THE HANGOVER: DRAFTSTARS WEEKLY WRAP
Itโs a bit of a lull period at the moment. The end of the NBA came amid the bye week of AFL and the NRL had a round off for Origin. Yet Draftstars still managed to open their wallets and offer up over $300k of prizes for the AFL alone!
And that does not even take into account the big cash grabs available for the Origin game and World Cup matches. The moral of the story? Draftstars has got you. If you needed another reminder, think about the sweet, sweet prospect of competing in the AFL $200k Live Final.
The bye rounds are finally over in the AFL. And high time because the final week was tough to get through with just one game on Sunday. The biggest talking point was the nullifying tactics Port crunched the Cats with which the rest of the AFL surely kept a close eye on.
Origin two was a spiflication. The Blues hammered the Maroons from go to woe. They started out on top of Queensland from a fumbled kick-off which Maroons coach Kevin Walters said, in a live press conference, โf***ing pissed (him) offโ, and led to the first of Tom Trbojevicโs three tries and 68.9 DS points.
Australia now sit second on the World Cup table after a thumping victory over Bangladesh but gripping New Zealand victory over West Indies. And imagine if India had have lost to Afghanistan- the Afghaniโs fell just 11 runs short in a thriller.
AFL ROUND FOURTEEN
Thursday night was another fizzer under the guise of a big billed blockbuster. Essendon barely fired a shot and the 35-points Eagles victory flattered them. Elliott Yeo continued his purple patch as he racked up 132 DS points through 25 disposals, a goal and a typically high 12 tackles. Dom Sheed did the same with 114 DS points and this goal of the year contender.
Friday tried a little harder to inspire some kind of enthusiasm as the game ebbed and flowed. But, realistically, Sydney held the Hawks at arms-length after an explosive start to eventually win out by 19. Luke Parker had a monster game culminating in 157 DS points. His 31 touches, 12 tackles and a goal surely earned him three votes as he continued an impressive stretch of five games.
The second biggest upset of the round came as Melbourne ran over an injury hobbled Dockers side. Again, Max Gawn was prolific with 129 DS points but Tom McDonald was the one who drew the headlines. A return from the big guy finally came as he chalked up 28 touches and popped through three majors on his way to 125 DS points, at good value.
Alan Richardson will be facing some sleepless nights in the coming weeks after Brisbane absolutely annihilated his Saints team who welcomed back a boom recruit and a star player. Dan Hanneberry did his job with 27 touches and 103 DS point in his return game while Jake Carlisle will be better for the run. Lions on again, off again vetern Stefan Martin was a stand-out with 22 touches, 25 hit-outs and 119 DS points.
The upset of the year came in the standalone Saturday night fixture between Port and Geelong. The Cats continued their post-bye woes and Port suffocated them with an effective game plan. Undoubtedly, Scott Lycett was the best player on the night after his role increased with the omissions of Paddy Ryder and Justin Westhoff. His 41 hit outs and 24 touches led him to 130 DS points.
The final game of the round left Bulldogs fans hopes in tatters and asking the question, โwhat could have been?โ Horrible inaccuracy robbed them of another upset victory in round 14 as they fell 9-points short of the Pies despite having six more scoring shots. It was a DS scoring feast with Jack Macrae exploding for 178, Brodie Grundy backing up his big last game against Tim English with 168 and Caleb Daniel torching the Pies for 135.
CRICKET WORLD CUP
Australia had another successful World Cup week with a huge win over Bangladesh. Again, it was David Warner who got it done with the bat as he battered the Bangladeshi attack for 166 from 147. Usman Khawaja, batting at three, also chimed in with 89 runs at 123. On the other side, Mushfiqur Rahim also nailed a century (102 not out from 97) which kept his side in the game for some time, despite chasing an unlikely 381.
The game of the week came between New Zealand and the West Indies who slogged it out in a low scoring but highly entertaining affair. Kane Williamson saved the day for the Kiwis with 148 from 154 after both openers fell for golden ducks. Sheldon Cottrell was the reason for their failings as he took two wickets in the first over on his way to 4/56.
Carlos Brathwaite was then almost the hero for the Windies with an impressive debut century, smashing 101 from 82 deliveries but he was the last man out, falling five runs short of victory.
The next day, Pakistan bundled South Africa out of the World Cup entirely after Haris Sohail (89 from 59) helped them to 308 in the first innings and Wahab Riaz (3/46) and Shadab Khan (3/50) restricted the South Africans to 259.
Written by Brin Duggan
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