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Stirling Coates started out as an AFL crowd contributor, and is now the producer of the Game of Codes podcast.
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It’s crunch time! Just two weeks to go in this year’s home-and-away season and there’s finals place to secure and tipping legacies to be made.
The NRL Round 22 teams have been announced, with skippers Boyd Cordner and Sam Burgess both named to return for the Roosters and Rabbitohs, respectively.
With just three weeks to go in the home-and-away season, The Roar’s AFL expert tipping ladder has a new leader!
The NRL Round 21 teams are in, with Canberra star Joey Leilua a chance at making a stunning early return from a neck injury after being named as a reserve for the Raiders blockbuster Sunday meeting with the Roosters.
Former Sydney Swans co-captain Jarrad McVeigh has officially announced his retirement from the AFL at the conclusion of this season.
We’ve got one hell of a finish coming up as we approach season’s end – both on the ladder and on the tipping panel.
The NRL Round 20 teams are in, with Newcastle Knights coach Nathan Brown making mass changes to the side narrowly defeated by Wests Tigers at home last week.
Embattled Australian swimmer Shayna Jack will be suspended from swimming for four years if she fails to prove her innocence in a doping scandal, according to The Daily Telegraph. Jack made headlines late last week after testing positive to banned substance Ligandrol, a muscle-building drug. Richard Ings, the former chief of the Australian Sports Anti-Doping […]
Tipping isn’t getting any easier as we inch closer to finals. At this rate, nobody from the top four will even make the grand final.
The NRL Round 19 teams are in, and it’s the St George-Illawarra Dragons featuring heavily again with the return of captain Gareth Widdop.
Last weekend threatened to be the tipping apocalypse but, after a shaky Saturday, most of us got back on track.
The NRL Round 18 teams are in, with the St George-Illawarra Dragons welcoming back James Graham from long injury layoff ahead of their must-win clash with Penrith.
Media reports swirling this morning that St Kilda have parted ways with embattled coach Alan Richardson have been confirmed.
With the finals plot twisting each and every week, tipping in the AFL just isn’t get any easier in 2019.
The FFA has today confirmed CEO David Gallop will step down from his position in December.
The NRL Round 17 teams are in, with top four sides South Sydney and the Roosters both bolstered by big-name returns.
Upsets galore last week saw the finals plot thicken in a big way. With plenty of juicy matches on the menu this week, it’s set to be a crucial week both on the field and on the tipping table.
The NRL Round 16 teams are in, with Origin duty decimating most of the eight teams playing this weekend.
The FFA has today released a statement announcing an in-principle agreement with the New Leagues Working Group (NLWG) to establish independence for the A-League, W-League and Y-League.
The rugby league world has been stunned this morning after an academic study found strong evidence of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy – better known as CTE – in the brains of two former NRL players.
Great price Adrian. However next week, for the sake of my impulsive appetite, would you mind comparing defenders to salads? Or ruckmen to fruit smoothies?
Who is your favourite fast-food footballer?
Would’ve picked them if it was at Marvel, but they play horribly at the MCG so I can’t put too much stock in the home ground advantage.
The Roar's AFL expert tips and predictions: Round 19
Hey Roarers, you may have noticed over the last few weeks we made a transition to a colour-coded table for tipping. Have you liked the changes? Disliked them? Couldn’t care less?
Keen to grab some feedback. Thanks in advance!
The Roar's AFL expert tips and predictions: Round 16
It’s a fair point, but we only have five minutes to cover each topic so we can’t get to everything, unfortunately. There’s every chance the Bulldogs and/or Saints will get a good mention if they string some wins together over the next three weeks but, for now, we thought they were the least likely of the six-win pack to get in.
The AFL finals race has been blown wide open: Who sneaks in?
San Francisco has glorious weather and would certainly be a lot more temperate but, from memory, the only decently-sized venues in the city are quite aways from the main population base.
GWS plans for US game moving forward
They do realise playing during the AFL season would mean playing during the blazing Californian summer, right? No thanks.
GWS plans for US game moving forward
The special event services to Olympic Park offer free train travel, but the NSW government still makes you fork out to catch the shuttle buses they run from Central station to the SCG.
GWS are tearing up the AFL, so where are the fans?
Homebush has absolutely lost its lustre over the last decade, while the SCG is currently a nightmare to get to given the disastrous attempts to build a light rail have decimated the city and inner-east’s roads.
GWS are tearing up the AFL, so where are the fans?
Both Queensland teams do welcome a huge number of visiting fans to their grounds but, as long as they’re buying a ticket, food and drinks, the AFL doesn’t really care what colour scarf they’re wearing.
It’s the same situation as Florida-based teams in the USA.
GWS are tearing up the AFL, so where are the fans?
I’ve got no reason to question the legitimacy of crowd figures. As GoSwans mentions in a comment further down, broadcast cameras are on the member’s side at Giants Stadium which actually hides a lot of the crowd. I think this phenomenon actually applies to most stadiums as the cameras always shoot from the same direction the sun shines, usually making the stands on the televised side the ground’s worst.
GWS are tearing up the AFL, so where are the fans?
Given the number of curiously marquee fixtures the AFL has shipped to Canberra (Bulldogs rematch in 2017?), you quietly wonder if Canberra is actually Plan B…
GWS are tearing up the AFL, so where are the fans?
That’s a fair point IAP. I’d also argue (based on participation) there are a lot more footy supporters in Sydney’s west than people realise, they’re just rusted on Pies, Dons, Tigers etc fans who just don’t see a reason to jump ship yet.
GWS are tearing up the AFL, so where are the fans?
9-4 on the season. Started 3-4 (largely thanks to two huge upset wins by Gold Coast) but in fine form since.
The Roar's AFL expert tips and predictions: Round 14
Oops, that was a typo. Thanks for pointing out.
The Roar's AFL expert tips and predictions: Round 14
You’re right about Mumford – he looked so far off the pace last Saturday night it wasn’t funny. Hard not to see the North mids getting first use every time.
The Roar's AFL expert tips and predictions: Round 13
Potentially, but Geelong had some years of success prior to that and started ’06 pretty well before falling off a cliff. The Dees hadn’t made the finals for yonks prior to last season and haven’t looked anywhere near it this season.
I fear it could more be a case of 2018 being to the Demons what 2009 was to Brisbane…
The dazzling, dreadful Demons have no plan
Those vegan protests the other month were extremely irresponsible and totally unfair on the farmers – you won’t find any disagreement with me on that point.
However, that’s not at all what I was referring to. Lroy said disagreement with a vegan is considered hate speech and I was asking him to find an example of someone simply disagreeing with a vegan and a credible member of the community genuinely referring to that disagreement as hate speech.
Why the AFL is right to remove abusive spectators
You raise a fair point about this coming out of nowhere Col. If it is the case that the AFL has decided to crack down on this (we don’t really know given it could just be stadium security stepping it up), they really needed to tell fans well in advance that it was happening.
Why the AFL is right to remove abusive spectators
But if you’re the type that’s offended by the AFL cracking down on people who take umpire abuse too far then staying home makes you a noble protester, right?
Why the AFL is right to remove abusive spectators
Veganism and hate speech has precisely zero relevance to what’s being discussed but, for the record’s sake, are you able retrieve an example of harmless disagreement with a vegan being credibly labelled hate speech? Or is this just another example of the absurdum fallacy people opposed to any form of social change are so fond of?
Why the AFL is right to remove abusive spectators
Is leaving your seat to approach the umpire’s tunnel and single one out in particular really part of the game? Barracking and yelling from the stands certainly is, but I’m not sure what actually got the Carlton fan ejected is.
Why the AFL is right to remove abusive spectators
I’ll tell you what, it’s incredible to see the motion for fans and the media to be more considerate of how they speak in relation to players (after Tom Boyd cited mental health as a reason for retirement) totally evaporate in the minds of some when it comes to umpires.
Why the AFL is right to remove abusive spectators
He wasn’t ejected or suspended for saying what’s been said 1000 times, he was ejected for leaving his seat, seeking out the umpires as they left the ground for half time and delivering his barb personally.
As long as fans don’t do that I suspect they’ll be fine.
Why the AFL is right to remove abusive spectators
I’m not sure about the ‘maggot’ case, but in the most recent one the fan in question actually left his seat and approached the umpire’s tunnel to deliver his barb.
I’d argue if you’re going to go that far to have a crack you absolutely run the risk of getting tossed.
Why the AFL is right to remove abusive spectators
Hey guys. Because The Roar started as a rugby site originally, a leftover of that time is if one of the editors forgets to manually tick which sport an article is about, it defaults to union when published.
That’s what happened here – we can assure you nobody in the office has their codes crossed!
How I learned to relax and admire the Roosters