Recent content by The Chad

Great run. But still, one lead up race....

Good horse. Only 1 start in this prep though. Of the past 5 years, only 3 horses placed in the Cup on the back of 1 prep run. No winners. And that Japanese horse last year was a cracker. 9 horses have placed in the last 5 years off the back of 3-4 runs. Averages say you need the metres in the...

Really only the Cox, Moonee Valley Cup & Geelong Cup of any significance to run. And the Cox Plate hasn't been a great indicator for the Melbourne Cup lately. Barriers & conditions...jockeys...they'll all play their part. But what I've looked for, I've liked from those 3 in particular.

I'm happy Bird is staying. Thought he was useful when fit. Much better in defence than I expected. If he is on the fringes of 1st grade, he's good depth. If he strikes form- even better.

Speaking of The Cup... Early thoughts, but I like the prep of Middle Earth & Zarduzi for 2 horses that haven't caught a lot of headlines. Also, watching Deakin & like what I've seen. None should be considered in the favourites, but I have liked the prep. Neither have finished more than 6...

Loading up on young halves...

Widdop played 7 to Barrett. Is Benji worse than Barrett? But then, Barrett played 7 to Mundine. So is Benji behind Mundine?

I like a lot of different takes on players on here. Everyone has valid opinions & in many ways, I think all of them are right. Trying to compare players from different eras, with different styles etc is incredibly hard. That's not even taking into calculation things like support cast, rule...

I think if you spend your time & resources copying other teams blueprints, you're forever playing catch up. Instead of finding reasons that some players are not fitting 'the modern game', I'd really like seeing coaches using those players strengths to exploit new weaknesses. Small, mobile...

I see the argument for 'upgrading' Twal. I also see the argument that Twal is a reasonable starting quality NRL forward. What he isn't, is impactful. Whether it's replacing him, or rotating him with someone off the bench, the club needs forwards that can either turn the game with...

Tim Grant & Mataulino put in when they were on the field.

Mason Teague would make a lot of sense. I'd be good with Hopoate & Jack Hetherington as well. All offer some decent depth at minimum.

It's almost like you don't want to refer to what your point was... "I think the biggest issue is how close they are to Benji. Of course you want the coach and players to have a good relationship, but there is such a thing as being too close, and I think proof of that is when supporters start...

Yeah. That was the point. Good one.

OK- fair. Also fair- there is not much of a track record of this approach by Benji & Richo having failed at any other point. Name the last coach that tried the 'fun culture'?