titan_uranus

An issue that has to be dealt with: http://www.cricinfo.com/srilanka/content/current/story/460510.html Mahela Jayawardene, in his 12 years of Test cricket, has played a total of 4 Tests in Australia. Sri Lanka haven't played a Test outside of the subcontinent since they were here in 2007, they haven't been to South Africa in 8 years and they haven't been to England in 5. It's ridiculous how cricket is dominated by Australia, England, South Africa and India. There should be a minimum number of Tests for each nation, and the new system, which should preferably be a Test Championship of some sort, should ensure that touring is fair and spread out. If there was a Test Championship then Tests between Australia and teams like Sri Lanka, Pakistan and West Indies would have more meaning, which would make it less of a pain to schedule in our summer.

This helps. He's really good.

Averaging a tick under 2000 in DT, which is kinda good considering I've been playing 21 for the last 3 weeks, which is thanks to two terrible ruck decisions. First took Tippett, then traded him for Seaby who got injured the next week. But now got Rhys Stanley, which I've been waiting for for weeks. Podsiadly, Jarrad Grant, Alex Silvagni, Carl Peterson, Ben Howlett have all been good choices. Much moneys in them. I agree. Whilst I still like DT (not SC, I'm a purist), the draft style would be so much better. More realistic as well. They have 'DT Pro' or something but there's a fee for that. Martin's not that good in DT: mediocre average and has break even this week in the 50s which will be a stretch for him. Edit: This could be a record in the making: Brian Lake's over 100 points in DT, and it's not even half-time yet.

IIRC it was wet (or wet-ish) in the Brisbane game last year? And QBW as well. I reckon he'll be OK. Either this is humourous, or somewhat ironic as it's Latin, not French. It means melbourne and watts are best

Bell would make a worse midfielder than defender. He has close to no awareness. None. Gysberts' time will come.

It's not only less experienced players that get sold down the river by Bruce. It's anyone who's there. Too often he runs into trouble and instead of doing something himself he shirks the problem by handpassing to someone who's not in the right spot, or flat footed. That, and his tendency to stuff his ball drop up which results in terrible kicking, is what is making Bruce less and less of a good player.

I think that act was at the SCG actually. Might be mistaken, but I think it was Round 4 2006, where we beat Sydney in Sydney to kickstart a run of 12 wins out of the next 13 games. Then we fell apart at the end. Again. Either way, PJ was so bad last week the decision to drop him was absolutely no surprise. The surprise is that Spencer got a call up. No. Hughes' first two games were worse than Watts'. Hughes last week didn't do anything that suggested to me he will make it at AFL level.

So effectively you're asking this: Can we make the 8? Only post if you think yes, otherwise I don't want to hear your opinions. FWIW we won't make the finals. We will struggle to win more than 1 game over the next 5 weeks.

It's a great sign to be doing so well in terms of points against. Having a percentage of 100.8% despite being 3-5 and 11th on the ladder is testament to that. We're about 10% clear of any other bottom 8 side, and Port Adelaide, who are 5-3 and in the top 8, are sub-90. Having said that, we've scored over 100 twice, the remaining scores being 61, 85, 57, 78, 56, 46. Low. So it's patently obvious where the improvement needs to come from. But I'd much rather have it this way around than the other way.

He was being sarastic. I think. I hope.

I haven't disagreed with you at all that courage is not the only measure of leadership, or that it is even a part of leadership. I merely offered the point of view that Green does more than you giv him credit for. And I also agree that our dearth of true leadership will hurt us until we find a way to fix it. And that may well be moving to a new, younger leadership group, with players like Grimes, Watts, Scully and Trengove (Grimes aside, that would be a few years down the track though).

I'm sure that what is in there is accurate if its sourced. That was the point of the thread. To get definitive contract data, not speculation or rumours. So yes, if there's a source then it's a sure date.

Let's hope this bit is true as well, as it would mean most likely Jetta in for Spencer before the bounce.

I don't understand why, given that Bailey's on the record as saying the ball will be like a cake of soap, we'd start Spencer and leave Jetta in the emergencies. Yes, I know there's every chance we'll have a late change, but it seems that DB's aware it's not the conditions for big men, why pick Spencer in the first place? Don't get it.

Not as good as I was hoping for. Warnock out is a big, big loss. Mind you, Port doesn't have Tredrea at the moment. I wonder what 'soreness' is. Spencer in is a bad move. Why replace one dud ruckman with another? Miller could have done it. And it in turn reduces the value of seeing Miller come in for Hughes, as it's clear now he's going to play as a forward, not as a forward/ruck. Nice to have Morton and Wonaeamirri back, but Jetta would feel unlucky to not get the nod over Wonna.

I tried to get a thread going that I hoped would be stickied so that we'd have a list of players' contracts that could be updated when news broke of signings etc. That way instead of the speculation and/or rumours flying around we would have had a definitive list. This was the attempt: http://demonland.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=17779 Maybe this thread could take that role?

I'm gonna take this as gospel pal. You've been on the money of late. The word was (in the OP anyway) that MacDonald was going up as well. I'd say he'll be the stand-by emergency. My guess is that PJ and Hughes will join Bate and Bruce on the sidelines. Miller takes PJ's spot, Morton takes Bruce's, Jetta and Wonaeamirri take Bate and Hughes' spots. Wonaeamirri, whilst lucky in some regards to get a call up this quickly, I think will slot straight back in.

That's true. When I said I wasn't disappointed it was more the outs rather than the ins. And there's every reason in the world Sylvia will be dropped - Waite's a game breaker for Carlton, has broken 2 of their last 3 open, but he copped it after bad form early on. It's been a month now of rubbish from Sylvia: how much more will we take? Stupid post, but others beat me to it so I'll leave it at that. Sad too as he was actually playing well, was Bate.

Why did you change your name, anyway? Embarrassed to have to put your name to the 'argument' you've been losing in this thread?

Huh? Rubbish. James McDonald is the most courageous player on our list.

That doesn't disappoint me. Bruce and Bate are injured, so MacDonald and Morton get their spots. Jetta takes over from Hughes, Miller can ruck better than PJ and at least give us something up forward, and Aussie is a best 22 player that will likely get his go in the place of Sylvia who will benefit immensely from a week at Casey. That is of course, assuming you know what you're talking about. 5.00pm tomorrow is D-day. Seems like it. A good move. We can't get less competitive in the ruck than what PJ gave us on Saturday, and Miller forward is a much more viable option than PJ forward. Rewards Miller for consistent form at Casey, gives him what might be his last shot, and gets PJ out of the team. I'm not expecting Miller to dominate (and I wouldn't be surprised if the move failed completely) but I like it.

I see courageous acts every game. Don't tell me that's not a part of leadership. Putting your body on the line sets an example, sends a message to the opponent. He can be relied upon, just like JMac, to do what's required when it's required. I cannot recall a game in which he's ever shown depressing body language. He doesn't shrug shoulders, he doesn't get all mopey. And unlike others, he plays well even when we're behind. He can be relied upon for consistent contributions. Those are all signs of leadership in my book. Agree with that. Agree with that too.

Jurrah was a certainty. People are under-rating Jetta. He played well last year. I dare say if it wasn't for him being injured he'd have had a crack this year too. Good player I reckon. I feel just as confident in Jetta making as than Bennell. The thing about Bennell that I just don't like is the fact that he rarely, if ever, strings together four quarters. We've seen plenty of talent, and at his age it's a good sign, but there's not a lot between him and Jetta. Good news all round.

Great to see Jurrah and Tapscott coming down. Tapscott now off the 'indefinite' list. Martin's injury opens the door for Miller I think.

Oh please, you seem to be the only one who doesn't rate Green as a leader. And have a look at the other responses: clearly you're not the only one who doesn't think certain senior players are lacking in leadership.