Macca

Macca 2.4

Yeah , great show - Steve Buscemi as "Nucky Thompson" is great and has really grown into the role - production values are second to none as well . "Killing Time" is an Aussie crime/drama mini-series worth a look - more underworld stuff set in the last few decades - might have been shown earlier this year but I've just caught up with it .

We're gonna have to agree to disagree - cheers !

Happy to pay that sort of coin for a star - you need stars to win flags - you don't win flags without them . Swan , Thomas , Pendlebury and probably Cloke would be on top money at Pieland and rightly so . If Trengove , Watts etc turn into stars we will have to pay them big money - that's the market .

We , as a club do not get the same as Geelong at all - on the surface it looks the same but it isn't . They got 9 years out of their player incl 192 games , a Brownlow , 2 flags , 4 All Australians and 2 B&F's - then received 2 compo picks . We on the other hand got virtually nothing out of our player - then received 2 compo picks . In other words the Cats got tremendous value and we got diddly squat . Most no.1 draft picks have ended up as stars of the game - esp in the last 11 years Last 11 years - Reiwoldt , Hodge , Goddard , Cooney , Deledio , Murphy , Gibbs , Kreuzer , Watts , $cully , Swallow - not many duds there . Of course we all hope that Jack becomes a star and T$ doesn't but decisions should never be clouded by the "good riddance" factor . Unlike the Cats we should have got "like for like" - plus an extra pick for the 2 years of waste . Here's a question - would you trade our 2 compo picks for GW$' 1st pick in this years draft ? It's a no-brainer for me . .

Can't remember the exact circumstances over what we did wrong in the Jeff White deal ( someone will know ) but ................it seems we lost our 1st pick ( no.5 ) in the 1999 National draft - Fremantle received this pick and used it to attain Leigh Brown . So in some ways the precedent has been set . http://en.wikipedia..../1999_AFL_Draft

That "Junior Tour" to South Africa got my attention and may well provide the clue - Hangin' out for that Michael Warner article .

Macca 2.3

He probably could have played more games this year but why risk a 6 million dollar contract hey - makes your blood boil if true - not with us in spirit so why risk the body ( knee ) And what about the utter tripe about the "problems at the Club" that he went on about just a few days back - He was already gone so that's stuff was irrelevent - He's a pathological liar I still maintain our Club was hoodwinked - if people still think our Club played along with this for this length of time they are kidding themselves .

I'm thinking the same - the way this story is leaking there's a chance the whole truth may come out . Deception of the highest order .

So when did T$ fly back from China - October . The deal done in November or earlier ? I've never believed any of that rubbish about the reasons he flew back - personal reasons - yeah right !

Every week there's surprises hey ! What is it with the Ravens ? Though Seattle do surprise - they beat the Giants in New York a month ago . Houston had another big win at Tampa - This could be their year - their next 3 games will tell a tale - @ Jags , vs Atlanta , @ Cinci San Francisco had a great win as well - it's all about which number seed now - 1 or 2 is my pick . Philadelphia - disappointing - they'll probably beat the Giants next week now . Dallas , Chicago and the Pats are back in business it seems . The Saints also had a big win and should win the NFC South now . Pittsburgh had an important win but the Bengals were good . And that AFC West is anybody's guess - Oakland now ? Who knows or is that Who knew ! Go figure ! 8 and 7 on the tips - Need the Packers to win to stay above 500 !

Macca 2.2

Here's your 1st game monoccular http://stats.rleague...1119590801.html

With regards to Ricky Ponting - he's been a truly great player and in some ways should be able to retire on his own terms - they should have a chat to him and maybe arrange a "farewell" Test . Like all great players he doesn't know the meaning of the word "Quit" so this may not be possible . One major issue is that if it's the selection committee that sits down with Punter , this will include Michael Clarke ( If Pup opts out then .......) I don't agree with the Captain being a selector because of issues like these . Btw - getting dropped is not always the end - I will stand corrected on this one but I usually don't stick my neck out before checking the relevent facts - The great Glenn McGrath was dropped 5 times in his 1st 9 tests ! I am not absolutely sure whether he might have been injured once or twice in that time period but I don't remember this being the case . And re Alex Keath - I'd rather the Vics play as many young blokes as is reasonably possible and take our chances on winning the Shield .Of course , they can't all be young blokes but lets face it - the Vics don't produce too many Test players these days .

We won the World cup in 1987 with a lot of that 86/87 team so maybe that was the turning point .Strangely enough we never got to see that triumph live as Ch9 didn't show the 2nd half of the Match - they did show highlights at about 10.30pm that night . The only place we found that it was "on" was the "Whale's" pub in South Melbourne - couldn't get in ! And , I'm with you on those 3 you mentioned - though Hughes is still very young .

And Rhino , how about you post your team as well - the team I posted is a going forward team - Whilst Hussey keeps making runs he has to stay .

Ok - here goes Marsh Watson Khawaja Warner - is next cab off the rank according to the selectors . Clarke Hussey Paine - when fit or Wade if not . Harris Pattinson - was in the Sri Lankin Test squad Cummins Beer / Lyon or "pluck a leggie from somewhere" Experience - Harris , Clarke , Watson , Hussey - Marsh and Paine are 27 I believe so they're hardly youngsters . Out of the team go Ponting , Haddin , Johnson , Siddle , Hughes , Punter deserves a "farewell test" Hughes , Johnson and Siddle can all get back in if form warrants it . The current team has two 36yo's , a 34 yo , a 32yo , and three 30yo's - it's not a young team . To be fair - post your team . A lot of the 86/87 team played in the 89 team - one got thrashed , the other did the thrashing .Check the lineups through cricketarchive.com Edit - The 11 that I picked is a team "Going forward" - A Future 11 - possibly by the end of the Indian Tests .

Yeah good tune isn't it H_T - it's grown on me after 6 or 8 listens - Nothin wrong with a bit of "Pop Rock" ! Frozen planet looks good btw - will have a look .

Who knows and you may be right but ....... I remember that series well and don't remember feeling very confident about the Team going forward - if you remember there was a lot of doom and gloom about . 1989 changed all that and still goes dowm as one of my most enjoyable series . 1989 Team btw was dubbed "One of the worst ever" by the English media ! ( prior to the series of course ) As an aside , why aren't the Vics playing Alex Keath in the Shield Team - gotta give the kid a chance . NSW are constantly ahead of the Vics in this area and it somewhat explains why so many of them play Test cricket .

Yes we've blooded a few but my point was that the current 11 is very similar to the one thrashed by England . It seems they started to bite the bullet then revisited again . Not sure about the "learn from it" bit either . You throw in the 40% bit as if that's how much the side has changed since the Ashes - The current side is only about 20% different and Lyon for Beer is hardly ground breaking - and they've replaced a new player ( Khawaja ) ( who played in the last Ashes Test ) for Marsh . So I'd argue that it's much the same side - almost identical !. Khawaja should never have been dropped and Haddin should have been moved on a fair while ago . Ponting is a tricky one as he is a "Great" As for the Bowlers - only Harris can hold his head up The reality is that we should have been slowly but surely blooding new players way before last years Ashes series . Not a hindsight comment either as I've been saying this for years - youll have to trust me on that one ! Anyway , we're just about on the same page in most area's here . Nuggets

First of all - I liked your post and though I don't agree with all of it , I did like your appraisal of our future talent . You have to blood young players to rebuild - we did this in 86/87 - see my post ( 23 ) in this thread . They didn't all debut in that series but it was a young team . We've got nothing to lose Bob because we're losing now . We've lost the last 2 ashes series , the last 2 series in India ( and we were lucky to win the last series against India here ) as well as losing the last Series against South Africa in Australia - We did beat South Africa over there last time but overall it's not good ( in the last few years ). The aforementioned Test Nations are 1,2,3 in the World as you no doubt will know . Btw - the Aussie side has given us a great run for our money since '89 so we should be able to handle a bit of pain but we need to look to the future . We play India in 6 weeks and I'm not confident at all . And we go to England in 2013 for the Ashes - this current side would get beaten again . I'm not advocating mass changes either - though on current overall form only Clarke , Watson , Harris , Hussey and Marsh can hold their heads up high . Whilst Lyon and Beer are just new to Test cricket . Edit - latest news has Warner being flown to South Africa to replace Marsh . So you'd reckon either Khawaja and/or Warner will play the next Test .( And Cummins ) P.S - Bring back Warnie !

Macca 2.1

The Team that lost this Test to the South Africans is largely the same Team that got towelled up by England Marsh is in for Smith / North and Lyon is in for Beer / Doherty Time for some youth - it's almost like the selectors are too frightened to rebuild . They need to bite the bullet - now .

Thanks MFC - I had no idea - might try it in the morning as there isn't an 8.15 am game on foxtel - fingers crossed it's "all good" Cheers .