WE are now well and truly into the second round of the World Cup and the fever is very much alive and well inside our training headquarters at the SCG.

It’s often the talking point first thing in the morning, and like so many other things, a source of rivalry amongst the players.

A World Cup sweep was drawn at the beginning of the tournament in which two people (players or staff) were allocated to each team.

Rhyce Shaw and I were both drawn Japan, who are travelling quite well and whose fate will be determined tonight or tomorrow morning.

The sweep is not the only thing though that has come out of the World Cup. Often during down time before training, the soccer ball will come out and with a couple of goals set up at each end of the warm up area, a three-a-side or seven-a-side game will start.

Every player believes they’ve got the skills of Messi vying for that golden goal, and once it is scored, the celebrations that come out of it are very amusing.

The test will be if it lasts. These types of trends in locker room activities are very seasonal. For instance, during the pre-season summer months, cricket was the hobby of choice and often played before training.

Yet it wasn’t long after summer that the cricket bat took a back seat. During the Australian Open and US Open golf tournaments, golf was played on a regular basis in our time off. But for now it’s soccer.

So will it last? I’m sure if you asked the majority of players now the answer would be a definitive yes. However history would suggest otherwise and time will tell. Yet, while we are still in the middle of it….GO JAPAN!!