Diamond_Jim

Interested to see a discussion about the relative strengths and weaknesses of Hunt and Bowey as we move into 2022. Hibberd will work hard to keep his spot but who else can take that role short term?

seems that catching covid in the last 6 months was an out. My cynicism radar is on full alert.

And just after you thought things could not be more "interesting".... Along comes another likely variant. In France at present from the Cameroons. The medical world is on alert yet again after a new mutant Covid-19 variant emerged in France recently. The new strain, dubbed “variant IHU” or B. 1.640.2, was first detected in the nation last month, but is now making international headlines after catching the attention of global experts. At least 12 cases were confirmed near the Marseilles area, and it is understood that many of those patients were hospitalised with the illness. https://www.news.com.au/world/coronavirus/health/french-scientists-discover-new-mutant-covid-variant-which-could-be-more-resistant-to-vaccines/news-story/3f0f3dd255130ce57d68cde9292a94d6 But there could be good news..... However, on a more positive note, the new strain does not appear to be spreading rapidly. The article also goes on to say that it could be outcompeted by our "friend" Omicron !!

Live sport buffering works on a completely different model to general video streaming which can buffer say two minutes worth of video if not more as you watch the show. Kayo seemed to buffer about 30 seconds worth and thus you will see every short dop out as your wireless signal goes up and down in strength. If the stream has been adeqately buffered you should have no problem. At home the signal will be relatively constant and thus no issue but on the move it's a different story. When it comes to replays I'm not sure how much they buffer but in theory it could be more like normal video streaming. It's not so much the speed of your connection as Kayo only requires around 8-13Mbs to deliver quality video but rather the consistency of the flow. Try sitting the phone down on a desk or table where the signal should be constant and see if you still have the same problem. Another trick as others have suggested is to allow the video to run for say five minutes and then move the cursor back to the beginning. In this way you are providing your own buffering. I had big troubles buffering etc with Kayo when using the old ADSL lines but once the NBN arrived it's been perfect. Good luck

Hopefully not an omen.....

Must say that the rate of increase in the recently opened States has surprised me a little given the pre entry testing that was relatively full on for the first week or so. Qld social media is full of people lamenting the open border policy. Will WA really open in the first week of February. Surprised we're not letting overseas tourists in. Can't do much harm.On the other hand there's little politcal upside for the Feds to make that decision. The Queensland pre testing rules which are unenforceable remind me of the copyright rules introduced all those years ago re taping TV chows onto VHS. (You and the family could watch it but you couldn't share the tape.)

Back in Melbourne at present. Came back in January via Adelaide quarantine Most of South East Asia including Malaysia has tough anti covid rules so it's not a pleasant place to be these days. Definitely looking forward to a few games at Casey in a few months.

According to the ABC report he got it in Melbourne. Interesting that if both he and David Boon had been following the new National Cabinet testing protocols neither would have been tested. Could this be the end of sports covid testing for the non symptomatic

It's warming up out there and I'm not talking about the weather. To date we have had the luxury of studying overseas trends in advance of significant outbreaks but not this time. The new rules for PCR testing could see a nominal reduction in official cases but the speculation about "real numbers" will explode.

yes that is a strange one. Immediately you would think it's the Ch 7 bargaining power or the anti siphoning rules but their is no prohibition on dual channel showing as long as one is FTA. On the bargaining power Fox pays the lion's share of the boradcast rights so you'd think they have a seat at the table. My pet hate is of course the Channel 7 commentators when the Fox game is also FTA

You have to look at internet charges as a function of local average wages. In Malaysia I have 1Gb fibre internet (up and down ) for A$50 per month but locally the average wage is around a quarter of what is earned in Australia. Where you see a big cost is in the area of laptops and other hardware. These items are "world priced" and to a local they are simply out of reach to many. During the pandemic families would share one or two phones for online learning. Kayo is excellent as it debundles sport from costly add ons. Its problem is that other providers will gradually cherry pick key aspects. A quick back of the envelope calculation shows that it is very hard to run a profitable sports streaming channel in Australia given the price paid to the bigh three .. AFL, NRL and Cricket. My guess is that next year when the contract runs out F1 will be cherry picked just as A League was last year along with the Socceroos. And that brings us to the 2022 World Cup. In 2018 most of the WC was behind the Optus paywall until their site fell over and SBS picked up the ball. Given the killer timezone and the location it may be the least watched World Cup in many years.

Very true Also I notice that he is rarely able to position himself so he is free to get the break on an opponent and take the relatively easy mark. Both Brown and Fritsch have this skill. If he is to replace Tom Mac his ball skills will need to improve.Tom Mac is very useful as a handball receive and give. Have rarely noticed Weid demonstrating these skills. Perhaps he is too one dimensional for the modern game

On ABC radio Glenn said that his father had to work this morning and that he had hoped to be at the ground by noon !!

A wonderful performance by Boland I think we may see a bit of discussion regarding ball technology shortly. The Kookaburra is a new design this year that is supposed to keep the ball harder longer. Interesting that reverse swing has been non exisitent and there has been very few sessions where batsmen of either side dominated. Don't think there has been more than one 300 run day if any. Winning away from home requires a great team and this England team is not clearly not one of them. Well done Scott Boland !!

The travel testing is starting to become ridiculous. Stories on social media about people having multiple tests in hope that one is in the 72 hour window.Others tell of friends and family in various queues with travelling party being ferried around the centres. Who knows if it's true but it's now farcical.

No ...just the spit in the tube... five minute test Given that they were all having Christmas lunch together 48 hours ago it goes to show that the definitions of contacts etc are going by the wayside ... good thing

Assume your problem with Kayo is the replays which are condensed. I doubt WatchAFL is much different as the source of the replays is probably the same. The live streams on Kayo are quite good in HD. They might add a 4k premium sub in future years. More likely if Foxtel is sold as has been mentioned by NewsCorp.

almost as stupid as the 72 hour pre departure test for the UK. By the time you land its 100 plus hours and they have 125k cases a day !!!

AZ may not be dead after all....just late which is the story of this seemingly cursed vaccine.... AstraZeneca has said that a third dose of its COVID-19 vaccine “significantly” lifted antibody levels against the Omicron coronavirus variant, citing data from a new laboratory study. Findings from the study, yet to be published in a peer-reviewed medical journal, match those from rivals Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, which have also found a third dose of their shots works against Omicron. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/12/23/astrazeneca-says-booster-jab-works-against-omicron-study-finds

Not sure that Hannan is best 22 at the Dogs. He'd be in the 18-30 player cohort... and they have Ugle Hagen to fit in come 2022

With this thing it's hard enough predicting next month let alone four months out. Sadly though I think 2022 will be a dog's breakfast.

Would be very nice Just watching the Collingwood loss now as I work my way through the season. It seems like we played with leaden boots that day

Interesting that no politician speaks of either PNG or the Solomon Islands. Both within almost a stones throw of our Northern borders and vaccination rates among the lowest in the world Given the billions spent in Oz on this pandemic you might think that a billion spent vaccinating our near neighbours might be a good investment.

Big jump in case numbers today both in Vic and NSW. Lucky the cricket is not on in another 10 days... Reading a UK non medical forum and the general vibe is that for the vaccinated Omicron symptoms are typically a runny nose and a scratchy throat. Hopefully they stay that way

And once again it starts..... No fans at this weekend's Newcastle Jets v Wanderers match in Newcastle, NSW. And.... A League Men’s side Melbourne City has had six players test positive for COVID-19, resulting in its FFA Cup tie and its round six clash with Brisbane Roar being postponed. The club said the six cases were all double-vaccinated and had taken tests on Tuesday after being alerted by their rapid tests earlier in the day.