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Messages - crashlander
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The Sports Desk / Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread
Granted that he isn't Travis Head, but his total lack of attacking really lost us momentum.
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The Sports Desk / Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread
[1] Not playing a spinner at the SCG is not good planning. Even with he pitch having grass, it was designed to last. That will require a decent spinner.
I heard an interesting line on the ABC as I was coming home from the Gym. The comment was that while the pitch wasn't favouring spin, it wasn't favouring swing or cut. That bodes very poorly.
[2] Our batting line-up: who is going to bat where? Who should bat where? Neither question has a clear answer.
[3] Bringing in new blood: we appear to be lacking in that area. We've spent a lot of time trying Green, who has not yet delivered. But when we replace a pace bowler, do we bring in someone new? Not, an experienced guy.
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The Sports Desk / Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread
The interesting questions:
[1] What will our batting line-up look like?
[2] This test is often affected by rain. Are we going to get much play?
[3] Can the groundsmen in Sydney produce a pitch that is not too extreme?
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Blah-Blah Bar / Re: Dan’s statue, neo-nazis, local government, potholes and Victoria generally
ich bin auslander und spreche nicht gut deutsch!
A lot of Germans speak accented good English but there is an expectation that if you work for one of their companies even in Oz you have to learn German to a standard. I was lucky the Engineers I worked with spoke English and I had more problems with the Electrical/Electronic schematic diagrams that were all in German and many of the symbols differ to the USA and English versions yet can look the same.
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Blah-Blah Bar / Happy New Year 2025 - 2026
I must admit that 2025 is not going to be one of the years I care to remember: not quite an annus horribilus, but nothing to write home about either. There was one positive; my daughter completing her VCE (with an ATAR of 86). There was also a trop to NZ in January. I can't take much positive out of it otherwise.
I hope it has been a better year for the rest of you.
As for 2026, may it be the Happy Blue Year that we've been waiting for. May it bring happiness and prosperity to all!
Ein gutes neues Jahr
Gott nýggjár
Onnellista uutta vuotta
Head uut aastat
Bonne année
Gur Niijaar!
Καλή Χρονιά!
Boldog Új Évet
Farsælt nýtt ár
Selamat tahun baru
Felice anno nuovo
Annum faustum
Laimīgu Jauno gadu
Laimingų Naujųjų Metų
Allens Gode för 't neje Jahr!
E glécklecht neit Joer
Среќна Нова година
I-Sena t-Tajba
Godt nytt år
Gōd nīewe gēar cume þē!
Szczęśliwego Nowego Roku
Feliz Ano Novo
Un An Nou Fericit
С Новым Годом!
Срећна Нова Година
Štastný nový rok
¡Feliz Año Nuevo!
Gott nytt år
E guets neus Jahr
สวัสดีปีใหม่
Mutlu Yıllar
З Новим Роком
Blwyddyn newydd dda
Vitin e Ri
Gelukkige Nuwe Jaar
Feliç any nou
Šťastný nový rok
Godt nytår
Bona ana noeva
In bien niev onn
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The Sports Desk / Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread
I was only half listening to the wireless but I'm pretty sure that it was Stuart Clark who had a real crack at Marnus for his antics after he was nicked off. Rather than carrying on like a pork chop, he should have marched straight off the ground and got to work addressing his poor technique.
If the pitch was so unpredictable, Alex Carey must have had a death wish in standing up to the stumps for the fast-medium bowlers.
I simply think that the modern player no longer sees these sort of conditions and doesn't have the mindset required to dig in and not get out.
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The Sports Desk / Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread
[1] The pitch could have been better. Leaving the grass 3 mm longer than last year is going to be hard to justify.
On the other hand, the pitch did not cause all of the batting woes.
[2] None of the batting was worth watching, but the Australian batting was particularly poor. To be out twice in less than 1 day's play is simply unacceptable.
[3] The Australian team was definitely still on holiday. There was no fight, no persistence and not a lot of thinking in our batting.
[4] Our line-up:
(a) If Khawaja, who has been our opener, is playing, then why didn't he open?
(b) Cam Green: he didn't bowl much (less than 1 over), his batting was faecal and he didn't do much in the field. Why is he there if that is how he is going to play?
(c) What has happened to Jhye Richardson? He used to bowl at 145 - 150 km/h. He didn't get anywhere near that. He got 2 wickets in the last innings, but really didn't impress. Very disappointing.
(d) Jake Weatherald: what has happened to him? His form has been ordinary, after an excellent start.
(e) Marnus Labuschagne: he has also fallen off the cliff after a good start. Where is the persistence he showed getting his spot back?
[5] England's style of playing: why did it work today and not before? They haven't improved that much. They betted like it was a 20-over game!
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Blah-Blah Bar / Merry Christmas 2025
Frohe Weihnachten!
glædelig jul
Sretan Božić
Veselé Vánoce
Vrolijk kerstfeest
Joyeux Noël
Hyvää joulua!
Καλά Χριστούγεννα
Boldog karácsonyt
Gleðileg jól
Buon Natale
Feliz Natal
с Рождеством
feliz Navidad
God jul
Wesołych Świąt Bożego Narodzenia
il-Milied it-Tajjeb
Priecīgus Ziemassvētkus
Schéine Chrëschtdag
Linksmų Kalėdų
selamat Natal
Geseënde kersfees
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The Sports Desk / Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread
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The Sports Desk / Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread
However, a lot of our players and tactics remain questionable.
[1] Green: he has the potential to be anything and his field is brilliant. But, he doesn't bowl enough. He really needs to bowl a lot more and become a proper front line bowler. I think he has that potential, but he is just not developing his bowling.
His batting is similar: so much potential, so little shown for it.
However, the selectors seem to be picking him on potential, not results. He could be our Jacques Kallis, but he isn't.
[2] A spinner or two to replace Lyon. Lyon had a hamstring and may miss both remaining tests. But who do we replace him with?
I like Tanveer Sangha, a young leggie who can spin it both ways. Is he ready? Good question.
Matthew Kuhnemann has seemed to have dropped out of sight since his 'throwing' controversy. He is a good left hand finger spinner.
Todd Murphy appeared to be the heir apparent, but you don't hear of him much lately.
Adam Zampa? He has never set the longer games on fire, even if he is excellent at the shorter forms.
Australia pitches generally do not favour spinners - drop in pitches don't wear as much as the older ones did. But it means that we have fewer obvious answers.
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Blah-Blah Bar / Re: Shawny’s concerns about Victorian and Australian Governments
Gutless bullies, not matter which side of the fence they dwell on, always go after the weakest target.
Well said, Spotted One.
No matter our chosen political or religious view when defenseless, innocent folks attempting to go about their daily lives are slaughtered, starved or persecuted, we're simply witnessing profane cowardice.
Unfortunately, there are those who feel the only way they can get their point across is to hurt the innocent. And it isn't just terrorists, as much as I dislike them. Look at the demonstrations: they aren't helping anyone, but they are hurting innocents (although mainly financially). And they certainly stimulate people against their cause, no matter how 'good' it might be.
One of our advantages a century ago was that we were literally half a world away. Modern communications and transportation has changed that. Not all of the consequences are positive, not are they ever likely to be so: anything can be misused if someone tries hard enough.
But I much preferred it when people left their wars behind them and came here for a new start: it is what Australia was founded for. But now it is hard to leave anything behind.
Should it influence our policy on immigration? I would prefer not. Australia being a melting pot has been a very good thing. But, some minority definitely have more influence than others. We have a lot more Buddhists in Australia than Muslims, for one example, yet which group is more vocal in wanting its tenants followed?
Does changing our migration policies make us racist? A good question. I would think so, but I do not want extremists from anywhere coming here and disrupting our society. But how do you identify them? How much of the economy should be spent on such things?
Gun laws: we already have quite restrictive gun laws. Do they need tightening? Possibly. There certainly seems to be a crack in which the Bondi terrorists fell through. Actually following up on the laws we have seem to be pretty difficult for law enforcement.
I think people should be able to have guns if they have use for them, and a licence to show it. But what sort of guns? And I certainly don't think we should be like the USA, where they have guns everywhere. That gives them incidents like Bondi on a weekly basis.
A country where all citizens are armed is Switzerland. They have laws that control their guns. They don't have mass shootings. The US should look at their model; it makes a lot more sense of you want an armed populous.
I don't think that is what we want here. We just have to work out how to control them effectively.
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Robert Heatley Stand / Re: List Building - More than one way to skin a cat
https://www.afl.com.au/news/1443396/essendon-bombers-horror-run-greater-western-sydney-giants-rise-which-clubs-were-unlucky-with-injuries
Now, if we can improve by the same amount in 2026, then maybe we'll have enough ammunition to argue about our list management properly. Certainly, we should play closer to our potential with a fitter list.
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The Sports Desk / Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread
When you watch this morning rubbish tactics, sh1zen bowling to sh1zen batsmen, you can understand why people have become disillusioned with Test Cricket. FFS, it's like D-Grade cricket tactics, and it's being lauded on the broadcast by former captains like it is revolutionary!
Also, how Green topped the IPL auction can only be a confirmation that marketing spin and corruption dominate performance.
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Robert Heatley Stand / Re: List Building - More than one way to skin a cat
And it isn't that we've had spuds for fitness people over that period of time.
If you look at the teams who have enjoyed success over that time period, most of them had reasonably complete list to choose from. Yes, there have been a few who have had injury problems, but nothing on the scale that we've suffered.
We've seen over the last couple of years that side who experience significant injuries tend to fail. Essendon in 2025 is an excellent example, although Collingwood in the last two years has also been a good example.
So, since Rd 4 1996 (the last time we had less than 3 on the injured list), we have struggled.
Now injuries haven't been our only problem; we've had recruiting issues (perhaps the worst periods of recruiting in our history), boardroom dramas, lack on off-field leadership and uninspired coaching selections, but the common theme across the entire period has been injuries to significant personnel.
For example, Wayne Brittain's first year or so wasn't bad, but when the injuries hit, we fell off the cliff. We never really got to see how good he could be as a coach because of that; the board lost patience and didn't supply with with the recruits we needed.
There were times under Pagan that we didn't have any senior listed players left in the VFL because of injuries late in the season.
I could go on. 2024, for example.
What can we do about it? Now that is a good question.
[1] We've changed fitness people a number of times. At present, we might not be having the same number of injuries as we did in 2024, but we don't appear as fit either. It will be interesting to see if that has been addressed over the summer.
[2] We have improved our way of recruiting. There have been questions over our draft strategies in recent times, and fair enough. But we have radically improved our recruiting since the dark days of Wayne Hughes. We managed to have one almost perfect Draft, under Stephen Silvagni, even though most of those players have now left us, but his next couple we unmitigated disasters. Since Austin has come in, we don't have so many peaks and troughs, but ...
We have clearly improved, but we can do better.
[3] Off-field we are a much tighter, much improved ship. We don't appear to have the factional infighting that crippled us for years. Doesn't mean we can't improve in this area.
[4] Coaching - maybe the biggest remaining question. With a whole new crew in 2026, we'll see if Voss has what it takes to get us success. Still, we are clearly thinking to improve here, where, for years, we just just plodded on.
So, we have addressed a number of our issues, how successfully we'll find out soon. But, until we have most of our players fit and available for most of the time, we won't have addressed the last issue that needs serious attention.
(It was lovely to see the AFLW girls this season play with a minimum of injuries. We weren't quite injury free, but no Carlton side has been better in this area in thirty years. And how did we perform? We significantly improved. If this isn't a lesson for a club, then I don't know what is.)