FOR all of the bright lights, entrance music and trappings of glitz and glamour, professional snooker still remains, at heart, a somewhere austere sport.

After all, how many other sports are there where the participants must still adhere to the rigorous dress code of waistcoats, collared shirts, ties, trousers and formal footwear?

Admittedly, there is something quaintly charming about the fact such a high standard of appearance is still expected; one almost at odds with the stereotype of proficiency at the game being a result of a misspent youth associating with a motley collection of blaggers and chancers in smoky billiard halls.

Love him or loathe him, there is perhaps no-one in the present-day game who epitomises that image more than Ronnie O'Sullivan, even if he has mellowed somewhat in recent years.

It should perhaps come as no surprise then that this week's English Open saw the 41-year-old courting controversy for a breach of the aforementioned dress code after playing his first-round match against Zhang Anda in dark blue and white trainers.

O'Sullivan pleaded his innocence, claiming he was suffering from a sprained ankle which meant he could not wear shoes, but was instructed to procure some black trainers or face being not allowed to play.

In truth, this ranks fairly low on the O'Sullivan controversy scale, probably somewhere around when the five-time World Champion decided to play an entire match against Alain Robidoux left-handed, leaving the Canadian incensed at the perceived insult.

But then again, it would be boring if all O'Sullivan did was go around urinating in venue foyers and assaulting tournament officials, wouldn't it?

This is, admittedly, not the first occasion the winner of 31 ranking titles has found himself in trouble with the snooker authorities over dress code breaches though.

Two years ago, he was forced to borrow a pair of shoes from tournament director Mike Ganley after playing some of his World Championship match against qualifier Craig Steadman in his socks - an incident he narrowly escaped being fined for.

And then there was the time he actually received a fine of £1,000 for "abusive, insulting and disrespectful" comments to referee Jan Verhaas in the qualifying rounds for the 2013 German Masters after being asked by the official to tuck in his shirt.

Still, go back several decades and Alex Higgins, the original snooker maverick, was always one to flout the governing body's mandatory tie rule, while Aussie bad boy Quinten Hann was once nearly thrown out the 2000 World Championship qualifiers for wearing grey combat trousers.

He duly acquired some black formal ones from a nearby Marks And Spencer, wore them with the labels still attached for his match and then got a girl who he had met to return them after he had finished playing.

There is an incredible level of pettiness to this all, yet snooker's dress code ensures the sport still retains a quaint charm, no matter how anachronistic it might seem.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Reddy says Affiliated States players to meet England in <a href="https://twitter.com/RLWC2017?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RLWC2017</a> warm-up to press for NRL contract.<br><br>📝 <a href="https://t.co/ZcbKbwcMEr">https://t.co/ZcbKbwcMEr</a><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RLWC2017?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#RLWC2017</a> <a href="https://t.co/YnxeMLru6Z">pic.twitter.com/YnxeMLru6Z</a></p>— RLWC2017 (@RLWC2017) <a href="https://twitter.com/RLWC2017/status/879838026377043968?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 27, 2017</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

AT around 11.45am UK time tomorrow, Wayne Bennett will take his seat in the stand at nib Stadium in Perth and spend the following 80 minutes sitting stone-faced while watching England in their Rugby League World Cup warm-up.

In truth, the clash with the Affiliated States should be little more than a run-out for the entire 24-man squad ahead of the much more important matter of the opening game of the tournament against old rivals Australia seven days later.

Long gone are the days when tour matches Down Under involved showdowns between state, divisional and club sides who would give the Lions a run for their money.

Indeed, the story goes that when the Northern Division defeated Great Britain 36-12 in the infamous ‘Black Sunday’ match on the 1988 tour, head coach Mal Reilly locked the tourists in the changing rooms for 20 minutes after full-time and gave them a roasting.

Unlike their cricketing counterparts on Ashes tours, where at least one embarrassing defeat to the State Carpark Attendants Select XI or the like is usually guaranteed, warm-up match losses are rarer for England’s rugby league players.

And their opponents tomorrow are comprised of players even the most obsessive rugby league follower will struggle to recognise, being brought together from the non-traditional 13-man code states in Australia.

The game itself is being streamed online for anyone who has the desire to watch it, although if you need an excuse there is a tenuous connection between this area and the Affiliated States team.

That is because the side is coached by Joel Reddy, the son of former Barrow player and coach Rod, who retired from playing at the end of the 2016 season after an 11-year NRL career with Parramatta Eels, Wests Tigers and South Sydney Rabbitohs.

The side comprised of the finest players from Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria and the Northern Territories may not be expected to be anything more than canon fodder for the tourists, but Reddy will be guaranteed to have them prepared to upset the odds.

After all, this is a man who grew up playing in the rugby league backwater of Adelaide where his father was coaching the now-defunct Rams and overcame the odds to carve out a lengthy career in the toughest club competition in the world.

And who knows, if any of them impress then we might see them pulling on a Raiders shirt in the not too distant future.

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IT is possibly fair to surmise Carlos Takam briefly became one of the most searched-for people on the planet when he was announced as the replacement for Anthony Joshua's world heavyweight title defence.

The hitherto unheralded Frenchman was brought in to face the IBF, WBA and IBO title holder after original opponent Kubrat Pulev was ruled out of the October 28 clash in Cardiff due to injury.

Takam is ranked third by the IBF and holds their inter-continental bauble, although does not even feature in the top 15 of the rankings of the other two sanctioning bodies whose belts are on the line.

But that has done little to stifle the criticism of those who have shelled out in advance to watch via pay-per-view on Sky Box Office for what was already questionably worthy of such status.

It is worth remembering many of boxing's mega-fights would not happen without PPV - and Joshua is enough of a big name that it will still sell whatever.

But given how Sky were forced to temporarily drop the format after serving up one too many stinking cards on there several years ago, it is worth remembering boxing fans' patience is limited.