Roar Guru
Joined July 2012
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A sporting purist
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Qatar should be stripped of the right to host the World Cup. This is a statement that, unless you are on the senior payroll…
The fifth Test starts tomorrow. It is Australia's last chance to salvage something better than a draw in this series. Surely, the 3-0 score…
James Sutherland should resign. The sacking of Mickey Arthur should be, to paraphrase Michael Clarke, the straw that breaks the camel's back. I'm not…
Blake Ferguson and Josh Dugan are idiots. Complete idiots. Who told them that "yes, you two should definitely reunite again on the town on…
You have to really applaud Melbourne. It takes a special type of ineptitude to make sure that a team so so rubbish can fill…
Another week, another loss. And this time it was a big one. Whoever said that GWS were not going to suffer the big losses…
Before I start out...I do not support Collingwood and I don't hate St Kilda. Justin Koschitzke should be banned for two months. There it…
Laurie Daley's quest to bring the State of Origin shield back to NSW is already looking shaky, and we are still many weeks out…
Roarers, we need to stop the witch hunt against the National Selection Panel and Cricket Australia. Yes, they have made some blunders, but you…
Australia's woeful, humiliating, and backyard grade defeat to India has highlighted that quite frankly, the Australian Test team just doesn't cut it anymore on…
Considering what has been the worst day in Australian cricket since the diabolical first day of the MCG test in the 2010/11, it's become…
This summer the brothers Hussey have been victims of the chopping block, and Brad Haddin too has been demoted to the role of understudy…
Watching the Lance Armstrong fallout over the past few months has got me thinking about what could be an even bigger downfall in sport,…
Why is it that two or three days before any Australian international cricket match the selectors hold a press conference announcing the team or,…
Following the retirement of Ricky Ponting, a recent article has highlighted a rather vast talent gap between a crop of batsmen outside the Test…
The recently concluded series between Australia and South Africa was meant to be a battle between two much-vaunted bowling attacks. Instead what we saw…
Most of the talk around the Australian XI this week is regarding the composition of the bowling attack for the Perth Test. Will Mitchell…
Surely the second Test between Australia and South Africa would have lured some of the T20 fans back to the purest and best form…
Shane Watson's troublesome body is providing the catalyst for a host of confusing comments by the Australian team management and selectors. Performance manager Pat…
As I write, James Pattinson has given Hashim Alma a second chance by bowling him out on a no-ball. It was the fourth in…
Hi Greg
I went to the Sharks v Dragons game on Saturday night, and it was my first live footy game for the year.
I did notice that the touch judges seem to have become completely redundant (if not also incredibly lazy too). Could you please explain the point of them if they aren’t EVER able to see whether a player has gone into touch, in goal, offside, see forward passes (when they are mean’t to be in line with the ball) etc etc?
What is the point of touch judges in today’s game?
PRICHARD: Refs should be accountable for costing Eels a win
Don’t worry mate. I’m sure Danny Weidler will mention it this Sunday in the herald. He always does 😉
Can Warner be Australia's best-ever Test opener?
The title is misleading though. “Can” is such a throwaway word.
The answer “yes, of course he can” is an absolutely 100% correct answer to a poor question.
A better question would be “will Warner be Australia’s best ever the greatest opener?. I think that would have generated more spirited debate and encouraged people to make statements with sound evidence etc.
Can Warner be Australia's best-ever Test opener?
No der that batsman do better of batting pitches. But the great batsman do well on bowling pitches too.
Hayden’s average is extraordinarily inflated by his home and flat track performances. 21 centuries at home, 9 away. Nothing more needs to be said. Take out his joke 380 and his average actually is below the magic 50 mark.
Hayden has just one good knock in tough conditions (weather, not the pitch)…when they demolished Pakistan in two days. He his 100-odd in 50 degree heat. I applaud that.
Its probably a bit too early to make a judgement on Warner, but he looks like he will be significantly better (albeit highly unorthodox) than Hayden. We’ll never know until we do though. Warner’s SA series impressed the crap out of me, and I was incredibly sceptical of his overseas abilities. I stand SO humbly corrected.
Can Warner be Australia's best-ever Test opener?
Australia learned the dangers of backing pace pace pace.
They needed more overs of spin. Maxwell should have rolled his arm over, and so possibly should have Hodge.
I told you Glenn Maxwell was something special
2 reasons (but both linked to each other) why the All Blacks won’t be going to Perth
1. Timezones and distance: Perth being 4 hours behind NZ would pose massive problems on hosting a game at a time suitable for the NZ audience (who proportionately watch the game in greater numbers than Australia). The 4 nations tournament is already the tournament with the worlds greatest amount of travel required…I think NZ would kick and scream if they were told to make an 8 hour flight when they could make a 3 hour one to Sydney/Brisbane/Melbourne instead.
2. Kick-off time: You can’t have a 7:30/8pm kick off because the it would be midnight in NZ, and you are guaranteed to lose more viewers (and kids) as a result. And you can’t change it to the afternoon because (for some bizarre reason) afternoon international rugby is no longer played in Australia.
Personally, I would have no qualms at all with a Perth Bledisloe test kicking off a 5pm WST/7pm EST/9pm NZST. I just think the big wigs might have qualms.
The burning questions I’d ask ARU CEO Bill Pulver - add yours!
BIll
What is your plan to combat the NRL’s desire to attract a greater corporate attendance, traditionally the bread and butter of union, to rugby league matches?
What do you consider a greater threat to rugby union in NSW – NRL or AFL?
The burning questions I’d ask ARU CEO Bill Pulver - add yours!
I think David the evening dew may have contributed to the ball swinging just a bit more in the evening game.
I told you Glenn Maxwell was something special
Agreed.
It was a great innings last night, but SO frustrating to see him commence his innings with a botched reverse sweep. Half an inch to the left and it would have been curtains.
He plays much better when he just plays each ball on its merits.
I told you Glenn Maxwell was something special
I wish someone would bring back a little bit of selfishness inside the 50. Have the confidence (and the ego) to go for goal inside the arc.
Its been lost a bit of late.
Bartel brilliant, but it's time to assess Geelong's youth
That’s a pretty fair assessment Geoff.
I remain unconvinced by Murdoch though.
Bartel brilliant, but it's time to assess Geelong's youth
NSW need to have full time 6/7’s playing. Its the only way they will cope with a Cronk/Thurston pairing, with DCE off the bench.
You can’t possibly beat Qld if you are deliberately cutting a playmaker to justify the inclusion of Bird and an extra forward.
NSW often falls into the trap of picking 17 good players and then trying to shoehorn them into a vacant position. Pick 17 players of specialist roles.
Are NSW brave enough to pick Luke Brooks?
Guangzhou is a city of 15 million.
So you to use your pathetic display of mathematics…that’s 0.002% of the population that can be bothered to turn up. They can’t even sell out the stadium.
I went to heaps of Beijing Guoan games, because I do like football. The atmosphere was dull. I’ll take the 18000 at WSW games, or the 23000 any day of the week.
I’m waiting on proof for your TV estimations.
Why it was vital for China to qualify for the Asian Cup
Aaahhh
It was always going to be possible to have a rational discussion when your name is Fussball ist unser leben.
Complete clown. You aren’t Craig Foster in disguise are you? A man who loves his sport but refuses to acknowledge reality? Did I ever promote NRL, AFL or rugby in the previous posts? Perhaps I should translate them into German?
Empty stadiums in any sport aren’t good. But empty sports in global events are worse.
Why it was vital for China to qualify for the Asian Cup
You can play around with the factor as much as you like, but I can tell you from experience, that no one in Guangzhou and no one in Guangdong gives a damn about the game. And no one outside Guangdong would have cared either. And if it was not on CCTV 5, so no one outside Guangdong could have watched the game live.
From living in Beijing I can tell you right now that no one gives a crap about the local team there. Stadiums are empty, games are not watched on tv. Asian football is thoroughly unpopular in China.
And you think 50 million is a legit number.
Why it was vital for China to qualify for the Asian Cup
I don’t dispute that the potential for TV revenue lies in China. Blind freddy knows that.
But Lebanon would have pulled a better crowd at the stadiums than China. And crowd sizes are just as important.
This competition is likely to be another joke…empty stadiums, low grade football everywhere. Just like the last one, and the one before that.
Why it was vital for China to qualify for the Asian Cup
If NSW pick Kurt Gidley, then QLD may as well start engraving the 2014 badge on the shield.
Are NSW brave enough to pick Luke Brooks?
Four, his defence is terrible at the moment…though that will develop in time. But while his defence is a question mark, he has no business near an origin jersey.
The Dragons figured him out pretty quickly and ran at him A LOT.
Besides, surely if at 22 Adam Reynolds was not – to use the vomit inducing phrase – ‘origin ready’, how on earth is the 19 year old?
Are NSW brave enough to pick Luke Brooks?
Yes, I read that and instantly thought “what would ROC have to say about that comment”
Are NSW brave enough to pick Luke Brooks?
I’d love to see proof of that.
I don’t think it was on CCTV 5, and therefore was most likely only shown on the regional tv station….which would be implying that 1 in every 3 people (not households) were watching the game. It would also indicate that it was one of the most watched shows of the week.
All agencies have a tendency to fudge figures. I think this one was fudged to be honest.
Why it was vital for China to qualify for the Asian Cup
I think Lebanon would have been better for actual crowds.
I’m not sure how essential it is to have China qualify in the Asia Cup. As you rightly say, they won’t last beyond the group stages.
The Chinese population’s interest in football lies squarely towards European club teams. They don’t care at all about the national team. Years and years of outright mediocrity is to blame.
China would do a lot better at football if the players actually shot at the goal instead of trying to walk it in.
Why it was vital for China to qualify for the Asian Cup
Yep, fair enough
But…Try asking the current players to kick a wet footy, on a bog of an oval, with a bit of wind and see how they go. No modern ground turns into a bog anymore, and only a couple of the smaller grounds have genuine wind difficulties. And modern footy is played with multiple balls of which none become soaked and heavy.
All that aside, I think the problem comes down to a declining level of technique. Fitness or ball conditions should not be an excuse for the terrible kicking techniques of some of these players esp: Cloke and Franklin.
Has goal kicking improved in the AFL?
I was staggered to read Cloke has a conversion rate above 50%. I wonder if that stat includes out on the full’s as misses?? He has a load of them too.
I would reckon btw that Collingwood, if they kicked straight last Friday would have made a better fist of it against Freo.
Freo, once the lead got out to 40 points really changed their game style. They didn’t need to have that defence first strategy. If Collingwood had kicked straight and kept the lead to only 2-3 goals, then Freo would have stayed with defence defence defence….
But Collingwood missed and missed badly. THey need to fire their new goal kicking coach.
Has goal kicking improved in the AFL?
I would absolutely agree with Hawthorn losing the 2012 gf cause of bad goal kicking. While poor goal kicking hurt freo badly (Hayden Ballantyne…looking at you right now) I think the Hawks would still have just won, but I certainly agree with your argument.
Goals win matches, not behinds.
Has goal kicking improved in the AFL?
They also fail at that to be honest.
Cheers for the response.
PRICHARD: Refs should be accountable for costing Eels a win