State of Origin
NSW v Queensland – The Blues have levelled up the State of Origin series ledger 1-1 in a 44-12 demolition of the Maroons in Perth. After leading by just two points at the half, the floodgates opened with 5 unanswered tries delivering the Blues a comfortable victory in front of a sold out Optus Stadium. Nathan Cleary scored two of them and finished with 24 points in a Man of the Match performance. The series now heads to a decider at Lang Park in Queensland where NSW have only won 2 deciders in Origin history.
UFC Vegas 57
Tsarukyan v Gamrot – Mateusz Gamrot has scored an impressive unanimous decision win over Arman Tsarukyan in the main event of UFC Vegas 57’s fight card. It was touted as one of the fights of the year and with a result that could have easily gone either way, it was Gamrot who got the nod from the judges with 48-47 scores across the board. Tsarukyan appeared to have the better striking throughout the night and particularly in the first two rounds but Gamrot’s superior grappling was the determining factor for judges in the end. The pre-fight odds were interesting with a big discrepancy between the two fighters and our MMA Titan Manu thought the gap was too big. Here’s what he wrote in his winning analysis to members:
Both have some questions to answer, but I see this fight as a 50/50 fight and the odds look ridiculous to me.
Playing the perceived big value on Gamrot.
AFL
Geelong v Richmond – The Cats have won the ‘match of the year’ at the MCG on Saturday evening beating the Tigers by just 3 points. Geelong had a 35 point buffer during the second quarter before losing complete control of the match for over a quarter as the Tigers gained a 17 point lead early in the last quarter. There were several lead changes in the last quarter with Maurice Rioli Jr slotting a set shot to put the Tigers in front with just over 2 minutes remaining. However it was young up and coming forward Jack Henry who would slot the eventual winner with the Cats holding on through a couple of tense stoppages and inside 50s to win.
Feature Horse Racing
Tatts Tiara – Startantes has won the final Group 1 of the season, the Tatt’s Tiara at Eagle Farm. She delivered gun trainer Rob Heathcote his first Group 1 since 2020 in what was just his second Group 1 in Queensland. The horse settled at the rear of the field which in hindsight may have been a blessing. Much of the field fanned out wide as they made their runs coming round the bend which opened up a huge gap back towards the rail. Jockey Jason Collett sat patiently watching it all unfold then pressed the go button and Startantes’ electric turn of foot did the rest as she mowed down the field including tearaway leader Snapdancer.
