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BigGordon

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I’m guessing the Board has accepted the position that mediocrity for the Raiders is okay under Ricky. Yes they’ve had the odd good season, but by & large, have hardly troubled the scorers when it comes to winning premierships, over the past 10 years or so.

This is also why winning a wooden spoon wouldn’t mean an automatic coaching change. Stuart’s got an excuse/reason for every bad thing that happens to teams he coaches, but strangely none seem to involve him.

Raiders supporters should be demanding better, given their last premiership was 30 years ago, but while the coach & Board are in the relationship they appear to have, that might be a wasted effort.

Pressure Points: If Ricky picked up his first wooden spoon, would his position at the Raiders be at risk?

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League
 
Today

I’ll bet Ray “Rabbit’s” Warren is glad he gave away commentating. He’d be no chance to saying Nawaqanitawase’s name correctly.

I’ll also bet it will take Andrew Voss or Warren Smith two games to come up with a stupid nickname or abbreviation that only they think is funny.

After SBW and Cronk deals, latest 'pea and thimble trick' shows Politis is still two steps ahead of the opposition

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League
 
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I think your opinion of Sua’ali’i is on the money, Tony. Clearly a talent but not an exceptional talent.

Obviously the jury’s out on Mark from Rugby. Hopefully he can make a successful transition. If he doesn’t, it won’t be through poor coaching or a lack of support.

After SBW and Cronk deals, latest 'pea and thimble trick' shows Politis is still two steps ahead of the opposition

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League
 
1d

I’m sure many from Qld will be disappointed that more teams didn’t win premierships or other trophies but having so many in contention has to be a huge source of pride. It also wasn’t from a lack of talent, skill or effort that these teams didn’t win. They gave it their best and on the day, mostly came up a tad short. That’s something to be proud of, not sad about.

A cursed 2023, or a year to be proud of? The uncanny misfortune of Queensland sporting teams

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Cricket
 
Today

No room in the best 33 cricketers across the 3 formats for Ashton Agar? He was a lock for the ODIs in India prior to be injured.

Enough talent to fill three sides? How Australian cricket team would look if specialists filled each line-up

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Cricket
 
Today

I’m guessing by now, the 3 selectors already have one choice firmly in mind and a game like this should only confirm their view or sew doubts, depending on how their choice performs. In this case, neither Harris nor Bancroft harmed their cases.

I think selectors will be more keen to see what both Renshaw and Green do. As one commentator said, getting started on this pitch when the ball’s old and soft will be tough and that’s how it proved to be. I’m really hoping both push on today

Opening contenders botch golden chance to press Test selection claims but Harris bullish about replacing Warner

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Cricket
 
1d

You left out the best of the lot – Don Tallon!

I’m a huge fan of “gritty” at number 7. We’ve obviously been spoiled rotten by Gilchrist and his amazing hitting, but he’s an outlier, IMO.

Pierson wouldn’t look out of place in baggy green and would likely make some telling contributions with the bat, just as he does for the Bulls.

Maybe Pakistan will put up a fight after all: Masood monsters PM's XI with masterful ton

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Cricket
 
2d

You may well be right, but it’s such a broad statement, it could mean something completely different.

Waugh needs to what he and the Board expect, otherwise the new coach, if they’re from overseas, is being set up to fail

'Open minded': Waugh backs foreign Wallabies coach - but with one non-negotiable

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Rugby
 
1d

I’m guessing before the summer’s over, there will be at least a half dozen stories about the catch of the summer (I’ve already seen at least one on this site so far), but for mine, that Pierson catch will take some beating. It wasn’t some outfield spekkie where the fielder runs dives, does somersaults, etc, but it was incredibly difficult and as you said, he made it look easy.

A wonderful piece of glovework.

Maybe Pakistan will put up a fight after all: Masood monsters PM's XI with masterful ton

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Cricket
 
2d

Waugh is open to a coach from overseas “as long as the broader coaching environment is very Australian”. What exactly does that mean?

He needs to be able to clearly define that, so he or whoever can decide whether candidates can create this “very Australian” environment”. After all, this appears to be a non-negotiable issue.

'Open minded': Waugh backs foreign Wallabies coach - but with one non-negotiable

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Rugby
 
1d

It makes it really hard to justify teams coming to countries like Bangladesh when they’re going to be dished up surfaces like this.
In fairness, Australia’s no angels when it comes to ordinary pitches. We’ve served up a mixture of roads and minefields in the past decade

'Not what you want to see for Test cricket': Aussie stars sound franchise alarm ahead of international summer

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Cricket
 
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The pitch seems to be something of a minefield though, Arnab. 15 wickets falling on the first day and a large chunk of those to spin?

'Not what you want to see for Test cricket': Aussie stars sound franchise alarm ahead of international summer

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Cricket
 
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a really good comment.

The A-League could learn a little from rugby league – but not in the way you think

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Football
 
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I’m a big fan of the quote from Lucinda McLennan when people were suggesting Hamish should move on at Rugby Australia; ‘There is no better person for the impossible job. You try.’
Clearly RA thought a) there was a better person and b) the job was not impossible, but good to see her defending her man.

Sporting quotes of 2023: The Eddie Jones train wreck and Bairstow stumping lead a bumper year for outlandish comments

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Cricket
 
1d

There’s no predicament. This is simply about money. If Cummins and co weren’t making close to a million bucks a year from CA contracts alone and instead making a quarter of that, they too would be playing franchise cricket and not Tests.

'Not what you want to see for Test cricket': Aussie stars sound franchise alarm ahead of international summer

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Cricket
 
1d

Exactly the type of innings Pakistan needed to rally the squad around the new skipper. I thought most of the guys I saw bat looked good, though it probably wasn’t that difficult, given the very placid pitch and the strange bowling tactics from the PM XI.

Once the shine went off the ball, they resorted to a lot of short stuff on a pitch with slow bounce. I guess if you bowl enough of that sort of stuff it might get a wicket, but it made for uninspiring cricket. Todd Murphy also seemed out of sorts, but in fairness, he wasn’t helped by conditions.

Super impressed with the last two catches though. The concentration and skill shown by Pierson and Bancroft, late in the day, were outstanding.

Maybe Pakistan will put up a fight after all: Masood monsters PM's XI with masterful ton

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Cricket
 
2d

I sometimes wonder whether some of these experts open their mouths before really thinking about what they’re saying.

For all Warner’s terrific attacking ability he actually has a pretty fair defence, albeit not that great against the moving ball – cue Stuart Broad. You don’t make 8400 Test runs if you can’t stop the good ones. I’m not sure Maxwell could do likewise, at least not at the top of the order.

I don’t get why Gilly and others won’t give the blokes who are next in line, a chance to show what they can do. As long as the prove effective as openers and consistently get Australia off to good starts, I’m sure Cummins and co will be happy.

Weakening one spot to fix another: Moving Marnus to opener is not the answer for top-order puzzle

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Cricket
 
3d

I hope the Titans resist the temptation to bring Fifita back before he’s 100% right to go. Those sorts of injuries can take quite a while to come good, so it means the rest of the squad has to really step up

Titanic blow: Fifita in doubt for season start after undergoing surgery due to training mishap

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League
 
3d

Wrectologist – I’m likely to carry that imaging around for the rest of the day!

Weakening one spot to fix another: Moving Marnus to opener is not the answer for top-order puzzle

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Cricket
 
3d

I’m not at all sure Fitzgibbon has proven himself, not am I convinced that “clearly, something is building in the Shire”.

I can’t get past the fact that teams he’s coached, have seriously struggled against better ranked opponents. He presumably has the squad he wants, yet the Sharks haven’t seriously challenged the top sides, which he was brought into the role to change. The reliance on the same guys with few additions, suggests he has to come up with creative ways to beat top ranked sides and the evidence to date suggests that’s going to be a very tough task.

Unless he can improve his record against Penrith, the Broncos, etc, I suspect hopes that things are building in the Shire will remain just that – a hope.

Pressure Points: Craig Fitzgibbon has proven himself in the NRL – now, he needs to show that Sharks aren’t flat track bullies

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League
 
2d

Thanks for this interesting analysis of the Pakistan squad. One of the things teams from Pakistan never lack is talent and there are some world class players here.

I think the person with the most pressure is the captain. I don’t know that man for man, their best XI can match it with Australia, but….

If they play to the best of their ability as a team, under a skipper who they trust and respect, with a specific plan in mind, I suggest they’re very capable of wining at least one game, especially if Australia follows India’s lead from the last World Cup and banks a series win before they’ve played a game.

Opposition watch: Sizing up Pakistan's Test squad for the Australian cricket summer

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Cricket
 
2d

This piece is really a commentary on the state of Test cricket across those nations who play this format and yes, there’s a major gap between some teams and others. Like all issues involving people, there’s no one correct answer. The real problem is how Tests are being administered and at the moment, both the ICC and CA locally are doing a lousy job of that.

Aussies, like most people, want to watch a contest and of course we want our boys to win. That said, most of us can live with defeats as long as we can say our team had a red hot go, but were beaten by a better side.

Right now, most cannot see either Pakistan or the Windies giving us that sort of close competition, which means those with a passing interest in Tests, will likely switch off, if/when these teams start to get belted. The rest will continue to enjoy it, because we’re watching the best form of the game.

Do Australians love Test cricket or just watching the baggy green side win at home pretty much all the time?

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Cricket
 
2d

Sorry, I didn’t mean any of the guys could blaze away like Warner, rather that we didn’t need to manufacture openers because we had some very capable options.

Warner is a generational talent and anyone trying to bat like he does, who doesn’t have the right skillset, would come undone very quickly – and probably look really bad while doing it.

Weakening one spot to fix another: Moving Marnus to opener is not the answer for top-order puzzle

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Cricket
 
3d

I read your first sentence while trying to do something else and thought you wrote “I am a bit of a pole sitter”. 😂

I hope for once it doesn’t turn out differently. I really would like Bancroft to open in Tests again. He’s paid a really heavy price for being a young fella in the Test side and deserves another chance to show what he can do.

Weakening one spot to fix another: Moving Marnus to opener is not the answer for top-order puzzle

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Cricket
 
3d

Not sure leaving a really well running machine intact is being timid. Forcing an unnecessary change

Changes like many are proposing, smack of desperation. In effect they’re saying they have little confidence in other guys who have been opening the batting for many years. They’re also suggesting we’re likely to get a better result than trying Renshaw or Harris and I have no idea how they can come to that conclusion when Green’s never opened the batting in a first class game and Marnus doesn’t seem to want to.

Young Will is on his way back for the Vics and seems to be making good progress. Tough to really gauge his form because the pitches have been pretty bowler friendly but he’s made a couple of good scores.

Weakening one spot to fix another: Moving Marnus to opener is not the answer for top-order puzzle

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Cricket
 
3d
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