Macca

Round 7 3 - Gawn 2 - N Jones 1 - Harmes MFC tally 9 - Gawn 8 - Viney 2 - T-Mac, Watts, Hogan, N Jones 1 - Harmes

The hunger for a big win was pleasing ... the players sensed that the Gold Coast could be crushed and we duly crushed them. In the end, they (the GCS) didn't want to be out there so kudos to our blokes for putting them into that frame of mind. Can't ask for much more than that after a tight first half - 16 goals in the 2nd half was an excellent return but it was the way we went about it that stood out ... fast movement of the ball and we were direct. Basic fundamentals such as playing in front and being first in for the ball with plenty of 2nd and 3rd efforts set up the win ... it helps when we've got a dominant ruckman who can bring so many of our players into the game. Like a number of other teams, we've got a young list. So we'll have a few down days (like last week) To expect otherwise is unrealistic. However, we should have an expectation of effort, energy, application and a will to win. For the most part we're getting that (save for 1 game) Strangely enough, I believe the North loss is driving the new standards (not the Essendon loss)

6 - Gawn (21 taps to advantage is elite - and he played well around the ground) 5 - N Jones (his best game for the year) 4 - Harmes (hard at it, creative and kicked 3 goals) 3 - Hunt (his pace was a real concern for the opposition all day - a very damaging player today) 2 - Jetta (rock solid all day) 1 - Viney (a little quiet early but came to life) I could have found a stack more players for the votes but that's been the theme in the majority of our games this season. It's a good problem to have. As always, the coaches votes will be interesting. Apologies to Bugg, Wagner, Vince, Oliver, Garlett, Petracca, Pedersen & a few others.

Obviously our swimmers will be expected to get a better return this time around 'TD' ... I'll be hoping for around about 11-14 gold medals overall ... perhaps we might even fare better than that but I'm always optimistic with the Olympics. 35 total medals in London was a decent return but only 8 gold was a trifle disappointing (Jared Tallent is set to be awarded the gold medal for the 50km walk - retrospectively) Haven't seen any medal projections of late but Sports illustrated did one last time for London ... of course, those projections are only a guide anyway. Last Olympics, I posted up a daily program where the Aussies were involved (mainly the team events) so, if I've got time, I could do that again ... I'll probably be watching it wall-to-wall regardless 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 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. All the track cycling finals will be held from 4pm local time (5am AEST) The track cycling events are held towards the end of the first week. Also, in the lead up to the Olympics, the European based "Diamond League" (track & field) is well worth a look on Eurosport (if one has access) ... it kicked off last night (and is on replay today) There are 14 separate meetings all up, all held on the one day*. The telecasts of the one day events lasts for about 2 hours each time - and there's not a lot of down-time. They somehow manage to cram 16 different events into a 2 hour window. Here's the Wiki page for more details *Except the London meet where the event is over 2 days. .

The complication arises is if one or both of the 2 teams that qualify for the Champions league final (this season) doesn't automatically qualify through their own leagues. The spot or spots either opens up or it doesn't ... otherwise, the Europa league winner needs to qualify through the playoffs for the group stages (in the UCL) Finishing 4th in the EPL or La Liga might mean facing Malmo or Rapid Wien for a spot in the group stages. Or Club Brugge

Ha! ... all of a sudden there's a lot to play for - the Europa league might be finally gaining a bit of gloss Getting into the Champions league equals a lot of extra dollars ( a total of €1.257bn. is distributed to the 32 qualified teams - depending on performance) ... and of course, signing top quality talent becomes a lot easier as well for teams who are involved in the UCL. My team (the Hammers) can still get to 4th if we can win out and if Arsenal can defeat Man City on Sunday (or if City lose at Swansea instead - in the final round) The EPL might provide one final twist and Man Utd could get to 4th as well (United are at West Ham next Wed morning) .

I believe either Liverpool or Sevilla will qualify directly for the group stage of the Champions league if either wins the Europa league. A prized spot has been opened up because the Champions league finalists (who automatically qualify for next seasons Champions league) have already qualified because of where they will finish in La Liga. Those teams of course are Atletico Madrid & Real Madrid. So, it's possible that either England or Spain could have 5 teams represented in the Champions league next season (4th place in either league goes into the playoff round for the Champions league group stage) Spain had 5 teams in this year's Champions league (Barcelona, Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Sevilla* & Valencia) *Sevilla won the Europa league last season.

The Giro d'Italia kicks off tonight in the Netherlands ... in fact, the first 3 stages are being held there. After the flat stages in Holland, many of the stages in Italy involve a number of gruelling climbs and it's quite relentless (especially stages 6, 8, 13, 14, 16, 19 & 20) Both SBS & Eurosport are covering the event. Nibali is favourite whilst Mikel Landa is a top pick as well ... Valverde is also a big chance. Here's a few sites to browse ... Cycling News Giro - Official site SBS - Cycling Central .

And there's every chance that the TV money* could keep rising at a rapid rate ... not so much from the money that the EPL gets from 'Sky', but the rights money from all the other broadcasters from all the other countries that have a high interest in the EPL. Optus here paid a premium for the rights, so much so that Foxtel opted out (or were outbid) ... in an open market, these things happen and there's not much that the other leagues can do to stop it other than to make their own leagues more attractive to a worldwide audience. But the EPL is booming just about everywhere and I can't see things slowing down in a hurry. The principles that apply in business also applies to sport - so we could easily end up with a super league much like the NBA, NHL & the MLB are in those sports. *The greater TV rights money will effectively give more spending power to all the EPL clubs which should in turn even up the competition - which will create even greater interest.

Round 6 3 - Reiwoldt 2 - Hogan 1 - Steven MFC tally 8 - Viney 6 - Gawn 2 - T-Mac, Watts, Hogan

Leicester's triumph is just a great story and I can't see them necessarily dropping away ... they've already got a terrific starting 11 with some able back-ups and with the big TV money kicking in before the start of next season, they've got a real chance to strengthen their squad ... there's also the extra Champions league money (tens of millions of dollars) to consider. Plus, Leicester have got rich ownership. Leicester's record against the big 6 clubs was also a positive (16pts vs 13 pts) - all things considered, they did a hell of a lot of things right and are fully deserved champions. The stars aligned. As of next season, the spending power of all 20 of the Premier league clubs will reach unprecedented levels ... the league may well get even more competitive with more of the smaller clubs featuring. Squads will almost certainly be richer in talent so injuries (or the lack of injuries) will play a big part - we're entering a new phase where the overall outcomes won't be as predictable (IMO) Massive new English Premier League TV deal has the rest of European soccer worried .

Well done to Leicester! ... 5000-1 outsider at one stage It's one for the ages

Goff will receive a contract worth nearly 28 million (4 years) with about an 18 million signing bonus ... Wentz will receive a slightly lesser amount (26 million / 16-17 million signing bonus) It's any wonder the 1st round picks are generally beside themselves with joy and who could blame them? ... of course, the draftees are coming from a largely amateur background (College) so it's like going from one extreme to another. 2016 NFL Draft Tracker .

The Doggies bombed it in far too much tonight .. the leading patterns from their forwards hasn't been there and they've made it easy for the North defenders. And too many of their forwards got caught out playing from behind. Poor execution forward of centre ... they had enough of the ball to win the game but their game plan lacked imagination. 56 inside 50's for only 6 goals is a poor return.

Hope he goes well for your Rams ... if he turns out to be a star, the trade will be a great one. Interesting for the Eagles with Wentz (who could also turn out to be a gun) ... who knows who will ultimately be the initial starter at Philadelphia though? A lot can happen between now and the first game. Eagles take Carson Wentz at No. 2, say Sam Bradford is 'guy we want leading this charge' .

Round 5 3 - Gawn 2 - Viney 1 - Cotchin Demons tally 8 Viney 6 Gawn 2 T-Mac 2 Watts .

And now Brady gets 4 weeks (again) ... and another appeal may not be granted or have little chance of success (but who knows for sure?) Brady seems hell bent on clearing his name so it may not be over.

Well, it was more of an observation Chook. We even had a "Drop Hogan" thread floating about a few weeks ago.

You may be right and I don't totally dispute what you're saying ... he just has a lot more upside and because of that, I'd persevere for the time being. If he comes out, he'll probably be rested like Oliver was. Again, I'd be more inclined to persevere because a good game from Angus might be just around the corner ... there were numerous people here wanting to drop Tyson just 2 weeks ago ... Kent was another who was in the gun just a short while ago as well. Pedersen was described as a "spud" 2-3 weeks ago by some prominent posters here ... the list goes on. It's been a while since we've had the luxury of keeping certain players in the team with the team not suffering as a consequence ... previously, we were losing constantly and under performing players were kept in because there was an abundance of them. I dare say the team right now can afford to carry a player or 2 ... even the best teams use that practise (and Brayshaw is a huge prospect)

I'd keep Brayshaw ... he'll run into form sooner rather than later - but they might rest him along with possibly one other. Or there might be a player out with some sort of injury that we don't know about. So, maybe Petracca and Oliver in with 2 players missing because of injury, 'general soreness' or 'rested' (?) Who those 2 might be won't necessarily be form related ... all our players are contributing in some way. The "rested" reason is going to happen more and more and it's legit ... Eade speculated that with the new rules in place, any given player will need a spell after 6 weeks or so. Of course, that sort of thing needs to be staggered but like anything else, it will almost certainly become an accepted part of the sport. The club came straight out with the "rested" bit with Oliver last week so we could expect more of the same.

One week at a time? haha ... we're supporters (fans). We can speculate all we like and it won't make an ounce of difference. I'm now looking at our remaining games and finding it hard to pencil in many absolute losses ... obviously our toughest games are the 2 Hawthorn clashes, @ Sydney, @ Geelong and @ West Coast. The rest are all winnable and if we really have advanced we might sneak a win or 3 against the above teams ... teams on the rise have a history of doing that - results are random where top sides drop games that they shouldn't and vice-versa. Even Richmond of late have beaten the Hawks and Swans on the back of having only a half a dozen decent footballers - and good teams can have off days and/or get a rash of injuries. And it might be our turn to get a good run with injuries (touch wood) Port have dropped away and we've got them twice, the Bulldogs keep getting injuries to their better players, we've got the Crows at home (that's another tough one) and Freo at 'TIO' stadium (Darwin) is suddenly a very winnable game. If we drop games that we should "now" win, we probably won't play finals but finals can't be ruled out until it's "mathematically impossible"* to do so ... one thing is for sure, the players will believe they can make it. And so they should too - that's what they are there for. Supporters hosing down optimistic, speculative murmurings from other supporters always makes me laugh ... it's not as if we can control our own destiny - that's up to the club. We're just onlookers. Anyway, dare to dream. *apologies for the cliché but it had to be said

A few observations For the 3rd game in a row we didn't have a poor player ... even those who didn't impact the stat sheet played their part. Our teamwork and spread was a highlight - mistakes occurred occasionally but we're a work in progress. The players are running for each other and all our players are looking to bring their teammates into the game. Our clearance work (starting with Gawn) is a step up from what we've previously seen - the systems are working well. We're far more direct and our kicking to position has improved to a large degree. Our forwards are fighting for the front position and we weren't caught out playing from behind very often We're first in for the ball and the teamwork in close is coming together ... the final release was gratifying to see and it happened quite a lot. Our kicking for goal was another highlight ... you'd take 20.9 in a game like this in a heartbeat. 2 of our 'boom' recruits (Hogan & Brayshaw) had quiet nights (but weren't poor) yet we seemingly didn't need them to be influential ... and the other boom recruits (Petracca, Oliver & Trengove*) are waiting in the wings. Augurs well for the future. We've toughened up and are much harder at the contest and the ball - even the new blokes. Another 4 quarter effort ... every time we were challenged, we responded. All in all, a very satisfying win. Bring on the Saints. *Trengove could be seen as a 'new' recruit and he is a former no.2 draft pick.

6 - Gawn (supreme) 5 - Viney (dominant - he is a beast) 4 - Tyson (best game for the year) 3 - Vince (stepped up when we needed him to) 2 - Kent (ran hard all day and he's in good form) 1 - Garlett (played an excellent small forward's game) Others who played well ... basically everyone else. Like last week, we didn't have a poor player (IMO) For 3 weeks in a row, we haven't got an obvious candidate to be dropped (Stretch was dropped after the North game but he didn't play a poor game in that match) Some of our players who didn't figure well in the stats still played their part. So in essence it was a great team effort with some absolute standout performances (Gawn, Viney & Tyson) I could have easily given Watts, McDonald & Jones votes and it was a toss-up between Viney & Gawn for the 6 votes.

In the end we've kicked their butts ... Richmond are a rabble.

Hit outs ... 29 - 17 (Gawn 26) Clearances ... 26 - 18 (12 - 5 centre clearances) ... Jones & Viney 5 each. Uncontested possessions ... 123 - 67 Gawn is the difference though - absolutely dominating. Tyson has been good.