Ashes Third Test, Headingley

Australia lead the series 1-0 after winning the first Test at Edgbaston and drawing at Lord's.

The Aussies will be without former captain and the best batsman in the world after Steve Smith was ruled out with concussion following a Jofra Archer bouncer that struck him on the neck in his first innings at Lord's.

Marnus Labuschagne is expected to fill Smith's spot like he did at Lord's when he entered the fray as Test cricket's first ever concussion substitute where he scored an admirable 59 runs, helping to steer Australia to a draw on the final day.

It's expected that Peter Siddle will drop out of the side to allow for the return of James Pattinson who was rested for the second Test. Mitchell Starc seems destined to remain on drinks duty.

England meanwhile are expected to name an unchanged 11 although they may tinker with the make up of the batting order. Joe Root has struggled at first drop, while Jason Roy has failed to make the switch from opening in the ODI team to becoming a Test opener. Root is expected to move down to four with Joe Denly jumping into the number three position.

Many are talking about the effect of Jofra Archer's entry into Test cricket. Interestingly, his debut performance lands him as just the 312th best bowler on debut with overall figures of 5/91. He need only look across at his opponents in Pat Cummins (7/117) and Josh Hazlewood (7/142) who had better debut figures.

The Headingley pitch is rumoured to be a slow deck that will crumble and break up towards the end of the match. An interesting decision by the ground staff there given Australia's Nathan Lyon has been collecting wickets for fun and spun the English into knots in the first Test.

As always the toss will be important and Tim Paine will be hoping his luck continues. This will likely be a bat first pitch because no one will be looking to bat last on a decaying deck.

Play starts at 8pm AEST tonight so get your picture-in-picture going or set up a second screen to make sure you don't miss the first ball while watching the Eels belt the Dogs.

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Nortuis Maximus replied to eelflop's discussion Have to win this weekend
"It's the known, but if you look at the stats we fair really well in most areas v the dogs - then consider the form guide, Bulldogs beat the sharks convincingly, we have no wins - I can see some small improvements."
5 minutes ago
Nortuis Maximus replied to ParraEels's discussion Please tell me this is satire
"Lol we Hope not."
9 minutes ago
Troy Wade replied to eelflop's discussion Have to win this weekend
"if we had Moses - my opinion we beat Dogs - Tigers and maybe Manly.."
13 minutes ago
LB replied to eelflop's discussion Have to win this weekend
"Talent wise and with experience Brown is our best option at 5/8. You are telling me Volkman or Lynn or Twidle or even Walker with no games at this point with Hawkins, is a better option? Volkman for example might offer a bit more effort, but a bit…"
21 minutes ago
iamnot replied to ParraEels's discussion Please tell me this is satire
"you do realise that this is not a club initiative, right... "
34 minutes ago
ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER replied to eelflop's discussion Have to win this weekend
"LB i like you but when you said DB is our best 5/8 i think you a stroke surely we are not that bad are we"
38 minutes ago
LB replied to ParraEels's discussion Please tell me this is satire
"It is a common thread for the media to use to put us down. Gutho and RCG. 
But nobody mentions the Dolphins, who havent won a game and are not great either. They have Hammer and pretty much a full squad."
47 minutes ago
HKF replied to eelflop's discussion Have to win this weekend
"With Moses: The Eels boast a 56% overall record with Moses in their lineup.
Without Moses: Their win percentage drops to 34% across his entire Eels career.
Recent Performance: The Eels have lost 19 of their past 25 games without Moses, resulting in…"
1 hour ago
Nortuis Maximus replied to ParraEels's discussion Please tell me this is satire
"Are  you quoting the conehead James hopper?? Seriously give it a rest...mods should suspend you for that stupidity..what's Next?? Your going to agree with hoops and say not offering him 950K and 2 additional years was the wrong call? Lol…"
1 hour ago
HKF replied to ParraEels's discussion Please tell me this is satire
"They keep forgetting that gutho was here last year when we just missed getting the spoon, how good was his leadership then?. Effort is only one part of leadership,  guidance is another,  he is lacking in that department,  if he wasn't we wouldn't…"
1 hour ago
Nortuis Maximus replied to eelflop's discussion Have to win this weekend
"Can you leave some room for the adults to discuss some footy... cheers."
1 hour ago
Nortuis Maximus replied to ParraEels's discussion Please tell me this is satire
"Lol I see your giving the caps lock key a nice working over ya  silly old dope...looks like I've  broken you.. bhahaha "
1 hour ago
Nortuis Maximus replied to eelflop's discussion Have to win this weekend
""Walker if anything will free up Brown and Hawkins as a link man in the middle, he controls the front third and spreads the attack" disagree - Walkers inclusion will not have any bearing or impact on Dylan Brown's game unfortunately Brown has an…"
2 hours ago
Poppa replied to ParraEels's discussion Please tell me this is satire
"Fox 360.... just saying there are others out there that think Guth was a pretty special leader!
"":We saw it against the Melbourne Storm last week, if he doesn’t play that game I don’t think St George Illawarra wins. It’s not just what he does with…"
2 hours ago
Poppa replied to eelflop's discussion Have to win this weekend
"Ok, stop for a minute. Some questions and possibilities?
Smith will start and maybe play the 80 mins. Walker needs to be on for 60 or so, who is he replacing at say the 20 minute marker? Could be Brown, could also be moving Hopgood to the front row…"
2 hours ago
Mitchy replied to eelflop's discussion Have to win this weekend
"LB, lets be honest here, DB has over 120 NRL games since 2019/20 from memory and he is one the top three highest paid for the club; plays in the halves and does not deliver consistently as a 5/8 should. He has polarised views across this site and…"
2 hours ago
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Have to win this weekend

The Parramatta Eels absolutely have to beat the St. George Illawarra Dragons this week—no excuses. With their season on the line, a win is crucial to staying in the finals race and proving they’re still a force in 2024. This game isn’t just about…

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44 Replies · Reply by Nortuis Maximus 5 minutes ago
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