Diamond_Jim

Nil All I'll take it but hell... we just cannot convert !! Heaven help if we end in a penalty shoot out on Tuesday night

The multiple name changes have done nothing to maintain the sense of history in these races. I can stand the Emirates Melbourne Cup etc but when they drop the name of the race altogether they start to lose me. I still remember the Carbine Club Stakes etc. As an aside the race quality on Cup day other than the Cup itself leaves a lot to be desired.

Well .... tomorrow is a big morning for Oz soccer. Have really no idea how we will go. Honduras sound as though they will play a relatively attacking game which could make for an interesting outcome given the Australian game plan. One of the things that concerned me in the Syria games is the ease with which we lost the ball on occasions and the number of times our players were beaten in one on ones when Syria had the ball. I had expected us to have the edge in skills. Good article here in the Guardian on Rogic. About time Australia took its chances .... How Juric missed twice in Melaka was almost comical. https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/nov/09/socceroos-conservative-movement-fails-to-free-up-game-changer-tom-rogic The next slab of tickets go on sale for the world cup next week. I am hoping to get series tickets for Yetkatarinburg or Kazan. If successful my son and I will be off for the first round of games. The accommodation costs for the 2-3 weeks (Airbnb) are very reasonable.

Some popular sub titled series: Deutschland 83 ( German spy drama... light hearted but serious subject) Engregage/Spiral ( Fantastic French Crime Show) Spin ( Another French Political drama. Very good.) The Legacy ( Danish Family Drama) 1864 ( Danish war classic about their war with Prussia ... in a way the Danish Gallipoli) and for a change one of my favourites: Lillehammer (not too dark comedy)

Hard to get excited when Lloyd Williams wins yet again but you cannot knock him for his investment in the staying side of the game. Lovely interview with the winning jockey's daughters. Bruce was not too OTT. Now .. onto the Oaks !!

You always needed to close your eyes when Biffen was kicking for goal. Not unknown for him to miss from 10-15 metres out dead in front.

Thanks Macca ....not too bad... could be a lot worse. I was thinking of going over for a few of the early matches. Doesn't need to be an Oz game. I am very much an independent traveller so if anyone has ideas of how you do it would be very grateful.

Cahill to Honduras is a strange move...... Mind games with the other side is all I can think of. Conditions in Honduras will be a killer with kick off temp around 30 and humidity at 80%. Not confident at all given the lack lustre performance against Syria. Would like to think otherwise but Sydney could be a dead rubber if we go down 3-0 which is not impossible. This game of all out attack and then stop and wait 30 metres out from goal just does not strike me as a sound game plan in these play off games. The Kruse knockers at least will be silent. Time for Juric to shine if we are to go anywhere. I know it is a long way off but what is the time zone for the World Cup in Russia. Would be fantastic if we could have a 4pm game local Melbourne time (record and watch ) followed by a 7pm game. In these days of mass internet coverage it is hard to avoid results if the games are played overnight our time.

So after much analysis I have narrowed it down to the following three: 6: Red Cardinal 9: Max Dynamite 21: Thomas Hobson with of course Tiberian as the emotional bet

As usual a bit of a lottery. My usual process is to eliminate all horses who have never placed over the distance and then take it from there. The Cup is becoming a little bit of an anachronism in modern day racing and has become even harder to relate to as more and more horses do not run in the lead up races. Anyway I shall study the form and give my tip in an hour or so. The cool weather should favour the Europeans but as most of the horses are foreign bred who knows. The Japanese contingent do not seem to be here this year which is a pity. Good Luck

How can one go past Tiberian .... every punter's dream: http://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/2017/11/02/tiberian-the-worlds-most-unlikely-melbourne-cup-horse-came-from-caesar-the-teaser-pony_a_23265188/ "But Tiberius Caesar found a calling as a teaser. He teased diligently and he teased well. They even had a nickname for him at the Haras du Logis stud. They called him "Caesar the Teaser". And eventually, the staff took pity on him. At the end of the breeding season, Caesar The Teaser was allowed to mate with the mare Toamasina. The result was Tiberian -- who has won six of his 17 races and will be ridden by top French jockey Olivier Peslier in the Melbourne Cup on Tuesday." Must say I enjoy listening to Kevin Bartlett and Doctor Turf on SEN for these big race days. Great background while pottering in the garden. The TV coverage (other than the races themselves) leaves me increasingly bored.

Cannot forget that 1987 prelim final incident. Tuck and Dipper lined him up and sandwiched him deliberately from both sides with strong simultaneous shoulder bumps. Legal bastardry but it has always colored my memory of Tuck.

Both GWS and Adelaide played the flanks and gave Richmond the corridor. The traditional forward delivery to the pocket seems to be the easiest to zone against as it allows the ball to be taken out of bounds as well as rebounded. Of course the empty forward line also slows delivery which does not help the traditional forward. Will be interesting to see if the traditional teams change their game plan to counter the scrum or as I call it helter skelter. Would love to see a permanent forward about 70 metres out from goal trialled.

There was a great movie called the Wrong Box. It is about a group of parents in 19th century England who each contribute 0ne thousand ponds to a fund (the tontine) which is to be paid to the last of the children to die. Of course by that time it is worth a literal fortune. Perhaps we could all contribute to such a fund thus giving the survivor a chance to attend our next GF. With my MFCSS firmly on perhaps we should enter any newborns as they might stand a chance !!

Thanks M9 In 2015 the Bulldogs charged $110 as the add on that got you the GFG. After the 2016 GF this category maxed out. My friend who is a Doggies supporter thinks there are 12K in the Bulldogs Social Club (the GFG category) though this seems high to me . If he is correct at $200 per member for the 2018 season that is a cool $2.4M extra

Does anyone know how many clubs have closed GFG categories (ie there is a waiting list). As posted earlier Footscray is a closed list and I suspect many of the other bigger clubs are closed as well. I see a new/increasing revenue spinner here as they up the price and people have to pay up or lose out to those on the waiting list. Cannot stand auto renewals of anything. AFL membership moved to that last year. At least I got an email saying they were going to renew next week unless I opted out.

do the clubs publish how many of these they have sold? If for example I was a Collingwood supporter (god help me) does it mean that of the 20k or whatever number is available to club members that it is likely that say 15k have already been allocated via the GFG scheme?

The grand final guarantee is a bit of a con given the number of times it actually pays out for the MFC. At the reported price of $220 odd that would mean an unadjusted cost of $5k per GF appearance based upon our historical performance. I assume one also has to pay the actual $150 odd for the ticket itself. At an extra $50- $100 one can think of it as a simple donation but it is now becoming serious money. Would be interested to hear what other clubs charge for their GF lottery.

as did round 22 in 2016. I did not expect finals in 2016 but the way we gave up against Carlton left a sour taste in then mouth of many supporters. To see it repeated in even worse form in 2017 was heart breaking.

The hype begins... http://www.afl.com.au/news/2017-10-29/vfl-star-attracting-interest-from-a-dozen-clubs "The same kid with the raking left boot now has a dozen AFL clubs clamouring for his services. West Coast, which has five picks in the top 40 of the NAB AFL Draft, is arguably the keenest." Mid to late second round is my guess........ mmmm Watts for Fritsch anyone? Can't see it myself given how desperate we are for outside mids.

Gotta love the Guardian critics ... a fantastic line: "The updated Snatch is not so much a diamond in the rough as a turd in the punchbowl, contaminating all who touch it." https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2017/oct/28/snatch-gangster-tale-old-pony-guy-ritchie

Interesting Macca those two English races are not on the classics list ... the English Classic (King George VI) is 2400 metres so I assume she likes it a little shorter. Surprised that she is missing the Dubai Cup at US$10M which is 2000 metres. Oh to have such choices !

Thanks for the link Maca. I see the Laurel is no longer run being overtaken by the Breeders Cup. Interesting to see what is the next race Winx is set for assuming she wins today.

So what is considered the best WFA race in the world these days for the classic mile and a half. Is it the Arc de Triomphe, the Laurel international or the Dubai race (forget the name) or the Cox Plate. Cannot really see the Cox plate ever being at the top because of the flight times to Australia and our quarantine rules. Seems that Winx is on a hiding to nothing today. The field is weak according to the pundits. Hope she wins. Cheers

29 is mid second round ... this would be a high draft pick for Fritsch. I think he is more likely to go late second round or first half of the third. To use 29 will be a hard decision as it is apparent that we need once again to start looking at topping up our mid fielders given our midfield age profile and the lack of obvious starter talent at Casey. Not sure that he will bulk up much more. Undoubted contested marking skills. If we had not drafted Lever you could argue that he may develop into an intercept player capable of playing back and forward. Watched him play about five times this year. Cannot recall much in the way of outstanding ground skills but I may well have missed that attribute in the scrum that is often VFL football. Hard choice for the recruitment team.