Yep, right place, right time often beats talent, money and a whole lot else. Certainly the set up is for him to have an impact, whether he takes the opportunity, we shall see very shortly.

Yes, I got that, I was just being a pain, but obviously, if someone is a professional footballer, they would hope to play in the best league possible, which would be overseas. This should be our selling point to any young athlete/player.

Actually no, there are probably almost as many plying their trade outside Australia as at home. Whereas the AFL only have Australia. As has been said elsewhere, play football, the world is your oyster, play AFL, really?

I would trust them before Greek economists :)

Good t osee County moving up the pyramid.

I don't understand the exclusion of Robertson and Bennie at this stage of the Training Camp. Seems a waste to bring them in and then discard them now.

The big gap between best and worst crowds (other than Adelaide) suggests there is reason to be confident that there are a lot of fans that could be persuaded to go to games. A look at the figures if the worst crowd number was half the best suggests that. Only Adelaide comes close.

And its why the Private Schools have their hands out for Govt funding whilst also having significant land and other assets.

What about Okon (the 16 yo, I may have the spelling wrong) from Sydney

Yes, for all the complaints and huffing etc that we have done as a collective fan base, overall we are in a surprisingly good place heading into this World Cup. Hats off to Poppa. Whilst not brilliant, he (and Arnie before him) have done quite well.

Interesting that England have named a provisional 55 as well. Not that we have got that many yet, though. I am happy with the option, to give the fringe players a final chance to show what they can do, and to also send a "we're watching you brief to some youngsters.

That's the thing. A few minutes here and there don't give much clue as to the final product a player is able to produce. From that point of view, out squad depth is not unreasonable in the A League. I think that coaches need a better understanding of utilizing their players across the season...

afl can't stand that the World Cup is taking a few headlines. Shows that they are suffering some pain.

This thread is interesting reading given the season that Matta has had. Looking at Matta, he has seemed to have grown through the season. I thought he looked "old" early on and a bit off the mark, but he has certainly performed over the last half of the season. So a big hats off to him for...

I wouldn't be surprised if both the Hammers and Spurs win 2 out of their last 3 games, making 42 points the relegation level. Could even be 43 points. Leeds are not completely safe yet. Obviously if Arsenal beat Hammers this weekend, then 42 is their maximum and Leeds would be safe.