TODD CARNEY falls off the wagon and the Roosters suspend him indefinitely but don't sack him … Luke Burgess says au revoir to the Waratahs and bonjour to Toulouse … Mark Webber produces the drive of his life in China - to finish third … The pluck of the Irish leaves the World Cup door ajar for the minnows … Sydney FC on a high in Shanghai … Vale Hot Danish. REVELATIONS

Could the Chicago White Sox have been inspired to throw the 1919 World Series by the Chicago Cubs the year before? That's a suggestion being floated in the US following the recent release of a 1920 court deposition quoting one of the men responsible for the Black Sox Scandal, Eddie Cicotte. He said ''the boys on the club'' had talked about how there had been $10,000 offers to several Cubs to throw the 1918 series, ultimately won by the Boston Red Sox. A reporter familiar with the subject, Sean Deveney, says a dispute between officials and the Cubs and Red Sox over gate-takings had provided the ''incentive'' for a fix. Deveney said ''there were definitely some suspicious plays'', many of them involving outfielder Max Flack. In game four, one of his errors cost the Cubs two runs, and in another game he ignored the pitcher's orders to stand deeper, allowing Babe Ruth to hit one over his head for a triple that scored two runs. Later in that game, Cubs pitcher Phil Douglas threw over the first baseman, paving the way for the Red Sox to score the winning run. PREMONITION

Karmichael Hunt has not had the greatest of starts to his AFL career, and his tipping isn't much better. The former Broncos star has managed scores of four, three, five and two for a grand total of just 14. That would put him three behind the last-placed Robert Walls in the Herald's experts division and equal 19,356th of 19,447 in the Pro-Tipping comp. His secret? He picks the Suns every week. BROTHER, CAN YOU SPARE A SLEDGE?

In this age of professional sport, clubs do not leave a stone unturned when researching prospective recruits. But a coach at one NFL club might have gone too far while assessing the talent in next week's draft. The unnamed coach was not worried about the stats of quarterback Andy Dalton, of Texan college TCU, but about his red hair. ''Has there ever been a red-headed quarterback in the NFL who's really done well?'' he mused. ''It sounds idiotic, but is there any way that could be a factor? We've wondered.'' IT'S NOT PORN BUT YOU'LL LIKE IT