Axis of Bob

He probably hit it, but could you overturn the umpire's decision based on the evidence? It's not about the balance of probability, hence why Hawk-eye has an 'umpire's call' option. However, I've seen worse. It's a shame that such a great game ends like that, because it takes away from the match itself.

Could you say, conclusively, that he hit it? It's a bad way to end a great match.

37 to win. Can we dream?

Fair enough. I considered him to have used the ball pretty well, especially in a team where the general level of disposal ranged between awful and deplorable all day.

This post tells me you were only seeing what you wanted to see. Jordie used the ball very well today, even by foot where he kicked well on both feet (which was a pleasant surprise). If he was BOG with 4 goals, your post would have been along the lines of: "Had a good game but he was slow and can't kick. VFL is his level".

I hope he bought his pants in bulk. We were atrocious that quarter. They beat us consistently on the outside and running the footy forwards, plus Majak killed us in the ruck so we struggled to win a clearance. Not pretty.

I think that Vaughan is correct. Broad made a decision in the heat of the moment that he valued his wicket more than he valued a lifetime of being branded a cheat. Mind you, I suppose he already will be branded a cheat for his ball tampering exploits in South Africa and being a general tool. Not a good reputation he already has for one so young.

3 pages of everyone telling us to pick him, but how many post have there been that mention him as a footballer? What are his attributes? What are his strengths and what are his weaknesses? Anyone who is making judgement on his draft worth without even thinking about his quality is full of crap. People are placing him as a 3rd round pick because it's the first draft pick late enough for them not to care about.

If you can't run then you'll struggle.

As a matter of interest, Hogan's opponent from his 6 goal game was Michael Watson. Last week against Essendon he played on Gumleton (who kicked 5 the previous week) and gave him a bath and was named as their best.

Nasser Hussein is incredibly enjoyable to listen to in a position of English adversity. He's such a massive whinger and sore loser and it makes you realise why England were so bad when he was captain. Such a victim.

And then some actual magic to get Trott! (I think he probably hit it, but he's out)

Ah, Starc with a little bit of Mitchell Johnson magic to get Root.

Geez, I knew he could bat, but this is something else. Incredible stuff. Incredible, sensible, and effortless.

Viney is always injured. He's wasting our salary cap and a spot on the list. Because he's young I think he'll be worth a lot to other teams and we might be able to get a midfielder in return.

Hmmm, maybe he should have started his career batting at 7!

He averages 2.5 clangers per game this year. Nathan Jones averages 2.4, Trengove 2.6, Terlich 3.0, Viney 2.8, Tom McDonald 2.1. His stats are fine because he actually uses the ball exceptionally well by hand, he's just an ordinary field kick in space. But that's not a killer for a stoppage midfielder, where his other positive attributes are far more important. Especially when you lose the clearances 25-45.

There isn't enough love for McKenzie on this thread. I also think that's the case across the whole site. We missed Jordie so much last round against Sydney. He is a big bodied player who works really hard and is a very, very good stoppage player. He's been playing as a tagger the last 18 months, but has previously done very well for us in the clearances. If he was playing for another club he would be exactly the sort of player we should be targeting. A player who has some flaws that make him unfashionable (one paced, average kick) and easy to write off, but with outstanding attributes that could be maximised if you give him the right role. Jordie is a top endurance runner, has super clean hands, a really strong body, reads the stoppages well and is a great tackler. While his kicking means he isn't first picked as a wingman, his strength and stoppage work (offensively and defensively) means that he has a skills that could work really well for us as a specialist defensive stoppage midfielder (a la Luke Ball). He'll accumulate too with his work rate. We're getting some quality outside runners now, so we just need to win the ball inside to get it to them. And he has form in this role. In 2011, where we played a more open brand of game, he missed the first 8 rounds and then came in and averaged 20 disposals a game (over 10 contested), nearly 7 tackles a game and 4.5 clearances a game. He also had two 3 vote games in wins against Essendon and Freo. He then became a specialist tagger and has not had the same impact. He's a good player who I think is being underutilised as a tagger.

Haddin gets a lot of grief, but he was OK behind the stumps. It was certainly one of the tougher days he'll have to keep as the ball was moving around and we sprayed the ball around a fair bit. I agree with the Clarke at 5 calls. He's such a good player of spin and so important to us that we need to give him the best chance to make runs for us. I'm sure that's why Cowan is at 3, so that he could blunt the attack for more than one ball. Smith batted very well when he came in. Really sensible batting and looked well organised - far more so than a few years ago. Rogers was stiff. Also, picking Agar (who could easily finish his career batting at 7) to bat at 11 means that we have no free wickets all the way through the lineup. Agar has a couple of 50s to his name in very short first class career and has batted exceptional well at time. In fact, my personal batting order for the tail could possibly be Pattinson, Agar, Siddle, Starc (and Starc has a test 99 to his credit and averages in the 30s!). Certainly a long way away for our tail of a few years ago (where we had Siddle, Harris, Hilfenhaus and Doherty/Beer/Lyon).

Yep, awful shot. Clarke got a ripper, but Cowan's was the sort of shot that shortens a test career. Rogers looks OK and Smith actually looks reasonably comfortable. I apologise in advance for the two quick wickets I have likely just created.

Agar has started very well. Tall, bouncy and a really nice trajectory. Trott doesn't look that comfortable against him. Still very, very early but like promising.

Back on topic, kiddies, for those interested in seeing his development over time: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FB52yOScT1U http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5PBY514VsE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgG32hIfk_g

I think that the players are definitely gaining in confidence as they get more of the footy and play with a bit of dare. We are going to stuff up a fair bit, but I can forgive that because we are taking the game on and we'll get better. Dawes is a much better footballer than I gave him credit for. I previously saw Dawes as a leader (which was mainly why I thought he was recruited) who was whole-hearted, hard working but ultimately a limited footballer whose physical size was not often used - a good ordinary footballer. But I'm now a believer. He is a really hard working player and he is actually able to monster some pretty strong key defenders. He did it quite a few times today to Grundy, who is used to playing on those types. With Clark and Hogan to come in, he will cause a lot of problems. Terlich is a beaut. A bold, attacking player who we have been crying out for. I though Toumpas, who struggled early, looked a lot more composed as the game went on. Also won a few contests, which was good. McDonald was excellent down back and Frawley was superb on Tippett until he went off. I thought that we were generally well organised down back and Sydney didn't get as many one out opportunities as we did despite their dominance. Gawn was good, but we were smashed in the clearances which is a mark against him. I want to say that he now our number 1 ruckman, but our inability to win the footy out of the middle absolutely killed us (as it did last week). Our midfield is still awful, but we moved the ball pretty well at times. Jack killed us in the first half, so we ended playing the game in our back line. Overall, I was pretty happy with the performance. We opened up Sydney a few times and they struggled to defend us. We know what we need to improve on but it was another sign of improvement.

Football is not like war at all. I find the comparison pretty offensive. http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1FsdV2nwAPY

I'd be very surprised to see either of them on the list next year. Both of them play VFL style games rather than AFL. Neither of them have the speed nor are they damaging enough. Clisby, on the other hand, is an interesting prospect if he can defend well enough.