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Aussie
Rules
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Centrebet Capers
RUGBY LEAGUE The clock was turned back a few years when Australia played Great Britain in the final of the Tri Nations on Saturday night. Just when we thought that we were beginning to see a levelling of the playing field in International league, Australia come out and inflict a 44-4 point hammering on Great Britain! To be fair however, the series was exciting, and this was the only 'blowout', it just came at the wrong time for the Brits. The Kangaroos put up a flawless display, leading 38-0 at half time, so you could argue that Great Britain certainly didn't shirk the issue as they outscored Australia in the second half. Just like the game, the betting also had two halves. We spent the greater part of the week accepting bets for Great Britain, including four separate bets of $10,000 with 4½ points start. Practically every bet we had taken for Great Britain had come from Australian punters, and that was despite the fact that Darren Lockyer was back in the side. On Saturday though, the pendulem began to swing the other way, with 'win' bets of $28,000 and $20,000 coming for the Kangaroos ($1.60), as well as bets of $18,000, $15,000 and $10,000 for them to beat that 4½ point handicap. What started out as a big winner soon became a loser as all the late money was for Australia, but at least we were out of our misery early, just like their opposition. Betting to win next year's NRL title is rolling along quietly. To date, the two best backed sides have been the Roosters ($6.50-$5.75), while Brisbane have been backed to win close to $50,000 at $13. We thought we were on the safe side of St George Illawarra, but there has been several bets taken on the Dragons at $8, with the New Zealand Warriors also attracting some support, now into $21 after opening at $26. Final eight and wooden spoon betting will open on Tuesday of next week. RUGBY UNION Almost everybody got it wrong with the Wallabies! The Australian side weren't given much consideration by punters against England at Twickenham on Saturday, and we probably have Matt Giteau to thank after he played a major role in one try, and also scored three penalty goals. It is amazing what a difference the loss of Jonny Wilkinson has made to the English side, the accurate kicking game temporarily gone from the side, and that was the primary reason behind the loss. Most Wallaby supporters deserted the ship, with the largest 'win' bet being $4000 at $2.90, and the biggest handicap bet being $8000 with 7½ points start. Betting on England was frantic, including bets of $20,000 to win ($1.45), three separate bets of $10,000 to beat the handicap, as well as a $30,000 double for England to win into Australia to beat New Zealand in the second cricket test. The Australian tour of Europe is now over, and the players return home to prepare for the Super 12 series, which isn't far away. The results of the other three rugby matches all went our way as well, even though two of them were won by the favourites. South Africa gave Scotland something to think about, thrashing the Scots 45-10. The 12½ points start that we gave the Scots was where the money went, including bets of £5000 and $10,000. Our South African clients kept right away from the Springboks, and you couldn't really blame them after the beating they suffered at the hands of England the previous week. Argentina have gained a lot of respect this tour with a win over France, and they very nearly pulled off another upset when narrow two point losers to Ireland at Lansdowne Road. As it turned out, it was only a drop goal to Ronan O'Gara in stoppage time which saw Ireland scrape home 21-19. For the second time in the past four weeks, O'Gara scored all the points for Ireland, but the interesting thing to come out of the game is that it appears as though the once flamboyant Argentinean side have also learnt how to defend. Most of the money wagered on this game came from the UK, with bets of £6000 and £2000 coming for Ireland to cover a 7½ point handicap. The other match ended in misery for the many who backed France, when they suffered a humiliating 45-6 loss to the All Blacks. This was a huge betting game, with France going in slight fav's at $1.87 ahead of NZ at $1.90. We didn't have too much trouble laying the All Blacks, but their bigger punting fans were conspicuous by their absence. There were several big bets on France though, with the two largest being $18,000 (from England), and $15,000 from Australia. France and England share favourtism to win the Six Nations at $2.35, but we haven't struck a blow there yet, while New Zealand are $3 to win the next World Cup. BASKETBALL In Round 9 of the NBL two teams put in performances which will make the rest of the league realise that the path to the NBL Championship will not be negotiated without finding a way to dispose of them. I refer to Brisbane and Perth. Brisbane had two wins they were expected to get but it was the manner of the victories over Perth and Hunter which indicate that the early season favourites are back on track and will build on their 8W-7L record in the weeks to come. Despite our predictions of returning from Queensland without a win, the Wildcats went back to Perth with a 2W-1L weekend and the only positive win/loss ratio on the road in the competition. They have set up their season very nicely as they have played 9 of 15 games away from home and currently sit in third position. They have gone from strength to strength after losing Burston for the season and with the axing of Rashad Tucker this week they have made a move to get bigger and stronger inside. Whilst Tucker's demise was a major surprise the departure of King's import Thalo Green was not. Once Kendall and Bruton suffered serious injuries, Sydney could not afford the luxury of a role-playing import. They need an impact player and they need him now. With only 1 game this week and a bye the following week the Kings will use the time to trial one or two players and hope they come up with the goods. History says they will. In Round 10 the game that creates most interest and may well prove difficult for punters is Saturday's televised game between Sydney and Wollongong. Sydney are well below full strength as their 76-93 result against West Sydney indicates but Wollongong will be having their second game of the round and have failed to win a game from three attempts in this situation. Hunter at home against Melbourne also shapes as an interesting contest. The Tiger are 1W-6L away from home but haven't been that bad and maybe they will snare a win at Newcastle and move towards the top four. Of the three surprise early season pacesetters from the Western Conference in the NBA, Utah have come back to reality in recent weeks but Seattle and Phoenix continue to produce the goods. I suspect that when the business end of the season is with us, Seattle will have dropped of the pace but the Phoenix Suns appear to be the real deal. In Round 10 of the WNBL Sydney return to Melbourne to take on Bulleen and Dandenong. Two weeks ago they split this trip but desperately need two wins this week to keep a top 2 finish a viable option. Injury has meant they are playing below their expectations but they remain the team to beat if they get their full squad back on the floor. GOLF What appeared to be shaping as a good week for Centrebet on the golfing scene finished up as an escape from potential disaster, as defending champion Peter Lonard held on to defeat a heavily backed Stuart Appleby by one shot. Although Lonard was far from a perfect result for Centrebet, carrying one wager of $10,000 at $10 along with a host of bets from the rank and file, he was far from the horrific result Stuart Appleby was going to be, backed to win $150,000 in a single bet. A birdie on the final hole from Appleby, a relatively easy par 5, would have sent the Open into a play-off, however he luckily missed the three metre putt to the left, and disaster was avoided. As mentioned last week, the Australian season usually signals a winding down period for the golfing punting public, however as last weeks splurge indicates this is not the case this year, and has been supported by the figures of this week. Favourite for this weeks Australian PGA held at the Hyatt Regency Coolum is Adam Scott ($6) from last weeks winner, Peter Lonard ($7.50), while Rod Pampling ($13) heads the remainder of what is a very talented field. Scott carries two separate wagers of note, $30,000 at $6 and a further $10,000 at $5.50 while Lonard carries a bet of $10,000 at $7.50. Also well supported has been Stephen Leaney, ($10,000 at $16), and Daniel Chopra, ($4,500 at $34) while Pampling has been friendless in the betting along with Craig Parry ($19) and defending champion Peter Senior ($41). When you throw in the likes of well performed European tour players, Nick O'Hern ($15), Richard Green ($26) and Peter O'Malley ($34), not to mention Greg Norman ($51), you can see we have a field of class and depth, with the winner needing to perform well over the four days to be successful. The other key golfing event of the week is the Nedbank Golf Challenge held at the Gary Player Country Club, Sun City. Defending champion is Spaniard Sergio Garcia ($5.25) while favourite is Ernie Els ($3). These two players have shared success on the last five occasions, with Els winning in 1999, 2000/02, Garcia winning 2001/03. Nevertheless the big money has come for Retief Goosen, backed to win $150,000 at $4.25, and late inclusion Lee Westwood, $10,000 at $14. While Goosen was beaten in a play-off last year by Garcia and has been in good form of late, the form guide says it’s hard to go past Els and Garcia whose track form is impeccable. It’s fair to mention that a top class field of European tour players have assembled at the Hong Kong GC for this year's Hong Kong Open. Irishman Padraig Harrington, winner in both 2002/03 launches his 2005 campaign as $7.50 favourite however its in form Spaniard Miguel Angel Jimenez who has been all the rage, carrying one bet of $15,000 at $8. With players of the calibre of Thomas Bjorn ($13), Ian Poulter ($17) and David Howell ($19) competing. this will prove a tough assignment for the more fancied Harrington and Jimenez. CRICKET Apart from a 30 minute period early on the third day of the Adelaide test, punters never had too many worries before they collected on another Aussie win. Australia went into the match hot fav's at $1.40, again carrying some big wagers, the largest of those being $30,000 at $1.50. We decided that rather than trying to extract something out of the draw and New Zealand before the match started, we would wait for them to get into the betting. That was a bad move, as Australia piled on the runs and got a couple of early Kiwi wickets. The only form of New Zealand resilience came in the shape of Stephen Fleming, and while he was at the crease, the draw did start to shorten up, touching $2.60 at one stage, but there wasn't any serious money for the stalemate as punters correctly tipped another Kiwi collapse. The big interest wasn't so much the test itself, but the match race afterwards between Darren Lehmann and Mark Richardson. Adelaide has become famous for the 'showdown' between Port Adelaide and the Crows in the AFL, and this race has been dubbed the 'slowdown' for obvious reasons. Neither batsman is known for their speed, agility or fitness levels, but Richardson has made this 'event' a key element of each of the New Zealand tours where he challenges the slowest player from the other side over 100 metres. We joined in the fun, posting a market with 'Boof' Lehmann favourite at $1.55 and 'Rigor' Richardson at $2.30. With the race getting a lot of exposure, betting went through the roof, attracting nearly $4000 worth of bets from both countries. Naturally there wasn't any big bets (and they wouldn't have got on anyway!), but we did take three bets of $400 for Lehmann, and a $400 bet for Richardson. The spectacle fell well short of the men’s 100 metres final at Athens, and the big winning margin to Richardson will have the Lehmann camp looking to place him in much shorter events in future, but where do they run races over 20 metres? Now that the tests are out of the road, a three match one day series will begin on Sunday with a match indoors at Telstra Dome, followed by a match in Sydney on Wednesday and the last in Brisbane on Friday. The first match has seen punters jump into Australia again, led up by bets of $18,000 and $10,000 at $1.35, and now the $1.30 is being taken with bets of $10,000 and $6000. The Kiwi's are a bit more competitive in the one day arena (we hope), but there hasn't been much interest in them even at the $3.40 on offer. Betting will be available 'ball by ball' on these matches, as will 'next man out' and 'type of dismissal'. GREYHOUNDS Hallucinate won the Melbourne Cup for Tony Lockett and Darren McDonald last Thursday night, and while the race is the major event on the Australian calendar, we were quite surprised in the level of interest form our overseas punters. All up, we took bets from eight countries outside of Australia, and the winner landed one bet of €1000 at $3 from a client in Bulgaria! Hallucinate also has a fan in Pakistan who threw $USD 25 on him as well! This was easily the biggest betting greyhound race Centrebet has ever covered, with favourite Whiskey Assassin drifting out to $2.60 at the jump following sustained support for most runners. Panicked ($6.50) was backed to win $10,000 in two separate bets, as was NSW visitor Malfoy ($8). The box draw hadn't been as kind to Hallucinate this week, but it doesn't matter now as the dog was sold yesterday for $900,000 and will be scratched from the Topgun. Whiskey Assassin got into all sorts of trouble last week, but has drawn to perfection this week out in box eight. He does look the winner from there, hence the price of $1.80, but there has been money for most of the field, including Paua to Burn ($1000 at $7) and Malfoy ($800 at $7). The time honoured Hobart Thousand will also be covered by Centrebet on Thursday night. Victorian Lukeamy broke the track record last week, and although drawn out favourably again box six, we have taken her on to some degree at the $2.50 quote as she normally doesn't come out running, as was the case last week. Tony Lockett will again be the handler for Where's Pedro, who will definitely improve after his first look at the track last week. Where's Pedro is second elect at $3.25, and has already been backed to win $3000 in a series of bets. If there is to be an upset, Forceful Bomber ($13) is perfectly drawn out in box seven, and will be all the better for the run on the track last week. ENTERTAINMENT Miss World will be decided by the public for the first time this year, and as a result of the public becoming involved in that process, there has been a host of shows televised globally that are related to this years title. That has greatly assisted the betting, and there has been money for every single competitor. Miss USA is the ruling favourite at $6 after winning the beach girl part of the event, and is easily our worst result. Others who have caught the eye of punters have been Miss India ($15), Miss Ukraine ($26), Miss Belarus at the same odds, and also Miss Wales ($26). Our own entrant, Sarah Davies from Brisbane, has attracted a mountain of support from the Sunshine State, and is now into $16 after opening at $21. Sarah will be trying to emulate the feat of Belinda Green who won the title way back in 1972, and is still a household name in Australia today. As this is a public vote by SMS and telephone, betting will close early on Thursday, two days prior to the final. Until next week, good punting. For further information contact Gerard Daffy at Centrebet on 08 89555800 or centrebet@centrebet.com.
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