Six Points: Papley's hypocrisy, Wright's Tribunal verdict the wrong call, and why are we retiring Pendlebury?
We had a pitch invader, fights galore, Tribunal drama and a couple of remarkable comebacks - footy is well and truly back! It's weirder…
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I love cricket so much I once had a dream I was timed out. It was the worst nightmare I've ever had. I also support the Western Bulldogs, which, much like dressing like clowns on the street and scaring people, was weird and depressing for a very long time, briefly became amazing in late 2016 and then swiftly went back to being weird and depressing. I also occasionally tweet about things at @timejmiller.
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We had a pitch invader, fights galore, Tribunal drama and a couple of remarkable comebacks - footy is well and truly back! It's weirder…
For the last 20 years, it's been pretty easy to work out how Essendon fans will react to a loss. Barring the closest, most…
In my Six Points column last week, I loudly and whatever is the opposite of proudly proclaimed that the Western Bulldogs were the AFL's…
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhereThe ceremony of innocence is drowned;The best lack…
After one full nine-round weekend of AFL action, we're into the annoying month and a bit where all eight Opening Round teams get their…
Round 1 is run, won and done - and while it's going to take the ladder a few more weeks to work out what…
There's something deeply compelling about a bad team that doesn't seem to realise it is one. You'd be hard pressed to be a North…
There are three explanations for what happened at the MCG on Friday night. One - Collingwood had a shocker. It happens, even to reigning…
If you want this game distilled into a two-minute stretch - and this is one well worth watching all the way through - it…
And lo! the footy world did rejoice, for the nine-game weekend did return unto them, and order was restored. After having to deal with…
New Test, same result, same problems for Australia as they finish their tour of New Zealand with a fifth win from five matches. Christchurch,…
With his place as Australian wicketkeeper suddenly in jeopardy after a poor run of scores with the bat, Alex Carey's brilliant unbeaten 98 to…
Since taking over at Collingwood at the end of 2021, Craig McRae has been, by almost every quantifiable measure and some of the unquantifiables…
Final quarter, two minutes and 18 seconds on the clock. Josh Dunkley picks up a scrappy kick inside Carlton's attacking 50 from Ollie Hollands,…
A five-wicket haul from Josh Hazlewood helped Australia run through New Zealand on the first day in Christchurch, but familiar batting woes have prevented…
In 2023, Sydney were one of the AFL's worst teams when it came to clearances. Only West Coast and Adelaide conceded them at a…
Someone always falls from grace. There are a few unwritten rules when it comes to how an AFL ladder looks at the end of…
The leaves are beginning to tumble, the weather is taking a turn, and all around Australia, there's a scent of excitement in the air…
So far this week, I've looked at all the teams who missed the finals in 2023, and decided whether they'll improve to become a…
It's footy's 'no-man's land' - the lost space between the bottom rungs of the ladder, where high picks in the draft are coming, and…
I think there’s reasonable criticism to be made of his tactics and team structure, and Kornes was really close to getting it when he questioned a disconnect between list management and coaching (Harmes being brought in as the defensive midfielder and then stuck playing VFL top of the list for me), but almost none of it is getting airtime beyond ‘why no play Macrae’ and ‘Sanders sub grr’
Six Points: Why Dogs' disaster isn't all Bevo's fault, Eagles on their way, and 2024's biggest beat-up
Hi guys, this has been fixed & correct points awarded for the weekend. Our tipping comp processor REALLY hates golden point!
Reds rue missed 'moments' as Hurricanes get up in golden point to deny Australia another Super Rugby win
Watch Nic Maddinson and Will Pucovski mow down 380 against Tasmania to get the Vics into the Shield final, Rabbitz!
Joy of six: Lyon dismembers Black Caps as Aussies surge to commanding win, 1-0 series lead
Honestly I think these days it’s less the AFL going soft at the pointy end of the season, and more clubs pulling out all the stops to try and clear their players and the laws not being strong enough to hold up to intense legal scrutiny.
The AFL were desperate enough for Maynard to get two weeks that they literally overruled Michael Christian on it, and the year before Carlton went to multiple appeals to get Cripps off.
At the same time, if the Powell-Pepper-Keane incident happened in the first week of the finals, there’s surely no way known Port would have started by pleading guilty and asking for ‘only’ three weeks.
Monster bump ban confirmed for Port forward - and won't include pre-season match - as Power cry 'scapegoat'
I love Marshall and I think it’s worth noting four of us experts had him in our top 50s quite happily.
Him missing out was more to do with my process than anything else, really – maybe I should make the cut-off three top-60 nominations instead of just the two in future years.
The Roar's AFL top 50 players, 10-1: Why the reigning Brownlow Medallist couldn't even crack the top five
This was my ‘so close! That’s a shape‘ moment and I refused to miss out on it
Masters of the Air: The ten greatest AFL 'speckies' of the 21st century - and #2 wasn't even Mark of the Year!
Missed out on account of being taken six years before the 21st century began 👍
Masters of the Air: The ten greatest AFL 'speckies' of the 21st century - and #2 wasn't even Mark of the Year!
Humour? How insulting to my ‘Ben Manenti to open for Australia’ campaign 😡
Every Australian Test opener option, ranked: Why sending Smith up is a recipe for disaster
Isn’t that the point though qwetzen? One gets the ‘a bit naughty’ defence and the other gets ‘serial grossness’ for their off-field stuff.
By any definition Warne’s indiscretions were every bit as serious as Warner’s, and yet one has his faults excused and the other not so.
And I would strongly dispute that anyone outside Australia thought we were ‘hard but fair’ by 2018 – the team was utterly despised as a bunch of whingeing hypocrites who dished it out but couldn’t take it even before the sandpaper scandal. Look at the glee with which the rest of the cricketing world ripped in when it all hit the fan!
David Warner: the most complicated legacy in Australian cricket history
Thanks Birthday Suit – perfectly summed up the point I’m trying to make. Everyone seems to have their own take on Warner’s career and a lot of it is binary – but like everyone to have ever played sport at the highest level for 15 years, it’s more nuanced than a lot of us give credit to.
David Warner: the most complicated legacy in Australian cricket history
Great comment, Sheek – but those are some pretty harsh markers! Not sure stats are a be all and end all here – I’d have Viv Richards and Ricky Ponting as legends despite averaging 50-55 (Tendulkar too!).
I don’t think anyone argues Warner’s in the all time great category as a Test player, but as an all-format player he’s definitely in our best ever team.
And hit the nail on the head with the Candice Falzon note 👍
David Warner: the most complicated legacy in Australian cricket history
Qwetzen, what if I told you there was a former Australian player who took money from bookmakers, was banned for 12 months for taking a banned substance, was verbally abusive on-field, engaged in countless extramarital affairs… and is the most beloved sporting figure in modern Australian history?
Not to say Warner’s off-field stuff hasn’t been shameful – but there are plenty of Australians, including some big names, who’ve done worse and been far more easily forgiven.
David Warner: the most complicated legacy in Australian cricket history
Sure, but no one would have been questioning any of that had he been making even 2/3 the runs he’s making this year.
The reason people were screaming nepotism, however wrong they were, was because it was the only logical explanation a guy averaging low 20s with the bat and high 30s with the ball was getting so many Tests.
COMMENT: Can we please stop rewriting history about Mitch Marsh just because everyone loves him now?
100%
COMMENT: Can we please stop rewriting history about Mitch Marsh just because everyone loves him now?
How I’d go as well – they’ll be tempted to go Stoinis over Labuschagne I reckon but like the extra batting and Stoin has been far from ideal with bat or ball this tournament. Plus Head at least showed today he can send a few down tidily enough as a sixth bowler.
Marsh clubs century as Aussies surge into WC semis on seven-win streak despite 'Herschelle Gibbs 2.0' drama
That’s fair and I’m probably in the minority in not liking the par scores.
I’d just rather see a match declared null and void rather than have someone like New Zealand be deemed to have lost it in the manner of Saturday – especially at the most prestigious tournament of all with a semi-final on the line.
COMMENT: It's great for the World Cup - but Pakistan's DLS-assisted win over NZ proves the system needs a rethink
DLS is fine – I just don’t like the par score part of it where a result can be decided from the dressing room.
The draw (or no result) is a time-honoured part of cricket when conditions intervene, and I’d rather see that than have a team undeservingly lose a game like New Zealand did.
COMMENT: It's great for the World Cup - but Pakistan's DLS-assisted win over NZ proves the system needs a rethink
I think this is quite close to what they used to do with it back in the 1980s… until South Africa found themselves needing 22 off 1 ball at the 1992 World Cup and they scrapped it.
COMMENT: It's great for the World Cup - but Pakistan's DLS-assisted win over NZ proves the system needs a rethink
Not suggesting what Babar Azam and Fakhar Zaman did wasn’t remarkable – they batted magnificently.
But surely any smaller target than 400, no matter how few overs are required to get it, is easier than climbing the whole mountain – and gives you the freedom to have a dip without worrying *as much* about wickets.
COMMENT: It's great for the World Cup - but Pakistan's DLS-assisted win over NZ proves the system needs a rethink
Blink 99 per cent of that is just your opinion which I’m happy to disagree with, but I can 100 per cent confirm Virat and I have never met.
COMMENT: Virat Kohli just scored the most selfish hundred since Boycott - and he should be embarrassed
I disagree that ‘every player is selfish’ – lots of players from all across cricket, most obviously guys like Rishabh Pant and Adam Gilchrist, could have made many more runs but didn’t because they got out playing attacking stroke-heavy cricket and put the team first.
And while I’m fully happy to acknowledge that it wasn’t at the cost of the team this time, I disagree completely that Kohli wasn’t putting himself before the team in what he did.
COMMENT: Virat Kohli just scored the most selfish hundred since Boycott - and he should be embarrassed
This is an incredibly bad faith argument sedz and I don’t know how you’re possibly making it with a straight face.
COMMENT: Virat Kohli just scored the most selfish hundred since Boycott - and he should be embarrassed
I don’t understand the argument that just because Kohli whacked a lot of fours and sixes at the end that doesn’t make him denying singles entirely selfish.
Making quick runs and batting selfishly aren’t mutually exclusive.
COMMENT: Virat Kohli just scored the most selfish hundred since Boycott - and he should be embarrassed
Jacko, if you can name one single Australian who has EVER turned down a single to get a century in a one-dayer or T20, let alone five times, I will gladly criticise them too.
Test matches as well unless you’re going to argue that denying strike to a number 11 batter late in an innings is the same thing, which I’d strongly disagree with.
COMMENT: Virat Kohli just scored the most selfish hundred since Boycott - and he should be embarrassed
I think that’s a bit unfair to St Kilda and based on a Ross Lyon stereotype – the Saints moved the ball pretty quickly consistently against GWS, they were just let down by some wayward kicking inside 50 until the last quarter. It was a close game, but far from a low-scoring scrap that you’d associate with ‘defensive-minded coaching’ imo.
Six Points: Why Dogs' disaster isn't all Bevo's fault, Eagles on their way, and 2024's biggest beat-up