titan_uranus

Another streak: Finish a round (other than Round 1) in the top 8 - last time that happened was Round 14, 2011. I think there's a slight-ish chance if we beat Richmond we'll be in the eight after this round (not sure though).

Seeing Seattle lose was so, so sweet. The more so because it puts two nice, new, fresh faces in line for a Superbowl appearance. Would be happy with either of Arizona or Carolina; probably hoping for Arizona and Larry Fitzgerald at this point. Should be a great game. I'm less confident that the AFC Championship game will be that great. Denver struggled to put away a side without its best wide receiver or its two best running backs, and a QB with a dodgy arm. The only thing going against New England is that the game is in Denver. If they lose, chalk it down to that awful Week 17 loss to Miami where they gave up home field advantage.

Disappointing to see the Patriots win yet again, making this their 5th consecutive AFC Championship game - I don't like that kind of sustained success in any sport. On that topic, I like seeing Arizona make the NFC Championship game and if Carolina can knock Seattle out, then a guaranteed fresh face in the Superbowl will be even better. I'm dreading the thought of another Seattle-Denver or Seattle-New England Superbowl. Unfortunately, the way New England's offence clicked today against Kansas City's defence, it probably doesn't matter. Gronk + Edelman + Amendola with Brady in form passing is a recipe for disaster for the other teams.

Pittsburgh, Seattle and Green Bay are probably three of the top four or five teams I cannot stand. All could have lost, two should have lost. All infuriatingly won. Poor Blair Walsh. He could kick 12309 field goals next year but he'll only ever be remembered for that miss. Heartbreaking (mind you, they never should have needed to come from behind. Letting Wilson turn a botched snap into a long gain for a TD and then AP dropping the ball on the next offensive drive was where they lost it).

I cannot believe what I just watched. All the Bengals had to do was three pedestrian running plays, force Pittsburgh to use all three timeouts, put a FG on the board, take the simple 4 point lead to win the game (barring a Hail Mary fluke). It was so easy. To fumble the ball on the first play, to allow Pittsburgh to gain two (or three) first downs on the final drive, then the horrendous two penalties...unbelievable. Cincinnati deserves to be pilloried for those final sequences. The only reason it's not enjoyable is that it puts Pittsburgh into the next round.

Aside from the unfortunately all-too-normal dominance of New England, I'm loving this season of the NFL. Seattle back to the pack. Green Bay faltering. Denver looks 50% infallible and 50% awful. Indianapolis isn't going to win the AFC South by default. Arizona, Cincinnati and Carolina are developing into powerhouses. NYJ, Oakland, Jacksonville, Tampa Bay, even Tennessee are showing improvement and promise for the future.

You've gotta love the way Jon Ralph sinks the boot in: "It is a measure of Melbourne’s dependence on their marquee player that they would devote such energy so early to locking him away."

Good win by the Ravens, even if it was against a Roethlisberger-less Steelers. My tips for this week are Packers, Panthers and Raiders. I have a feeling all sorts of records are going to be broken in GB-SF, and not in a good way for the 49ers...

I'll chuck in a tip this week too - Colts, Steelers, Broncos.

A week for the perennially awful sides - Cleveland, Tampa, Washington, Jacksonville and Oakland all won. Meanwhile some of the Week 1 popular sides stunk - Buffalo, Tennessee, St Louis, Miami. Baltimore, Philly and New Orleans all look a bit off the pace this year on the evidence to date. On the other side, New England and Green Bay are going to be tough to beat, again.

I can't stand Melksham, I truly hope we go nowhere near him.

In a timeslot nobody gives a rats about (1.10pm sucks at the best of times), and on Father's Day. I'm consigned to us being given more Etihad home games given Carlton wants to move more home games from Etihad to the G (and hey, why not right, they're Carlton so they get what they want), but hopefully the AFL will stop and consider whether there's any point. I think just Jones and Dunn.

That was also our first win the final round of a season since the Kreuzer Cup in 2007.

I'm enjoying watching Hayne ply his trade for us on special teams (we should have him in on defensive special teams too, his gunning work looks OK), and he's learning at RB (positioning and blocking are still really poor though). I feel like being a 49ers fan is now the in thing for an Australian though, which is kind of annoying for someone like me who has been supporting them for years. I think third is probably right, though there's no real shame in finishing third if it's behind Seattle and Arizona. I think your defence will keep you in good stead and your schedule is OK, with the Redskins, 49ers twice, Bears, Browns and Bucs.

No, it's an indictment on the supporters who, year after year, think the answer is in players who aren't at the club yet. The answer is, and has been for years, finding it within the current crop of players, the overwhelming majority of whom are the ones who will be playing next year, to work out what is going wrong, to apply themselves, to work harder, and to better themselves individually and as a team. We can delist fringe players all we like. We can bring in a FA and/or some kids. But 35+ of the current playing group will be there next year, and more than we need to bring people in, we need to get the players on the list performing to an acceptable standard.

Current figures of 4-4-0-1. Hazlewood was supposed to provide this kind of control but failed, which resulted in Johnson and Starc being less effective. Losing 3 Tests to a side with such weak batsmen (Lyth made 96 runs in the entire series, FFS!) is a major disappointment. Our batting has cost us this series, but Marsh and Lehmann have not assisted with their poor selections.

Also, ripping article on Cricinfo by David Hopps - http://www.espncricinfo.com/the-ashes-2015/content/story/911881.html When you read it, and think about how the series has panned out, it's hard to see how England have beaten us three times. Lyth is awful, Cook's reached 50 once this entire series, Bairstow/Ballance have been just average, Stokes started well with the bat but has faded, and Buttler's not scoring runs either. The runs come from Bell or Root, and each has only played maybe 3 or 4 great innings. With the assistance of Moeen, Broad and Wood making some lower order runs when required, they've done enough with the bat to hold us at bay and relied on our ineptitude with the bat. He also points out the no ball problem that's getting worse. Finn and Marsh both took wickets on no balls, and both times the gap between foot and line was enormous. Umpires are so worried about making the right decision at the striker's end that they seem to be missing regulation no balls, let alone tight ones. Bowlers are pushing the envelope with it because they're not being called through their spells, which results in more no balls occurring, and any time you take a wicket they're going to check. Bowlers obviously can fix the problem by learning to bowl from behind the crease but if umpires let them go aside from wicket balls, it's going to keep happening.

How about Lyon's ball to Cook! I had expected this kind of performance pre-series - Smith, Warner, Rogers making runs, then attacking bowling from Starc and Johnson with control from the other pace bowler(s). Neither Watson nor Hazlewood could manage it, and Siddle should have been playing at least one Test earlier. And, of course, the batting has been abysmal other than here and at Lord's. I wouldn't write Siddle's career off. Rogers and Clarke need replacing, so Voges could hold his spot simply because we don't have three good enough batsmen to come in (we don't have two, to be honest). But I wouldn't be continuing with Voges in the side on the back of a 70.

As a 49ers fan, the prospect of Hayne making the roster and getting some kick/punt returns is one of the few things exciting me about this season. Macca, I thought Tebow looked surprisingly good from those highlights!

I'm sure we'll bounce back almost straight away - whether it's against Bangladesh, or at home against NZ and the WIndies (home = our conditions = easier for our players), we'll score more runs and Lehmann and Clarke (if either are still there) will say 'see? We told you so!'. The key is to find the right young batsmen who have the required technique. Khawaja has always shown that, but cannot convert it to Test level. Maxwell, on the other hand, has no technique to speak of and is everything that is wrong with Australian cricket. I like Maddinson, Silk, Lynn and Burns, although Burns last summer was disappointing. Hopefully Shield pitches this summer are greener and give the batsmen more of a test against swing and seam. Of course, the real test is four years away - no England tour until 2019. Over the next two years, prior to the next Ashes in Australia in 2017/18, we have (for Tests): Away to Bangladesh Home to NZ/Windies Away to NZ Away to South Africa (TBC) Away to Sri Lanka Home to South Africa/Pakistan Away to India Home to Bangladesh Of that, the NZ tour in February should be good, although their pitches are more like South Africa's than England's. The Away tour of Sri Lanka in July and the tour of India in March 2017 will be disasters, IMO, unless we find the right batsmen this summer.

Appalling cricket, yet again, from Smith - absolutely rank shot on Day 2 when you're 200-odd runs behind. Just make it to tea, then stumps, then the next day FFS! We are likely to go down by an innings, and if not, then by 10 wickets with a chase set of less than 50 runs. I think we have a tour of Bangladesh before the summer - danger? Rogers will retire, though I'd keep picking him if not. Smith needs to mature. Marsh and Voges aren't the future if they can't play swing and keep pushing hard outside off. Clarke's finished. So too Watson and Haddin. Hazlewood's not threatening enough, Starc can't control it well enough, Johnson's only got two threats (pace and bounce) so can't do it all himself when the pitches aren't right. Warner, Smith, Johnson and Lyon are the only players IMO who are a definitive part of the immediate future of Test cricket.

I agree Siddle should be playing, but the obvious issue isn't the bowling, it's the batting. We need to be finding new young talent to replace Rogers, Clarke and Voges, and at the moment we don't have anyone standing up for those spots. S Marsh is in form but continues to make ducks at Test level. Meanwhile Smith's technique is being worked over, again. Our home summer is against New Zealand and West Indies. NZ is good but I'm sure in our conditions we'll see our batsmen making big runs and everyone, yet again, saying there's nothing wrong with the batsmen. Until we next go to England or India.

Siddle doesn't make runs though. Have a look at Voges' face when he got out. A shrug as if to say 'well, I got done by a great catch'. Yes, a stunning catch, but you got out because your technique is abysmal. Classic Australian batting - couldn't possibly be a flaw in the technique, it's all fine and it'll work eventually (i.e. next Australian summer).

Classic Australian bowling. Starc can't bowl six balls in the same spot and Hazlewood's first ball to Cook is full on leg stump.

All out for 60, 20 minutes before lunch. Most likely outcome is England is something like 2/200 at stumps, I'd say. Make 300, bat once, do us tomorrow and beat us within two days. Nevill bowled, Warner caught behind on the inside edge (the only batsman to truly be beaten by an unplayable ball). The other 8 wickets were all caught in the slips, almost everyone with bad technique.