What to do with my last $50 trackside.

Well bugger me, I'm not usually up this early on a Saturday but these are the sacrifices we here at WHAB are prepared to make. My racing tips for this week:

$20 on Ortensia in MR4

$14 on Acorns in BR4

$8 on Babinda Half in BR5

$8 on Fulmonti in BR6

A can I just say go the Cat! Everyone loves the Cat.

What to do with my last $50...

Back the Kangaroos in the Centenary test into the Chiefs to beat the Lions in Super 14 into the Roosters to beat the Raiders in the NRL. In what is possibly a WHAB first, though possibly not, we are whacking the whole $50 on at $2.32 to return $116.

Racing tips for this week will be posted by 10am AEST tomorrow as I haven't managed to snaffle a form guide as yet and couldn't even tell you who's racing other than the almighty Apache Cat!

The Professors rushed weekend betting thread!

Sick in bed today, but there is work to be done!

Anyway, a little rushed. $50 for Sports seems best to put on the following:

$20 on the Panthers
$20 on the Waratahs
$10 on Australia to cover the start tonight (17.5) - into the Brumbies - into the Waratahs.
Payout on that is $14.10

For the races!

Two quick bets. $15 Each way on Sir Sensible and $20 the win on Sectagonal.

Best of luck with your punting!

The Weekend Financial Review

Well pipped at the post last week but not letting that get in the way this week of taking out some serious cash and then your girlfriend.



Let's get things started with SPORT:

$10 on the Footy show special of Aust to beat the Kiwis in the test with Billy Slater to score a try paying $10

$10 Sea Eagles over the Broncos by less than 13 paying $3.75

$10 Dragons over the Eels by less than 13 paying $4.25

$10 on Newcastle over Everton paying $4.50

$10 on Victoria to beat the Dream Team in what surely will be a waste of a week in the AFL by more than 20 and less than 40 paying $7.00



Now for the sport of kings, RACING:

Hawkesbury Race 7

$15 place on no. 8 Racing Time

Hawkesbury Race 5

$15 win on no. 8 Rabbuka

Caufield Race 6

$20 win on no. 2 Gunfire Messiah



Let the winnings do the talking

Australia's Best Halfback?

I have long thought of Johnathon Thurston as one of the most overrated players in the game. I'm not saying he isn't a good player but that he certainly isn't the greatest. For all the plaudits and automatic representative selections he receives and the general acceptance that it should be this way, anyone would think that he was no doubt in the top two or three players in the game. But I just can't understand how others don't see what I see when watching the Cowboys. Sometimes Thurston can be brilliant. Especially when Matt Bowen is brilliant. But at other times he looks no better than the likes of Brett Finch. Take for example last week against the Rabbitohs. The Rabbitohs who had not won a game until that point, but nevertheless came to play. Surely a champion of the calibre that Thurston is put into by the media, the Footy Show, and Queenslanders could snuff out this cheeky resistance from the favourites for the wooden spoon. Not quite. There are a lot of matches that have ended in a similar fashion for the Cowboys over the last year or so. A match that is there to be won, just waiting for the inevitable brilliance of that star player who'll single handedly finish the job...but the heads are down when the siren goes. Sure some blame must go to the Cowboys forwards lumbering around late in matches. But ultimately, in close matches, the playmaker in a side should be able to step up, especially when playing against a struggling side. Maybe the problem was exacerbated by Matt Bowen playing through injury. It's hard not to notice that when Bowen is missing or down on form that Thurston's form is subsequently affected. Another well documented problem area is his defense. He drops off a lot of tackles, which is probably the case with most halves in all fairness, but not to the extent that led Mat Rogers to comment that Thurston was a liability in the defensive line. I have also observed his frustration and often disrespect to teammates. I guess it shows his competitiveness but it often looks bad on TV. When a play breaks down he is quick to berate the players around him and point the finger. Thurston looks great playing for QLD or Australia but most halves do when surrounded by such talent. A champion player brings out the best in those around him and I'm not sure that Thurston is able to do this often at club level. The NSW selectors would be thrilled to have him as one of their halfback options given the state of play there but I just don't see why this guy is so hyped up.

Well I 've needed to get that off my chest for some time. Now we can turn our attention to tonight's Centenary Test. After Thurston injured his ankle at training yesterday Cooper Cronk has been called in as the standby. While Cronk certainly won't be out of place and has been picked by selectors specifically because of his combinations with Inglis, Folau and Slater and also with Bird in the Test vs NZ last year, it's a shame that Scott Prince has missed out. He is undoubtedly the form halfback in the NRL this season and the Titans position on the ladder is reflected by this. Anyway, no matter who plays it will be great to see this backline in action and we can only hope that Wayne Bennett has been able to teach the Kiwis enough to keep Test footy alive.

Poll Results

According to 75% of voters, City vs Country should include extra time. The other 25% didn't care or were from QLD...

Rajasthan go down, Boof still absent

After building up the plucky Royals yesterday, I was shocked by how ineptly they played last night. The ineptitude started at the selection table, and was confirmed on the pitch.


A day after lauding a team for employing Shane Warne, Boof and Mascarenhas (the Pirate!!), the Royals couldn't find spots in their 11 for either Boof or Mascarenhas. One can only deduce that Ricky Ponting called Warne overnight and offered some selection advice. 'Well you can't pick Boof. He's fat. And you can't pick Mascarenhas because he has scurvy.' Scurvy you say??

Yarrh! Scurvy..

So with a team as boring as his opposition, though less talented, the Royals went down last night. Boof's spot was taken by Graeme Smith. Smith is known in cricketing circles as boring. When Smith tours Australia, it is known that he likes nothing more than to stay at Matthew Hayden's house and talk about Jesus, cover drives and the perfect shrimp cocktail. Mascarenas' spot was taken by Pakistani firebrand Tanvir. Not much is known about Tanvir, but as a Pakistani player without any match fixing scandals in his past, he can be considered boring.

Having not seen Boof since round one, here at WHAB, a slight panic is developing. If you have seen this man, let us know. He was last seen fleeing from hungry greyhounds.

Any information about the whereabouts of Boof will be rewarded with our standard WHAB prize pack including a years supply of spam, commemorative plaque and one of our fine products from the gift shop.

Boof Watch continues tonight at the IPL!

Let's get something very clear here. Having watched enough of the IPL competition, the Rajasthan Royals are my new favourite team. Why? The Australian players seem so oddly dissimilar from the boring Alan Border Academy clones that get churned out with such overwhelming rapidity. Sure, it is excellent watching Australia win tests and one-dayers and 20-20 games. However, the much repeated comment in bars across the nation during cricket season is "where have all the characters gone?"

Hohns et al at the Australian selection table have always been quick to find players whose character levels have been deemed excessive. Shane Warne {who couldn't be dropped - he is too damn good}, Darren Lehmann and Stuart Macgill are your most recent examples. Typically, the selectors - with help from the likes of Robert Craddock send out a message about these guys. They can't field. They are not fit enough for the rigours of the modern game. They don't "fit in."

Take Rajasthan. Leading the IPL 20-20 competition. A squad seemingly bereft of any big name players in their prime. Your highest paid players: Mohammed Kaif and Graeme Smith. Good players, not Marquee types by the standard of this competition though. Compare those "marquee" players with the Deccan Chargers - Gilchrist, Gibbs, Symonds etc... What do Rajasthan have?? Characters. Warne and Boof in one team! Another fringe character in Justin Langer almost had his name on the team sheet as well! Langer may not fill everyones definition of a character but his sheer joy at playing cricket for Australia was a joy to watch. Add to this mix Dimitri Mascarenhas - who looks like a pirate - and you have the IPL's coolest franchise.

Watching this team beat up on the boring likes of Ricky "We'll have a bowl" Ponting, Andrew Symonds (More ads, more boring) and Rahul (I can't believe this isn't a test match) Dravid has sent me to IPL heaven.

In some way, the fact that I like watching Rajasthan more than the Australian cricket team must send some kind of message to the ACB. Though, as we watch more clones come off the production line this summer, it will seem quite unlikely that they get it. The only thing left to do is kidnap Shane Watson and fill his vacant alrounder slot with the Postman from Perth.

Anyway, this post is about BOOF WATCH! Hopefully we see his ampleness playing for the Royals tonight. Get on the Royal train. Or as an Indian Signwriter might put it: 'Royals hit most Sixes Warnie Boof express Royals!'

The Sydney Telegraph talks Test match...

At my coffee house of choice this morning, only a copy of the Sydney Telegraph was available to me and in the years since I have last picked up this paper, not much has changed. The feature sports article this morning was a tour of room '320,' the "lair" in which Australia's two toughest men reside prior to this weekends test. Apparently, here is the room where Willie Mason and Carl Webb talk tactics, boxing and the art of being incredibly tough. One does ones best not to laugh... Apparenltly, if Walkley Award favourite Paul Kent is to be believed Webb and Mason have talked a lot of boxing. The discussion has centred on their proposed box-off - which both men are too tough to have.

Anyway, there are much more likely conversation topics in the hallowed Room 320. Surely - as dumb as these two lads are - they would exhaust the topic of how hard they would be to beat the tar out of each other in minutes. A frank and open discussion of the difficulties in being two of the most overrated players in the game would be a great starting point. I thought that they could spend hours discussing how on earth Carl Webb made the team?? Seriously, even as a Professor, I can't solve that particular conundrum. I guess, at least after the Kent left, Mason could thank Webb for making sure that he wasn't alone in the hotel room with the Kentster.

Stormers penalty try vs Brumbies

Enter your second nominee for the Hall of Schrutebaginess in two days. Steve Walsh Jr, the referee of the Stormers vs Brumbies match last weekend.

Jr has long been Rugby's most interesting official. Let's have a look at some of his finer moments:

1. World Cup 2003, suspended for inappropriate behaviour towards the English Rugby team. As Jonny Wilkinson said at the time: 'When someone rocks up at your hotel room the night before a big game with a pair of pliers and some electrodes it can be really disconcerting. When it is the referee of the game... well that is just insane.' Wilkinson did mention that he might have been a little more interested if the referee was Tappa Henning.

2. 2005 - suspended for verbally abusing Irish Winger Shane Horgan. That's kind of cool I have to say. The amount of abuse that flows in one direction and all that. Anyway, Horgan is probably the knob in this one for complaining so much. After an exchange of dialogue like this: "Ref you are a fuckwit." "No Shane, you are the fuckwit," I wouldn't complain.

3. A hilarious altercation with the video ref earlier this year (video to follow!)

4. This ludicruous decision for a penalty try against the Brumbies in the last contest. It is almost comical that this decision could be awarded as such. The contact between the two players was minimal. Furthermore, even if there had been no contact, the likelihood of BOBO scoring was minimal. In fact, zero.

Beyond all of that, the play was over! The thrower of the pass was in touch! Anyway, Steve Walsh.. you sir, are a knob.

You can come to my place for the plaque, nut kicking and a years supply of spam whenever you choose!