Long throw-ins, Aussies beating Boks unexpected

TACKLING GOLIATH

- JOHN GOLIATH

THERE are two things I didn’t have on my 2025 sports bingo card.

The one is definitely the reemergence of the long throw-in in the English Premier League, a throwback play that was once reserved for bottom-half teams to bully the big teams’ prima donnas in their penalty area.

Rory Delap even had a ball-boy dry the ball with a towel before the throw-in during those cold and rainy nights in Stoke ...

There’s something beautifully unrefined about a long throw-in. It’s unapologetically agricultural, designed for teams who can't find a goal with beautiful, intricate passing. In an era of false nines, xG metrics, and inverted fullbacks, the long throw is the sporting equivalent of putting a steak on a plate without any garnish - it’s primal, no-nonsense, and strangely effective.

In the middle to late 2000s, Stoke City right-back Delap used to launch those long throw-ins flat and hard, with the trajectory and power making it very hard to defend against.