Vale Might and Power, and the race that never was
Over the Easter weekend former champion galloper and one of my all-time favourite horses, Might and Power, passed away. Perhaps fittingly it was the…
Roar Guru
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The author is a member of the Greyhound Breeders Owners and Trainers Association (GBOTA) and has a family member that is a Director of the GBOTA. These opinions are his own. I am a loyal Souths supporter and have played a lot of cricket, bowling an almost infinite number of full tosses in my life.
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Over the Easter weekend former champion galloper and one of my all-time favourite horses, Might and Power, passed away. Perhaps fittingly it was the…
Every year around Melbourne Cup time there are seems to be a series of articles heavily critical of horse racing, most are easily dismissed…
Last week the NSW Auditor-General published a scathing report into the ill-fated advertising campaign to ban greyhound racing. In the criticisms of the campaign,…
Some people have earned the right to be listened to, while others deserve to be ignored. It would be simplistic, and almost certainly wrong,…
Appeals for increased money to grassroots cricket, now where have I heard that before? Now, it's not as though juniors, park and grade cricket…
A few months ago, I received a phone call from a betting agency that gave me pause for thought. “I'm just setting up an…
The long, drawn out political process for greyhound racing in NSW is nearing completion. Last week the government passed legislation that almost entirely mirrors…
The thing about manipulative people is not that they lie, but they insist on others repeating those lies on their behalf. Not long ago,…
We've witnessed premature claims of the fall of greyhound racing in NSW, but now are we to see the rise? The events of the…
Explosive government documents released to the public reveal that the NSW Government has been spending over a million dollars of taxpayer money advertising a…
Greyhound racing needs reform. It's needed reform for years. But before people cheer on the decision, and before I have a proper read of…
Is there a group more maligned in Australian thoroughbred racing than the breeders? Constant accusations of too much power and too little responsibility are…
Finally, after more than 12 months of mind-boggling and depressing nonsense, someone outlined the very real problems that racing in Australia has left alone…
On Thursday a sensational night of racing awaits at Sandown greyhounds with the heats of the Sandown Cup over the 715m for the stayers.…
So apparently Sydney Racing has a problem, not enough people are coming to the track. It's even acknowledged by the powers that be. The…
There's plenty of sport in Sydney over the Easter weekend to keep you occupied, and the annual Golden Easter Egg at Wentworth Park on…
This year the ads for the Sydney Carnival tell us that "the tradition continues". And there's nothing quite like Slipper Day. Born and bred…
Sometime in 2017, racing will awake from its collective slumber and make changes to the lazy business model that has served it post-privatisation. This…
Sandown Greys has announced that the out-and-out champion that lit up greyhound racing in 2015, the mighty Fernando Bale, has been retired. A genuine…
I've often felt that the NSW parliament is the best argument one could give against democracy. It is an institution with a long history…
The only significant improvement from last year is Mitchell’s play in specialised full back roles. Held up a couple of tries, stripped a ball to save a try (and was unluckily pinged when someone else entered the tackled), put in a monster tackle on a 4 in one break to save a try, would have saved a try for his positional play but for a bad bounce etc. And that’s just two games in. Can’t fault him this year.
Too much to Bear: Danger signs emerge as Rabbitohs start to unravel after years of near-misses
I disagree. Their kicking game is much worse than that….
Too much to Bear: Danger signs emerge as Rabbitohs start to unravel after years of near-misses
Couldn’t agree more, although Adelaide Oval is awesome for cricket. In my opinion, you can’t have a great ground to watch cricket unless you can walk a lap of the oval and watch the cricket from different points of view.
Wellington's character-filled Basin Reserve pities Australia's soulless, corporate stadiums
Didn’t realise that was a thing. Surely when it comes to the official stats on infringements they should be correct? But then again, it is rugby league…
The not-so-secret ingredient that transforms team into title contenders on show as Manly roll Rabbitohs in Vegas
Predictably some lawn bowls rolled across the room during his speech.
Black Caps dare to dream of epic comeback win after Australia's brittle batting exposed by part-time spinner
3-0 on the official stats. I was bemused when Walker got a six-again early in the game as I didn’t see Manly do anything wrong, but it appears as though it was not recorded as an infringement but a charge-down earlier in the play. All happened a bit quick for me to judge. But, pedantry aside, yes defence or lack thereof was the issue for South’s rather than the referee.
The not-so-secret ingredient that transforms team into title contenders on show as Manly roll Rabbitohs in Vegas
There’s a bit of a “changing of the guard” feeling around at the moment. I think you’re right and we’ll be talking about some different names at the top of the tree a year or so from now.
Black Caps dare to dream of epic comeback win after Australia's brittle batting exposed by part-time spinner
We once had Trevor Chappel as the guest speaker at our end of year presso. As the event was held at the bowling club, it went downhill very, very early….
Black Caps dare to dream of epic comeback win after Australia's brittle batting exposed by part-time spinner
Indeed, if England put in a performance like this, “brittle” would be the kindest description used.
Nevertheless, in these conditions Australia needs to keep taking their chances in the field and they’ll deservedly win.
Black Caps dare to dream of epic comeback win after Australia's brittle batting exposed by part-time spinner
Great stuff from Cameron Green. It often works for young all rounders if you tell them that they will be judged on one discipline and asked to fill a smaller role in the other. Many of our great batsmen have begun as all rounders and dropped the bowling altogether.
If he’s going to score runs like these, it’s a good move to put him at four and tell him he’s there to score runs.
Green shoots Aussies to big lead, but Smith's duck and Marnus' all time low give Kiwis a glimmer of hope
With the current shenanigans at Rosehill, I’d suggest that as long as the NRL has no assets to sell they’ll be fine with V’Landys for some time to come…
V'landys may as well be executive chair because he's doing both jobs but league needs to fix lack of female leadership
Agree with a lot of this, but I want to focus on consistency. The thing is, there are rules where consistency is absolutely not negotiable. How many players on the field, number of interchanges, being behind the 10m line at kick offs and drop outs, 2 points if the ball goes through the sticks and over the crossbar, all rules where the rulebook strictly states the rules and we all expect consistency from officials for these.
In other areas such as delaying the play the ball, making a genuine attempt to play the ball with the foot etc, the rules are written that give the referee room for interpretation. They will not, and cannot be applied consistently.
In other words, there is context to whether we should expect consistency with a given rule, and whether that is a good or bad thing.
In 2024, we need to leave the NRL’s favourite topic alone - it’s time to shut up about referees
I think the South’s bench is a pretty good indication that Demetriou twigged. All the speed and dexterity of Inzamam ul-Haq running a quick single.
NRL Round 1 Team Lists: Roosters star out, Bunnies get big boost, Munster doubtful, Sivo banned
I knew someone would tweak to the absurdity of the comment, well done sir! Mark my words, one day remembering Damien Cook played a game in the centres for NSW will be the difference between winning and losing the meat tray at a pub trivia on a Wednesday evening….
NRL Round 1 Team Lists: Roosters star out, Bunnies get big boost, Munster doubtful, Sivo banned
Funny how a team can have three origin centres plus Campbell Graham on the books, and then be scrapping around for a centre in the first game of the season.
NRL Round 1 Team Lists: Roosters star out, Bunnies get big boost, Munster doubtful, Sivo banned
He was very impressive as well. I think that in the rush to pile on England, the quality of the performances of the younger Indian players has been missed.
Personally I think their batting might get a net upgrade but the bowling might find it hard to replace what they have.
Bazball beaten: Indian young guns' nerveless stand aces chase, ensures Poms' first series loss under McCullum
Hard to know isn’t it? Yes they had some outs but Jaiswal was their best bat by far and we didn’t face him.
I would diplomatically say the young England spinners learnt a lot, be interesting to see how they develop. But they were no match for their counterparts at this stage of their careers, that’s for sure!
Bazball beaten: Indian young guns' nerveless stand aces chase, ensures Poms' first series loss under McCullum
When the wickets are all bowled and lbw there are few fielder’s needed in traditional catching positions and hence fewer gaps. Less rotation of the strike, more risks as the soft ball is harder to clear the boundary. India only have a high strike rate as they’ve been gifted cheap boundaries.
Batsmen have scored enough, gotta let their bowlers bowl and be confident in their ability to attack the stumps.
New Bazball, same England: Tourists throw away India advantage with classic Pommy collapse
Not sure how much of the game the author watched. The wicket is a toilet and 200 well above par. It was England’s bowling and field placements late in the day that were awful. It doesn’t matter how bad the wicket is if the ball doesn’t bounce on it. The cracks on the wicket and variable bounce on the low side mean you’re bowling at middle stump and looking for bowled/lbw dismissals. So why have a left arm orthodox bowler with a deep cover but no deep midwicket or square leg to allow him to drift onto the pads? A seamer should also have been on to get the ball soft asap.
England aren’t out of it, but they were playing as though they were thinking of what could have been with their batting, not how to take wickets with their bowling.
New Bazball, same England: Tourists throw away India advantage with classic Pommy collapse
Oh, and India cut off singles to the openers and pushed England in the second dig to score boundaries. Slow run rate, tentative shots and a mix up for a run out was the result. How about we give them the credit for not sticking eight blokes on the boundary after the fourth ball of the innings?
McCullum hits back at Bazball critics after England's embarrassing rout: 'I don't want our guys to ever doubt themselves'
I think he’s right, India is a place where you really get rewarded for attacking. Yes Root played a terrible shot but he just needs to pick the shot for the conditions rather than dial down the aggression.
They shouldn’t be talking about Bazball tactics but the basics. Too many dropped catches and poor running between the wickets is costing them dearly. And no matter what your tactics, those things’ll hurt you every time.
McCullum hits back at Bazball critics after England's embarrassing rout: 'I don't want our guys to ever doubt themselves'
The old saying is you need three top class props to win a premiership. One on the field, one injured and one suspended at all times.
NRL News: Roosters great calls it quits, Turbo gives ballet a whirl in bid to overcome injury woes
How does Hugh McGann compare? His career was just ending when I started going to games but he had a big reputation at the time.
NRL News: Roosters great calls it quits, Turbo gives ballet a whirl in bid to overcome injury woes
If they expect quality, independent decision making from Root I guess they weren’t paying much attention to his captaincy over the years.
Slow wicket, skiddy bowler, two slips and a gully are all pretty good indicators that a reverse scoop isn’t the shot to play. I understand that Root is playing that shot to change Bumrah’s line and length and strategy, but there’s more than one way to attack. Maybe just chalk it up to experience and pick the bowlers and conditions where not to play the shot.
But, honestly, the quality of English batting when they’re trying to bat time, as seen in the last two tours of Australia, is so dire that I don’t think a few crazy dismissals should be of concern.
Poms defend Root amid furious reaction to 'stupidest shot in England Test cricket history' as Bazball under fire again
A few things to unpack. First, the forwards don’t pass the ball to each other enough. Yes, I know they’ve dropped a lot of ball but they’ve made themselves easy targets and they’re not big enough to run one out all the time. Dummy runners can help forwards too, it’s not against the rules.
Walker has clearly not recovered, but he needs to take it as a sign that he needs to choose his moments more or be an organiser. Can’t knock him, he’s been criminally underpaid for years, but he ain’t getting younger and the team can no longer revolve around him the way it once did, be the mentor.
Damien Cook is no longer an 80 minute player, particularly defence, and the more he plays over 50 minutes the quicker he will no longer be a first grader. Again, no knock, great servant and player but less time, more quality and more mentoring.
While the NRL side has tanked, the reserves won the comp. It ain’t the 90’s Bears yet, it’s a question of bringing the youth into the team and copping that they’ll make mistakes. At the end of the year, we could have quite a different looking side with a mix of youth and experience going on a late season run, or we could have the same blokes muddle along in 10th-14th for too long and miss the necessary rebuild.
Too much to Bear: Danger signs emerge as Rabbitohs start to unravel after years of near-misses