titan_uranus

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.

6 - Moloney 5 - Petterd 4 - Cheney 3 - Rivers 2 - Frawley 1 - Green

And Collingwood loses! Yippee!

Hawks have the worst? Um, how about ours Freak? I'd take Campbell and Taylor/Renouf over Johnson and Jamar (from a hit out perspective). And surely Carlton's in the running too?

Sounds like it. Damn. At least Maric seems to be playing well.

There's quite a bit of talk about the round 4 clash between Richmond and us. Everyone expects Richmond to be 0-3 with Geelong in Geelong and the Bulldogs in the next 2 weeks. The media is trying to spice up this round 4 clash as D-day for Wallace.

You'll find that a lot of Melbourne supporters are MCC members, and as such sit in the MCC reserve. Since that includes me, I can't really say where the best place is to sit. Just that when we play Collingwood, there will probably be a 3 to 1 ratio of filth to MFC supporters.

There's an upset brewing in NZ: NZ 9dec/619, and in reply, India's 2/73. Good for cricket if NZ can win.

Spot on.