THE RED ROOSTER

On the opening post point, IIRC the school game starts normally well before the bulk of the fans come in. I agree three full games is one too many. No disrespect to the 1895 teams fans, but I am there for the Women's game and the Challenge Cup Final then I have a home to go to (and not by e-scooter either before someone asks)

Winners - Manly Sea Eagles, New Zealand Warriors, Penrith Panthers, Brisbane Broncos, Newcastle Knights, South Sydney, Paramatta Eels, and Canberra Raiders Points - 362 Home wins - 4 Poll - 3 or 4 Two late suspensions of note Jack DeBelin (SGI) and Valentine Holmes (NQ)

This round round throws up six bat-flip games to start the Round The Squeaky Six Sydney Roosters v Manly Sea Eagles - Given the Roosters season some players ought by now to realise they are playing for their future at the club. As for the Turboiless Silvertails. the only good thing about that club is the Manly Sea-Birds. I'll leave it there... Gold Coast Titans v New Zealand Warriors - Upset alert - I would not have given the Titans a price against North Queensland and they are up gainst the Warriors in Robina. The smart money is on the Warriors to confirm their Premiership credentials but then the smart money favoured the Cows last week... Penrith Panthers v Melbourne Storm - The marquee game of the round. The performance of the two forward packs will determine this game. North Queensland Cowboys v Brisbane Broncos - It may be in tropical Townsville, but I am having to eat my words about the Broncos not being the real deal for the premiership this season - A true acid test game in the Queensland Derby. Dolphins v Newcastle Knights - Over in Sunny WA. much as I have enjoyed the Dolphins this season , It's time this board showed some love for the in-form Knights South Sydney v Cronull a Sharks - the second game in WA and you would expect the Wabbits with good old 'trell playing for them to clobber a Sharks side without William Kennedy at full back. Imo as much influential player as Nicho Hynes. Season going south sharpish for the Sharkies. The other two are more straightforward with Parra pounding SGI and Ricky's reeling Raiders rebounding against West Tigers. Good luck with your tips as always.

Congratulations to England on winning the final test in what has been a stonking test series that has entertained, frustrated, excited and infuriated in equal measure. Certainly I would have given England long odds to have won at Tea and was thinking if Ben Stokes would get the Shane Warne "the moment he dropped the Ashes" treatment but England were not to be denied even what Crawley dropped Carey off Broad. Carey's wicket still went to Broad the following over. Ashes series usually mark the end of many a career, but I would like to pay tribute to Moeen Ali. Moeen was a good but not great player but he was the ultimate team player. That's why Moeen was shunted up and down the batting order and bowled in pain for the team. His last game overshadowed by Broad's but he deserves his own virtual lap of honour. There are issues for both sides but that's for another day, Of Ashes series I have watched this is up there just behind 2005 and 1981. The series finished 2-2 but the real winner was Test Cricket with the Ashes series restored to it's Apex.

Australia closing on 3-1 unless it either rains or England can get 3-4 wickets cheaply this morning. The England attack looks cooked and Marcus Trescothick confirmed all the bowlers are carrying injuries. One of the issues to be addressed post series is the one about "mateship" in the England side where you get picked regadless of form.....

Wakefield need the points but Warrington need to win this one to put their season back on track. Warrington to edge this.

An England win by no means certain. In this era sides hunt down what were previous though unattainable scores (notably this England side). to get 379 you need a good startt so if 0/100 then its on. If 3/100 you are talking a different game and while the emotion is on the England side with the last appearance of Broad, and probably Ali and Anderson. There are a few Aussies who also will playing their last Ashes test and may want to go out with a bang. Bright and sunny down here so we should get a result.

Stuart Broad retires from all Cricket after this game to go to SKY TV. And fair play to him retiring while still being a major contributor to the side. For any sportsman or woman it's always best to leave the game when folk are asking why are you going as opposed to being involuntarily retired. He leaves on his terms and will remain an England legend regardless of the outcome of this game.

Dominant performance by Melbourne yesterday, but big upset win for the Knights - Congrats to the poster (not me) who tipped the win in the Capital.

Very much Australia,s game to lose for the following reasons: England bowlers are cooked, Broad went off after the seventh over with the new ball and the fact that hey were ground down lies in the last three Aussie wickets garnering over 100 runs. If England bazball there way to 270 in 60 overs the aging attack will have to save the day again with very little rest between innings. Minimal lead?. A lead is a lead and if England are 2/8 a not abnormal occurrence then they are already chasing the game Who will bat number three Moeen I am sure will bat but not until the end of the innings unless he makes a lizards like recovery. Australia will be confident of chasing anything under 300. Finally as is sadly the case in London they are not exactly being the "12th" man for Englsnd in this game.

My 3-1 Australia series win prediction is looking good as it stands unless England get early breakthroughs this morning it is more likely that Australia will wear England's bowlers down until Joe Root comes on at which point they will begin to cash in. I think you will find that Marsh and Starc for Australia and Chris Woakes are all carrying injuries, and it's not unexpected that Moeen gets a groin strain. As someone who has not played red ball cricket for a couple of years asking him to play back to back tests was always a risk and with Stokes also not bowling the sceanrio outlined in my first paragraph seems the most likely outcome. Yet again England batted for just 54.1 Overs, giving the bowlers little rest. In fact had not Woakes and Wood added 49 for the eighth wicket England score would have been seriously below par as opposed to below par. England do not need to scap Bazball when the series autopsy begins, probably on Monday, but there needs to be a rethink about the difference between positive and agrressive batting and reckless batting and when your in cashing in and not getting out as an entertainer. Loved that Jim Maxwell comment that compared the Northern crowds with the somnolent Oval crowd "sounded like they were on their third bottle of chardonnay..." If your feeling starved of Anglo-Australian Cricket, apart from the T20 and ODI series comiing up next year in September. The ECB and Cricket Australia are working on a 150 years of Test Cricket Match in Melbourne in March 2027 and a return 150 years of Test Cricket match in London in 2030, which is good news for us who as a kid watched the original 1977 game 30 minute highlights presented by Ritchie Benaud on BBC2 back then. God willing I will be at these two events.

Those who found my world cup public transport endurance test entertaining, might like this. I was in Campbelltown this March and going to see the Roosters v NZ Warriors game at the SFS, So left my motel and went off to the game around 8.00am thinking I would be doing a bit of the tourist thing in the city centre before going via tram to the SFS. When I got to Campbelltown I was told the power lines had gone down ar Revesby so I am diverted first up to Glenfield then changing onto the Leppington line up to Liverpool and then changing against onto the Bankstown Line. Now the stopping Bankstown service, is an a*rse on a good day, on thiks particular day it got slower and slower as all trains were being routed through the City Circle. Now Sydney Suburban trains do not have toilets (Intercity ones to Newcastle, the Blue Mountains and Kiama do) so the longer the journey got the more passengers got totally bladdered including this writer ,so by the time the train crawled into Erskineville, it wasa abandon ship and I was third in the conga line forming outside the one Unisex Toilet atr Erskineville Station. Having had my Manneken Pis moment and the train now long gone. I walked from Marrackville to Redfern Station where chaos reigned. I finally got on a train taking me to Central and arrived at about 1.00pm FIVE hours after leaving Campbelltown. Post game, there was no way I was going to wait for the tram service so went back the old way downhill through Foveaux Street to Central. Getting on the Airport and Southern Line which was terminating at Kingsgrove where passengers were told a bus would going on a stopping service from Kingsgrove to Glenfield where the trains would be running. so we all get off at Kingsgrove Station and go right, No sign of City Rail staff they have knocked off for the day as iot was 7.00pm. There are three buses there but only one Bus Driver who knew the route, so the buses moved off like a couple of ducklings following their mother. After a lengthy tour of South Western Sydney suburbs, we finally got to Glenfield and wait for it there's no trains to Campbelltown, so we are all told cross the road and get the bus. Righto we get the bus a 870 IIRC. Now unlike the UK, if your travelling in Australia at night there's not a lot of lighting in the suburbs . In fact it's pitch black , so much even the locals struggle to find a landmark meaning they get off at the right stop. Fortunately, I know my way around Campbelltown and Leumeah so I was able to tell the Driver where my stop was, which is good because he did not know, and I eventiually got back to my Motel at around 10:00pm. All this for a nondescript NRL game in which James Tedesco proved the difference maker in a narrow Roosters win. I was at least two for two on Roosters wins when out there this year, as ever since Rooster wins have been like hens teeth....

The expression Clayton's toss is a slogan from a non-alcoholic drink called Clayton's, on sale in Australia quite a few years ago that was marketed as "the drink you have when you are not having a drink". So in Aussie vernacular, a Clayton's is anything that isn't quite genuine, not quite what it looks like, that doesn't quite fit the normal expectation. In plainer English, In Cricet if you want to bat and they want to bowl at you, it's almost pointless tossing a coin or a bat-flip as the outcome is pre-determined. Hence NRL games that are either evenly matched or potential upset's are anything but a Clayton's toss. Posting about pre-ordained surely by now Uncle Nick is contempating a Bondi Bloodbath this offseason...

Performance Related Pay Any link to this article Atlantisman?

Winners - Brisbane Broncos, South Sydney, Melbourne Storm, Canberra Raiders, St George-Illawarra, Penrith Panthers, Dolphins, North Queensland Cowboys Points - 364 Away Wins -3 Poll - Bulldogs v Dolphins I m going with my gut feeling that things are turning around for the Red V and the silvertails will not string it together two games running plus it's at the 'gong.

Games that are definately not a clayton's toss West Tigers v South Sydney - Luke Brooks back for Wests and The man child for the Wabbits. - Have I cursed Souffs withb the reverse malachi by tipping them as the dark hourse for the premiership. Melbourne Storm v Paramatta Eels - Clash of the round in Victoria, Both sides depleted in the forwards though - One not to miss on Sky Sports Mix Canberra Raiders v Newcastle Knights - Still not a lot of love being shown to the Knights on this forum. Only one tipser went with them v the Stom last week. They are not Origin affected and can score points. The Green Machine is at home though so will Ricky's Raiders rebound ? St George-Illawarra v Manly Sea Eagles - A tough watch for Shane Flanagan with the incomimg SGI coach still contracted to the Silvertails. It's at the ' gong, SGI have Ben Hunt and Zak Lomax and while along with the rest of the forum the Manly result at Sharkies was a stunner. Can lightining strike twice, it will need to if Manly are to make the top eight. and Will Jason Saab motor away from the SGI defence to further annoy the SGI faithful as the man who demanded to be traded as he wanted to be near his home in Western Sydney and promptly went to the northern beaches..... Good Luck with your tips

Just two points about the last test match Firstly, If England had got the 4 hours beak in the rain on the Sunday, it would be no means certain that England would have won . Australia were only 61 behind and all (bar Josh Hazlewood) could bat. Remember England already had a bonus 2 and a bit hours on the Saturday in which only Marnus Labuschange was dismissed. Secondly Manchester has the worst record of all test grounds when it comes to days lost for rain. Paul Allott complaining that southerners think at Old Trafford it is always raining . Well Walter we southerners did not choose the sobriquet Lancashire LIghtning for the T20 side. A title redolent of a different kind of thunder I went for Australia 3-1 before a ball was bowled in the certain knowledge that the weather would intervene. The Franchise impact on Test Cricket is alreasdy being seen with a potential South Africa B team travelling to New Zealand https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/cricket/black-caps/300932582/black-caps-set-to-host-depleted-proteas-due-to-clash-with-fresh-t20-competition And If you look at England's 2024 Schedule you will see not only three back to back tests against a West Indies side likely to be depleted by Major League Cricket but also the same against Sri Lanka with the last Test ending the day before Englands First T20 against Australia. Multi-Format players having a problem. https://www.ecb.co.uk/england/men/fixtures And then Ireland play England for a Three match ODI series in 2025 during a Test Match against India. Big decisions need to be made in the off season about how to replace the and T20 Blast and you hope someone was listening to Glenn Maxwell during the Blast finals day when Maxi made it plain you structure your domestic white ball competitions around winning world cups which means you play the same format's 50 and 20 over as the rest of the world or people will be saying in 5 years time England used to have a good ODI side... PS The Big Show is giving the the big swerve this year. Another big decision deferred is over the soon to be 41 year old James Anderson. He has been tidy but not penetrative this year with 3 wickets in three games at about 75 per wicket. England great he might be but in the words of the song by Janet Jackson What have you done for me lately. As was the case with Nasser Hussain, someone should have had the cojones to knock on Jimmy's hotel room door and tell him we are moving on but we would like to give you the opportunity to retire on your own terms. Instead the noises out of the England camp are similar to those made by Sir Alasdaair Cook after the second Test loss to India back in 2014 "Matt Prior will decide when he leaves the side" . Prior then left the team as he knew his time was up. Will that be the same with James Anderson or will reputation and mateship trump actual form..

Back on topic, it kind of depends on how you define "middle class" . There are palpable differencers in disposable income between the north and south. To give an example, in the late 1990's before the club was relegated and franchised the original AFC Wimbledon was the worst supported club in the Soccer Premier League. Yet the disposable income of its fans was greater than most of their northern opponents https://www.quora.com/Which-English-football-team-has-the-poshest-fans But if you think that applies to the two Southern most clubs, I have to report that whatever remains of the fan base are like myself, non-public school educated and in the just-aboutr-managing group. It was not always the case though as during the Harlquins RL era the club did indeed draw some more well heeled support than it does now. Having a bougoise fan base means more money for the game..

Graham You have nullified the Souths v Broncos results marking everything with an X - Broncos won and I need the points as much as they do...

I have a sneaking feeling it will be Hull KR and their fans will act as the 14th man at the stadium roaring on the rovers..

Has to be Leigh, what everyone seems to forget is to quote ex-NFL coach Bill Parcells, you are what your record says you are and Leigh are above St Helens in the table, and with Saints with players out I am looking forward to the moaning on this forum come Saturday evening..

Back at the test, Australias day at 8/299. Problem for England is believing the dire weather forecast and having that impact on their play. You cannot win a game by spotting the oposition a substantive lead by Bazballing for 65 overs and forcing an aging bowling attack back out again not long after finishing off the Aussie 1st Innings.

Winners - St George-Illawarra, New Zealand Warriors, Brisbane Broncos, Gold Cost Titans, Melbourne Storm, North Queensland Cowboys, Penrith Panthers, Cronulla Sharks Points - 358 Home Wins - 6 Poll - Penrith Panthers v Canterbury Bulldogs

Getting near the Business end of the season so At the Razors edge St George -Illawarra v West Tigers - Played In the 'gong so for me Dragons win the spoonbowl. Ben Hunt will b e the difference here New Zealand Warriors v Canberra Raiders - Ricky's rested Raiders cross the ditch in one of the ties of the round - Having tipped against the Warriors last week I will not be making that mistrake again. South Sydney v Brisbane Broncos - Played on the Sunshine Coast but the Wabbits have a few coming back and so do the Broncos. Acid Test here for the playoffs Titans v Roosters - Titans on the up since Des Haesler took over against a Roosters side that would struggle to beat an egg. Cowboys v Eels - Parra win last year in tropical Townsville, but that was then and this is now with a Eels side depleted through suspension. against an in form Cows side Good Luck with your tips

T20 Finals day amid the showers. Though they have announced the major match dats for International Cricket in 2024. They have not announced the T20 finals day. Here is the problem, The Counties do not wish to play in May because of the overlap with soccer and Rugby Union. The T20 Cricket World Cup, the EFL Cup of Cricket, is being played from 1st to 30th June so England and world players will not be available. But then you have a back to back Test Series against the West Indies last three weeks in July. a Three week break for the then three back to back tests v Sri Lanka and then the T20 and ODI series against Australia in September. So where do you put the T20 to suit the counties and could it not be argued that the cuckoo competition is already soiling English Cricket's nest.