titan_uranus

North is our no. 6. A composed batsman. Stabilises the order, has a cool head and knows the game well. And bowls handy off spin. The team is starting to come together nicely. We have a proper top 6 (though IMO Hussey should be batting at 5 and Clarke at 4), three good pacemen who all bring something different, and a wicket-keeper-batsman who can bat well enough at 7 but needs to work on his keeping. Johnson should bat at no.8, leaving the door open for another bowler. Having said that, McDonald does bowl well, has a habit of getting wickets when we need them, and, despite his two innings so far, can bat. McDonald could be played as a bowler at 9 if there was no need for a spinner. As for the match, we shouldn't lose from here, but I'm not convinced we're going to win. Bad light seems to end each day prematurely, there's been rain about, and South Africa won't be bowled out for 220 again I don't think. But the lead we've got should mean we can set a target of 450 and still have enough time to bowl them out.

Yes, it wouldn't work well if it was all the Victorian teams in one conference. You'd maybe split the two WA and SA teams, and the two Sydney and Qld teams, and then fill the rest with Victorian teams. You'd have to split Rich, Coll, Carl and Ess into 2 groups of 2 as well I'd think. The NFL's conference system is pretty complex. Just having 22 rounds where everyone plays everyone else at least once per year seems easier to me.

Not a bad idea, but it seems a little complex. Plus 9-9 doesn't work with 10 Victorian teams, unless Geelong gets the boot, which would be unfair for them.

Agreed. The midfield is not good, but the forward line makes the midfield look like gold. Disagree re: Warnock though, I think his 1 on 1 work is passable. Well we haven't had a win against a Victorian team in any form of competitive match (i.e. AFL, NAB cup or NAB challenge) since we beat Carlton in round 22 2007. So I guess that's not such a bad prediction BBP. Personally, I can't see us rising above 10th, but I think we can get 4-6 wins and get off the bottom.

First, I love Lost. Second, why does no-one know anything about Buckley? Why the secrecy?

OK, so he improved. Let's see what he does next week, and the week after that. That's the big test: any consistency?

I dunno, I feel more confident now. But we've heard plenty of rumours so far, so I'm not getting my hopes too far up.

Taken from a members' email: Good idea I think, get the kids involved, get more people to Family Day.

How is anyone surprised by this? I certainly didn't expect much from Watts this year. He's only 17, he might play a few games in the second half of the season. He's not doing enough training at the moment to either gel with the rest of the forward line or build up his body.

Where'd you hear that? I haven't heard a thing about Buckley all pre-season (except that he apparently looks like Franklin from a distance...) I don't think he has terribly good hands, and his kicking for goal throughout last year was unreliable at best. I really can't decide on where PJ's best football lies.

Spot on two sheds.

There's no clash with Sydney, we should be in our home strip (unless we're playing in alternate strips for the entire NAB Cup/Challenge series).

At 5/254, things could go either way, so I'm glad we've still got McDonald to come. It's not such a bad selection for mine, his bowling in Sydney was fine, he got Amla twice, got Kallis for almost nothing (with a great return catch), and broke the Steyn-Ntini partnership on Day 5. He takes wickets, and is accurate. But if McGain is to come back in, it's his spot he'll be taking. Well batted from Ponting and Clarke, but both had lapses in concentration to lose their wickets. It's a problem that's become more evident in recent months, as players who are set fail to get to 100. Clarke really threw his wicket away, Ponting's was a shocking error in judgement. North looks like he could be our answer at no. 6 (touch wood). Pity it's taken so long to find him (he's almost 30 years old).

Should happen. I can't see North taking too many wickets against the Proteas' batsmen. They're going to be much better at picking him off than the practice team was. They had no trouble with Krejza or Haurtiz, who specialise in bowling off-spin. Not such a bad plan, actually. I just would feel sad for McDonald for getting left out of the team after doing a pretty good job in Sydney.

Well that all sounds good. But we've been hearing rumours and speculation for weeks now, so it's hard to get excited about this.

You're not suggesting that the more goals you kick, the more worn out you become?

Good to see Bennell, Strauss and Jetta. Dandeeman must be right: either an injury they don't want to be aggravated, or they've seen what he can do and they're more interested in giving others a turn. I'd say a fitness issue.

And here I was, thinking there was an official statement or announcement or something, but just another rumour. I'll believe it when I see it.

The Age is one of our second or third tier sponsors. That would be why Martin Flanagan is 'embedded' in the club this year. By my reckoning, Melbourne had just as much, if not more newspaper coverage over summer than the other clubs (Cousins aside). I wouldn't be surprised if part of our deal with The Age is to have a minimum number of Melbourne stories per year. If it's not then it should be.

That's bad. Might be another delayed start to the season again for Whelan.

You could see this coming from the way Boonie was talking over the last few days. It's a seamers wicket, with only the best of the world's spinners having mild success there (Warne aside, only Kumble and Vettori have managed to get some good turn at this ground). I can't see Hilfenhaus playing alongside Siddle, Johnson and Bollinger. I think Hilfenhaus will be 12th man for this test, but will be a good chance for the second if Bollinger doesn't play well. Similarly, if McDonald doesn't play well, McGain surely will take his spot.

Oh yeah, that really pleased me. No more of this horses for courses business. South Africa managed to beat us twice and contest well in the third test without changing their team once. Meanwhile, we're about to enter our 15th consecutive test in which we have played a different team to the test before. Let's get a squad (the one we've got now I think is good) and take them to England, play them at home, then take them wherever we go next year. Not so sure about that. Yes, North will play. But I'm thinking McDonald may play instead of McGain. That would mean McDonald could bat at 8, to keep Haddin at 7, or vice versa. It would really strengthen the batting up, and in terms of bowling, we'd have the three seamers, then McDonald and North to provide back up. But I still think McGain should play. Of course, if Clarke doesn't play then McDonald and McGain will definitely play. But at the moment, looking at Boonie's words and the way the practice match panned out, I'd think a team with North and McDonald in it is quite likely. Yeah, I saw it again and you're right, Hussey's backing up was pretty poor.

I'm with you RR. No need to play the older players. I'd like to see Zomer, Valenti, Strauss, Maric and Jetta. Blease, Watts and Jurrah I don't think will be ready to play (judging by what's been said here and by the coaches). If Moloney's fit he definitely should play: he needs the practise. And Sylvia and Newton should be told that their performances over the next three weeks will go a long way to deciding whether they play Round 1 and beyond.

There was a good reason why he didn't play between Rounds 1 and 15: Round 1. He was abysmal. It's hard for coaches to let players who exhibit such a low level of enthusiasm, effort and skill continue to play in a team that gets thrashed by 100 points. I have no qualms with the extended layoff. You have to work hard to get games at AFL level, and Newton certainly didn't do that.

Pity that Wonna is injured. Hopefully he plays Round 1.