The Weekender- 8 June 2012, Volume One

I introduce to you my first weekly post- The Weekender- herein I will quickly cover the sporting events and matches that will be occurring over the weekend, what to look out for and some sneaky bets you can place to save up for that deposit on your next house or scooter.

• The All Blacks play their first test since winning the World Cup tomorrow, against the Irish. Amazingly, the Irish have never beaten the All Blacks. That trend should continue this weekend as the Irish always struggle when they play down in NZ. I can see a score line around the 35-15 mark in favour of the AB's. Looking forward to seeing new All Black half-back Aaron Smith getting to start as well as watching Sonny Bill Williams. Should be a fine start for the AB's.
• Euro 2012 kicks off tonight (Thailand time) in Poland where the hosts play the impoverished Greece in Group A. I have given a detailed run down of the Euros in previous posts so go check them out if you want more. Here are is a quick summary of my predictions:
• Group A winner: Russia. Runner up: Poland
• Group B winner: Holland. Runner Up: Germany
• Group C winner: Spain. Runner Up: Croatia
• Group D winner: France. Runner Up: England
• Tournament winner: Holland Spain
• Most Goals: Robin Van Persie Mesut Ozil
• Most taunts given to player by fans: Mario Balotelli
• Nation with the most fans arrested: Germany ( Poland and Ukraine still have beef with the Germans over some things which occurred in the 20th century).
• Team who will surprise the most- Croatia
• Team who will disappoint the most- Portugal  Holland

• In the NBA, the Eastern Conference finals between the Miami Heat and Boston Celtics has gone to Game 7 to decide who goes on to play the Thunder in the NBA Finals. Today Miami levelled the series with a emphatic victory and now head back home for the winner takes all match. As much as I would like Boston to beat the Heat, I reckon they will finally finish it at home and advance to what might be one of the more exciting match-ups in recent history. Game 7 is on Sunday.

• The NHL Stanley Cup finals are also running now, with the Los Angeles Kings looking to finish the series against the New Jersey Devils. Up 3-1 in the series, they are playing in New Jersey tomorrow. The Kings play has been out of this world and I predict they clinch the title on the road tomorrow.

• The NZ Warriors will play the Panthers in Sydney on Monday, in the NRL competition. The Warriors lie just out of playoff position in ninth spot while the Panthers lie in fourteenth but only two points separate the teams. The Warriors have had mixed results under their new coach 'Bluey' McClennan and will look to stay in top 8 contention this week, I fancy their chances.

• In other, disappointing, news the All Whites, New Zealand's Men's soccer team, have been knocked out of the Oceania's Nations Cup Tournament after losing to New Caledonia 2-0. The loss has effectively meant that the NZ Football Association has lost $1.3 million NZ dollars because the winner of the tournament gets entry into the 2013 Confederations Cup in Brazil as well as that money. Its the first time that a nation from Oceania other than Australia or New Zealand will go to that tournament. A disastrous result for Riki Herbert and the team but a fantastic opportunity for either New Caledonia or Tahiti, the two finalists of the Nations Cup, to play the best international sides in the world. 

Bets of the weekend

Here we go with some solid bets for the the weekend and beyond. (all are based on NZ TAB odds):

• New Jersey Devils vs Los Angeles Kings- Game 5- Total Combined Goals- 4 Goals & under- $1.92. All four games in the series have had four or less goals in them, New Jersey aren't scoring a lot but they are at home so they should be able to keep the Kings out as well. Good money.
• Warriors vs Penrith- Winning Team & Margin- Warriors by 13 & over- $2.90. State of Origin coming up so Penrith losing Jennings while the Warriors have their best players still. Penrith have not been playing well recently.
• Australia vs Wales (International Rugby)- Winning Team & Margin- Australia 12 & under- $2.65- After a sucky performance vs Scotland last week the Aussies have a tougher test against Wales. This will be a tough low scoring affair but I think Robbie's boys will deal with the plucky Welsh at home.
• Euro 2012- Group D-Teams to Qualify- Ukraine Not To Qualify-$1.57- Food poisoning concerns along with having to beat England and France to advance equals free money as far as I am concerned. Even though they are hosts they don't have a team which is good enough to take advantage of that.
• And finally introducing  the weekly Michael Vickers 'safe as houses' bet, the bet you are not afraid to lose your money but want to put a cheeky bet on for a big gain- All Blacks vs Ireland- 1st Try Scorer- Andrew Hore- $22- Good return for a player who has a knack of scoring tries. Put a fiver on him and get $110 back.

Hope you enjoyed the first instalment of The Weekender- would love to hear your comments about the post below, things you would like me to write about, etc.

Enjoy the weekend.

Photo sourced from Cheezburger.com