Nasher

It surprised me too. Haven't seen a lot of him but he looked hopeless when Western Bulldogs played us last year.

Very surprised they went with a completely undercooked Howe over Grimes. I like the side, though. Very few of the usual heart attack givers in it.

Squad for WI tour: NSW Michael Clarke Steve Smith Brad Haddin Josh Hazlewood Nathan Lyon Peter Nevill Mitchell Starc David Warner Shane Watson QLD Ryan Harris VIC Fawad Ahmed Chris Rogers Peter Siddle WA Mitchell Johnson Shaun Marsh Mitchell Marsh Adam Voges Tas and SA not represented. Harris was named with an * next to his name, and is apparently not going. Not sure why he was named in the squad, then... Lots of the usual bitching and moaning on facebook and stuff about NSW being over-represented, but it's pretty hard to name anyone from the squad who doesn't belong there. Everyone has their opinion on Watson, but he's obviously still well in favour with the selectors. There are even a few other NSW players whose cases could be pressed, such as Pat Cummins. Peter Siddle is lucky to be in the squad IMO. Good to see Adam Voges selected as a reward for good form. Players being overlooked for being too old despite great form is hopefully a thing of the past. Hopefully they've learned something from Chris Rogers being overlooked for many years. Anyone know where James Pattinson is at? He took 0/131 in the Shield final and only bowled 5.5 overs in the second innings. Injured again? His brittleness has to be a worry, although we seem pretty well covered for talented quicks at this stage. Really pleased that Fawad Ahmed is in the squad. He is far and away the best spin bowler in the country IMO.

Not having all your crucial players come out of contract at the same time?

Every time Ron declares his love for something, my mind is cast back to P-Man's post of impressions about the sky. Definitely an all time Demonland classic.

LOL, nice conclusion. The alternative is we don't like yobbo Victorian amateur footballers coming to our pubs harassing our women and starting fights with our blokes. One of those is probably true.

Yes, was going to suggest Customs House. Can't be much more help than that sorry, I normally just watch it at home.

Oh no. The Essendon supporters are going to be (even more) insufferable.

I have to say I laughed at the idea that Hogan would need a "few big bodies" to have his back. His *is* the big body!

I think I'd settle for seeing him do laps around Gosch's Paddock as a good starting point.

Yeah, well, I'm tipping him to be struck down my a mystery ear lobe injury and be forced in to retirement this week. Any takers for something in between?

Maybe all the false dawns have affected me, but I always feel vaguely sick when people use words like "lighting up the G" when forecasting the performance of an 18 year old. Balance of probability says it wouldn't have happened like that. Usually when 18 year olds shine, it's when they've come in to a strong side under little pressure.

I get that, but that's more about us than them. People panicked when they saw the GC team though. As for me, I remain optimistic. I have to. I really struggle to build up enough interest if I've already decided we're going to be smashed before the game has even arrived. I don't know how people do it when they think a loss is a foregone conclusion all the time.

I've tried to trim this topic back to its essence - I also tried earlier and missed some vital bits. Apologies to those who wrote long replies that have been consigned to the bin - I did consider keeping them but they no longer made sense in the context of the trimmed thread.

It's not funny, not appropriate, and not warranted. Stop.

Look, I'm sympathetic with the recent frustration at TDI's antics, but you are kind of inviting it with posts like this.

What's so urinate-yourself-scary about that side? Greg Broughton, Jarrod Harbrow - oooooooooo. It's a solid side, but really. That looks like a middle of the road side to me.

Obviously people base their opinion on what they see, but in my mind it's completely beyond doubt that most people just see what they want to see and very, very few footy observers are capable of being truly objective. I include myself in this.

If coaches are giving kids ice before games, then I officially give up on society. Surely, surely nobody is that stupid. Surely.

Nah that's me. For the record, I don't mind the subject of a thread evolving - especially when pretty much all that has been said on the original topic has been said. It happens all the time - someone posts a long post on the topic, someone picks out a piece of it that is only loosely on the topic and argues against it, and it goes from there. It's how real life conversations flow, and I don't see why forum threads should be any different. If the subject is still 'live', someone always pulls it back on topic pretty quickly anyway when they've got something new to add. I think it's pretty reasonable to come in to a training thread two days after the fact and not expect there to be much more news on training. Beyond the reports, there's really only so much that can be discussed. Note I see topic evolution in a very different light to blatantly stealing the direction of the thread. If you do that, expect to have your posts deleted and possibly the thread closed.

Without meaning to turn in to a whinging bitch after such a good finish, I'd love to see the MFC put in high class performances like that, where ability need to combine with some serious calm to deliver victory against one of the absolute best oppositions. AFL is my favourite sport, and I've almost started to forget what it is I love about sport after so many years of our team sucking. This match - and the Aus vs NZ match earlier - have reminded me of that.

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.

What does Frawley offer that McDonald doesn't?