This in how unsafe Victoria has become: For the year ending June 2025, according to the Crime Statistics Agency(https://www.crimestatistics.vic.gov.au/) , there were:
18,482 serious assaults - a 16 per cent increase 7,856 residential aggravated burglaries - a 22 per cent increase 3,828 robberies - a 17 per cent increase 33,018 motor vehicle theft - a 42 per cent increase 86,351 steal from a motor vehicle - a 39 per cent increase 41,667 steal from a retail store - a 28 per cent increase 11,075 prohibited and controlled weapon offences - a 12 per cent increase. 9,663 family violence related serious assaults - a 23% per cent increase.
You add in all the graffiti, unoccupied run down buildings full of squatters, needles everywhere you walk, increases in ambulance staff and nurses getting attacked on the job, drones landing in family members backyards with white packs of powder on board, kids getting murdered on the way home from a basketball game. The you have the Victorian Government actually cutting funding for Youth Crime Prevention programs and the Youth Support and Advocacy Service (YSAS). Debt in Victoria continues to grow faster than both the economy and revenue, with government sector gross debt nearing 30 per cent of the state’s economy. Credit rating has gone backwards and the auditor-general said gross debt was forecast to grow to $240 billion by 2028-29, about 202 per cent of operating revenue. Crime is on the rise and so is the expenditure for victims of crime...Liabilities from redress schemes, and financial assistance for victims of crime grew from $30 million five years ago to $853 million. Anyone living in Victoria should be concerned where the State is heading....future is bleak and the Crims are winning with the amount of unsolved crimes also increasing.
HF Haywood McKay Ainsworth F Moir Kemp Evans My bench would include Okeefe and one of Motlop or Williams as rotations down forward. Id reward Evans with a starting role after his good form late in last season. Ainsworth wouldnt be fulltime either as I expect him to spend more time on the ball than he did at the Suns.
B Saad Weitering Cowan HB Dean OFarrell Newman Like to see Charleson get some games as I think he has potential for the back pocket, but Saad gets in due to experience and lack of other younger options. Im looking to build the backline for the future with youth as I think we wont be competitive until a few years time when some of our younger players become good senior players. Chose Newman over Haynes as he uses the ball better and is a leader but dont see either in our next premiership team. Id have Haynes on the bench as injury backup so he will probably get to play a lot of games anyway.
Not really, it's on the money, Voss has to achieve more with less and Wright has left him as the fall guy by not extending him causing that extra pressure. No one is buying that losing TDK, Jack and Charlie has made us better and its all about the optics of Carlton not sacking another coach to make the club looking like it's changed it's ways but it's going to be a mammoth task for Voss to survive.
We lost an athletic ruckman with potential, a dual Coleman Medalist who was playing like he didn’t give a toss and an injury-prone, slow defender with all of 12 games as a KPD under his belt. Only Tom was part of our late season return to form. We’ve more than covered their loss with blokes who want to play for the club and give us greater depth, versatility and goal scoring ability.
We’ve brought in experienced assistants with new ideas, a director of coaching to wrangle the assistants, and Travis Boak to take a dedicated leadership and culture role. Voss has more support than ever and a better list than he had last season.
I'll disagree on the list coverage for those departed players, the players we have brought in are either throws at the stumps or handy B graders but I dont see any real dial movers that will be keeping other clubs up late with worry. Director of coaching....not a fan of the position or the incumbent for reasons I have discussed previously and the Assistants cant really be judged until seasons end and we can see what went right or wrong during the season in their areas of responsibility. Boak hopefully can improve our leadership and find some new leaders for the future.... I also dont see many of the top teams falling away apart from Collingwood, and expect the competition to be even tougher next season making it even harder to make the top 8.
I don't understand how commentators can declare a coach is under massive pressure, yet those same commentators argue that our list is weaker. Basically saying Voss has to achieve more with less. Top shelf drivel.
Yes, it's weak article written by someone with scant regard for the facts and minimal analytical ability.
Not really, it's on the money, Voss has to achieve more with less and Wright has left him as the fall guy by not extending him causing that extra pressure. No one is buying that losing TDK, Jack and Charlie has made us better and its all about the optics of Carlton not sacking another coach to make the club looking like it's changed it's ways but it's going to be a mammoth task for Voss to survive.
From Foxsports commenting on coaches in the hotseat and ranking them. Like myself and a few other others they are not sharing the enthusiasm for the player ins/outs total result. 1. Michael Voss (Carlton)
After coming awfully close to being dismissed this year, there irrefutably isn’t anyone on a hotter seat in the competition than Voss, who was allowed to coach into the final year of his current contract in 2026. The Blues under Voss built to a 13-win 2023 campaign that netted a preliminary final berth, before stagnating last year and regressing to nine wins in 2025. But is it finals or bust for the four-year Carlton coach? Should that be the pass mark? Off-season list changes — with Charlie Curnow, Tom De Koning and Jack Silvagni all notably departing — complicate matters, as it’s hard to argue Carlton improved its personnel for Voss to utilise. The Blues did gain Will Hayward and Ollie Florent and will hopefully have a healthy Jagga Smith back in the fold, but that still might not be enough in the short term to save Voss.
Jess Wilson is an attempt from the Libs to change course and try and appeal to younger voters and female voters. Be interested if rusted on older Lib voters buy what she is selling given she is a more moderate Liberal and has some personal views that are not aligned with normal liberal policy offerings.
The real problem with cricket is on display in Saffie land. The insiders are slamming the pitch, even players involved in the game are out throwing rocks at the curator.
But despite the pitch doing the usual things that aren't expected from a "real wicket", the true problem on display is the loss of will for players to work at the long format game. Both teams have basically give up and turned the game into a 2 x ODI, IPL, BBL, etc., etc., has turned them into sponges, too soft for the tough jobs.
The pitch is ordinary, but it's the sort of pitch a Border or Simpson would scratch out a ton at snail pace, modern players just don't have the will to accumulate big scores in 1s and 2s. The modern players don't want to do it tough, they fly 1st and stay in 5 star, no more tin sheds, wooden benches and cold showers, it's caviar and Krug for then before another early night. More money for less work, it's killing the game!
Test is actually in Kolkata in West Bengal, pitch is horrendous at Eden Gardens much like the city itself.
Mark Wood bowled 8 overs in the lilac hill game and has been sent for scans on his hamstring after experiencing tightness. Can't see him playing in the 1st test ,and if he does then he won't see out the game.
Kinda like Mark Waugh and more than a few others from that state. Consistency sets the greats apart from the also rans. I don't see what the selectors see in Green, Webster is a heart and soul team man. He may not have Greens talent but he's stood up when required thus far.
Agree on Green, he is no number three and very over hyped as an all-rounder given he hardly ever bowls. Webster is a more reliable cricketer and I'd be picking him over Green for the No 6 spot.
England talking it up as usual and threatening to bazball their way to glory but out here in Aus I expect normal programming to happen and we will prevail with our attack leading the way with or without Cummins. The English have the quicker bowlers this time with Archer and Wood but both wouldnt look out of place in a Carlton jumper as they spend a lot of their time off the field injured and unavailable for selection and I expect both to be out of action by series end. Atkinson is probably the bowler who will be play most tests and be more effective, moves the ball at a decent pace and has a bit of attitude. He was impressive during the English summer as was Stokes with the ball who likes to be the enforcer and they have continued this tactic of when the pitch and ball are offering nothing to bowl 6 bouncers every over which keeps the runs down unless the bastmen is prepared to play the hook/pull shot and risk dismissal. Its rubbish park cricket to watch but coach McCullum likes to be unorthodox and throw the text book out under the guise of entertainment but its really they dont have the talent to play consistent orthodox cricket to compete but they suck teams into playing their brand which is what they did to India last series.
The other call that has disappeared from the game is carrying the ball, happens all the time in the NBA and NBL but it's ignored. At junior level it's called in Australia but it's getting less and less as the NBA standards creep in.
I watched my oldest grandson's rep game last Friday and the refs must have called 20 carries, none of which involved the player's hand going under the ball or palming it. They wouldn't have been called in any other game at rep or domestic level that I've watched over the last several years. The refs also called a dozen or so moving screens. A couple were line ball but the player's feet were set well before contact in most. At least the refs were consistent and called them on both teams but it did disrupt the flow of the game.
Here's a typical selection of NBA travels ... and a couple were called:
I like the commentator's "I don't know whether he's going to the rim or Mississippi!"
Commentary was as entertaining as the travel calls, liked the double dribble at the end too.... I watch a bit of Euroleague BB and the officiating in that comp is far more strict on travels etc but it also leads to a lot of inconsistencies given the games are more strategic/defensive and lead to over reffing at times. The NBL is probably a happy medium as it sits at the moment and our refs are very good in terms of consistency.
The other call that has disappeared from the game is carrying the ball, happens all the time in the NBA and NBL but it's ignored. At junior level it's called in Australia but it's getting less and less as the NBA standards creep in.
Depends on the player, star players get the extra step if it looks good. My favorite is the dancing feet when the pivot foot gets swapped..happening more out here in the NBL too.
