Death by Multimedia

On today's edition of The Almanack Report, we celebrate the return of cricket to Australia's top end, and the joy there is of International cricket in Australia in August and September, while discussing just why there should be more of it. On top of this, we discuss the ins and outs of today first one day international between Australia and Zimbabwe, and what the main talking points of the game we...

On today’s episode of The Almanack Report, the first post-Covid AFL season has reached the finals stage, and eight teams remain in the fight to take home the 2022 premiership cup. For ten teams however, their planning for 2023 has no doubt already begun. Some have coaching issues that have either just been solved or still require some patching up. The trade period is fast approaching, and these cl...

On today's edition of The Almanack Report, this podcast needs to end a debate that has been raging for some years, and it appears that ONLY this podcast can set this right. We did this with the question “Is Die Hard a Christmas movie” back in season 1, and now we intend to do so with this question. It has been the question that has seemingly stumped experts, theologians, astrophysicists, politicia...

On today’s episode of The Almanack Report, it’s a hard life being a Collingwood supporter, what with every other club’s supporters hating you because of your love of your team, and the joy they have when the Magpies fall over on or off the field. Well this past weekend has been one where it has paid off in spades, with the bombsite that has been the Essendon Football Club over the past week, and t...

On today's episode of The Almanack Report, England's resurgent efforts in Test cricket thanks to the so-dubbed 'Bazball' came crashing down around them during the week as they suffered an innings defeat against the underrated South African team. As a result they have gone from media darlings to media dogma in the space of a week. But was it just because of poor execution, as skipper Ben Stokes exp...

On today's edition of The Almanack Report, the cricket world today has had a major conniption with the announcement that Trent Boult has been release from his central contract with New Zealand, essentially so he can tour the world and play in all of the T20 domestic competitions that now exist, that also offer more money than he could earn by remaining a New Zealand only cricketer. The immediate f...

On today's edition of The Almanack Report, in recent weeks we have seen the threat of cashed-up overseas T20 competitions start to wield a concerning influence over the future of Australia's cricket summer. First South Africa pulled out of their ODI series in Australia in January to start their own T20 franchise league. Then the UAE announced their own new league, and both shorter series began off...

On today's edition of The Almanack Report, season 2022 was supposed to be the year that Carlton finally got the most out of their 20 year rebuild, and bounced back into the AFL finals, while for their rivals Collingwood, it was to be a season where they would attempt to find something in the rubble that had been their past two years. It all started off according to plan, but the last 11 weeks have...

On today's episode of The Almanack Report, there has been a whole lot of NRL fans screaming for blood over the past 24 hours over, you guessed it, refereeing decisions. The crowning glory of the final match of the weekend, where the Cowboys managed to get a last minute penalty and parlay that into a penalty goal to win their match over the Wests Tigers, has brought down social media and after-game...

On today's episode of The Almanack Report, Australia has fallen at the final hurdle in their Test series in Sri Lanka, but despite the disappointing way the game was lost, has Australia gained more than it lost over the last three months? We look at the way the game progressed, and discuss the ups and downs of the middle order batting of the team in that time. David Warner's form in Tests has come...

On today's episode of The Almanack Report, things have gotten a little too power-hungry with those who are manning the Bunker in the NRL, something that came to the fore(arm) in last nights Knights-Rabbitohs game, when the end of the match became a farce. With the on field adjudicator looking to have defused a tough situation, the Bunker rose its head and decided to impose itself. Today we'll have...

On this episode of The Almanack Report, Brandon Smith has said what many supporters watching games at home have said for years, but he decided to say it to the referee in the middle of a match, while his team had the ball and was attacking their opponents line. Given that the Melbourne Storm in the past have had the referee wearing their number 9 jersey, is this turn of events something that could...

On this episode of The Almanack Report, Nick Kyrgios has fought his way through just as many min-scandals as tennis matches at this year's Wimbledon Championships, on his way to his first ever grand slam semi-final. In having a look back at his fortnight, is it time to concede that he may well be living out the plot of the movie "Happy Gilmore", and that he may well be fated to finally prove (to h...

On today's episode of The Almanack Report, Australia has come out and thrashed Sri Lanka in the 1st Test of their two match Test series in Galle, by showing a refreshing change in their batting against spin and their spin against a batting attack. In conditions that have put the tourists in a spin in past history, a positive attitude and plans that drew from that gave them a much better chance of...

On this episode of The Almanack Report, eligibility for state and international representation came into question once again this week, with Penrith and NSW winger Brian To'o declaring his intention to play for Samoa at the end of year rugby league festivities of the World Cup. It created some discussion between fans on whether or not a player could choose to play for their state in the Origin ser...

On this edition of The Almanack Report, State of Origin II saw any thoughts of a dead rubber third game thrown out the window (to the audible sighs of Channel 9 and the NRL) with the Blues being able to turn around their performance from game one and get up for a victory on their second home turf at Optus Stadium in Perth. And through the twists and turns of the match, the positives and the negati...

On today's edition of The Almanack Report, international rugby league returned to the sporting calendar for the first time since the covid outbreak, and what a refreshing and amazing time it was. Six nations pitted against each other in three Tests, with proud men showing true emotion during the anthems as to what it meant to them to be able to represent their country in a rugby league Test match....

On today's episode of The Almanack Report, coming out of the two years of Covid, cricket has managed to survive reasonably well, but it looks as though now the world bodies are looking for a way to recoup all of their monetary losses, and that revolves around the bastardised form of the game, T20 cricket. And the danger of over-proliferation of this less-cricket part of the sport is already well a...

On today's episode of The Almanack Report, can anyone understand how the Logies, Australia's so-called premier awards night for television, is still a thing? When Covid came along and made the whole thing disappear, there seemed to be not one iota of complaint from anyone in the industry or the viewing public. And yet, this week it has resurfaced, with all of the same problems. We'll have a run th...

On today's episode of The Almanack Report, the US Open golf provided a brilliant final nine holes with a three man battle to win the right to lift the cup, and saw three of the sports brightest talents showcase their skills on one of the world's toughest courses. It provided an interesting backdrop to the battle that has opened up between the PGA and LIV Golf, and we'll take a look at the circumst...

On this episode of The Almanack Report, the NSW Blues have chosen their squad for the second State of Origin rugby league match of the season, and despite the coaches trying to play down why so many changes have been made, it smacks of a massive panic attack, or an admission that they completely stuffed up their selections for Game One. we take a look at the squad and try to come to grips with wha...

On today's first exploratory episode of The Almanack Report, we discuss the Gold Coast Titans continuing fade into obscurity in 2022, and wonder if they have anything left in the tank for the remainder of the season. We've also seen the start of the northern Test summer, and after a first day that saw 17 wickets fall can either team take any positives from that opening position. Sure, so maybe the...

Australia's mens cricket schedule for the next 18 months has now been released, and it is one that is packed solid, such that the players will barely have time to take a breath. In amongst both the T20 World Cup and the ODI World Cup, Australia also has marquee Test tours of India and England, as well as plenty of other bilateral series in all three formats of the game mixed in between. On today's...

Another round of footy is behind us, and with it an increasing injury toll that is beginning to affect some clubs as they look to push towards both the Origin period and their ability to play finals in 2022. We also came to learn that the obstruction rule is not as black-and-white as the NRL may have led us to believe, and that the sin-bin is having a much greater influence on matches now than it...

Australia woke on Sunday morning to the terrible news that former Australian all rounder, and in the top three of current cricket commentators Andrew Symonds, had died in a car crash aged just 46. On top of other recent losses of cricket greats in Rod Marsh and Shane Warne, this one felt harder. Symonds always carried himself like a normal bloke. He didn’t seek the limelight like Warne, he didn’t...