Macca

Isn't VAR there to spot these things? VAR alerted the referee with regards to the penalty to the French (earlier) so why not alert the referee with regards to a seemingly deliberate hand ball in the penalty box? I was under the impression that VAR rulings were of a comprehensive manner. Unless I'm wrong on that understanding?

The French guy should have been red-carded ... deliberate hand-ball?

We did well to hold them out and the scoreline suits Australia more than the French. And we've looked dangerous with the few times we've gone deep forward. The French have been lazy going forward however. Cahill will come on around 60-65 minutes in you'd reckon.

The $1.60 the place for Pounamu was almost a certainty so good luck with the other 2 legs Wadda ... I've got a 1-1 draw in the Aus/Fra game going for some bonus bets at Laddies. Cost me nothing - that's my kind of bet!

1 from 3 today! ... although I got another decent collect with 'I'm a Rippa' I'll scroll back and figure it out in the next few days Wadda. Not sure we would have got the trifecta in the Ipswich Cup but we would have nailed the trifecta in the Hyperion Stakes in WA - paid 9 bucks. ha ha. Pounamu didn't show a lot of dash but Material Man was just too good anyway ... the pundits over there were saying that both horses could be in Melbourne for the Spring. Pounamu is a better horse at Ascot but the connections are hoping that the horse can get into the Caulfield Cup field - needs to find that finishing burst it had in December though. It's still only a 6 year old and maybe the horse needs it longer. It will almost certainly run in the WFA Strickland Stakes over 2000m in 2 weeks time so keep an eye out.

No worries DZ - we just don't know when a horse needs a spell sometimes ... happens a lot. This time last year the horse was running in the series of Group 3's in WA but I reckon they'll freshen the horse up for the Spring in Melbourne.

We had the first 2 in the Eye Liner but missed 3rd ... back to the drawing board. And Lite 'n' In My Viens looked threatening but needs a spell now you'd reckon. We got on at the wrong time but that's racing for you. It's a good horse, all the same.

Looks a real horse ... the trainer was talking about the Lightning Stakes down the track. Goes for a spell now until the Spring.

Thanks Wadda! Miss Leonidas absolutely streeted them - definitely one for the black book down the track. A bit better than winter-grade. Laddies were kind enough to hand me some bonus bets so I loaded up on our 3 tips. That's a good start to the afternoon!

There are any number of good horses that you don't hear of again ... from one season to the next they are either retired without any fanfare or the retirement isn't public knowledge. And sometimes the horse might have an ailment and then suddenly reappear after being off the scene for yonks. 'Black Heart Bart' is another who is off the scene for whatever reason but it's a long list Wadda.

The Spain/Portugal game was an absolute beauty. The draw might feel like a win for Portugal and a loss for Spain from their own point's of view. Here are the goals from the game

We're all set in the Eye Liner Stakes Listed 1350m $175k No.2 .... Religify $7.50 No.11 ... Tyzone $4.60 No.7 ..... I'm a Ripper $7.50 No.4 ..... Moss 'n' Dale $4.40 No.1 ..... Lucky Hussler $7.50 Good luck with however which way you might configure the picks ... let's see if we can gat a few collects out of our choices ?

For those who like their podcasts, the following 2 quality productions are available daily ... BBC World Cup Daily hosted by Mark Chapman & Kelly Cates The Guardian World Cup Football Daily with Max Rushden & Barry Glendenning

One UK pundit quipped about whether the Saudi's had ever played 'football' before! Anyway, we're off and running and the home team might progress past the group stage at least. The atmosphere for the opening game was something else. Here are the games for the weekend ... SBS are broadcasting live the Australia/France game as well as the games in dark italics. SBS are also showing a 1 hour nightly highlights package at 5.30pm daily All times AEST. Friday, June 15: Russia 5 Saudi Arabia 0 Egypt v Uruguay, Yekaterinburg (10pm) Saturday, June 16: Morocco v Iran, Saint Petersburg (1am) Portugal v Spain, Sochi (4am) Australia v France Kazan (8pm) Argentina v Iceland, Moscow (Spartak) (11pm). Sunday, June 17: Peru v Denmark, Saransk (2am) Croatia v Nigeria, Kaliningrad (5am) Costa Rica v Serbia, Samara (10pm) Monday, June 18: Germany v Mexico, Moscow (Luzhniki) (1am) Brazil v Switzerland, Rostov-on-Don (4am) Sweden v South Korea, Nizhni Novgorod (10pm).

I like No.7 I'm a Ripper $7.50 Drawn nicely and should be leading or near the lead on settling because of its barrier speed ... and if its a leaders track or if the inside going is good, the horse should be ideally placed. Won a Group 3 two starts back over the same distance at Doomben so it should be in the finish at least. Anyway, here are our picks so far with BM to finish things off with a couple of selections ... Pick 1 No.2 .... Religify $7.50 Pick 2 No.11 ... Tyzone $4.60 Pick 3 No.7 ..... I'm a Ripper $7.50 Pick 4 @binman Pick 5 @binman Ipswich Race 8 Eye Liner Stakes Listed 1350m $175k

I don't see why not DZ ... I may look overseas though as there are plenty of quality Group 1's raced overseas during our winter. Something different. There's the Irish Derby & Oaks and any number of WFA Group 1's from 1200m up to 2400m. I reckon Merchant Navy & Redkirk Warrior might also contest the Group 1 Darley July Cup (14th July) down the straight 6 at Newmarket - another $800k up for grabs for the sprinters. Both horses have been entered for the race.

My best bet for the weekend ... Belmont Race 6 No.1 Pounamu $3.80 Drawn 2 which will probably mean the horse will be able to trail nicely in behind Material Man & Great Shot and then hopefully swoop over the top and win. Those 3 horses could easily take out the trifecta too ... the 3 stand out above the rest. Gatting & Falcon Crest are on the 4th line of betting at 15-1. A 3-3-5-5 First4?

The Trifecta/First4 race for this week ... Ipswich - Eye Liner Stakes Listed 1350m $175k Pick 1 @Dee Zephyr Pick 2 @Wadda We Sing Pick 3 @Macca Pick 4 @binman Pick 5 @binman

That will do then DZ ... and you're up first for at least 1 more week. I believe we''re at the end of the 4 week cycle after this week but we talked about having a break over winter. There's 1 more Group 1 race next week from Doomben (Tatts Tiara over 1350m for Fillies & Mares) and then there's not a great deal happening until mid August when Winx returns in the Group 1 Winx Stakes. So 2 more goes and then a recess? Anyway, here's the race in question again - as you stated, there's some value runners involved. Ipswich - Eye Liner Stakes Listed 1350m $175k Just some news re Royal Ascot - Merchant Navy & Redkirk Warrior have been withdrawn from next Tuesday's King's Stand Stakes but both will run in the Diamond Jubilee Stakes (1200m $1Million 23rd June) instead. The dash down the straight will suit both horses and they share 2nd & 3rd favouritism behind 'Harry Angel' ... click on the link above for more details of the race from Racing Post UK (another excellent horseracing website)

Things just got a little warmer over in Russia ... Spanish football federation sack coach Julen Lopetegui on eve of World Cup opening match

Time for some tips? Group winners & runners up ... Uruguay/Russia Spain/Portugal France/Australia Argentina/Iceland Brazil/Costa Rica Germany/Mexico Belgium/England Columbia/Poland That will do for now but I'm thinking I'll miss on at least 5 Countries out of the 16! Tips for the Round of 16 / Quarter Finals / Semi Finals & Final match-ups and winners once the Groups are decided.

@Dee Zephyr @binman @Wadda We Sing Not a great deal to choose from this week in terms of a big stakes trifecta race but I found a Group 3 race and 2 listed races that might appeal. Pounamu takes on Great Shot & Material Man again over in the West whilst the Ipswich Race Club has it's day in the sun with a couple of keenly contested listed races. Belmont - Hyperion Stakes Group 3 1600m WFA $150k Ipswich - Ipswich Cup Listed 2150m $175k Ipswich - Eye Liner Stakes Listed 1350m $175k Belmont Racecourse ... Ipswich Racecourse ...

Here are the replays of the 3 Group 1's from Doomben on Saturday ... Stradbroke Handicap JJ Atkins Plate

@joeboy The above edited post is to highlight our midfield presence (or lack of) Obviously not all of the above players played in the midfield all day but all ran through the central part of the ground either periodically or for a greater part of the day. I may have missed 1 or 2 players and/or included 1 or 2 who may have predominantly played back or forward but the reality is that not one player had a stand-out day or was highly influential. I don't necessarily agree with your individual appraisals either but you're not far off the mark (as a collective) so its academic anyway. We were taken to the cleaners by their midfield - clearance numbers ... 8 - Adams 7 - Treloar 6 - Oliver 5 - Mayne 5 - Sidebottom 4 - Grundy 4 - de Goey 4 - Viney

We got beaten by a far superior team on the day ... Collingwood's best is as good as any of the better teams except they often don't play at their best. But that's their problem, not ours. Our issue is that we're a 12-14 win team which means we're a team that is almost certainly going to lose 8-10 games. Or perhaps only 7 losses but definitely not more than 10 losses. That is how good we are. We lost the game because we got smashed at the clearances and the opposition were able to use the ball exceptionally well once they won the ball at the contest. But some teams can win the ball well and then not use it very well so the clearance numbers don't often tell the true story. But Collingwood do use the ball well when they are on. So do we but it's impossible to play possession football if you don't have the ball. We can play a lot better and we will play a lot better ... we're just not that good a side where we can do it all the time. We have to win the clearances by a good number in order to give ourselves a chance against the better teams ... we came up way short yesterday but we live to fight another day. Our defence was under siege yesterday so there's no point pointing the finger in that direction.