titan_uranus

No you didn't miss a segment, the match just wasn't discussed at all. Last year I thought they did a good job of mentioning at least one issue that related to each of the 8 matches of each round (sometimes not the ones that involve two interstate teams, like Brisbane v West Coast). But nothing last night about us or North.

Definitely a nice touch. At the scarf table inside the MCC entrance was Wheatley and Rhys Healey (I think - I must admit at first I didn't know who he was). Having a chat with the members, about the club and the team. Really nice. I think Match Day means their membership gives them access to games. Non Match Day probably means they don't have access. Kind of like our $50 MCC/MFC memberships, where we're members, we get a card and the magazine and a scarf etc., but we can't use it to enter the ground.

Agreed. The Age prides itself on being the more 'intelligent' paper in this city. That reputation cannot exist when simple mistakes are not found, either by the journalist or the editor. This is just another mistake in a paper that cannot seem to weed them out. Of course the article provides an insight rarely seen in footy. But that doesn't mean it was produced to a high quality. It wasn't. And unfortunately for The Age, a lot of what it produces isn't close to being a high quality.

I'd take Brad Johnson, Mitch Hahn and Robert Murphy over anyone we've got at the moment. Might not be tall, but they can play tall and you can rely on them to score goals each week. But you make a good point, in that we don't necessarily need height in the forward line, we just need a group of players who work well together and can find the goals. More importantly, we need to work on getting the ball to our forwards in an efficient manner.

Completely with you on this one. Too often pitches are so incredibly lifeless the match is a snore-fest. The SA-Aust series was so memorable because all 6 matches had a result. That's in part because the teams are so evenly matched, but in part because none of the pitches (except maybe the last one) were a batsman's paradise.

We did play them twice in 2007: Neitz's 300th game.

All correct there BFRE. The only thing that worries me about Morton is his weight: he doesn't look like he's put on any muscle at all. He has to get stronger, he won't make a successful career if he doesn't. But at the moment he's certainly not our biggest concern.

Agreed. I would also hazard a guess that, when he was first moved up into a midfield role, he put on weight so that he wasn't pushed around as much. I wouldn't be surprised if that has impeded on his speed, which was the reason he was moved up the ground in the first place. For mine, Davey's best work is as a forward, applying defensive pressure when the opposition has the ball.

I guess the proof will be in the pudding (by that I mean we'll see what the crowd and atmosphere on QB is like).

And quite a few of the Indian wickets to fall in the 1st innings were poor shots, rather than especially good balls. Still, they batted for more than 2 days to save that match. Gambhir's innings was particularly dogged.

Just because teams are coached to stay away from kicking to contests doesn't mean it doesn't happen. When there are spare men in defence, getting a mark in the forward 50 is basically only going to occur if you have the ability to take contested marks.

The two problems we have when kicking out are that the player with the ball usually takes too long, and the other players don't move into open space. Too often 3 or 4 of our players stand around far too close to each other, when they should be leading into the gaps to provide options. But the kick ins weren't as bad yesterday as they have been in the past.

Um, I think two sheds was being sarcastic there, bobby.

Yeah, looks like this one going to be a draw now. India's in front by 37, still 7 wickets in hand. NZ have definitely let one slip here, but credit to them for fighting back from an innings loss in the 1st test.

Agreed. There are so many times that Morton is in the right position: he reads the game so well. But yesterday when he did get the ball he didn't do terribly well. In: Maric, Sylvia/Martin Out: Bennell, Bate/Jetta I'd like to see Jetta get another run, but I wouldn't be surprised if he makes way for someone else and is given a run with Casey. Otherwise Bate might go. Bennell to me looked a little lost, and whilst he showed glimpses, he probably needs some time at Casey first.

I understand that taking 3 random sets of votes is fair, but it's a pity that one of those 3 sets of votes happened to be the only one that had Johnson, who really doesn't deserve anything for his work yesterday.

Our lack of contested marks is a combination of three factors: ordinary kicks to targets, ordinary targets themselves, and being outnumbered. Kicking to Brad Miller when he's hard up against the boundary with 2 or 3 opponents is almost never going to result in a contested mark.

It will be interesting to see who makes way from the current squad when the injured players start returning.

This killed us numerous times yesterday. The half forward line would start on the edge of the centre square, then run in to contest the centre bounce. The North defenders, though, would often hang back, knowing that if a Melbourne player got the clearance, the resulting kick would end up around the half forward line, where the North defenders could take the ball. It was a poor choice of strategy. You also mentioned the rotations: there was one instance yesterday where a Melbourne player was called off the ground, leaving his opponent to take an uncontested mark just seconds later. I couldn't believe that a player could come off the ground when he was in such a position. Certainly the coaches' strategies are playing some role in our performances.

I think I probably overplayed the disposal issue: today it wasn't his disposal that let him down. But whether or not he succeeds as a wingman (if he gets played there) will rely on his disposal.

Pretty much spot on there YM. Morton was probably the biggest disappointment for me today. Has he put on any weight over the pre-season?

What was the crowd today?

Davey doesn't seem to play FP anymore, he's more of an onballer nowadays. Maric would take that spot. And once Robbo's gone, Jurrah can have his spot. In any case, it's far better than the pathetic forward line we've got at the moment.

That's a pretty fair appraisal Geddy Lee. He's just so damn slow, it impedes his efforts to chase or push up the ground.

Sorry to all the Buckley fans out there, but he was shocking today. He just cannot dispose of the ball. He was torn apart by Wells in the last quarter. He couldn't keep up on the lead, he didn't show much pace at any time, and he missed multiple targets (though he certainly wasn't the only one). He just doesn't strike me as being a bright prospect for the future.