Macca

8 Stakes races out of Melbourne & Sydney on Saturday but the main interest will focus on the Memsie Stakes at Group 1 level (Caulfield) An excellent field has been assembled and as a result, it's a good betting race. Rosehill Form, Tips & Odds (Stakes events are races 5, 7 & 8 ) Caulfield Form, Tips & Odds (Stakes events are races 6, 7, 8, 9 & 10 ) Memsie Stakes Race 9 1400m Group 1 WFA $750k

Group 1's from the weekend (Part 2)

Some Group 1 replays from the weekend and late last week (Part 1)

Yep Our best is shown when we get the game played on our terms. So we need to do most things right and hope the Saints are not at their absolute best. Ratten is a good coach though so they will be well prepared. The win can happen of course but when we've been up against the testing material this season we've fallen short. But you never know, losing the way we did yesterday will sting so the group (coaches included) will at least know what we need to do. As LH mentioned, we need to be ready and totally switched on.

I'm not sure we can match St Kida if they bring their best unless ... we win the tap outs, win possession from the taps to advantage, win the clearances in 50/50 situations and then use the ball well when we have possession. Across half back and the back half of the midfield we also need to win the ball back as often as possible ... and again, use the ball well when we get hold of it. And the forward line needs to fire ... 2 marking targets would help enormously but Weideman can't be totally relied on as a prominent key whilst T-Mac is out of form. We'll need a number of things to go our way to win the game.

Too true RF ... welcome to the thread by the way. The more the merrier I say. I bet all around Oz on a Saturday arvo so the Valley being called off wasn't that annoying. How good was Verry Elleegant yesterday? A crack field and she did a lot of work and then fought back and won after being headed. Gutsy win. I was on Master of Wine (with a bit of an interest bet) but the horse needed the run.

Nice pick DZ Only audio today but the 4yo lightly raced mare looked quite impressive by the sounds of it. Won with a leg in the air! Bit better than Highway class you'd reckon. And the ADATR crew were heading for a near certain double if Jungle Edge had have had a chance to run. But I got the win & exacta from your choice so can't complain.

And if the rain arrives as expected the 10yo mudlark's odds may get quite skinny. Drawn wide and there is plenty of early pace but even 2 or 3 wide on the pace over 1000m will suit the horse if we reach a Soft7 or worse. Got one for us Gorg?

Best Bet (Saturday) Moonee Valley R8 No.1 Jungle Edge (Win) $4.60

The 1st Group 1 of the new season is coming up at Randwick on Saturday but there are 6 Stakes races in all across Melbourne & Sydney ... all of them good betting races. Moonee Valley R6 McKenzie St. Moonee Valley R8 Carlyon St. Randwick R4 Silver Shadow St. Randwick R5 Show County Quality Randwick R6 Toy Show Quality Randwick R7 Winx St (Group 1)

I'd forgotten about the playoff tips DZ ... to be honest I'm just catching up with the overseas sports. I see Vancouver made the playoffs ... my cousin lives there and is a big fan. So I lean towards them a bit but not with any great passion. They might reach the last 8 with a bit of luck. But the last 8 will see some excellent match-ups anyway. Islanders, Vegas, Avs & Bruins are almost certainly going to feature. Tampa as well by the looks of it.

Horrific crash in the MotoGP ... no one seriously hurt thank goodness but Valentino Rossi can count his lucky stars. The vision can be viewed online with a quick search. Jack Miller the Aussie leads the race with 18 laps to go and hopefully he can hold on and win.

How 'bout those Demons!

Showmanship showed a bit ... dominant in the end for sure. Pikey in the last in Melbourne insread of Ascot! Viridine just too good whilst Savatiano stood out for those who weren't looking (yours truly included) An even day with a few winners ... North Pacific looks one to follow out of the races up in Sydney.

You left out 'or Tomlinson' on the wing rjay. I haven't seen much in Tomlinson either and that was the thrust of my argument. So either/or without any great expectations Again, our best 15 players need to perform and neither Tomlinson or T-Mac are best 15. We've probably got about 15 who could fill the last 7 spots. It might only be 5 spots if 17 are assured of a game. I've just gone with 15 as a roundabout figure.

We need our best 14 or 15 players playing well and the rest could play to specific roles rather than be looked upon as possible standouts. For instance AVB could play because of the physicality and aggression that he brings or Jones plays because of his experience. T-Mac could play in the hope that he rediscovers his best form whilst fulfilling a role as a utility. But none of the last 6 or 7 players picked will be difference makers so fulfilling a role therefore can kick in instead. And despite Goodwin saying that we're going to pick our best side I believe that players do have to be managed with all these short breaks. Gawn may not come up but if he does then it might be T-Mac or Tomlinson for the wing position. Both can probably do ok without any large expectations attached. Either/or. Viney plays if fit but I reckon we'll see a more even spread of minutes for all our midfielders ... some might rest forward or back or on the bench. Brayshaw rediscovering his form means the selectors would be loathe to put him back on a wing The bloke we need to get playing well again is Harmes. A tagging role and/or more midfield minutes. A run-with role?

Well in 3 or 4 years time we might have an absolute gun midfield which could allow us to play Oliver on a half back flank. Imagine a Brisbane Lions type midfield circa early 2000's. Great lists win big and in my decades of support we've never had a 'great' list. So Oliver playing as a distributor/sweeper across half back is dependant on the team being a great one.

I'm commenting on what my eyes see and what has often happened. Historically and what is likely to happen with regards to where our players play. I haven't actually looked at the line up of the team that closely. The ins & outs are noted though and how we've used our principle on-ballers up until now is plain to see. What is unknown is how we will share the ruck duties ... they'd have a plan but what was that Mike Tyson quote?

See post above Wyl

Jones can play as a half forward but he is nearing the end. Replacements aren't all that flash either so I'd still play him. But he needs to lift. T-Mac probably had to come in once Gawn was ruled out but Tom is horribly out of form. It's not over for him though but again, he needs to find his best form. The ruck duties look like being shared instead of the Pruess option. That's fair enough. I'rm reasonably happy with the selected team (all things considered) but we've got 5 blokes who are ideally suited for the clearances and centre bounce downs. That's 1 too many for my eyes thus my push for Viney to the forward line. Way down the track Oliver could be a star at half back ... but he's a ball magnet on the ball right now. Brayshaw feeds off him but for whatever reason, we've gone away from that.

Excellent point Wyl ... you have to wonder why we'd ever set players for roles away from what they're best suited for. I can understand such moves if they were entirely necessary but those types of moves are often unnecessary. To be fair, a few moves have benefitted the team such as T-Mac to the forward line but lets face it, his role as a defender was questionable anyway. Petracca on a forward flank? Harmes on a back flank? Brayshaw on a wing? Would have better to rotate the 4 onballers whilst using Viney up forward. So off to the bench for 1 of the aforementioned 4 and/or occasional stints for 1 of the 4 as a high half forward. And you don't want your best players on the bench for extended periods of time such as what we've done with Brayshaw and (sometimes) Harmes. For the record, for team balance, I would have played Viney as a forward pocket from 2018 onwards. As valuable as he's often been when playing on the ball that decision ends up effecting team balance.

Draft revisionists are everywhere though MC. Endeavouring to put high school age junior footballers in a numbered order of how good they are going to be 5 years down the track is crystal ball gazing at best. But we're told otherwise. Of course we've been a disappointment from an overall perspective but we were just dreadfully unlucky with our draft choices. And if Petracca, Brayshaw, Oliver and the like had have been abject failures we'd be banging on about the draft (again) Petracca & Brayshaw were standout juniors much like Scully & Trengove were. And Oliver won the Morrish medal which has often been seen as a millstone. Last year's failures were put down to 'off season surgeries' (by many) and now it's the coach who is in the gun. I see our failures as an overall problem ... from the Board all the way down to the last player on the list. And our list is not all that talented either especially when it comes to disposal skills and decision making skills. A new coach isn't going to fix that in a hurry. We need an injection of 6 top players if we're going to be a true contender. A team generally needs at least 5 or 6 years as a true contender in order to be able to win 1 or maybe 2 flags. We could jump up and fluke one but I don't like the odds on that happening. I'd rather see the club build a great list of players and go from there.

We need to win at least 1 of the next 2 but both teams that we're playing are undermanned so we really should win both. And if we want to play finals we can't drop too many more games. Of course all those involved at the club need to take it one match at a time. And it's entirely possible for us to lose today and then beat Collingwood. But we have to be at least 5 & 6 before the last 6 games are played. And then we'd need to win 5 of those last 6 games to have a realistic chance to play finals. The 17 game season reminds me of the NFL where a team generally needs to win 10 of 16 to be 'virtually' assured of a playoff spot.

Didn't get a chance to watch the Tiges/Port game but listened to a fair bit of it. Sounded like it was a cracker of a match. But how would have our team have measured up against either team?

In 2013 the club asked for and received a grant of $1.4Million from the AFL ... not long after Mark Neeld was sacked. It was rumoured at the time that we did have a cash-flow issue in 2013 and we did post a loss of $1.7Million that season (the only loss between the years 2008 - 2018. But I believe that Goodwin doesn't need the team to make the finals to keep hold of his position. 7 - 9 wins will see him survive especially if we see W/L tallies of 5 & 6, 7 & 8 etc as the season progresses. Every time we get a win the call for Goodwin's head dies down dramatically. Anyway, we have far bigger issues than just the coach. We have deep-seated cultural problems which runs right through the club from the Board down. And the players can't be let off the hook again either. They play on their own terms and have done for years.