Roar Guru
Joined March 2015
36.1k
Views
39
Published
1.4k
Comments
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.
Published
Comments
This Saturday night at Wentworth Park will feature my favourite, must-see sporting event of the year. Not the Christmas Gift, but the Jack Russell…
It won't be long before 2016 kicks in, and I'm going to make an early New Year's resolution. I'm going to give the petty…
My Sydney Thunder membership pack arrived recently, a nice reminder that the Big Bash League is about to start. While last season was a…
The Melbourne Cup is the greatest advert for racing in Australia, generating enormous publicity and anticipation. However, there are nine other races at Flemington…
There have been some great rivalries in greyhound racing, such as Octagonal and Saintly, Sunline and Northerly, Tenthill Doll and Flying Amy. On Saturday…
Well, that didn't take long did it? If there has ever been a sport that has been mismanaged as badly as greyhound racing, they…
The Special Commission of Inquiry into greyhound racing has begun to report on what will be a thorough inquisition of how the sport is…
Earlier in the year, the normally niche sport of greyhound racing made the news for all the wrong reasons. Now that several months have…
The final of greyhound racing's National Sprint and Distance Championship is rapidly approaching, with the final to be run at Wentworth Park on Saturday,…
Last week prizemoney changes were made to some of the Group 1 races in Sydney. While these increases have generated little fuss in racing…
The NRL is reaching the business end of the competition, and fans are now facing the distinct possibility of some unfamiliar teams contesting for…
Fernando Bale has stamped his authority on seemingly every major sprint race in Australia this year. Within the last few months he’s convinced many…
The Queensland Government has reacted to the live baiting scandal by removing the Board that controls all three codes, to mixed responses. It did…
Well, I know what you’re thinking. You’ve been suckered into another headline that is just mere clickbait, telling a story of something that happened…
Usually Government budgets are not something that should be written about on a sporting website. Like watching Mike Atherton score a ton, they are…
Now that the autumn carnival is done and dusted, some of the best racing in Sydney for the next few weeks will be at…
The recent spotlight on greyhound racing will have come out of the blue for many people, but not to those familiar with the sport…
Easter Saturday is greyhound racing's night of nights in Sydney. Not only is it the final of the Golden Easter Egg, the time-honoured Association…
As greyhound racing authorities grapple with the live baiting scandal, another animal welfare aspect of the sport needs to be addressed: overbreeding. Unlike live…
It works both ways. Is Meninga the right person for the position that South’s find themselves in? They aren’t premiership contenders this season and aren’t the place for a coach who thinks they should be. Instead, this is a club who has delayed bringing through quality players and consistently made short term decisions to play journeymen when blokes in the reserves have been knocking down the door. The responsibility of the coach this year is not so much where they finish on the ladder this year, but ensure that the time spent in the lower rungs of the ladder is as short as possible.
'It's a big fat no from me': Mal would pick Roos if made to choose as 'red flags' raised on any Souths deal
Not sure that I’d describe a bloke that was chosen as 1st grade skip at the age of 20 as a plodder that had to bust his backside just to get a game, but each to their own.
I’m not a fan of his opinions, but if you watch the old replay of the Manly vs Newtown dust up/finals match, you’ll notice a pretty decent ball playing forward out there.
NRL News: Wighton says 'sorry' Latrell has burning desire after Gus raises retirement call, Annesley refutes hip-drop critics
It reads like a wish list of people they know they won’t sign. I read that as there is a successor in mind that can’t be named for one reason or another, or they’ve got absolutely no idea.
Surprising that the coach of the reserves, who won the comp last year, isn’t in the conversation even for the interim appointment. Not the career path these days I suppose. Or maybe he is and he doesn’t have anyone in the press to push his name forward.
Demetriou facing sack after Souths' disastrous start with Bennett, Bellamy, Burgess possible replacement options
Agree completely, although to be fair to the MRC, the prior incidents make the two incidents not comparable.
Latrell cops lengthy ban for high elbow hit on Johnson as Souths coach laments 'stupid' acts
Oops, didn’t see your comment but agree completely. By AFL standards it’s a monster ban, but the NRL has never really seen 3 to 4 matches as that lengthy.
Latrell cops lengthy ban for high elbow hit on Johnson as Souths coach laments 'stupid' acts
Is 3 matches really a “lengthy” ban? I mean, it’s not trivial but it’s not the AFL where you’re unlucky to get four matches for attempted murder.
Whatever the case with Latrell, have South’s worked out they are in a rebuild yet, or does the club still think they’re contenders?
Latrell cops lengthy ban for high elbow hit on Johnson as Souths coach laments 'stupid' acts
Good spot! I was on Carey’s thing at 40/1 that ran a nice fourth, there were certainly a few horses in the market that race that looked unders to me.
'I don't know what goes through Latrell's mind': Mitchell on report twice as Wahs dominate sorry Souths
About square in the end. A few seconds at big prices hurt me. Took 2 hours to get from Marrickville to Randwick, still at Central now on the way back.
'I don't know what goes through Latrell's mind': Mitchell on report twice as Wahs dominate sorry Souths
So, it was a good decision to go to the races and miss the game then? Although, I did make the mistake of attempting to take the train in….
'I don't know what goes through Latrell's mind': Mitchell on report twice as Wahs dominate sorry Souths
I disagree, it’s time as a playing unit that was the problem last night. They haven’t been together quite long enough to know what to do when they are under pressure. It’s matches like that where you look at them and think that their fans need to show a bit of patience and then two or three recruits next year to be a finals team.
Young send-off 'over the top', Radley sin-bin 'ridiculous' says Robbo as Roosters reduced to 11 on nightmare night
I expect it wouldn’t be that easy to follow.
NRL News: Annesley denies obstruction rule is broken, Burgess delivers Souths sermon, Sharks face fine over trainer
Oh, ok can accept all that. At my end I just criticised the ref when I didn’t know the rule myself, and I’m just trying to get in the habit of checking that I’ve got the rules right myself when I do that.
Foxx off AGAIN, Wighton grabs double and Latrell booed as Souths ease Demetriou pressure
Well, one part of the problem is that the law assumes that the defensive structure is a line. As someone who first started watching footy in the 80’s where the halfback swept behind the line to make covering tackles, I think it’s inadequate and defenders, including fullbacks, have the right to sweep behind the line without being obstructed. In the cases of recent obstruction decisions, the dummy runners have been guilty of nothing more than ball watching, but guilty nevertheless.
'Every time we do black and white, it doesn't work': Does anyone actually understand the obstruction rule?
I, and others, alluded to a decision to uphold a challenge by Milne for losing the ball in a tackle while a Canterbury player was denied a try for a similar “bobble”. On reading the rules this morning, it appears the video ref was correct. There is an obscure note that refers to the relevant situation where a player loses the ball due to the impact of the ball touching the ground, or the arm carrying the ball touching the ground. In the Canterbury no-try the ball went forward in the bobble and is a knock on under the rules, but in Milne’s case it went backward and is play on. Any time after this in the tackle and it is lost in posession regardless of whether the ball went forward or not. But, long story short, the ref knew the rules and I didn’t.
There were quite a few other calls but they were a bit all over the place advantaging either side, sometimes in the same play.
Foxx off AGAIN, Wighton grabs double and Latrell booed as Souths ease Demetriou pressure
Agree, but also would say that the referees have to also apply the laws to the markers. In their haste to apply the new interpretations, they have at times allowed markers to be ridiculously offside. If only we had, I dunno, two referees with one to police the offside and one in the pocket to enforce the ruck…
NRL's kick-blocker crackdown changes the game - but the question is do we want that?
I mostly agree, but not entirely. I think that when I compare Souths to Melbourne, a striking thing is how much faster players are when they play for the Storm. Without any inside information, I would hazard a guess they have a very good sprint coach who works on their running techniques, so fast players run fast and slow players run efficiently.
I’d hire a sprint coach first and hope that as a placebo it works better than the psychologist.
'We're carrying the burden of last season': What sports psychology can teach Souths about making mistakes
He saved more than his fair share of tries in the first two games, probably as many as he did in the second half of last season put together. The problem was his teammates porous defence which meant he had to just to keep them in the game. And until that changes, Latrell’s performances are neither here nor there.
Latrell's not walking the walk after talking the talk: Souths should be worried after star goes missing against Roosters
Mitchell was excellent the first two matches and quiet last night. The difference appears to be getting beat by 14 or beaten by 40. In contrast, South’s previously made a grand final with him out of the team.
Hoping he has a blinder of a season to paper over the cracks, that are getting ever more deep and widespread, of the rest of the team seems a bit short sighted.
Latrell's not walking the walk after talking the talk: Souths should be worried after star goes missing against Roosters
Totally, and the main reason he didn’t insert himself is that everyone else kept dropping the ball. But for some people their reputation precedes them I guess.
Drop it: Ilias and Hastings weren't selected, but saying they were dropped might miss the point entirely
Agree with that, Ilias has been disappointing not just this season but towards the end of last season as well. His main attribute that was an improvement, using his pace to swoop behind the centres in defence and generally reliable tackling has been less prominent as well and might have been more influential in the decision than mistakes in attack.
As for the others, you couldn’t drop Mitchell on the two games where he’s been excellent, could have been towelled by 40 without his defensive efforts last week (some disagree but I reckon they just didn’t watch the game). Walker is clearly not yet recovered from injury and Cook doesn’t need replacing but game time reduced.
It also is a bit about what Ilias has been told to do. If it’s “go to reserves and work on controlling the game with your kicking”, then the only question I’d have is why wasn’t this done earlier?
Drop it: Ilias and Hastings weren't selected, but saying they were dropped might miss the point entirely
The only error in the scrum was by the red, who didn’t set it properly with the Broncos hooker not binding (or packing in) and allowing him to strike at the ball without being packed into the scrum. Contested scrums were removed because no-one could work out why penalties were given, but they’d have never allowed that one in the 80’s!
Drop it: Ilias and Hastings weren't selected, but saying they were dropped might miss the point entirely
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
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
Agree with all of this. They kept playing journeymen instead of blooding the youth because they thought they were in a “premiership window”. Many of those rookies are already better than the journeymen as we saw on Saturday night.
From the outside it looks like the club is split into groups , the first team and the reserves. I would suggest more time training as a club to bring through the young talent, and the coach needs to focus as much on bringing the best out of the young players coming up as on results. They’ve been too scared of some short term pain for long term gain.
And buy the best super league prop or two for next year.
Too old, too slow: Do these two stats explain why Souths have fallen off a cliff in 2024?