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Post by hoskotafe3 on Apr 8, 2018 9:29:43 GMT
Essendon and Cats big losers today. Richmond beat Hawthorn despite of struggling in the centre.
Titans beat Manly 32-20. Panthers beat Parra 12-6. Eels blew plenty of chances.
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Post by hoskotafe3 on Apr 12, 2018 11:52:52 GMT
I remember in the late 90s there was one certainty in Rugby League: The Roosters never turned up two weeks in a row. Looks like we've come full circle. Credit to Souths. Wasn't sure how they'd go this year. Tough draw near the start of the year, but 3-3 not a bad result for them.
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Post by weststigersbob on Apr 12, 2018 12:26:38 GMT
I’ll watch the replay when I get home this morning, but on the radio it seemed fairly comprehensive in that 2nd half for the Rabbitohs.
I think the Roosters policy of not overpaying for middle forwards might finally be biting them in the backside. A side with the halves and edges they have shouldn’t be where they are......
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Post by hoskotafe3 on Apr 13, 2018 22:30:59 GMT
Dragons beat an undermanned Sharks pretty handily while the Storm returned to form with a big home win over the inconsistent Knights.
Shock of the night was Collingwood's demolition of Adelaide. Crows are missing two gun mids and their best mid Rory Sloane is hampered by injury. Collingwood had a run and gun approach in the mid field. They are basically playing Mason Cox as a wall in the forward line, he knocks the ball down for smalls to pick up the crumbs. They are leaving 6 back constantly with the mids and forwards following. Some of the rebound was breathtaking. In the space of two weeks they've gone from no structure at all to a distinct and effective brand. Exciting to see after 7 years.
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Post by hoskotafe3 on Apr 13, 2018 23:06:09 GMT
Oh yeah, the cricket references last night were pretty bad. They started talking about Duckworth-Lewis when it rained, also balls swinging under lights at the Adelaide Oval. It's going to feel like a long season.
Another interesting thing I've noticed this year is commentators on both codes preaching the value of playing junior soccer in developing two sided AFL and NRL players. No one is scared of soccer taking off any more.
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Post by weststigersbob on Apr 14, 2018 6:03:29 GMT
Oh yeah, the cricket references last night were pretty bad. They started talking about Duckworth-Lewis when it rained, also balls swinging under lights at the Adelaide Oval. It's going to feel like a long season. Another interesting thing I've noticed this year is commentators on both codes preaching the value of playing junior soccer in developing two sided AFL and NRL players. No one is scared of soccer taking off any more. Why the NRL and especially the AFL would be scared of soccer I have no idea. Whilst the A league gets occasional good crowds and in summer is a genuine number 2 sport behind cricket, if they transferred the season to winter in competition with the behemoths, it would die a very quick death IMHO. as far as junior sports go, I played league mostly with a bit of soccer and union thrown in. I might as well have been an amputee on my left side as far as kicking goes. No amount of soccer was going to fix that, and I don’t think AFL was the sport for me. Short and stocky with limited speed, can only kick with my right. Ron Barassi I’m not..... Dragons very impressive against the Sharks - 6-0 and looking really good. |
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Post by hoskotafe3 on Apr 14, 2018 6:30:26 GMT
This year was a poor one for the A-League. Their free to air ratings were well down and multiple times the NBL drew better head to head ratings on Foxtel. Is the A-League season over? It's so far off my compass I honestly don't know.
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Post by weststigersbob on Apr 14, 2018 12:59:04 GMT
Just coming into finals next weekend.
Depending upon the result tonight between Brisbane and Perth, Western Sydney will need to beat Adelaide to get into the top 6.
The A league has fallen primarily because it lacks star power.
TBH though, I’d be much more worried by Super Rugby. It looks like the Rebels have attracted about 2,000 fans at AAMI, and the SGC was about a 1/4 full for NSW v QLD. They used to get better crowds back in the amateur days.....
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Post by hoskotafe3 on Apr 14, 2018 19:41:50 GMT
I think the reality is that countries with a population like ours can't really support more than 3 or 4 major sports. All the rest are niche at best. Even in league and AFL, the majority of clubs are in debt, most of those would be insolvent in any normal business environment, but are propped up by tgeir respective leagues as they need teams to fill TV time slots. A-League clubs are playthings passed around between millionaires that are never likely to do anything other than leak money.
On the field: parramatta slipped into the seventh circle of hell with a bad loss to Canberra. Carlton aren't quite in the 7th circle, but 4th or 5th after a piss poor performance against the Kangaroos. North Queensland got thumped at home by Canterbury to continue their awful start to the season. Gold Coast and Brisbane suffered embarrasing away losses to West Coast and Richmond respectively. GWS beat Fremantle in bad conditions in Canberra.
Brings us to 2 good games: Brisbane ended the Warriors undefeated start to the season with a brilliant performance over the pond. Swans then outlasted a feist Bulldogs team by 7 in an absolute thriller at Docklands Stadium.
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Post by hoskotafe3 on Apr 15, 2018 7:47:29 GMT
Scary moment in the otherwise dull Geelong/ St Kilda game. One of the Saints players collapsed. No one within 30 metres of him just fell like he'd been shot and lay prone on the ground.
Pathetic performance from Melbourne in the AFL really. They've made a statement today but not a good one. Put a line through them. No improvement on last year.
Tigers demolishing Manly. Titans started well against Penrith, but disappeared from there on. Bombers beat Port. Pretty bad round in both codes apart from the Swans v Bulldogs and Broncos/ Warriors.
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Post by weststigersbob on Apr 15, 2018 9:30:12 GMT
Wests Tigers won. That’s about the highlight of today’s football by the looks of it. Saw the first half of the GC-Penrith game, was a bit of a bludger to be fair. I’m not convinced by either side, and despite being 5-1, I think there are still a few questioned that need answering by the Panthers before I think they are genuine title contenders.
I saw a replay of the Brisbane Warriors game - NZ fell back into familiar territory very easily. Easy, soft options. Dumb plays and poor handling. Unfortunately it comes against Brisbane, who deserve no leg up at all.
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Post by hoskotafe3 on Apr 20, 2018 12:05:51 GMT
Depending on who you talk to last night was either the game of the year or one of the biggest snore fests either. Personally, I thought thr Bulldogs attack was fairly uninspiring.
In tonight's games St George suffered their first loss away to the Warriors. They have the deck somewhat stacked against them for Anzac Day, playing off a day's less rest and having to fly home from NZ in between. I sometimes wonder if the NRL puts any real planning into anything other than Friday night football. Melbourne beat the Broncos in a fun back and forth, eventually winning by 14.
In the AFL, the Crows look like getting home against the Swans, leading by 21 in the last quarter.
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Post by hoskotafe3 on Apr 21, 2018 0:55:26 GMT
It would be remiss not to mention the passing of Andrew Yarran at 28. Found in his home in circumstances described as "not suspucious." Like Chris Yarran (no relation) his career was ruined by ice addiction. Unlike Chris, who turned his life around, Andrew's demons claimed his life. Such a waste.
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Post by michaellevenson on Apr 21, 2018 7:42:55 GMT
As a soccer fan from England I'm interested in the Aussie perception of the true global game. I've watched A league games and they're competitive without being top tier standard, perhaps Championship ( 2nd level) standard, but enjoyable to watch in the soccer off season here. Australia is a proud sporting nation, when I was growing up Aussies dominated almost every sport except soccer. Tennis, Golf, F1, Olympic Swimming,Rugby, Cricket etc. Similar situation to the U.S., but Americans hate the idea of a massive global sport carrying serenely on without them and invested mega bucks forming the MLS, and have made huge strides, and have been rated high in the FIFA rankings. Do Australian sports fans want that for the Socceroos? Or is there just little interest?
I read that FIFA would love the World Cup to be held in Australia , but fear the AFL in particular would not cooperate in lending stadiums, adjusting their schedules etc. A pity.
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Post by hoskotafe3 on Apr 21, 2018 8:11:59 GMT
Soccer in Oz is kind of the oppisite of the UK. Few follow the domestic comp here, but most follow and support the national team. I think the days of the AFL being scared of soccer are over. It is what it is: a sport with massive participation at junior level which essentially acts as a feeder sport to league in the Eastern states and AFL in the rest of the country. AFL would not break their season for a soccer world cup so it would have to happen either september-October or March, but getting the MCG wouldn't be a problem as the MCC trust enjoy making money.
Whether the prelims would be well attended is another question. I can't imagine too many venues packing out to see Iceland play Cameroon or similar matchups. Italy, France, Brazil, Germany and Argentina would be fine.
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Post by weststigersbob on Apr 21, 2018 10:40:59 GMT
As a soccer fan from England I'm interested in the Aussie perception of the true global game. I've watched A league games and they're competitive without being top tier standard, perhaps Championship ( 2nd level) standard, but enjoyable to watch in the soccer off season here. Australia is a proud sporting nation, when I was growing up Aussies dominated almost every sport except soccer. Tennis, Golf, F1, Olympic Swimming,Rugby, Cricket etc. Similar situation to the U.S., but Americans hate the idea of a massive global sport carrying serenely on without them and invested mega bucks forming the MLS, and have made huge strides, and have been rated high in the FIFA rankings. Do Australian sports fans want that for the Socceroos? Or is there just little interest? I read that FIFA would love the World Cup to be held in Australia , but fear the AFL in particular would not cooperate in lending stadiums, adjusting their schedules etc. A pity. Soccer in Australia - is a solid third banana in the estimation of the masses. And always will be. The real, genuine reason why is because the no matter how much huffing and puffing the ‘stakeholders’ and ‘true believers’ do, the A-League is a vastly inferior product to the big European Leagues. Many sports fans - not rusted on soccer fans - follow an EPL side, watch the EPL, CL and the WC - but wouldn’t even contemplate following the A-League, because of its inferiority. The NRL and AFL on the other hand are the top, premium leagues of Rugby League and Australian Football respectively. As for the World Cup in Australia, FIFA had a golden chance to give it to Australia in 2022. Instead they gave it to country that is about the size of Yorkshire, has half the population, is completely desert, and has a questionable human rights record. Oh, but it has cash. Plenty of it in envelopes and suitcases. |
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Post by weststigersbob on Apr 21, 2018 12:43:18 GMT
Wests Tigers lose a tight one against Newcastle by two points via a try in the final minutes. Didn’t deserve the win though. Their forwards were summarily outpointed by the novocastrians.
Souths give Canberra more headaches with a comfortable win, and the Cowboys get a much needed win against a GCT side on its almost inevitable slide.
In the AFL - Saints and Giants had a draw, which is always a good game. West Coast beat Carlton and Geelong over Port, so no real surprises there. Looks like Freo are giving the Bulldogs a touchup.
I’ve always longed for the day when both the AFL and NRL premiers are the same mascot. Never really looked like happening, but this year maybe both Bulldogs might win the wooden spoon......
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Post by hoskotafe3 on Apr 22, 2018 5:49:25 GMT
In another measure of domestic soccer's anonymity, Super Rugby this year has been drawing better ratings. I'm not talking about beating it head to head one time in 3 or 4 like the NBL. I mean regularly and consistently averaging more.
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Post by hoskotafe3 on Apr 22, 2018 18:41:10 GMT
Parramatta got their first win, defeating a Manly side who is really struggling right now 44-10. Their scapegoat Hastings is gone, leaks are coming from the club and all is not well in Brookvale. Sharks beat Penrith 26-22 in the other game, a misleading scoreline as the Panthers scored twice in the last 4 minutes.
In the AFL, Kangaroos had a good win over Hawthorn, jumping out to a 57 point lead and then keeping their cool when the Hawks took advantage of a two man Roos bench to get within 20 in the last. The Roos locked the game down well and then sealed the result with 2 goals. GC17 just held onto beat Brisbane by 5 points in one of the better Q-Clashes. A luckless Brisbane have now played 4 good weeks out of 5 for no wins and two losses of less than a goal.
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Post by hoskotafe3 on Apr 25, 2018 8:12:58 GMT
Just another Pies/ Dragons ANZAC double. Dragons worked hard for their win. Essendon played like Collingwood did most of last year, broke down at half forward every time they looked promising. Scoreboard flattered them when they were down 61, let alone the 46 they lost by. And Richmond flogged a Melbourne team who needs to stay calm and not make wholesale changes. This is a bad year for them. Happens with a young group.
Good bounce back win by the Dragons, needed to get back in the winner's list to avoid a repeat of last year's collapse. Not that it was likely. This group looks made of sterner stuff.
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