Stephen Hales

And then this is a more well-built team that is designed to accentuate what its best player does well, you know? Yeah.

And I think it's such a credit to the Knights and to Justin Holbrook and to Stephen Hales, who runs the attack up there, is how many blokes this year are having really good seasons because they're just playing to their strengths.

I wrote a lot about Matt Croker, for example.

He might be a funny one to start with.

Perhaps you look away, pretending not to care about the number that's about to appear.

And standing invisibly beside you is an 18th century clergyman from Teddington, Stephen Hales.

Never heard of him? That's rather the point.

Because Stephen Hales was born on this day, September 17th, 1677.

And if you've ever had your blood pressure taken, if your doctor has ever muttered something about hypertension, if you've ever watched those numbers appearing on a little screen, Stephen Hales is the ghost at that banquet.

He's there, looking on, present.

Because Stephen Hales was the first person to measure blood pressure.

And when I say measure blood pressure, forget the neat little cuff.

Yeah, mate, it's, you know, I...

We've believed this whole year, ever since we come into pre-season, when Justin, Stephen Hales, Bedsy and Brett White come in, you know, from day one, they've had that belief in us, you know, and when you feel that belief come from the coaching staff, you really believe in yourselves and that's what we've got at the moment and we're enjoying our footy.

What's it like playing with Calum Ponga? Did you lit it up tonight?

Oh, yeah, mate.

Either way, it doesn't take much pressure at all to stop the bleeding.

The first known experiment to measure the exact pressure of blood was performed by Stephen Hales on 1 December 1733.

He took a live horse, attached a tube to her left crural artery, then allowed her blood to rush through the tube.

It rose to a height of 8 foot and 3 inches.