Geelong Men's Gift

Again, a quick poll this week.

Cast a vote.

max mason wins this easily, paull and burleigh the minors

Paull
Rosen
Dunbar

Sonsini
Burleigh
Ware

Sonsini, Rosen, Burleigh

sonsini error warrnambool 6.25 no run. geelong 5.75 wrong, 5.25 correct. simple! burleigh error warrnambool 8.75, geelong 7.75 wrong 7.25 correct!
mex quiet?
paull form winner

Paull clear favourite - dropped a bomb at Warrnambool, looks to have lost a significant amount of weight and gotten in the gym. Is he the new muscle man? I predict he will follow in the footsteps of his idol KK and take out the Geelong Gift.

Whitey wrote:Mckenna (son of Guy?) another to look out for, has a nice PB, will be a main contender. Don’t think he can hold off Mason though.
Antonino also ran well at Warrnambool, another one I’ve got my eye on this season, has improved plenty.

McKenna definitely a good runner, based off form in the TAL races though Whitey I'd be looking elsewhere. Sonsini not far behind him over that 100 yrads race but here has more than a meter on him.

Warrnambool times seemed all over the place be interested to see if anyone can back those up.

McKenna won’t get near Sonsini, Antonino, Burleigh, Paull etc

Whitey wrote:Mckenna (son of Guy?) another to look out for, has a nice PB, will be a main contender. Don’t think he can hold off Mason though.
Antonino also ran well at Warrnambool, another one I’ve got my eye on this season, has improved plenty.

Max Mason is back the bare minimum from winning Hastings in a canter last season off 5m. 1.25m pull for 3.75m start, so 100m has been rounded UP to 3.25m

Dion Paull is number one pick here on a generous hcp for his ability. 3 injury plagued seasons to build up the strength has helped.

Jesse McKenna looks to be on a fair hcp for his pb times in both 100m/200m. Not often handicapper gets this right for first time pro entries, so good to see.

Nicholas Antonino was peaking with podium finishes at Castlemaine and Bendigo last season from 8.50m. So should enjoy the natural improvement of speed along with hard training that a 18-19 year old should expect.
However, as mentioned by others his 7.25m hcp in the 70m is not correct. His 2019 samples at Stawell, Ringwood (0.1) allowance or even Berwick have him on a maximum starting hcp of 6.5m. Which was the case at the start of last season, as expected.

Mason Keast is overly handicapped in both sprints, as far as his recent best performances are concerned. Times at Keilor and Castlemaine (0.1 allowance) have Mason on a 70m start hcp of 5.25m not 6.25m.
Keast’s 120m Bendigo 2019 final and Stawell 2018 final times have him on a start hcp of 8.50m not 9.25m

Athletes/coaches are much happier when the correct maths are used to determine start marks, rather than just ‘letting a few slip through’ and settle for it was just his/her turn.
It it frustrating to see someone run from 5.50m in a 120m to then a 5.75m hcp in a 100m the following week.
This job is not just for the individual handicapper to complete. Time for the handicap review panel to step up their work rate.

Easier Said Than Run wrote:Athletes/coaches are much happier when the correct maths are used to determine start marks, rather than just ‘letting a few slip through’ and settle for it was just his/her turn.
It it frustrating to see someone run from 5.50m in a 120m to then a 5.75m hcp in a 100m the following week.
This job is not just for the individual handicapper to complete. Time for the handicap review panel to step up their work rate.

Good call on the Handicap Review Panel. They should be ensuring the integrity of each and every handicap week in week out. It's becoming too common to see mistakes in published handicaps which only seem to be rectified if coaches or athletes make the administration aware. Houlihan was lucky to run off 5.25m last week, as will Sonsini if he runs off 5.75 this week (equivalent of 7m over 120) and our very own forum admin Burleigh if he runs off 7.75 (equivalent of 9.25 over 120). You just need to check their Warrnambool handicaps from last week to see their marks are too big after you apply a 5/6 conversion for 100m races.

Issues aside, Rosen will be very hard to catch off 11.75m.

DY wrote:sonsini error warrnambool 6.25 no run. geelong 5.75 wrong, 5.25 correct. simple! burleigh error warrnambool 8.75, geelong 7.75 wrong 7.25 correct!
mex quiet?
paull form winner

Not quiet, not sure what the angle is there.

Lots of errors, I am sure to have the grey lead out on Saturday to make some corrections.

[quote="small
Issues aside, Rosen will be very hard to catch off 11.75m.[/quote]

Pretty hard to catch most things on two legs that far out

I wouldn’t be taking Warrnambool times very seriously Donatello, wind was all over the place, track was hard and downhill. The semi’s would have shown who’s the real deal but unfortunately the lightning got in the way.

Jeez that’s a real rib tickler that one Guess I’ll just go back to coaching no one to win anything

El Chapo Guzman wrote:[quote="small
Issues aside, Rosen will be very hard to catch off 11.75m.

Pretty hard to catch most things on two legs that far out[/quote]

Your coaching has been awesome and eclipses your athlete status so far Tim; two big wins in the season already!
Even Aaron will find it hard reeling you in that far out though.

Ant
On
NINO


this ones all over ladies and gentleman, young Nicholas has already made a spot on the wall for his blue and white sash

Sneaky Ed Ware one to watch closely too this season

That could be your final of 8 right there Barney!
However, I would think one of these might crumble in the semi for another to squeeze in. Looking at either Mason or Vi.

Paull a good chance to Krumble

59 votes for the Men's Gift is good going in the early stages of this new forum.

It seems that we have a few to watch this week.

Max Mason 3.25m 12% - Max 'The Rapper' Mason has a mark that should see him competitive. It really depends on what shape he is in and who else shows up but he should be running about 10.5 which has him in it up to his eye balls. My only query is can he pull up before he shares someone's late'?

Jesse McKenna 4m 14% - Head to head he probably gets done by Mason but Jesse 'Owens' McKenna is another who could show a clean set of heels. If he runs like 'Owens' then we have another talented junior on our hands.

Daniel Sonsini 5.75m / Elijah Cross 6m 17% - Votes her are for Daniel 'Italian Stallion' Sonsini. He made the Burnine Final but looked to have missed his start. The only query we have when making tips is what mark will he actually run off? I have my grey lead ready but he should final.

Christian Sapardanis 8.5m / Dion Paull 8.75 17% - Votes here are for the former 'Dad Bod', 'Neon' Dion Paull. He has gone through some injuries and come out the other side looking good. No more dad bod for him. He will give the likes of Mason and McKenna something to chase.

Good luck

Paull looks to be nearing career best form. For an athlete who has previously ran off 9m in an open 400 this is a luxurious mark. Let’s hope the body holds together for the season as there isn’t too many things better than seeing this dad bod in full flight.