitch without scoring. But as usual it wouldn't take long before Flo scored a goal for his new club. Already the next week, in a 3-2 loss against the same opposition, Flo scored with a header after just 8 minutes.

It looked like Leeds was going to be Flos last club when he retired from football 11. March 2008.

But now the legend is back. One of Norwegian footballs greatest will give football on (almost) the highest level another chance.

Will Wenger keep Gallas as captain?

After his rant over the course of the last week, William Gallas faces an uncertain future as Arsenal's captain after revealing astonishing facts about his teammates.

According to today's Daily Mirror, Gallas - who criticised one of Arsenal's squad members six years junior than himself - has launched a scathing attack on the whole young thesis that Arsene Wenger is keen on upholding.

While Arsenal may not be effective this season with their current squad status, it bodes well for the future once the squad gains an understanding of each other and builds a strong bond between each other. Put it this way, a group of people who are close friends are more than likely to be more dangerous than a team who plays as individuals.

But Gallas's outburst has come at the wrong time for manager Wenger, who is already under pressure from the club's supporters following the Gunners' poor start to the season - including a loss to Stoke - despite a 2-1 victory over rivals Manchester United.

Gallas said: " We're not brave enough in battle. I think we need to be soldiers. We have to be warriors.

But should Gallas be kept as captain? Does going to the media to get his point across become justifiable?

As a Manager it should be encouraged that your captain knows what the club has to do to win trophies, and want to be able to change things. But as we know, the media in Britain will rip this to shreds and now form some sort of "Gallas-gate" conspiracy to try and increase the pressure on Wenger, dubbed one of the best managers to grace the English Premiership.

One thing that may come out of this is that the Arsenal's youngsters galvanise and go out against Manchester City a different side, in a bid to prove their captain wrong and show their worth.

It's going be an interesting weekend that's for sure.

Unnecessary criticism for Rugby League World Cup

As the Rugby League World Cup draws to a conclusion, the competition has attracted unnecessary criticism from not only the media but fans alike.

The expectation that England would make the Grand Final and finally show they are worthy champions of the world and that the game in England is catching up fell flat on its face when Tony Smith's men suffered three continuous defeats - two of which were heavy - against Australia and New Zealand.

And while they produced an improved performance against the Kiwis last Saturday, they still made important mistakes and they suddenly found themselves on the plane back home to drib and drab England.

And the Daily Mirror columnist Michael Calvin was the first man to criticise England unnecessarily stating:

"Rugby League has embarrassed itself in what has been the worst World Cup staged by any sport.

England couldn't even reach the final of a tournament rigged in their favour. Their coaches were paranoid, their players were pathetic. Australia, who will claim the empty title of world champions next weekend just sat back and laughed."

If it was not for the pathetic digs at England for no reason, it would have been a fair point. A lot of hot air and unsubstantiated claims with no reasoning.

Worst World Cup ever? I'm sure some rugby league fans would care to disagree. Didn't Groups B and C provide excellent entertainment with the likes of Fiji, Samoa, Scotland and Ireland dishing up some great spectacles.

Tournament rigged in England's favour? Yes, it was easy to qualify for England with the team finishing third in Group A being able to qualify for the Semis. BUT wasn't it the same for Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea? Wasn't it rigged for all those sides? Didn't all sides agree on the competition format prior? Unfair criticism and dig at England there me thinks. Had England finished second instead of third, would Mr Calvin be making that statement again?

And while the rest of the article is a fair assumption, I have to say that the journalism is poorly written and not giving a fair crack of the whip to England who had to compete with an excellent Australian side, described by The Times' rugby league correspondent Christopher Irvine as "the best Kangaroos side he's seen in 15 years."

Fans DO have a right to criticism, but only if it is constructive. Yes, there were some negatives, most notably England's defence - or lack of it - which was probably one of the worst we have seen in recent years.

One thing that did give people unrealistic expectations was the demolition of Wales prior to the competition. Because we went in to that game with our second side, people wrongly assumed that England first team would wipe the floor with all opposition.

We have to recognise that the NRL is far far advanced in the quality of the competition and the development of the Juniors.

As clubs, those English clubs in Super League should be following their Australian compatriots mantle in development, business and marketing. I only hope Richard Lewis, RFL's head honcho can recognise this and force some changes during the licencing period. Otherwise, we're just going to fall behind in the game.

Onwards and upwards to the Super League season!