With only two more weekends of the Aussie Rules Football, in the regular season, things are certainly getting interesting. Today the number one team on the ladder, the Geelong Cats, take on number two, the Brisbane Lions, at Brisbane's home of the Gabba, in Woolloongabba. For Brisbane, today's game is a chance to rubber-stamp its credentials as a premiership contender. The Lions would love to win, obviously, to strengthen their grip on a top-two spot, but more importantly they'd like to play a brand of football that proves to themselves and others they'll be real players in September. Geelong started the season very strong, but have been sketchy since their bye week. They won their first game, and have lost four. Still, they have headed the table, and are very strong contenders. Brisbane has not beat Geelong for several contests. In fact, they have lost eight straight matches to the Cats since 2013, by an average of 50 points. This season, Brisbane has scored the most points of any squad, while Geelong has conceded the least points in competition. It is a classic match-up. Meanwhile, Friday night's action saw the Sydney Swans, at a lackluster 15th place on ladder, triumph over Melbourne, aka the Demons. The young Swans have snapped a six-game losing streak and showed some positive signs for the future with a 53-point victory over the disappointing Melbourne Demons at the Melbourne Cricket Grounds on Friday night. This was only the Swans' seventh this season, in this "rebuilding" year. They went out ahead by three goals in the early part of the game, and never fell behind. The Melbourne squad was scoreless in the second and third quarters. Sadly Melbourne, which is the strong standard bearer of AFL tradition from the home of the sport, and despite recent glory, is fixing to finish the season in 17th place. "The Ashes" historically, was a Tour of Australia by the English National Cricket Squad. During a visit by the Australians in England, during the 1800s, the Australians overwhelmed the English for the first time. When England was preparing for their next visit, in Australia, the English press said that they should go and "bring back the ashes" of English Cricket. So, a tradition was born, and has become any such tour of one country by the other. English player Jofra Archer snared his maiden Test wicket as England overcame a sluggish start to put Australia in peril on another rain-interrupted day during the second Ashes Test at Lord's. Australia took the victory in the first test last week. They won over by 251 runs, in the match which was the ICC World Test Championship, played at Birmingham on August 1-5. In Australia's favor, with a full days' play expected today and tomorrow, first-Test savior Steven Smith is at the crease alongside Matthew Wade. Australia's fortunes could rest largely on what happens with those two on Saturday's resumption after rain forced play to be suspended just minutes before the scheduled lunch break on Friday and abandoned in late afternoon without another ball being bowled. Today, the contest should be reignited. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "omnisport" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/omnisport/204572198.401079.1566011345979%40mail.yahoo.com.
