bing181

There won't be any injuries under Burgess.

He sent players back out onto the pitch when they were injured, brought others back too soon, and continually gave vague "4-6 weeks" answers to how long players would be out.

My work here is done.

One of. As is Misson.

Not sure why the surprise re O'Mac. He had his break/rebuild after a non-existent pre-season (hip operations), and his form at Casey has been OK to very good. But apart from all that, with Hore and May out, and Petty now as our emergency forward because both Tom Mac and Weideman are out (and Preuss isn't up to it as a forward), who else was there? Though I'd take an in-form Oscar over Petty as a back any day of the week, and Frost as well - Frost's attack and general mayhem is worth having, but as a one-on-one pure defender he's too easily beaten by smarter/experienced forwards. Oscar's also a more reliable kick coming out of the back line, something we desperately need in any case.

Little to do with Burgess or Misson if players are put back on or not, it's the MEDICAL team who make those calls. Further, you would need to be able to show that May going back on is the reason he's missing 1-2 weeks (with a hamstring we presume), as opposed to he would have missed that in any case.

In a nutshell. Which is why so many of the players were sent for one-off operations last year. We were never going to win the flag this year.

They understand it, but they reject it as it doesn't align with their feelings (anger, disappointment etc.). It's because of the way our brains have evolved to work. As Daniel Kahneman says, "We are much better storytellers than we are logicians."

Let me guess: straight white male?

My predictions: Alaphilippe won't be able to sustain this, and will crack at some stage, at least enough to lose the yellow. Thomas is not as strong as last year, and will lose time in the Alps. It'll come down to Pinot vs Kruijswijk, but time gaps will be small.

Hard to see Lockhart or Preuss holding their places. JKH for the former, Weideman/Smith for the latter, both of those if Petty is injured. Wonder also if Hore wouldn't be ready to come back in, 3 weeks is generally enough for a shoulder. Jetta is still underdone (match-wise), but hard to see him being dropped for the moment. Frost does some fancy things with his speed, but is a poor one-on-one defender. Perhaps depends on matchups, not to mention, whether or not May is injured (Hamstring).

Not all players become champions, not even all players with long careers are champions.

None of them can replace his experience.

Wasn't he in Alice Springs as emergency?

This. Also, skills. Also, both of those: experience.

Preuss.

Jesus ...

2 decent quarters, we at least look like a team. Put Melksham and an in-form Tom Mac into that, get some games into Lever and Jetta, and we'd be on our way. Going to miss Viney (plus his rotations) for the last quarter, could be the difference.

People don't want sense, it doesn't match how they feel.

Not getting anything from Preuss or Lockhart, and if Weideman had put in a game like Petty's ... Petracca's cameo in the last 15 minutes enough to give him some browny points, but has been invisible for much of the game. Lots of room for improvement.

You mean there's a reason for why Fritsch was playing Lever's role?

Obviously we've changed coaches at quarter time.

Jetta underdone.

Perhaps not at ground level, but the flags would seem to indicate otherwise.

Which was BS, they'd been out for a half hour or so before the main session started. But heh, who needs facts when we can just let our confirmation bias run riot.