Very good analysis Avatar.
Since 2006, Melbourne copped 3 heavy beltings by Geelong.
Round 19, 2008 — Melbourne got belted by Geelong by 116 points at the MCG. It was a terrible Friday night football. Geelong kept Melbourne scoreles in the first quarter. Channel 7 televised this match live into SA, TAS, VIC and WA. I wasn’t sure whether NSW, ACT and QLD screened the match or not because they had the Beijing opening ceremony live on the primary channel.
Round 19, 2011 — Melbourne suffered its 2nd worst ever defeat in its history being annihilated by Geelong by 186 points at Kardinia Park. It was an absolute catastrophic match to watch. After the 186 point demolition, Dean Bailey was ousted as Melbourne coach and Todd Viney replaced him for the rest of the season. However Dean Bailey has done his best to go through a full rebuild following the retirements of David Neitz, Adem Yze and Russell Robertson. I think Fox Sports made the decision to televise the match, while Ten televised the Bulldogs-Eagles match which was a thriller T Docklands.
Round 23, 2016 — Melbourne copped another belting by Geelong by 111 points at Kardinia Park. This afternoon match a channel 7 produced match, although this was placed on a delayed telecast in tAS, VIC, SA and WA. That was Paul Roos final match for Melbourne FC before Simon Goodwin took over. As well this was Channel 7’s final Saturday afternoon football before the new broadcasting deal kicked in from 2017.
These matches are on YouTube and haven’t watched these games already.

Good article. Also to add was Isaac Smith. Isaac Smith was a 3x player for the Hawks from 2013-15. He would move to Geelong in 2021.

Simpson only played one match this year.
In the next 5 years there won’t be a lot of current Geelong players in the squad. Selwood, Hawkins, Tuohy, Hendo, Higgins, Smith are in their twilight of their careers. They will eventually be replaced come 2023 AFL season. Lachlan Henderson is out of contract and should retire in Oct 2021. Jeremy Cameron who turns 30 in 2023 is going to be the main key forward for the Geelong team. I think Dangerfield could still play on in 2023, but he needs to ensure that he stays fit and suspension free.

Australia used to be very good in sport back in the late 1990s through to late 2000s. We have had a lot of success in sport including cricket, rugby union, rugby league, Olympics. This was reflected in the 1999 where Australia won the Cricket World Cup and the Rugby WOrld Cup. As well, in 2000, AUstralia managed 58 medals int he Sydney Olympics. Speaking about SYdney 2000, Australia topped the medal tally in the Paralympics. In 2000, Australia won the Rugby League World Cup over NZ. Fast forward to 2002 and Australia topped the medal tally in the Manchester 2002 Games. In 2003, AUstralia won the Cricket World Cup over India. Going into Athens 2004, AUstralia managed to win 17 gold medals, 1 more gold than the Sydney Olympic Games.
In 2005, Lleyton Hewitt became the first Australian player to reach the Australian Open Men’s Singles Final since Pat Cash in 1988. As well, the Socceroos qualified for the FIFA WOrld Cup after beating Uruguay in the play offs. This ended 31-years of misery for the Socceroos.
In 2006, AUstralia won 84 gold medals in the Melbourne 2006 Games, bringing the medal tally to 221 medals. This was by far one of the greatest games that Australia had ever seen. As well, Australia managed to qualify into the Round of 16 in the FIFA World Cup.
In 2007, AUstralia won its 3rd consecutive Cricket World Cup title.

Probably rule out Auckland – as I don’t think it’s convenient for Channel 9 and Fox.
If Brisbane get the NRL Grand Final, this could be a boost for QLD. Last year, AFL announced that the Grand Final will be played at the Gabba in primetime. I think that the NRL Grand Final will be played during the night time. Remember, QLD does not observe daylight saving but I still think that QLD is the favourite to host the NRL Grand Final.
On the other hand, if Melbourne get the NRL Grand Final, I am leaning towards the MCG. I cannot see Docklands Stadium host the NRL Grand Final, even though the Docklands Stadium has a higher capacity than Lang Park, Brisbane. If Melbourne Get the NRL Grand Final, this could be a boost for Melbourne Storm (who are favourites for the premiership). This will provide a big boost in ratings for the Victorian capital. However, Victorian government must make sure that there won’t be a rising number of COVID cases.

Premiership or bust: That’s the main equation for Geelong.
If they win premiership, this will keep Chris Scott’s job. Otherwise, there will be mounting pressure on him. Last year, I predicted that Geelong won’t win the preliminary final. And they achieved it. However, they didn’t win a flag. This saw the retirements of Gary Ablett, Harry Taylor and Jack Steven.
If they are bust: there needs to be a review of the squad. They might start delisting a lot of AFL players including Sam Simpson.

Tokyo Olympics rated higher than Rio 2016 thanks to the friendly Timezone for Australia. I looked on the 7 West Media and noticed that there were more than 4.75 billion minutes of action streamed live on 7+.
2022 Winter Olympics will have a better timezone for WA viewers but on the east coast (partially friendly). Remember, Channel 7 has got the rights for the Beijing 2022 Games.

I never rated Leisel Jones as a commentator. She is ordinary and lacks charisma and is quite complacent.
Same for Basil Zempilas. Basil gets names incorrect when calling swimming.

Cut Jo Griggs some slack. She could have done better in commentary for Opening ceremony but she is a lot better than Hamish who gets facts wrong. But nevertheless she did well in hosting the morning session.

I have been watching the Tokyo 2021 Olympics on 7Plus on my computer as well as on the Fetch TV. However, when I watched the Game on the Fetch TV, they didn’t update the events. I watched the Rock Climbing on 7+ and the event has been finished. Nevertheless, the Athletics streams were fantastic where people can stream either the Jumps, Throws, Track with no commentary. I was very happy that I don’t have to put up with the commentary at all. I was able to stream the coverage for free. Back in Rio 2016, people have to pay to access all events.
The bad thing is that Channel 7 and 7mate was only used for the Tokyo Games. However, they didnt use 7Two for the entire session. However, 7Two was used when there is the Chase (with Larry Emdur as new host), News Breaks and AFL. 7flix was even used for the TOkyo Games. HOwever, many areas didn’t have 7Flix. As I have looked through the TV guides, I noticed that the Opening Ceremony will be shown on a delayed telecast in WA, NT and SA. THis was where the Voice will take its priority on the primary channel. To make matters worse, 7mate will not be used for live coverage of the CLosing Ceremony. (This was similar in 2018 when the Gold Coast Closing Ceremony was shown on a delayed telecast around Australia.)

I was at home watching the Western Bulldogs v West Coast match on Channel 10 during the afternoon and during half time, the Cats had a massive lead during half time over Melbourne. A couple of hours later, I looked at the scores on BTG and noticed that the Melbourne FC sufferd its 2nd worst ever loss in its club history. A day after the horrid loss, Dean Bailey was axed as Melbourne coach.
Fast forward to next week and Geelong Cats smashed the Gold Coast suns by 150 points at Kardinia Park. Also on that day, Port Adelaide got thumped by Collingwood by 138 points. To Make matters worse, Port Adelaide only scored 3 goals during the entire match. Fast forward to the 13 August, and the Hawks trump Power by 165 points at the MCG. 2011 has been a year of huge blowouts.

This Cats-Dees 2011 game was uploaded on YouTube and I haven’t watched this game at all.

Look at last year, the AFL Grand Final was played at the Gabba. Unfortunately, Melbourne, Geelong and regional Victoria was put into lockdown for months. I would like to see NRL GF move to Brisbane. THey have a good Suncorp Stadium that could host a very big crowd.

Ireland hasn’t played in the Cricket World Cup (Mens ODI) since 2015. However, The sporting code is growing in the Ireland. I feel Ireland have a lot of talent including Andrew Balbirnie, George Dockerell and Lorcan Tucker.

Unfortunately, the current broadcasting deal was a schmozzle. There was lack of advertising of the A League Soccer matches on the ABC and this had a huge impact on the ratings. Mike Cockerill, Les Murray and Johnny Warren would be spinning in their graves about the broadcasting deal. The Finals was shown on a delayed telecast. To make matters worse, last year’s A-League Grand Final (Sydney FC-Melbourne City) was shown on a 4-hour delayed telecast on ABC ME. The TV audience numbers were extremely low where it drew just under 4k nationally. For many years, the A-League soccer was put behind a paywall and sadly, not a lot of Australians get to see the match live on TV.
On the other hand, I am pleased to see soccer ⚽ leaving Fox Sports. With Soccer moving to CHannel 10/Paramount, it will help grow the sport more. Channel 10 desperately need sport on a Saturday night. Unfortunately, Saturday Night audience shares are down. Hopefully, there will be promotion of matches on TV.

Very sad day for the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles. Today, a moments of silence was being held to remember Bob Fulton who sadly passed away aged 74. Thoughts are with the family.

You mean FIFA in 2026 and Olympics in 2028?

Bledisloe Cup will come to Optus Stadium. Last time the Bledisloe CUp played in Perth was back in August 2019 where 61k people came to the venue. it was a record crowd at optus stadium, beating the State of Origin Game 2 Crowd. It would be great to see Bledisloe Cup coming back to Perth. There are a lot of Kiwis living in Perth supporting Rugby Union.
Channel Nine has the rights to the Bledisloe Cup. I’m not sure whether Channel Nine Perth will use the primary channel or 9GEM, but this will see a ratings boost in the West.

I heard on The Age that Rugby Australia is considering Perth Stadium, ANZ Stadium or the MCG to host the 2027 Rugby World Cup Final (they are the only arena that could fit Rugby’s criteria). Last time MCG hosted a Rugby Union match was back in 2007 (Wallabies-All blacks). Unfortunately, Suncorp Stadium won’t host the Big Final (as the stadium capacity is not adequate enough). If Australia’s bid for the WOrld Cup is successful, Perth Stadium would lock in as the 2027 Rugby World Cup Final in this venue. Perth provides a better time zone for audiences in the UK, France, Ireland and in South Africa. As well, this will boost grassroots rugby into WA.

Originally, the Australia v Afghanistan test was supposed to be played at Perth in November 2020 but this was being postponed due to COVID-19 and the extreme strict border restrictions by the McGowan Government. The Australia v Afghanistan Test will be played at a smaller venue at Bellerive Oval. I predict that the Test will wrap up in less than 3 days. Afghanistan have won one test match.
ON the other hand, The Ashes will rate much higher than the Aus-Afghanistan Test on Fox Sports and Channel Seven (due to the strong rivalry). Day-Night Test in Adelaide will rate much higher in primetime. The final Ashes Test will play in Perth. Due to timezone difference, it will rate much higher on the east coast (as this game is in primetime).

Hey Avatar, Brisbane Lions have a very poor record against Richmond Tigers during its 24-year club history. Since 1997, they only won 9 out of 33 matches. In R15 2002, Brisbane Lions beat Richmond by 63 points at Docklands and in R7 2009, Brisbane beat Richmond by 26 points at the MCG. The sad part about the Brisbane Lions was that they have an extremely poor record against Richmond in Victoria.

Another talking point is North Melbourne coach, David NOble celebrated his 54th birthday with a win over the Hawks in Launceston. North melbourne recorded its first win in more than 200 days.
– I agreed with Dimma’s opinion. Richmond should not have played their home games at Docklands. They should have played all their home games at the G. Carlton and Essendon have homes games both at Docklands and the MCG. Just 16k attended the Tigers-Giants game at Docklands Stadium. I felt that this was a very disappointing crowd figure. There’s not a lot of Giants fans living in Victoria.

What really annoys me in the commentary is that sports commentators continue to ask irrelevant questions instead of focusing on the match. In late 2014, I watched a Test Cricket between Australia and India (MCG) on Nine. I heard James Brayshaw, Michael Slater and Shane Warne talk about favourite pizzas. Next, they ran a poll asking users to vote for their favorite pizzas. Simply, I found this to be so irrelevant. Pizzas has got nothing to do with cricket or India. In fact, having to put up with these idiots in the commentary is enough for me to turn TV off. Many cricket fans want to listen to the action, not just rambling on other stuff. I don’t care of pizzas or back-in-the-days reflections. Many people couldn’t stand James Brayshaw as cricket commentator and simply makes mistakes. It is hard for me to put up listening to him. For example, I am fed up with the word ‘unbelievable’, ‘extraordinary’
In the AFL commentary, I get annoyed putting up with the blokes – Brian Taylor, Luke Darcy and co. Brian Taylor was mean to call the game properly, not cheerlead on and on. Brian Taylor continued to make so many emphasis on players and it simply annoy the hell out of me. In fact, putting up with Brian Taylor in the commentary annoys the hell out of me.
The NRL Commentary team: Having to put up Gus And Ray Warren calling the NRL is a pain. Ray Warren couldn’t pronounce players correctly. I watched the 2020 NRL Grand Final and he pronounced Melbourne Storm player, Welch as ‘Welsh’. Ray gets mixed up with stadiums. I wtched the State of Origin Game 1 2017 and he says ‘Welcome to ANZ Stadium’, when the game was played at Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane. The worst commentator is Gus Gould. He continued to dribble too much nonsense and this is enough for me to turn the Television off. Gould continued to argue towards Ray when calling the Rugby League match. They ask too many questions. Just concnentrate on the game. I heard Gus Gould claiming that the Panthers are on top when Melbourne held a 14-0 lead during the 1st half. Gus Gould makes more mistakes.
And I watched Australian Ninja Warrior with Ben and Bec in the commentary. I cannot stand Ben and Bec’s commentary becuase they are too over the top and they put too much dramatisation. It is a pain that I had to put these two commentators. Right. Having to put up with Bec Maddern is enough to turn viewers off. In fact, Bec Maddern offered nothing but hot air when she hosted The Cricket World Cup in 2019. She makes more mistakes when hosting the coverage. It is enough for me to yell at the TV.

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As what the late Richie Benaud would say, Never ask a statement, There are no teams in the world called ‘we’ or they. Commentators should avoid cliches and banalities. THey must put their brain into gear before opening their mouths.

It’s too early to predict but you’ll never know. I think that the Dynasty would still be alive fro the Tigers if they win the next 4 matches.
Aidan: I think that all next 4 matches would be winnable. Brisbane face Richmond on a Friday night. This will be the first time that the Gabba will host a Friday Night Football (home-and away) in its Brisbane Lions history.

A very good article. It’s been a very long time since the Wallabies last won the Bledisloe Cup match. THe Wallabies haven’t won a Bledisloe Cup in Australia since 2002. That year was where the Wallabies were once at its peak. Last time Australia won a Bledisloe CUp in NZ was back in 2001.
In the Bledisloe Cup 2003 series, New zealand regained the Bledisloe CUp for the first time since 1997. New Zealand have now won 18 consecutive years of Bledisloe Cups.
The longest time the Bledisloe CUp was held by the All Blacks was 28 years (1951-1978) – 12 titles.

Now that David Rennie became the coach of the Wallabies, the Wallabies are desperately in for a rebuild.

West Coast haven’t won at Kardinia Park since 2006. That was the game when the Eagles overcame a 54-point deficit mid-way through the 3rd quarter to win by 3 points in a heart stopper.
Melbourne haven’t won over Richmond since 2016. melbourne have lost the past 5 matches to richmond at the MCG. It will be a tough task for the Dees.

The first State of Origin being played at Perth drew 59 721 people at the Optus Stadium, despite of the wet weather conditions. Game 2 of Ampol State of Origin is being played on a Sunday. I predict that this State of Origin Series will be played on the 19th June 2022 at Optus. Perth has a State of the art stadium. State of Origin 2019 drew very high ratings in Perth, however it failed to crack 200k.
Adelaide oval is poised to host the 2023 State of Origin Series. Last year, Adelaide hosted its first State of Origin match and 25 218 people attended the match. This crowd number was low due to capacity restrictions. About 87k Adelaide viewers watched the State of Origin in SA Capital, which was a bit disappointing. I think that the Adelaide Oval will host Game 2 of the State of Origin 2023.