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Aussie
Rules
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Centrebet Capers
CRICKET The Australian domestic season is nearing completion and there is a full fixture of games for both the ING and Pura Cup coming up over the next week. Western Australia heads the ING Cup table, but travel to Queensland tomorrow (Fri) as outsiders ($2.20). Bets of $3000 and $2600 have arrived for Qld at $1.65, and while they have had a disappointing year, they will go in near enough to full strength. Victoria are $1.45 to continue their push for a finals berth when they take on Tasmania at the MCG on Saturday, while NSW are $1.57 to topple South Australia on Sunday. Both of these sides have had terrible seasons in both forms of the game, but that hasn't deterred one eager fan from Sydney who has parted with $5000 for NSW to win. On the International scene, South Africa play New Zealand in the first of their one day matches tomorrow in Auckland. On paper, this should be a competitive series, one that in our opinion, the home side can win. The Kiwi's are $3.85, a drawn series at $5, with South Africa the fav's at $1.55, a price which has been taken by a New Zealander to the tune of $10,000. The first match has seen money for both sides, but we will be looking for a New Zealand win after one of our Indian friends chimed in with a bet of $ USD 20,000 for South Africa at $1.55. Betting will be re-opened at half time on these matches, and several of our normal exotic options will also be available. Betting on the up-coming tour of Sri Lanka will be available Monday following the naming of the Australian side. GOLF The golfing punters had their eye in last week with Vijay Singh being successful at Pebble Beach in Florida and Ernie Els dominating for three days at The Heineken Classic, held at Royal Melbourne Golf Club in Australia. Singh proved to be a tough act to chase making birdies on the first tree holes of his final round as Aaron Oberholser, equal leader heading into the final round, found himself six shots adrift after eight holes. Singh now finds himself in legendary company having made the cut on twelve consecutive occasions and is now only two shy of the record held by the great Jack Nicklaus. Furthermore his pursuit of the perfect golf swing, honed in from hours of practice, is now being compared to the legendary Ben Hogan, not a bad recommendation and one which pleases Singh almost as much as winning tournaments. This week on the PGA tour we have the return of Tiger Woods at the Buick Invitational held at Torrey Pines in California. With the form Vijay Singh has been in of recent times, Woods will certainly have his work cut out to hold on to his number one World Ranking and this is reflected in the betting with defending Champion Woods at $3.75 and Singh, backed to win over $50,000 by last weeks successful punter, at $5.50. Also well supported in this event have been European tour players Sergio Garcia and Darren Clarke at $31 who along with Phil Mickelson at $9 should prove hard for both Woods and Singh to beat. Last week on the combined European/Australasian tour, Ernie Els jumped the boxes with a magnificent opening round twelve under par 60 to virtually stifle the betting in what was a talented field at the Heineken Classic in Melbourne. One punter backed him to win nearly $100,000 at his opening quote of $4.50 and was more than pleased with himself as he led by eight shots heading into the final round. The drama which then unfolded I'm sure was less than expected and more than his nerves could bear as Els squandered his eight shot lead to be joined by Australian Adam Scott with nine holes to play at sixteen under par. Els then birdie four of the next five holes to open a two shot lead and show what a true Champion he is, however the drama was not over there as Scott birdied the seventeenth and then had a ten foot birdie putt on the last to force a play-off with Els. A putt he sadly left short of the hole. The combined tour moves north to New South Wales to the Horizons resort for the ANZ Championship, a modified stableford scoring event. Favourites here are defending champion Paul Casey and New Zealander Michael Campbell at $9 who along with Peter O'Malley, $19, Richard Green, $41 and Scott Gardiner $51 have been well supported in what has proven to be a well supported event from our golfing clientele. Others well tried have been Englishman John Bickerton and Australian Brendon Jones, both at $101, in an event where a surprise result would not surprise! BASKETBALL Interest in the NBA has never been bigger. Even though the primary Championship contenders appear to be limited to the major five teams from the Western Conference, some up and coming players of the future have generated interest across the entire competition. Rookie of the year is a two way race between LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony. James has created more hype (and bigger sponsorship deals) but there is plenty of substance to Anthony's game and Denver's 30 wins to Cleveland's 20 could sway the voting panel in Anthony's favour. With the depth of talent entering the NBA in the past two seasons there are many who believe the Rookies v Sophomores Challenge at the up-coming All Star Weekend will be a better spectacle than the main attraction. Job security is not what it could be for Eastern Conference coaches. Of the 15 gentleman who completed last season calling the shots in the East, only one is still in work. That's right, one. In such a tough, cut-throat environment you could be excused for thinking that the sole survivor, Atlanta's Terry Stotts, must be doing plenty right. Truth is the Atlanta Hawks are languishing near the bottom of the East and have given up on this season already, having just traded their key player to Portland. You can be assured that as they look to rebuild, Terry Stotts won't be part of their plans. When LA Lakers recruited Gary Payton and Karl Malone in the off season most thought they would be as near to unbeatable as you could get and the presentation of Championship rings was just a formality. To say things haven't gone according to plan is an understatement. Injuries and court appearances of the non basketball kind have led to Lakers looking a little vulnerable and their 31-18 record is only good enough for 5th position in the West. When all four future Hall of Famers have been together they have been very good but it remains a question of how far they will fall before they get them all fit and healthy and on the same page. Their potential, when and if they return to full strength is what keeps them at the head of Championship markets but at $2.25 they represent very little value. Whilst on the subject of the Lakers what is it with Shaq O'Neal and free throws? Whilst his performance from the foul line has always been deplorable, he has recently sunk to new lows. Entering Wednesday's game at Houston, his last 50 attempts from the foul line have produced 17 points. 34% free throw shooting wouldn't cut it in a local Under 16's competition. In fact if your teenage daughter was shooting that poorly you would take away her mobile phone until it improved. Now there's an idea for Phil Jackson and the rest of the Lakers coaching panel! RUGBY Six Nations kicks off this week with three short priced favourites and some missing stars, with the France v Ireland game a key to both countries chance of holding the trophy at the end of the season. France will fancy their chances not only because of Johnny Wilkinson’s injury and subsequent absence but because of the foundation that was laid during the World Cup in October, and recent money suggests that will be the case as they have firmed from $2.70 into $2.50 while England has got the blows, out to $1.57 from $1.50. Money has also been solid this week for the French at $1.11 and giving the Irish 15.5 points start at $1.90. Ireland may struggle in this game with star Captain Brian O'Driscoll out with a hamstring injury and the retirement of Keith Wood, their need to sharpen up at the scrum and breakdown also keys to their Six Nations success. The other game on Saturday has Scotland travelling to Cardiff with Wales favoured to dispense with the Scots and improve on last years dismal Six Nations effort.. The retirement of Gregor Townsend and Bryan Redpath has Scotland fielding an inexperienced and youthful combination, as punters look to the much improved wales line-up to kick start their Six Nations campaign. Betting here has Wales as favourites at $1.30 and giving Scotland 9.5 points start at $1.90, our first Six Nations salvo being 3000UK on Wales at the points. The final match on Sunday evening has Clive Woodward’s World Champions heading to Rome, without Johnny Wilkinson and retired Martin Johnson and with the second coming of newly appointed Captain Lawrence Dallaglio. England are at the prohibitive odds of $1.01 and need to give Italy 31.5 points start at $1.90 and without Wilkinson punters have been lees than enthusiastic to get involved in this game. On the Super 12s front, The Blues have firmed into $2.25 from $2.35 on the strength of a 24-5 flogging of the Waratahs at Aussie Stadium in Sydney last night and with few other teams showing early form expect this quote to firm even shorter before the first round kicks off next week. The form of their three most influential international, Caucaunibuca, Howlett and Rokokoko was impressive to say the least and with an injury to Matt Rogers for the Waratahs and the Crusaders slow starts in recent seasons its hard to envisage any team troubling the Blues for the top of the Super 12s mantle. HARNESS RACING As there are only pacing races in Western Australia, the Inter Dominion for trotters will be decided at Moonee Valley this year, and the first round of heats get under way on Friday night. True Roman was the last Australian bred trotter to win the series back in 1988, and ironically it will be True Roman's driver Gavin Lang who this year will steer the favourite Sumthingaboutmaori ($2.35) to try and emulate the deeds of True Roman. The mare has only recently zoomed into a calculation which probably explains the apprehension of punters to take the short odds, but on form, definitely looks the one to beat. Second favourite is last years runner-up Castletown's Mission ($4.75), who while capable of an electrifying sprint, is yet to race outside of New Zealand where many of the tracks are larger than Moonee Valley. Punters agree as there hasn't been anywhere near the support for Castletown's Mission this year as there was last year. Martina H ($6) is a different story however as Kiwi punters have been chipping away at the price on offer. Outside of the top three in the betting, money has arrived for Andandon ($13), Lost in the Park ($41) and Sophocles, now into $67 after opening at nearly double those odds. It is rare for a trotters Inter Dom to be won by anything but a favoured horse, but if there was to be an upset, it could come from the super consistent Sammy Do Good ($17). The pacers final is an intriguing affair as many horses always struggle with the arduous campaign, and there is also the heat and travel factor involved when racing in 'the West'. The heats are still a month away, but locally trained The Falcon Strike is the favourite, and the one to beat. He may have been disappointing in the Miracle Mile, but it is worth remembering that he did blitz his rivals in three races over 14 days during the WA Grand Circuit. Veteran Grand Circuit performer Double Identity is an $8 chance to atone for a dismal 'Inter' series last year, and his recent form suggests he is back to his best. Sokyola, Australia's best performed pacer over the past 8 months, is second elect at $5, and should thrive on the series format of three heats in a week with the final a week later. Flashing Red ($15) is another who will be suited by the conditions, and could spring a surprise TENNIS It wasn't only Australian punters who wore the brunt of the Davis Cup results from last weekend when Russia were also eliminated from the series. Those two countries were well supported, but the big shock was Australia's defeat at the hands of Sweden. Mark Philippoussis failed to win a match, but he seems to be singled out unfairly as the doubles combination of Woodbridge and Arthurs also put in a 'shocker' when beaten by the Swedes. It was actually the doubles match which gave us our best result as punters poured into the $1.60, then the $1.55, for an Australian win. Some of the bigger bets included $12,000 and $9,500, and while we have a lot of Swedish clients, there was a distinct lack of interest from them. Unfortunately, the Swedish team didn't give their fans who fancied a bet much time to back Jonas Bjorkman to topple Mark Phillippoussis on Sunday morning. All the 'mail' was that it would be Robin Soderling who would be up against 'the Scud', and Soderling had been backed from $3.40 into $2.80 in a big betting game. It was only announced 45 minutes before the tie that Bjorkman would be lining up again after an epic doubles rubber, which meant all previous bets on the Soderling match had to be refunded. By this time, most of Sweden would have been tucked up in bed, and that was the main reason why 'the Scud' was backed from $1.60 into $1.53, with nearly every bet coming from Australia. It certainly was a weekend that Phillippoussis, and punters, would rather forget. There won’t be any rest for tennis followers as Centrebet will have a comprehensive coverage of all events on this week. Until next week, good punting. For further information contact Gerard Daffy at Centrebet on 08 89555800 or centrebet@centrebet.com.
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