Reprinted courtesy of Sportingbet Australia
Thursday 4th August 2005
NRL
The Cowboys take on the Dragons at Dairy Farmers on
Friday night to kick off this weeks NRL action. The
Dragons have been on fire in recent weeks and are
now clear second picks for the premiership. However,
the Cowboys look to be returning to top form and have
a great record up in Townsville. Punters have struggled
to split the two sides at this stage but the majority
of early money has been for the Dragons to continue
their hot run.
The Warriors and Roosters should be out of finals calculations, but other results going their way last weekend mean they both still retain slim finals hopes if they win this weekend. The Warriors take on Parramatta and the Roosters play the struggling Panthers and both sides have been well backed to keep their seasons alive.
In other games, Newcastle has been well backed at the plus against the Bulldogs and Brisbane have had support both straight out and at the line against Manly.
AFL
AFL's Friday night game sees two sides going in opposite
directions on the ladder. St Kilda have been well
backed to win the flag this week following their drubbing
of the Demons last weekend, while Geelong are unloved
following a succession of losses. Punters don't think
anything will change this weekend with all the money
being for the Saints at this stage.
The Kangaroos have been the best backed side this weekend with a number of large bets coming for them to beat the struggling Collingwood.
In other games, the Bulldogs have had some support to upset West Coast and Sydney has been well backed to beat the Bombers.
Rugby
Union
The second Tri Nations match is on this weekend with
New Zealand taking on the Springboks. All the money
has been for the All Blacks at this stage despite
the convincing manner in which the South Africans
disposed of the Wallabies. The Kiwis have also been
very heavily backed to win the Tri Nations following
the Wallabies loss.
Thursday 11th August 2005
Cricket
The 3rd Ashes Test starts tonight at Old Trafford.
The traditionally spin friendly pitch has been rolled
as flat and hard as possible so the expected showing
of McGill is looking unlikely. Lee has declared himself
fit for the Aussies and McGrath is being given until
the last minute to prove his fitness.
For the Pommies their success in the nail-bitting finish to the Edgbaston Test will give them a great deal of confidence going into this test. They will most likely field the same team that pipped the Aussies at the post.
Despite their close loss in the 2nd test the Aussies have had good backing not to have a repeat performance, with a draw also having some early support. In the Special markets Justin langer and Ricky Ponting are both well backed to have the highest score for the Australia while Kevin Pietersen has been backed to get the highest English batting Score.
For Shane Warne's 600th Wicket Michael Vaughan, who has not had a good series with the bat so far, has been the punters choice.
NRL
Parramatta take on the Bulldogs in Friday night Football.
With Canterbury missing a number of key players, there
has been an avalanche of early money for the Eels.
Parramatta recorded a good win against the Warriors
last weekend while Canterbury were again disappointing.
The Bulldogs will be desperate to win as a loss will
see their finals hopes plummet; however, they may
not have the cattle to down the Eels.
The match of the Round sees Premiership favourites St. George and Brisbane clash at Suncorp Stadium. The Dragons have been well backed as slight outsiders and if they can manage to play for 80 minutes, it is hard to see anyone in the competition matching them.
In other games, Souths have had some support to upset Canberra and the Roosters have been heavily backed against Cronulla.
AFL
The battle of the West kicks off this weekend's AFL
action and all the early money has been for the Eagles
to down the hot and cold Dockers. The Eagles have
been the best side all season; but the Dockers are
capable of beating any side on their day.
Old enemies Carlton and Collingwood clash at the MCG on Saturday and all the early money has been for the Pies.
In other games, Geelong has been well backed to continue Melbourne's misery while the Lions have had some support as outsiders against Sydney.
Soccer
The English Premier League is on again with Manchester
United travelling to Eveton for what looks like an
easy match. There has been some long money betting
on Everton beating United, though the majority of
the money is for a Manchester win.
Liverpool travel to Riverside to play Middlesbrough, with a very even split in money in early betting.
Rugby
Union
The Wallabies and All Blacks have both suffered losses
in South Africa recently and will be desperate to
stay in Tri Nations calculations with a win on Saturday
night. The All Blacks have clearly been the best backed
side with money coming both straight out and at the
line. The Aussies have lost some key players but will
surely lift in Sydney against the Kiwis and that home
ground advantage will count for something.
Golf
The US PGA kicks off tonight withTiger Woods favourite
yet again. There has also been money for a number
of other players. Vijay Singh, Phil Mickelson and
Ernie Els have all come in for support but there has
also been plenty of money away from the usual suspects.
Sergio Garcia, Jim Furyk and Englishman Luke Donald
have all been well backed at big prices. Of the Aussies,
Mark Hensby has been the best backed with support
coming for him to finish in the top ten and also the
as best of the Aussies.
Thursday August 18th 2005
AFL
St. Kilda put in another great performance last weekend.
This weekend the new flag favourites take on Fremantle
on Friday Night at Subiaco. Despite St. Kilda being
in sensational form, there has been very good early
support for the Dockers to cause an upset at home.
The Grand Final replay is on this weekend and it is hard to see either Brisbane or Port featuring again this year. Brisbane are slight favourites despite last weekends thrashing from the Swans. There has been some good support for the Port following a courageous performance in the Adelaide Showdown last round.
In other games, the Kangaroos have been backed as outsiders against Sydney and the Bulldogs have been well backed straight out and at the line against Melbourne.
NRL
Surprise packets Wests take on the Bulldogs in Friday
Night Football. Few would have thought it would be
the Tigers trying to secure a top four spot while
the Bulldogs are battling to scrape into the eight.
All the early money has been for the Tigers this weekend
after the under strength Bulldogs were smashed by
Parramatta last weekend.
The match of the round looks to be the clash between St. George and Parramatta at Oki Jubilee Stadium on Sunday. St. George have confirmed that they are the real deal with a good win over the Broncos last weekend. They have been well supported to down the Eels who were also impressive themselves when they played the Bulldogs last round.
In other games, the Warriors have been well supported against Newcastle while Souths have had some support to cause an upset against the Roosters.
Soccer
The English Premiership kicked off last weekend and
there were no real surprises with the big three all
winning. Chelsea takes on Arsenal this weekend and
Chelsea have been heavily backed as strong favourites
to continue their domination of English Football.
In other games, Tottenham have been well backed against Middlesbrough and Blackburn have been heavily supported against Fulham.
Rugby
Union
Australia produced a disappointing display last weekend
as they were outplayed by a heavily backed All Blacks
team. The task doesn't get any easier for the Aussies
when they take on the in form Springboks in Perth.
The Wallabies are without several key personnel. The
Springboks are making a rare appearance as favourites
away from home and have been heavily backed for the
win.
Cricket
The close nature of the 3rd Test saw huge betting
throughout the whole match with Sportingbet holding
a record amount on the Test. Australia held on for
a hard fought draw. Despite England's dominance throughout
the last two matches, they are clear outsiders for
the 4th which starts on the 24th at Trent Bridge.
The Aussies are clear favourites but the draw has
been the best backed result at this stage.
Thursday August 25th 2005
AFL
The Western Bulldogs take on Collingwood at the Telstra
Dome in Friday night AFL action. The Dogs are expected
to win this match, though the question the punters
are asking is by how much. There has been good interest
in margin betting on this match, with the Bulldogs
winning by 40 plus the punters choice.
Sydney have had two great wins in a row and will be looking for another smashing game of footy this weekend when they take on lowly Hawthorn. As Expected Sydney are firm favourites to win this game, with the lion share of backing going their way, especially through multis.
Fremantle travel to Port Adelaide as the underdog, though there has been some good support for them at the line.
In other games West Coast has had strong support against Adelaide in the match that decides the Minor Premiership. The Kangaroos are well backed to account for Carlton and St Kilda are backed to finish the Lions off for this season. What once would have been considered one of the games of the round is now not the blockbuster it may have seemed six weeks ago.
NRL
The Roosters travel to Suncorp to take on a Brisbane
team that is heading for a home semi-final in September.
Both teams are coming of close losses to teams ranked
lower on the table. There have been some big backers
for Roosters to cause an upset, though most money
has headed towards Brisbane to win at home.
One of the hardest fought matches this round will be between the fourth placed Tigers and the fifth placed Storm. The Tigers are coming of a record win against the Dogs and will be looking to continue with this momentum. The Storm has been heavily backed to win at home and consolidate fifth position.
In other games Manly are expected to fight back at home against a disappointing New Zealand. Penrith are well backed to beat Canterbury in a tight betting affair and there has been money for North Queensland to cover the start against Souths on the Central Coast.
Rugby
Union
South Africa travel to Dunedin to take on the All
Blacks on Saturday night. One more win will see the
Boks retain the Tri nations Trophy for another year.
If the Blacks win they will have a chance of snatching
the series in Auckland against a lacklustre Australia.
There will be mountains of pressure on both teams
to put in a good performance. The Springboks have
been well backed at the line, though most of the straight
out money has been placed on the All Blacks.
Reality
TV
Australian Idol has started again and there has been
some early activity in this market. Chris Luder has
had some good support including some large bets on
him to win the Idol competition. Other performers
that have been well backed at this stage include,
Milly Edwards and Roxane Lebrasse.
Cricket
The 4th Ashes Test starts tonight at Trent Bridge.
Warne has an outstanding record at this oval and should
have been looking forward to bowl there, though yet
again the groundsman has prepared a glass-topped pitch
for the bowlers.
Expect Jones to figure prominently for the English and expect a good debut from Shaun Tait for the Aussies who, has somewhat mastered the art of swing bowling.
There is real pressure on the Pommies to win this Test. They have been in such a commanding position in the last two Tests and have only managed a 2 run victory in the Second Test and a draw in the third. This fact and the fact that the Aussies are expected to hit some form, has seen alot of early money go the Aussies way, with the draw also popular.
Despite a poor showing with the bat so far this series, Adam Gilchrist has had good support to find some form at Trent Bridge and score the Aussies 1st Innings batting high. Langer and Strauss are the punters' favourites to be the first man out for each team. With the ball McGrath has been well backed to take more 1st Innings wickets than Harmision. The punters are unsure how Test newcomer Tait will cope in a high pressure test situation, so have given their early support to Hoggard.