The Dean Laidley Story/Dude Looks Like A Laidley

It does seem appropriate that a story about a man being charged with stalking (Plus several other serious offences) being illegally photographed wearing makeup in a police interview while, is being reported on by men wearing coats of makeup.

And what about multiple Fourth Estate outlets quoting VicPol being disgusted about the photos being disseminated to the media and it being a significant breach of Laidley’s privacy….

All while plastering a blown-up collage of Laidley’s mugshot and the police interview photos across several newspapers + websites.

How to spot inferiority complex in a news article

Sometimes, the author is so obtuse, they’ll put it in the title.

I’ll briefly sum up the article:

Sooky Cockroach with Inferiority Complex acts like Sooky Cockroach with Inferiority Complex, while completely ignoring why the NRL were pushing to restart the season before the AFL.

Relocating the Melbourne Storm to Albury

So the Albury Council kicked up a huge fuss about the Storm being given a clearance by the NSW Government to start training in the area, with the sticking point being that local sports can’t train, and that the State Government didn’t even inform the council about what was happening UNTIL SATURDAY.

Giving the finger to those Mexican city slickers, the council voted 5-4 to ban the Storm from training on Council-run sporting facilities (Greenfield Park being the main rectangular ground), only for the Albury Tigers to now step in and allow the Storm to train on Albury Sportsground, which is privately leased by the Tigers.

If you ask me, it’s a shame.

Wagga Wagga Storm did have a nice ring to it.

Given Councillor David Thurley also warned the Storm “One breach and you’re out”, there’s clearly a solution to this going ahead without any future incidents.

Just keep Josh Addo-Carr locked in a closet at AAMI Park.

This ‘Premier League to Perth’ Thing

When I first read that a “Perth-based agent is trying to entice Premier League clubs,” I thought some Scottish businessman had launched a bold bid to play EPL games in Perth, Scotland.

At first thought, why not – It’s a lovely little town on the River Tray, and thanks to hometown boy Sir George Murray, some settlement in the Swan River Colony was named after it in the 1830s.

But, much to my shock, it turned out to be a somewhat legitimate left field idea from an expat player agent in WA, in which all remaining games would presumably start at between 7-8pm AWST, which would be lunchtime kick-offs back in The Old Dart.

From SBS/The World Game:

“English agent Gary Williams has been in talks with several clubs and government authorities about the idea, with lockdown restrictions and confirmed cases far inferior to that of the United Kingdom.”

“I have had discussions with contacts at Premier League clubs and they like the idea,” Williams told The Sun.”

“I have also spoken with government officials and they are enthusiastic. We are speaking again this week.”

“Everybody is safe here. The government has lifted many restrictions. We are sitting round in groups of ten, we can walk around and the beaches are open. We have had four new cases in the last ten days.”

Given the track record of that toilet roll of a tabloid (Hillsborough, say no more), the squabbling of Premier League politics will most likely mean this gets as much traction as that petition to the White House to build a full-scale working Death Star.

The top clubs want to get the season completed under Project Restart, whereas the bottom six clubs are digging in due to the fear of relegation, and apparently degrading the value of home fixtures if they were played at neutral venues.

Even if Gaz & the Premier League do accomplish the impossible and fly 500+ big fish into a small pond like Perth, Channel 7 and The West might singlehandedly harass at least half of the players out of town with the nightly puff pieces about what they’re all doing at Crown Casino.

A Sad Day At Warrnambool

And it had nothing to do with The Hill looking like it usually does for 363 days a year.

Jumps racing has a very checkered reputation in the Victorian community, and I feel today simply reinforced why.

In the 3rd race on the card (The Carlton Draught Maiden Hurdle), Ciaron Maher’s Sir Isaac Newton led all the way to the last hurdle, but, apparently tiring, he had a bad final jump and did a Devon Loch, landing awkwardly and concussing Steven Pateman, sending him to hospital as a precaution, while Sir Isaac suffered a broken shoulder, couldn’t get up, and he was sadly euthanised.

Maher ended up winning the Grand Annual with the upcoming jumps star Ablaze.

It wasn’t much better in the Brierly – Billy Gleeson lost his balance on Zataglio after a bad jump early in the race, sending him straight into the path of Tommy Ryan on He’s A Genius, leaving Billy with what could be a broken leg – However, the horses were both fine.

Let’s just say I don’t bet on jumps racing for obvious reasons, and I’ll leave it at that.

Get this into Australian racing

Forget about who rides the most winners every season, in the future, THIS is how we can prove who has the most skill in the saddle.

Japanese racing hasn’t seen something that left field since the 2011 Japan World Cup, when Australia entered an Elephant Seal to compete against the Greeks and their Trojan Horse.

That’s actually a preview of how this year’s Japan Cup will be run in November.

The Perth Wildcats lose Bryce Cotton and Nick Kay in the space of a week

And yet, despite losing the best guard in the NBL, plus an All-NBL Boomers representative, the Wildcats will probably kidnap a drunk on Hay Street, make him play Point Guard, and still somehow get into the NBL finals in 2021.

What is it with the town of Bundaberg

Best known as Australia’s source of rum and polar bears, I think the locals may have indulged in a few Bundy Rums when they designed the track(s).

The thoroughbreds run on a sand dune:

And the inner greyhound track is green green grass.

Typical Queenslanders, always trying to be a bit different.

That’s why we value their cultural contributions.