Menzies House

One for the history books-why Rugby League need more Rabbitohs

Joseph Del Duca writes passionately about his beloved Rabbitohs. Fate had better bring triumph or...well, you ask him what.

Recently I've been forced to eat my own words but in a very happy way. In April this year, at the start of the rugby league season, I said: "I wasn't sure how many more seasons of pain," I could endure as a Rabbitohs supporter on my biography page. Fast forward to September, and the mighty Red and Green are just one game away from playing in their first grand final in 41 years.

Saturday night, against Canterbury-Bankstown is the game in question. So far an estimated crowd of between 65,000 – 80,000 people are expected.  This makes it the biggest game this season. So what is it that makes this game such a sell a huge event compared to all the others? In my opinion there are two figures that cause this, 1908 and 1935. 1908 is the year South Sydney Rabbitohs were founded, and 1935 is the year Canterbury-Bankstown began its side.

Many have tried and failed to tell us that we need to be passionate about a sporting team. In the dark days of the Super League War we were given the Hunter Mariners, the South Queensland Crushers and the Adelaide Rams. The NBL has tried to convince us to follow the Western Sydney Razorbacks and the A League tries valiantly to convince us that we have an immense rivalry with people from the Central Coast. In spite of this we still see the NBL sail to the edge of bankruptcy. The A League continuously struggles to find relevance, and the NRL consistently fails to achieve impressive crowd figures. The reason is simple; you can't buy history.

Andy’s 2011 Melbourne Cup Tips

The Emirates Melbourne Cup is being held today at Flemington Race course.

I have a limited knowledge of horse racing and the purpose of this article is primarily fun.

My top picks are Dunaden, Niwot, Americain, Jukebox Jury, Drunken Sailor and Illo.

The best way to implement this strategy is via a ‘box trifecta’ on the top 6 horses (see your local bookie for a description of this bet).

 

Good Luck and gamble responsibly.

 

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The rotting state of the gentleman’s game

The ICC's refusal to accept John Howard's nomination as its Vice President raises questions about the integrity of the Council, writes Joshua Bell.

With great dismay, I have been following the debacle surrounding the International Cricket Council’s rejection of former Prime Minister John Howard’s nomination to be its vice-president (and therefore future president).

These events expose a grim reality that has been kept under the radar for some time and, to paraphrase Marcellus’ famous statement in Hamlet, something is rotten in the world of cricket.

Allow me to start by setting the scene.

Victoria needs a serious look at Mixed Martial Arts

Legalising MMA is a good thing, writes Clinton Gale.

On Sunday February 21st this year Sydney hosted Australia’s first ever visit from American based institution Ultimate Fighting Championship, commonly known as the UFC. Drawing an attendance of 17,831, tickets for the Acer Arena’s show sold out within an hour, making it the second fastest sell out time for a UFC event. The sport known as mixed martial arts (or MMA) is sweeping the world in popularity. UFC President Dana White stated he wishes to bring the event to Australia annually after the highly successful Sydney event, but due to current state regulations Melbourne is unable to host the UFC.