Nasher

When Elliott and Anderson were new at the crease I was thinking hmmm, don't have much faith in this fairly non-descript middle order. Thought they both batted sensationally - kept the runs ticking along, then picked up the pace at the right time. Shame Anderson got out and wasn't there to finish, though Vettori being there definitely added to the theatrics. I was barracking hard for NZ and felt so nervous I narrowly avoided missing the last 3 overs due to the need to chuck my guts up. Great, great stuff. Up there with the best finishes ever, I reckon.

Sadly I think he's being serious. deeflating, meet (Sir) WYL.

Thanks for sharing dazz - but I reckon this is a bit of a "no duh" type story. I've never understood why everyone flocked to the conspiracy theory ("Neeld vetoed the decision") when the simplest idea was the most likely: the guy in charge of recruiting picked the more highly rated player to the surprise of absolutely nobody with any credibility.

Amazing how the two innings were almost mirrors of each other actually. In addition to Southee and Johnson sucking immensely, it was hard to split Boult and Starc's performance with the ball after both absolutely tore through the oppositions middle-lower order. In the first three overs of his second spell, Boult had 5/1. Wow.

Great finish. The McCullum Show aside, it was definitely the bowlers' day (Johnson and Southee being wayward notwithstanding). Boult was amazing as was Starc. Tim Southee had a game to forget all round - a golden duck to go with his 2/65 off 9!

Three posts in a row about the Heat being put to the sword, Smithy. Not a fan?

Watching the t20 tonight. I know it's not the full picture and I doubt Hogg was suggesting was suggesting picking Boyce, but he was bowling complete rubbish. If he ever gets picked, expect Jason Krezja like figures. Ahmed on the other hand looks very sharp. I haven't seen much of him bowl before, but he hits the spot and spins it. I'm very impressed and if Boyce and Agar are the level of competition he's up against then it's only a matter of time before he's in. What's Ahmed's fielding like?

Assuming it's one of Watson or Burns to go, Agar slots in at 8 with Ryano at 9 (what a luxury), with everyone from Johnson up to shimmy up a spot for mine. Interesting choice - he hasn't stood out at Shield level, though I have trust in the group in charge of the team at present, so if they say so. I'd just like to take this opportunity to declare my man-love for Ryan Harris. He's proven to be a truly dependable, tough, aggressive player. His journey has been amazing too - was a genuine B grader until his very late 20s - just goes to show that it's never too late to hit ones straps in this sport. Even with his wrecked body I reckon Ryano for 1/2-3/4 of a series is better than a whole series of the next best.

Shaun Marsh! Noooooooooooo. Shattered.

I'm trying my best to grab any memory of Brad Williams and can't find one. I vaguely remember the name but that's it. Can't even remember his feats at Shield level, though admittedly I wasn't paying stacks of attention to it during that time. I always thought Bracken was a handy bowler who was unlucky not to get more opportunity at Test level.

Steve Smith has turned in to a phenomenal player. Doesn't feel like that long ago when he was a 21 year old not-quite-batsman-not-quite-bowler selected early, that had everyone going "bloody NSW bias". Just another case of mugs on the outer thinking they know more about the blokes paid to select the team, really. His early selection was an investment in the future that has definitely paid off.

This just goes to show how bare the cupboard has been, really. And without wanting to be too harsh on a guy who has just bowled us to victory, it probably also shows the overall worth of specialist off-spinners in general at Test level.

Is that the "win games off his own bat and just about snare a Brownlow when playing 2/3 of the season" role? Yes, yes, I think he'd be perfectly suited to that role.

Just heard as well. I feel sick. Heartbreaking. Sparing a thought for Sean Abbott as well.

I can't remember a draft where the #1 wasn't settled, even as late as the day before the event. It's certainly made it intriguing, especially since we're the holder of the next two picks!

What is the value in tests like that?

Can you please point out where anyone is suggesting anything other than him earning it?

But it's absolutely fine for a #2? Odd comment.

No problem with the requirement of kicking the door down. Others in this thread have instead removed the door and replaced it with a brick wall before he's arrived at the front gate.

What happens if we don't pick McCartin for round 1, and he kicks 10 goals in the VFL? Is he then ready for a game? Why is Hogan any different? Zero games in the AFL and injured for his entire first season on the senior list. He's coming from the same base, is he not? I know my McCartin 10 VFL goals example isn't realistic - I'm just trying to understand the logic of why he's automatically excluded by some for round 1 when we haven't even drafted him yet, let alone exposed him to any form, and where the boundaries of this logic lie.

The first few at least and was moved forward a few times to no effect.

Howe stunk as a forward this year but has been better in the past,and Garlett only helps if he's out of his 2014 headspace. Dawes may be aided by fitness and/or Hogan taking another tall... We could and should improve but it's a lot of ifs and buts - I'm not saying we will be as crud as we were last year in the forward 50, I'm just prepared for the fact that at times we might be. If Hogan was a 50-100 game veteran I'd be more confident. And none of that would influence my decision on McCartin vs Petracca

The problem is that we have a 0 game player as the piece de resistance. I like Hogan and reckon he'll be a star too, but I think we need to come to terms with the fact that he'll probably struggle at times and when he does, our forward line probably will be the F troop like it was this year.

Can't see why Beams is Clark 2.0. Different person, different brain, different personal circumstances. I'm all for learning from the past, but the only thing to learn from that particular past is that Clark is a douche. The rest is irrelevant.

They both just look like babies. It's easy to forget how young 20 is (and seems to get younger the further away I get from it!).