Macca

That last post of mine should have read Jags @ Indi If Indi lose this week and Miami win then Luck goes to Indi I reckon . After this weekend they've got ( in order ) v Carolina @ New England @ Baltimore v Tennessee v Houston @ Jacksonville

Macca 1.9

The same question crossed my mind - history tells us there will be casualties . Hopefully not too many . It's noticable that a few bigger names have been put on notice on by Neeld - This must have an effect on the whole group . Our lesser lights must be thinking - "What does he think of me then ? " or " Where do I fit in ? " Great ploy by Neeld I reckon because it should motivate all of the players . Long felt that great players are either terrific self starters motivated by the fear of failure or a hunger for success . Also think many of them have had a "rocket" at some stage of their sporting lives . Patting players on the back rarely works for the long term .

Whilst I don't agree with all your views on the said players it was a good summation none the less . Katich won't play again so everybody needs to move on with him . Players in any sport can get better when they go up a level - Warne is your classic example . We used to pick players when they were younger - the good thing about this way of doing it is if you drop them you can always bring them back later on . So if Hughes gets dropped it's not the end - North gets dropped and that's probably it for him . If you get a chance have look at the age of the Australian players in the summer of 86' / 87' when we played England here for the Ashes - it's quite an eye opener and Greg Chappell was a selector ! In fact here are 11 players who played during that series and their age at the time . McDermott 21 S Waugh 21 Reid 23 Boon 25 Jones 25 Zoehrer 25 Hughes 25 Matthews 27 - made his debut at 24 Marsh 28 - like his son , he got picked late at 27 Lawson 29 - 23 ( debut ) Border 31 - 23 ( debut ) A few household names there you'd have to agree sd ? Oh , and btw , what's wrong with the fact that Cosgrove made the most runs last year in Shield cricket ? There's been quite a few big boys play lots of Test Cricket .

Tips - winners in bold type Eagles v Arizona Carolina v Tennessee Houston @ Tampa Miami v Washington Jags v Indi KC v Denver Dallas v Buffalo Atlanta v New Orleans St Louis @ Cleveland Pittsburgh @ Cincinnati Baltimore @ Seattle 49ers v N Y Giants Chicago v Detroit N Y Jets v New England Packers v Minnesota Virtually the same as DemonDave except for the Rams game Good luck with your bet btw Demon ! You left out the Packers game but we can assume you're not picking the Vikes at Lambeau yeah ! Reckon I could get 5 or 6 wrong here cos N.E , Lions , Giants , Saints and the Bucs can all win , Foxtel 5am game is New Orleans @ Atlanta , there is no 8.15am game - grrrrrr SNF is the Pats at the Jets and MNF is Green Bay vs Minnesota . Once again ONEhd are replaying 2 games from 11.30 Monday night - Pittsburgh @ Cincinnati followed by Detroit @ Chicago .

Yeah good points bing , re Clark .Though it does sound like we're coming from a fair way back - You can catch up quick with the right attitude. As for facilities , I'm reminded of that Glenn Archer comment " A 20kg dumbbell weighs the same at Arden st as it does at the (then) Lexus centre" And if you saw that Robbie Flower interview with Mike Sheahan earlier this year he talked about how pitiful the facilities were at the Junction oval at the start of the Northey era - lots of Finals in those years from memory .

Cummins , Starc , Pattinson , Keith , Khawaja , Ferguson , Mitchell Marsh , Wade , Paine , Warner , Butterworth and lots more - If you know anything about Shield cricket you will know a bit about these players . They just need opportunity - do you know much about the above players sd ? Edit - Finch and Christian are a couple of other young blokes worth considering . Warner was called up to the Sri Lankan Test tour when Ponting came home for the birth of his child - and he made 148 in 4 hours in his last shield game for NSW - he's not just a slogger .

And apart from Neeld , it's Misson and Craig as well that should get us firing on all cylinders at the start of the season . 3 big additions . Thought it was interesting that Mark Neeld mentioned that Clark trains very hard - very telling considering he comes from lowly Brisbane . What's starting to stand out is how far behind we were in the last few years - a shambles really and no excuses .

Agreed , yesterday was woeful but change will happen I tend to think that a few of the players were on their last chance in Sri Lanka and South Africa To me it's more about injecting good young players into the team rather than administration issues . We need to rebuild with youth - the Shield system is still first rate and there's plenty of good young talent around .

3 more years ? The time for winning is always right now - regardless of development or talent - attitude is everything in sport - I've seen plenty of average teams play finals - it may take a little while for Neeld game plan to get through to the players but why not round 1 hey .

Rubbish - you never ever barrack against your own Country - it's Un Australian !

So you want your Country to lose ! Will you want the Demons to lose if we start winning again ? Your comment must be tongue in cheek yeah ? Otherwise one of the most astonishing posts I have ever read .

Well I'm just in a bit of shock really - trying to make sense of an 8 wicket loss from a commanding position . I suppose if we win next weeks Test it may soften the blow but the team would have to be in shock as well . Huge task for Clarke to get the team up next week . If we lose again there should be reprisals . As it is they will possibly find room for Cummins ( for Siddle ? Johnson ? ) and Khawaja ( prob won't happen but should )

More wickets than a 20/20 today ! 12/60 this session ! EDIT - We are now 9 / 21 The most bizarre 3 hours of Test cricket I've ever seen .

South Africa 96 Pup 151

Yeah good point H T re Johnno All out - 96 ! Remarkable .

It's been amazing to watch this unfold - Aussies look a different team to last summer's ashes series .

Everything is going our way - enjoying this ! What did I say ? 300 - 320 ! What was I thinking ? 8 - 83

We're well on top now - The Aussies look focused and Watson is bowling really well .

Watto !! How good is this ? 4 fa 74 !

Yeah , found it hard to leave Ryan out - it's actually quite hard to do these top 10 , 12's etc - you have to leave quality players out - fun trying though . Have a go yourself Adzman - I'd be interested in your views - and I'll have a good look at Foster for next weeks best lists ! Smith and Flacco are getting better as well but ya can't fit em all in . I'll have a go at trying to tip the winners sometime on the weekend - let's see who can get the most hey ? San Diego to win tomorrow for starters .

Gee that's a bonus wicket - Amla out - beauty ! If we can restrict them to 300 - 320 we're right in this .

Macca 1.8

For those without foxtel the Test is on ABC Grandstand radio .

Allan Border described Pups knock as one of his best ever . It reminded me of Kim Hughes' ton vs the Windies in 1981 - Boxing day . Captaincy seems to be bringing the best out of Clarkie . And how good is Steyn ? Our bowlers need to step up .