In principle I support a rail link to the airport, but from a practical point of view I would never use it if there was not an upgrade to the current network.
i live about 12ks south of the CBD. If the proposed link is built to the airport I would need to get a taxi to my local station, then get off at Southern Cross to catch a train to the airport, lugging suitcases with me.
It's just more convenient to get a taxi direct from home to the airport, even though the cost would no doubt be higher.
The driving force behind the fury and insults hurled at the Australian team has not been mentioned: English exceptionalism.
Scratch the thin veneer of English civility and you will find the long-held belief that Australians are second class citizens incapable of meeting the professional and educational standards of the UK and Europe but are tolerated provided they know their place.
This was my experience when I visited England in 2017 to discuss a business venture and clearly nothing has changed.
If England were truely concerned about the spirit of the game we would have seen Stokes call out Bairstow immediately after his attempt to stump Marnus earlier in the game. Fat chance of that ever happening.
After a break of 90 years it seems that Bodyline bowling is now back in favour with the Poms. In my lifetime I have never witnessed such an unrelenting attack of short length bowling, over after over, aimed at the body.
Even when Lyon was standing almost outside leg stump with off and middle exposed, and unable to move, Broard attacked his body relentlessly.
if this is where the future of Test cricket is heading, the outlook is bleak.
The problem with any accusation made of sexual misconduct relying purely on "he said, she said" evidence, given the current environment, will always leave the accused at a disadvantage in the court of public opinion.
Until Walsh can recapture the form he had prior to his back injury and Cripps joins him with the form he had in the first half of last year, we will continue with a midfield unable to get first use of the ball and thereby unable to put pressure on the backlines of opposition teams.
No matter what plan is proposed by Voss, once the team sees Cripps and Walsh are unable to provide leadership on the field a defensive mindset seems to set in.
Unless those two regain the ability to take charge of the centre, other changes amount to moving deckchairs given who is available on our list.
Prof, The old saying is a drowning man will cling onto a serpent and I reckon Martins selection is more a reflection on the alternatives and the MC and coach are plain desperate, and hoping Martin will provide one of his rare good games.
I agree with you, EB1. We have Martin and Williams unfit week after week, senior players who are constantly playing below their best, the usual number of injuries that occur during the year, and too many B grade players who are really C grade on a good day - list cloggers.
The MC has lost flexibility in selecting a team each week. I think while there is even a remote chance of making the finals it will take a conservative approach to team selection.
But what do we do about the lack of talent on the forward line? Owies has been tried and found wanting, Durdin, even when fit needs time in the VFL, as does Motlop.
So much effort goes to waste when we have no crumbers at the feet of Harry and Charlie and we just watch as opposition backmen sweep the ball out of our forward line with little or no opposition.
Can we Improve in the second half of the season. On recent record, probably not. Kennedy looks injured, replace him with Hewitt, Marchbank to replace Silvagni and play Young second ruck, Binns to replace O'Brien and Fogarty to replace Motlop. Can't keep doing the same thing. Time to back ourselves, kick to our team mates and stop missing goals.
Fogarty is a different type of player compared with Motlop. Unfortunately he is just as ineffective.
It's just changing deckchairs out of desperation. In a side with a decent list, both Motlop and Durdin would spend time in the VFL learning their craft.
Is Marchbank fit mentally and physically to play well for an entire game? Why take a risk by rushing him into the side after such a long absence?
Young is hesitant now and has obviously lost form. He has never impressed in the ruck, so what do we expect from him now?
In fact, the whole side seems to have lost confidence, and that's understandable considering how it find new ways to show incompetence week after week.
I'm at a loss as to how Voss can get any improvement out of this list.
Yep, I agree. The ideas I'm sure are sound, but the implementation is wanting. I'm sure this is the reason why we have the chip kick, 15m backwards passes etc. - to limit turnover. Perhaps it becomes a negative reinforcement loop for the players - they think they're not trusted to go bold, so it preys on their mind and affects their confidence. Perhaps Voss and the other coaches have watched the boys at training and on game day, and have seen enough to feel their damage limitation policy is justified ? I really wish I knew. I can't help but feel that the key to unlock all this is something simple and obvious, it's right under everyone's noses and they're just not seeing it. I wonder if coaches and players have had a heart to heart like Justin Longmuir and the Freo boys ? Maybe our boys need something like that.
I can see where a damage limitation policy is justified. The sad fact is that so many of our players have such poor foot skills that they cannot be trusted to keep possession even with the chip kick.
On numerous occasions they kick too wide of the target, kick the ball too high allowing an interception, or kick the ball just short of the intended player.
Trying to play attractive, attacking football just means the opposition gets the ball given back to them on turnover which just heaps misery on our defence once again.
No wonder player morale is down. On the rare occasion we kick a goal we usually find that the opposition responds very quickly after cutting up our midfield and defence like a hot knife in butter.
I can't get out of my mind a passage of play in the second quarter when we ran the ball close to the half forward line and our player chose to kick long and high to Motlop who was caught out standing between two Melbourne players who were at least 15 centimetres taller.
Of course the ball was immediately sent back to their forward line with our players out of position.
The only people I can commend are our fitness staff. Because of brain fades and such poor skill levels which cause so many turnovers during a game, our players must expend at least twenty five percent more energy than the opposition players, yet they are able to keep disappointing supporters for the full four quarters.
