Key players left and Rojas is a mistake signing.

Well for those of you too young, back in the 1970s (yep, way back then) the king hits were serious, the full on brawls were serious and no reports. I remember seeing an essendon player knocked totally unconscious from being king hit. And because there was only ever one game broadcast, these...

They see what we are seeing in Bennie. BUT our LB is no pushover either.

Let's consider MC, CCM, AU & WP. Over the last five years they have been pretty dominant. One of the reasons has been the youth development and of course if they are good enough they head off over to Europe, Asia and now the MLS. So come season's end, the team that has been dominant is gutted...

Michael Lynch writing in the The Age years ago wrote the same thing. But the AFL has always made a big thing about youth players. So it will not be a big leap. All we need is for an A-League youth player to land a contract and game time in the EPL and people will start switching. Pity about GKuol.

I am not convinced by Esposito. Needs to show more and how was he chosen captain? Anyway, I do enjoy teh rivalry against Japan.

Can't see Pieras being selected, Leckie is just back from a long term injury and he would have to be a last resort, Metcalf has yet to play after injury. So that leaves Karacic, Miller, Strain, Adamson. We know what Miller brings and I am not sure how Karacic is progressing. Adamson? Also are...

The trick is getting the balance between youth and experience. I get your point that we all like to see younger players getting game time and improving the quality of the game but too much youth without guidance leads to disaster.

Well JBos has been in Europe for two seasons. Lots of EPL clubs get soft tissue injuries. And if Matthews is wearing a moon boot then it is likely to be an impact injury.

The way our defenders are getting injury, KBos may get an earlier than expected call up.

KBos...KBos...is he ready to step up???

With Kota, the Jets have moved up a notch. Another player that is catching my eyes for the Jets is Clayton Taylor - nothing spectacular, just a solid workhorse who is scoring. He presents, he runs, he presses, creates space for his team mates. Very solid. And the other player that has improved...

Its on YouTube. Well I felt that the team faded but it could also be that China stepped up. Their pressing meant that the midfield were not able to deliver the ball to the forwards as cleanly or as often. Also, China were able to split the defence a lot more and this is why China should rue...

Well Stephen Conroy as a senator was reknown for not talking shop. So the answer is we will have no idea what to expect. The bigger question is what did Conroy and the former CEO come to blows about.

Thankfully Adam Kersey is not refereeing an important game.

You forget that at Westerlo he has been played as LB, LW, RB and RW. Either scoring or assisting in all positions.

Finally got to watch the game against China. Australia dominated the first half with good positioning, slick passing and Bennie being an outstanding captain. The second half, Australia faded and China stepped up their game. Australia got very lucky in that China should have scored twice. Still...

@Decentric thanks for the essay! Great reading your thoughts to which I mostly concur. Regarding team selection as I stated, some players may not have been released by their clubs e.g., Schreiber because at the time Leckie was still out and they only had Ugarcovic & Schreiber for the midfield...

He has been at 4 different clubs because he is useful but not a necessity. And I just chose him as an example, you will find a few players like that.

Don't forget that NJ & PG were until recently under APL administration because their owners bailed out. If Canberra was such an option then why hasn't the club being announced? And proper attempts? I can't imagine that the Bulls & WU are not proper attempts - there is a lot of money involved...