Macca

These threads highlight how knowledgable opposition fans are in relation to our team and its vulnerabilities. The brutal honesty is quite confronting (and hard to argue against) And that's just the fans ... imagine for a minute the FD's of the other teams and their deep knowledge. Our weaknesses are front and centre. As are our strengths. And whilst our weaknesses outweigh our strengths, we won't challenge. 2 decent key forwards and we'd be a top 4 team HF Fritsch T-Mac*(Roaming) Melksham (High HF) F Pickett Proper KPF Rotating Mid *Not sold on T-Mac as a KPF ... if not, we'll need another proper KPF.

From the Hong Kong Wizard (yours truly) The Roughie Sha Tin Sunday Race 7 No.9 Impeccable Fellow 20-1 (in from 25-1)

Trial & error would see a satisfactory result ... there would be bumps and roadblocks but the theory can win out (eventually) Just have to find a way that it can work. You'd need line judges but if the penalties are draconian the coaches would be forced to leave their players in the arcs (no matter when the stoppage rule was enforced) Like many others I need a reason to watch the sport again (it's an eyesore IMO) ... even the millennials are complaining now. It is now an across the board issue.

Fantastic idea As a matter of fact I was talking to a mate about your very idea just a couple of weeks ago. Draconian penalties as well though ... free kick 10 metres out from goal straight in front. So let's say it was 4 players from each team (maybe even 5) who must be inside each 50 arc at each stoppage. Stoppages can happen at any time and there are stacks of them in every match that we witness. Often 40+ So what coach would risk a certain goal? What if was a 2 goal penalty just to make sure? So we'd (in theory) see 14 - 20 players in their forward or back positions for most (if not all) of the games. Problem solved as I see it as long as kicking backwards was outlawed (kicking over the mark was one of the original rules of the game for good reason) You should send your idea off to Steve Hocking. Quite seriously, do it. I have had my own ideas on how to fix the sport but I'm happy to abandon those thoughts for your idea. Immediately. You've sold me.

This weekend we head to Epsom for the Derby & the Oaks Epsom Derby - Full Field, Form & Odds Epsom Oaks - Full Field, Form & Odds Last start winner 'Frankly Darling' with Frankie Dettori on board starts 2nd favourite in the Oaks whilst the impressive 'Russian Camelot' trained by Aidan O'Brien is on the 3rd line of betting in the Derby. But there are certainly some value runners in both events.

Managed to back the winner of the Irish Derby so not giving out my tip worked! That's a bit of a conundrum looking ahead ... anyway, here's the replay

Tuned in tonight and the highlights packages (Etape Classique) are very good ... 3 stages tonight all from the 2013 tour. The Island of Corsica featured. I doubt we'll see anything with Armstrong involved though RF. That's a blessing!

Too old ET but a 47 year old David Schwarz might have been handy in the hot spot today ? Quite seriously though, we hardly have a natural forward on the list. Pickett is already ahead of all of them (IMO) Fritsch is a flanker/4th forward type and quite handy. T-Mac has become easy for the opposition to cut out of the game. Melksham & Hannan don't do enough and Hunt is too flashy whilst AVB looked proppy. Weideman can't get a game and that isn't the fault of the coach whilst Brown has been brought in just in case they all break down.

Ha ha! We have tried to get KPF's in but none of them have worked out for one reason or another Clark, Dawes, Hogan, Cook and 1 or 2 others but for all of that effort we may as well have payed way overs for pure A grade. Easier said than done though DG. Reality is that we fall short up forward and until we fix that, we're not a threat. I was hoping we'd get Patton even though he may have only been available every now and again. Still better than what we've got right now though. If it were up to me I'd play Steven May forward for the rest of the season. Then still recruit another proven KPF and a proven KPD to replace May. In the meantime Oscar can come into the backline and do his best. It's not ideal and far from perfect but we need a decent target to help out T-Mac Not sold on Weideman but he'll get a chance or 2. Brown is pure back-up and not the future.

Even though big decent KPF's do not influence games like they used to, you've still got to have them. So if we had 2 decent key forwards who can play the position well, we'd probably be a top 4 team. Play in front, take a grab, occupy the hot spot, absorb punishment and average 2 or 3 goals. We don't have 1 player of that ilk on the list and the only 1 who goes remotely close (T-Mac) gets double-teamed every week. Any 2 of Lyon, Schwarz, Robbo, Jakovich, Bennett, Williams, Spalding or Neitz and we'd be a threat. Weideman will get a chance or 2 but he's still got a lot to learn. Brown is a back-up 3rd forward type and Jackson is too young right now to play the role. If 1 of the aforementioned 8 players had have played today we would have won. e.g ... one passage of play saw Gawn tap to Viney who gave it off to Gus who then kicked long to Fritsch in a 1 on 1. Fritsch's defender then smashed the ball towards the boundary line and safety. A big bodied KPF (with talent) positions his body more so in the hot spot, takes the punishment and takes the mark or brings the ball to ground where the front & centre types swoop.

Fingers crossed we deliver the ball properly EH but our forwards need to play as forwards are meant to play ... leading to space, multiple leads (at speed), defensive pressure, play in front, kick straight etc etc But our clearance work needs to be clean & efficient. Scrubbing the ball forward or banging it forward won't work It all starts from the dominant ruckman ... and our schemes & set plays from the tap.

And if we dominate from the stoppages you'd like to think that just by the pure numbers involved, we'd have enough clean and crisp clearances to turn that into an advantage In 2018 we did that to a certain degree but in 2019 our clearances were often without any purpose whilst being delivered to a dysfuntional forward line So where does the braintrust exist ...amongst the personnel involved or the 2 blokes (Plapp & Matthews) charged with organising our midfield and stoppages work?

There is an obvious correlation but if the NFL never had any set plays or we didn't know about it the playbook for our sport would be needed anyway Stands to reason mentality. Ice hockey has a lot of set plays as well ... same as soccer, League & Union.

We'll need to dominate from the stoppages to have a chance of winning ... the backline is adequate without being outstanding whilst the forward line is often dysfynctional So we need to excel from the set plays to beat a team like Geelong. So having a dominant ruckman like Gawn with a midfield consisting of Oliver, Viney, Brayshaw, Petracca & maybe Harmes has to be a big advantage for us ... unless it isn't. You'd like to imagine that Plapp & Matthews would have a playbook consisting of 250 - 300 different types of plays from the various stpppages but is that a thing? If not, it should be.

The Irish Derby is on Saturday night Here are the listings, form & odds from RacingPost.com ... Irish Derby (Curragh) The early favourite 'Russian Emporer' has been withdrawn but will probably run in the Epsom Derby on the 4th of July (1 week from this Saturday) And if you're looking for a double at the meeting the race straight after the Derby is the G3 Vintage Crop Stakes where 'Latrobe' is listed as the topweight (if it runs)

Don't worry, I saw the same advert and wasn't paying attention and thought the same thing. Went to the planner to bookmark & record and no go!

Highlights from past events only HT ... this year's tour is due to start on 29th August.

Yep ... doing that as I heard the English dubbed version is lousy and I never watch dubbed version's anyway. It's quite a lavish production ... they've spared no expense and the various story lines already look very interesting. Costumes, acting, cinematography & set designs are superb. German film making at its finest. Set nearly 100 years ago but the viewer feels like you're taken back to that time period. I will binge on this show!

Just watched the first 2 episodes ... I'm hooked (totally) Great recommendation Wyl. There's quite a bit of excellent European Drama to watch ... just need to find the time to watch it all!

If I get a chance I'll post up a few links for the Irish Derby next Saturday (Curragh) ... at first glance it looks a good betting race with no clearcut favourite. One for the exotics.

For the overseas racing ... On your TAB account you can tune into Sky Racing 1, Sky Racing 2 or Sky Thoroughbred Central. Just login for access Works fine for me on a laptop or on the phone. Racing channel (68 or 78) often covers a bit of the European racing as well. Sky Thoroughbred Central will possibly be taking the ITV UK feed for the Curragh next Saturday.

At AFL level you'll often get the same 7 or 8 Board members with 1 or 2 standing down every now and again often being replaced with like-minded types. Thus, not much ever seems to change. Sound familiar? Unless a coup happens or if a Board stands aside. But a new group may not be all that different to the old group. Could easily be more of the same, or worse And it doesn't matter where it's all based or where the meetings are held. The key is whether the Board is competent or not. It's all about the personnel. As an example, if you think of the Collingwood board, you think of Eddie. He rules the roost but he does a great job (IMO)

It stands to reason that a player or 2 was going to test positive to the virus so another plan surrounding that inevitabily could have been enacted. There was talk previously of playing games every day with an even bigger reduction in game time (but with more games) Any game called off could simply be called a draw in that scenario. Yes, that opens up the possibility that games could be deliberately compromised but again, that possibility is always there anyway (PED use etc) Let's face it, the draw/fixture is compromised anyway so we never get parity. So, in theory, today's game gets called off with the points shared but we might have been playing another game on Wednesday. The best teams end up at the pointy end of the ladder and any premiership is never won with luck being a big factor. Players going home to their wives & children greatly increases the chances of the virus appearing in the hubs too. So, you live with the risk and plan accordingly. What we've got now is confusion and no clear path. You can't have forfeit's as we're all in the same boat.

Yeah, Royal Ascot does seem a good note to end 'our' season. After the Sydney Autumn we still get some great racing from Morphettville, Doomben & Eagle Farm (Goodwood, Doomben 10,000, Stradbroke et al) Mid August sees things start up again with Group racing out of Melb & Syd so that's a decent break. I'm still keen on the overseas racing of course but that's just me. For instance, the Irish Derby is on next Saturday at the Curragh. Russian Emperor (Galileo/Atlantic Jewel) has been installed as favourite (4-1) Trained by Aiden O'Brien. But the Monkey Business thread awaits!

Managed a few nice collects today ... mind you, the previous few weeks were horrid! Went back to exactas with the odd win bet and it paid off. Do what you do, do well (and all that) Same principle at Sha Tin tomorrow ... just missed on a big quaddie last week so here's hoping! And the news is that HK connections might make an offer on 'Front Page' ... it might reappear as Hot Prawn something or other before we know it.