Macca

Team events scheduled ... I'll bump up the individual days when applicable. All times and dates to be verified and all the times are AEST. There's obviously a lot happening on any given day but at least the team events seem to be spaced out quite well. We are a chance to medal in nearly all the team events and in some of the team events we're a real chance for gold. All the matches listed below are preliminary games / group stage only ... Thursday August 4th 4.00am Womens Soccer ........ Matildas vs Canada ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sunday August 7th 2.30am Mens Hockey ............. Kookaburras vs New Zealand 2.30am Womens Rugby 7's .. Pearls vs Colombia 3.15am Mens Basketball ........ Boomers vs France 6.30am Womens Basketball ... Opals vs Brazil 7.00am Womens Soccer ........ Matildas vs Germany 7.30am Womens Rugby 7's ... Pearls vs Fiji 9.30am Womens Hockey ....... Hockeyroos vs Great Britain 9.50am Mens Waterpolo ........ Sharks vs Brazil ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Monday August 8th 2.30am Womens Rugby 7's .... Pearls vs USA 6.30am Womens Basketball ... Opals vs Turkey 9.30am Mens Hockey ............. Kookaburras vs Spain 11.00pm Womens Hockey ....... Hockeyroos vs USA ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tuesday August 9th 3.15am Mens Basketball ........ Boomers vs Serbia 9.50am Mens Waterpolo ........ Sharks vs Hungary 11.55pm Mens Rugby 7's ......... Thunderbolts vs France ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday August 10th 1.15am Womens Basketball . Opals vs France 2.00am Womens Waterpolo .. Stingers vs Russia 5.00am Womens Soccer ....... Matildas vs Zimbabwe 5.00am Mens Rugby 7's ........ Thunderbolts vs Spain 9.30am Mens Hockey ............ Kookaburras vs Belgium 10.00pm Mens Waterpolo ........ Sharks vs Japan 11.55pm Womens Hockey ....... Hockeyroos vs India ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thursday August 11th 12.30am Mens Rugby 7's ........ Thunderbolts vs South Africa 8.00am Mens Basketball ........ Boomers vs USA 9.30am Mens Hockey ............. Kookaburras vs Great Britain 11.20pm Womens Waterpolo .... Stingers vs Italy ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Friday August 12th 6.45am Womens Basketball ..... Opals vs Japan 7.00am Womens Hockey .......... Hockeyroos vs Argentina ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Saturday August 13th 3.15am Mens Basketball .......... Boomers vs China 9.30am Mens Hockey ............... Kookaburras vs Brazil 11.10am Mens Waterpolo ........... Sharks vs Serbia ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sunday August 14th 12.40am Womens Waterpolo ...... Stingers vs Brazil 1.15am Womens Basketball ...... Opals vs Belarus 8.30am Womens Hockey ........... Hockeyroos vs Japan ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Monday August 15th 1.50am Mens Waterpolo ............ Sharks vs Greece 8.00am Mens Basketball ............ Boomers vs Venezuela The Swimming finals will be held in the late evening in Rio (10pm start local time) which will mean they'll be shown from about 11am AEST. The swimming finals are held during the first week. The large majority of the Track & Field finals will be held in the evening (8pm) in Rio (about 9am AEST) with about another 10 finals held in the morning (marathons, walks etc) The track & field events are held during the 2nd week. The Rowing finals will be shown from 8.30am local time (9.30pm AEST) beginning from the first Wednesday of the games (August 10) The Track Cycling finals will be held from 4pm local time (5am AEST) beginning from the first first Friday of the games (August 12) Here's the daily schedule from NBC.com ... although the site is US based, the website does convert the event times to AEST and is easy to read. .

Well ... if you want my personal view on the ground, I don't mind the place at all (Docklands) But my previous posts were observations on how the supporter group views the stadium. Same with the whole NT argument ... it may not suit various individuals but if it's great for the club then I'm all for it ... and by the sounds of it, the club is very happy with the arrangement.

Hope so ... the Saints can be quick & slick though. As always, we hope for the best and hope we bring our best game. Our best performances this season might include 3 losses (North, Hawks & Crows) ... if we play as well against the Saints as we did against those 3 teams, we'll win. I thought we were really good on Saturday night ... we just lack a bit of polish and finishing skills. The attack on the ball and the contest was very good. And it was great to beat Freo regardless of their issues. Our young blokes are hungry and that's why Roos is playing them over other players who ordinarily might be played.

But many won't go to the Docklands for reasons other than the 'soulless' argument ... people not going to watch their team because the stadium is supposedly 'soulless' is not a good enough reason. I've heard all that stuff before about Docklands and I'm not buying it. We start winning again and our supporters will even go to Docklands. Same deal for the supporters of other clubs who have a similar view of the ground. Docklands is inconvenient because it's not the MCG - now that I can believe.

I've never had a problem with Docklands either ... the modern day supporter is a little spoilt. Go there early is the key. Much like it was previously at the suburban grounds we had to frequent. Standing up on sludge with poor amenities at various suburban grounds was the way it was for most away games ... by contrast, Docklands is pure luxury. I've never understood the angst. Back on topic ... in an ideal world we'd be as big as Collingwood and we'd be making truckloads of money even for our away fixtures in Melbourne - but we don't live in that ideal world.

Not spin dc ... on this occasion I agree with the clubs stance on these games because I believe it's beneficial to the club. Nothing is perfect though and we do have to give a bit of ground. Well worth it in my opinion. We stat winning more and watch the thinking change - people here who are opposed to these games might even start to see these games as advantageous. Related ... I cringe at the opposition to Docklands stadium - people openly state that they won't go to the ground yet it's in the CBD.

Even if it is all about the money (and it's not) then what's the problem? We're in a competition where the money is ultra important - and it's been that way since the 70's. If we're not a player then we're out of the game (much like we were out of the game in the 70's & 80's because of our lack of finances) As for the academies up there (both in the Alice & Darwin) ... another win. These academies can be a real advantage (as seen with the Swans & Giants) so we get to be a player in that area. And if we start winning up there on a consistent basis the locals will get on board - people 'like' winners. The recovery issue is way overblown too - again, we've been a poorly performed team who have lost games everywhere - Etihad stadium is a case in point - the fact that we've been unable to win there anytime is an indictment on the quality of our players - there is no other reason. Might be a bridge too far for some supporters but if the members were to receive 2 more compensation games then why not? It doesn't seem to bother the Hawks or North supporters. Both the Hawks & North win a truckload of games too ... they can play anywhere and win. That might have something to do with having quality players on their lists on an ongoing basis. So ... we beat Freo convincingly in Darwin with an improving list. All going to plan as far as I can see.

North could go into freefall ... they have a tough run home without 1 guaranteed win ... they'll probably beat the Saints & Pies but Port, the Hawks, Doggies, Sydney & the Giants are all tough games. The trouble is that there isn't a team outside of the 8 who can realistically replace them ... unless the Demons can go on a run of '87 like proportions

I've never had a problem with these games played interstate ... the whole recovery issue is massively overstated as well. We've been a poor team for the better part of 10 years and that's why we've lost games anywhere & everywhere as a result. It's all about the levels of talent. The players will be recovered well by Wednesday and if we lose to St Kilda next week, it will be because they've played better on the day. The members receive 2 replacement games as compensation for these games played interstate and also, the club needs the extra dollars anyway so it's a win/win/win as far as I'm concerned. It's been stated that we receive up to 500k-600k for each of these games and let's face it it, we'd probably only pull about 23-25 thousand to the MCG for this fixture (which only converts to about 100k - 150k to the coffers) Same goes for the Port game in the Alice. Last season we lost this fixture to the Eagles because they were the superior team ... the following week the Eagles dispatched Freo whilst we blew a game against the Bombers because of poor conversion in front of goal. In the end, the games played up there and the games played immediately afterwards are decided on talent.

6 - T-Mac 5 - Gawn 4 - Hogan 3 - Nathan Jones 2 - Hunt 1 - Grimes Apologies to Viney, Watts, Tyson, Kent, Jetta and a number of others.

Like many of our other players, Tom has been told to take the game on and take more risks. Previously, he (along with the rest of the list) was told to hug the boundary and/or not take any risks. So, like any of our other players, he's going to make the odd error as part of the new style of coaching that we're currently seeing. I see Tom as a player who is expanding his game to a point where he can be a far more damaging player ... which is the case for any number of our players. Viney, Jetta, Kent, Harmes, Hunt and others are taking more risks with their footy ... and because of those risks, they're going to make the odd error as they get better. To expect error-free performances from non A grade players is unrealistic. We don't have a bona-fide A grade player on our list (right now) Tom is a good player and sometimes very good but he's not a star of the game.

The big guns are all nearly 6 minutes behind Van Avermaet but the next 2 stages will start sorting the GC contenders out (and Van Avermaet as well) Tonight's stage looks brutal but tomorrow night's stage looks just as difficult. Porte is 1:49 from the main contenders so he's not out of it ... Contador is 1:25 behind those same main contenders. Stage 8 profile ... Stage 9 profile ... Official Site SBS Tracker Cyclingnews.com

First day in the mountains tonight (stage 5) ... here's tonight's profile and Friday's profile (stage 7) Tomorrow night's stage (stage 6) is a flat stage but the riders will have to contend with the Pyrenees on Saturday & Sunday as well. Any of the GC riders might make a move in the next few days especially those who have already lost vital time (Porte & Contador) Official Site SBS Tracker Cyclingnews.com

It's more likely than not that the Coalition will win more seats than the ALP but either party being able to win at least 76 seats might be a bridge too far ... it could be assumed that the ALP would need to do better than expected with regards to postal votes in order to win more seats than the Coalition. With the Coalition needing to win a large majority of the undecided seats (11 of 13?) we're probably heading for a hung parliament or a minority govenment. The Coalition could win 8, 9 or 10 of those undecided seats though. With 5 of the seats being claimed by the 'other' parties, we can't have a tie (unless one of the seats ends up in a tie - the final twist?) One thing is for sure ... neither party can claim any sort of mandate so we're likely to see all sorts of legislation being either watered down or rejected in either house (if we end up with a minority government) The state of the senate has the potential for far more volatility. Neither party is likely to have any more than 29 seats out of the 76 senate seats up for grabs. Added to that we now have Hinch (probably) and Hanson in the senate to spice things up. From news.com ... Federal Election 2016: Vote counting has stopped, so what happens now? A hung parliament explained. And from 'The Age' ... What to expect from a hung parliament in Australian federal election

Might be a hung parliament ... either party needs 76 seats but with the speaker taking up one spot, 77 seats may be required to provide a real majority. The numbers from the ABC coverage are way different to the numbers shown from ch7 & ch9 (who both have it virtually level with about 28 seats undecided) Edit: At midnight the count was (according to ch9 & ch7) ... Coalition 68, ALP 65, Others 5, with 12 seats undecided. The ABC had the count at ... Coalition 72, ALP 66, Others 5 with 7 seats undecided. So, with either set of numbers, the Coalition will need to win a majority of the undecided seats in order to form a government with a clear majority (8 of the 12 undecided seats will be required with regards to both the commercial network's numbers) .

The Tour de France starts tonight (8.30pm SBS) ... the big news is the tour hits the Pyrenees quite early this time around . Four of the early stages (stages 5, 7, 8 & 9) involves various climbs of varying degrees. So the GC riders will start to be sorted out quite early. Froome is favourite again but there are any number of cyclists who will feature ... Quintana, Contador, Richie Porte, Pinot, Fabio Aru, Nibali, Tejay van Garderen, Bardet, Thomas, Dumoulin, Valverde, Landa & Rodriguez all have claims. Richie Porte heads up the BMC team (along with Tejay van Garderen) so he's no longer playing 2nd fiddle to Froome. BMC announces Tour team for super motivated Porte Official Site SBS Tracker Cyclingnews.com

'Tommy' was far too loud for it's genre anyway ... the loudness served as a distraction. Maybe other people who were older than me at the time may not have thought that the soundtrack was too loud. But each to their own I say ... I've never been a Mad Max fan but that's not to say they are bad films.

How about 'Tommy' in quintaphonic sound at the Athenaeum? Now that was loud! .

Interesting that the starting time for the swimming finals will be 3am in Europe (4am for the UK) ... I suppose it all comes down to who is paying the most for the broadcast rights. The early information about the track and field finals being mainly in the afternoon has been changed too - it seems that the majority of track & field finals are being held from about 8.15pm local time (9.15am AEST)

Couple from 'Twenty One Pilots' ...

Yeah, watching game 7 live was immense. Sport at it's finest. Though it's a team sport, the championship will be seen as a LeBron James triumph. The first team to win it after being 3-1 down too. That 73-9 regular season record that the Warriors set might be remembered for the wrong reasons.

We need our half backs running off T-Mac and that's half the problem - he creates a good amount of space for himself and we don't have enough players buzzing around his feet when he gets the ball (and he gets it a lot) Getting Salem & Melksham back will help and Bernie is another who can work in tandem with Tommy. Frost is another who can use his natural pace to create an option. The positives are there - the backmen just need more game time together and continuity.

He is definitely worth keeping despite his faults. I've previously offered up an opinion on how we can minimise his faults (like the recipient player calling for the ball being on the move and not standing still) That seems to be happening more in the last month so the FD look to be getting it as well - if our players are sprinting to position, then there will be less turnovers. The whole list is still learning how to play football like a top side can. There are those who want T-Mac to be a top grade player based on what they saw in the first half of last year and it seems that if they don't get that 'top player', they might prefer to discard. I prefer to judge a player on what he is rather than what I want that player to be. Primarily, they're all trying their best. Also, we're almost certainly going to need to re-sign T-Mac before we can entertain the thought of bringing in another KPD. It won't be happening the other way around. Anyway, his last month has been good and only those with a blinkered and one-sided view would not recognise that.

Here are some of the comments from this thread ... all of the below comments came from different posters (and no double ups) All the comments could be interpreted as "letting him walk" (depending on which side of the argument one sits on) " Doesn't bother me either way." (whether he re-signs or not) "Would love to sign Cale Hooker as a free agent then trade McDonald out." " Selfish sod! If he doesn't want to be part of what the club is building and just looking out for himself then just go,Tom!!" " I'm sorry, but if a player with the weaknesses of Tom McDonald tried to hold us over a barrel, i know where i'd tell him to go." " Seems like the Howe situation all over again" " If he left I'd lose no sleep." " He may want to join creepy at Hawthorn." " This guy is not worth 400k a year, and if he doesn't sign, he has to be traded - a huge win for the club." " If Tom Mcd doesn't want to buy into that team culture, then he can and should go." " After today I really don't care if he doesn't sign." Furthermore, he's played well in the last 4 games and hasn't made any glaring errors ... so much so that both coaches gave him votes in the game against the Pies. He's not an A grade defender but is that a crime? He may well reach the heights of A grade status but I have no expectation that he will do so. We all see the same footballer but 'expectations' often govern where we sit on a player. I'm constantly amazed and astonished at the unrealistic expectations that people have with footballers - primarily, they all get to be as good as they can be.

In the AFL every club has or almost certainly will have it's divers/floppers/duckers/cheaters and it could soon be seen as "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" type of scenario. It should be remembered that it took many years for the (then) VFL to act on players throwing the ball out in front of themselves in order to milk a holding the man decision ... the issue was out of control, went on for years and it wasn't just Kevin Bartlett exploiting the rule. All clubs had their fair share of players doing the same thing as to what KB was doing. This current contentious ruling is following a similar path - only a zero tolerance stance will fix the problem. A Band-aid approach simply won't work.