Matthew Lowson

@leedstrinity graduate. Blades supporter. Sports Fan (Snooker in particular) - Quiz league competitor! A keen quizzer and writer. A qualified snooker ref too!

[Matthew Lowson @PLtheLegend]

@SkySportsDarts Also with groups of three with just one to qualify and best of 9 leg matches, there's bound to be some surprises.

[Matthew Lowson @PLtheLegend]

@SkySportsDarts Whilst I think many will have preferred to keep groups of 4, it's worth bearing in mind that with the new format, there won't be any dead rubber matches as with the loser of Match 1 playing Match 2, no groups can see a player with two wins going into the last match of the group.

[Matthew Lowson @PLtheLegend]

@LewisJRolfe Do you have proof of the bet which the referee placed? As if that is the case, then that it would certainly change the context of what happened.

Or is it just you, adding a little extra to a story to try and change it from a refereeing error into something more sinister?

[Matthew Lowson @PLtheLegend]

@RobJF24 Asking for a friend who may be in the Leicester area later this week, where abouts is the Whetherspoons?

[Matthew Lowson @PLtheLegend]

@TeamGB off and running at #Dakar2026 with their first medal of the Games!

[Team GB @TeamGB]

What a way to kick off week two 🥉

Team GB finishes in third with a total of 153.763 points. Massive congrats to Uzair, Lucas and Ben. We all enjoyed that 👌

#TeamGB #Dakar2026 #gymnastics #artisticgymnastics

[Matthew Lowson @PLtheLegend]

If the Women's World Cup does expand to 10 teams, then I think of these three, Option C will be the most likely.

[Matthew Lowson @PLtheLegend]

#RLWC
An increase to 12 teams for the 2030 Men's World Cup (whilst welcome) played over five weeks suggests the format will be one of the following:

A) Three Pools of Four with the top two in the seeded pool, and the winners of the other two Pools advancing to the Semi-Finals.

[International Rugby League @IntlRugbyLeague]

🏆IRL announce Magic Round format for Rugby League World Cup 2030 across Pacific-USA

- RLWC30 Men’s and Women’s tournaments to be staged in Pacific-USA
- France favourites to host RLWC30 Wheelchair tournament at same time
- ARLC/IRL to run RLWC30 under a Magic Round format
RLWC26 played over five weeks in five cities (3 pool rounds & finals)
- Number of nations increased to 12 (Men) and 10 (Women)
- Great Grandparent rule introduced in eligibility update
- Tonga & Samoa considered for promotion to Tier 1

📰Full details: https://t.co/QaKjso3D5t

[Matthew Lowson @PLtheLegend]

#RLWC
B) Four Pools of Three with the four Pool winners qualifying for the Semi-Finals (with a crossover pool game to guarantee three matches for each team)

C) A format similar to the 2026 World Cup but with two combined Pools e.g. A+B and C+D with two from each qualifying.

[Matthew Lowson @PLtheLegend]

#NZElection2026
And saying all that....

Current projections point to a House of Representatives with 131 seats (and an 11 seat overhang)

[Matthew Lowson @PLtheLegend]

#nzelection
One point, worth noting is that a 126 seat House has a much larger overhang than would normally be expected (the 2023-2026 House has a quite large overhang of three seats)

Thus below is a proportional prediction based on strictly a 120 seat House.

[Matthew Lowson @PLtheLegend]

#nzelection
Quite simply, at the start of the count, it appears the election is too close to call and it'll be interesting to see if I get anywhere near with my predictions*

*Bearing in mind I'm a Brit (though do have a Kiwi sister-in-law)

[Matthew Lowson @PLtheLegend]

#nzelection
Based on a 126 seat House, here are the potential Coalitions:

[Matthew Lowson @PLtheLegend]

#nzelection
And the same, based on a 120 seat House.

[Matthew Lowson @PLtheLegend]

#nzelection
One point, worth noting is that a 126 seat House has a much larger overhang than would normally be expected (the 2023-2026 House has a quite large overhang of three seats)

Thus below is a proportional prediction based on strictly a 120 seat House.

[Matthew Lowson @PLtheLegend]

For example:
National took 38.8% of the party vote in 2023 and took 48 seats. Its seat quotient was thus 48 seats divided by 38.8 = 1.26.

This is multiplied by the predicted 27.56% I've calculated it to receive this time to give it seats tally of 35.

[Matthew Lowson @PLtheLegend]

#NZElection
On this basis, this is my calculated prediction of how the House of Representatives will look based on those results.

This was calculated by taking the 2023 seat quotient and multiplying it by the share of the vote from the previous post/thread.

[Matthew Lowson @PLtheLegend]

.... sample size. Thus an opinion poll with a larger sample, carries a greater weighting. So, the poll with a sample of 1,352 carries 1.35 times as much weight as a poll with a sample of 1,000.

[Matthew Lowson @PLtheLegend]

Prediction for the 2026 #nzelection

This forecast is a prediction, calculated by taking the most recent poll taken by Polling Organisations who have conducted polls since the House of Representatives was dissolved at the start of October. The calculations are weighted by...

[Matthew Lowson @PLtheLegend]

Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup Semi-Finals:
England v Australia
France v Ireland

(Ireland are in the Semi-Finals for the first time)

5th-8th Play-offs:
Wales v New Zealand
Scotland v USA

[Rugby League World Cup 2026 @rugbyleaguewcup]

How we stand after round 3 of the IRL Wheelchair World Cup 🏆

Who's going to rise and fall during the final's series?! #RLWC26

[Matthew Lowson @PLtheLegend]

I was in Tudor Square yesterday! 🙂

[Matthew Lowson @PLtheLegend]

Remember Remember!