June Breather

Despite our best intentions, our coverage for the NRL 2012 has again hit a snag...but its an exciting snag. We are heading to the USA and will return on the end of June. Hopefully loyal readers will return at the end of June to check out how invigorated we are when we get back

Cheers
Curly

AFL Review Round 8

The top 3 teams continued to win over this round and it’s a bit of a logjam for remaining teams in the 8 and a couple just outside. Teams that will fight for top 8 positions and scheduled to play teams like Melbourne, Gold Coast and the Giants twice this season will have a distinct advantage over those teams not playing them two times. That fixture virtually gives them 12 premiership points and some handy percentage! It will be interesting to see how that unfolds over the latter part of the season.

Collingwood 14.12.96 defeated Geelong 11.18 .84

The Magpies seemed to have this game in keeping until about halfway through last quarter when Geelong took advantage of an almost full Collingwood injury bench.

AFL Preview Round 8

Meanwhile, back at the AFL: I was looking at the injury lists for clubs earlier today and I was sort of surprised at the number of knee injuries that results in that player missing the whole season. The current count is 11 AFL players out for the season. Is that inordinately high or is that the norm? I know there have been some scientific tests done on this but they didn’t come up with any concrete reason. Sure the game is getting faster but you have to admit that with all the old suburban ovals a thing of the past and games played only at quality venues blaming the ground probably cannot be justified. Also it's not just the season the player is injured in that he misses but probably half the following season he spends trying to build confidence in using the repaired knee. Somebody could win the Nobel prize by inventing some sort of unbreakable knee ligament or even better still all AFL players have a compulsory, bionic knee transplant prior to signing their playing contract!

Collingwood versus Geelong at the MCG Friday night

No need to mention that this is the replay of last year's grand final (but I have) and it's the

Blues Looking Ok!

Well the Blues have laid down the gauntlet and picked a great squad of 17 to go against the might of the Maroons. He has picked a squad designed to unsettle Qld led by the might of Paul Gallon and chock full of form players. Tony Williams, Jamie Buhrer, Todd Carney are inspired selections while Michael Jennings and Mitchell Pearce will do what is best for the Blues.

The squad is:

NSW squad (in alphabetical order): Greg Bird, Jamie Buhrer, Todd Carney, Ben Creagh, Robbie Farah, Paul Gallen (capt), Jarryd Hayne, Michael Jennings, Luke Lewis, Trent Merrin, Josh Morris, Mitchell Pearce, Brett Stewart, Glenn Stewart, James Tamou, Tony Williams, Akila Uate.

NRL Round 10 (2012) Teams, Stats and Predictions

For the best NRL teams, stats and Predictions, click below


NRL Round 10 (2012) Teams, Stats and Predictions

AFL Preview Round 7

AFL Update: The fortunes of a few of the AFL teams that will finish in the top 4 or 5 rests on their ability to be able to field a full side devoid of injuries. Last year's grand finalists Collingwood have already lost 3 of their better players to long-term injury. West Coast Eagles find themselves in a similar position having lost Nicoski, LeCras and Kennedy to long term injuries. The loss of Goodes for Sydney Swans, although not long-term, will affect them over the next few weeks. History has shown that the team finishing in the top 4 with the least amount of injuries has a great chance of making it to the grand final.

AFL Preview Round 6

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AFL News: What have we learned from the season so far as we head into round 6? It seems that Sydney is far better than we had ever thought and maybe Hawthorn is not. Grand finalists Collingwood and Geelong are slowly working their way up the ladder after average starts. West Coast is looking like grand final material if they can withstand any more injuries, as is Carlton. The middle of the road teams will no doubt sort themselves out over the next 10 weeks.

Western Bulldogs V Friday night at Etihad

It's hard to make a strong case for the Western Bulldogs to beat Collingwood. The Pies won an enthralling encounter with Essendon last week on Anzac day and maybe it was that win that will put them on the road to recovery. The Bulldogs have not been a very impressive so far and it is expected that they will struggle to beat Collingwood. To further strengthen the Magpies’ case there will be a return from injury by some star players such as Thomas, Didak, Reid and Shaw.

Collingwood by 36

NRL Round 9 (2012) Teams, Stats and Predictions

The Best NRL Teams, Reviews follow the link below


NRL Round 9 (2012) Teams, Stats and Predictions