Nasher

Damn, I joined this thread especially to post that one.Though I'd say the modern day Ryan O'Keefe isn't a Ryan O'Keefe type at all.

It's pretty soft to single out Pedersen IMO. We all know he isn't good enough. That isn't his fault, and nor is it his fault that we have literally no over options at the moment. Concentrate on the issues that are actually within the players' control.

6. Jones 5. Watts 4. Dunn 3. Vince 2. Tyson 1. Trengove

Yeah, Salem was shithouse tonight.

Notwithstanding the scores, that 5 minutes of play beginning with the Matt Jones run down was what I bloody love about our game. Tough and hard from both sides. Really got my blood pumping.

Jeez you're a bunch of sad sacks. I'd forgotten.

We're in it and I'm still comfortable that we can win. We've looked much better than them, just have to find a way to score majors rather than peppering the behinds.

Dunn holds a mark with Roo coming at his head. The old Lynden would have flinched and spilled it.

My dad was 22 and hadn't moved to Australia from the motherland yet.

My mother was 11.

Not sure if this is hyperbole or reflective of reality, but it sounds great.

Bail I thought was a certainty on pre-season form. I'm surprised that people are talking about him as if he were a surprise. I don't love him by any stretch, but is clear best 22 at present for mine.

We weren't quick to get rid of Sellar. Inadequate backup is worse than having no backup, because is takes up a spot on the list.

I can.

That was definitely up there with Demonland's weirdest episodes.

How about Evan Gulbis for Tassie? 229 runs in the first (and only) innings and 4/7 bowling in the second innings. This guy has had the weirdest career - started out playing for Victoria as a batsman who could bowl a bit (batting at #3), came to Tassie as a bowler who can bat a bit (batting at #8), has done virtually nothing at Shield level with either the bat or the ball, then produces *that*. Amazing stuff. Apparently his score is the second highest ever first class score from a #2 after Wasim Akram scored 257 against Zimbabwe in 1996.

That's precisely the point - don't you think if it were something as obvious whiffy as that, at least one of the players would have the sense to query it? It would be a statistic fluke PhD worthy if every last player on the list just said "sure, no worries".

The implied counterfactual is that from where they were sitting, there was no reason to be suspicious (because the doc or Dank was telling fibs). Like Bob I find it hard to believe that if it was so obvious at the time, that not one of the 43 players stopped and questioned it. That just seems too wild to believe.

Some people seem to equate "I'd prefer Lynden Dunn stayed but wouldn't lose any sleep if he went" to "I hate Lynden Dunn and can't wait for him to leave". Frustrating.

He did that last time he was a UFA, a year and a bit ago.

I've liked what I've seen from Dunn so far this year, but honestly, if he goes, WGAF.

I'm surprised at how hard this hit me actually. I'm in shock, and feeling very sad for his family. I met Dean briefly back in 2008, his sons were young teenagers then, so are now about the same age I was when I lost my old man. My heart goes out to them and his wife.

How's "we know where we're at" compared to "I didn't see that coming"?

You were clearly implying that you believed the AFL had implicitly more credibility than other media outlets. If that was not your implication then why mention an the approval process at all? There is no doubt also an approval process for articles on the Herald Sun website, but that doesn't stop them from jumping the gun* as well. *I have no opinion on whether the AFL website or Damo Barrett have actually jumped the gun; talking purely in hypotheticals.

It looks to me from the outside that Clark is the furthest off. I'd expect to see Dawes first.