Nasher

Really liked what Fitzpatrick brought last year but as far as I'm concerned, if Clark plays Fitz doesn't.

Opening the batting now (2 not out) in his first Shield game of the year. Apparently has shed 16 kilos in a couple of months. He's 29 now, it's not too late to knuckle down and make something of his undoubted talent. I'd love to see him extract a digit, get fit and get himself picked. Not holding my breath though - and quite happy to have him help Tassie to another Shield if he can't. His batting partner is Jordan Silk, who already has two centuries to his name in 6 first class matches. Doolan, Hilfy and Ed Cowan also playing, though you'd think the latter is finished at Test level. Plenty of interest in this game.

That being said, how does he get on to the Carlton rookie list? I assume he has to nominate for all three drafts. I know nobody else will bother taking him other than Carlton, but it's a hell of a way to have to go just to keep playing for the club you already play for. Just another example of why the rookie list doesn't work and should go.

Amusing idea from a "ha ha, take that Carlton" point of view. Heart-breaking from a "not being an embarrassment of a footy club" point of view. No thanks.

With the way we've been batting in recent years, the "extra rest" he gets at batting at 5 instead of 3 is about 15 minutes.

Tom Scully evolved in to Jesse Hogan. I'm *really* not going to complain about that.

I agreed with the competitive lines when Bailey, Neeld and Craig said it and I still do. Just because we've heard it so often that it now rings hollow, doesn't mean it's not right, and I'd have thought it was self evident that competitiveness is the obvious first checkpoint from where we're coming from.

I hear a lot of these sorts of comments, and it makes me wonder what they're expecting the kid to say. "Yeah, nah, look, I was named the AA CHF, my game's perfect. There's nothing I need to work on and if there is, I can't really be bothered working on it anyway"? I expect if they asked the kind of questions Demonlanders wanted, they'd get platitudes and the answers they wanted to hear every single time. How much can really be taken away from talking to the players? Genuine question. I suppose I don't really have any concept of what gets discussed in these interviews.

Me too. In fact I read that and immediately started thinking about Baghdad Bob's handful of duds in the top 10 every year. As I have no way of judging these players I find myself believing anything that sounds remotely thoughtful.

Amazing that we're short of quality bowlers given our stocks of talent. What a disastrous run of injuries, almost unbelievable really. Alex Doolan pressing his claim for a place with a match winning century in the fourth innings against a strong NSW side. Also scored a 50 in the first innings, and his century was the only one scored in a match where no team managed to reach 300 in any of the four innings. I didn't see a ball of the game, but it sounds good in the context.

If he ends up playing in the back line I'll be bitterly disappointed.

He's strong enough to carry your expectations. Let them flow.

The door is still swinging from Laidley's departure from there, to join Mick at Carlton.

If that's really how it played out then I agree that it's a disgrace, but I'd be amazed if that's the case. More likely that the Watters interview was unauthorized by the club and he instead made himself look like a goose. Still, it's an amazing time to pull the rug out from under the coach. They're about to start preparing for the bloody season, now they're doing it without a senior coach. Unbelievable.

Don't know why, but I feel sorry for them. Haven't seen the wheels fall off a club this badly since... oh yeah, that's why. Empathy.

Except he has already passed.

Headline: Worst Team Gets Worst Time Slots For Games. When we're a good - no - watchable side again and we're still getting draws that are commercially tough, then we might have some grounds for complaint.

It's always good for a laugh when someone quotes a post, says "exactly", then goes on to say the direct opposite of the post they quoted.

Who has shot down "every mention" of discarded players? I only shot down this one.

Stuff reality. I prefer to dream. I'm prepared to accept the consequences if the two don't line up.

Bailey is busy scoring billions of runs with the Australian ODI squad. 156 of 114 balls last night if you don't mind.

Bailey is busy scoring billions of runs with the Australian ODI squad. 169 of 114 balls last night if you don't mind.

Wouldn't it be nice to start the season on the giving end of a smashing for once? I know, getting way ahead of myself, I'm just day dreaming.

To simplify my post greatly, I place draftees in to one of three possible categories: 1) A successful pick 2) A poor but justifiable pick 3) A poor and indefensible pick. I put Morton in category 2. By your rejection of the word "mistake", you seem to be putting him in category 1 and I think that's complete nonsense. For what it's worth Cook, Gysberts, Molan et al belong in category 3 and they're the ones you hang a recruiter for (not for the cat 2s).

Exactly!