You know how many votes Grundy got in the Coaches’ Votes?

7- The same amount as Caleb Daniel.

Then again, Bucks didn’t even rate Tom Mitchell as his BOG after he racked up 50+ disposals against the Pies in Round 9, 2017.

Origin II TV Ratings- Down on 2018

Not including the streaming audience, the national ratings for Sunday’s game in Perth were 2.799 million, down on last year’s 3.163 million for Game II, in which the Blues wrapped up the series in Sydney.

Even in Perth, the game pulled a record audience for an Origin game (167k), but highlighting the dominance of Nine’s rivals over here, it was still beaten by Channel Seven for audience share (18.2% vs 23.8%).

Two plausible factors might have contributed- The blowout scoreline, and the fact that advertising for the game was invisible in Melbourne.

Even still, ‘Only’ getting an audience of just under 2.8 million shows just how much of a ratings juggernaut State of Origin is.

Another classic snap from Michael Willson

In Soviet Melbourne, Sidebottom kicks you.

Australia vs England Tonight at Lord’s

Aside from the quadrennial India vs Pakistan battle, this is the biggest game of the World Cup, thanks to the focus on England being in danger once again wetting the bed at a World Cup, and how the Barmy Army + The English Fans will subject Dave Warner & Steve Smith to all kinds of torrential booing.

Surely the Aussies have prepared thoroughly for this, by blasting out a looped tape of boos during their net sessions to help the fellas prepare for the horrors to come, similar to what NFL teams do when they’re preparing to play in incredibly loud stadiums like CenturyLink Field against the Seahawks, or Arrowhead against the Chiefs.

More Score Review Stupidity

Another kick in the Jatz Crackers to the Score Review System, with Fox Footy’s Tom Morris revealing just how utterly useless and underfunded the Score Review system is for Victorian & Tasmanian games.

Decisions under intense pressure are being made by AFL employees with absolutely no experience, and they’re being paid a mere $250 a week.

And yet when an incorrect decision occurs every single week, the AFL come out with that ‘Shocked Pikachu Face’ every single time.

Accepting billions of dollars in TV revenue per year, and yet they’re still cutting corners.

Another fantastic tick of approval for Steve ‘Captain Jackarse’ Hocking and Kim Jong-Gil.

The AFL Coaching Merry-go Round

So yesterday’s big news in the Footyverse was that BetEasy sock puppet and former Hawthorn champ Ben Dixon said “He reckons” that Alastair Clarkson will leave the Hawks at the end on 2019 to coach Carlton, and continue the Blues’ Messiah Complex that goes back to the hiring of Barassi in 1965.

Ah yes, the latest in the fabled line of “Clarko’s Leaving Hawthorn” stories.

There was a “Clarkson to Melbourne” push during 2013, after the Dees sacked Mark Neeld, before Paul Roos was effectively appointed by the AFL.

I can remember Iron Mike Sheahan starting a “Clarko to West Coast” story before the 2013 Grand Final, before the Eagles hired Adam Simpson.

And Andrew ‘Not Darren’ Jarman started a “Clarkson to Adelaide” story just before the 2014 Grand Final, although the Crows eventually hired Phil Walsh.

If Tom Scully is to be believed, then Clarko has told the Hawks he’s staying until at least the end of his contract in 2022, or until Jeff Kennett becomes emotionally stupid and sacks him.

GWS have the American Dream

One from the Channel Nine/Fairfax mob, with the Giants, in conjunction with the AFL, are having a look at playing a game for premiership points in the US and A sometime in the future.

This is made possible because the Giants’ contract for home games is to play 7 at GIANTS Stadium (The Showgrounds), and 3 at Manuka Oval, which means that unlike Port with Shanghai, their opponents won’t have to give up a home game.

Chances are it’ll be such a successful niche, that the AFL ends up forming a club in California before they bother with Tasmania.

Wimbledon Qualifying is Underway!

The action on the hallowed grounds of SW19 gets underway on Monday, and qualifying is underway at Roehampton, with the All England Club finally joining the rest of the world in increasing the number of Qualifiers to 16.

All eight Australians on the Gents’ Qualifying Draw (Led by Alexei Popyrin) advanced to the 2nd Round, with the Ladies’ getting underway later in the week.

Of course, Ash Barty is locked in as the #1 Ladies’ Singles seed, and overnight she withdrew from Eastbourne, citing a “bone stress injury in her arm”, probably just to rest up and get ready for the entirely new challenge of being the hunted, which so many WTA players have struggled with of late.

Queensland Tennis Champions

So with Ash Barty now at World Number One, world renowned (And I actually mean that) Australian coach and analyst Darren Cahill put up a list of great tennis players to come out of the Sunshine State- With a ripping sledge from ‘The Kokk’.

All I can take from Darren’s list is that he thinks very highly of 1957 US Open Champion Mal Anderson, to put him on there twice.

John Brasch Tips The Card

One of the great achievements of a race caller is picking the entire race card, and after 29 years and several thousand meetings, Queensland’s greyhound stalwart John ‘Bunny’ Brasch finally managed the feat at Albion Park last night, picking all 9 winners.

He almost achieved the feat several years ago at Ipswich, when he picked the first 9 winners of a 10 race card, but the final $1.20 favourite let him down.