sidelined

One positive aspect of the Sonny Bill imbroglio is that attention has been turned to what the NRL needs to do to strengthen the game. Some pundits (Andrew Johns for example) have argued that Perth and Adelaide need to included in the competition. However, this would be a huge mistake for the NRL. Now before [...]

This is the busiest time of my year - the time when all the deadlines I have ever had coalesce, whilst working three jobs, and being a single parent (my now ex-partner ALWAYS goes away at this time). And then there’s the only real reason to live, finals football.
66%/$1.57 Power Eagles $2.35/34%
30%/$2.25 Hawks Crows $1.60/70%
25%/$2.02 [...]

Here it is …
(62%) Magpies Crows (37%)
(17%) Tigers Saints (83%)
(93%) Eagles Bombers (7%)
(23%) Lions Cats (76%)
(91%) Power Dockers (9%)
(57%) Swans Hawks (42%)
(15%) Bulldogs Kangaroos (85%)
(78%) Demons Blues (21%)
I tipped all the away teams, with the solitary exception of the Power-Dockers game. Looks like I’m home with the Crows versus Pies games. Of course, Essendon won’t [...]

I’ve long been critical of sporting journalists reluctance to tackle the hard stories in sport, now we see why with the AFL players refusing to deal with match broadcaster Chcnnel 7 in a dispute over recreational drug use in the sport.
Talks fail to heal rift with Seven.
PEACE talks between the AFL, the AFL Players [...]

Well at least it wasn’t a rent boy in a public toilet.
Johns caught with ecstasy.
The former rugby league star Andrew Johns has admitted that he was arrested for possession of an ecstasy tablet in London, but has blamed an “unknown person” for pushing it in his pocket at a notorious inner-city bar.
Johns has nonetheless described [...]

On Facebook I guess!!
Here are my tips
(31% / $1.95) Saints Eagles ($1.78 / 69%)
(13% / $5.50) Blues Kangaroos ($1.13 / 86%)
(92% / $1.14) Dockers Demons ($5.25 / 8%)
(40% / $2.30) Magpies Swans ($1.57 / 59%)
(70% / $1.38) Crows Lions ($2.90 / 29%)
(23% / $3.00) Bulldogs Hawks ($1.36 / 76%)
(88% / $1.18) Cats Power ($4.40 / [...]

(72%) Magpies (11.15 81) Demons (9.16 70) (28%)
(76%) Bombers (18.10 118) Blues (16.12 108) (24%)
(73%) Saints (19.12 126) Dockers (14.12 96) (27%)
(47%) Lions Swans (53%)
(96%) Eagles Tigers (4%)
(80%) Hawks Power (20%)
(18%) Kangaroos Cats (82%)
(87%) Crows Bulldogs (12%)
It’s a tight game, but I’m happy to say that it’s been a good week’s tipping for me so [...]

Here they are - and the shock defeat of Collingwood by the Magpies is the only one I’ve dropped thus far, with Geelong overcoming Adelaide and Essendon yet to play.
(9%) Tigers (18.8 116) Magpies (14.12 96) (91%)
(57%) Hawks (17.13 115) Lions (13.13 91) (42%)
(95%) Power (17.13 115) Blues (14.9 93) (5%)
(11%) Demons (19.15 129) Bulldogs [...]

As a cycling tragic I took great interest in this piece written by Jason Akermanis on the subject of doping in the AFL, and not just any doping, but the kind that professional cyclists love, blood boosting via EPO or transfusion.
As a top-level professional athlete, you see certain things that leave you bemused. Some people [...]

So, I’ve got a measly 79 and the punters are on 88 - it’s not looking good for me, with just four rounds to go. But then, you can make up ground in the finals. Anyway, here’s the week;
(28% / $3.30) Bulldogs Saints ($1.32 / 71%)
(11% / $5.50) Blues Magpies ($1.12 / 89%)
(97% / $1.04) [...]