The Gout Gout second place last weekend, at the Maurie Plant Meet in Melbourne was ... underwhelming. Just when we thought he was going to rule the world, he was beaten into second place by the most unheard of runner we’ve never heard of, Lachlan Kennedy.

But wait!

“No problem,” says my highly credentialed source, on the fringes of the Gout Gout camp. “For one thing, it was his first real race against men, not boys. For another, the result was more a measure of how good Lachlan Kennedy was, than Gout Gout not being up to the mark. Kennedy announced himself as one to watch also, which is a bonus for Australian athletics, and for Gout Gout as it gives him a local rival.”

More! More! Give us the silver lining, to go with the silver medal. Make us believe once more in Gout Gout.

“That narrow loss also gives him what he most needs. It releases the pressure on him, and gives him more space to further develop. And finally, it puts a warning shot across his bows: it is not because you are Gout Gout that you are going to win just by turning up. He is a wonderful young man, and that second place was really the second placed he needed to have at this stage of career. He will be fine.”

So, as you were! I am still roughly planning to go and see him run in the Stawell Gift on Easter Monday.

The Raiders celebrate their late winning try against the Sharks.Credit: Getty Images

I hate to say it, just on principle, but let the record show, the NRL has been terrific so far this year. Not just for swerve and Veuve – though if there has been a finer try than the Raiders’ match-winner against Cronulla to snatch the game by two points, I haven’t seen it.

No, it is the overall results that give the interest. For much of the last four seasons the key point of interest has been: who will get beaten by Penrith in the grand final?

That is, clearly no longer the case. With just one win from four matches, the Panthers are struggling like a Ferrari missing a couple of pistons – in their case, Jarome Luai and Api Koroisau. In their place at the top of the ladder, Canterbury are sitting pretty with four wins out of four, and the smart money is divided between them and the Broncos to win this year.

Even the Tigers have won a couple of matches – while the Eels, without Clint Gutherson, are the new Tigers. These days they’re entitled to a victory lap if they win so much as the toss. The point is, it ain’t same old, same old, but instead is a fresh comp, with fresh results.

Thank you, thank you all. TFF received, if I do say so myself, a phenomenal response to my piece this week on chatting to........

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