Hi Davico,

I felt when viewing Wilder landed the more effective punches in the 2nd and therefore gave him the round but Fury was still the aggressor and i did feel it was close so its a fair call.

Agreed regarding the Fury pressure, it just kept coming. While he had been out boxed before I think many thought Wilder would at least land a big blow once just like the first fight, and those punches usually get him 10-8 rounds or simply the win. Fury was just far too prepared this time.

The costume situation just seems ridiculous. I read Wilder say he only tried it on the night before which I also find confusing. That’s leaving it a bit late if it doesn’t fit or work. Just seems a bizarre excuse but I really have no idea how much role it played.

Looks like the trilogy clause will now be triggered and all reports are to fight before the end of July which is good news.

You echo my thoughts about the point of a rematch in your last paragraph but Wilder can’t really appear to be backing away now and Fury probably knows the Joshua fight will be there regardless.

Just generally great news the heavyweight division is worth talking about.

It’s well established Fury was the better boxer and Wilder the better puncher. As a result I think the fight was going as many expected until the knockdown in the 3rd. Fury outworking Wilder and Wilder waiting to turn the fight with a punch or two.

Wilder just never looked the same. The slips and even the knockdown of the body shot showed how off his equilibrium was. From then Wilder was absolutely bullied.

After initially incorrectly thinking the ref stopped it, I am starting to think Ref was never going to stop it. Once the corner realised this, and Wilder was almost certainty going to get knocked out the towel was thrown. Doubt Wilder would of survived the 7th.

Hi Paulo,

I wrote this almost immediately after the fight and was unable to hear the commentary at the venue. I choose not to read other reports to keep it too just my views.

It appeared to me the fight had been stopped on first viewing. When he was pointing I thought he was trying to just get him to the corner.

Considering the ref had not stopped it already I don’t think he was going too. Was going to let Wilder fight to the end, but I think the corner did the right thing. He was done.

I love seeing another 22, makes me question my own.
Seems common opinion on here that Logue is in for Duman, so ill concede that. Even though I expect Duman to play throughout the year.
McCarthy on a wing? Surely he isn’t mobile enough. The thought of him taking on the comps best wings in a foot race is a bit frightening. May get him regularly involved though which is an issue for him.
I think Hill is more valuable front of centre but that is here nor there because he will cover the ground well enough regardless. Seems a fair few people think Aish and Acres aren’t really in the 22. Aish for me will play, don’t understand the pick up otherwise. Longmuir coached him and obviously gave the green-light so his in the plans. I have Bewley out for Aish but from opinion on here Bewley is next up, so may be some internal comp for those spots.
Forward line of Matera-Lobb-Switkowski is a bit concerning. Think you may only be able to have one of the pockets with McCarthy or Hogan (fingers crossed) filling that spot. Really, Hogan is the key to that forward line so any front 6 with names in mine and yours wont look right until he is there or someone of his statue.
Don’t know if Brayshaw is quiet ready for the full time midfield role, but he will go through there and obviously will spend his career there. Maybe a year or two early.

Richmond fan here. Been a crazy few years.

I am legitimately surprised by this. I thought the clubs would definitely lobby for some period of extended home stay but then that just creates a chaotic period of travel somewhere else; so probably best how it is.

Ahh I see. Sounds ready for a big year especially considering his age and time its taken him to breakthrough.
Will keep an eye out for him in 2020.

Hi Ken,

It certainly is an interesting space and writing this piece really opened my eyes to the issues around broadcasting.

I think a big factor is streaming services – both in sport and entertainment – are opening access outside of Australia to programs and options that just didn’t exist 5, 10, 20 years ago.

Agreed. If you go left when you should of gone right you probably wont be able to get back on course in a hurry.

I do remember Rugby Union and the Wallabies being such a bigger deal. I still sort of thought it was the same but I just wasn’t engaging.

The sporting landscape has certainly changed since that world cup win in 1999. Feels a bit now like Rugby Union got left behind and it going to be some effort too catch up.

Without any knowledge of the Shute Shield, it does sound like a good idea to piggy back of an existing platform. Would need to know more about the level of sustainable support those clubs actually have to see if its viable.

It would be a complete overhaul though which would come with its own risks. Everything I’ve read though indicates dramatic change is probably the answer.

With Walters and Fyfe both turning 29 this year I hope they get back up there in 2 to 3 years to allow both players another shot while still playing their best footy.

Walters has been significantly underrated most of his career and i’d love to see him get another chance on the big stage.

I missed the Nyhuis delisting, so an oversight by me on that.

As I got down to the lower end of selecting a side it became very speculative. I thought Duman looked OK last year and provided more balance. After reading the comments here and factoring in Logue can offer flexibility up forward I probably missed the mark there.

It’s a big list of players to keep on the park, that’s one of my concerns. No doubt a talented group with more young talent underneath them.

I do think the fixture is a bit rough. Can someone explain to me without having to dig through previous fixtures if Fremantle ever get a month at home? Feel it would really help, a sustained stay at Optus would surely build momentum. Hard to see them losing continually at home.

Injuries can be cruel and derail any plan (except Richmond in 2019). Its the great unknown. If the Dockers can get a good run it could accelerate this rebuild which would be a great effort to avoid truly bottoming out.

Yeah I did consider Logue could go forward, and now rethinking it he probably is first 22 material as it allows more flexibility in both the forward line and back line.

A bit of noise on here about Bewley. Honestly wasn’t blown away with him last year. He looked up to it, but I thought others had more upside. Maybe I am just missing something, but guess we will find out soon.

Agreed on McCarthy, struggle to think of a more frustrating player. Talented but just can’t manage to get it all together. I guess that isn’t unlike many key forwards and at only 24 he has time. His best is very good.

So only injuries kept Darcy out of playing a full 22 games? I really thought he was dropped in the first half of the year.

I don’t think Blakely isn’t a key cog, he just hasn’t put together a complete season yet in terms of games played and performance. It felt like he broke out in 2017, but I think he has another gear which we haven’t seen. He will get his chance this year, hope he is Mundy MK2.

Pure speculation. We have seen the likes of Mitch Clark miss a year for similar reasons. If he does play, I think it’ll be post bye or similar which ultimately might not impact the Dockers year greatly considering the fixture.

I hope Hogan plays Round 1. Don’t think we have seen even close to his best footy, but I just think this season the club will take all precautions in getting him back out there.

Thanks DTM.

Really interesting suggestion.

The travel is such a significant factor in a competition where some teams hardly travel and others are barely at home comparatively. Then we have the grand final at the MCG thing but yeah, lets not go there.

I had never really thought of your suggestion as a solution but I could see it working. I am guessing a Thursday night/Monday night then a Sunday that week might work. Surely it isn’t that different to travelling for a Sunday afternoon and travelling again for a Friday night game.

It also relies on WC and Freo coming to an arrangement which could complicate it, and the AFL managing to actually make it work logistically for all the other components of a match day.

Mainly need to find a Melbourne side that would not kick up a stink about spending 5-6 days away from home.

Any weird fixture quirks usually end up in the headlines for the wrong reasons i.e. Richmond selling home games in Cairns, now we have a game in China which up in the air etc.

There is also the flip-side that Fremantle beat the Giants, Brisbane, Collingwood etc. last year. So the players out there are capable of pretty much anything.

Agreed, all road wins are tough. I think giving them at least 50% of those games is fair though.

Thanks Jonboy, appreciate it.

Logue was in and out of my 22 due to trying to find balance, but definitely will be playing this year.

Agree regarding Blakely, I expect him rotating on and off the ball and did mention I think the on ball players will be figured out during season. There seems to be a bunch of players vying for these roles.

Everything I have read regarding both Acres and Aish indicates they will play. Considering Aish has been recruited from a side Longmuir was on the coaching panel of, I would be shocked if he doesn’t line up Round 1. Acres was apparently sold on move to the wing and a more “settled” role. He may miss because he was effectively steak knives but I still envision he plays more often then not. I would have both over Bewley.

Bit rough on Matera, thought he had a great year all things considered. Kicked goals in Freo’s biggest wins. He faded out but held his spot. Considering were the squad is going I admit he could get the chop, and ill take your word Switkowski is way ahead of him because I have only seen bits and peices.

Yeah the lower I went down the list the more subjective it became. I thought Duman looked OK last year and thought he was worth persisting with.

Honestly never really seen Sam Sturt so if his as good as you say he plays at some point.

Plenty of talent to switch around across the ground, just not as much in the forward line. McCarthy keeps promising but is very inconsistent.

After a lot of messing around I thought the 22 was alright.

What changes would you make to the 22? Who goes out for Logue and Bewley? Bewley looked ok last year but didn’t think he did enough to be a lock.

Stephen Hill’s 2019 was a write off but his raw statistics from the past few years have trended downwards. Everything says his best years were 2014-2015. He hasn’t polled a Brownlow vote since 2017 despite having 36 for his career . Obviously injuries have played a role, I just need to see him get back to his best to believe he still can.

2016 – 25 possesions/16 kicks
2017 – 21 possesion/14 kicks
2018 – 18 possessions/12 kicks

Fair point regarding Pearce, Hill & Taberner.

I don’t think its unusual for multiple first 22 players to miss 4 or more games. That’s basically just 1 hamstring or foot injury. Dockers will have the same again in 2020 as will everyone else.

Blakely seems to have consistently missed games so until that changes its the norm.

I thought Darcy was in and out of the squad based on form rather then injuries but could be wrong there.

I would still consider Logue a recent draft pick. Hogan will likely miss this year, but I feel any other talk is speculation so I think most are just staying away from it for now.

I still think the improvement or impact of Cerra, Brayshaw, Logue and Darcy is a big factor. Value added/lost by adding Acres and Aish and the impact of the 3 draftees probably decides how far the Dockers can go. Adding the likes of a Rozee/Duursma combo straight in overwhelms the prospect of a bit more production from Taberner.

I’ve been out of the Super Rugby world for a good decade, so I guess that makes sense.

Yeah a fair point.

I probably realised the lack of popularity was an issue near the end of the article as I explored more.

Surely FTA networks could test the waters, but as i mentioned they would be looking to significantly low-ball Rugby Australia to even get in discussions which causes a whole bunch of other issues.

Thanks John.

It is an excellent point regarding broadcasting options and entertainment options in general. It seems broadcasting rights are being complicated by many changes in society.

You actually don’t even need a TV to watch most sports these days. You can really get by with a phone, which is such a dramatic change.

It seems the “realistic, unemotional” approach you spoke of has been taken by Fox and likely FTA channels would have the same feeling.

It just feels if fans, kids an fence sitters can’t access with ease – or accidentally turn the game on and enjoy it – How does it grow? But that’s a bit emotional, and maybe it’s just too late for any sort of dramatic change in the Australian sporting market.

Those figures are quite sobering.

Does no one really want to watch it though? I wanted too.

I actually think this 6-7 week period would be a great slot to get some interest. 5 weeks to the NRL, 7 weeks to the AFL. Big Bash and Aus Open wrapping up. Its probably the reason I was interested, I was looking for something to transition into.

If no one wants to watch it would a domestic competition really get people tuning in? Let alone having to start from scratch and build support in new franchises.

Hi Billy,

Ahh thanks for pointing that out. Shows how well I am going with this Super Rugby business so far. I must of been looking at Crusaders-Waratahs.

At least I still have a chance to watch it after all my disappointment.