binman

hold the press

Forwards don't win brownlows, mids do. Wait a minute... what about forwards who cover more ground than most mids, averages 20 plus possessions, takes bundles of marks all over the ground and kicks 2-3 goals a game?

Well, if my memory serves me correctly the 'he' is doctor operating in the Brighton area. That should narrow it down a bit.

Looking forward to the DEES GET OUT THE GAFF HOOK headline

Close. Box up our horses and again we would have snagged the first four

Shizen, sorry fellas. Been busy and clean forgot till just then. Getawy and Destiny's Kiss for Randwick and Endless Drama and Champagne cuddels for Doomben.

I will do the form for this race tonight and post my two place getters

Blimey, we will have a pretty good starting 5 bball team

Apologies. As a newbie to the picking the place getters i forgot i had to pick two. Next time i'' get it right. By the by i would have selected Egg tart (honest) for my other place getter, as i was um and ahhing between Egg tart and Coming Through. Brilliant horse early doors who has struggled a bit of late

Ok. I'll take Coming Though for place. The type of horse i really like. Gives you a good sight very time and rarely runs a bad race. Started fav last start and never really got out but was only 2.5 lengths behind the very impressive winner Oregon Day (who i tipped). Is 12 4-2-1 in the good ground. Comes in ok at the weights carrying 59 as a 108 rater, though not nearly as well as Oregon Day who is carrying 2kgs less and is only 3 rating point behind at 106

Happy with picking the place horse, particularly in a 200 metre race. That distance sorts the wheat from the chaff a bit and unlike in 1600 metre races don't get those pesky 1400 metre horses that get a good run and snag a place. Just had a quick look at the filed. Pretty strong.

They're not?

Yeh too right. The last thing our sponsers and club want is exposure to a national audience on the highest rating show on TV. Fools. PJ is really losing his touch.

Nup, home game for pies at the g

Redzel is a fantastic horse and will be mighty hard to toss. Not bad odds actually. But seeing its taken ill pick Le Romain. A quality horse third up after a 4th first up agianst trapeze aritist, then a brave second to that horse (still annoyed i missed that quin). Thats a very good form line.

And still criticise him for trying to help....

From that article Salem is a lock to be selected. ANB seem the obvious out i would have thought. But you never no. For the umpteenth time goody is quoted as saying they have preapared Viney for AFL footy. Which im really pleased to hear. I was worried they were preparing him for curling.

Haven't done form for today (as i have said my Autumn has finished) so no best bets but my thoughts on today's group races based on recollection of the exposed form of the horses through Autumn. You have to give Qualista a good chance today. Like Savacool, a horse that always runs well. Gets out in front and challenges other horses to catch it and i've said before on this thread i really like good horses that sit on the speed. Similarly Sprightly Lass is terrific race horse that does not know how to run a bad race. Looks good value i reckon. Desert Lashes will surely test it though. A good horse. I backed Savapinski last start and it looks to deserve favoritism. But perhaps a little short? I backed Jester Halo and odds last start and it blundered the start, which is always poor but worse when it is a horse that likes to sit on the speed. Came home against the pattern for a fighting 4th and if it gets away allright today has to be chance. Has 3.5kg pull in the weights from Savapinski and due a win. Coming Through is really good horse and deserves favoritism in the Hollindale i would have thought but i would not be shocked if Oregon Day runs a bold race. Has been there or thereabouts this Autumn in four group races without winning (three very close seconds and last start 2.9 length 4th to Alizee). At each way odds.

Oscar must be approaching afl standard.....

The pools will be biggest in the oaks and the Hollindale. And i reckon sprints can sometimes throw up a bolter because bad luck can scupper a favorites chances where at longer distances horses can better recover from a bad start, tricky barrier, check or get out of a pocket (sometimes). Also i like the big field in both races as sometimes in such races (particularly in Autumn i reckon) you can draw a line through many of the horses and there are usually on a handful of legitimate chances of winning. Not a bad race the Hollindale, but i would be leaning to the Oaks, mainly because the Morphetville track races predictably, is usually good and gives all runners their chance. Always wary of regional tracks like Gold Coast. If we go the Oasks i'll jump early and take Savacool. A terrific win last start and i just love horses that have that will to win as you always get a good sight. Six starts for 3 win and 3 seconds is testament to that spirit.

I am loving the stats pro tool on AFL.com. Fantastic innovation. Watched Hannan's involvements and he was really influential. They have video of every time a player is involved in the play - whether that be free kick against, a spoil, a marking contest, goals, one on ones, one per-centers, kicks, etc etc. Had to laugh. Oscars package didn't include the Smith goal, presumably because it wasn't defined as an involvement. But apparently Smiths's goals was Oscar's fault.

More on the Guys that make stupid mistakes aren't AA defenders theme. As i noted in the post match thread there is a brilliant (i think new) part of AFL.com that Telstra live pass holders can access called Stats Pro where you can watch edited video of every involvement in every game of every player (for all of last years and this years games0. I watched Oscar's video of his involvements in the Ess game. Steady as rock and barely an error. I then watched Jake Lever's video. His first three involvements were a silly free to laverde from a one on one contest, a kick from deep inside their 50 that he shanked (albeit under pressure) straight to a bombers player and the third was a kick on the full under no pressure. To be fair things picked up after that but he has made any number of stupid mistakes this year (as i have said imagine if those mistakes came from Oscar!). But my point is not that he is average. My point is that some posters have already anointed him a star who is a future AA lock., which to be fair is not crazy given he was in the squad last year. Yet he we have seen in six games Lever make many stupid mistakes. Hibberd did make AA last year. And guess what he made stupid mistakes too. It happens. But some players get criticised more when it plays into an existing confirmation bias.

Good get. More from that article: Hardwick lauded Rance as perhaps the best one-on-one player in the AFL, but also acknowledged that the defender’s occasional costly brain fades, among others from teammates, was an area the Tigers needed to address if they were to improve. Rance limited the influence of Saints skipper Nick Riewoldt (one goal) and collected 19 disposals himself to be one of the best players afield. However, one passage of play summed up the Rance package. Late in the last quarter, he beat Riewoldt in another duel deep in defence only to send a short pass straight into the arms of Saints substitute Darren Minchington, who slotted his second goal. It was another inexplicable "Alex Rance Moment". Alex is an outstanding athlete as well but the decision-making under duress when you're tired, (he) comes a little bit undone. "You've got to take the good with the bad (with Rance). "I'm going to put a huge wrap on the bloke – I don't think there's a better one-on-one player in the comp at the moment than Alex. He wins the majority of his contests. The other stuff we'll probably take now and then, but I think he's a great talent." That article was written in June 2014. Rance was 24, nearly 25 years old at that point. Oscar has just turned 22.

What on earth are you talking about? I never said a a player doesn't have to tackle or chase someone if it isn't his man. That would be stupid. In any case as i (actually) said Oscar did pretty well to get back. He did chase, hard. Just didn't catch him. He wasn't the one who put a 'lame arse effort in'. His mid field teammates are guilty of that but not Oscar. But this is why is stopped debating you about Oscar. There is no point. Your views are etched in stone. And before we fall into into silly name calling lets stop here and agree to disagree.

That is so funny Jnr. Dunstall is wrong in his call (unsurprisingly because he is clueless) and you simply repeated his mistake. No way could he hold him up. Smith was running full tilt and is twice as fast as Oscar. Gary Lyon did not agree with Dunstall (he agrees about reward for effort for the bombers) and no other commentator made a comment about it. Biased? me? Again that is so funny.