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[aoluain]

Panthers

Ah F it anyway, a key player and "dealt a major blow". I would like to think that
the team doesnt revolve around 1 or 2 key players other than the captain and
that WE have a quality replacement.

I wonder how much the odds will shift after this announcement, if at all?

Currently its Panthers 1.64 - 2.24 Rabbitohs

[Timelord2067]

There's been some speculation that the NRL has been approached by the NSW state government to postpone this weekend's grand-final to a later date so that the teams can return to Sydney to the "spiritual" home of NRL for the Grand Final given Queensland *might* go into a snap lock down due to three locally acquired covid cases.

The irony in that is New South Wales have between eight hundred and twelve hundred covid cases each and every day and Sydney is under a night time curfew, so it's a bit rich of some to speculate the NRL might have to pull the plug on a Brisbane Grand Final (something some in the NRL swore would be "over their dead bodies")

[aoluain]

Sounds like a bit of political turmoil within the NRL big wigs. I'm sure both trams wouldnt
mind playing in Sydney but do they mind playing in Queesnland?


Union

I have a multi bet on for Leinster and Munster to win their games in round 2 of the
United Championship, coupled with Australia to beat Argentina in the Rugby Championship
and to top it off I threw in Waikato to beat Northland in New Zealands National
Provincial Championship (something I know nothing about) and I have lost
with them getting beaten. The other 4 games have yet to be played.

Moral of the Story, stick to what you know.



Seperately I have Connacht the beat the Bulls tonight at home and Ulster to beat Zebre.

[Kakmakr]

My prediction for the South Africa vs All Blacks Rugby for tomorrow ...is leaning towards the South African Bok team, winning the game or it will be a draw... The Springbok's have something to prove.... because they do not want a 3 - 0 loss over the All Blacks. 

On the other hand.... the All Blacks can have a grand slam if they win this last match.. so they are not simply going to roll over and give the game to the Springboks. (In any way..... brag right will dictate the outcome for this one.... but a wounded Springbok team... is a dangerous team) 

[Timelord2067]

Tonight's game at Lang Park should be an absolute block buster - the Springboks don't want to loose to the All Blacks 0 - 3 who likewise want to take the sweep of their games 3 - 0.

I woke up an hour ago to discover South East Queensland (where tonight's Union Game and tomorrow night's League Grandfinal games are being held) is a cloudless warm day after last night's wild storms that tore through for an hour around six-thirty.

Check out the clear skies on these webcams: https://www.webkams.com/australia/queensland/brisbane/17926  (might help anyone who takes the weather into consideration for their game wagering)

[aoluain]

World rankings #'s 1 and 2 face off against each other. TBH I cant see South Africa
doing it and I'm not putting any Satoshi's on it.

TBH I'm dissapointed with SA performance especially after winning the Lions Tour
series this year and coming into the tournament in 1st place. Should be a cracker of
a match.

NZ have run away with it
SA have been lack lustte
AUS have shown improvement from the 3-0 beating they took in the Bledisloe Cup
ARG have been dissapointing failing to score a single point

[Timelord2067]

Rugby Union:

The Springboks pull off the win of the season against New Zealand 31 - 29 last night at Lang Park while earlier in the afternoon Australia comfortably won against Argentina 32 - 17.




Rugby League:



Today is the Grand Final of the 2021 NRL Season of Rugby League.  South East Queensland has again woken to another cloudless early spring day.  With less than nine hours until kick off at Lang Park, all eyes are pointed towards George Street for the announcement of the Covid figures for Queensland and whether or not tonight's match will go ahead, or be postponed.

Another Panther's player has been cleared to play tonight (but won't be on goal kicking duties) if you look at the last game played by each team, the Panthers kept their opponent in check while the Rabbitoh's found opportunities and built up a comfortable lead.  I'm expecting the game to be hard fought.

Screen shots via https://super.rugby/therugbychampionship/ and https://www.nrl.com/

[aoluain]

Union

Fabulous win by South Africa and in the last play of the match. NZ handed the win
to them by going offside on front of their goal.
Well done to @Kakmakr for the prediction.

Great game, pretty close all the way with some pure class from both teams, and to top
it off SA retake their #1 world ranking.

Australia predictably beat The Pumas and NZ take the championship.

United Championship

I redid my multi-bet on Leinster, Munster and Australia, Just waiting for
Leinster to win today.

So far the 3 other sides have won their matches, Connacht beat the Bulls from SA 33-6.
Ulster beat Zebre 36-3. Munster came from behind to beat The Stormers from SA 34-18.


League

I'll be following the NRL final online. Come on The Penrith Panthers !

Small stat kindof worth quoting from  NRL.com FWIW

he Panthers have 13 players with grand final experience, compared with four for the Rabbitohs.

[aoluain]

Congratulations to The Penrith Panthers in the NRL final and congratulations to us
too @Timelord2067 our long term bets materialised.



Very close match from the get-go and it came down to very fine margins of missing
a kick at goal.

As one of the commentators on the radio station I was listening to said "they will be
rocking and rolling in the Blue mountains tonight"

[Timelord2067]

Yeh, the Blue Mountains are to the west of Sydney (the Blue is the hue the gum trees appear to be due to natural tree oil (eucalyptus) being released into the air.

I managed to watch the game from start to finish - the Rabbitohs fumbled the ball a couple of times.  At half time the Rabbitohs were shown in their dressing room exhausted and worn out (as though they'd just lost the match/series) while the Panthers sat in a semi circle and intensely listened to their coach calmly talking through game play.   The fumbled two point field goal attempt was just more selfish desperation as the Rabbitohs coach (Wayne Bennett) as far back as his twenty year tenure at the Brisbane Broncos only ever taught his players to get the ball and run - don't share, don't pass, just RUN! and you could see that last night - the Rabbitohs would get the ball and just not pass when the opportunity presented itself while the Panthers were happy to pass the ball away as quickly as possible.

As I observed in a previous post, last week's games were starkly different, the Panthers kept their opponent from scoring, while the Rabbitohs would just make try after try against a team who let them.

The Panthers didn't let them 

[aoluain]

Yea I remember you saying something about Way e Bennett before alright.


All my bets on the United Championship payed off over the weekend and Leinster beat
The Dragons in a very low scoring high error game, final score Dragons 6 - 7 Leinster.
Because of that game Leinster move to 3rd on the table overtaken by Munster and Ulster
on a better points difference  Early days though.

[Timelord2067]

Yea I remember you saying something about Way e Bennett before alright.


All my bets on the United Championship payed off over the weekend and Leinster beat
The Dragons in a very low scoring high error game, final score Dragons 6 - 7 Leinster.
Because of that game Leinster move to 3rd on the table overtaken by Munster and Ulster
on a better points difference  Early days though.

I've put a small wager on the Dragons this week to win.  Not much, but hopefully they get up.

In League, the Intrust Cup is drawing to a close - I'm forecasting the North's Devils to beat Wynumn Manly this week-end.  (As with Union this year, I haven't been giving the local comp much attention and will have to be a bit more comprehensive next season).

[aoluain]

In This weeks United Championship I have Ulster to beat Benetton Treviso and
Glasgow Warriors to beat The Lions.

@Timelord2067, you are betting against my home team with the Dragons.... I
have a bet against you on Connacht !!

[Timelord2067]

New Zealand it top of the ladder on 25 points, followed by Australia, 18, South Africa, 15 and Agrentina yet to start playing Rugby.  (I think they're waiting for the rules to be translated for them into crayons).

@Timelord2067, you are betting against my home team with the Dragons....

I'll have to keep a closer eye on which teams I'm betting on from now on! (At least one of us is going to win!)

 

[aoluain]

Ha ha! .... unless its a draw ( l o o o o n g  S h o t)

Elsewhere in the United Championship, there are a few more good betting opportunities
at the weekend, basically bet on any team playing the SA sides, they have not performed
yet in this tournament and are all down at the bottom of the table. I dont know if they have
key players on Rugby Championship duties or not.

Anyway, kicking off tonight with Ospreys v Sharks

In the Rugby Championship, I really am surprised on the performances of all teams good and bad

[Timelord2067]

In the Queensland Cup, the North's Devils have beaten the Wynnum Manly Seagulls 16 - 10 in a very closely fought match.

I managed to hear the second half on the radio which was played at the Redcliffe Dolphin's Grounds this afternoon (in the past the Grand Final was played at Lang Park).

Wynnum were ahead 10 - 4 then with fifteen minutes from full time North's leveled ten all.  The game got electric with both sides attempting to break away to score.  Eventually North's scored and converted to take the lead 16 - 10 with five minutes of game play.

Wynnum came close to leveling with a minute to full time, but North's managed to hold them off to win their first Premiership for close to Thirty Years.

[aoluain]

Thats a good news story, nice for a team to win a trophy/title/tournament after
30 years.

Its a similar story to Connacht's story in the Pro14 competition when they won it
in 2016. The Connacht Rugby team have up to a few years ago been regarded as the weakest
of the 4 provinces so winning a major title is a massive achievement and something
very special.

Now on to the United Championship and the match between Connacht and The Dragons...
Dragons and Timelord won, Score was 22-35, Connacht came back in the last quarter but
couldnt bridge the gap. They dont currently have a fantastic home record.

Scarlets v Munster has just started, I have a small wager on Munster to win.

[Timelord2067]

Dragons and Timelord won, Score was 22-35, Connacht came back in the last quarter but couldnt bridge the gap. They dont currently have a fantastic home record.

Are we talking about the same game? 

Super League Grand Final: Catalans Dragons 10-12 St Helens: Saints beat Catalans to win third Grand Final in a row

https://www.bbc.com/sport/av/rugby-league/58859552

I lost out on nitrogensports.eu on my modest bet for the Dragons to win.

[aoluain]

Ah I thought you were betting on the NEWPORT GWENT DRAGONS in the United Championship.

After the 3rd round Munster, Ulster and Leinster are in the top 3 spots while the 4th irish side
Connacht are down in 12th.

And 3 of the south African sides registered positive results, The Stormers drew against
Edinburgh, The Bulls beat Cardiff and The Sharks beat The Ospreys. I wasnt expecting those results
but the only bet I lost on was Connacht.

[aoluain]

Rugby Union - United Championship

Round 4 this weekend and kicking off with Ulster v The Lions and later
The Dragons v The Stormers.

It will be interesting this weekend to see how the South African sides do
and if they can continue their winning from last weekend.

I have one bet on with Glasgow Warriors v Zebre. I funds are depleted after
a lot of losses at Indian Wells during the week, I need to start winning and
building Satoshi's again.