blogging it real

Had a bit of free time over Easter (as you've probably noticed and TV is shit) so am checking out what milestones may be reached by players over the course of the year.The obvious one is that Hasim El Masri should barring injury become the alltime leading pointscorer. He currently has 2072 and needs just 105 more to overtake Andrew Johns (2176). He should do it around about round 14 or 15 assuming he picks up around 10 points a game. Not bad for a guy that didn't even have goalkicking duties until his 6th season (because Halligan took them). If he had started off doing it you could probably add about 800 to his tally and you'd be waiting decades for somebody to beat the record. As it is it might be a long time anyway because he should have another year or two after this one unless he's secretly planning to give it away after he breaks the record. Craig Fitzgibbon is the next active player on the list with 1376 going into week two. He's been great for the Roosters. A tackling machine that gets bashed around in the forwards and yet can still line up goal kicks and has banged them over at 77% for his career.Of players in the last 4 decades or so Steven Menzies has 167 tries, which is two more than the try scoring freak Andrew Ettinghausen. Pretty remarkable given Menzies has played the majority of his career in the forwards. Next of the active players is Hasem El Masri on 140 and Nigel Vagana with 137 though with his current injury and rumours of retirement. They lie 6th and 8th respectively with Phil Blake in between. 17 of Blakes tries came for the Warriors in 2 seasons while Vagana netted an impressive 37 in 3 seasons. There's been a pattern to his career. 3 years with the Warriors, 3 with the Bulldogs, 3 with the Sharks and now into his second with the Rabbitohs.For the Warriors Lance Hohaia has 198 points and has played 96 matches. Grant Rovelli has played 50 matches. There are no other records I can see on the horizon. Logan Swann has 36 tries and Wairangi Koopu has 34 tries. They sit 8th and 9th respectively behind Jones (75), Meli (60), Toopi (57), Hoppe (44), Webb (39), Fa'afili (38) and N Vagana (37). They should move past Webb provided they stay fit and get enough game time.

Labels: Hasim El Masri, milestones, nrl, stats

After last week where the best effort I think I saw from any tipsters anywhere was 4 from 8 this week should see a return to form. If not then it may see some early retirements.

No time to elaborate on them tonight. It's poker night.

FRIDAY
Eels vs Knights
Eels by 8. - Eels to bounce back and deal the Knights their first loss of the year in their first game on the road.

Broncos vs Cowboys
Broncos by 13 - Brisbane to continue on their winning ways v a Cowboy team that may be waning.

SATURDAY
Roosters vs Storm
Roosters by 6 - One of the matches of the round. Storm out for redemption (they hardly ever know that losing feeling) while the Roosters will sense their vulnerability and knock them off.

Raiders vs Dragons
Raiders by 12 - Raiders to run them ragged. Dragons earnt themselves a week off (in their minds) after last weeks win and the Raiders are bastards to beat in Canberra.

Titans vs Sharks
Sharks by 6 - Gold Coast will have home ground advantage but the Sharks have eaten that for lunch in Rounds one and two. They'll do the same here and already look good for a top 4 spot come September.

SUNDAY
Panthers vs Rabbitohs
Panthers by 8 Rabbits look ordinary and Panthers look extra ordinary (notice the space). If Panthers don't win this then they are officially the worst team in the comp for the whole year.

Bulldogs vs Tigers
Bulldogs by 4 - Bulldogs to pull tighter after spinning the wheel and deciding it was Maitua's turn to get suspended for drunken stupidity and scrape a seesaw game by 4.

MONDAY
Sea Eagles vs Warriors
Sea Eagles by 8 - Very nasty start to the year for the Warriors and they may just ease off a touch following the win over the Eels. A desperate Sea Eagles side will muscle out a win on the back of a dangerous kicking game.

Labels: nrl, tipping

Matthew Bell despite averaging over 100 in domestic cricket this summer now has the following test scores...

0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 4, 4, 4, 5, 6, 6, 6, 7, 7, 15, 15, 19, 20*, 23, 25, 26*, 28, 29, 40, 75, 83, 105, 107.

The red scores are his comeback scores from this season after a 7 year absence.

In his career as an opener he has been dismissed after facing this many deliveries 1, 2, 2, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 11, 13, 20, 24, 24, 25, 29, 35, 37, 43, 47, 47, 72, 74, 79, 88, 96, 97, 133, 163, 180, 184, 224,

So he's been dismissed 22.5% of the time in the 'first over'.

I guess what I am trying to get at here is that he should not tour England because if he does he will average 20 (if he's lucky, and that will be balls faced not runs) and will contribute strongly to the inevitable 3-0 series defeat.

Another one who will go but perhaps should not is Jamie How.

Test scores of 0, 0, 0, 4, 7, 8, 9*, 11, 11, 26, 33, 37, 39, 44, 92 averaging 22.92.

That's one meaningful contribution from 14 completed innings.

Taylor is a little better but will need to step up massively in ol' blighty.

Test scores of 2, 4, 6, 8, 15, 17, 53, 55, 120 averaging 31.11.

That's just not good enough. One meaningful contribution, two decent ones and six failures.

Once Fleming (39.92) goes our best average will be Sinclair but there's no way on this fucking earth or any other one that he should go. He averages 33.10.

So we could have a graphic come up on screen showing our teams batting averages which has Taylor as our best batsman averaging 31.11. I think the English will shit themselves laughing. Thanks Bracewell for forcing Fleming into retirement. You are a bona fide %^&*$#%.

Labels: blackcaps, bracewell sucks shit, fleming, jamie how, matthew bell, ross taylor

These pricks have long had it in for the Warriors and league in general but tonight they stooped to.... well, their usual level. The Warriors got so pissed with their negative coverage that they basically told them to fuck off. And TVNZ make it pretty plain they have no professional integrity. Probably why I only watch TV3 news and flick back and forwards during sports news time to see the bits I want to.

Guess who was hosting the sports news on TVNZ as well? Andrew Saville, rugby commentator. There's no fucken way he wants to give league the time of day in the current climate with union being so shit, getting ratshit crowds and plummeting tv ratings while year after year the NRL crowds remain stable and increase slightly with TV ratings on the up.

So anyway, what exactly do we get on TV1 tonight?

There were two NRL league games yesterday afternoon/evening. The Warriors win over the Eels and in the later kickoff a huge upset in Melbourne with the Storm going down to the Sharks. And what does TV1 do? Well of course they show the incident which saw a player from each team sent off, show none of the tries or give the score and then cut to a game from Saturday night (two days ago) and show a forearm from a Cowboys player which left Hodgson dazed and the offending player put on report. And that's it. And no mention of the Warriors, post match analysis, nothing, the game finished too late to do it the day before.

TV3 of course does not have any bias and showed the tries from yesterdays games along with the foul play incidents in the Storm v Sharks match, and they have comments from Cleary and Wiki after the Warriors v Eels match.

And then low and behold I flick back to TVNZ and they have a 3 minute piece on the Marist rugby club's centenary which would probably have interested a few thousand people nation wide as a nice filler before they go to the weather. And what the fuck is up with previews of the weather forecast, before, and during the regular news before the usual 5 minute weather forecast. You would swear to god that most nights we could revert to the 30 minute news broadcasts we used to have. Although then they would fill it with 10 minute weather forecasts and 7 minutes of Super 14 highlights to slot in betwen ad breaks.

As I mentioned early. Fuck you TVNZ.

I've sent them a bit of feedback and will see what the response is.

Here's some thoughts I had on tvnz in 2006 to help establish a theme of shitness. That reminds me. I sent the NRL website an email on its shit website because it has a million links, takes a while to load and then slows down the operating of your comp. Not to mention there's so much stuff on the front page that you can't find anything. They never replied. But then they did reply when I told them they had ballsed up their ladder crediting the win to the Panthers instead of the Raiders from Saturday night. Talk about a classic example of the too hard basket, ignore it.

And while I'm on bias, or prejudice or persecution or whatever. Why the fuck are the police conducting check points for registration and warrant at the top of my road every couple of weeks (at least) these days. In 5 years of driving in NZ I think I had been stopped 3 times (in the 1990s). But in the past year I have been through a dozen check points up the road and about 8 of them have been in the last few months. Obviously they are catching people but fuck me, I resent to being checked constantly when I am never checked or never see anybody else being checked anywhere else. Maybe if you try another suburb you'll catch people there too. Although in saying that a mate of mine in another 'poor' part of West Auckland has them in his hood all the time as well.

Brothers just can't get a chance. Might have to go out strapped in future.

Labels: andrew saville, league coverage, TV, TV news, tvnz are shit, weather

Why are the TV channells allowed to have ads promoting themselves? Surely if they can't have ads for anybody else they can't have them for themselves either. I realise that they aren't getting paid to broadcast their own ads but they indirectly make money by advertising themselves, enticing people to tune in to these shows and then getting advertising money as their ratings go up. It all seems a bit shit arse if you ask me. If they can do that then all stores in NZ should be able to open their doors and simply not sell anything. Not many people would bother going into them but there might be the case where people use the day to suss out prices at different stores and buy the next day.

On the whole no-trading friday and sunday it absolutely sucks. I've got quite a bit of stuff to do round the house but haven't been able to do half of it because of the closed policy. I can handle shops being shut on one of those days but why the fuck two and so close together? Jesus would be well pissed off if he couldn't buy timber for that cabinet he was making.

And Sportsfreak is now 0-7 with his picks. Hahahahaha. hang on, I'm 2-5.

Labels: carpenter, easter, jesus, TV

I swear to god, something must have gone on there. The guy hasn't made any bloody runs of note in over 5 years and yet year after year gets picked for "his big chance" and year after year fails, gets dropped, gets reselected, fucks our innings up again and gets dropped. As Martin Crowe angrily joked, if he gets selected for the England tour then he's making a comeback.

In the last 19 completed NZ innings our top 5 and innings totals are as follows:
119/168
113/198
173/311
191/470
115/177
216/393
260/357
165/188
117/136
83/118
90/172
75/130
156/286
113/206
103 (out of 119/5)
78/119
117/283
237/593
(121 for 3)
45/327
26/120

that's an average for our top five of 130. Ordinarily when you are 130 for 5 you might expect to be dismissed for around 230. Our innings totals have averaged at 250 which means our bottom 5 partnerships are netting only 10 runs less than our top 5.

Ideally you might expect a side to be about 250 for 5 and bowled out for 360 or thereabouts but we have been so utterly shit with the bat for so long now its unbelievable. We've told Astle, Styris and Fleming to fuck off and now we are left with a bunch of guys who can't bat to save themselves or anyone else.

The tour to England should be a horror show. A train slamming into an existing train wreck, followed by a logging truck, dump truck and then nuked from above.

And part of it all is Sinclair who has not made a test century since 2001, 21 tests ago. The best he's done in that time is 74. Last time I looked that means HE'S DONE FUCKEN NOTHING TO HELP NZ WIN A TEST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

His test scores from lowest to highest...
0
0
0
0
1
1
2
2
2
3
3
4
4
6
6
7
7
7
8
8
9
9
10
12
17
17
18
19
19*
20
21
23
23
23
24
24
27
29
29
34
35*
36
37
39
43*
44
47
50*
69
74
76
150
204*
214

That is so grim it's not funny. Especially when you consider the bottom 3 scores came in his first 12 tests and in the 20 since he's averaged 21.43 coming in in a position that you should have the best batting conditions.

Labels: blackcaps, can't bat for shit, cricket, innings totals

Open Sesame

Labels: attack, catholic, league, nrl, pope, robot, super 14

I think I'll enjoy my/our lead as it will probably be shortlived as I slip back into mediocrity in the coming weeks. Hell, 5 from 8 is mediocre enough.
I'll expand on my comments which can be found here along with Sportsfreak and League Freak.

FRIDAY
Rabbitohs vs Bulldogs
Bulldogs by 8
"A tough one. The Rabbits may just get an awful start to the year and be back to the dark old days.” I'm definately off to my parents tonight so I can watch these games to actually see what sort of shape the Rabbits, Broncos and Roosters are really in. The Bulldogs showed the same attack that they have had for bloody decades with the likes of Mortimer and Lamb and more recently with a side stacked with flair. But then they also showed that tendency to just fold when the opposition got on a roll. Last week they conceded the biggest lead in their history but they have done the same thing many times, just not been in front by as much. Both sides will have a point to prove and the loser may start to worry a touch, especially since neither team will have left Sydney where its damn hard to pick up any points. I'll go for the Bulldogs but having read good things about aspects of the Rabbits game from week one I'm not in the slightest bit confident. Especially after re-reading my Bulldogs comments/pick from their last game last year.

Roosters vs Broncos
Roosters by 4
"Roosters played well last week v an average Rabbitohs team while the Broncos were on fire but at home and against a team which capitulated.”
Both teams face a similar problem in that they won convincingly in week one but v teams that didn't really turn up. This should be a very good game but I think I'll stick with the home team.

SATURDAY
Panthers vs Raiders
Panthers by 12
"If they can't bounce back from that hammering to beat a gutsy Raiders team who will try hard then they are heading for a shocker of a year.”
If the Raiders start well then they could well take the points but after watching a fair bit of their game v the Knights when I was flicking over during the Sharks - Sea Eagles game and seeing a bit of the replay later all I seemed to see was them defending. Theyw ere doing it well enough but the Knights aren't exactly leathal. The only other thing I have to go on is that the Panthers were attacking the Broncos line with the score at 16-6 and conceded an intercept. If they'd scored and made it 16-12 the game may have gone a slightly different way. Time will tell.

Knights vs Sea Eagles
Sea Eagles by 6
"The Knights will have gained a lot of confidence from last week but I just don't think they have the team to last for 80 v the Sea Eagles.”
That basically sums it all up. Sea Eagles will be desperate to get the ball rolling and this is a game where they can be expected to do that. If not then I'll be stoked.

Cowboys vs Tigers
Cowboys by 14
"The Cowboys should have way too much for a Tigers outfit that beat a ratshit team last week - especially with the bounce back factor that’s so common in the NRL"
Cowboys should win for the same reason that the Sea Eagles should. Plus they are at home. This must be the no-brainer of the week.

SUNDAY
Warriors vs Eels
Warriors by 2
"Somehow the Warriors will grind out a win. I just don't know how yet. I'll tell you after the game.”
After my pick in the Cowboys - Tigers game this pick probably indicates that I indeed have no brain. But we all know that the Warriors can turn it on at home and win more than they lose there. The loss of McKinnon is real bad, as is the loss of Price but they've won with him off at Origin duty before so it's not like they've never missed him. They just need several guys to step up in the forward pack and defend like animals for 80 minutes. Vatuvei not getting near the ball at certain times might help as well.

Storm vs Sharks
Storm by 4
"This will be a very interesting game - fast paced effective football versus slow paced effective football.”
You simply have to pick the Storm at home, but winning at Brookvale is nearly as impressive as winning in Melbourne so maybe the Sharks will have convinced themselves a win is possible. If the Storm don't find a new way of cheating maybe the Sharks could get over the line but I think the Storm will be a bit too clever.

MONDAY
Dragons vs Titans
Titans by 6
"If Nathan Brown didn't fire up the Dragons enough last week they'll never get fired up."
However, I wonder if they have the ability on the park to play the type of game needed. I'm picking the Titans but wouldn't be surprised if the Dragons bounce back to win it by 12 or more. We'll find out about 25 minutes into the game I suspect where many matches start to get blown apart.

25 minutes into round one saw:
Roosters 12 Rabbits 4
Titans 16 Cowboys 6
Bulldogs 8 Eels 0 (err, an exception to every rule)
Sea Eagles 6 Sharks 2 (the way the Sharks were hanging tough and the Sea Eagles were really getting no attacking opportunities was suggesting that an upset was on the cards, especially when they got up 8-6 by halftime).
Raiders 4 Knights 0 (OK, so I've blown this theory out of the water)
Broncos 8 Panthers 6
Tigers 18 Dragons 4
Storm 16 Warriors 6

Labels: nrl, rugby league, tipping

Since I likely won't be near a computer tomorrow, I'd better get my picks in early. In terms of the great NRL intersite tipping competition, I think Yamis is the "official" BIR tipper. But I'll continue to call it like I see it, too, in my unofficial capacity. Both Yamis and I managed 5/8 picks last week, so it's neck-and-neck at this early stage.

But first, the cricket. Winner: whoever bats first.

Now on to the NRL:

Rabbitohs v Bulldogs: Hardly the match of the round. I have a small amount of admiration for the Rabbitohs given their history, and a fairly strong dislike of the Bulldogs, so I'll go with the home team. Rabbitohs by <12.

Roosters v Broncos: How much do I hate the Roosters? Answer = a lot. While they're hardly likely to be a walkover at home, the Broncos should be on a high after their surprisingly strong win over Penrith up in Brisbane in Round 1. Broncos by <12.

Panthers v Raiders: This is some dire shit. Both losers in round 1. I'll pick the Raiders by a nose.

Knights v Sea Eagles: The Knights will probably play well ... for about 15 minutes. The Sea Eagles, on the other hand, can be expected to play well for close to 80. Sea Eagles by 13+.

Cowboys v Tigers: Me, bet against the Cowboys at home? Not friggin' likely. Cowboys by <12.

Storm v Sharks: Yeah, I need to have a think about this one. Oh no I don't. Storm by 13+.

Warriors v Eels: I expect a good home crowd, but the Warriors without Price are going to struggle big time (losing McKinnon was bad enough). Eels by a nose.

Dragons v Titans: I'll pick the visiting team here 'cos the Dragons are pretty crap, and the Titans are showing some promise. Titans by <12.

Labels: league freak, nrl, tipping

It’s getting ugly in Tibet. From the point of view of the exile community, and those who have been on the business-end of Chinese police clubs, it has been ugly for a while.

The Olympics have been boycotted many times. In 1976 in Montréal many African nations boycotted the games over the New Zealand rugby team playing in apartheid South Africa. The 1980 Moscow games were boycotted because the U.S.S.R. went pulling into Afghanistan. And then, the 2nd world boycotted the Los Angeles games in 1984, which saw many countries, such as Canada, claim a record amount of medals.

For the Beijing games, there is certainly enough at stake to call a boycott. There are abuses in Tibet, environmental devastation through out China, and of course China’s non-partisan attitude to purchasing energy from the Sudan. Human and environmental rights are being sacrificed on the altar of progress.

The media has been pushing the point of a boycott. The official response from governments and athletes? “No no don’t boycott, rather the games can be a forum to share and exchange views.” How often do you sit down to share and exchange views during the track and field sessions? Or fencing for that matter? Like seriously, during the triathlon, what’s the goal, ride up alongside the Chinese athlete and discuss the free Tibet movement?

The U.S. and Canada are going to offer some seminars and courses on how to be good ambassadors during the games. Ambassadors, little more than mailmen at the best of times, are often trained to parrot their governments’ agenda rather than build dialogue. For Canada, the policy is clear, “There is only one official government in China.” End of dialogue.

Boycotting Beijing would be about saying “no” to a sponsor, that being the Chinese state, who humiliates and abuses another people. The investment that Beijing has put into the games has been huge, and refusing the Olympics, leaving the stands and fields empty, would be an outstanding message against how China is behaving.

But for the past twenty years Olympic athletes have dropped ball in standing up against sponsors who humiliate. McDonald’s and Coca-Cola were the official food sponsors of the Atlanta games after all. Private corporations are the key sponsors to the Olympics, offering support for the games in exchange for advertising. Already their influence has seen a drastic change in the culture of the Olympics and the acceptance of hyper-consumerism which has time and time again slaughtered human and environmental rights on the altar of progress. And no one, bothered even for a minute to strike a boycott against the influence of corporate sponsors.

“Want to catch the Olympic spirit? Then chew down a McDisaster, wash it back with a Coke, and for god’s sake don’t leave your television for a second…the last thing you would want to do is actually get off your ass and exercise.”

The athletes themselves, upon winning the gold, are no longer true heroes of the sport; they are walking billboards for shoes, shampoo and frighteningly neon power drinks. They don’t criticize their sponsors, they just follow suit, because they don’t want to jeopardize potentially strong economic relations.

In China the message is already clear that athletes and their governments will not criticize their sponsors either, because they don’t want to jeopardize potentially strong economic relations.

The Olympics are a twisted mess of corporatism and nauseating nationalist myth and rhetoric, and to un-mess them, there would have to be a strong, unified movement, starting with the athletes themselves, saying that the right to compete in sport will not rely on unjust sponsorship…no matter if it comes from Beijing, Coke or Shell Oil.

In order to get this movement going it would have to start in Beijing, carry on to Vancouver, and then London…until repressive governments and aggressive corporate sponsors are laid to wayside.

Labels: capitalism, China, Olympics, Tibet

An interesting start to the year.

All the fancied teams didn't do as well as expected while those who were variously written off either won or did better than picked.

I didn't see the Friday night games but the Titans obviously took care of the Cowboys easily enough while the Roosters made fairly short work of the bunnies. My father (the expert) reckons the Rabbits are too light weight in the forwards. I reckon they have too many NZers in their lineup but won't go quite as far as to take a Murray Deaker stance on team selection.

I did manage to see the Eels v Bulldogs which perfectly summed the Bulldogs up. I've written it many times before and they didn't let me down. Only the Bulldogs know how to drop their bundle the second the opposition gets their tail up. They capitulate quicker than the French. Perhaps they should rename themselves the Bullfrogs.

I also saw Ben Cross get ironed out (then bounce off the turf unconscious, then get jumped on and then get smacked with a cheap shot in the head). Seriously, hammering the crap out of a guy in a legit hit is one thing but must players really jump on the guy when its pretty obvious he's not with us. He's not the first and won't be the last. That was a bloody gutsy performance from the Sharks. As long as they can get some more out of their attack (which they will struggle to do given they play with 12 forwards and a goalkicker) then they should make the playoffs on the back of their defence. Although in saying that Gary Freeman had just finished mentioning how the Sharks had the 3rd best defence last year and thats what wins games when I recalled him 5 minutes earlier saying that the Sharks finished in 14th spot. So, yeah, it might be helpful but if you can't score any bloody points yourself you won't win games.

Then there was the wooden spoon matchup between the Raiders and Knights. The Knights looked quite slick at times on attack but couldn't put the Raiders away for ages. Both teams just look too lightweight and don't have the talent in the backs or the forwards to play the style of game they need to. Which was basically the style Tim Sheens had going with the Tigers when they won the premiership a few seasons back. Namely a draw and pass, side to side, hole running type game which I was hoping would revolutionise the game. Unfortunately we went back to the old hitup for three, wide for two style game. Or hitup for 5 and kick that the Sharks use.

Speaking of the Tigers, they put a "disgraceful", according to Nathan Brown, Dragons team away yesterday which is great news. They did it without Benji Marshall who went off after the 3rd minute when he injured his glass body once again. If he's out for the season he will be one more serious injury away from needing to look for a new job. I love it when the Dragons lose.

And then there was the Panthers getting gang banged by the Broncos. I didn't see the full game, only highlights so not really sure how it unfolded but to flag it like the Panthers obviously did indicates that they are not a happy bunch of campers. Look for Elliot to be out of a job in a month or two if that crap gets repeated a couple more times.

And then there's the Warriors who have kicked off v the Storm (Billy Slater has a hat trick after 25 bloody minutes!). I get too nervous listening on the radio as I can't see what is happening so will tune in for a couple of updates and tape it if we win. 1am on Prime just ain't doing it for me.

Incidentally I could do with Prime not changing their scheduling on the same day all the time. It really fucks me off to wait for something all day and find it doesn't come on. And a brickbat for the NRL website as well. It takes forever to load and has so many bells and whistles you can't find what you are looking for. It also slows to a crawl any other sites you may have open.

It's not necessary guys. People want live scoring, results, points tables, reviews, previews and news and thats about it. They don't want player blogs, tipping sections, competitions, flash ads, and one hundred and fifty eight links. That's right, I counted them, their are one hundred and fifty eight links that you can click on and that's no counting the drop down menus under the top banner. My cursor keeps freezing every 10 seconds when in the page and takes 5 seconds to come right again. God help anybody on dialup.

adios amigos

Labels: nrl, nrl website, rugby league

Thanks to the folk at Sportsfreak and my Aussie arch nemesis League Freak (no relation) we have set up an intersite tipping competition which will have our picks for each week and a running tally of them and those of the so called experts who should have an edge with the 'inside oil' they supposedly get (but clearly never pay any attention to).

Check it out and feel free to post your own picks here or there to compare yourself. You never know, if you are dedicated and adept (like us, errr, not) you may get picked up by a franchise for next season.

Last year I came in at 61.9% for the regular season and improved to 62.2% after the finals after picking 7 from 9 during showtime. My comrade dc_red ended the regular season at 60% flat and improved to 60.6% after picking 6 from 9.

I suppose 60% is about a par score. If you simply picked the home team to win every game you'd have scored 57.3% last season so certainly its nothing to write home about. But it's rare for anybody to go over 70%. That's the stuff dreams (and money) are made of.

If you were looking to play it safe I'd recommend the strategy of always picking the home team except for when you have one of the top sides (like Manly or Melbourne last year) playing away from home. But tipping like that's for pussies and we don't support no Panthers or Tigers round here.

Labels: league freak, nrl, rugby league, sportsfreak, tipping

Here’s another foot of rope for John McCain to hang himself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ajm5JTf7jZs

Labels: Iraq, John McCain, Republicans, Somolia, U.S. Elections

Well, well, well, it's that time of the year again. Week one of the real RUGBY league season.

Stay tuned for a bit of a tipping collaboration website starting soon with another site. Details to come soon... just as soon as I cough, splutter, get them myself.

Anyway, lets see what we have to entertain us in round one. I'm only going to 'review' the first game properly as I can't be effed staying up all the night doing the rest.

Friday Night
Rabbitohs v Roosters
This is really anybody's guess, which is saying something for the NRL where every bloody game is anybody's guess. I'll start with the Roosters. Last year the Roosters were mud, until Brad Fittler took over from the quitting Anderson and fired them to within a point of making the top 8. They've signed O'Melley and Big Willie Mason ("Big" describes his body size and is in no way reflective of his brain mass) meaning they have the basis of a bloody tough forward pack. This is a bit unusual for the Roosters who are generally the pretty, rich boy poofs of the NRL. Mason said on the news tonight that nobody likes the Rabbitohs and neither does he. Shame for him that EVERYBODY HATES the Roosters. They also have tackling machine who also goal kicks Craig Fitzgibbon, Anthony Tupou, Danny Nutley and Nate Myles in the forwards which will mean headaches for many sides. They also have a decent backline with Mitchell Pierce (son of Wayne, who my mum used to fancy especially after meeting him in the 80s at an Auckland league awards ceremony) at half and Braith Anastha who is perenial winner of the most over rated player award by his peers. He's actually not a bad footballer though. He's just over rated. And add to them Anthony "the count (cos he looks like the one of Sesame Street)" Minichello, Amos Roberts and Kiwi Sam Perret (that's his legal name) and they'll put some tries on you if your poncing about.

On to the Rabbitohs. Three colours sum up the Rabbitohs again this year. Red, green and ... brown. Let me spell out what I mean: Craig Wing, Roy Asotasi, David Kidwell, David Fa'alogo, Nathan Merritt, Manase Manuokafoa, Jaiman Lowe, Jeremy Smith and Nigel Vagana. And they will be wearing red and green.

I think there's going to be a fair bit of bash and crash first up as the Rabbitohs have some meat in the engine room and the Roosters pack will be out to make a statement (though if Mason makes it nobody will understand what it meant, and will just want to punch him in the face). So I think the game will be won outwide and maybe, just maybe the Roosters have an edge there.

So... Roosters by 10 for me.

Titans v Cowboys
An all Queensland affair here, though the Gold Coast and Townsville probably have some err, subtle differences in terms of demographics.

If it was at NQ then I'd have to pick the Cowboys but down in the slums of the GC I think I may just ... still pick the Cowboys to ruin the suntanned Titanites night. Cowboys by 8.

Saturday
Eels v Bulldogs
Right, by this stage I am probably 0-2 and thankfully barring a bloody disaster can bank on an Eels win because the Bulldogs are imploding before the year even starts. They have a lot of quality players but too much infighting and a lack of intesticular fortitude from the Bulldogs most of the time should see the Eels take it out by 14. But I don't much like either team so I don't give a stuff who wins as long as both sets of fans fight like they usually do to remind us all of how fucking dumb Eels and Bulldogs fans are.

Sea Eagles v Sharks
You've gotta go with the Sea Eagles at home here. They probably are borderline top 4 on paper at best but Dessie Hasler seems to get the best out of them and they are a bloody organised, firing on all cylanders side. The Sharks on the other hand are predicted to make the top 8 in some quarters but even though they are always there or thereabouts I just can't see it with their mediocre backline. Sea Eagles by 13.

Knights v Raiders
If you're picking a game to miss this should be it. The Knights went from being one of the most feared teams in the comp to nothing about as fast as Joey Johns could say, 'I'm qutting and I quite like getting wasted on drugs". You have to go with the Raiders in this game but the Knights will know that a big start is crucial and its a home game v a middle of the road team so I think I'll stick my neck out and say Knights by 4 to get one of their few wins this season.

Sunday
Broncos v Panthers
The Broncos have shed some kgs (ie. Civinoceva to the opposition Panthers) but should still maybe, just scrape out a ... loss. Look for Pritchard and Puletua to do some damage and pip the Broncos by 8 (that's pip, not tip).

Tigers v Dragons
Tigers hopefully by 80.

Monday
Storm v Warriors
Bad start for the Warriors with a fighting 16 point loss after sort of being in the game for 60 minutes. Some skinny fast prick will smoke us near the end to blow the score out. The Storm are a good chance of repeating this year.

and in the Super 14 thank god the Crusaders and Blues are coming home. But I highly recommending avoiding watching any games at all costs unless one of those two teams is involved.

Labels: nrl, rugby league, tipping

It's alright. My wife knows.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=wQymo8lu0kk