Macca

A law unto themselves ... related to born to rule? Atherton with the dirt in pocket to change the make-up of the cricket ball ... a fine only and didn't miss a match Meanwhile, we set an example to the rest of the world by ousting 3 players with hefty penalties Yet it's just us that transgressed? Reminds me of all the tanking from numerous clubs yet apparently, we at the Demons were the only ones who crossed the line? 2023 and we still finger point without ever looking in the mirror

Stokes openly requesting dictored pitches to suit bazball ... when was that deemed to be in the spirit of cricket? They are full of it McCullum & Brayshaw have both tried to stump wandering batsmen on numerous occasions How about these whinging Poms accepting the umpires decisions? Hypocrites

Crumball?

The Poms hypocrisy is astounding They spend the best part of the 3 hours carrying out leg theory/bodyline where 98% of the deliveries were short and aimed at the throat & head area That included the short pitched bowling to an obviously distressed and injured Nathan Lyon Yet they prattle on about the spirit of cricket?? Practice what you preach England, and have a good look in the mirror It's our players who won't be wanting to have a beer with you, McCullum Show me a bad loser and I'll show you a loser

Bit hard to score against all this short stuff (with the appropriate field placings) I reckon we'll bat to half way through the last session. Should be 400 ahead by then And if they hop into our bowlers when they bat, we'll resort to the same short stuff. Boring but a legitimate tactic (under the current laws) Leg theory is often used against certain batsman but every now and again, all the time Our bowlers made life very uncomfortable for their batsmen in their 1st innings so I'm expecting more of the same in their 2nd innings

I agree .... Stokes is on record as not being interested in draws or playing for draws However, let's see if he can hold true to those comments if a 2-nil deficit is on the horizon The pitch is playing quite well and we don't have a front line spinner ... ideally we put a target out of reach but still be allowing enough time to bowl them out First assignment is to make 300+ creating a target of around 400 (or 450+ in an ideal world) The Aussie way is to go for the win (when holding the upper hand) so we'll be going for it you'd reckon

If we can bat until close enough to the tea break tomorrow then we'll have a massive lead you'd imagine That's possibly the time target ... which would leave at least 4 full sessions to press for victory No baz-ball type batting, just occupy the crease, play correctly and put the loose ball away Proper test match batting

That serves as a loss for the Cats

The teams below us aren't consstently good ... 1 team might win out or go close but I can't see it But it's at least 6 wins with a healthy percentage and we should be ok for top 4

With Smithy at the forefront Just a freak batsman and a big occasion player The Demon equivalent is Petracca or Oliver ... where's Clarrie!!!

Win at least 6 of our last 9* and we'll finish 4th or 3rd in my view ... especially if we can beat the Lions With a probable/possible QF against the Pies as a result If finishing 3rd or 4th (with a Pies QF match-up guaranteed) requires us to 'rest' some players in the last game against the Swans, so be it But of course, it's one week at a time and any manipulation will not be visible, thank you very much 😁 I'm confident that we'll win at least 6 of our last 9

England win the toss on a seamer and elect to bowl. At least it looks like the wicket could seam Starc replaced Boland and England haven't picked a specialist spinner We need to get to lunch no more than 2 down

The All-Australian is based on the season proper so if the finals (especially the GF) were counted, Fritsch may well have received a guernsey As it stands, he was another player who had a very good season ... and to a large degree he has carried on with that good form I can't help but think how good he would be (as the 3rd forward) with 2 standout key forwards in the team ... and that could happen with JVR getting better and with the (hopefully) acquisition of a quality KPF in the off season Brown & T-Mac are near the end and anyone else (apart from JVR) being less than very good/excellent Also Gawn up forward hasn't really worked but we've seen him play some terrific games up forward. I reckon Max just needs to get on the move ... if he does that, he'll get plenty of the ball (being such a big target) And with all the long bombs you'd reckon our front & square crumbers would standout. That's not happening There's lots of room for improvement right now (up forward)

Overall our forward line is a weakness as compared to 2 of the other phases (backline & midfield) ... but when those 2 other phases show stellar form, the opportunities for our forwards has better quality entries (and lots of entries) Where we were expected to standout was the Gawn/Grundy combo (remembering that we went with a similar combo in the premiership year - Jackson & Gawn) so there's real room for improvement with the current combo So we could easily add Brown soon enough but both Brown & JVR play deep forward (full forward) ... so can 1 of them play CHF? I'd be tempted to go with JVR at CHF just to see if it can work (currently CHF is weakness) Petty to stay back where he is most comfortable. No spot for Smith with the could-be Brown inclusion Fritsch is always going to be the opportunist but our small forwards (and Gawn) need to start performing But we still need to add talent to the forward line in the off-season

Imteresting thread in the sense that any number of our good & best players were previously playing to their max or close enough to their max For instance, back in 2021 we had 5 All-Australians with Langdon, Viney, Salem being unlucky to not receive that honour along with 9 or 10 others who all had decent year's So last season a number of players dropped off a bit and have levelled off. Injuries have played a part too McVee, JVR & Rivers are the standout improvers but what is required is for all our good players to get back to their best Hunter & Grundy have added to the team as well so it's hard to quantify improvement with those 2 I reckon what stands out is no matter how good the list is you have to keep adding talent to improve the team against dropping away In other words, the window of opportunity can be extended if talent is added. Relying on our best players continuing to play at their best (all at the same time) doesn't always or often work

In the AFL there is no 'should have' and whilst I agree with you about what should happen, what should happen doesn't happen Lord knows how it all ever gets fixed but I'm not holding my breath The AFL make it up as they go along which effectively keeps everyone confused and that's the way it is and it will probably never change So my thinking is that we get 400+ disposals to win a game of football. If we can't use the ball properly, we'll lose And to use the ball properly we need lots of talented players along with good coaching I believe we've got all that (by and large) however, most or nearly all our good players aren't forwards (Fritsch is a good player)

Yeah I agree but once the tackled player's head hits the ground then the tackle may or may not be deemed dangerous. The outcome on the field is in the lap of the gods much like all the other grey area free kicks (of which there are numerous examples) As for off-field with regards to whether the tackler gets cited and/or suspended, that's also in the lap of the gods No one knows thus the only conclusion we can come to is we simply don't know what both outcomes will be So we should congratulate the AFL in creating another murky, grey area that will be argued about until the cows come home (sarcasm)

So the AFL have now created another grey area in the game where inconsistent outcomes reign supreme What is a dangerous tackle? Does anyone know? Just when you thought the rules couldn't possibly get more complicated, they do

I was just comparing the incident to all the other innocuous incidents that ended up with a 1 game penalty Personally, I didn't think there was anything in it But by the law of averages, given that the AFL are paranoid about head trauma, I thought the consensus might have been that he'd miss a week So I didn't want him to get a week if that's what you and others were thinking By the way, as much as I don't want to, I've come to terms with the AFL's directive with regards to sling tackles and bumps where the head is involved They are hellbent on punishing innocuous incidents and I can't see that changing The players are just going to somehow adjust ... don't ask me how

None that I can think of. But if it pleases you I'll hit the rosary beads later on

There's nothing more annoying and it's not talked about anywhere near enough on this site. Easily the first and most important rule in football and nothing else works well unless that first rule is adhered to I well remember engaging with half a dozen posters here a year or so ago and they were trying to convince me that it's perfectly fine for forwards to play from behind. Astonishing And you're right about wet weather football. Getting in front is even more important when it's wet. Kicks falls short a lot so if you're playing from behind you've got Buckley's chance

Further to the errors debate I see a forward playing from behind as a far greater issue than a misdirected kick The misdirected kick is an accident or a mistake (and not meant) where as playing from behind is a 'choice' resulting in a lost scoring opportunity (most of the time) Too many of our forwards are looking for the cheapie out the back A misdirected kick is often the result of pressure from the opposition ... Oliver, Petracca & Viney are the chief perpetrators in the clanger department But chances must be taken and we have to use the corridor in order to win. So I am not blaming those 3 aforementioned players even when an errant kick eventuates from any of the 3 players under zero pressure They are taking a chance ... dare to win No risk, no reward The Pies coach wants his players to take risks and wears the mistakes as a consequence. He's on record in saying that They've lost 2 games and are well set up for September Where as players playing from behind in the forward line is lazy & unprofessional. And it is a chosen path And a coach killer

I got nothing wrong ... I said most here would have been expecting a week off There's been about 20 similar incidents this season where the tackler had been rubbed out most times Are you up with things? Fritsch is very lucky and that's our good fortune

What are you talking about? Yes Fritsch's head hits the ground but the Fritsch tackle results in the Geelong player's head hitting the ground He's very lucky given the current climate on dangerous tackles. I'd say most here were expecting a week off

Given the current climate, Fritsch is very lucky as the tackled player's head hit the ground Happy that Fritsch got off but the MRO's inconsistencies are astonishing. It's a lucky dip on whether a player in similar circumstances gets rubbed out or not