grazman

Can we rest our 1st and 2nd year players for the next two weeks so they don't have to be exposed to the kind of crap we're going to have to suffer?

Luckily list management decisions are made at the end of the season and not after insipid performances like today... having said that I think Roosy might need to reevaluate whether 7-8 changes will be enough. So much damaged goods. You can't turn your culture around with players who have split peas for hearts. Cut hard and draft and keep drafting. No point trying to trade for talent, no player with any credibility would want to come to the MFC - we're such a joke.

Two years ago most Melbourne supporters would have taken that.

Fair enough, but you could make the same accusation as Bennell, both have significant baggage you would want to do due diligence around, but Matera undoubtedly has the talent to make it if he applies himself.

only if Damien Barrett gives the trade his stamp of approval though

Roger... my bad.

vandenBerg?

Brandon Matera may also be on the outer - which one would you prefer?

The question is whether someone who won't finish top ten in the B&F expect a 600K contract? GC might be the right destination - more salary cap room and prepared to pay a premium to drag people through the gate.

Agree, I'm surprised there's some love for him, most Pies supporters aren't overly concerned to lose him... apparently a little soft as well.

RFA? We certainly need more goal kicking options, outside speed and general class. Motlop fits the bill. If Howe can get 600K elsewhere, I'd use that kind of cash to get Motlop who offers more.

Agree, our bowling stocks are well served, but it's always easier to bring in bowlers taking wickets than batsmen making runs. There are enough good quicks and spinning options on the sideline to offer support, but the batting... Byrnes and Ferguson are probably the two most likely based on last years form and age, - Neither Klinger or Cowan fill me with confidence. I just can't believe we are getting pantsed by an English attack that includes, Ali, Finn and Wood (These guys would have been smashed all over the park by any Mark Taylor, Steve Waugh or even Ricky Ponting led sides). Our batting has been deplorable. Healy hinted that the WAGs were a distraction (which I interpret to mean the sort of reality TV faux drama that only serves to divide the dressing room by their other halves having to take sides n their bitching about each other).

Interesting comments from Ed Cowan this morning who stated that Cricket Australia had ordered that flat pitches were to be prepared for Sheffield Shield. This allows players with technical deficiencies to look better than they are, but means that we get exposed on pitches where the ball actually starts to do a bit. Been like this for the last ten years. Once Clarke goes there's only two locks in the top six for mine.

Yep, biggest but in the business, but you had to take the complete package with Jako, that's just the way he rolled.

I remember the first time I saw him playing in the reserves when he'd give a fearful spray to any teammate who didn't deliver the ball to him lace out. I thought to myself at the time that he was a goose, and then half an hour later - even if he was a goose he wouldn't be playing magoos for too long - what a freak of a player. Kicked an absolute bag full and continued to do so until he was promoted into the seniors and went on his merry way. Would have been one of the absolute greats of the game until cut down by injury.

Garland is very unheralded. I thought he was great yesterday. I would keep him, but I really like the quiet, no frills type that just do their job and for the most part do it particularly well. Personally I think Howe is gone, probably been made an offer we won't match. We'll save the money for extending the contract of a genuine gun.

The kid is gonna be some kind of wonderful. Hits targets under pressure (very unMelbourne like), makes the right decisions and tackles hard. Has a genuine burst of speed and evasiveness. Will be an absolute gun.

Perhaps in the eyes of many supporters, but it's hard to know exactly what other clubs see in players sometimes. I think he has some trade value, but not much more than as a like for like swap or later draft pick (mid to late 30s maybe).

I agree Jack, doing due diligence, is really about managing the risk. It would explain why there's so much smoke about Dion moving on and why GC would consider trading him. If for example they decide that considering the nature of his injury that the probability of him reaching 100 games is likely, but that the probability of him playing 200 is very low. Then they would try and cut their losses and build for the future and try to get the best deal in return. I'd say that if the injury is as serious as suggested that Melbourne would need to think long and hard about what he's worth given the risk.

An interesting selection dilemma, I have no great confidence that despite his form Shaun Marsh will make runs at Trent Bridge, but the only viable alternatives are Voges or Watson, so he has to come in. You wouldn't change the top 3, but I agree that Clarke dropping down to five might be what he needs. I would drop Starc. Hazlewood looked a lot more comfortable and bowled a better line to a more defensive field setting. I think bowling to four slips put a lot of pressure on him to do something with the ball when all he needed to do was bowl line and length - which is what Siddle does very well. The English lineup looks a lot better with Bell finding form at 3, so Clarke should take some heart from that. I really like Cummings, but Australia needs to get the basics right if its to level the series. Lyon is bowling well and Johnson is the X factor, but we need two other line and length bowlers nibbling away at off stump to build pressure. Starc won the world cup for us, but just isn't the same bowler with the red ball, if we could guarantee our top order fire, he stays in, but otherwise he just bleeds too many runs for the occasional unplayable delivery.

St Kilda play Port in Adelaide this weekend without Riewoldt. They haven't won this year without him. We beat Geelong in Geelong without Hogan... just saying.

Maybe, certainly clubs like ours can only get the attention of a player like O'Meara by offering a big deal - like the Bulldogs with Boyd. But they got their man in a relatively turbulent period. It might be a remote possibility, but not an impossibility.

Gawn would be the one that worries me most - and you could understand why he was not mentioned both in terms of consistency and potential problems with his knees, but from an MFC point of view his last month has been encouraging. We're all hoping that Kent, ANB, Stretch, Harmes, Frost, JKH, O, Mac can be up there as well, but it is still more about potential rather than exposed form at this stage. Personally I don't think it's about how many names you have in the hat to choose from it's about how good your best 6 are compared to the oppositions. and in that respect I think with the exception of Petracca who hasn't played (but we hope will be every bit as good if not better than Brayshaw) and Tyson (who despite his injury is a steady performer for me rather than an elite contributor) you could imagine that the other five might well become multiple AA if they continue to develop. Chances are if they're making the AA team in the same year Melbourne won't be sitting in the bottom four anymore.

If this isn't Clarke's last test series - it's more than likely his second last. I've never been a rap for the man personally, but as a batsman he's all class. He genuinely looked like he lost sight of the ball in the background of the windows on a murky day... he's not in great form but until the last test series he's pretty much been the most consistent and prolific scorer. There is no one who can replace him atm so - serious questions or not he won't be replaced and I'm betting the selectors will back him to the hilt to fight his way through it. There's been no mention of dropping Warner who is also having trouble watching the ball (and once he's in throws his wicket away recklessly). In general there's a dirth of good middle order talent atm in Australian cricket (which is why Voges is playing) - our strength is our bowling, but sometimes we need to reinforce to both our batsmen and bowlers that this is test cricket and its a test of patience as much as skill. We tried to push things too fast on day one. The other big plus for Clark is he's a fantastic captain. My biggest criticism of Punter as a captain was that he just left the game to drift whereas Clark is always doing something. We're lucky that the heir apparent is in a rich vein of form and cut from the same cloth.

Yes the article wasn't exactly clear about a few details. It appears there are certain safeguards for clubs trading away all their next years early picks - but isn't clear on whether a club can trade both its first round picks in the same trade period. It certainly introduces a further dimension of risk into the trade - but chance favours the prepared and I feel my confidence in our recruiting team now is a lot more justified than it has been in the past.