Round 7 2012

Life is full of surprises isn't it? Without surprises I think we would become complacent with our lot in life and resign ourselves to the fact that each day would bring a mundane impersonation of the day before and we would end up in a robot-like trance as we meandered aimlessly and listlessly through the years. Thankfully real life is nothing like that, and we don't have time to get used to what we are up to before the next surprise is upon us and we are thrust into the unknown yet again, trying to make sense of things and keep ourselves from being overcome with exhaustion from trying to keep up with all the surprises. In such a surprising world, there can be great satisfaction taken from being the instigator of a really good surprise. As those who took part in the Mothers Day Classic Fun Run on Sunday morning will attest, the Three Legged Houdini took great satisfaction in depositing a steamy brown surprise in the middle of the footpath just after the start of the fun run. The look on her face as she completed the execution of the surprise was one quite opposite to the look on the faces of a few unlucky runners as they narrowly avoided the requirement to get busy with the scrubbing brush and the Glen 20 when they got home. Once it dawned on me that I'd forgotten the poop bag and that I'd have to stand guard over the odour emitting creation I was really appreciating the impact of a surprise. Management was also surprised when we completed the fun run and noticed that I'd lost The Deputy on my travels. He didn't seem surprised and totally backed up my version of events as he was wheeled over the finish line by somewhat surprised defacto family. Management loves a good surprise just like the next person in charge, but she seems to be surprised at the same thing over and over again sometimes. For instance, each Friday night she emits a sound of what has to sometimes be called astonishment ( a sign of a really effective surprise ) when I tell her that yes I do intent to watch the Cats on the tele this weekend. You'd think after almost 10 years together that this would no longer cause any surprised like reaction, but no, it works every week. Also of note was her realisation, and subsequent animated surprise, when I stuck a bit of Saturday Night Fever on the household juke box, and started carving up the lounge room as I did the housework to the falsetto tones of the brothers Gibb. She even went as far as to say that my fervour for 70's disco was the sort of information I should have disclosed to her prior to popping the question, and that she might have taken this information on board when determining if she was prepared to enter into holy matrimony for the remainder of her functioning lifetime. I responded by suggesting that its exactly that sort of surprise that you need to wheel out every now and then throughout the phases of marriage and that it helps keep things up vibe and interesting. I wasn't surprised to be told that if I put this story in the paper and announced that I liked 70's disco I'd lose readers,  Stretch and G would take exception, and Management would crack down on any out of plan behaviour. We'll see how it ends up.

The games were a bit interesting this week with a few very hard to pick. What a big weekend for the boys at GWS and you had to be excited for them when they came home in the last quarter. It was a bad weekend for footy in Queensland though with both teams going down and things looking ordinary. The Tigers roared and I can't wait now until Saturday night to see them take on the Bombers at the G in front of what should be an 80k plus crowd. I'll be there this week to see it first hand, as well as the Friday night blockbuster between the Cats and the Pies. I hope the boys pull up their socks after the insipid performance against a very good crows outfit.

This week I'm tipping the Pies, Hawks, Swannies, Doggies, Bombers, Lions, Blue baggers and the Weagles. The comp is tight with Honkey Nuts skipping away with the 2 game lead . Keep up the good work and chat next week with a bit of a report on the trip to Melbourne.

Cheers

Scotty

Round 6 2012

Round 6 2012

Well what a week its been at our house. First of all Management comes down with the flu and anyone would think that the world was going to end. She went down like she'd been shot. All of a sudden I'm called upon to undertake all manner of household duties usually done by the magic fairies when I'm not around. The way everyone at home was carrying on you would think it's important that the shopping gets done, the kids get fed and bathed, the clothes get cleaned and put away, the bills get paid, the dinner gets cooked and the animals stay outside, not in bed with the kids. Well I usually only have time to eat and go to bed after a hard day at the office so it came as a bit of a shock to me that the magic fairies that usually do all these household chores didn't show up. Not sure what Management has arranged here but there is certainly room for improvement. As you would expect however I handled this change in routine with aplomb and just snuck a day away from the office to catch up on a few loose ends. The Princess had her science experiment at school that I found myself in charge of. I did my best impersonation of Professor Julius Sumner Miller with the old "Why is it so" trick with the hard boiled egg and a bottle. The kids were fascinated with the matches and I'm sure the parents wouldn't have minded about the few extra packets I handed out behind the shelter sheds. The Deputy kept me on my toes as he appears to have taken inspiration from the newest addition to the household, Azrael the cat. While the cat clearly does not like the male of the species, The Deputy has taken to dressing up as "Cat in Boots" and insists on wearing his sisters knee high boots and an old black akubra that I found somewhere. The wonderful staff at Cape Kids were most accommodating but I think he had them bluffed with his Antonio Banderis impersonation and they seemed to miss the sword smuggled in down his boots. Management won't miss another kitchen cleaver Im sure. So all in all, a successful week, picking up the slack of the others around the house that just couldn't seem to handle the intensity when the going got tough. Well then, isn't it typical of a long weekend that after all this, I come down with the worst case of the Man Flu that you or anyone else has ever seen. I have heard of the Man Flu but this is the first time I think Ive had a serious case. Management of course laughed it off but she wasn't laughing for long when she saw the symptoms and heard all about it from me. I lost my voice, I had trouble with my eyes as there was heaps of things I just couldn't see myself doing for a few days, my nose went red and at one stage there I think my nose started to run. It was about that stage that I passed out from the pain and indignity of it all, and when I came to it was Monday afternoon and I'd basically slept for three days. So thats how I missed most of the footy this week.

However, I was conscious enough to catch a few snippets of the weekends round. The Pies and Dogs are only just going and Friday night didn't surprise me much. Gee whizz the Suns were stiff to miss out and you can see that with a few more games under their belt those kids are going t be tough to beat. Im not sure the Dockers are the real thing, I can't see them following Lyons game plan into the last weeks of the finals. The GWS showed a bit as well, but again the round was punctuated by serious injuries. Broken lags and ankles, it will be the next thing that causes a rule change. 

Frances came out on top in the tips this week with 8 and gee isn't it tough at the moment. A heap of 8's made my 7 look ordinary. Ive slipped down the ladder with Maccas09 Sophie Smith and Honkey Nuts leading the pack. This week I've gone for the Hawks, Crows, Suns, Swans, Pies, Bombers to knock off the West Coast North Dockers and Blues. Come down to the oval on Sunday morning at 9am for a bit of Auskick action, should be fun.

Cheers

Scotty

Why Billy Slater is Australia's best footballer

WHY is Billy Slater my choice as Australia's best footballer of any code?

Jon Anderson 

From:Herald Sun 

May 07, 2012

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/special-reports/slater-heading-here/story-fndkwspw-1226348944141

Maybe you needed to be at Skilled Stadium in the pre-season of 2008, when the Geelong coaching staff took the Melbourne Storm boys through some training drills.

There was a bond between the teams given they had won their respective premierships in 2007, plus a friendship between coaches Craig Bellamy and Mark Thompson.

Those watching quickly realised something extraordinary was going on in front of their eyes. Slater, totally foreign to the nuances of an Australian Rules football, was handling the Sherrin as if he’d grown up with it.

 In fact, he may as well have belonged to the Geelong playing list, one that had recently demolished Port Adelaide in the 2007 Grand Final.

“I didn’t train that day but the boys who did were shaking their heads at Billy Slater’s skills,” recalls Cam Mooney, who grew up in Wagga and played a lot of rugby league as a boy.

“Billy is the best rugby player in the world, no doubt. And he would be a cracking AFL on-baller or coming off the half-back flank like Corey Enright.

“With his speed, imagine the tackling. You can see it with Karmichael Hunt now, how much he wants to hurt them.”


Another Geelong player, Andrew Mackie, said his teammates were taken aback by what Slater could do with an Australian Rules football.

“He definitely got the boys talking, I can well recall that,” he said.

Matthew Johns, who played at Test and State of Origin level as a five eighth, had long studied Slater before he realised what separated him from the mere mortals.

It was the final of the Rugby League World Cup between Australia and New Zealand at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane on November 22, 2008.


With the game delicately poised, Kiwi five-eighth Benji Marshall delivered a well-weighted kick forward.

Slater took the ball on the full and quickly ran past four Kiwis but, as he neared the sideline, he chose to throw the ball infield and backwards, much to the delight of Marshall who picked it up and ran over a simple try.

It was a crucial 61st minute moment and pivotal in New Zealand’s 34-20 victory.

Johns remembers seeing Slater not long after the game: “I was embarrassed in that I wasn’t sure what to say,” Johns said.

“Billy had rightfully been awarded player of the series so I congratulated him before saying 'bad luck', obviously about losing the final but mainly about his particular moment.

”You know what, he was actually bubbly. He just said ‘yeah mate, that happens’ and it was then I realised the difference. The greatest ones have no consequences.

“Of course he was hurting but there is a sense of nothing weighing too heavily on him. Sort of ‘I don’t think, I just run and react’.

"Yes, it can be a weakness but it is also one of Billy’s greatest strengths.”

Robbie Kearns, who captained Slater at Melbourne Storm in 2005, shakes his head in wonderment when speaking about Slater.

“An unbelievable player but more importantly a great bloke,” Kearns said.

”Could he play other codes? No doubt, and I do think it would be easier to change from rugby league to Australian Rules than the other way around.”

The moment Australia realised Slater was something right out of the box was the 62nd minute of Game 11 in the 2004 State of Origin series.

With Queensland 1-0 down in the best of three series and playing in front of 52,478 adoring home fans at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, the series was fast going down the drain with NSW leading 12-10

Enter a 19-year-old nicknamed "Billy The Kid". Slater’s teammate Darren Lockyer sent a through ball which Slater burst on to, picked up in one movement before flying downfield, chipping the ball over a NSW defender before re-gathering and scoring. 

“Has there ever been a greater origin try?,” screamed Ray Warren through our television screens. Probably not according to most who witnessed it.

Had he not performed similar feats on a consistent basis since it could have been put down to a freak occurrence, but not so with Slater.

As recently as March 11 this year against South Sydney, Slater swept from nowhere to somehow score an unlikely try, prompting this response from his coach Craig Bellamy: “I find it hard to believe what he did, just to have the pace to get to the corner was remarkable.”

Bellamy elaborated further when asked to name the greatest full back he has seen.

“There was Graeme Langlands, Garry Jack, Graham Eadie, Gary Belcher, but I must say I don’t think I have seen a better full back than Billy Slater. No I haven’t.”

But could Slater adapt to other codes? No worries, according to Bellamy, who has witnessed Slater training with AFL clubs in recent years.

“His kicking maybe wasn't quite as sharp, but the way he carried the ball, found space and contested the ball in the air, you'd swear he played their game," he said.

"We have done sessions with Collingwood, Geelong, and Richmond and their guys were always amazed by Billy's attributes.

“I can't think of any better (all-round footballer in Australia). We know what he can do in rugby league, he could transition to rugby union in a heartbeat and I reckon from what I've seen from him with an AFL ball and looking what a guy like Karmichael Hunt has done he'd pick that up pretty quick as well.

“With soccer there would obviously be a question mark, it is a fairly different skill set, but if he had attempted it earlier I reckon he could have succeeded there as well.”

10 reasons why I rate Billy Slater a cut above the rest:

1: Explosive speed

2: Urgency

3: Consistent brilliance

4: Clean hands

5: Uncanny anticipation

6: Areobic capacity

7: Perfect temperament

8: Unpredictability

9: Power-to-weight ratio

10: Instinctive playmaking

Dragons split like a Goat's Hoof in Townsville

Cowboys roll 12-man Dragons

Written by: Luke Wenitong
May 4, 2012 10:15pm
North Queensland Cowboys have hammered the St. George Illawarra Dragons 30-6 in front of 15,006 fans at Dairy Farmers Stadium tonight.

The Cowboys lit up Dairy Farmers in the first half and with their frenetic start showed themselves to be top four contenders. The match however will probably be best remembered for the sending off of Dragons second rower Matt Prior in the 55th minute. Prior attacked Johnathan Thurston’s head with his elbow, and didn’t miss. The shot was late, high and looked terrible on replay. Referee Tony Archer had no hesitation in sending Prior from the field. Thurston eventually regained his feet but was taken from the field in a sensible move with his side up by 16 at the time.

The Cowboys welcomed back international prop and skipper Matt Scott and it was he and his fellow forwards who laid the platform in a completely dominant first half from the Cowboys. Their endless energy and speed in both attack and defence surprised the Dragons who looked lethargic after a longer than normal break post their heroics on Anzac Day. Ray Thompson opened the scoring for the Cowboys in just the 2nd minute after quality lead up from Thurston and Origin hopeful Brent Tate who must be enjoying playing one position closer to his five-eighth Thurston this season.

Thurston then kicked a penalty goal to make the score 6-0 in the 10th minute and was immediately in the thick of it 3 minutes later with an inside ball to Matt Bowen opening up the Dragons again. Continuing his scintillating form in the opening stanza it was Thurston who found room in a set play to hand it to Bowen in space and he found Kane Linnett who was too strong close to the line. Then came one of the tries of the season as backup rake James Segayaro busted through from inside his own half, sized up the situation and kicked a long looping kick out to Brent Tate who miraculously regathered and touched down while in the air and well over the sideline but somehow still off the ground. After the usual 33 replays video ref Russell Smith awarded a benefit of the doubt try to Tate.

The Cowboys went to half time leading 22 nil and the game looked to be over until the Dragons produced their own contender for try of the year. Dragons’ winger Jason Nightingale was put away down the right touchline and, seeing his support players blocked he left foot banana kicked perfectly for Brett Morris to score. The Dragons tried hard after that and despite the sending off of Prior were good defensively. It was the Dargons attack that was a little off kilter tonight. NSW origin hopeful Tariq Sims then scored the final try of the game from a Ray Thompson grubber that made the final score 30 points to 6 to the Cowboys.

The Cowboys head to Newcastle next Saturday to face the Knights in what should be a huge clash at Hunter Stadium, while the Dragons have a ten-day layoff to lick their wounds before they face the Panthers at Centrebet Stadium in Monday night footy.

http://www.leagueunlimited.com/article.php?newsid=22664

The Big Question Everyone Wants Answered..

Has the AFL season commenced yet?

I know the NRL is pulling in the ratings and has captivated the nation though all I have heard of the AFL is some vague information about an axe/machete attack and some racist responses.. Oh yeah and apparently the A-League will soon have a Western Sydney team.

Can someone tell me what is happening? Anyone?

Round 1 2012

Footy Wrap 2012 Round 1

The weather in Weipa is recognizing the change of season from cricket to footy wonderfully well and is throwing in a bit of southwestern Victoria winter to get us in the mood. I reckon this is a bit of an omen for the year ahead and the team most suited to these sorts of conditions will be well set for success. If that is the case then it bodes well for the catters as the conditions at Kardinia Park can be somewhat cyclonic at the best of times. This year the depths of June and July are going to test the team wearing white shorts when they travel to the cattery as the old Doug Wade nee Hickey Stand is no more, demolished to allow the construction of stage 3 of the ground redevelopment. Just to make clear what that means, teams kicking away from the city end of the ground will experience something close to kicking towards a gale forced Antarctican blizzard whilst wearing shorts and thongs. It aint going to be pretty footy, and hopefully the cats get their eye in on how to handle the conditions the best.

So another year of tipping and footy watching is upon us. I stewed over taking on the writing responsibilities again this year, as it’s a big job, one that takes time and needs some inspiration. On reflection of 2011 I thought what a good year we had, a few good stories went in the Bully, I came out OK in the tips, and the Cats got up to top it off. Maybe I should quit while I’m ahead. The last few weeks, however, have swayed my judgment. Management has been nothing short of inspirational and in fact quite prolific in dishing up the sorts of content that we all need to read about to keep us sane. The Princess and The Deputy are another year older and a bit crazier also and are sure to entertain. There’s also likely to be a steady stream of characters, old and new, to keep us on our toes. So, here we go again, we’ll try and keep you up to date dear reader with the wrap of the week in football, which of course includes a bit of a wrap of the week in the household. Lets see if we can all stay out of trouble.

Truth be known I was thrown off a bit this week with the season starting a week early. Izzy and the Giants will make their long anticipated debut this week against the Bloods in Harbour Town. This will be exciting to see and hopefully they pull a decent crowd first up. Unfortunately they’re playing at the Olympic Stadium, which must be the most uninspiring, and atmosphere lacking ground in the country. I saw AC/DC there a couple of years ago and even Angus struggled to light the place up. I hope the crowd turns up and we get a good kick-start to the season. I have to say though the best thing about the Giants this year will be their ad on the tele featuring the Stevie Wright song “I got the Power”, love it. The boys will struggle, a bit like the Suns last year, and should have last safely secured before the season even starts. Speaking of songs, how good is the new AFL ad with Long Way to the Top belting out? Gets the hairs standing up on the back of the neck for sure.

The rest of the season starts next week so get on line, get your tips in for this week so you don’t miss the start and hopefully we get a good response this year with some great prizes on offer again. Thanks to all the sponsors last year and this year and thanks to the Bully for organizing such a good comp. Get on board. Happy tipping.

Maca

Bring it on my friends