Brendan Hurst

Ex-NRL player, uni grad, traveller, animal lover, punter, HS 200* at Dooley KnoxCG.

[Brendan Hurst @brenhur]

@Steviewire @johnnyddavidson @TheiPaperSport True, but a lot are craving for the international game to improve or for it to take priority. Also, last year, the tri series at the end of the year between NZ, Samoa and Tonga was hugely successful. Great games and great crowds. Desperately needs a strong England too.

[Brendan Hurst @brenhur]

@IMAROOSTAR Technically, Robson is supposed to get straight up when completing his tackle. He's not supposed to use his body and rotate around on top of the tackled player to find himself in a better position. Apart from that, the "illegal" action played a role in dislodging the ball.

[Brendan Hurst @brenhur]

@StevenJosephR @RealEmirHan Loved it! Managed to bring back most/all of the best characters. I don't get the criticism.

[Brendan Hurst @brenhur]

@doc8972 @CamMagicMan 100% true! :)

[Brendan Hurst @brenhur]

@AJLucantonio Wonderful post. Your great uncle was a champion. Bunny was my boss for a few years at the leagues club - a great man. He had an aura about him and was loved by those who worked with him. I was sad to hear when he passed. You must be very proud of him. Thanks for sharing.

[Charlotte Clymer 🇺🇦 @cmclymer]

It annoys me that so many people are under the impression that this guy, Steven Bradbury, is some subpar goober who lucked his way into gold.

That could not be further from the truth.

This is one of the most satisfying victories in the history of the Olympics if you know the full backstory.

This medal final was during his fourth Olympics, in Salt Lake City in 2002.

Earlier in his career, he was among the best athletes in the world in this specific event, the 1000 meter short-track men's speed skate.

But despite his talent, he just had some of the shittiest luck in the sport. We're talking a decade of shit luck.

In the '94 Winter Olympics, he was considered the odds-on favorite to take gold, but he fell in his heat after getting illegally pushed by an opponent (who was later disqualified). He didn't get a re-do. That was it. He got shoved by some asshole, and his Olympics was over.

Then in the '98 Winter Olympics, he was a favorite to at least medal in the same event but got caught up in a collision that wasn't his fault and failed to advance.

In 1994, he got his thigh sliced open by a competitor's skate during a race, which required 111 stitches and 18 months of recovery time.

In 2000, he broke his neck during training because a skater in front of him fell and tripped him up. That required a bunch of screws and plates being inserted into his skull and back and chest.

And doctors told him that he should stop skating. But he didn't wanna give up. It meant too much to him.

So, there he was in Salt Lake City in 2002, past his prime, a walking erector set, going up against opponents who were faster and younger and in their prime.

He manages to win his heat and advance to the quarterfinal but then has the shit luck (yet again) of having to go up against the best two athletes in the quarterfinal and only the top two advance.

He finishes third and thinks: "Damn, I gave it my best shot." But then, the second place finisher is disqualified, so Bradbury gets to advance to the semifinal.

Now, at this point, he's thinking: Well, shit, I'm not as fast as these younger guys, and I got a bad habit of getting taken out by crashes that aren't my fault.

So, he consults with the Australian national coach, Ann Zhang, and they decide that he should hang back from the pack and hope the pack crashes.

That is a perfectly valid strategy. If you crash, you lose, but speed skaters risk crashing to gain an advantage in order to win.

It may not feel exciting, but it is a valid strategy and just as risky: avoid crashes entirely and hope that pays off.

It paid off in the semifinal: the pack, including the defending Olympic champion, jostled too much and crashed. Bradbury wins and advances.

So, he's improbably in the final and takes the same approach, and it works: the entire pack jostles too much and crashes, and Bradbury's risk of hanging back pays off.

This victory was not some un-athletic schlub lucking his way into gold.

It was a journeyman athlete who never gave up and played smart after a career of shitty luck and finally got his due after it being snatched away from him so many times.

Hands down, one of my favorite Olympics stories.

[History of Horse Racing @horsevault]

1930 Melbourne Cup - Phar Lap

[At The Races @AtTheRaces]

Well that's one way of putting it... 🤣

[Moonee Valley Racing Club @TheValley]

The day is upon us...

Through the eras and the many champions, The Valley has roared like no other.

As we look to the future, hearts will once again be lifted by the magic of The Valley, for one last legendary time as we know it.

#LEGENDARY #CoxPlate

[Racing TV @RacingTV]

One of the unluckiest losers of ALL TIME 🤦‍♂️

@nevisondave hasn't half suffered some ill fortune along the way. This cost him over £300,000.

#TheFridayClub | @WilliamHill | @WillHillRacing

[Noa Cochva @noacochvaa]

Actually, my grandmother was born in Tripoli, Libya part of a Jewish community that had lived there for over 2,000 years. After the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, antisemitic riots broke out across the Arab world.

In Libya, Jewish homes were looted, synagogues were burned, and Jews were violently attacked. My grandmother didn't leave voluntarily she was forced out for being Jewish. She didn't colonize Israel.

She returned to the only homeland the Jewish people have ever had.

Jews are Indigenous to the Land of Israel, our story began there over 3,000 years ago, long before Rome, Islam, or any modern Arab state existed.

Hebrew was born there. Jerusalem was made our capital by King David around 1000 BCE, and no other nation in history ever made it their capital.

Exile scattered us, but it never erased us. For 2,000 years we prayed to return and we did. Israel is not colonialism.

It is the revival of an Indigenous nation in its ancestral land. If you disagree, I highly recommend a history lesson.

[Steve Coxon Racing 🏇 @USASteeplechase]

Phar Lap ships to North America and wins his last race in The Agua Caliente Handicap in Mexico🇲🇽

In 1931 this was the richest race in the world at the time with $332,000 in the prize pot.

Share the love of horse racing with a retweet and a follow 🙌

#Pharlap 🇦🇺

[Adam Carolla @adamcarolla]

Sack-religious

[Brendan Hurst @brenhur]

@FOXNRL Ridiculous!!

[Leonard Grunstein @LenGrunstein]

@RealJamesWoods How can any decent human being excuse Genocidal Hamas’ rapes, kidnappings, sadistic murders and atrocities.https://t.co/SY1OdCS0e8. https://t.co/Ydnv87XCkv

[James Woods @RealJamesWoods]

While the woefully misinformed nitwits on college campuses wear tablecloths on their empty heads and chant scripted slogans, these are the savages they are supporting.

[Brendan Hurst @brenhur]

@ClareONeilMP https://t.co/eugw9wdrSW

[All The Right Movies @ATRightMovies]

MAD MAX was released 45 years ago this week. Acclaimed as one of the great independent films, and the movie that launched the career of star Mel Gibson, the making of story is a ride through a dystopian wasteland…

1/44

[Auschwitz Memorial @AuschwitzMuseum]

Our account has lost over 7,000 followers in December.

We continue to ask for your engagement. You create this incredible community and help us keep the memory alive.

Support @AuschwitzMuseum and amplify our voice.

[ABC SPORT @abcsport]

🌱 Amazing! 😍

🏏 After a stint of work experience at the Gabba, 16-year-old Howie Eastwood made this backyard cricket pitch. A bright future ahead for this young curator. 👨‍🌾

📷 The Perfect Pitch / Howie Eastwood