titan_uranus

Took their last 6 wickets for 50-odd runs, which is a good effort in India. Draw looks the most likely outcome but we've performed OK so far. Watson, Ponting and Paine with the bat looked good, then Johnson and Hauritz with the ball looked OK. Undoubtedly handy. But not enough to keep him in the side. Needs to make some runs in the second innings.

Alright then. What did you mean by: "For a second round pick trade in a strong draft I would expect a player to walk into our starting 22 and be an immediate contributor" exactly? 'Walk into our starting 22 suggests to me that he plays Round 1. Oops. What direction is the game heading in? The one Collingwood's taking it in? With Leigh Brown? Don't worry about it. I confuse myself sometimes. Such as on this occasion...

Whilst I think Blease will be more important in the long run, I really want to see Tapscott out there. Just feel he could be something special (Blease too, but Tapscott might make his mark from the get go).

First of all, have you considered that the FD are offering a second round pick because there's a potential trade on the table that gets us a second round pick back again (such as letting Maric or Warnock go)? Second of all, do you honestly expect our second pick in this year's draft to play in Round 1? He won't. But to say he's no chance at all is equally ridiculous. Many on here seem to think Maric is the bees' knees, despite no output at all at AFL level. I was wondering if you thought he will still end up making it.

That list has Hawthorn, Carlton and Adelaide all way, way under. And it has Sydney, North and Richmond all well, well over.

Yes, their refusal to move the ball quickly was a weakness yesterday. But it got them to within one point last week, and it helped them beat Geelong in the qualifying final. I stand by my comment that their bottom 6 aren't good enough and are usually masked by the dominance of Hayes, Riewoldt, Montagna, Dal Santo, Goddard, Fisher, Gilbert, Gram etc. Whereas I believe Collingwood's bottom 6 are a lot better, despite some of them playing poorly yesterday. Last week Collingwood's better players (Swan, Didak, Pendlebury, Jolly) were down on output, but they got enough from the rest of their side to keep them in the contest. Yesterday St Kilda's better players were down (Hayes, Riewoldt, Montagna, Gram) but they got nothing from the rest of their side. For instance, would you take a group consisting of Beams, Blair, Toovey, L. Brown, Goldsack and Reid or would you take McQualter, Kosi, Eddy, Peake, Dawson and Milne? And to say Jolly was 'very ordinary' yesterday suggests you didn't follow the game that well. His dominance was unquestionable.

And it's equally pessimistic to suggest he has no chance whatsoever of improving. Players often improve when given a fresh start. Look at Ben McGlynn and Josh Kennedy. Couldn't get a game for Hawthorn, both turned into vital players for Sydney. FWIW, what do you think of Maric?

Exactly. Brett Peake, Robert Eddy, Andrew McQualter, Stephen Milne, Justin Koschitzke and Zac Dawson (my take on their six worst yesterday) were so bad it wasn't funny. Kosi close to the worst of that lot. Collingwood had Blair and Beams. After that they got a contribution from the other 20. How can you say it had nothing to do with the bottom 6, then say they have 12 players who aren't good enough? Unquestionably, St Kilda's bottom 6 are just not good enough at AFL level and were exposed yesterday. In contrast Collingwood's bottom 6 are much, much better.

We can't take North into an Ashes series. He's just not good enough. Time to go. Callum Ferguson is back and healthy again, did really well in the Champion's Leage (which is nothing like Test cricket but it was a good performance coming of a knee reconstruction nonetheless) and is one option for the spot. I still believe Cameron White would do better than North, David Hussey is available, as is Phillip Hughes if they can find a way to restructure the side, or Steven Smith as a batsman. There are options, and North shouldn't be one of them. Watson's in sparkling form at the moment. Twin centuries in the tour game, now another century with only Ponting for support. Pity he didn't kick on though, he should have taken that run a lot more urgently. If we lose this series, which is a fair chance, we'll start the Ashes as the fifth ranked side in Test cricket. That'll mean we'll be below England, and above only the West Indies, Pakistan, New Zealand and Bangladesh. How times have changed.

Well done to Brad for convincing another club he's worthy of a spot.

I was just about to say that Ponting was looking good for his maiden century in India, but he's gone and run himself out. Seems like it's his fault. Looked very good for his 71 but as has been the case with our batsmen of late, he hasn't pushed on to 100. Hopefully Watson can.

My first thought too. A cross between the Power and the Victory. Should have just taken the old jumper and replaced the red and green with purple. Making the purple their own is a good idea. But the biggest problem wasn't the jumper, it was the song, and they've left that.

Exactly. And I know he was honoured to have Robbo say 'I want Jurrah to wear my number' but I want Jurrah to be handing 48 down to our next superstar 10 years from now. Wonaeamirri should have stayed as 39 too. Hopefully our players start to realise that you can develop your own history and significance in the number you're given.

Err...Ablett? Seems also like Brennan will be traded to the Suns for one of their top 10 picks.

Well I thought McKenzie was going to be that kind of player but it seemed to me that he was being played more as an inside, clearance-getting midfielder. Later in the season we had Jones playing the defensive roles. Which IMO was a failure. I can definitely see Bail as a wingman, and a good one at that, but I don't see that as a reason not to play him across the half back flank. But your point is valid.

Since I don't have Foxtel, the football. Was a close call though... Seriously, though, it should be interesting to see if our bowlers can take 20 wickets in either Test. People keep saying that this is the worst preparation possible because the Indian conditions are so different to Australian conditions. I say if we are able to take 20 Indian wickets on an Indian pitch then our bowlers should be right to take 20 wickets anywhere. Should also be interesting to see if Hussey and Bollinger play, and if they do, whether or not they have much effect.

All this talk about Maric being a star kick is well and good, but all those reports come from his days as a junior player. 3 years ago. He has not shown any signs of being a player of elite disposal in his AFL games. Might be sad for those who expected more, but that's what has eventuated with Addam in his three years on our list. Can't see Brisbane letting Cornelius go. Brown and Fev are coming to the end, both their bodies are beginning to collapse. They'll need someone to step up and fill that void soon.

I would have thought that Bail is exactly that kind of player. Gives us massive drive of a half back flank. And if you don't think that's what he gave us this year then at least you'll agree that there's no reason why he couldn't play that role. Strauss' career is at a standstill, and he's not going to crack back into the side as a back pocket, especially if we keep Cheney around, so I would be thinking Strauss will be played in this role in 2011. MacDonald is more than capable of playing this role, I suspect a luxury of the development of players such as Scully, McKenzie and Trengove will allow us to keep Grimes on the HBF. Obviously a KPF is the highest priority, but I'd be looking at a defensive midfielder, someone who can play a tagging/negating role, before I'd be looking at a HBF. With Junior gone, and Bartram playing as a back pocket now, we don't really have anyone on the list who can play a negating role through the middle. I guess that's not exactly the type of player you go and look for in a draft, but if I had to identify a position that we don't have covered the HBF would not be it.

He wants out of Brisbane, but wants to go home to Perth and play for Fremantle. So we're no chance anyway.

Every year there's a lot of talk and possible trades leading up to trade week. And every year about 5% of those mentioned actually happen. Don't get your hopes up.

I did. Survivor is my favourite show. That guy, Shannon, what a tool. Straight up said he didn't want another woman to win because, well, that would mean another woman would win, and that men had to win everything in life. Then tried to call out the guy that might look gay, but isn't, thereby making an ass of himself in front of the rest of his tribe. On Day 6. What a show. So your comment wasn't lost on me.

A HBF? Really? With MacDonald, Grimes, Bail, even Bartram playing off a flank down there, you think that's really a priority?

Don't rate Grigg at all. Next.

It ain't so. Seems like the most likely reason why this story even eventuated was that the journalist got his wires crossed. Carlton expressed interest in Junior for a coaching position. Not as a player.

http://www.afl.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/208/newsid/103498/default.aspx Carlton seems to have said he's too old to fit into their plans.