Roar Pro
Joined August 2009
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Most media commentators believe Geelong and St. Kilda have been smart to give key players some time off in the lead up to the…
Big call with Lynch! An excellent player and I think he’ll get in my top 10 in the not too distant future but not this year.
And I reckon Treloar is a bit unlucky.
I’d have Josh Kennedy instead of Lynch and Treloar ahead of Pendlebury. But what do I know?
(love the debate though)
The Roar’s 2017 AFL top 50 players: 10-1
At the risk of poking my head up out the foxhole without a helmet here’s my solution
1. Scrap Japan
2. 16 teams. SA – 5 teams, Aus – 5 teams, NZ – 5 teams, Arg – 1 team
3. 2 conferences. Conference A = NZ Teams + Reds, Brumbies & Waratahs. Conference B = SA teams + Arg Team + Rebels & Force
4. Play each team in each conference twice (home and away) so fans can learn to “hate” the opposition and rivalry matches can be established and maximised
5. Final 4 for each conference – leading to Conference Champion
6. Superbowl Type Finale between winner of Conference A and Conference B for the “Super Rugy Championship”
It’s not rocket surgery …. or is it?
It's time to simplify Super Rugby
I’m excusing that as a typo eric … It’s interesting to contrast the Australian view of Nick Kyrgios with the international view.
In Australia it’s “God that kid is a dickhead but he has a bit of talent”
Internationally it’s “God that kid can really play but he does need to grow up”
He makes it hard for anyone to support him but for all his faults no one plays more entertaining tennis atm.
I guess time will tell ….
Here's the next big four in men's tennis
Well done! Good analysis and interesting read
Don’t St. Kilda have Pick 36 though?
AFL 2016 Phantom Draft 2: The top 55
It’s not so much much about making Australia look better Scuba. It’s more about having realistic expectations and setting more approriate goals going forward than aiming at a top 5 finish on the table
Time to re-evaluate how the world measures Olympic success
I think the injury to Nic Nat drops the WCE down a peg or two and I’d back St.Kilda to beat Collingwood … but that’s just me
AFL Power Rankings: Round 22
The way he manipulated his opponent at the beginning of the race was sailing genius!
GOLD MEDAL! Tom Burton sails Australia to number 7
Couldn’t agree more Jack
Too all those advocates of reduced interchanges … So the best way to make the game more entertaining is to fatigue the players? That seems highly counter intuitive because as the players tire, they can’t run as fast, can’t jump as high and make more skill errors, in my book that does not make for a better spectacle.
As to zoning? Beware the Law of Unintended Consequences before making such a radical change.
Just play a free kick if the bloke being tackled doesn’t immediately attempt to legitimately dispose of the ball or if the disposal is not strictly legitimate. Be more stringent with the deliberate out of bounds rule to stop players taking the safe option of gaining metres by kicking up the line.
And start each stoppage more promptly, just get in there and throw the ball up, or in, straight way don’t wait for teams to “set up” too bad if one or both ruckman aren’t there to contest.
The game isn’t as bad as everyone is making out and doesn’t need “radical change”
The push to kill off 'boring' footy has got it all wrong
I agree the current format needs re-jigging and most of the suggestions raised here get a big tick from me.
Personally I think 2 pools of 5, the current 9 test playing nations and one other. The “one other” being either the winner of a World Cup qualifying tournament between the second tier teams or, possibly, an all star team picked from that qualifying tournament.
Top two from each pool go through to the semi-finals, winners to play off for the World Cup
Are the pool stages of the Cricket World Cup even worth playing?
They’ve both been/are outstanding why does one have to be better than the other?
Goodes or Ablett Jr: who is better?
I agree James. When the feature race is the last race the only people who hang around are the those that backed the winner. Everyone else scarpers off to get out of the carpark early or beat the rush to the first available public transport. There’s no opportunity to reflect at the bar – discuss the rides, where to from here etc. The feature race should be no later than the 2nd last race.
And if its a night meeting then no later than the prime time window of 8.30am to 9.30am. How many kids would have seen Black Caviar’s MV triumph earlier this year if it had been held at 10.00pm?
A Group 1 race at 10pm is just lunacy
I quite like that idea.
The main issue I’ve always had with the all star concept is it could degenerate into the farce that is the NFL Pro Bowl but this gives fans a way to engage emotionally.
Think we’d still have to work on giving the game a sense of meaning though.
State of Origin must fill NAB Cup void
I’d love to see State of Origin back and happy to join any debate to promote the idea.
Not sure we’d get competitive teams from all states though. I’d go back to the Allies concept (NSW/ACT, Tas, Qld & NT combined)
My model requires 2 rounds of SO per season
First year would need a random draw for matches in round one. In round two winner plays winner for the title of Australian Champion and loser playes loser to determine the draw for the following year (or maybe bi-annually)
Then it goes like this
Round One
Match A: Seed One v Seed Four (at Seed One’s choice of venue)
Match B: Seed Two v Seed Three (at Seed Two’s choice of venue)
Round Two: Double Header at the venue highest seeded winner from R1
Match C: Loser Match A v Loser Match B – to decide 3rd and 4th seed for next year
Match D: Winner Match A v Winner Match B – to decide Australian Champion and 2nd seed for next year.
State of Origin must fill NAB Cup void
Unfortunately Essendon itself hasn’t imposed any sanctions on any of the key individuals involved in this sordid saga. Quite the contrary infact, they’re looking at a short term promotion for Thompson and they’ve extended Hird’s contract. The “we’ve made mistakes, we apologise for them and we’ve corrected them” line that the club trots out shows a complete lack of contrition.
I’m not sure whether Essendon have learnt anything other than sometimes it’s advantageous to have sloppy record keeping
Essendon has taught sport a valuable lesson
As can be seen in the Sheek’s excellent post above there are a number of classic races in Sydney over the Autumn that deserve increased prize money and status. My personal opinion is instead of loading up the QE Stakes and calling it the International Cup we should use the additional prize money on two more unique races that would create a point of difference with the Melbourne Spring Carnival. I say use the additional prize money to boost the BMW and Doncaster Hcp. Bring the prize money in both much closer to the Golden Slipper.
Let Melbourne have its wfa 2000m championship (Cox Plate) and high quality 3200m Hcp (the Melb Cup) and Sydney’s premium races become the 2yr old 1200 Golden Slipper, the 2400m wfa staying classic and the Mile handicap
Sydney racing's international attempts a pipedream
I can’t beleive Beale was treated so lightly after his behaviour in South Africa. The ARU should have taken a stronger stand and suspended him for the whole Lions Tour and then made him go back and earn his stripes before being promoted to the Wallabies again.
There’s a group of players in Australia who think the game needs them. They have talent and while they give a reasonable effort on the field they just don’t do everything they can to make the team successful. Beale, O’Connor, Cooper, Ioane …. I’m starting to think we’d be better off to excise the lot of them (and let them play out their carreers with some French provincial side) and promote players with character and a genuine desire to do everything it takes to make the Wallabies successful again.
To Beale or not to Beale, that is the question
Does anyone disagree with the following facts?
1. Essendon has admitted players were injected with AOD.
2. The AFL’s Federal Funding agreement was predicated on the AFL signing up to the WADA Code (including its testing protocols and recommended penalties).
3. The WADA code is clear that athletes are responsible for what substances enter their bodies.
4. The WADA code requires that the penalty for a WADA breach is a 2 year suspension.
5. The only mitigating circumstances that can reduce the suspension length are
a) if the athlete is at no fault (as the original article described. or
b) the athletes supplies information that leads to the uncovering of systemic doping practices.
RedB I’m sorry to inform you, but start preparing yourself for the worst case scenario…..
Should AFL players be open to bans for doping?
What about the Essendon Officials involved in the decision making and approval process?
Should AFL players be open to bans for doping?
Could not agree more.
The breeding industry wields way too much clout for the good of the sport. It’s almost as if breeding thoroughbreds is more important then racing them. Which is like the tail wagging the dog. And the flow on effect for the fans and punters is early retirements and connections choosing programs to protect records.
Wouldn’t it have been fantastic to see a Rosehill Guineas featuring It’s a Dundeel, 5.5 Stars, Supercool, Pierro, All Too Hard, Proisir… I know injuries played their part in preventing it but also there is a reluctance for connections of good colts to risk their reputations.
25 years ago there was less money in breeding, more geldings, champs didn’t retire at 3 and more good horses raced against each other.
Surely the industry could set a global standard minimum age for stallions? 5 years I’m thinking
In my dreams……
‘The Little Bulldog’ Pierro retired as racing runs second again
I don’t think we need the odds constantly rammed down our throats either but I don’t understand the vitriol directed at Tom Waterhouse. All the other major players in the industry (with the exception of the TAB and it’s subsidiary – Luxbet) such as Centrebet, Sportsbet, Sportingbet, Bet365, Betfair and Allsports are all now owned outright by overseas comglomerates like Ireland’s Paddy Power. Tom’s a young aussie up against overseas competitors with massive resources. How else is he going to compete and win?
I reckon we should all cut him a bit slack, he’s showing a bit of ticker taking these blokes on at their own game.
Is our problem with sports betting or Tom Waterhouse?
Watts is going to be ok. He’s going to settle into a role similar to the role Goddard played at St.Kilda. He’s been judged as a key position player but his strengths lie else where. He reads the play well, is an accurate kick, makes smart decisions about where and when to kick the footy and is quite quick for a guy his size. It’s a mistake to down play this sweeping role as soft or easy pickings for the lower quality players because it’s so vital in today’s footy. Every successful club has one or two rebounding defenders fitting this mold that they like to give the ball to to set up play. These players penetrate opposition defensive zones with a combination of run and carry, accurate short passing and penetrating long kicking. Without them their teams struggle.
I don’t think Watts will ever be a key position player but that doesn’t mean he won’t be a very good player.
Watts a boy to do to silence the critics?
Regardless of whether the peptides are illegal or inert what parent wants their kids playing a sport where one day you’ll be asked to sign a waiver, be taken off site, and receive mysterious injections and intravenous treatments?
Essendon far from convincing at press conference
A lot has been said and written about the referreeing and I don’t disagree that there were several costly mistakes but I thought the NSW Coaching staff should have brought Fifita and Woods back into the game earlier. By the time they re-entered the fray all the momentum was with Qld. IMO they both needed to be out there 5 – 10 minutes earlier
The Queensland champions rise one more time to humiliate the Blues