MadAsHell

I'm certainly all for throwing a life line out to DGB. And if not him then Caleb Marchbank. The only key defender we have coming through is Jed Adams who I'm not sold on. Who knows how long May & McDonald will go on, so we need some other options down there. Either would be worth a go IMO, but preferably DGB.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.foxsports.com.au/cricket/love-seeing-him-at-no4-aussie-teammates-call-as-smith-open-to-abandoning-opener-switch/news-story/47edb47db2b6f5c5372f0362d348004c With the potential talk of Steve Smith returning to the no 4 position, it begs the question what Australia are going to do about their opening slots? The way I see it, they could either try Head as an opener which I know he's had some success at in the subcontinent. Or the more radical option IMO would be to drop Carey and replace him with Sam Whiteman to both keep and open the batting. That would allow our 4-7 to read Smith, Head, Green, Marsh. The prospect of an opener/keeper is pretty unlikely I know. But didn't Graham Yallop do it with some success back in a previous era?

So with the Olympics wrapping up, I think it's fair to say that it's been a pretty successful and entertaining games. But in terms of Australia's own performance and overall product that we got. WHAT DID I LIKE? * The return of crowds after the COVID games of 2020/21. *Breaking the mould re the opening ceremony. While I didn't think it all hit (drag queens etc I just put down as being very European), I enjoyed their break from tradition and thought the boats down the Seine was a good idea. I think Brisbane could do something similar for 2032 on the Brisbane River? *Impressive use of their landmarks. Seeing them run the Marathon and and Ride the Road Race across the Streets of Paris, play the Beach Volleyball at the foot of the Eiffel Tower, Fencing at the Grand Palais. It's hard for anywhere to create as a great looking special as Paris. Maybe Barcelona with their Diving back in 92'? *The USA coming back to the field a bit in terms of medal tally and Great Britain falling off their perch and finishing below us on the medal tally for the first time since 2004. *Some of the amazing individual achievements. Obviously can't list them all. But the likes of Simone Biles, Kaylee McKeown, Jess Foxx, Cam McEvoy are some of the best performances I've ever seen. WHAT DIDN'T I LIKE? *The Olympic Cauldron/Flame. I said it during the opening ceremony that I wasn't sure how I felt about it not being in the athletics stadium. Well after 16 days I can say that I didn't like it. Almost never saw it during the Games and in that regard I hope it returns to a stadium for 2028. *Breaking has no place in the Olympics IMO. While I think the Olympics has mainly hit with the sports they've introduced over the last 20 odd years, they missed the mark by some way here. It was laughably awkward, and not in an amusing way. Just cringe worthy. *Australia not getting a medal in the Field Hockey (mens or women's) for only the 2nd time since 1988 and our Rowers well off their normal achievements. But that would be it for the things I wasn't overly big on. So that's it until 2028 Los Angeles and after that we'll have it in Brisbane 2032. And before either of them it seems that the Commonwealth Games will proceed in Glasgow in 2026 https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.thescottishsun.co.uk/sport/13329851/major-development-glasgow-2026-commonwealth-agreement-reached/amp/ . Only 10 Sports apparently, down from the 20 at Birmingham 2022 and the 17 Glasgow had in 2014. I think we can say there will be no T20 Cricket, Beach Volleyball, 3x3 Basketball or Para Powerlifting from 2022 and no Shooting that was at Glasgow in 2014. I think the other 6 sports in serious danger could well be Boxing (obvious reasons), then Badminton, Judo, Squash, Table Tennis and Triathlon. Question marks on Weightlifting, Wrestling and Lawn Bowls as well. The only guarantees for now seem to be Aquatics and Athletics. I'd also suspect Gymnastics and Cycling will be safe, while Rugby 7's, Netball and Hockey are amongst the most popular, but who knows?

Thanks Macca. Have really appreciated your contributions, starting the thread and daily breakdowns of what was ahead and Aussies in action. I look forward to watching the closing ceremony in a few hours and then giving my final thoughts on everything this Olympics.

So satisfying to see the Opals secure a Bronze Medal in such a tight match. Great come back after their campaign got off to such a shocking start. Was also great to see Jess (maiden name) Trengove come 13th in the Marathon and even lead it at the half way point. Has been a shame we've dropped to 4th on the medal table, however zero gold in the last 4 days while Japan have picked up 8 has been the reason for that. We've still performed remarkably though, our most successful games ever and 2nd most successful in terms of total medals, behind only Sydney. As @BDA says, I found the very brief moment of breaking I watched hard to digest, and feel it has no place in the Olympics. Thankfully it will be a one and done it seems with LA not picking it up. Instead we'll see T20 cricket & Lacros (both back after more than 100 years). Baseball and Softball will return after stop start histories since coming in at Atlanta 96', while Squash and Flag Football will also make their debuts. Along with breaking, it sounds like Boxing might also be on the chopping block...

Silver for Jess Hull in a great race for our 50th medal and our first medal on the track since London 2012.

Stingers go down 9-11 to Spain in the Waterpolo. Amazing effort making it to the Gold medal game. We're now only 1 medal away from the magic 50!

Unfortunately Mariafe/Clancy have ran out of steam and were beaten pretty comfortably 17-21, 15-21 in the Bronze Medal match. It was a great effort for them to get this far. After their first two matches, I couldn't see them getting past the Round of 16.

Silver to Matthew Richardson in the mens sprint at the Velodrom. The Dutch opponent just too strong.

Opals given a Basketball lesson from USA, beaten 85-64, a margin that probably flattered them a bit. Turnovers have been their biggest issues these games. Will now take on either Belgium or France for Bronze.

Silver medal to Madison Keeney in the 3m Springboard! Some fantastic dives for such a young girl, and it makes this game our 3rd most successful outright in terms of total medals. (Most successful through proper counting)

Bronze to Australia in the Mens K2-500. I suspect they'll be a little disappointed not to win Gold, but a great achievement all the same.

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Mariafe/Clancy have put up a brave fight against the red hot Brazilian team, but have gone down in 3 sets 22-20, 15-21, 12-15. They will now play off for Bronze against a second pair from Switzerland.

The Stingers have done it! Knocked off USA 6-5 in penalty shoot out after an 8-8 draw to make the Gold medal match and end the USA dominance!