Macca

@Dee Zephyr@Gorgoroth@JV7 What do we all like in the Makybe Diva Stakes tomorrow? Thunderstruck is very short odds and it's best wins but ... I'm giving Western Empire another chance (8.50 with a boost) Good race, all the same with 6 winning chances out of the 8 runners. And they can all get into the finish

That's a great way to start the season ... a big victory at the Superbowl winning Rams Gorgoroth (here on this thread) will be none too happy and we'll get the summary at what happened soon enough! Allen is a gun player but he made a name for himself big time last year so no surprise there

The KB fixture/game

The obvious observation is that the MC have gone with last years premiership team to back it up this season Hunt for Bowey and Melksham for T-Mac are the only 2 changes from last year's premiership line-up but if T-Mac was fit, he'd be in the team at the probable expense of Melksham. The team has the same line-up that played in the Collingwood game (save for Harmes in for Jordon) So that was our finals team back then (over a month ago) Selection all year has been conservative but it must be pointed out that we won 16 H&A games and finished 2nd with the above policy So if it doesn't ultimately work, we'll then see change but that won't happen until next season. If it does work, the team and the MC will be rightfully lauded As for the now, if we beat Brisbane another unchanged team will probably result (save for an injury or 2) I expect the team to beat the Lions and after a win, the mood changes and we'll believe that we can beat the Cats (we, as in all those involved at the club)

The alternates to playing Gawn forward either aren't good enough or aren't ready. So it's Gawn. If Gawn plays more in the ruck, we'd have to go in with one key forward (Brown) and/or Jackson will have to play forward (and that's a big ask) They might pick Van Rooyen but to my way of thinking, that selection would be half a season too late and we'd be expecting a lot of the lad. He isn't a future Dermie (Brereton debuted in a final) but if he did somehow turned out to be that good a player, it's wishful thinking right now anyway. The stuff of dreams As for T-Mac, even he conceded that he could run around ok but the rest of it was going to be a test No change unless Petracca is out. Van Rooyen might get a call up but it's a big ask expecting the lad to shine in his first game (a final to boot) And if Petracca is available we might be better suited with him having a role in the forward line (thus, alleviating the onus on Gawn) I'm all for taking risks but those risks need to be calculated risks

Russell Wilson renews acquaintances with his former teammates in week 1!! MNF no less There are some other good match-ups in week 1 As in most years there are sure to be 4 or 5 teams that will improve and probably just as many who will fall away Packers @ Minnesota, KC @ Arizona, Tampa @ Dallas (SNF) are 3 games to look out for As well as Friday's match ... Bills @ Rams In the early Sunday timeslot, the 49ers @ Chicago is another interesting game

@DemonDave @Dappa Dan @Gorgoroth @Dee Zephyr @JV7 @layzie @Go the Biff@Clintosaurus@DeeSpencer Week 1 of the tipping comp kicks off with 2 points up for grabs (plus a bonus point if you are the only successful tipster for the week) Good luck!

With the big increases in the salary cap in the forthcoming years (on the back of the record Broadcast rights deal reported today) we could be in a position to back-end a new lucrative contract for LJ A 5 year deal would take Luke through to being a RFA. If he does re-sign, it may not just be for the 2 years that has been mooted Instead of the $12Million salary cap that we see now, up to $16.3Million could be the available figure from 2025 onwards As for LJ's form, 2 of his best games this year have been against the Lions. So if he excels this coming Friday, the mood could easily swing around to LJ being an absolutely required player As they say in the classics, a week is a long time in footy

If Petracca moving about freely is an issue we could just play him out of the goal square Brisbane don't flood back like a lot of other teams (unless they change their tactics against us this time around) In our 2 previous encounters against them this season our forward line has not been crowded and as a result, our forward line has functioned very well both times So Petracca playing deep forward (up to a flank) would be a dangerous proposition for them. And a potential match-winner for us We've got enough quality in the midfield to cover for Christian (that might be a different story if we advance to an encounter against the Cats)

Well the new deal sees an increase in broadcast rights revenue of approximately 36% per year from 2025 through to 2031 (7 years added on to the 2 years left on the current deal) $473Million up to $643Million (per year) That's quite a hefty increase ($170Million per year) A windfall some would say ($4.5Billion ÷ 7 years = approximately $643Million per year) Not sure it works exactly the same way in terms of increases but if a clubs dividend is $12Million per year now, a 36% increase would push that figure up to about $16.3Million per year. But the dividends may not increase by 36% ... could be less but it could be more Same deal for the salary cap if using the same sorts of numbers ($12Million to $16.3Million if it's a 36% increase) Remembering that the players must share in a certain percentage of total revenues As DJ mentions below, the AFL hands out the dividends to the clubs but the clubs pay the players salaries. And the money distributed is quite a complex arrangement Obviously, the AFL has a stream of other incomes so the club dividends & salary cap amounts would be based on the overall revenue (whatever that is) And the salary cap might be set up for yearly increases

Boom 3yo Colt 'I am Caviar' started as $1.28 favourite today at Moe and ran 5th! Deserves another chance as the breeding is a head turner ... I am Invincible & Black Caviar! Moody was saying that I am Caviar will be a City class horse but maybe not Stakes class. Time will tell

These things happen The Hammers will 100% be on the other side of a dodgy decision soon enough It all evens itself out in the long run, layz Mind you, re the footy, even though Sydney were the better team, 2 of those 50m penalties were super-dodgy!!

A few points to come out of Saturday's racing Eduardo (9yo) is just a Marvel winning the Concorde in fine style. The other 1000m sprint (McEwan St) held at the Valley was also won well by the rejuvenated Rothfire The experts thought the 1000m might have been a bit short but Rothfire is back in business Zaaki won the Tramway easing down and Mr Brightside looks a Cox Plate chance after winning the Feehan well And Aysar surprised all by winning the Chautuaqua Stakes. The horse has talent but it's form is all over the place!! An apt race to win, all things considered 😏

Don't forget your tips you blokes! Season start has snuck up on us but we do it all again beginning Friday ... Bills @ Rams @DeeSpencer@Go the Biff@JV7@layzie@Gorgoroth@Dee Zephyr@BDA@Clintosaurus@titan_uranus@DemonDave @Dappa Dan The reigning champion is 'Go the BIff' Same points system as in previous years so with 3 road winners correctly tipped (from 3 tips), points are gained! With one added on exception ... A bonus point can be gained if you are the only successful tipster in any given week. This is to encourage some left-field tipping and also serves as a way of catching the leaders (or streeting the field!) Points on offer this season Weeks 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 16 & 17 offer 2 points for the weekly winners Weeks 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 & 14 - 1 point only Week 18 - 3 points So 2 big points on offer for week 1 😏 I'll post up the games soon enough but you'll find the schedule on the ESPN app New participants are welcome to join in ... it's as simple as just naming 3 road teams. But gaining points isn't an easy task as we've all found out over the years!

Or Boo Radley

Are Freo tanking? 😏 n.b. The word on the street is that they need some quality draft picks to pay for a big name recruit (just a rumour)

A win against Brisbane at the MCG next Friday and then a PF against the Pies is not a daunting prospect Geelong are a better team than Collingwood but a win isn't guaranteed If the Pies are within striking distance at 3/4 time they can win as they are a very good 4th quarter team.

We had numerous players down on their best last night and very few winners. Yet, we weren't out of the match until late in the last quarter. And we missed some shots late in the game which might have made the scores even closer By contrast, when we play well we might have 16+ players who either win their position or play to their best Therefore, the whole team needs to be at their best (or close to it) in order for the team to excel and win well Sounds quite simple but that's the logical explanation. Now, if we didn't have an upside like that it would be easy to draw the curtains Petracca being a possible out is a concern but we can at least beat the Lions without him And once a team reaches a PF, anything is possible. There are no invincible teams this season and that includes Geelong. The Cats still have to get it done in September. The Swans on the other hand are a very well drilled team who are hard to beat. But they are beatable, nevertheless. All the finalists are beatable

One win changes everything So beat Brisbane and the mood changes completely (for the supporters at least) But for the players & coaching staff the loss last night will serve as a lesson. It's a wake up call They will have all woken up today with a new resolve. Part of that being that there can't be any more losses. And the players will not have to be told that their disposal under pressure last night was not up to scratch. Right across the board in all areas of the ground we were below par We can only get better so we go out and beat Brisbane and we are back on track. What lies ahead after that are teams that are not unbeatable And pointing the finger at any one individual or another is not the answer either. At club level, the talk will be about every player and the whole team (all at once) Our destiny is entirely in our own hands. Bring our best and we can win and then keep winning

With that scenario that would mean an 8 day break before the PF (if we can get over the Lions) But the reality is that the Cats should beat the Pies by 4 or 5 goals But you never know!

So if by chance the Pies win, will they get the Friday night PF? Or does the highest placed QF winner get the Friday night PF? (that would be Sydney if the Pies win tomorrow)

So if we can beat the Lions how fresh will our legs be against the fresh legs of the Pies or Cats? One thing that can help us is the bye weekend before the finals And can only playing fortnightly (pre finals bye & QF win through to a PF) during the finals effect a team's ability to be switched on and not become a tad rusty? Probably not so much for the latter argument but the bye before the finals can mean that a team isn't leg weary going into a prelim (as what as often previously occured) And does anyone truly believe that we can't beat the Lions? The Swans would have absolutely smashed Brisbane tonight with their all-over defence (they also beat us the same way but they didn't smash us) Sure, it's disappointing to lose but there's no point dwelling on a loss Heads up and get on with it should be the message to the players from the MC

And it's interesting that if we'd won tonight we would have probably been playing Collingwood or Geelong in a prelim anyway (unless the Dogs or Freo win 2 finals) So the same outcome except we don't get the week off because we now can only reach a PF with a win next week against the Lions The bottom line is we need to play a lot better (and that's quite possible) Our players just need a mindset of making amends. No good stewing over what went wrong And we won't be playing Sydney again unless both us and them reach the GF

Write the game off ... just a bad night. Sydney were just too good and they taught us a lesson But we've got the double chance so all is not lost. We live to fight another day We'll go with the same line-up I believe and I'm confident we'll beat Brisbane Do that and we are in a PF

Hungry!!!