titan_uranus

Incredible result. More a combination, I think, of India's over-confidence and Australia doing its homework than the pitch - it wasn't some sort of unplayable grubber (which has existed before in India). Smith showed patience could net you runs, as did Renshaw (don't underestimate his two innings, both with sickness). Just a strong all-round performance, the likes of which we just don't see in Asia these days!

So we've set them a target of 441. History says that should be enough but if don't get some early wickets (especially Vijay and Kohli) I'll remain concerned. Would be a great win, for the series and for the team.

Incredible stuff, with India losing 7/11. That's the kind of stuff we all expected to see from Australia, not India. If we can get another 100 runs, get the lead up past 400, we'd have to back ourselves in to win this. I don't imagine we're going to knock India over for 105 again but only one team has ever chased more than 300 to win a Test in India so I think 400 will be a useful target to set. Renshaw is a find. A half-century under duress on Day 1 (in the context of the match, vital that he came back out and scored runs) and then an important 30-odd under more duress in an unfamiliar position today.

Good on Renshaw for making a half century despite sickness. The rest of the batting card looks about right, save for 4 wickets falling to Yadav's pace. Mitch Marsh 4, Wade 4. I wonder if they'll be 6 and 7 come the fourth Test of this series.

Well you can obviously pay to use Live Pass, but I was hoping that there would be some form of free replay out there.

Does anyone know if there is a replay available online? The AFL website's Smart Replay is gone, that used to be my source for full replays.

It looks to me like it worked beautifully yesterday. We'll see how we go in convincing the AFL.

Yeah this is the issue. There's no doubt we played an under-strength Dogs side but it's not like last year where we put our best 22 against their worst 22 and fell over the line.

Is Salem playing midfield? How is the forward line setting up (is anyone else playing tall alongside Hogan and Weideman)? Also, where is Melksham playing?

If we can wear the red alternate against St Kilda, I don't see why we can't also wear it against Essendon, Adelaide, West Coast and Carlton.

I'm surprised there is so much focus on the result and the margin. I'm not that fussed at all about the result, to me the pre-season is about trying new things and getting the players to put what they've been practicing during training into a match-day setting (which isn't against their own teammates). It gives us three weeks to work out what has worked, what hasn't, what we need to focus on before Round 1, etc. It's all about how we play, what moves we do or don't make with individual players and positioning, that kind of thing.

I'm in favour of fixture reform but not by way of the 17-5 idea. The logistics and administrative headaches of having 5 weeks unplanned until the week prior and then having to schedule 5 weeks worth of games all at once is being majorly underrated. Then there are the problems that will manifest depending on the combinations of 6 that you get. If both Perth sides and both Queensland sides are in the same 6, you get repeat cross-country interstate trips bunched together in the lead-up to finals. Given the first 17 games will be locked in, there could be awkwardness and difficulty in putting the last 5 weeks together (e.g. teams X and Y play in Round 17 and then again in Round 18 or 19, or something like that). It's unnecessary. Reform is a good idea, though. My preference would be for a plan which spans 2-3 years, in which time each club is required to be home and away the same number of times with the same number of trips to each state, fairness in hosting every club home and away, but doing it spread out over a period of years to allow for individual quirks (e.g. repeat Showdowns/Derbies, Anzac Day, QBD etc.).

I don't see the point in making Viney co-captain. It might not make a difference, but then if it doesn't make a difference why do it?

What a crazy ODI today! Hazlewood run out for a diamond duck after being part of a 50+ run partnership without even facing a ball!

The squad for the India tour has been named. We've picked three "all-rounders" (Maxwell, M Marsh, Agar), none of whom are good enough to bat at 6. Wade is also batting so poorly at Test level that he doesn't command the number 6 spot. Our obsession with finding an all-rounder to provide the third pace option (Marsh) to allow O'Keefe or Swepson to bowl alongside Lyon, or to be a second spinner (Agar/Maxwell) to allow us to play Bird means we're going to continually fail to put enough runs on the board, something which we've just seen cost England a few Tests when they failed to go on to post 500+ runs in the first innings. We are not going to win if we don't score runs and only playing 5 batsmen and then a hodge-podge of players who average 25-35 at 6-9 is not going to work. More importantly, none of Maxwell, M Marsh or Agar are any good.

Oakland had the ability to beat New England until Carr broke his leg. Houston's probably the worst team to make the playoffs since, what, the 2010 Seahawks who finished below .500? But I think Houston will win that game. Packers' current form means they should take care of the Giants, Seattle will destroy Detroit IMO, and I don't see Miami getting anywhere near Pittsburgh either. The Chiefs-Steelers game should be a ripper, as will the Patriots-Chiefs/Steelers game. I also think the Falcons-Seahawks game will be close, and I can easily see the Seahawks knocking them off and facing Dallas or Green Bay in the NFCCG.

It's all largely semantics - IMO St Kilda's got the better forward line as we rank them right now, but that doesn't mean I think it will stay that way this year.

Agree on all fronts Macca. I'm really looking forward to seeing how we bat on the Indian pitches. I'm confident there will be at least one bad innings, probably a few more than that, and the reaction will be interesting. Still a few question marks over the team, though. Wade is struggling (IMO we never should have dropped Nevill and the switch hasn't yet worked), Lyon traditionally doesn't bowl that well in the subcontinent, and of course there is the ongoing debacle of number 6. We'll see how Cartwright goes but I'm not sold on a half-baked "all-rounder", I'd prefer a proper batsman.

The two aren't mutually exclusive - the article is ranking forward lines right now, not prognosticating which teams will have the best forward lines by the end of 2017.

The MFC finally gets its house in order on/off field so my NFL team, the 49ers, falls apart. Kelly wanted to draft Prescott but Baalke said no. Now both are fired. $70-odd million owing to Kelly and Tomsula and we are at square one for the third straight year. Unbelievable, really. As to playoffs, I'm getting behind anyone whose name is not Seattle, Green Bay, New England or Pittsburgh. Also, sorry for my continued absence from the NFL tipping competition - I'm never on Demonland regularly enough over the NFL season to participate properly.

I wouldn't have thought there's much debate over whether St Kilda's forward line is better than ours. IMO in 2016 it clearly was. However, it's not a vast difference and it's the only area of the ground where I'd say their list is better than ours.

I don't care about wearing white, although I'd like it if there was clarification from the AFL as to what the so-called "rules" are. However, the jumper in the OP, regardless of it being white, looks terrible.

10/86, then 10/85, now 8/32. Batting lineup has to change. The problem is 5, 6 and 7 are as weak as they have ever been. Voges must go. Nevill is in huge trouble. Ferguson wasn't the right answer to replace Marsh and now we either have to drop him after one game or persist with him when not in form. Need to pick two or three in-form Shield batsmen and stick with them.

I think, ultimately, it will never be equal but the more transparent, the better. Your options 1 and 2 are certainly that, and I'd be in favour of either.

Agree with all that. Panthers are a long way back though. Seattle keeps winning the close games, again dominated by a clear refereeing mistake (first the missed PI call against Atlanta, then today the missed roughing the kicker and the delay of game costing the Bills a FG). Loving seeing Oakland leading the AFC West. AFC West is actually becoming strong, San Diego picking it up to move to 4-5 and Denver third on 6-3. AFC North, meanwhile, is terrible. Baltimore lost 4 in a row but leads the division!