Another week passes of no sport and journalists Nick Ansell, Sean Hardeman and Brian Allen return with another edition of The Commentary Box.

SEAN: Another week of lockdown done. I don't know how many more sport docos are left on Netflix, because I have watched a fair chunk of them! Justine is having a well deserved break and is relaxing at home, How have you two been?

NICK: I just want to play golf mate. I have a brand new set of irons sitting there and it'd be so nice to be able to hit the course! Doing the right thing is more important though. I guess we're lucky we can still be arguing over whether or not it's okay to play golf. Otherwise, I'm actually enjoying the home time! As weird as that sounds.

BRIAN: I reckon the home time is making me hungry to get back involved in sports when they return. I've been practicing some leggies and watching Amazon Prime's The Test documentary about the Australian cricket team. Haven't played competitive cricket since under 15s but can feel the fire burning after a decade out of the sport.

SEAN: Will we see you resurface at a south-west cricket club like the cameo appearance we got earlier this summer Brian? There are some ripper sporting series to cure the isolation boredom right now! The raw stuff we see in The Test is amazing and shows even at the top of the sport you aren't safe from a big coach's spray. You boys been on the receiving end of any good ones in your past? I know I have through my time playing football.

BRIAN: Perhaps I'll make more than a cameo appearance this summer! But we'll need to see how the coronavirus pans out. Yeah copped a good spray in a footy final. Didn't come off the bench until midway through the second quarter. Within about two minutes I made a mistake in the back line that led to the other team kicking a goal. Got dragged straight away and the coach let me know about it! But have also received plenty of support in sport over the years.

NICK: I think Purnim would be keen to sign up a few new recruits if you guys fancy a game? My dad was involved years ago so it'd be nice to play a few out there. No serious sprays for me, but I reckon that's on account of my sport of choice.

SEAN: I feel with golf there is always self-anger at a terrible round though. So a spray in the mirror might turn things around next time you hit the course. Did any of you boys catch the round table Optus Sport did with some Socceroos greats? They gave the sport in Australia an almighty spray.

NICK: Such an internal sport, golf, absolutely agree with you there mate. I give myself plenty of sprays on the course if that counts! I did see that. I think they're right, too. Soccer has so much potential but the A-League has been stagnant for years now. I think basketball has kind of swooped in and has that momentum now, too, so it's going to be hard for the league to flourish in future unless they make some changes. Do you reckon the A-League will ever be considered a roaring success?

BRIAN: I watched the interview with Mark Viduka that came out in the past few weeks. Even just his name attracted me to that. I think the big names like Cahill, Kewell and Viduka attract many non-soccer people to the sport. They all played in the Premier League for massive clubs like Liverpool, Everton and Leeds. So they were constantly tested against many of the best players in the world. Big events like the World Cup and the qualifiers also get the average Aussie up and about. I think the A-League excites me most when international players like Kewell come back to play.

As a fan you're thinking, oh my god, I'm going to watch a former Liverpool player that scored crucial goals for Australia at World Cups. It's hard for Australia to have a competition comparable to the Premier League, we're just too far from the heartlands of soccer - places like Europe and South America.

SEAN: I feel everyone wants the big stars to descend on the A-League but it's not possible with salary caps and as former Socceroos skipper Craig Moore said, and I totally agree with him, it's not an exciting product at this current stage. It has been a few years since I have been interested in watching an A-League game. Yes, watching the Premier League, which is obviously the golden child of the world game, might have helped but they just run it so crisply and it's genuine excitement every minute. There have been some big international names in Robbie Fowler, Keisuke Honda and David Villa play A-league but it has not been enough to really draw me in. Where do you feel the improvement lies?

NICK: I agree completely. It's not an exciting product because of salary caps and the lack of opportunity given to young players plying their trade in the National Premier League. Caps obviously work for sports like Aussie rules and rugby league but I'm not convinced soccer is the right sport for it. It's been successful in America's Major League Soccer but no other competition in the world uses that system. Maybe it's time to scrap it and follow a more traditional English model. Living in England for two years, I saw people sort of scoff when they think of Aussie soccer outside the realm of Kewell, Viduka and Cahill. There are a ton of kids playing the sport at grassroots level so retention has to be the number one focus and generating that into cash at the top level.

If people aren't interested in the sport's top level, you'll never get anywhere at grassroots level.