Whispering_Jack

An excellent session with the skipper getting his 27th test century and remaining not out at lunch. Smith a bit stuff to miss out on the ton but we're well on the way to a 500+ score and we have the capacity to punish a Steynless attack.

3/331 at stumps makes great reading as Warner answers his critics with a great century and Clarke returns to form. Hopefully, we can continue on day 2 to bludgeon the SA attach which is now without Steyn (hammy). It's good to see James Pattinson in the team, notwithstanding that it's at Siddle's expense.

OK, if you won't accept Dream Team scores, how about Supercoach points. This evidence is overwhelming:- Bernie Vince 129 Mitch Duncan 118 Dom Tyson 112 Steve Johnson 110 Lynden Dunn 110 Nathan Jones 109 Daniel Cross 104 George Horlin-Smith 103 Dean Terlich 97 Mitch W Brown 94 Josh Caddy 94 Jimmy Bartel 93 Viv Michie 89 Travis Varcoe 78 Tom McDonald 75 Mitchell Clisby 73 Alexis Georgiou 71 Jimmy Toumpas 69 Shannon Byrnes LXVIII Dawson Simpson 68 Jarrad Jansen 68 Jesse Hogan 67 Dan Nicholson 66 Jake Spencer 66 Taylor Hunt 64 Jordie McKenzie 63 Jack Grimes 62 Tom Hawkins 61 Jeremy Howe 61 Billie Smedts 59 Harry Taylor 56 Matt Jones 56 James Kelly 55 Mark Blicavs 54 Jackson Thurlow 54 Sam Blease 51 Jack Watts 50 Jack Trengove 48 Jared Rivers 46 Cameron Guthrie 43 Hamish McIntosh 40 Rohan Bail 39 Jordan Murdoch 38 Joshua Walker 30 Lincoln McCarthy 26 Joel Hamling 26 Tom Lonergan 24 Jack Fitzpatrick 21 Dom Barry 12 Jordan Schroder 12 Max King 11 Joel Selwood 10 Player # X finished ahead of more than half the field so put that in your pipes and smoke it!

Caps are not hats. Mind you, talking about stuff you borrow from the missus, I must say the dress you wore at lunchtime on Wednesday was quite captivating.

No, he doesn't wear 10. The legend goes that he's so ancient that has to wear the Roman numeral on the back of his guernsey.

Funny thing is I don't even own a hat.Dream team points is one thing and his skills on the ground are another. He set up a couple of goals and didn't constantly turn over the ball as much as a few others and I hope your eyesight improves.

Not universally if you consider dream team points from the game. Player X finished just in the top half equal with Jimmy Toumpas and ahead of the co-captain who you sponsor Redleg. And well ahead of the likes of Tom McDonald and Sam Blease not to mention youngsters like Dom Barry and Max King. Contrary to popular misconception, statistics don't lie.

I understand that Redleg would like player X served with an infraction notice although there's no suggestion the bloke even touched a peptide.

I see the problem OD.Memory loss. You need to eat more bananas. They help against such ailments. FYI, Byrnes was a member of the 2007 and 2009 premiership teams and wasn't let go by the Cats at the end of 2011. It was the end of 2012 after playing in the Cats' sensational VFL premiership team. You've also forgotten about players having a second wind. The bloke was the matchwinner in one of our two wins last year - against GWS where he picked up two Brownlow votes. Name five MFC players who polled more than that number in 2013 - T$, Scott Thompson and Brent Moloney don't count.

OK smartie. I challenge you to name another current MFC player to have played in two premierships.

Excellent - most likely in the midfield while he learns the finer points of the crumbing forward game from our most successful player and the only one to have played in multiple AFL premiership teams.

Proof that I'm not stirring - Shannon Byrnes has been included in the squad that's heading off to the red centre. As I have said before, he'll be our best # 10 since Cale Morton Big Carl!!!!

Like ESP. Now that SA have made what has to be seen as a reasonably sporting declaration given they're a bowler short but taking into account the possibility of rain, let's see if our batters can put their heads down and do something we rarely see from the Australians. SA did it in Adelaide when they toured here; let's see if we can return the favour.

Before going into the AFL PROSPECTUS TOP-25 Rankings I thought we should consult the Bigfooty experts:- KNIGHTMARE 2014 DRAFT POWER RANKINGS: Potential A-graders 1. Peter Wright (VIC - KPF/Ruck) 2. Patrick McCartin (VIC - KPF) 3. Sam Durdin (SA - KPP) 4. Angus Brayshaw (VIC – Mid) 5. Brayden Maynard (VIC – Def/Mid) 6. Christian Petracca (VIC - Fwd) 7. Jake Lever (VIC - Def) 8. Hugh Goddard (VIC - KPF) 9. Peter Bampton (SA – Mid) 10. Alec Waterman (WCE – WA - Mid - F/S) 11. Lachlan Weller (QLD – Mid) 12. Jack Hayes (SA – KPF) 13. Jarrod Pickett (WA – Util) 14. Clem Smith (WA - Util) 15. Dylan Winton (WA – Mid/Util) Potentially high level footballers 16. Billy Stretch (Melb – SA - F/S) 17. Liam Dawson (QLD – Util) 18. Bradley Walsh (WA – Mid) 19. Tom Lamb (VIC – Fwd/KPF) 20. Ryan Lim (WA – Mid/Fwd) 21. Isaac Heeney (NSW – Mid) 22. Jackson Nelson (VIC - Mid) 23. Liam Griffiths (NSW – Mid) 24. Liam Duggan (VIC – Def/Mid) 25. Daniel Capiron (VIC – Def/Mid) 26. Jordan Cunico (VIC – Fwd/Mid) 27. Joe Maishman (VIC – Mid) 28. Matthew Hammelmann (QLD – KPF) 29. Sam Bevan (WA – KPF) 30. Jesse Watchman (SA - KPF) 31. Jack Cripps (WA – KPF/Ruck) 32. Matthew Ah Siu (WA – Fwd/KPF) 33. Tyler Keitel (WA - KPF) 34. Mac Bower (SA – Fwd) 35. Alex Harnett (VIC - Mid) 36. Touk Miller (VIC – Mid) 37. Jaden McGrath (VIC – Mid) 38. Bohdi Walker (VIC – Mid) 39. Peter Spurling (SA – Ruck) 40. Jake Maher (VIC – Mid) 41. Alex Urban (VIC – Mid) 42. Darcy Moore (Coll - F/S – VIC – KPF/Ruck) 43. Sean McLaren (VIC – KPD/Ruck) 44. Jack Donkersley (SA – Fwd) Best of the rest 45. Jake Johansen (SA – Fwd) 46. Christian Buykx-Smith (VIC – Def) 47. Jayden Short (VIC – Mid) 48. Jarrod Garlett (WA –Fwd/Mid) 49. Marc Pittonet (VIC – Ruck) 50. Duom Dawam (VIC – Ruck) Knightmare's early phantom draft ranks the clubs on where he thinks they'll finish and will change over time but FWIW, this is his PD:- #1 GWS – Peter Wright VIC, KPF/Ruck, 202cm #2 Melbourne – Patrick McCartin VIC, KPF, 192cm #3 St Kilda – Sam Durdin SA, KPP, 195cm # 4 Brisbane – Hugh Goddard VIC, KPP, 194cm #5 West Coast – Jarrod Pickett WA, Util, 177cm #6 Richmond – Angus Brayshaw VIC, Mid, 184cm #7 Geelong – Jake Lever VIC, Def, 188cm #8 Port Adelaide – Peter Bampton SA, Mid/Fwd, 182cm #9 Carlton – Lachlan Weller (QLD, Mid, 178cm #10 Adelaide – Brayden Maynard VIC, Util, 184cm #11 Collingwood – Christian Petracca VIC, Fwd, 185cm #12 Gold Coast - Liam Dawson QLD, Def/Fwd, 187cm #13 Western Bulldogs – Jack Hayes SA, Fwd/KPF, 190cm #14 Essendon – Dylan Winton WA, Mid/Util, 189cm #15 Hawthorn - Clem Smith WA, Util, 177cm #16 North Melbourne – Tom Lamb VIC, Fwd/Mid, 190cm #17 Sydney – Ryan Lim WA, Util, 185cm #18 Fremantle - Bradley Walsh WA, Mid, 178cm Other potential early draftees:- Isaac Heeney Liam Griffiths Darcy Moore Coll F/S Duom Dawam Alec Waterman WCE – F/S Billy Stretch Melb – F/S

Found on http://forums.magpies.net/hotrod:- So it's time to fess up. Who here crossed the line into Collingwood territory?

Fair enough.

The Docklands ... isn't that where we best Richmond only a week ago?

There are nine months to go to the 2014 AFL National Draft but I thought it would be worthwhile starting a thread on it after I picked up this year's AFL Prospectus produced by Champion Data. The Prospectus has a section on the upcoming draft and (with the exception of those who played bottom aged in last year's national under 18s) it's often the first place where you will find the names of those who will dominate football talk when the season's over. The Prospectus features the top 25 prospects at this point in time and the draft section starts with an analysis of how its 2013 predictions went in last year's draft. Of last year's batch 8 players were picked in the top 10, 14 in the top 25 and altogether 18 were drafted with another 3 rookied. Christian Salem was one of the top ten selections. The two who made top ten from outside the Prospectus Potential Top-25 were Tasmania's Kade Kolodajshnij who was taken by Gold Coast and Nathan Freeman who went to Collingwood at pick 10. I will cover the 2014 Potential Top-25 here from time to time but I thought I would kick things off with one of the 25 who has already created some interest at the club. Another familiar name on the list is midfielder Angus Brayshaw (nephew of the North Melbourne President) who did a week's work experience with the Demons in January along with Stretch.

The South Africans are so frightened of Mitch that they prepared a pitch designed to blunt his pace. Wonder how Steyn, Philander and Morkel feel about thay?

He spent a lot of time on my side of the ground, that's why. Mark my words, #10 is worth keeping an eye on.

Well ... he did a few nice things, like when he sidestepped around a Casey player who was wrong footed at the time. I'm sure Roos noticed it.

Shannon Byrnes looked very good too yesterday. His experience should be invaluable against the Saints in Round 1.

They were struggling early in their group match against Bangla Desh when just 4/61 after 23 overs but came good to win by 81 runs. Jake Doran who played in the CA Chairman's XI against the English tourists when just 16 years of age in November last year scored 99 not out for the Aussies to get them to 6/244 before bundling out the opposition who collapsed to lose their last 8 wickets for 35 runs. I have no idea what happens from here but I don't think the Aussies are as dominant at this level as they have been in the past.

I think we can legitimately call Australia's win the first by a visiting test side since the only previous one was by the Poms in a test that was compromised by Hansie Cronje's match fixing. Before the test, I had us as rank outsiders (much as I did before the first test in Brisbane) and had us losing the series 1-2. Centurion hasn't been kind to visiting test nations in the past but the Mitchell Johnson effect has been as devastating in SA as it was here. And to think that two years ago, he was almost written off there after some embarrassing performances and wayward bowling. I'm still pushing for Mitch Clark to follow the example and become the devastating force under Roosy as Mitch Johnson has been for Boof.

Not the only win for the Aussies overnight either. Our Australia Under-19s beat Namibia by 101 in their first game at the Under 19s World Cup to lead Group B. They should win that group with their next opposition Afghanistan before facing a danger game against Bangladesh.