Davey hasn't used his pace to our advantage in 2 years.

Moving him into the midfield was a mistake in my opinion. He was the most damaging small forward going around, and now he can hardly get a touch.

I'm a huge fan of your Alive and Kicking tracker Jaded! lol - here's hoping he can get that tracker way up because we all know how important he is. He wasn't brilliant today but showed his usual lack of self preservation and will improve.

Loved Cheney's game - scored probably the most supercoach points out of any debut player this weekend. Petterd was lively and might start living up to the hype most dee's fans place on his shoulders.

Overall I'm reasonably happy, certainly better than last year's diabolical start.

Bartram - stuck to task

Bate - an absolute joke

Bennell - had a taste

Bruce - useless once again

Buckley - needs attacking role

Cheney - gave me erection

Davey - still not delivering

Frawley - great game finally

Garland - awful skill errors

Green - just a game

Jetta - plenty to excite

Johnson - poor all game

Jones - reasonable and gusty

McDonald - skipper led valiantly

McLean - below usual standards

Miller - still no good

Moloney - nice comeback game

Morton - looked rather lost

Petterd - main shining light

Rivers - signs were good

Warnock - absolutely destroyed Hale

Spencer - good in hitouts

Pretty much spot on there YM. Morton was probably the biggest disappointment for me today. Has he put on any weight over the pre-season?

Spencer - good in hitouts

Spencer got mauled in the hitouts!

I like the kid and think he shows a lot of promise as a tap ruckman for the future, but i thought his ruckwork was disappointing today. PJ didnt have the best game, but he looked more comfortable in the centre bounces than young Spenny for mine. I think Spencer may have been just a bit overawed by the experience of his debut.

Will only get better, but he'll defiinitely want to improve on that performance next week.

I'm a huge fan of your Alive and Kicking tracker Jaded! lol - here's hoping he can get that tracker way up because we all know how important he is. He wasn't brilliant today but showed his usual lack of self preservation and will improve.

Given that I'm slightly obsessed with him and his injury-prone body, I watched him closely today.

He wasn't brilliant, no, but when you look at the replay (not sure why you would, but if you do :D), you'll see that he did a few things that screamed 'Rivers'. Inspector Gadget arms, suicidal marking and spoiling attempts, getting to the right place at the right time. I just feel so much more confident when he's out there, and I think the other defenders do too. He is basically a freak in the way he reads the play, and I hope like hell that he can keep that body of his going, because I think a few of us have forgotten just how good he really is when he's up and going.

Rivers and McLean up and running together makes us 20-30% better.

Bartram - did his job well

Bate - needs to get fitter and more agile

Bennell - Showed poise from his limited game time

Bruce - Another crap game. needs to become damaging, obviously didnt work on his kicking in the pre season.

Buckley - Stupid coaching playing out of position. needed his run and drive through the middle!

Cheney - Should have been playing last year

Davey - Quiet and needs other to take the attention off him

Frawley - Solid

Garland - needs to be more daring with the ball in space and not kick it into the man in front

Green - just a game

Jetta - Some poor turnovers but showed something

Johnson - Needs to be accountable

Jones - tried hard

McDonald - Should retire, cant kick goals, doesnt have a big engine and isnt damaging. Tackling his only asset. the game has passed him by. Harsh but fair!

McLean - Struggled

Miller - Struggled

Moloney - Best MFC player on ground by far. kicked with penetration and showed strength. quiet last qtr.

Morton - Needs to find thye gym and continues to turn it over. will still be a gun!

Petterd - Good early and then went quiet

Rivers - Should of stayed in the defensive 50. Much more solid outfit with him as general

Warnock - Good all day

Spencer - Battles hard but cant kick. We need blokes that can hit targets.

Warnock - absolutely destroyed Hale

Considering everyone had fits about how Hale would be contained prematch, Warnock smashed the opposition best big key forward again.

Not enough credit given there.

I don't know how much TOG Bennell had but he looked comfortable when he got it and thought his way through.

Cheney. Awesome. Frawley, Petterd very good.

Jones and Moloney looked good.

No doubt Bartram didn't have BHarvey in his dreamteam.

McDonald - Should retire, cant kick goals, doesnt have a big engine and isnt damaging. Tackling his only asset. the game has passed him by. Harsh but fair!

Harsh and ridiculous! :angry:

Firstly, it is not his job to kick 50m goals, even our so called forwards can't do that. Secondly, he runs ALL DAY long and has not slowed down as the years have gone on. Finally, he is the one player that you know will give you 140% every single time he is out there. He throws himself around the packs, and courage alone will get him picked every single week.

Trash talking our captain and it's only Round 1. FFS!

I sometimes wonder whether some people actually went to the game or had it phoned in by a slightly short sighted friend who was there.

Can agree with the following.

Davey - was very ordinary

Green - went missing too often

Buckley - heart in mouth every time he disposes of the ball and was always a step behind whoever he was on

McLean and Rivers are coming back from really bad injuries and will take a couple games to get back up and running properly, the both did a couple of things

The key in the last quarter was Laidley telling McIntosh to get forward at every opportunity and poor old Spencer ran out of petrol........

And Wells decided to actually not do a Davey and have an impact...........

We had managed to keep Hale, Canpbell and Thomas to single goals

The positives

Cheney was excellent for a debut

Bennell did a couple of nice things and will improve

Jetta also did a couple of nice things and will improve.

Petterd looks like he will settle into the forward line, it depends on who will be there with him.

Moloney is back

Looks like Bate is the target for the loss......he was swamped everytime the ball was kicked anywhere near him.............he actually brought the ball to ground against three and set up a goal, but hey he is a lumbering no hope so he can wear all the blame..........the kicking into the forward 50 in the last quarter was back to last seasons hit and hope

Well done 'Petjudhome', I think I saw the same game as you.

Maybe some people think that because Bate is playing forward that he must be our next full forward but I think he's there to hold the posi temporarily, whilst doing so he is learning to play deep forward for what I think will be a 3rd tall forward role for him with the occaisional stint down the back & on the ball.

I also liked the huge effort that a virtual rookie played in the ruck today, well done to Spencer.

Bartram - good in patches

Bate - not a FF

Bennell - wasn't the worst

Bruce - had no influence

Buckley - get him out

Sylvia - get him in

Cheney - the next general

Davey - [censored] poor attitude

Frawley - average game today

Garland - mistakes too costly

Green - didn't dominate today

Jetta - lively small forward

Johnson - very little impact

Jones - tried all day

McDonald - too old, overrated (sorry, but he has little impact on footy games)

McLean - slow, slow, slow

Miller - little impact today

Moloney - BOG for dees

Morton - bloody muscle up

Petterd - brilliant pocket goal

Rivers - got through game

Warnock - was rarely sighted

Spencer - learn to kick

delivery into our forward line was poor, as was our goal kicking. And what is our forward line structure? Why is josh mahoney our forward coach? (cause clearly he can't)

No doubt Bartram didn't have BHarvey in his dreamteam.

Not enough has been said of this. I can't remember the last time that BH did not destroy us. Well done #3

I think Wayne Wussel mostly hit it on the head.

Brightest spots in my view, were the debut games of both Jetta and Bennell, In particular, Jetta will be very special.

Thought Mclean was lazy to be honest and in actual fact, I think this is where our former drafting (i.e. 5-6 years ago) leaves a big hole in our side. What I mean by that is Chook was recruited with the old fashioned midfield mind set. In a great side, he might be a great player, but as most midfielders do these days, he does not hurt the opposition enough on the scoeboard, Don't get me wrong, Chook has a red hot go, but does not do enough in offence.

However and I understand we have limited resources - I only ask one question. Can anyone tell me what they think our game plan is, other than seeking to make sure the flood gates don't open? Because, if that is what it is, we will all get very wet sooner or later.

I believe we don't actually have an offensive game plan and seek to minimise the damage, rather than have a red hot go in attack............but wait, there's more

To be honest, I thought the final score flattered us.

Unless we have a real target up forward soon, we will get crucified yet again. I know we are trying to nurse Jack Watts - and rightly so - but surely we have someone on our list, who is tall enough, strong enough and who presents a true marking option in our foward line, on our list. If not, then why not?

The amount of times we got the ball today and hesitated astounded me.

WHAT IS OUR GAME PLAN? For goodness sake.

D Bailey should put the kids in from day one and give them a taste. By that I don't mean Watts or Blease, but if we have anyone on our list who can be a focal point up forward, then we need to find one and lets give them a try. If we don't, then sooner or later we will be made to look very ordinary once again, by 10 goals plus and on a number of occasions.

It seemed clear to me today, despite our early pre-season start to training, we still lack confidence in each other.

I am sorry.......but if that is true.......it comes down to the coach. I sincerely hope I am wrong

GO DEES!!!!

I am amazed at the different views from watching the same game. someone even bagged Frawley - did he watch the game?

POSITIVES:

- Backline - Cheney might win the rising star nomination in a hotly contested first round of new players. did everything right all day. Is a better kick than I thought.

Frawley was BOG at half time for mine. great pace, contested well, was excellent thinking his way through the clinches as well. Suprised more have not mentioned him.

Liked Bennells disposal when he was on the ground. Jettas knows how to play, where to run to, loved his endeavour, but little disappointed in his last couple of kicks in the forward line.

Midfield was better, especially with contested footy and tackling. A function of most being fit and up and running for mine.

Warnock and Bartram beating good opponents.

NEGATIVES:

- Forward line has no-one to really worry the opposition.

- playing for full 4 quarters.

D Bailey should put the kids in from day one and give them a taste.

Isnt he doing that by playing four 1st gamers today?

I believe we don't actually have an offensive game plan and seek to minimise the damage, rather than have a red hot go in attack............but wait, there's more

To be honest, I thought the final score flattered us.

Unless we have a real target up forward soon, we will get crucified yet again. I know we are trying to nurse Jack Watts - and rightly so - but surely we have someone on our list, who is tall enough, strong enough and who presents a true marking option in our foward line, on our list. If not, then why not?

The amount of times we got the ball today and hesitated astounded me.

WHAT IS OUR GAME PLAN? For goodness sake.

D Bailey should put the kids in from day one and give them a taste. By that I don't mean Watts or Blease, but if we have anyone on our list who can be a focal point up forward, then we need to find one and lets give them a try. If we don't, then sooner or later we will be made to look very ordinary once again, by 10 goals plus and on a number of occasions.

It seemed clear to me today, despite our early pre-season start to training, we still lack confidence in each other.

I am sorry.......but if that is true.......it comes down to the coach. I sincerely hope I am wrong

GO DEES!!!!

We dont have an offensive game plan because we dont have a forwardline.

We seek to minimise damage because we do not have a forwardline.

We hesitate because we do not have a forwardline

We lack confidence going forward because you guessed it we do not have a forwardline.

Is there a trend here? Is it Baileys fault that he inherited a club with a key forward on the brink of retirement and a undersized key position who did an achilles? If Watts or Jurrah (both drafted by DB to fill these needs mid-long term) are not the short term answer (which they are not) then see if you can find this magical key forward that Bailey has hidden somewhere on our list ready and raring to go for round 2.

McDonald - Should retire, cant kick goals, doesnt have a big engine and isnt damaging. Tackling his only asset. the game has passed him by. Harsh but fair!

I actually agree here. Not with the retiring part, as that will likely happen at the end of the year, but he was a liability out there today. He tries his heart out and we love him, but he just lacks the polish and oomph we need. He shouldn't retire though, as we need him out there for his experience to help the youngsters coming through.

His miss at goal was unforgivable for a captain. What was it 25-30 metres out with virtually no angle? When the game was on and we were up by 4 points. He misses that, what should have been an easy goal, and it rebounds, North kick a goal, take the lead and never lost it again for the rest of the game. That was the point where the momentum died for the team in my eyes. If you were a youngster, and you do the hard work getting the ball down there, only to have your captain miss an easy shot for goal like that, it would really deflate you. He shanked a few other kicks around the ground today too. I'm hoping it was just a rusty first game, and not the beginning of his fade into retirement.

Isnt he doing that by playing four 1st gamers today?

Clearly..........I would have thought.......but was there a viable marking option in the forward line.?Other than that, I thought the kids were good.........very good.

But let's face it, in the end, the Roos moved the ball far more positively, because they knew they had viable marking options up forward.

Our turnovers killed us today, because we did not. Do we have a young guy who can be a tall in the forward line?

When we had the ascendancy, we held on to the ball for far too long, becuase we had no real marking options up forward.

What happened to Stef Martin?

he is the one player that you know will give you 140% every single time he is out there.

140% effort every single time. WOW thats a pretty good effort.

We didnt have marking options up forward but we managed to splice and dice the ground all over the ground.

The Roos punisshed us for our turnover errors.

I dont think we had the ascendancy today. We were nearly always playing catch up football. We were a class below notwithstanding the endeavour.

I may get shot down here but does Mclean have a problem with chasing? Or Is he just very slow?

Have said this all along, when things are going well a good footballer when things are not just an ordinary footballer time for him to show what he is made off.

Isnt he doing that by playing four 1st gamers today?

Good point RR.

Grimes, Wona & Strauss are injured.

Watts and Blease are still at school.

Maric has only just come back from injury.

McNamara isn't ready yet.

Bailey really can't play any more kids than he did today.

Let's for a moment, consider you are right Jarka.

Neita, we all know as a champion and struck down before he was due. Nevertheless, he is gone.

At what stage, did we draft anything that resembled his understudy?

Surely, we did not need a crystal ball to find that out. FFS, it told today when it mattered.

But, as I asked in my original post, could someone please tell me what our game plan is, because as sure as hell, I have no idea.

OK, alright, yes I am stupid.

Who should we have picked up in previous drafts then?

Let's for a moment, consider you are right Jarka.

Neita, we all know as a champion and struck down before he was due. Nevertheless, he is gone.

At what stage, did we draft anything that resembled his understudy?

Surely, we did not need a crystal ball to find that out. FFS, it told today when it mattered.

Agree that this is the case but how is this Bailey's fault when he has been there for one season and 2 drafts?

Harsh and ridiculous! :angry:

Firstly, it is not his job to kick 50m goals, even our so called forwards can't do that. Secondly, he runs ALL DAY long and has not slowed down as the years have gone on. Finally, he is the one player that you know will give you 140% every single time he is out there. He throws himself around the packs, and courage alone will get him picked every single week.

Trash talking our captain and it's only Round 1. FFS!

I agree that he puts in 110% and due to young list, his expeirence is vital however he will be found out this year and like Neitz will soon realise he has gone on for one year to many. He took the captaincy on and must be better!

Agree that this is the case but how is this Bailey's fault when he has been there for one season and 2 drafts?

The use of the ball out of the guts, going wide on almost every occasion, lack of confidence by the likes of Flash and where was Stef Martin today?.

The lack of a key tall forward of course is not DB's fault. All I am saying is, it would appear we have never addressed that contigency as a club.

But the game plan, lack of confidence in team mates and turnovers as a result, surely must come down to the coach. Hey, I hope I am proved wrong in a big way, but it seems to me, we are going out to stem the tide, rather than call our own tune.

Remember, people were calling for Al Clarkson's neck, but you could see he was trying something. Zac Dawson was like a lamb to the slaughter, but Clarkson persisted. Even then, Clarkson had his rolling zone in its infancy. I remember (and someone will tell me when it was) the Dees were playing the Hawks at the 'G. We were well in front at one point. Miller inadvertantly collected Crawford in the back, which saw Crawf sidelined for weeks. But what happened? The then embryonic zone overrun us, and the young Hawks took the points that day.

WHERE IS OUR GAME PLAN??