Category Archives: Sports

Weekend musing – EPL, St Totteringham’s Day, AFL, Essendon faithful, Shot Clock, Jack Gunston

Chris Barwin HillsThe EPL season has now concluded and Leicester City won the crown by a whopping ten points. Arsenal, who by many measures had a disappointing season, sneaked into second spot. The Foxes arsenallost only three games for the season and two of those games were to Arsenal. It just shows that with Arsenal finishing second on the back of a disappointing season, how disappointing the seasons of Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United were. Man U has the chance to at least secure some silverware this season in the FA Cup which may also save the job of Louis Van Gaal. One final comment on the EPL and that is Arsenal couldn’t have waited much longer to celebrate St Totteringham’s Day!

It was interesting to see the Bombers get cheered off after an honourable loss last week and a lot of people have suggested that this may have never happened before, however, I was at a game at Windy Hill in the late 1980s or early 1990s when they applauded the team from the ground. Essendon was playing West Coast and watsonsustained about five or more injuries during the game and I remember Michael Long having to go back on the field with a shoulder injury and he may have even had his arm inside his jumper to protect it. West Coast won by a couple of goals and the Bomber faithful were so impressed with the effort in the face of adversity that they were clapped from the ground. I still remember a couple of West Coast supporters jumping up and down when the siren went and then going quiet when the Essendon crowd started clapping their team. After this game Kevin Sheedy embarked on one of his quests to expand the interchange bench which was ultimately successful.

There has been a lot of discussion about the shot clock in the AFL and what they can do to avoid the situation that was faced a couple of weeks ago when Mason Wood iced the clock to ensure North’sfevola victory. The thirty seconds allowed to shoot for goal was introduced to try and force the likes of Brendan Fevola and Matthew Lloyd to not take up too much time preparing to have a shot for goal. I always thought this was a massive over reaction as the umpires have the right to call play on at their discretion anyway. My suggestion would be to do away with the thirty second rule and hand the discretion back to the umpire.

Football players are sought after commodities to promote products gunstonin the media, particularly at this time of the year. Some are cut out for it and some are completely hopeless. Jack Gunston from Hawthorn does a number of radio advertisements and I would suggest he falls into the latter category. His ads are that lame I often turn the radio off so I don’t have to listen to him. Stick to what you are good at Jack.

Have a great weekend!

Gelding’s red hotties for Caulfield, Scone and Doomben on 14 May 2016

Mar 13 2011 021The Gelding’s attention is divided into three today with interests in Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland. The great unknowns are the tracks. At Caulfield racing has been all over the place lately
and at Scone…..who knows the race pattern.

As always the bets are on an each way and all up basis.

Caulfield

Race 1 Horse 5 – Raw Impulse (also for the ladies at the Tennis club)
Race 2 Horse 1 – Blue Tycoon
Race 8 Horse 7 – Belesron

Scone

Race 5 Horse 1 – Spill the Beans
Race 6 Horse 2 – Music Magnate
Race 7 Horse 8 – Peace Force

Doomben

Race 7 Horse 11 – Japaniese (also for the ladies at the Tennis club)

Good luck and good punting!

The Gelding

Weekend musing – Eddie Maguire, Collingwood FC, Nathan Buckley, Mick Malthouse

Chris Barwin HillsIt was interesting to hear Eddie Maguire had considered giving up the Collingwood presidency after last weeks loss to Carlton. I am maguireglad he didn’t resign and while I am quite prepared to criticise Eddie, I must say he is not only good for Collingwood, I think he is also good for football. He has a profile which goes beyond Melbourne and beyond football. Once he does give up the Collingwood presidency, the AFL should have a think about how they could use him to promote football. A bit like getting Kevin Sheedy to be the inaugural coach of GWS, there would be a role somewhere there for “Eddie Everywhere”.

Sticking to the Collingwood theme it was also interesting to hear Unknown-3Mick Malthouse suggest that he thought that Collingwood was on the verge of a mini-dynasty when he left. From what I have heard there has been no support for this assertion. While I consider that they may have Unknown-2done better in 2012 with Mick than Bucks, that does not constitute a mini-dynasty. Mick obviously subscribed to the Richmond/Hafey/Sheedy philosophy that every team needs a few mavericks and it just a matter of how you manage them. Buckley obviously does not subscribe to that philosophy and got rid of some of the players that would have kept them up there longer.

Have a great weekend!

Gelding’s red hot tips for Flemington and Rosehill on 7 May 2016

gelding2The Gelding’s attention is split today between Flemington and Rosehill and after a reasonable day on the punt last week he is looking to improve today.

As always the bets are on an each way and all up basis.

Flemington

Race 1 Horse 1 – Merriest
Race 2 Horse 8 – Rib Eye
Race 5 Horse 7 – Supido (for the ladies at the Tennis club)

Rosehill

Race 5 Horse 11 – Zara Bay
Race 6 Horse 2 – God’s in Him (also for the ladies at the Tennis club)
Race 8 Horse 11 – Daysee Doom

Good luck and good punting!

The Gelding

Weekend musing – Chautauqua best sprinter in the world, Leicester City champions and more

Chris Barwin HillsGreat to see Chautauqua salute in Hong Kong last weekend. The horse relies on a powerful finishing burst which can leave him chautauquavulnerable as we found out in the Newmarket Handicap, but there is no doubt that he is the best sprinter in the world at the moment. It is a bit of a shame that he didn’t pull up well enough to go to England to race at Ascot, but I fully appreciate the reasoning behind the decision not to race there.

With Leicester City being crowned the champions of the EPL I was trying to think of similar sporting success stories, but it is hard to come up with anything that comes close to this. Collingwood won the foxeswooden spoon in 1976 and then lost the Grand Final the following year in the replay, but even a win such as that may not have been as monumental. Leicester City faced relegation last year and overcame the odds to win this year and the EPL very much favours the wealthy clubs. What has been lost a bit in the celebrations is that Tottenham were the only side left to put pressure on the Foxes and they are certainly not fixtures in the top four of the EPL. If Leicester City was 5,000-1 to win the League, what price was the quinella?

I have noticed that a number of print journalists are now featured in barrettdifferent AFL football shows, both radio and television and at times I
think that they believe they are the story! One who I think takes himself a bit too seriously and produces a lot of non-stories is Damien Barrett, but he is not alone by any means.

Have a great weekend!

Gelding’s red hotties for today’s Caulfield and Hawkesbury meetings

MarkThe Gelding’s attention is split again today as he looks at fields at his home track at Caulfield and also at Hawkesbury. After last week’s ordinary day on the punt, he is looking to bounce back quickly.

As always the bets are on an each way and all up basis.

Caulfield

Race 1 Horse 2 – Antelucan
Race 2 Horse 7 – Zahspeed (for the ladies at the Tennis club)
Race 4 Horse 3 – KayJay’s Joy

Hawkesbury

Race 2 Horse 6 – Hipparchus
Race 6 Horse 4 – Peace Force
Race 8 Horse 2 – Handfast (also for the ladies at the Tennis club)

Good luck and good punting!

The Gelding

Weekend musing – Fremantle Dockers demise, A-League finals fixturing & Alex Rance

Chris Barwin HillsThis time last year the Fremantle Football Club were the only undefeated team in the AFL, this year they are the only team not to win a game. What has happened? One of the reasons is personnel, they are an aging list and some of their key players are injured, but thefyffe main issue looks to be a change of game plan. It would seem they are trying to play more in the Hawthorn style, but unfortunately they don’t have the skill to execute that type of play. Their negative, lock down style of play got them to a Grand Final and save for a bout of stage fright and poor umpiring, they could easily have won that game, why change? I think they should revert to the style of football that made them successful. It may not be pretty, but it worked.

I have also got to have a say about the scheduling in the A-League. Melbourne City were scheduled to play after a five day break and while the best team on the night won the match, the fatigue factor Melb citycertainly influenced the margin. Then you had Brisbane who had played on the previous Friday playing on the Sunday. Why didn’t Brisbane play on the Friday and Melbourne on the Sunday which would have been the fairest outcome. To compound the issue, the grand finalists have also been mismatched by the schedule with Adelaide playing at home on an eight day break playing the Wanderers on a six day break. At least in the AFL each side gets a seven day break leading into the final match of the season. How do you take a competition seriously with scheduling like that for a marquee game? By the way, I don’t care who wins this final.

I know that a lot of other people have commented on Mick Malthouse’s comment that Alex Rance should have been let off by the AFL Match Review Panel on the basis of his good character, but IUnknown-2 could not let it pass without comment. What Rance did may have been out of character, however, he still did it and it was intentional. To excuse someone in that situation would be a total miscarriage of justice. Did it deserve 2 weeks? Maybe one would have been sufficient on the basis of impact/injury, but a suspension was definitely required. Good character may lead to a reduced sentence, but guilt is guilt.

Have a great weekend!

Gelding’s tips for today’s Caulfield and Rosehill meetings

AFL season launchThe Gelding’s attention is divided today between his home track at Caulfield and Rosehill. After last week’s lean outing he is looking to get back into the winner’s list today.

As always the bets are on an each way and all up basis.

Caulfield

Race 2 Horse 6 – Grey Street
Race 3 Horse 5 – Raw Impulse (for the ladies at the Tennis club)
Race 6 Horse 3 – Backstreet Lover

Rosehill

Race 2 Horse 7 – Gretna
Race 5 Horse 8 – Chandana
Race 9 Horse 10 – Mogador (also for the ladies at the Tennis club)

Good luck and good punting!

The Gelding

Weekend musing – Sportsmen and alcohol, drawn AFL Grand Finals

Chris Barwin HillsI was thinking about Grant Hackett this week and how he now joins a burgeoning list of sportsmen who should refrain from drinking. I understand the incident itself may have been blown out of hackettproportion and has been sensationalised as seems to happen these days to sell papers. Hackett is in good company with the likes of Brendan Fevola, Robert Allenby, David Warner, Mitchell Pearce and any number of rugby league and union players. Most of these people are reasonable types who just don’t seem to be able to handle their grog. There is no doubt they should find other ways to relax!

I must say I think the move to drop the AFL Grand Final replay in the event of a draw was the correct decision. It may have been OK in the old VFL days when teams were all situated in Victoria but now with the national competition, imagine if Brisbane were playing Fremantle drawin the Grand Final and they had to come back the following week. It would be just too difficult. In addition, it would be unfair if a Melbourne based team were playing an interstate team.

What I do not agree with is the pundits who suggest the same should apply to a draw in the regular season games. A draw is an unusual outcome and I agree it does leave everyone a bit flat, but it is a arsenallegitimate result and history does not need to be changed just because some want a winner and a loser at the end of each game. Soccer is the most popular football game in the world and a draw is a common occurrence. Imagine if the same ‘sensibility’ applied to that game?

Have a great weekend!

Gelding’s red hotties for Randwick on 16 April 2016

sean & geldingThe Gelding’s attention remains in Sydney this Saturday and after the last few weeks, is there any wonder with that decision. He is in close to career best form at the moment, especially for the ladies at the Tennis club.

As always, the bets are on an each way and all up basis.

Randwick

Race 2 Horse 3 – Santa Ana Lane
Race 3 Horse 1 – Old North
Race 4 Horse 1 – Pearls (for the ladies at the Tennis club )
Race 6 Horse 6 – Speak Fondly
Race 7 Horse 6 – Press Statement (also for the ladies at the Tennis club)

Good luck and good punting!

The Gelding