Macca

It's nice having a quality QB who stays on the park. It's almost a guaranteed 8-9 wins. The thing about RG3, Wilson and Kaepernick is that they can all accurately throw the ball (with velocity and distance). They don't necessarily need to run, it's more the threat of the run that can dismantle defence's. All three are capable of getting to the sidelines quickly (with extra yardage) than the average QB. Which QB would you take if you didn't have AP? I know if the Packers didn't have Rodgers I'd take Kaepernick. They are all 'winners' so I can see all 4 having great career's. It's a toss up between RG3, Luck and Wilson for my 2nd choice.

I believe so, but I stand corrected. The fans vote on the award and I think the voting continues past the regular season right up until close to the Super Bowl. Therefore, the Post season will count (sort of). He's a very likeable sportsperson but so are Wilson and Luck. Washington being a big city has to help him.

Players being 'rested' is already happening. Clubs aren't making a big deal of it because they don't want to show their hand.(as is the AFL way) Can't ever see Jimmy's record for consecutive games being broken. The Pies only had one player who played every game last season - Cloke. The Hawks had only 3 players who played every game. We had 4. Howe, Trengove, Garland and Rivers. The clubs are already incorporating a 'player's' bye of sorts.(often happens against the new 'Franchises') It's covered up with some 'Phantom' injury. ... Melbourne Team Page

The only way I can see Smith playing is if we encounter a 'raging turner'. Even so, it's drawing a long bow. Either Maxwell or Henriques will probably play as the 5th bowler/no.6 or no.7 batsman. (Wade might bat at no.6) Much will depend on the make up of our 4 front line bowlers. If/when we play 2 spinners then Henriques will probably play as the 3rd seamer. I can't see Smith being picked as the 2nd spinner over Doherty (though Xavier hasn't got great credentials either). I hope Doherty can step up because if he doesn't, we could struggle to bowl the Indians out for a reasonable score. India will have looked at our squad and identified our weaknesses. Expect all the wickets in the 4 tests to favour spin. Or more to the point, not give any assistance to the quicks. England defeated India 2-1 when they toured there late last year. The only time England played one spinner was the Test that they lost (the1st Test) Of course, England have 2 class spinners in Swann and Panesar. Maybe Pup can chime in with another 6 for 9 . That would help

You can just imagine an 'over excited' AA thinking that he's gonna have his day in the sun. He may well have convinced Vlad that he'd uncovered irrefutable evidence. Vlad, just to cover himself, still plays the 'It's on your head' card. Once it becomes obvious to Vlad that there's no smoking gun, it becomes a better choice to dispense with AA back in early December, rather than now. By the way Wyl, I'm just like many on this site. Love a conspiracy theory!

Blood passport ? I see that as the start of effectively fighting PED's in sport. Might be a ways off though considering how these type of things are viewed over there. Reckon RG3 will win the Rookie of the year. Just edging out Wilson and Luck. Think I'm right in saying it's a regular season award. Think he'll get it because of his profile at the Redskins. Wilson shone late and Luck seemed a bit more low profile.

Those who want more positional play are both young and old. I don't believe that type of thinking falls into any particular demographic. I also believe that many who don't want rule changes are perhaps not thinking things through. Our game lends itself to change like no other sport. We don't have an offside rule and the sport is played on a vast arena (compared to every other type of variation of football) . The game changes primarily because of coaching (not necessarily the rule makers). It seems the rule makers are constantly fiddling with the rules to counteract the exploitation of the rules by the coaches. It's often a case of pointing the finger at the rule makers but it's the coaches who should cop the brunt of the criticism. "Leave the rules alone" is what we constantly hear but the accusation is often thrown in the wrong direction. The 4th interchange was brought in originally because we started to see a higher incidence of injury back in the mid 90's and if a club was caught short it was seen as an unfair advantage to the other team. One thing led to another and now we've got a sport where we were heading to 400 interchanges per game.

Round 6, pick 44 Shane Watson (Oz) Over to you, Biff

Yes, Sloonie. Of course, we are assuming the picture was taken at the press conference. He's largely the reason we've had to go through this 6 months of rubbish. I have absolutely zero sympathy for him - none. I will have even more contempt for him if we don't have to face any charges. He's caused a lot of damage to our club.

I'm 70/30 on whether AA 'resignation' was because of the tanking affair. I also somewhat agree with the adage of 'There's no such thing as a coincidence'. He held his position for 9 years and it seemed an abrupt end in some ways. It's not like he was in the gun - or was he? I reckon Vlad may well have given AA an ultimatum from the UK. "Make the charges stick, uncover the smoking gun or it's your job." Vlad has previously stated on numerous occasions that there is 'No such thing as tanking' but I think he's also said if there was 'evidence' to the contrary, then he'd be somewhat happy to be proven wrong. If we get off all charges then the AA resignation will probably make a bit more sense. If not, then his resignation will possibly not be related to the tanking affair. That's a broad view, but it is plausible.

Has anybody heard what AA is doing now? It's been 2 months now since he 'resigned'. There was all this talk that he had other offers (?) . He looked a tad unhappy after that final press conference. ... Anderson resigns as AFL football operations manager

If we had far less rotation then it's hard to see coaches 'exhausting' their players. They would need 'run in the legs' for the 2nd half and/or the last quarter. Without adequate 'rest', many players may burn up and start dropping like flies. Ice Hockey is a reasonable example. That sport has unlimited interchange because any given player only has 2.5 to 3 minutes before they 'blow up'. I'm only using the comparison in regards to the lactic acid bit or the exhaustion factor.(whatever you want to call it) There is literally nowhere to rest or hide on an Ice Hockey rink although the way our game is played now, you could nearly say the same thing about AFL. With way less rotations the coaches would adjust their tactics. They would have to.

Ha ! A change is as good as a holiday, JR Just on rule changes ... in our game it seems that the sport itself can morph into looking quite different in just a few years. What we can possibly identity is that the game started to change quite noticeably from the time we brought the 4th interchange in. Footy will never go back to what it looked like in the 70's and 80's but I reckon nearly all the fans would prefer to see less congestion and at least a few forwards stay in their area of the ground.(consistently) Apart from putting lines on the ground (which wouldn't happen) the only possible way to 'fix it' is with less rotations. I'm happy with the NAB cup rule and would be even happier if the new 'rules' were brought in for the real stuff (immediately)

I liked your post 'dc' but reckon that 10 per quarter is a bit low. 15-20 would be more to my liking. If they're using 20 as a benchmark in the NAB Cup then that's probably a pointer to what could happen in the future. You're spot on with the congestion argument. Without the unlimited interchanges that we currently have, I can't see how that congestion could happen as frequently. Most people you speak to hate seeing all the players in one quarter of the ground. We've already seen a rule change of 'sorts' with regards to rotations. The coaches have exploited a situation in order to keep their players fresh. The new 'rule of thumb' is at least 150 rotations per team, per game. (roughly) The extra interchange was originally designed to help a team square the balance with regards to injuries. 4 interchange was never designed so that teams could have in excess of 150 - 160 rotations. The demands of the modern game have in some ways 'forced' the coaches to have more rotations. 2 and 2 helps get more positional play. Do we really want to see KPF's run up and down the ground all day? How many times do we see teams get hold of the ball in the backline and then have literally nowhere to go with the ball (other than to hold it up until the forwards go rushing back) . The 'Press' and the 'Flood' would have to become less frequent if rotations were capped (at a workable level)

Who knows, Cards? It's a fairly murky business. At the moment the NFL aren't testing for HGH (maybe next season?) My comment re Lewis was more flippant than with any real fact based accusation. (though many over there are a bit 'sus' about his recovery from that tricep injury). The thinking in the States has a little bit of a leaning towards using PED's in the aid and recovery from injury. I don't agree with that thinking for a variety of reasons - none the least being where do you start and finish with regards the 'degree' of injury? What if an athlete has a 'moderate level' strained calf and would ordinarily only miss maybe one week? If PED's were allowed in that case then 'how much' is allowed? Could that slight injury be used as an excuse to 'super boost' yourself? (so to speak) Most veteran athlete's have some form of injury concerns . They're nearly always 'carrying' something. Strangely enough, cycling is somewhat leading the way with their 'blood passports'. Even Armstrong admitted that these blood passports were going to make it difficult for athletes to take PED's and get away with it in the future.(if you can believe him!) Anyway, that chatter shouldn't detract from the game on Monday (our time). As long as the people who are running these sports are diligent, then that's fine with me. If they were turning a blind eye it would be a whole different story.

Ray Lewis is annoying everyone it seems - deer antler spray and all. Think him and Moss cancel each other out. Wish that 'Deer antler spray' was around back in the day. All we had was a bit of 'deep heat' and some orange 'quarters' (both largely useless) I'm tipping a thriller - it may come down to a bit of magic. The Kap shades Flacco in that area so it's the 49ers - just ... Got a strong inkling that San Francisco are going to feature in the playoffs in the next few years. This could be the start of something big. The Ravens would be worthy winners as well. This match could be 'One for the Ages'

Yes TD, I reckon DRS will bring both types of finger spinners more into the game and there are a reasonable amount of Test matches where 2 spinners are played. The doosra is another reason we're seeing more and more front foot LBW's. Vettori has terrific all round skills as well. Test match starts tonight Between South Africa and Pakistan. A feast of Test cricket in the next 2 months. England are also in New Zealand for 3 Tests.

17 seems a tad high without a reserve keeper. They've got 9 batsmen in the squad so in any given Test, 3 will sit out. In the Tests where we play 2 spinners, 3 of the quicks will be 'rotated' out. The 1st and 2nd Tests are back to back with a weeks break before the 3rd and 4th Tests are again 'back to back'. We now know that they're probably going to continue on the fast bowler rotation so maybe at least 4 of the quicks will play at some stage. Possibly all 5. Not sure on Doherty but O'Keefe was his only real rival for the left arm orthodox position (Beer and Holland are both injured apparently) Xavier could play in at least 2 of the Tests. Surprised with Smith's selection but can understand Henriques getting a call up. They will possibly need a 5th bowler who can bowl medium pace instead of spin. Think I'm right in saying that Watson has put his bowling on hold for the time being. At least they've got quite a few options (except a back-up keeper). I agree with you re Haddin. You never know what can happen on the eve of a Test.

Daniel Vettori (NZ)

Much will depend on the Lakers run from Feb 5 to Feb 24. Over a stretch of 9 games you've got Boston twice (H & A) and have other games against Miami(A), Brooklyn(A), the Clippers, Portland(H) and Dallas(A). 7 tough games. 3 or 4 wins in that lot and you never know. Anything less than 5 wins (overall) in that stretch and it's all over. (definitely!) Still reckon if Kobe maintains his new role then the Lakers may well be a team that some other team's would rather avoid. And now for something completely different ... gotta love those accents from across the ditch ... A snowmobile with a mind of it's own

Phoenix Suns fire coach Alvin Gentry Maybe the Lakers have turned things around with 'Mr Assist' (Kobe) being the chief reason. I wonder how long Bryant can maintain this role? If he's able to, then the Lakers could become more than just nuisance value in the lead up to the playoffs. They'd probably have to get to at least 45 wins to make it. Currently sitting at 19/25, they'd have to come home at about 26/12. (give or take a few wins) That's a rather tall order, though they are quite capable of playing winning basketball against many of the teams. I hope they get on a run and Kobe maintains his new found role. Good to see Bogut back. Golden State are doing alright (27-17) and you'd reckon they could only be improved with Andrew's return.

Hasn't he just skyrocketed in all areas? Talent, personality, media savvy, clean living and he's a winner. I see he's filed to 'trademark' Kaepernicking (the bicep smooch) Only in America !

Bit like the long bombs in footy. Just wanna see a few hangers ... They allowed to use their knees and feet 'Aussie Rules style?' If not, bring in a new rule I say. Jeremy Howe could have a 2nd career after playing in multiple flag sides for the Dees. Can just see Joe Buck or Collinsworth introducing Howe for the 'Hail Mary'. I'm on the phone to McCarthy as I type this. The Packers need a 'Howe' type for those Rodgers bombs. Use him on defence as well. A defensive screamer. No padding required. The Pro Bowl was a bit of fun. Kept watching it for some ungodly reason. Go figure ...

I reckon the AFL are starting to get it right (to a large extent) by having the fixture based on the previous year's performance by each team. (Blockbusters and derby's aside) For instance, this season, our team gets to play 4 teams (twice) who finished in the bottom 6. It's a similar type of story for many other teams.(depending on their ladder position's) For instance, North Melbourne (14-8 last season) play the Pies, Hawks, Crows, Cats and the Lions twice - much much tougher than our 'double-ups'. Whatever our opinions on the fixture might be, those opinions need to be based somewhat on what the AFL are going to do. We can have all the best ideas and intentions in the world but it will most probably mean diddly squat to those at HQ's. The AFL have always been focused on maximising crowds and revenue. And that includes maximising the interest in the 'free to air' TV games.(with the obvious input from the AFL's broadcast partners) By the AFL organising a fixture where a major focus has the best teams playing each other twice, (as a general rule) that focus has the flow on effect of the mid range to poor teams getting 'kinder' fixtures. (with the odd exception, of course) The top teams could point at our 'softer' fixture and call it unfair. They aren't doing that, mainly because we're not seen as a threat. The AFL won't be cutting back from a 22 game season in a hurry either. (though an extra bye might be brought in)

Murray couldn't get around the court with that heal blister . His foot looked a right mess and obviously hampered him. Shame really, but those are the breaks. Djokovic got the extra day's break by virtue of his no.1 seeding. And fair enough too. Full marks to Novak - worthy champion. Friday's Federer/Murray match and Djokovic's 5 set match against Wawrinka were the pick of the matches. Didn't get to see Azarenka's win over Li Na but heard that the crowd played up a bit.