Macca

I take it you got a nice collect Wadda ... well done. I had no such luck but had a couple of collects to break even. It's got me thinking about doing 4 or 5 parlays next week (3 races only with one 5 or 6 leg parlay to win big) And Pike will probably be on a number of fancied horses so he'll probably be my conduit (your's too I'm guessing!)

Yep ... I'll be following Pike as well. He''s the parlay king!

Good point Pates - we were even worse than I thought! I'd edit that post but am unable to do so. One thing that has to happen is the star quality that needs to emerge - we need a few absolute game-breakers if we're to be a true contender. Otherwise, we may only get to be as good as we were in the Northey & Daniher era's ... not that we were failures back then - far from it. Premiership teams are full of good players but those teams almost certainly contain a sprinkling of guns/stars as well.

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There's a Group 1 next week (Winterbottom Stakes 1200m) and another Group 1 a week after that (Kingston Town Classic 1800m) ... both are million dollar races so the fields should be good. The racing has really come on over time out of WA. In fact, the group races continues at Ascot right up to New Years day. I'll have a small wager on the feature races.

Great Shot ran a close 2nd to Silverstream over 1400m (Group 2) last start so the form was there with the extra 200m to run. Tough race to find a winner though Wadda. My horse (Pounamu) was coming from too far back for this sort of field. I've got 'See me Sizzle' (Pike) in a couple of multiples in race 9 (the get-out stakes)

I haven't tuned in yet Wadda - watching the cricket. It's a small straight at Ascot and a lot of horses can get blocked for runs in the Guineas & Railway Stakes. Mainly because the fields are so even. Barrier draws are all important too ... I reckon the trifecta & first 4 dividends could be quite healthy. I've parlayed a few as well (3 races only)

No, not complacent all ... we're being quite pro-active in fact. Every year since Roos, PJ and Goodwin arrived, we've improved our list incrementally. This should mean more wins going forward ... given a reasonable run with injuries. We've cleared out any number of non-achieving footballers in the last 5 years and have gradually replaced those players with better players. Our win totals ... 2013 - 4 2014 - 4 2015 - 7 2016 - 10 2017 - 12 That's an upward trend .. and Rome wasn't built in a day. To make the next 2 or 3 jumps gets harder from here on in. We'll need more good players in order to be an absolutely true contender that can win premierships. And we need a few stars to emerge too. We've now got 13 players who ordinarily wouldn't get dropped in a team that is quite capable of winning more games than it loses. Hogan, T-Mac, Petracca, Oliver, Tyson, Hunt, Lever, Viney, Lewis, Gawn, Jones Hibberd & Jetta And that is without including Vince, Garlett, Salem, Brayshaw and a few others. And what about our new draftees? We might get lucky and produce 2 more good players from our 4 picks (you'd hope for at least 1) We've been far from complacent and I believe we've set ourselves up to take another step forward next season.

It's also worth noting that our increased membership has been an ongoing journey since who knows when ... well before PJ arrived on the scene. Same goes for any of our sponsorship deals. The poker machine revenue and our 2 social venues started out when Joseph Gutnick was our president. The drive into the NT was in place before PJ arrived and the Foundation Heroes money-spinner was a Jimmy Stynes initiative All that what was happening in the background whilst the team itself was non-competitive (for the most part) The above is not meant to be in any way a criticism of PJ ... he's been terrific for our club in terms of creating real stability and also, he's making a real push for the club to benefit financially from having home fixtures against the other big clubs apart from Collingwood (ANZAC eve, Geelong home game round 1 next year etc etc) I wouldn't be replacing PJ in a hurry but we should judge PJ against the best (not against the mediocre) The same way we should judge the FD, coaching and our list of players against the best.

And what are these many reasons apart from what is in your imagination? Put up some real facts or shut up. Apart from one 1.4 million dollar grant in 2013 (which is quite minuscule in the whole scheme of things) I can't see any other real evidence of any other extraordinary help. It's all there in the annual reports unless you believe that PJ has laden our annual reports with mistruth's. 8 profitable years in the last 9 years - there's some real facts for you. Where are the handouts? It's easy for a troll like you to throw out your lies but you can't back it up. You again zero in on those who might share your unsubstantiated accusations. And you'll avoid the questions I've put to you ... it's easy to run and hide on the internet. I'm surprised you're still here.

We'll do well to get out of this Test without losing. By my reckoning we need to get to 360-380 in our first innings just to square things up. And that is a long way off (currently 7-209) Chasing 320+ in the fourth innings here will be a difficult assignment (if that ends up being the target) And next up is the day/night Test in Adelaide (which can suit their bowling attack)

Good luck trying to find a winner in the 2 feature races at Ascot tomorrow ... I'm not sure I want to tarnish my 4-3-0 record (4 picks, 3 winners, 0 placings)!! I've had a good look at the form anyway have narrowed it down to 5 horses in the Guineas & 6 horses in the Railway Stakes. So it's almost certainly multiples only for me. There is some value there though so the dividends could be quite hefty with the right combinations. Art Series caught my eye last start and although it's a step up in class, the horse can perform well if it gets a clear run. Race 7 (W.A. Guineas) ... Achernar Star, Money Mahar, Salubrious, Art Series & Sophia's Secret And I like Pounamu for a bit of each-way value in race 8 but to be perfectly honest, any number of horses can win this wide-open betting affair. Race 8 (Railway Stakes) ... Black Heart Bart, Scales of Justice, Tom Melbourne, Silverstream, Gatting & Pounamu

Yep, and how 'bout those Vikings! ... 9 & 2 and eyeing off a 1 or 2 seed in the NFC. And it's hard to believe the transformation in Keenum as well.

You've got to wonder what would compel anyone to do such a thing Gonzo. I actually feel sorry for people like that, they really do need to seek some help. I've engaged in spirited debate with any number of people on this site but at least I know I'm almost certainly conversing with an actual Demon supporter. Same deal for anyone else for that matter. But a fake/pretend Demon? It's just nonsensical.

What about 'We're up to our eyeballs with the Stringer deal' haha Small amusements all the same Wyl. It is the off-season after all.

The World cup not having Italy, Netherlands, USA or Chile has opened up the real possibility of the event having a number of weaker groups. And we are a real chance of being drawn in one of those weaker groups. Spain not being in pot 1 makes zero sense but nations like Poland have been able to manipulate the rankings/seedings by carefully picking & choosing who they play in friendlies.

Tennessee Panthers Seattle

Don't feed the troll Said person has been here before under numerous guises (Dr Who et al) ... also an obvious Richmond supporter. Always the same theme - demeans Demon supporters (we don't do enough), paints the club as if it's in a difficult financial position and generally tries to make us feel bad about our club. Also targets those who may be disheartened or dismayed by our recent performances. i.e ... gains favour in an insidious way.

We weren't a financial basket case 4 years ago. In fact, we were in quite a decent financial position with excellent ongoing revenue streams. The ship just needed to be righted - Peter Jackson made special mention of that when he arrived in 2013. On field - we were deplorable. Mixing up the 2 areas (Financial & on-field) is a common misrepresentation. It's true that we posted a loss in 2013 but we had previously posted profits in the 4 years prior to 2013. And that one poor financial return can be put down to our gate returns hitting rock bottom after an equally deplorable year in 2012. PJ obviously righted the ship but let's not forget to acknowledge the financial turnaround that we all witnessed during the Jimmy Stynes era. In 8 of the last 9 years the club has posted a profit. It's all there in black & white in the annual reports. There are 4 main reasons why we've posted profits since 2009 (other than the increased dividend that all the clubs are now receiving from the AFL) Pokies (the profitability of our 2 venues has matured & increased year-by-year) NT (800k per game) Foundation Heroes (large sums of money were raised initially & 3 - 4 years hence) Increased Membership We can now add the increased revenues from our home fixtures against other big clubs apart from Collingwood (ANZAC eve, vs Cats season opener etc) Considering how unsuccessful we've been in the recent past, it's a minor miracle that we have posted a profit in 8 of the last 9 years. In real terms, having a debt of only 4.1 million is not an issue when considering our more-than-solid revenue streams and cash-flow.

We could end up in not-so-hard group if things fall our way ... the draw is on Dec 1st. Here's a few combo's that might suit ... Poland, Peru, Senegal, Australia Russia, Switzerland, Tunisia, Australia Portugal, Colombia, Egypt, Australia We don't want ... Germany, Spain, Costa Rica, Australia

Leaderboard in the comp 9 - Clintosaurus 7 - Go the Biff 6 - Dappa Dan 4 - Macca 3 - JV7 2 - Gorgoroth 0 - The usual suspects Guess the Lines Thanksgiving Week Special With Cousin Sal Podcast Only 1 point on offer this week but every point counts ... all 3 of the Thanksgiving games are being covered by 7mate whilst the middle game is on ESPN. The pick of the games are the Vikes @ Lions & the Saints @ Rams. As for the road chances, there's a few there. Good luck!

I'm still quite surprised with the departure of Ange despite all the murmurings. There's any number of likely replacements but much will depend on availability and how much we're prepared to spend. We may well go for a coach formally from the Dutch or Italian systems but who knows DJ?

The Falcons might have just kick-started their season after today's win. You'll know your schedule for the rest of the season JV but for the benefit of others, here are Atlanta's games from here on in ... vs Tampa, vs Vikes, vs Saints, @ Tampa, @ Saints, vs Carolina. Atlanta's destiny is in their own hands in terms of gaining a wild-card but they'd need to win at least 4 or 5 of those 6 games. Win-out and the Falcons definitely win the division (they'd end up with a 12 & 4 record with a better head-to-head record against the Saints and a better divisional record than the Panthers would have) I reckon you can get to 10 wins and that should be enough for a wild-card. It's do-able but Atlanta will have to recapture last year's form and have a fair bit of luck on their side as well. Every game is like a final from here on in. But right now, the Falcons are the 6th seed in the NFC. I'm forever surprised how just one win can change the fortunes of a team in this league. A week is a long time in the NFL!

There's at least a couple of trolls here right now dc ... have you spotted the old Dr Who yet?

Their schedule isn't tough though ... vs Bills, @ Jets, vs Oakland, vs Chargers, vs Miami then @ Denver. They should win most of them ... 4 wins would get them to 10 wins and that would win them the division. Reid's teams generally can find winning sequences so I reckon they'll still find a way. However, they can almost certainly say goodbye to the 1 or 2 seed in the AFC. And that would mean they'd have to visit Pittsburgh and/or New England in the playoffs.