Winners are grinners on the Broncos, Cows bandwagon
Chris: Nathan, any chance you might like to contribute to the fund? You’re still on a duck egg after the first two weeks and Scotty and I have been left to carry the workload on our own. Nathan: You two surely aren’t going to claim that win last week as skill are you? You’ve fallen over the line by half a point! Chris: It’s in the book Nathan. It pays to have loyalty – something you showed none of in betting against the Cowboys.
Scott: I was on the edge of my seat for both games last week. It’s been a massive year for Queensland teams. I’m in disbelief the Cowboys can still be winning. As we’ve talked about, they have had close to $3 million of their salary cap sitting on the sideline. The performance against Parramatta left a bit of egg on my face. I thought Parra would be the team there in the grand final, but the Cowboys just find a way to win. The way Michael Morgan is playing, he’s really stepped up as a leader and he’s surprised most people how he’s taken the team to a new level. He’s been phenomenal. Nathan: Are they capable of doing it again against the Roosters this weekend? Scott: I didn’t give them a chance against Parra. The Cowboys have this attitude of “let’s just give it a crack”, they are so courageous. On paper, the Roosters should beat them, but if I were to pick an upset out of the two games, it would be the Cowboys. They have this never-give-up attitude which will scare the pants off the Roosters this week. Chris: I’m sticking with both Queensland teams. The Broncos have been good to me. I can’t jump off now. I was listening to the radio and all the
geniuses are saying Melbourne have gone off too early and the Broncos are coming good at the right time, so I will run with that theory.
Nathan: Melbourne have been backed to cover the line, so the punters aren’t going with that theory. But you two are both going against the money trail again this week
and taking the Broncos with the start.
Scott: I would rather be playing week-in, week-out at this time of the year and get in the groove. So I guess that’s the risk for Melbourne and in a preliminary final, 9½ points is a huge start. The Broncos are going to have to be at their absolute best, especially down in
Melbourne. The Broncos need to improve again – Darius Boyd won’t be the saviour – but if Brisbane play well, they will certainly give it a shake. Nathan: Another $1 million is up for grabs in the racing tomorrow in the Golden Rose. Menari is not at Melbourne Storm-like odds, but he’s pretty short ($2) to make it three on end this time in. Chris: He looks hard to beat doesn’t he? This is a different sort of a race to the ones he’s won this prep, but he looks impressive. He’s a big strong colt and the way he went last time, I don’t think you could question him at 1400m. He was very strong to the line. Nathan: Last week’s racing was about as good as it gets, with established stars like Winx and Almandin shining brilliantly.
Chris: Almandin is the benchmark as far as the Melbourne Cup goes. He was just awesome. I thought Winx was satisfactory. It was quite a bizarre run. Hughy (Bowman) was niggling at her the whole way. I think it’s a good move to take the ear muffs off next time. She’s just been so switched off in the early part of her races this time in. Nathan: You foolishly jumped off your long-range spring tip Royal Symphony to back Chautauqua last week. Royal Symphony was one of the best wins you’ll see. He had no hope from where he was at the 300m. Chris: That’s what good horses do. They get themselves out of trouble. You think back to Winx in the Epsom two years ago. She was in all sorts of trouble but when she eventually got through, she exploded. This is a good horse and it will take a big performance to beat him in the Caulfield Guineas.