By Patrick Avenell
A lot is happening in Australia this weekend, with two grand finals, the implementation of daylight savings and a public holiday for some states on Monday.
The AFL Grand Final is being held tomorrow (Saturday) at the MCG. Collingwood is chasing back-to-back premierships and its 16th overall, while Geelong is looking for its third triumph in five years and its ninth overall.
The game is set to commence at 2:30pm in Victoria, New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory, Queensland and Tasmania. In South Australia and the Northern Territory, the game will commence at 2pm, whilst it will start at 12:30pm in Western Australia.
The game is only being shown in SD on Channel 10’s primary channel. The first HD broadcast of the match will be on Fox Sports 1HD at 6pm (AEST).
The suggested Twitter hashtag is #aflmagpiescats. Click on these links to access Collingwood and Geelong’s official Twitter streams.
Patrick’s Tip: Geelong by 24 points.
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The night’s celebration for the winning fans will be curtailed by one hour when Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia, the Australian Capital Territory and Tasmania set their clocks forward at 2am (Sunday morning) for Daylight Savings. Western Australia, Queensland and the Northern Territory do not have daylight savings.
Thus, from Sunday morning, the following time differences will be in place:
New South Wales, Victoria , Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory will observe the same time (AEDT).
South Australia will be half-an-hour behind AEDT.
Queensland will be 1 hour behind AEDT.
The Northern Territory will be 1.5 hours behind AEDT.
Western Australia will be 3 hours behind AEDT.
Sunday is rugby league's day in the sun, with the NRL Grand Final between Manly and New Zealand Warriors kicking off at ANZ Stadium in Sydney. Manly is chasing its first premiership since 2008 and its ninth overall, while the Warriors are looking for their maiden title. The Warriors’ previous best result was in 2002, when they lost to the Sydney Roosters in the Grand Final.
The game starts at 5:20pm in New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory; 4:50pm in South Australia; 4:20pm in Queensland; 3:50pm in the Northern Territory; and 2:20pm in Western Australia. The game kicks off at 7:20pm in New Zealand.
The game is being shown in SD on Channel Nine. The first HD broadcast is on Fox Sports 2HD at 7pm (AEDT).
The suggested Twitter hashtag is #nrlgf. Click on these links to access Manly and New Zealand Warriors’ official Twitter streams.
Patrick’s Tip: New Zealand Warriors by 2 points.
Finally, New South Wales, South Australia and the Australian Capital Territory will be celebrating the Labour Day public holiday on Monday 3 October 2011. Please make a note of this if an absence from work will affect your interstate commerce.