Macca

I'd still argue that the '04 team was better than the current team anyway (as a collective in terms of pure talent) What is different is we now play to a system which requires a total team effort (a form of total football which the Bulldogs & then Richmond displayed) But to play like like that every week is energy sapping & extremely challenging especially when it's something completely new. Lets face it, areas like forward line pressure at our club was virtually non existant until this season I'd rather focus on the positives whilst acknowledging the flaws. For some here, they can only see the negatives Anyone stumbling upon this site might think we weren't even in the 8

What really matters is the sum of all the parts, our ladder position and how we fare against the good sides Quite honestly, with tempered and sensible expectations we are punching above our weight (all things considered) Our list isn't all that strong with about a dozen players in the team that could be rated no higher than B. And some are C+ only. But in my eyes you have to be a damn good player to be graded as B+ (Rivers, Brayshaw and 1 or 2 others fall short) We're on top of the ladder, we've beaten all the good teams quite convincingly and there are no other teams to fear. Is there a team out there that we should be overly concerned about? Yes, we definitely have a problem with the lesser lights but that is only a real problem if those sorts of performances happen against the good teams. And on the evidence this season, that isn't happening And there wasn't a person at the start of the season predicting that we'd be on top of the ladder after round 19 with zero losses to any of the good teams

Jamie settling in for the double ton! (If only there was enough time)

The crowds at the footy has (in part) led to this latest lockdown So be careful what you wish for ... the chances are that the virus might be spread at the games up in QLD and then what? Up until now the border between QLD & NSW has been open Victoria has a chance to get on top of the virus because of the much stricter lockdown conditions NSW on the other hand has very little hope unless they have more stringent lockdown conditions. If they don't get tough up there the disease will be out of control And then the rest of the country will be on a knife's edge. Gladys needs to get much tougher on the movement of people

For good reason too You've started a separate thread where you can spread all your angst about the Olympics

And of course hundreds of soccer players and officials in Europe have been testing positive but those games went on unabated I could give you a stack of other examples including the latest lockdown in Melbourne being attributed to crowds at the footy (at least in part) Where's the angst there? Crickets One tennis player testing positive is not a story if the big picture is taken into account It's like the Olympics is being made the scapegoat for Covid. It's quite laughable really Shut down the footy if people want the Olympics shut down. Every sport in fact should go No more sport until Covid is eradicated! (I'm joking)

The Medusa touch (good movie too!)

Games now being relocated to QLD but ... The disease could spread to QLD from NSW as their border is still open and Covid finds a way to travel anyway The AFL are trying to outrun Covid but they'll need a good dose of luck

Back to exactas this Saturday so I'll include your pick as 1 of 2 winners in a 2/5 exacta A lot of the races are open betting affairs in Syd, Melb & Adel so the exotics can pay ok when that happens And Gator has your choice to win as well

Best Bet Saturday Flemington R6 #2 Dice Roll $4 (Win/Multi)

Yes, the fickle finger of fate

8 new cases in Victoria ... hot spots includes the MCC reserve at the MCG (Carlton vs Geelong)

Olympics Official Site (Schedule) ... Once into the site, click on any date for the full rundown Roy & HG Daily Podcast (begins July 23rd)

Here's a handy/easy-to-navigate website catering to the Socceroos campaign Ultimate Guide Socceroos FIFA World Cup Qualifying Qatar 2022 Final Group Stage And here are the all-important dates for the Aussies (the times are approximate only based on all the games being played in the evenings) Around 20 points should get it done but last time we got to 19 points along with Saudi Arabia but finished 3rd (Japan finished on 20 points) We then had to defeat Syria on aggregate (Home & Away) who finished 3rd in their group. Finally we then had to defeat Honduras on aggregate (Home & Away) Couple of tough games to finish with so we'll need to get our points up early Thurs Sept 2nd vs China 7.30pm Tues Sept 7th @ Vietnam 10.30pm Thurs Oct 7th vs Oman 7.30pm Tues Oct 12th @ Japan 9.30pm Thurs Nov 11th vs Saudi Arabia 7.30pm Tues Nov 16th @ China 10.30pm Thurs Jan 27th vs Vietnam 7.30pm Wed Feb 1st @ Oman 1.30am Thurs March 24th vs Japan 7.30pm Wed March 29th @ Saudi Arabia 2.30am

Should have closed the border earlier but the governments wait until the proverbial hits the fan Mind you, the truckies probably get exemptions so Covid finds a way in somehow And the truckie in question may not have been showing any signs of the infection and then tested positive later on

Happy to see the Italians win but I've never liked penalty shoot-outs and probably never will By all accounts Italy were the better team anyway but I favour the 'Golden Goal' in extra time with reduced numbers every 5 minutes ... play the actual sport to decide the outcome Don't like the penalty shoot-out in other sports such as Ice Hockey as well. Next goal wins and keep reducing the numbers to heighten the chances of scoring Oddly enough, I don't mind the 'draw' in footy (except for finals)

Agreed The whole country with the various states (collectively) had a big enough sample size for NSW to then act quickly with their outbreak They go into hard lockdown 2 or 3 days earlier and we might have had a different result right now (in NSW) They will kicking themselves now as they could be months away from shedding the dreaded disease By the way, I'm not favouring either side of politics as we here in Victoria had a 20+ week lockdown due to the slapstick way we handled the quarantine hotels. Looking back now it was pure amateur hour

They'll find a way for the Sydney teams to hub in Victoria & keep playing. They have to otherwise the season will be derailed But my fear is the disease getting out of control in NSW. The footy could end up being of secondary concern if the delta varient escapes into the other States As someone else here commented, NSW could end up being isolated like an island State

It's 'Cambage' But this is a thread about the wonderful achievement of Ash Barty isn't it?

The families of the 2 Sydney teams will almost certainly only have until midnight today and after that permits and14 days isolation/quarantine? The AFL have often been ahead of the stringent government rulings (of late) so a plan might be in place already Could be at least a few more weeks (months?) with the high Covid numbers up there so the Swans & Giants will be staying put in Victoria for now

NSW border about to be closed and up there they are expecting over 100 Covid positive cases tomorrow (78 today) The whole of NSW has been declared a red zone by Victoria Giants & Swans won't be heading home anytime soon. Still, Victorian clubs hubbed for long periods of time

Yeah it's tricky because Japan would have spent hundreds of millions (perhaps billions) to set the whole thing up so even if they could walk away, the cost would be enormous for next to zero return And the contract with the IOC is water tight anyway so the financial penalties for breaking the contract are enormous It's become an unfortunate situation whichever way you look at it ... although the broadcast rights money will soften the blow (and we're talking tens of $Billions of dollars of broadcast rights money) As always, follow the money trail! Thousands of soccer games in Europe still go on without crowds but because of the broadcast rights money, there's no talk of cancelling As for holding the games where Covid is under control there aren't many choices apart from Australia & NZ. And I doubt whether either Country would take on such a major exercise at short notice So the games must go on! No crowds lessens the while thing as a spectacle but most professional sports have got by despite playing thousands of times in front of empty stadiums in the last 18 months The lack of crowds won't bother me personally as my concentration is on the athletes and the contest The important thing that needs to be remembered are the athletes themselves ... they've given up everything to be able to compete and they've earnt that right to compete in my view Most of the opposition here comes from those who are not invested in the Olympics anyway ... and they are often hypocritical as they are not at the same time calling for other sports to be cancelled because of Covid

8 point swingaround ... we lose and Lions win and they'd be ahead of us Instead of that we are now 2 games clear of them (and 4th place) ... we're now staring at an MCG qualifying final (if we're good enough) Better to have the destiny in your own hands *Mozz factor deactivated

Yeah no good ... I'm off to the UK tonight again after another ordinary day Will probably switch to the exotics next Saturday. Tough work finding winners! That's racing!

I reckon something might have gone wrong with the horse ... might even need a spell and bring it back in the late Spring/early Summer