titan_uranus

I agree with that. I hope so. But you'd think that Johnson, Siddle and Hilfenhaus will be the first 3 picked. The last spot will either be another quick (Clark, Nannes, Lee, Bollinger) or McDonald. I heard on ABC radio that Katich said his body doesn't cope well with bowling, especially now that he's an opener. Hussey is definitely near the end. We just can't afford to have consistent failures in the top 5. I'd say Hodge or Klinger will be in the squad and if Hussey doesn't perform, there'll be an opening in the middle order for one of them. I wonder if McDonald's 60 will keep him in the forefront of selector's minds? I doubt he'll start in the first Ashes test, but I reckon he might get a spot in the squad. D. Hussey won't get a spot in the squad. His Shield form wasn't fantastic in 08/09.

Connolly was definitely OTT pesimistically. This magazine is so much better than that piece of rubbish the HUN had yesterday.

I agree. Johnson and Siddle are certainties. Hilfenhaus isn't, but will probably start in the first test in England just because he's a swinger and it generally swings in England. As for the 4th spot, maybe we'll see a return of either Lee or Stuart Clark. A bit of Ashes experience. I wouldn't rule either of them out. And if they're fit and bowling like they were 12 months ago (not guaranteed), then they'd complement the other bowlers well. I like Nannes too, but if the selectors turned to Geeves and Magoffin in South Africa as cover, I'd suspect those two are in front of Nannes in the queue. And Bollinger, for that matter.

The fact that we won the first 2 tests doesn't vindicate the selectors' decision to take a squad with 5 spare bowlers and no spare batsman. Yes, it wouldn't have mattered if North hadn't had a severe but brief bout of gastro, but would you have been happy if at 1-1 we'd played the team we're playing now? I wouldn't. Agree. North, Katich, even Clarke can chip in with decent spin. Katich especially. That leaves room for a 4th quick which helps share the load around.

Thanks Andrew. I will endeavour to use Kaspersky where possible. And Jaded, love the new signature.

Must agree with BRFE above.

It's not such a stupid idea. $7.50 to be in the top 50%. Those are long odds, even if we're talking about Melbourne. The Bullies were bottom 4 in 2007, top 4 in 2008. Strange things do happen in footy.

Thanks for that Dee Man. Couldn't agree more. Except for Newton.

Well then. Australia has in 2 days undone the superb efforts of the previous 15. We can apportion blame on the selectors for not sending over a replacement batsman. Hodge, Klinger, Rogers or Ferguson should have had Hauritz's place in the original squad. That was poor judgement, and as many commentators had pointed out, could have cost us the series if it was 1-1, not 2-0. The McGain experiment has failed. Sorry folks. 93 runs in 10 overs is woeful. He bowled maybe 5 balls in total that were threatening, and most of those were in his first 2 overs late on Day 1. Too much short stuff and full tosses. At 37, persisting with him would unfortunately be a waste of time. Better off with Krejza, who at least has shown his potential to take wickets, and has time on his side.

Zonal positioning is the kind of thing the AFL wants, but it's too hard to monitor on such a large ground with so many players. So capped interchange would be much more likely, as this would reduce the fitness of players and stop them from unnecessary running (eg reducing flooding).

If things don't work out for him this year, is there any guarantee that he'll still be with us next year? I don't really know, but if he doesn't get too much game time in Casey, is he good enough that we'd be likely to stick with him?

IMO, something had to be done. If you're a midfielder on the wing, and you're hard up against the boundary with little options available, you don't have the luxury of stepping over the line and retaining possession. Now defenders have lost that luxury, and the rule is consistent all around the ground. Whether or not the rule will be exploited remains to be seen.

Oopsies. Yeah he's not exactly someone who blends in is he... well that just stengthens the argument.

I see him every match I go to at the G. He's always in a similar spot, front row, Level 1, just to the 'left' of the interchange benches. Even when it's raining.

Did you know something WJ?

These things go to print well in advance. To have had sponsors in the magazine, we would have needed to announce them a month or two ago.

Yippee! Great news! The article on the website says that Hankook will be on the front, Kaspersky on the back. Sounds like that's a permanent thing. And $5 million over three years is superb, all things considered.

Compare the forward lines: Melbourne: Miller, Sylvia, Wonna, Davey, Newton, Maric Geelong: Mooney, Lonergan, Stokes, Chapman, Gamble, Byrnes And obviously their midfield and ours are incomparable. You can't say, well Geelong did so we can too, when clearly they're a team full of talent and multiple paths to goal and we've got a lot less talent and even fewer paths to goal.

I don't know who the other sponsor will be, but in Caro's article from last week about Hankook I'm sure she said the leading contender was a company that isn't in the gambling industry. Which clearly narrows the field down.

Pun intended? On a serious note, this sucks. I wouldn't be surpised if it is a flare-up of a previous injury and the club's trying to keep that unknown. But regardless of whether it is or isn't the same injury, the fact is his development is stalled again. So, assuming Grimes was going to play Round 1 (I'm sure he was), who gets his spot? Petterd (if fit)? Bennell?

Hey I like this thread. Great idea DD.

Yeah me too. And I had Gumbleton as well.

Aw nuts. Back injuries are bad news.

Someone told me this morning that they were listening to 3AW last night and Stynes was on. He said something about more offers coming in since the Hankook deal was announced, and that the other sponsor is likely to be announced earlier that the club had previously anticipated. I don't know if anyone else heard this interview.

Sorry, didn't mean to offend.