Macca

Miles of Krishan never threatened And Craig Williams has ridden the first 3 winners

And as for the ratings drop (14%) ... it's the millennials that should be concerning the AFL. The oldies will stick pat as they are rusted on. Millennials have a much broader range of interests in numerous other sports and aren't necessarily as rusted on. AFLX anyone? AFL needs to be bullet-proof and needs to be the first choice of sports ... the sport isn't big enough to thrive & survive without a very large proportion of neutrals.

Agreed and the only way to try and help get back to positional football* is to scrub the interchange ... Rugby League are talking about bringing their interchange numbers down from 8 per team per game to 4 or 6. We have 90 and that high number is ruining the sport as a spectacle - the contest is obviously still there but the aesthetics are often ugly. I've largely switched off and I know a stack of people who are doing the same - they will watch their own team play and that is about it. And that is not a healthy situation. The other issue is the mindless possessions which leads to far too much uncontested footy ... whatever happened to the rule where a player had to kick over their mark? I asked that question here about 7 or 8 years ago. I don't mind rugby as a sport but I don't need another version of it ... footy is as its best when it is totally unique from other sports We need long kicking and the high mark back as a staple. Otherwise the sport is just a hybrid version of other sports. And those elements can return if we simply follow the rules of the game. With constant rest, there are now too many players that are able to play on the ball all day. Wills & Harrison never had 'rotations' as an option. Bring the interchange numbers down to 10 per team per game. *By default, positional football would alleviate congestion as a matter of course. We saw how it all worked before the explosion of rotation numbers.

They are highly motivated and that motivation is not dissipating in a hurry ... and that's difficult to replicate. Frustratingly simple as well AF but again, not easy to simply copy. They are doing what every supporter group wants from their team. Hardwick has gone from being on the nose to the next in-demand type coach.

Lively opening in the Uruguay/France game - stars on show. The winner goes on to play Brazil or Belgium. A daunting prospect.

His first half in the 2015 GF was probably the best half of football I've ever seen in a final ... every time the ball came near him he turned on the electricity. A superstar amongst superstars. As for the stats ... the eye test always wins out.

Spot on LT ... they play total football, are highly skilled and they are quick. Really quick. Nothing beats absolute speed combined with top level skills ... unless you can match them with the same. We matched them for about 3 quarters but that was it. They are the current benchmark but their transformation to that level is still a head-scratcher. They are not supposed to be this good ?

Been there and done that but loved every minute of it DZ. Parenting has it's own rewards and is one of life's great learning lessons. Being a great parent means great relationships with your children later on when they become adults. As for the Winter Championships Final ... 7 or 8 realistic chances? Chamois Road never runs a bad race whilst Ozi Choice, Morton's Fork, Magic Consol, Moss 'n' Dale, Silentz, Cool Chap & Lite 'n' In My Veins all have claims ... and I reckon Dan Zephyr ran against a lot of the runners too!

El Magnificence in its last 2 starts has effectively run 57.1 for the 1000m & 1:03.6 for the 1100m so we know the horse has got some toe. It's just racing against some handy types and a probable future Group 1 performer. I reckon the horse can get into the placings given a good run in the good going. I got on at $127 (boosted) for our treble too ... sooner or later we will snag it Wadda and this week we've got some value runners. Here's hoping. Sleep could be on the backburner as well DZ? 2 hours here, 3 hours there ... I'll be exhausted Monday morning just in time for a full week at work! Anyway, another decent race is the Winter Championship Final (Flem Race 8 ) ... a couple of scratchings means that Lite 'n' My Veins gets a berth. A good field assembled with any number of familiar names. I'll be having a trifecta in the race - 'Cool Chap' is all the rage with the pundits but $10 is still available. Overs?

Best bet .. Flemington Race 3 No.2 Miles of Krishan $3.90 In terrific form in a small field and at Flemington, that suits the horse well. Trained by the Hayes clan and has gone down in the weights for this race. Gator from the 'Get On' crew likes its chances as well.

The quarter finals haven't lost that much even with the absence of Spain, Germany, Argentina, Italy & The Netherlands. Seeing different teams in there is quite refreshing. It's going to be a busy weekend sport wise what with the Demons playing Saturday night, the horses on Sat arvo and the 4 quarter finals of the World cup as well as Wimbledon getting into full gear and all the rest of it. Plus, the Tour de France kicks off. Bliss. When too much sport is never enough!

Leaderboard in the comp 6 @Dee Zephyr 5 @John Demonic 5 @Macca 2 points up for grabs for each winner in the next round (the quarter finals) My tips - winners in dark italics ... Uruguay vs France Brazil vs Belgium Russia vs Croatia Sweden vs England

Well El Magnificence is going into my F4 to add some value DZ ... 1-5-5-5 Multi F4 with Nature Strip winning (it is hard to see the horse losing) I often do the same type of combo when Winx races - with mixed results of course. There's a few good betting races on the weekend especially at Flemington and I'll try my luck there as well as the big Group 1 race at Sandown Park (UK) ... and a listed race for 3YO's over in WA has appeal. Here's a sample for the weekend ... Flemington A.R. Creswick Stakes 1200m Listed $120k Flemngton Vic Sprint Series Final 1200m Listed $150k Belmont (WA) Aquanita Stakes 2000m Listed $100k (UK) Coral-Eclipse Stakes 2000m Group 1 $1.3Million

What odds Nature Strip with that field DZ? I had the race down as a trifecta race but will probably do a F4 instead with Nature Strip as the winner. I will of course be including El Magificence in that F4.

At this rate good old 'Perty' might be having 2nd thoughts! ? Not sure if you've got access to the game over there in the land of the rising sun but we've stunk it up today Col. We'll need a major turnaround to win this game.

And I am looking at things dispassionately as well. By the way, whilst many here questioned the PJ appointment, I never did. And Pert could end up being a step up from PJ too ... in sport; there's always someone better. Unless you're Floyd Mayweather ?

Why are you so convinced that Pert has lessons to learn? You make it look like he mucked up in a major way. What major poor decisions did he make? Minor ones don't count or matter. No one is perfect. There's a time to be pessimistic or optimistic. Right now I believe I'm looking at this appointment as a realist would. Zero MFCSS involved ? Right up there with the Jason Taylor appointment ... also from Collingwood.

It wouldn't have mattered who was the CEO at Collingwood ... the ego's involved were always going to lead to finger pointing. The changover from Malthouse to Buckley was always going to cause fall-out and whilst Eddie knows how to manouevor his way around these things , Pert became a casualty of sorts. You don't suddenly become a poor CEO after spending so much time being a successful one ... and if you and others recall Col, the same questions surrounded Jackson when he was first appointed at our club. That turned out alright.

Irish Derby from overnight ... The odds on favourite (Saxon Warrior) was always a good chance to not win especially after finishing 4th in the Epsom Derby so the $850 trifecta was there for the taking. Apparently 'Latrobe' is owned by Lloyd Williams and I wonder whether he might bring the horse down to Australia for the cups?

Highlights and the goals from last night's games ...

And now Di Maria scores one of the goals of the tournament to draw Argentina level with France at half time - here it is ...

The pace from Mbappe to draw that penalty was searing - one of the plays of the tournament. Messi is getting plenty of attention and if Lionel can work his way into the box he could easily draw a penalty himself. Mbappe is causing all sorts of problems for the Argentine defence - what a talent!

I reckon it's a terrific appointment and I'm chuffed that we've got someone as good as Pert as our CEO. I honestly don't understand the angst & unease. So what if there was fall-out at Collingwood - what do people expect with the massive ego's involved? To me, that conflict just stands to reason and what's wrong with a bit of conflict anyway? It's often how things get done. Pert oversaw a highly successful period at the Pies over a long period of time and now he's ours. We should be so lucky. Ignore the noise.

There's 3 of us so far that have put up our tips up so we just need another couple/few more to join in to make it more interesting. If not, we can just play it out and see what we end up with (points wise) People can come in late if they wish - missed games are just that. Those who get in early get more opportunities as a matter of course. Like your summations JD ... very close to the mark. The knockout games are where the tournament starts (Germany aside) There are some cracking match-ups - beginning tonight.

It seems that we're taking it in turns to find that 1 winner Wadda ... although, to be honest, it's not the best time of year in terms of trying to find a winner. It will be a different story in the Spring when all the good horses are running around. Ideal outcome DZ - enjoy! Ended up breaking even on the day (why does that feel like a win? ?) Had a few collects but nothing of any real significance ... my new strategy of boxing 5 in a trifecta feels like a more assured way of betting though. Only issue is the low percentage of not so large dividends! But I've loaded up a bit on the Irish Derby as my feature betting event for the day ... will be a late night what with the World cup on overnight as well The Curragh - Irish Derby 2400m Group 1 3yo SW $2.4Million (2.15am Sunday) And there's a decent sprint race on at Sha Tin tomorrow if you're looking to have a bet The Hong Kong Reunification - Race 7 1200m C2 $320k Oh, and here's Material Man vs Pounamu again (raced today) ... Belmont - Strickland Stakes 2000m WFA Group 3