Macca

Managed to get 25-1 for this double ... that would kick things off nicely for the new season!

Scotty James 'Silver Medalist' - Snowboard Half-Pipe

Best Bet Saturday Caulfield R8 No.1 I'm Thunderstruck $7.50 (W)

I'm Thunderstruck has drifted out to $7.50 (with a boost) in the Orr Stakes That's decent odds for a class galloper!

Reckon the SA & WA teams would be quite strong. Vic obviously. Not sure on the strength of a Tassie team or the NSW & QLD teams ... or NT I'm reckoning that a lot of the players who play for the Eagles, Freo, Crows & Port would be locals But we've got quite a few WA lads ... is it 6 with the new draftees?

I grew up loving State footy especially with a keen eye on the Demons who were picked to play The standard of footy was miles ahead of club games but the skills were so high that the games weren't often physical encounters. It was possession football with exact skills before possession football became a thing Just a showcase of the best vs the best But alas, even I've given up on the idea for the reasons outlined by the comments preceding this post I still reckon they should pick the sides though ... just as an acknowledgement For instance, Salem just misses out on the All-Australian team but is picked on the half back flank for Victoria. That's still a high honour

I've been trying my hand at the same-race multi's in the off-season with mixed results ... needing better class of horses me thinks! Usually just pick 2 horses ... One horse to win/2nd and one other 'value' runner 1st to 4th ... aiming to get about 6-1 up to 15-1 all up So 'Sierra Sue @ 14-1, Lighthouse @ 10-1 and Lightsaber @ 14-1 all appeal as value runners

I'm Thunderstruck even at 3-1 looks like good odds ... but it's Caulfield and he'll need to get past a lot of very good horses

Schedule & Results - Official Site Aussies medal chances to look out for Belle Brockhoff - Snowboard Cross (Wed 9th 2.00pm/5.30pm) Cam Bolton - Snowboard Cross (Thurs 10th 2.30pm/6.30pm) Scott James - Snowboard Half-Pipe (Fri 11th 12.30pm) Jaclyn Narracott - Skeleton (Sat 12th 11.20pm) Laura Peel - Aerials (Mon 14th 10.00pm) Bree Walker - Monobob (Mon 14th 12.30pm) Alpine Skiing Schedule Tues 8th 2.00pm Men's Super-G - WC Standings Wed 9th 1.15pm/4.45pm Women's Slalom - WC Standings Thurs 10th 1.30pm/5.15pm Men's Combined - WC Standings Downhill Slalom Fri 11th 2.00pm Women's Super-G - WC Standings Sun 13th 1.15pm/4.45pm Men's Giant Slalom - WC Standings Tues 15th 2.00pm Women's Downhill - WC Standings Wed 16th 1.15pm/4.45pm Men's Slalom - WC Standings Thurs 17th 1.30pm/5.00pm Women's Combined - WC Standings Downhill Slalom Sat 19th 2.00pm/3.45pm Mixed Team Parallel - WC Standings Women Men

Jakara Anthony - Gold Medalist Moguls

First Group 1 of the Autumn Carnival coming up on Saturday. Looks a good race too WFA over the 1400m so the barriers could be all-important for the fancied runners

Yep, India beat us and it wasn't even their best side ... but the reason I've brought it up is if we had have won that series it would have been awfully difficult for CA to not offer JL a much longer extension (especially when adding in a 4-0 series win over England) We retained the Ashes in England in 2019 but again, if we'd have won that series that's another notch on JL's belt But if he's keen, Langer won't be out of work for long ... that intense style can often work in the short term. Maybe not in the long term though!

Fair enough Personalities aside, I tend to view it all a bit differently. Losing at home to India last year still smarts yet most will have forgotten all about it. Not me If we'd have won that series I'm not sure that the conversation about Langer would be the same. In my view, he'd still be the coach if we'd have won that series Ok, we defeated England 4-0 but they were non competitive for the most part. They were as poor as what we were in 1985 (or 2010/11) And the t20 World Cup is a bit of a lottery anyway ... I don't place too much stock in the super-abbreviated form of the game But with regards to Test cricket, at home, there are high expectations on winning ... away from home, the interest is often way less For instance, the last time we toured Sri Lanka we lost 0-3 in the 3 Tests. And we've only beaten India in a Test series in India once in over 5 decades. Also, the last time we defeated England in England (Test series) was in 2001 And in the last 4 series against South Africa, they have won 3 of the series (including the last 2 series) ... a 3 & 8 W/L record in the last 13 tests between the 2 countries We are no longer a powerhouse even though we've got a reasonably good team (mainly at home) Footnote: After that series loss to India did JL have 1 year left on his contract? Then extended by 6 months? The writing might have been on the wall 18 months ago ... but the murmurings have been ever-present for 2 years

Traditionally cricket has been a lot different to most sports especially when it comes to who calls the shots on the field ... for a long time the captain had nearly all the say including being a selector on overseas tours. For instance, the batting order was part of the captains role but that might have changed The captain would still be the main man (in my view) so Cummins might prefer to take more of a neutral view on the coach. And that's fair enough too To me it's all about respect rather than like or love. Helps if the coach was a top player too. Footy coaches are viewed the same way by the public & players as well Of course Langer was a top player but the talk & innuendo around his coaching style was front & centre and wasn't going anywhere But our history with coaches and their departure hasn't been first rate ... Lehmann, Arthur, Buchanan, Simpson etc were all questionable departures. And it can happen to the captains as well ... Lawry, Hughes, Paine etc Just my opinion from afar though, WCW We the public don't often get the nitty gritty information And the interim coach seems to be a bit of a laid-back quietly spoken type (Andrew McDonald) The decision by CA to only offer a short term extension (6 months) is obviously not just based on winning

And we are still a chance in at least 6 more events (see listings near the top of this page) Another 2 - 4 medals would be a very good result when considering that a total of 4 medals was the apparent target Big day of alpine skiing today but our next chance is Belle Brockhoff on Wednesday (2.00pm/5.30pm) in the Snowboard Cross

Didn't know that, WCW, but I know we haven't won a lot of medals (We're not exactly Norway*!) What I do know is that we've got a lot more competitive athletes in a lot more events. Moguls, Aerials & Snowboarding especially We're probably never going to be super-strong but we could build it up to 6-10 medals in the future. That's like a medal every 2nd day of the 16 day Olympic competition *Norway has won a total of 368 medals at the Winter Olympics including 132 Gold Medals!

Jakara wins!! Gold medal to Australia! That was tense ... the pressure was enormous. Reminded me of Jess Fox in the Canoe Slalom. One tiny error and it's all over But Jakara performed when it mattered! A fabulous effort and a fantastic result

I'm struggling to remember another coach* parting ways after so much immediate success (t20 World Cup & Ashes) And both wins were comprehensive Too old school and too intense seems to be the issue but we're still in the dark on the reasoning He'll get another position (if he pursues coaching) but where he might end up is anyone's guess. I view Justin as being thoroughly professional and I'm not sure he misses much It's still a bit of a head scratcher, all the same, WCW *Apart from Norm Smith although he was reinstated a week later (damage was done of course)

Weather permitting the Men's Downhill will be held at 3.00pm AEDT tomorrow (Mon 7th) By the way, the Women's Downhill will be held on Tues 15th at 2.00pm. Again, a must watch! (in my view) The Women's Giant Slalom will be held tomorrow as well ... 12.30pm (Run 1) & 5.30pm (Run 2) And FYI all the events can be viewed in their entirety on the 7Plus app on a device of your choice. That's for each particular event As for tonight, we've got 3 Aussies in the final of the Women's Moguls ... starts at 10.30pm (the first of 3 runs)

Tess Coady Bronze Medalist! Snowboard Slopestyle!

The Men's Downhill event has been delayed due to high winds ... won't start until at least 4pm

Exciting competition too so well done Tess Coady. Bronze!! Top effort too and well deserved Zoi Sadowski Synnott wins Gold for New Zealand ... Zoi was born in Australia (Sydney) so we can lay strong claims

Cooper Woods into the Super final of the moguls ... qualifying 5th And now anything can happen in such a precise event ... one small mistake can be disastrous He'll go for it you'd reckon Edit: That was a terrific final with all the athletes performing under pressure Cooper Woods was very good but unfortunately for him the others were a shade better! That's the Olympics Still, we've got 2 Aussies competing for medals tomorrow and as well as that, the Blue Riband Men's Downhill is on at 1.00pm/2.00pm tomorrow. A must watch!

Schedule & Results - Official Site The Aussies have got 44 competing athletes and here are our main chances to medal Matt Graham - Moguls (Sat 5th 9.00pm/11.40pm) Tess Coady - Snowboard Slopestyle (Sun 6th Feb 12.30pm) Jakara Anthony - Moguls (Sun 6th 10.30pm/11.40pm) Belle Brockhoff - Snowboard Cross (Wed 9th 2.00pm/5.30pm) Cam Bolton - Snowboard Cross (Thurs 10th 2.30pm/6.30pm) Scott James - Snowboard Half-Pipe (Fri 11th 12.30pm) Jaclyn Narracott - Skeleton (Sat 12th 11.20pm) Laura Peel - Aerials (Mon 14th 10.00pm) Bree Walker - Monobob (Mon 14th 12.30pm)

Fabulous news! And Tess Coady has qualified 8th for the snowboard slopestyle final tomorrow (12.30pm) but she'll need a big performance to medal. But you never know Matt Graham has a 2nd chance to qualify for the moguls final tonight along with 3 other Aussie men (9pm - Midnight)