Rogue

I personally don't have a problem - this issue doesn't impact on me. (Sadly the problem isn't actually solved by your workaround anyway, but thanks for the contribution to this thread. A+. Will read again.).

Not that I know the other kids he was up against at that pick, but I like this.

I agree, and I think he feels the same way. Given the Club's recent list decisions, state of the list and the phase we're in I think he's made a smart move to go to the Hawks.

Surely there should be one fee per membership. I can imagine there could be a 'flaw in the system', but if this is the case it should be addressed. Even if they can't get the problem fixed in terms of changing whatever system they use, the Club could refund the $30. It makes sense to keep people happy. Kids are the people we most want to ensure are engaged with the Club, since they're a potential revenue stream for life.

A few brief asides: The consensus seems to be that Katich will be replaced by Hughes. Not even scoring a mention is Jaques, who has a pretty handy Test average of 47. Note that I'm not suggesting he should be picked - simply pointing out he seems like yesterday's man. I'm open to replacing North, but I'm not sure Smith should be the guy. From what I can tell he's not a top-six bat and if that's the case he doesn't deserve the gig unless we're happy to bank on Haddin at 6 and pick Smith as an all-rounder. Maybe Dave Hussey is worth a crack. The bowling attack is probably the worst I've seen. I agree with the sentiment in general, but in this case I'm not sure Doherty's actually any good. If he's not, we're just throwing good money after bad. That said, I don't know - he's looked pretty poor in the Tests, but if I'd seen him bowl before that it wasn't something I paid attention to. I still think we need the selectors to decide on a core group of players who they think are the most talented 15 or so in the country, and then stick with them over a relatively long period. If Doherty's one of those then he should stay, but if he's not we should drop him now.

Interesting to see Cook and Hussey both doing well (to varying degrees!). On that note, the fact that Bell and Cook made decent but not great scores, while Haddin and Hussey went big, has been the big difference in the totals. Everything I've heard was along the lines of 'Bollinger isn't match fit'. We'll never know whether Siddle would have been selected if Bollinger had some cricket under his belt. (I doubt it). Ticket sales for the WACA and GABBA have been very good - both games are extremely heavily booked. Is Smith really in the top six bats we have? I heard him admit this on the TV coverage earlier today.

IIRC, one of the problems the new board had with the place we've just moved into was the price...

I imagine one of the major benefits is the Club can start putting 'resources' into developing Viney, confident in the knowledge he'll be playing for Melbourne. If we started doing so without an announcement it would be obvious to other Clubs anyway, but without any of the positive publicity etc. Why would a club risk their number one pick? It's a massive gamble, given they could 'waste' their first pick in this hypothetical of yours..! I was with you until this bit.

I can't figure out why Smith is in the squad. Surely he's not good enough to play as our #1 spinner. If he's not then who is he covering for, given Usman just got called up for Clarke?

I'm a little surprised PJ is on the list, but - as has been mentioned - we have plenty of rookie spots up for grabs. In the absence of a mature ruckman to provide back-up for Jamar he might not be a terrible stop-gap if we were to get into dire straits.

Yawn.

No surprise we're trying to bail on AAMI. I know next to nothing about the Docklands idea but it's worth looking into simply because there aren't too many possible spots you could develop a facility close to Melbourne. Indeed. While it would involve moving our administration out of the 'G, we've made an effort to integrate somewhat with the MCC and I'm sure we'll continue to cultivate that bond.

A few brief points. I'm not sure McDonald is in the top six bats, but his form at the moment is very good. Smith isn't anywhere near anything IMHO. Dropping Hauritz for Doherty is another example of the poor selection decisions made by the panel in recent times, because it makes something like seven spinners dropped since Warne. Who's next cab off the rank? In case it wasn't clear, that was my point - I eliminated every bat except Bell, and thus Bell plays at #3 if Cook gets dropped. I don't think Morgan has ever batted at #3. Has he even batted there in county cricket?

I honestly don't know the draftees well enough to comment. I don't watch any underage football. There are player types I think we need, but I can't say we should get X type at N pick because I can't compare players of that type with whoever else might go around that mark. I figure that even if I read a bunch of posts about the potential draftees and watched some vision it still wouldn't give me much insight, so I just skip most of it The last couple of years I've paid more attention because we had picks in the top few, so I could focus my attention on just a few players.

I read the Quayle article and found it interesting enough. That said, I don't care much about the players at this point. I've decided I'll get interested in who we're going to draft...after the draft, when they're actually on our list.

Yeah, I always find it funny when someone late to the party gets heaped with praise for echoing the thoughts of many posters who already contributed to the thread.

If you take into account the context - staff aren't going to pot the players - the coaches reports etc can be a worthwhile read. If you are taking them on face value they're useless.

...and who bats at 3? Morgan isn't a #3, and neither are Collingwood or KP. Bell has failed there many a time, and England have given up on him ever playing at #3.

Actually, I think they looked at the calendar and said 'Sure, one year contract'. Anyway, old news.

He was playing a role at the Summit a couple of years back, so not altogether surprising.

Bell won't bat at 3 (at least not while Cook is opening).

He's locked in.

Pretty harsh. I wonder if it has to do with the apparent attitude 'quirks' hinted at in the other Antony thread.

Yeah, there are never any of those sorts of comments on other AFL fan forums..!

Agreed, titan - David Hussey isn't in the picture at the moment. If they make changes they'll go young. On England, it's weird they don't have a back-up opener given Cook's been in poor form even before this tour. If he goes out they're going to have to make big chances to their team, given they won't open with Morgan (the likely replacement). Trott, their current #3, is the best candidate to open if Cook's left out, but Morgan is unlikely to replace him at #3 so there'd be another shuffle - maybe Bell back to the spot he's struggled in, with Morgan sliding into ~6 or so? No wonder Flower is saying Cook will be fine.