Posted by Rooster on April 27th , 2009 under AFL | 
There a two standout games this weekend with Hawthorn and Carton going head to head with both clubs needing to answer to their critics. Hawthorn were less than convincing after a win against a bottom 8 side in the Eagles where they should have stretched the winning margin out alot more than 18 points.
The St Kilda V Bulldogs game is the match of the round with both teams destined to do well in 2009. This will be the biggest test for the Saints this season and the result will show if they can match it with the big teams after a perfect start to the year.
AFL Tip of the Week: For all the punters my tip of the round is Hawks, West Coast and Adelaide to win in a multi that at IASbet will pay around $6.30. You can place this bet on at IASbet and get a $100 free bet when depositing $50 or more. Read more of this article »
Posted by Crooksy on April 26th , 2009 under Cricket, Sports Betting News |
Don’t you just love it when the Poms start whingeing…especially if its about Australian cricketers in an Ashes year.
Just a couple of months out from the Ashes and the verbals have begun already, with Australia well and truly taking the early upper hand.
Last month English cricket officials were bemoaning the fact that some Australian cricketers were being allowed to fine tune their preparations for the Ashes by playing County cricket during April and May.
Hughes Impresses In Debut
They now have a legitimate reason to be upset – in his English debut at the hallowed grounds of Lords, Macksville’s favourite son Philip Hughes has announced himself to the English cricket community with a commanding century for Middlesex in their first innings against Glamorgan. Read more of this article »
Posted by Crooksy on April 24th , 2009 under Rugby League |
Round 7 of the NRL kicks off tonight with a couple of fairly unexciting games - Brisbane take on the Eels and and The Sharks are looking for a win against the Rabbitohs. The game of the round should be the annual ANZAC Day clash between the Sydney Roosters and the St George-Illawarra Dragons.
Brisbane vs Parramatta at Suncorp Stadium
Parramatta could not have looked any worse last week against the Bulldogs, especially in the second half where they were expected by many to take advantage of the relatively short rest period the Dogs had after their previous Monday night game.
The exact opposite was the case with the Dogs storming home for a huge win over the Eels, further shortening their odds to take out the wooden spoon this year. Read more of this article »
Posted by Crooksy on April 22nd , 2009 under Rugby |
The past couple of weeks have seen a fairly dramatic turnaround in the Super 14 competition. Teams that looked to be cruising have stumbled and the middle of the pack teams have lifted their performances to the point where there is now only 5 points separating the top eight teams on the ladder.
Early on two of the hot team to watch were the Waratahs and the Sharks, with the latter being especially dominant and looking for all intents like they would clearly finish ahead of the pack.
Fast forward to the present and how the mighty have fallen. The Waratahs have slipped from second on the ladder to sixth faster than the dogs at Dapto, and with a tough three game stretch in South Africa to close out their campaign are actually eighth in the betting to win the tournament this year.
The Sharks have slipped to second on the table with all the signs indicating that this downwards move may be just the beginning. They have some tough games ahead including the Bulls and the Waratahs and will be looking over their shoulder for the rest of the season as they desperately attempt to cling on to their top four spot. Read more of this article »
Posted by Rooster on April 21st , 2009 under AFL |
Round 5 has some great games starting with the Port V Saints, both teams are going better than expected and will be a big test for both teams. The Bulldogs V Blues game will also be another to watch with both teams having start studded lineups and exiting game styles. We should see what Carton is truly made of after that match.
Here are my predictions for Round 5
Read more of this article »
Posted by Crooksy on under Cricket, Rugby League |
I was watching the Sunday afternoon rugby league game yesterday, and being a long time Bulldogs supporter (and Eels hater) I have to admit I was pretty happy with the punishing the Dogs dished out. They are having a great start to the season and have won as many games in the first six rounds of the competition as they managed to win in all of 2008.
One of the keys reasons for this success has been the signing of veteran Brett Kimmorley. He is having an obvious impact on the field, and if you listen to the reports and read the players comments there is no doubt his presence off the field has also had a positive impact at the Belmore club.
Love/Hate Relationships In Sport Read more of this article »
Posted by Crooksy on April 19th , 2009 under Cricket |
The second running of the Indian Premier League has begun with the first two matches of the tournament being played over night in the temporary host country of South Africa. Last years defending champions the Shane Warne led Rajasthan Royals were demolished in their first hit out against the Bangalore Royal Challengers, while in the other match the Tendulakar led the Mumbai Indians to victory over the Chennai Super Kings.
Shaun Tait Forced To Withdraw…By Cricket Australia
The major news out of the first match – apart from Warne’s team recording the lowest ever score in the short history of the tournament – was that Cricket Australia has forbidden Shaun Tait from playing for his club The Royals, ordering him to spend more time recovering from the hamstring tear he suffered in February. Read more of this article »
Posted by Crooksy on April 18th , 2009 under Rugby League |
In the two games of rugby league played last night it was the clubs from north of the border that asserted themselves in strong showings over quality opposition to move to the top of the NRL ladder.
Brisbane vs Penrith
At the start of the season their was conflicting arguments about how the Broncos would perform with the loss of their long time mentor Wayne Bennett. Many insisted there would be a slump, others stated that there is too much quality in the team for this to be the case.
Their loss to Bennett’s Dragons further fuelled this debate, but so far that has been their only loss this season and their victory over Penrith last night, while far from convincing, was enough to show they will be contenders this year.
Early on they showed their attacking flair as they jumped out to a 24-6 lead at the end of the first half and looked for all money like they would rack up a big win. Read more of this article »
Posted by Crooksy on under Soccer |
The FA Cup semi-finals are set to be played this weekend, and with three of the four teams still involved in the Champions League it has been a pressure filled week for these clubs.
Arsenal vs Chelsea
Both of these teams were involved in Champions League quarter final action mid-week and managed to progress to the semi-final stage of that tournament so it will be interesting to see who comes through and plays the better football in the first of the FA Cup semi-finals.
Of the two teams, Chelsea definitely had the tougher Champions League opponent where they had to fight off an extremely spirited Liverpool to progress through to the semi-finals of Europe’s top competition.
Arsenal on the other hand had a home game against Spanish team Villareal and were convincing in their 3-0 victory. Read more of this article »
Posted by Crooksy on April 16th , 2009 under Cricket |
The Aussie cricket team has created huge headaches for anyone trying to gauge their form over the past month in an attempt to pick results in their matches. The only consistency to their performances has been in their inconsistency.
They recently arrived in South Africa as fairly large underdogs to win the test series which was fair enough after losing at home to the Proteas just a month earlier. They had managed to claim the third test which was a dead rubber, but no one seriously thought that meant they had turned things around and were ready to bounce back.
Which they of course did as soon as they arrived in South Africa where their performances in the first two tests saw them cement their number one test ranking and claim a series win.
Heading into the third test you’d have been forgiven for thinking the Aussies were back and the Africans may have been a little down. Read more of this article »
There a two standout games this weekend with Hawthorn and Carton going head to head with both clubs needing to answer to their critics. Hawthorn were less than convincing after a win against a bottom 8 side in the Eagles where they should have stretched the winning margin out alot more than 18 points.
