Diamond_Jim

I'd prefer Scott of the NM variety... say what you will but he maximised the output from a less than star studded playing group. Suspect he's hanging out for Freo or maybe even one of the SA jobs

hope so not a great start but it could have been worse...Warner not looking comfortable

So much for that weather forecast of 26 each day. England win the toss and put us in. Big first session if and when it starts

not unusual in business for a first year CEO to do some significant write down of assets so as to start from a lower base. Business 101 The drop in revenue from those last three MCG games would also be significant as we have discussed

yep....bring on the 17 round fixture

Macca ... there is a variable distribution system and there is no doubt we benefit from it more than say West Coast or Essendon. Here's an excellent analysis: Teams who receive the most structural support unsurprisingly includes the expansion teams GWS and Gold Coast, as well as the four small-market Victorian teams in St Kilda, the Bulldogs, North Melbourne and Melbourne. The good news is that we are the best of the bottom four Melbourne clubs. http://www.hpnfooty.com/?p=31622

we have way too many injury prone players on our list. You can carry one project injury player maybe two but not the four or five we have. Would not surprise me if we were having serious discussions with AVB. Joel Smith is the other interesting one along with KK. I expect J Smith gets a guernsey because with the departure of Tim S and Kielty our forward tall back up situation is desperate. (Trading aside.)

Just checked the Headingley weather forecast. 26 degrees each day and no rain. I suspect it will be a green wicket for day 1at most and then dry out with spin and variable bounce on day 5. Interesting decision as to whether to bat or bowl if we win the toss. An interesting piece of trivia.. Only two of the last five Ashes series in England have featured Leeds Tests; on both occasions the team that won at Headingley lost the series – England in 2001 and Australia in 2009. https://www.cricket365.com/pitch-report/pitch-report-2019-ashes-series-headingley-leeds/

add to that the lack of competition for most spots in the side and you have a recipe for mediocrity

All a ruckman has to do is halve the contest and prevent a perfectly accurate hit out to advantage. Then it comes down to round the ground play. Some would say round the ground play comes first. The tall who is good below his knees is probably the hardest player to find. Most are like giraffes. From the little I have seen of Bradtke he is of the giraffe family for example but hopefully he develops. Max plays well but the fact that we cannot seem to leverage his dominance is one of the most frustrating aspects of our gameplan (mind you there are a lot of frustrations these days.)

No one killed bambi. It was Bambi's mother who was killed Have been saying the bolded bit for months

The first two finals in 87 were incredible and then of course the third at Waverley is probably the most memorable for the vast majority of MFC fans.

but I thought we were on the Buckley/Hardwick train and ?this is just a learning year

It is being reported that the Freo CEO has also been sacked https://au.yahoo.com/sports/ross-lyon-sacked-fremantle-dockers-steve-rosich-021220243.html According to reports, Fremantle chief executive Steve Rosich has also been terminated with the team missing the finals for the fourth consecutive season. The club will hold a press conference at 3pm AEST.

Has been an excellent deal for the club.Many have criticised him at times but the real criticism rests in the fact that in years 2 and 3 no player pushed him out of the side. Thanks Jordan

add in Georgia but I agree good choices you suggest. Pakistan and Turkey are my new frontiers for the coming year. And my two top destinations for travellers.... Moscow and Lake Toba (world's largest volcanic lake on the island of Sumatra...think Bali without the masses of tourists.)

Another solid year by Casey. It's an entertaining competition. On Preuss,he needs some heavy analysis by experts to determine what changes are needed. For total dominance at this level to turn into irrelevance at AFL level there has to be something more. Sure he may not be a star but he should be capable of being a reasonable cog. Thanks KC and to all the caterers at the various VFL grounds for their diverse offerings from Burra Burgers to Egg and Bacon rolls and not forgetting the Frankston sausage sizzle. Footy at it's simplest

Drunkn your support for your brother and your contribution to this board have been second to none. You should be proud of Dec as I am sure you and your family are. Best of luck to Dec and yourself in the future and I am sure you will always be welcome on the board at anytime.

I am an AFL member (Melbourne support) for 30 odd years. Now days I travel a lot and get to maybe 8 Melbourne games and then supplement it with good neutral games usually against interstate teams where is it easy to rock up at the MCG or Docklands without reserving a seat. Arranged my travel schedule this year to spend May onwards in Melbourne expecting a great season. Took off for Asia yesterday. I'll renew next year but unless MFC gives me reason to renew further that could be the end for me. There's just other things to do and if they cannot be competitive I'm just not interested. Like many have said this miserable season has even sucked the joy for me of watching other teams which was my saviour for so many years when we were hopeless. I have gone on record as saying Goodwin should go and my reasoning is simply that the club is becoming irrelevant and the coach has not delivered.If we go to the bye next year and then sack him we will inevitably face another rebuild and from an MFC viewpoint we know what that means. Finally the inability to influence a game with Gawn, Oliver, Petracca, Brayshaw (names that excited so many only 12 months ago) is just so depressing to the supporter group.

and of course the pessimist in me recalls all those times we have been bowled out for low scores in previous Ashes tours of England. Smith's dominance is marvellous but it does underscore the fragility of the remaining batsmen. Get ready for a green top wicket next test... could be bumpy.. strangely we seem to have been winning the toss lately after such a long run of outs. The India series in India was lost in the main because we repeatedly lost the toss.

Another wicket UK out 3 for 60

Bancroft out. 2 for 60

Ruck dominance worth very little. Coaches should do better

Goodwin channeling Beveridge with Caleb Daniel ?

maybe hard to get tickets. Just searched ticketing at Lords and the site suggested that there were tickets available for day 3 but days 4 and 5 were sold out. Very strange Warner's indifferent recent form continues. Big night tonight.