Macca

Excellent summary t_u On top of all that our team is far from settled with issues with the batting (mainly) but should we be rotating the quick bowlers? I'm happy with Paine retaining the captaincy but the team itself is a work in progress. White ball cricket & the Shield (which doesn't start until October) is our preparation with the Ashes on the line (?) Edit: The Test players will now be able to play in this year's Sheffield Shield so that adds a bit. Still, it's not the top level

The other main issue coming as a consequence of the cancelled South Africa tour is the small amount of Test cricket the team will have played in the last 12 months and in the next 12 months Before the India Tests we hadn't played a Test since early January 2020 (NZ) and aside from the 4 Tests against India we may not be playing another Test until Nov 2021 (Ashes) That's 4 Tests played over a near 2 year period. Covid aside, surely the Board can get the team playing some meaningful red ball cricket There is a fair bit of white ball cricket scheduled this year but for Test cricket fanatics, the cupboard is bare

The Longines Thoroughbred Awards are out for the 2020 year Listed below are the top 10 horses (n.b. 'Golden Sixty' was born in Australia so we get to claim him!) Addeybb we'd be familiar with after winning 2 Middle Distance G1's in Sydney last Autumn. Both Arcadia Queen & Verry Elleegant were rated in the 40's but it was great to see Bivouac, Classique Legend & Nature Strip make the top 10 Ghaiyyath & Authentic finished 1 & 2 and you can click on the highlighted events to watch the replays of their G1 triumphs ... both horses were quite dominant fully recognised for their greatness Ghaiyyath G1 Coronation Cup G1 Coral-Eclipse Stakes G1 Juddmonte International Authentic G1 Kentucky Derby G1 Haskell Invitational G1 Breeders Classic Frankie Dettori took out the Jockeys award (scroll down further) ... no Moreira in the top 10? J-Mac & Zac Purton got into the top 10 and rightly so

Here's a few websites pertaining to the racing up in Hong Kong (I'll try and post up these links late on Saturday's) HK Comprehensive Form Guide (HKJC Website) HK Form Guide (Racenet) HK Expert Video Preview (Each Race) - Excellent Site (Same Presenters as the Raceday Crew on Racing.com TV Channel) HK Odds & Fluctuations (Available 3 or 4 days prior) HK All The Tips - Available 9pm The Day Before Raceday (Tom Biddington & RacingPost - Best)

Overs @ 4 40 in a small field? It's been running excellent times for its class including 1:09.66 in its last start win at Caulfield. That's good going for a BM70 ... might be worth following up on. 1:08.99 today carrying 58.5kg Queen Annabel looked the only real threat pre race and that was 16-1 Zac just got me a winner in R3 at HK but just missed in R4 (bonus bet back though)

The form at Sha Tin is miles better to understand and decipher than any Sunday meetings in Oz (in a general sense) Plus, the really good jockeys & trainers are operating in HK as well. Jockeys like Karis Teetan, Jerry Chau & Vincent Ho get lots of winners whilst Size & Fownes as well as a few other trainers are prominent as well But Moreira & Purton dominate and a number of their mounts offer up value as well I generally bet in Sydney & Melbourne on a Saturday and usually HK on a Sunday The rest of it is a total mystery in my view so I steer clear (unless I get a tip) James Jordan at Morphettville is a top tipster so a few races there on a Saturday as well (the value runners)

Following Purton & Moreira (primarily) at Sha Tin today ... hoping for a few collects! They are both on a number of the best horses anyway Laddies are offering double winnings for races 5 & 6 as well as the Sportsbet offer you mentioned for races 1 thru 4 I use all that plus apply booster odds whenever applicable

Yes with Ole Kirk & Standout scratched the deductions kick in. Flit is still good value in my view ... 6.50 available at Laddies You got anything? I figured we may as well kick things off re the best bets with the good horses starting to return

Best Bet (Saturday) Randwick R7 No.6 Flit 8.50/2.30 Included in a place multi could be the go with Flit but the 4yo Mare races well fresh and likes the soft conditions

Back at Caulfield & Rosehill this Saturday with a number of the Autumn carnival horses returning (as well as Behemeth & Kemelpasa in the Durbridge Stakes @ Morphettville - R6) The 2yo's feature again in both the main venues but the eyes will also be on The Expressway St. (R7 Randwick) & The Manfred St. (R5 Caulfield) The good news for punters is that there is no standout favourite in either race. Small fields in both races but there's some value there if you can find the winner (or winners!) Caulfield - Full Fields, Odds & Form Rosehill - Full Fields, Odds & Form

Maybe 4 years would work better for the clubs (re draftees) but with a few caveats involved pertaining to earnings etc Malthouse stated a number of years ago that each draftee costs the clubs at least $200k per year all-up when factoring in the FD spend It's probably more like $250k these days (Covid aside) and that's a lot of money to spend on a spec pick (aren't they all spec picks?) A big gamble So swapping picks for absolute proven talent is way less of a gamble. Not every time of course as there are gems to be found throughout every draft. Swapping 2nd rounders for has worked out ok for us (in a general sense) But there are pitfalls and we fell into a giant pit when we went youth-crazy way back when ... at the same time we were trying to get rid of our experienced players (another mistake) as well as embarking on a 'Let's position ourselves well in the draft' crusade without any real thought as to a guaranteed beneficial end result

All that really matters with trades & drafting (or any sort of recruiting really) is the overall end result e.g. Max Gawn pick 34 in 2009 draft is a fantastic result I won't list those at the other end of the scale rjay ... haven't got the time!

Yeah we did but in the end we used the Hogan pick that we got from Freo into May As previously stated, 'in the end' we turned Scully into May

In terms of how our club fared re Scully its a case of of 'All's well that ends well' ... in the end we turned Scully into May (in a roundabout way) and Steven might have 4 very productive years ahead of him as a premier backman We originally turned the Scully compo pick into Hogan and aside from when Jesse was injured, he was easily our leading forward But from an overall perspective a lot turned to pus back then (especially those horrid 2012 & 2013 seasons) And 2014 was tough going not knowing if we were going to drag ourselves out of the mud Nightmarish times As for GWS ... company store, company money. Not many 'really' care

The book title? The 3 Flags of Richmond (How Jordan McMahon Changed the Course of History) And it shouldn't be forgotten that Richmond were also tanking that day ... they and their supporters desperately wanted Scully

McMahon didn't miss though If he misses that shot for goal a lot of things could (or would) have been different It was a real sliding doors moment ... Tiger fans who for years were filthy that McMahon kicked that goal are probably now thankful that he did kick the goal Do Richmond win the 3 flags without Martin? And if they had have lost that game against us does Martin end up elsewhere? It should be remembered that Trengove was all the rage as well and the Tigers might have picked Trengove over Martin if Jack was available. Or Scully of course who they were just as enamoured with One goal kicked or missed changes the course of history. The bottom end of the ladder in 2009 had 3 or 4 teams that weren't trying to win so any unplanned win didn't suit any of those teams

Some stories to come out of today's racing - go here I reckon General Beau (winner of the Blue Diamond C & G Preview) could be the main focus ... the connections would have to pay a late entry of $50k for the Blue Diamond Stakes (although they picked up a cool $96k for today's win) But 'Dosh' in the fillies preview was very impressive as well and had a bit in reserve according to Jordan Childs. Frost Flowers was the raging favourite and couldn't match Dosh but might be better for the run at the Heath All Banter the 3yo did it well also against the older horses ... now being set for the Oakleigh Plate where it will get in as lightweight chance. Kept finding under Williams which is always a good sign

Was on Miss Albania in a couple of multis ... just missed on a decent pay day as the others got up (see above post) But Regardsmaree wins in great style to end a decent day at Caulfield. Warwick Farm next!

Blazejowski way too good anyway. It was due but I thought the weight might stop it Got a double (More Prophets & All Banter) to make up for it. Win some, lose some but I'm in front for the day with a few more in Sydney to top up the balance (hopefully!)

Primarily drafting as a way of building a premiership list can work but there again, often it doesn't if that's the only way a club decides to build a list (primarily drafting only) From our clubs perspective, in recent times we've swapped a number of top end picks for proven talent (May, Lever, Tyson (?) Clark (?)) but have used draft picks outside the first round for other experienced players (Melksham, Hibberd, Tomlinson, Ben Brown, Frost, Langdon) Again, putting aside that disastrous period* where we drafted one failed pick after another, we've drafted with much better results more recently (Viney (pick 26 F/S?), Petracca, Brayshaw, Oliver, '"Scully for Hogan for May", Salem, Harmes (Rookie 2015) & Fritsch) And we await with bated breath on LJ, Kozzie, Weideman, Rivers, Rosman, Bowrie, Laurie & others So it's a mixed bag** and we are definitely on the improve but remain a work in progress Top 4? Ridgy didge? Not yet. Not sustained anyway. The forward line needs to fire consistently rjay Bottom line, recruiting should entail many aspects - Free Agents, Drafting, Traded in Proven Talent and various other top ups (the odd DFA, Academy players (?) Rookie identification etc etc) *Not that I was advocating it at the time but if we had have swapped all those failed draft picks for proven talent (prior to when Roos arrived), we wouldn't have bottomed out the way we did - isn't hindsight a wonderful thing! **I've left a few players out no doubt

Good win by Dosh - looks to have a real future. Well done! I got on Frost Flowers (at better odds) on Sunday but your pick was too far good. The Jockey (Childs) reckons that there is more in the tank too General Beau ran half a second quicker (3 lengths) in the C & G preview but times aren't everything

'Viral' gets a good pull in the weights in the Dillon Stakes (R6 No.6) ... I got $4 but it is now into 2.60 It is a very competitive race though with about 6 chances in an 8 horse field ... Never Again is out to $9 which seems overs. Savour wager!

Got 'Diamonds in the Sky' up in the first race ... double winnings with Laddies as well (gotta love that!) Very good start!

For those without cable it seems that Viceland HD (Ch031) are covering a 'live' game of the NBA every day around lunchtime (including the Heat @ Nets on right now) Live coverage of the NBL is quite frequent as well ... Brisbane vs Sydney 3pm today

Rodgers is peeved but I reckon once things settle down he'll remain a Packer LaFleur is the one that will be feeling the heat even though he gets a bit of grace considering it's his 2nd year as head ciach He made some amateurish calls under pressure but I reckon he stays on (for now) The underlying issue is structural & player personnel ... defence against the run & pass defence remains average and our running game can't be relied on. Jones should be the no.2 not the main man Fournette was the difference between the 2 sides yesterday. Each of his runs impacted We ask too much of Rodgers so it stands to reason that Aaron expects to be the main man all the time Drafting a QB (Jordan Love) in the first round of the draft last year should be looked upon as a smart insurance move by all & sundry (including Rodgers himself) And you can keep Goff! haha