titan_uranus

Disappointing for Cameron White I reckon. Beaten to the squad by Steven Smith, as well as North who holds his place. Likely starting team: Watson Katich Ponting Hussey Clarke North Haddin Johnson Hauritz McKay Bollinger Same team we played in Perth. I can't see Smith taking North's spot (though it wouldn't be such a bad thing), and there would be doubts about Hughes batting at 6.

I agree too. Clarke is employed by Cricket Australia to play cricket. How many other employers would allow you to quit for an indefinite time because your idiot girlfriend can't control her own life? He shouldn't have left NZ. We have phones and the internet now.

Impress? Martin's doing anything but impressing in the ruck. For mine, Martin is best in defence, and second best as a forward. Ruck just isn't his thing. Ergo, we need to promote Spencer and play him alongside Jamar as our ruckmen. If only it were that simple. Even if he does kick, say, 5 goals this week, we all know he could, and probably would, turn in a shocker if he played Round 1.

No he shouldn't. Been there, hasn't worked, isn't the future.

Oh yes, I forgot to mention that. No surprise that there's no mention of who the author was. Whoever wrote it wouldn't want to have their name put next to it.

The Age's Best 22: B: Clint Bartram, Matthew Warnock, James Frawley HB: Joel Macdonald, Jared Rivers, Cale Morton C: Nathan Jones, Brad Green, Cameron Bruce HF: Aaron Davey, Brad Miller, Matthew Bate F: Colin Sylvia, Paul Johnson, Liam Jurrah R: Mark Jamar, James McDonald, Brent Moloney I: Jack Grimes, Lynden Dunn, Austin Wonaeamirri, Jack Watts AFL.com's: B: Jamie Bennell, James Frawley, Jared Rivers HB: Joel Macdonald, Matthew Warnock, Jack Grimes C: Cale Morton, Brent Moloney, Aaron Davey HF: Brad Green, Brad Miller, Colin Sylvia F: Austin Wonaeamirri, Matthew Bate, Liam Jurrah Foll: Mark Jamar, Cameron Bruce, James McDonald I/C: Jack Trengove, Tom Scully, Nathan Jones, Stef Martin PJ at FF? Bartram over Bennell/Cheney? Whoever wrote that for The Age has no idea.

http://www.afl.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/208/newsid/90295/default.aspx Says Davey is our most important player, Bennell is our 'up and comer', Newton 'needs a big year'.

Our best 22 according to AFL.com's Matt Burgan: BEST 22 B: Jamie Bennell, James Frawley, Jared Rivers HB: Joel Macdonald, Matthew Warnock, Jack Grimes C: Cale Morton, Brent Moloney, Aaron Davey HF: Brad Green, Brad Miller, Colin Sylvia F: Austin Wonaeamirri, Matthew Bate, Liam Jurrah Foll: Mark Jamar, Cameron Bruce, James McDonald I/C: Jack Trengove, Tom Scully, Nathan Jones, Stef Martin http://www.afl.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/208/newsid/90295/default.aspx

With Clarke returning home, and thus uncertain to be a part of the Test squad, Marcus North's chances of going to NZ are probably strengthened. But I like Peter Roebuck's squad, which has Steven Smith and Cameron White in place of North: Watson, Katich, Ponting, Clarke, Hussey, Smith, White, Haddin, Hauritz, Johnson, Bollinger, Cutting, McKay. With Copeland on standby I'd be starting with the same XI from the Australian summer, but switching North for White and Siddle for McKay. If Clarke is unavailable North will keep his spot.

I don't rate Jones anywhere near as highly as most others do, but to be fair to him he'd be in front of McKenzie. Cheney plays BP, so it's tough to compare them. Damn straight.

Gee, can't see what you see in Hawthorn. Sure, it's a pretty good list, but they've got no decent ruckmen (Simon Taylor and Brent Renouf are average at best) and their key defenders aren't great either (Gibson and Gilham are nothing special, Schoenmakers will be good but he's still a few years off). Definitely better than ours, but not that good. Really, your entire post is skewed well too far to the negative. I agree that we're most likely to lose, and we could lose big. But the losses they've experienced (Franklin, Bateman, Sewell, Rioli, Burgoyne, Taylor) far outweigh ours (Jurrah, Morton, Bell, Johnson, Meesen, Gawn), much, much more so than in 2008.

I guess that's good news. 'Seeking futher consultation' doesn't sound too good though. Edit: See http://www.afl.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/208/newsid/90287/default.aspx for info. Says that Jones is OK, just soreness.

Spencer and McKenzie will both be promoted. Both deserve it, and frankly, we need Spencer badly. Playing him for an extended time in the seniors can only help him. As for the rest, Meesen and Healy are injured, Newton is a dud, and Hughes hasn't shown enough at Casey to suggest he'd make it at AFL level. I guess this means more gametime for players like Dunn and Bartram.

Considering the injuries we have: B: Rivers Warnock Cheney HB: MacDonald Frawley Strauss C: Davey McDonald Bruce HF: Bate Miller Petterd FF: Sylvia Green Wonaeamirri R: Jamar Grimes Moloney I: Trengove Martin/Spencer Scully McKenzie E: Bennell McNamara Maric Will be interesting to see who plays next week vs West Coast. Martin vs Spencer for back up ruck will be a dual as well. With no Jurrah and most likely no Watts, Martin might get the nod as a 2nd ruck/forward (which won't work, but might happen regardless). I'd prefer Spencer. I also think McNamara is playing well, and might get a spot instead of Strauss or Bennell. Edit: Goodvibes reminded me of McKenzie, who should play.

I was kind of hoping to get a team like Geelong or Collingwood, but I think we're a good chance to notch a win next week, as West Coast are yet to leave WA this pre-season. We should aim to play our best (and fittest) 22 in this match as preparation for Round 1.

Sounds like a lot of positives came out of this match (although the injuries are the obvious negatives). Scully and Trengove were standouts according to all, which is obviously fantastic. But I'm happy to hear Maric and Petterd played well. Petterd now has been our best forward over the last 2 weeks. Good for him. I'm also happy to hear Cheney and McNamara played well. I think McNamara could sneak into our team soon, he's doing everything right when he's given gametime, and from what I saw last year he's a pretty decent kick. Overall, despite the injuries, the loss, my house being flooded and having to listen to 5AA, it was a decent day for us. Unbelievable. NAB Challenge, and we break the all time record. Puts paid to the theory that Melbourne supporters don't care.

So Jurrah has dislocated his broken shoulder? Seriously, though, whatever the injury is it's terrible news, for Liam and for the club. Hopefully he'll come back from this is great shape.

Not exactly sure how my post was 'carp'. When you lose your 5th wicket, and you lead by just 50 runs, that's not a good position to be in. Considering our last two innings have been for scores of 199 and 104, things weren't looking good. Wade and Wright obviously fixed things for us, and brilliant they were. To get to 378 after being 5/111 was a sterling effort. Pity neither got to 100 though.

The fact remains that Meesen is a rookie. When spots open up for rookie elevations, Jordie McKenzie and Jake Spencer will be in front of him. So his chances of being selectable are slim, let alone being selected.

We're in massive trouble now. 5/133, a lead of only 58 runs. Losing Hussey to the third ball of the day hurt. Losing Jewell and McDonald as well has basically killed us. We desperately need Quiney, Wade and Hastings (very much an improved all rounder who may find himself playing for Australia soon) to get our lead to 200. Hopefully our bowlers can make some inroads, because we need the 6 points from this match.

Agree. Warnock seems to be a natural leader down there as well. Of Warnock, Rivers, Garland and Frawley, really only Warnock is unable to play on a small. The other three could all equally play on a tall or a small, and Rivers is adept at playing loose. The bigger issue is who our small(er) defenders are going to be. Bennell, Strauss, Cheney, McNamara, MacDonald, McDonald, Bartram, even Bruce are likely to get games across half back or the back pocket. I think Cheney's taken some big steps over the pre-season, he might be leading the race to play back pocket. You can never underestimate the importance of a settled defensive unit.

And here we were thinking that the West Indies were on the path to improvement... They've just been beaten by Zimbabwe. Yes, Zimbabwe. A team that plays the majority of its cricket against Bangladesh. Not to mention having no functioning home, and very few international-quality players. And the Windies had Benn, Chanderpaul and Gayle back in their team. Hopefully in the Test arena they remain competitive, but their recent ODI and T20 matches have been abysmal.

Jamar will be 31 in 2014. Too old I reckon, so I'd have Spencer instead. I also doubt Bate is good enough to play FF.

If he's fit, and I mean 100% fit, I think he will play. Agree with all this. I see a real future for McNamara, and he should be playing much more regularly than he currently is. And anyone with Strauss' footskills is a walk-up start into a Melbourne side. Fitness and experience are what he needs most.

Nowhere near as enthusiastic about Dunn as I am about McNamara. And Aussie, for that matter. Those bolded are those who you would think would be certain to play Round 1 (if fit). So that's a pretty sizeable missing list from our 'Best 22'.