THE LEDGER: Can New Zealand Stop its Three Week Slide?

If you take rugby out of the equation, it hasn't been a good run for Kiwi sports in the age-old trans-Tasman sporting blood feud, of late.

Cricketers failing to score runs, netball teams way out of the playoff hunt – and rugby league players banned through mixing prescription drugs with energy drinks. It's been ugly.

The best you could probably say for New Zealand is that Steve Adams is still parading his epic 'Uncle Bully' style moustache around in the NBA playoffs.

Can the Kiwis get back on the horse and stop their three-week slide on THE LEDGER? Read on, sports fan.

CRICKET

There's no doubt about it; the Kiwis have really struggled this season of the annual IPL cash fest.

Master blasters Brendon McCullum and Kane Williamson have looked woefully out-of-touch at the crease of late, while seamers Tim Southee and Mitchell McClenaghan simply aren't taking wickets.

The same can't be said about the IPL's Aussie contingent. One-day star Glenn Maxwell bludgeoned 68 (42) in the Kings XI Punjab loss to the Kolkata Knight Riders, while Aaron Finch played a tail-wagging 51 (42) not out in Gujarat Lions' loss to Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Dave Warner and Shane Watson didn't do much, but they didn't have to. It's another cricket victory to the Ockers.

WINNER: Australia

FOOTBALL

There's only one story in football at the moment, and that's the remarkable ascent to the title 'Champions of England' by Leicester City.

All the superlatives have been used about the Foxes' incredible run this season, so I'll spare you their replication here.

Thing is though, there's an Aussie in the mix for Leicester – in the form of veteran keeper Mark Schwarzer. Okay, so the 43-year-old Aussie was a constant bench warmer this season in the EPL. Who cares? As a squad member, the longtime Socceroos number 1 will pick up a champion's medal, making him the oldest to ever do so in the Premier League.

Kiwi Winston Reid's West Ham are still a chance for a Europa Cup spot, but this round goes to Australia again.

WINNER: Australia

RUGBY UNION

Rugby union should really always be a meat pie for the Kiwis in trans-Tasman clashes – but this week, it was damn close. Too damn close for the Kiwis liking.

The Brumbies, Force and Waratahs all won this weekend, with only the Reds, who were beaten by the Crusaders, notching up a loss.

Along with the 'Saders, the Blues and Highlanders won – while the Hurricanes were upset by the Sharks in Durban.

Three wins plays three wins, but with the Kiwi team – the Crusaders – taking out this week's only Australasian derby, we've gotta hand this one to New Zealand by the finest of margins.

WINNER: New Zealand

RUGBY LEAGUE

It's hard to ignore the absolute mess the Warriors are in at the moment with the prescription drug scandal casting a dark, bleak shadow over Mt Smart Stadium.

But the club was looking to move out of the spotlight in the rugby league world this week, with the annual Anzac test taking place in Newcastle.

With Manu Vatuvei and Ben Matulino suspended for their roles in the Warriors scandal, and a host of other key players either hurt, suspended or unavailable, the Kiwis were facing an uphill challenge coming into the clash.

That's what they got too – losing 16-0 to an Australian side that looked about three gears better than the Kiwis. It was hard to watch, at times.

WINNER: Australia

NETBALL

As rugby for NZ, netball is usually a pretty easy bet for the Aussies. Not this week though, with the New Zealanders showing plenty of grit.

The Southern Steel were able to knock over the West Coast Fever in Invercargill on Saturday, though the Melbourne Vixens demolished Waikato-BOP Magic in the weekend's other trans-Tasman clash yesterday.

The Northern Mystics will host the Adelaide Thunderbirds in Auckland tonight, which could sway THE LEDGER in favour of the Kiwis.

Unfortunately, we've already gone to press. Bad luck, New Zealand.

WINNER: Australia

MOTORSPORT

With things all quiet in the world of F1 and Indycar, Australasian motorsport attention turned to the V8 Supercars series in Perth this weekend.

It was a tight tussle at Barbagallo Raceway, but Aussie Mark Winterbottom took away the spoils with his first circuit win of the season.

Kiwis Scott McLaughlin and Shane van Gisbergen finished second and fourth, while Aussie veteran Craig Lowndes was third.

Notch up another win to the Aussies.

WINNER: Australia.

BASKETBALL

A micro-battle within the wild word of the NBA playoffs is currently on between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the San Antonio Spurs.

That's an Australasian one, between Kiwi centre Steven Adams, of the Thunder, and the Spur's Aussie bench man Patty Mills.

Adams is getting plenty of important minutes on court for the Thunder, and was recently the subject of a wide-ranging ESPN feature on his Kiwi roots. Yet Mills' Spurs look the better team – and the one more likely to challenge the rampaging Golden State Warriors.

The series sits at 2-1, but, because THE LEDGER has a soft spot for underdogs – and the fact that San Antonio fans are cheats (watch below), we're giving Adams and New Zealand this one.

WINNER: New Zealand

OLYMPIC SPORTS: EQUESTRIAN

It's not a sport that often features on THE LEDGER, but this week, we look at which side of the Tasman Sea contributes more to the world of equestrian.

The narrative is bending a bit here, but the naming of veteran Kiwi rider Mark Todd to the New Zealand Olympic squad for Brazil demands attention.

The Rio Olympics will be Todd's seventh, with the 60-year-old qualified thanks to a fourth-place finish at Badminton over the weekend.

He joins three-time Olympic gold medalist Andrew Hoy, of Australia, as one of only two people from either country to compete in seven Games.

Bravo, Mark.

WINNER: New Zealand

WILDCARD SPORT: SURFING

This week the Rio Pro will drop in for the 2016 World Surf League tour.

THE LEDGER mentions it because it was the one round, in 2015, that Kiwi surfer Ricardo Christie really tore up – making it as far the quarterfinals.

Sure, there were four Australians in the quarters – but it was the high water mark for Christie in a tour that wasn't flash for him overall.

We'll miss him this week in Rio, but recognise that the Aussies are way better surfers than Kiwis.

[Ricardo Christie surfing in Rio, 2015]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O70tybJqROI

WINNER: AUSTRALIA

OVERALL

AUSTRALIA 6 NEW ZEALAND 3

The streak continues as New Zealand slump to their fourth straight defeat by Australia on THE LEDGER.

Only Adams' moustache saves the Kiwis from complete devastation. Lucky the Big Man shows no signs of wanting to shave it any time soon.

BONUS: CLASSIC MOMENT IN AUSSIE-NZ RIVALRY

No Anzac rugby league test week would be complete without a replay of the infamous Kevin Tamati-Greg Dowling fight at Brisbane's Lang Parkin 1985.

If you're hungry for violence, skip ahead to about 1:50 to see the two players go punch for punch in a truly 80s piece of rugby league biffo.

Racial taunting by Dowling was reportedly the reason for the scrap. For that reason, we love watching every blow Tamati lands.