titan_uranus

Ah. Typical Daniel Bell. And here I was thinking that he was improving and capable of holding down a spot in the team.

By my count, this is the third thread opened on this topic.

Fair call. I must admit, I'd prefer to see him taking his time as opposed to how he used to go about it, which was mark, then immediately fire off a handpass to the first Melbourne player he could see.

And on a congratulatory note, Martin Love made an unbeaten century in his last innings for the Bulls. Well done Love. And well done Victoria.

Obviously we have been in an unassailable position since the rain hit. I was just thinking that enforcing the follow on could have allowed us a chance at a win. Lunch on day 5: we lead by 592. So clearly we've won the Shield.

I can't see Garland playing on Campbell or Thomas. Bartram, should he play, could take one. Petterd could take another. So could Cheney. Is McDonald fast enough to take Harvey? I'm not so sure. Maybe Bartram's a better bet here. I like the idea of Green deep with Sylvia and Bate further up. But I think Miller's best work has been further up the ground, as a lead up CHF.

Jones and Harris are on the outer with Laidley. The are very unlikely to play Roudn 1, which is kinda good for us because Jones has done some pretty good things against us. Imagine if all those talls were forwards. Then we'd be saying we're top-heavy. I agree, we probably can't have that many tall defenders in the team. We've run out of legs in 2 matches so far this year. We need extra running capability. Having said that, I can't decide which player misses out.

I'm quite surprised they didn't enforce the follow-on, thereby absolutely ensuring the shield. Batting again gives the Bulls some hope, though obviously it's a very, very, very slim chance.

FB: Martin Warnock Garland HB: Frawley Rivers Buckley C: Morton Moloney Green HF: Sylvia Bate Bruce FF: Davey Miller Wonaeamirri Foll: Johnson McLean Jones Int: Spencer Grimes Jetta Petterd Emerg: Cheney Dunn Bartram Edit: Bartram in for Grimes.

Ah, good news. So it'll be PJ and Spencer in Round 1. Not that bad.

True, but that's also most likely the reason why Mission switched. Our deal was $2 million a year, the Dogs deal was $1.5 million.

I agree. It's pretty clear that we haven't got anyone in the team at the moment who is capable of kicking goals week in, week out. Robertson can. Having said that, he isn't going to be around for the first 6 weeks at least, so we need to see if Bate, Miller or Newton are capable of providing a focal point. I don't think any of them are.

Is that a final score? Certainly this is a much better pre season than 2008. But to have three weeks where we were competitive and the margin was close all game, then to finish it off with this effort, I get the feeling that the players will have this match as a lasting image over the previous three. It would have been better to have had this result first, then the three better games as the lead up to Round 1.

Hmm, having played so well for 3 weeks, this last quarter could undo a lot of our good work.

232 users reading this topic! Any update on the score?

I would be satisfied with 5 wins, no more than 2 losses by 60 or more (accounting for 2 matches v Geelong and 1 v Hawthorn), not being 16th, seeing clear development from Morton, Grimes, Petterd, Garland, Martin and Frawley, and playing a style of football that doesn't make you want to look away whenever we've got the ball.

PP, you need to look harder. The second page from the back in yesterday's HUN sport section (i.e. the one next to the TV Guide) had an article entitled Demons to sport Hankook logo in $2.1 million sponsorship deal. You should know that The Age is our shorts sponsor, so there's no surprise that they're providing more positive MFC news. Also, in today's Age, there's a big advertisement from the club (with the same banner we get in member's emails) with the statement about Hankook. It's not in the HUN.

Should be interesting to see how Meesen and Spencer go, up against Hudson and whoever else the Dogs use in the ruck.

That's the official order as per http://icc-cricket.yahoo.com/rankings/rankings.html (as of 6th March). It's how I would see it as well. The top 3 are clearly the best 3 in the world. Sri Lanka and Pakistan have the players to make a contest against those three teams (but get unfairly underscheduled by the ICC). England can't seem to improve, West Indies might finally be on the up, and New Zealand is terrible (can't bat, can hardly bowl either). And whilst we're speaking of rankings, in the player rankings, Mitchell Johnson is now equal with Dale Steyn as the best fastbowler and the no. 2 bowler overall (behind Muralitharan): http://www.icc-cricketrankings.com/

I think the press conference has been and gone, because there's a report on the MFC website: http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/newsart...15/default.aspx It clearly states that there will be another sponsor, but that sponsor has not been named yet. Maybe the other major sponsor will be announced on the footy show tonight?

Happy, happy days! Yes, Mr De La Rue was integral in securing this deal (Caro's article says so). I heard on SEN that there's going to be a press conference sometime today where the Hankook (and possibly the other co-sponsor) deals will be formally announced by the club.

This may well be the end of Jamar, if Spencer can hold his own when he has his chance in the team. And the best bit is, we won't have to play Meesen. I guess that some sort of doctor's analysis would be necessary.

Agree re: Haddin. His batting is improving rapidly, which will ease the pressure and allow the selectors to play McGain, batting Johnson at 8. Johnson will soon overtake Steyn as the no. 1 paceman. And Siddle won't be too far behind. Now that South Africa's lost their first series since 2006, their side's being changed like ours has been: http://content.cricinfo.com/rsavaus2009/co...ory/394673.html McKenzie, Morkel dropped. Prince not only returns, but opens, and will be captain. And to top it all off, the Windies held off England again for another draw, meaning they've won the series 1-0!

Well, 2 early strikes should be enough to prevent a loss now. Duminy's the one we need now, and he was just dropped (though it was a very tough chance) by Haddin.

I'm taking a pessimistic outlook, I know, but the South Africans really are top class cricketers, and I wouldn't put it past them, particularly considering the physical state of our bowlers.