Again, poor old Bater is still under the pump from the supporters.

For the game on Saturday Baters job was to keep Maxwell occupied and not allow him to float free mopping up and rebounding, considering that Maxwell hardly did this at all, I would say Bater did his job.

It is not all about standing out, it is doing the job the coach gives you for the team

If you must criticise a player, please explain to me what Bate did wrong on Saturday, and yes I am prepared for the onslaught

Didn't provide enough of a target simply. All well and good to hold the teams rebounding defender to squat but when that means reducing your availabilty to the scoring cause- being a forward and having that expected of you, I believe = fail.

Stats are for geeks.. I prefer to see impact on game day with my own eyes.. not after the fact with boring numbers and percentages. Ignorant? Sue me.

Didn't provide enough of a target simply. All well and good to hold the teams rebounding defender to squat but when that means reducing your availabilty to the scoring cause- being a forward and having that expected of you, I believe = fail.

Stats are for geeks.. I prefer to see impact on game day with my own eyes.. not after the fact with boring numbers and percentages. Ignorant? Sue me.

That's cool, I didn't provide stats, just an observation from watching the game, with keeping Maxwell occupied Bater took away a threat, I don't need him to kick goals as long as I see he is performing for the team

Really important player for us, and simply did not do enough all day. looked lethargic and slow(er) than usual. He will get better, and he must stay in the side. We will really see the full upside of Bate's worth when we have Watts and another tall forward in our line up.

he needs to work harder this week and get involved and if he does that, then we have a greater chance of winning.

Really important player for us, and simply did not do enough all day. looked lethargic and slow(er) than usual. He will get better, and he must stay in the side. We will really see the full upside of Bate's worth when we have Watts and another tall forward in our line up.

he needs to work harder this week and get involved and if he does that, then we have a greater chance of winning.

Even the posters on demonology acknowledge his limited pre season and the fact that he's grossly underdone

I remember this same thread from last year. Bate needs match time to get fit, he wil never be a key forward and I thought he showed something on Saturday, needs to start kicking goals just 1-2 per week.

I remember this same thread from last year. Bate needs match time to get fit, he wil never be a key forward and I thought he showed something on Saturday, needs to start kicking goals just 1-2 per week.

Precisely, he is a guy who needs games under his belt to get form and confidence.

He is however one of a number of young players who has a tendency to drop his bundle and lose all confidence if things don't go well early in a game.

He didn't need to be match fit to spot Petterd standing alone in the goal square in the last minute of the match! He could have won the game.

This was the point I was trying to make, he is a little underdone, and needs a bit more sharpness, so Bailey gives him the job of nullifying Maxwell's influence, a win win

He didn't need to be match fit to spot Petterd standing alone in the goal square in the last minute of the match! He could have won the game.

Agreed.

I thought he had a terrible game and his last kick just capped it off.

He didn't need to be match fit to spot Petterd standing alone in the goal square in the last minute of the match! He could have won the game.

Is this the very last minute, coz I thought Grimes got it to Green who bombed long just out of the reach of Dunn, it was then cleared hurriedly to Bail who put it back in towards Petterd...end of game.....or was it just me that saw that...nobody seems to be agreeing with me that Maxwell did not have his usual influence on the game......

I think if people watch the game back again they will see that he was not that bad. And when he gets the ball going forward he usually hits a target. A couple of shots at goal were set up by Bate passes and we have very few players who consistently hit a target entering F50. He was far from poor on Saturday. He may not have starred, but he did a job. I think people may be expecting him to star every week because of his good performances last year. But he is playing in a team with no key forward stars and will consequently get more attention than he would if Jurrah and/or another KPF were playing. He will find it hard to dominate games until we get a quality KPF to take some attention away. In the interim, if he sets up a few goals a game, he is doing a good task for the team.

I think if people watch the game back again they will see that he was not that bad. And when he gets the ball going forward he usually hits a target. A couple of shots at goal were set up by Bate passes and we have very few players who consistently hit a target entering F50. He was far from poor on Saturday. He may not have starred, but he did a job. I think people may be expecting him to star every week because of his good performances last year. But he is playing in a team with no key forward stars and will consequently get more attention than he would if Jurrah and/or another KPF were playing. He will find it hard to dominate games until we get a quality KPF to take some attention away. In the interim, if he sets up a few goals a game, he is doing a good task for the team.

Thank you, you are unfortunately preaching to people who do not want to be converted, as I put in a previous post, we have a lot of hard markers on this site, a player needs to kick a hatful of goals, do numerous tackles, have multiple possessions, run miles and look very good in the post match interview (especially if they are a forward), before they are elevated from being a spud..Ricky Petterd has managed it this week.........not bad for a player who nearly died, has had a couple of other injuries and is only 21/22.....

Bate had a hand in some really important passages of play on the weekend. Those who are suggesting that he should be dropped should really have another look at the game. By no means was he perfect but I'd much prefer him in the side than Miller.

We've always known it takes Bater a while to get going, the start of 2010 is going to be no different.

That's cool, I didn't provide stats, just an observation from watching the game, with keeping Maxwell occupied Bater took away a threat, I don't need him to kick goals as long as I see he is performing for the team

I think that comment was directed at me. I've been his only real supporter this week, it seems, and have said a few things about him in the Lynden Dunn thread. But the basic gist of what I was saying there is that he got himself involved in a number of our goals, and when he screwed up, I didn't feel that his mistakes cost us in terms of goals or inside 50s (whether they be turnovers that cause the ball to leave our 50 or enter our opponent's), which I value more than anything else, since if you don't get the ball close to goal and keep it there, how can you expect to win?

Love the kid.

Underdone at the moment.

4th in the Bluey last year.

People are so predictable and unpersuasive when it comes to Matty Bate and his 'ineffectual' 8 mark 15 touch games.

I have said this at this time for a few years now - he is 22 (obviously his age changes), he is asked to play CHF, and he is a very good HFF.

Kid's good.

Noone here thinks Bate is a spud. There is noone to convert.. merely commenting that his game was down from his usual impact and had it not been, we could have won. The man will be marked harder because he is playing in the forward line, and that comes with the territory. 'Tis the life of a forward- score or be scorned- and yes, it is as brash and simple as that. Life's tough, Go Dees!

So it is no longer enough to do a job within your team structure? Must we have 22 BOG's each week? Matty wasn't at his best but he did a job FCS.

As for missing Petterd with 10 seconds to go? He had about 1 second to make a decision. What % of AFL players would have seen Petterd let alone hit him up? Very few I would say.

Noone here thinks Bate is a spud. There is noone to convert.. merely commenting that his game was down from his usual impact and had it not been, we could have won. The man will be marked harder because he is playing in the forward line, and that comes with the territory. 'Tis the life of a forward- score or be scorned- and yes, it is as brash and simple as that. Life's tough, Go Dees!

People want him dropped.

How is that rating him?

Again, 4th in the Bluey means nothing to fans who only see the horrible turning circle and the ungainly kick, and the mistake at the end (surrounded by plenty of other mistakes by Dees players).

It's hard to tell from 1000km away, but on screen Bate looked like he was struggling to accelerate and to get involved. I was surprised by his reasonable stats at the end of the game. Certainly one thing that the cameras don't pick up is the negating role where a player simply sticks with someone so they aren't a good option for the releasing kick.

I did think Bate gradually worked his way into it, and I'm reasonably confident he'll offer a bit more potency as he gets back some touch after missing the last 'leg' (ha ha, me pun bad yuck) of pre-season.

There is a plenty of "Bate-Haters" that rear up when he has an off game, and Saturday was by no means off, just a little quiet.

I get the impression he is always going to be one of those players you either love or hate.

For those that hate him, it seems they only ever see anything bad he does, and are oblivious to the good. Sort of like when i used to watch Daniel Ward play i guess.

I am quite confident he will get it going pretty soon and hopefully have a few posters swinging round on their opinions.

I really hope Bate improves from what we have seen this year because so important for MFC success that these type of players get better rather than get worse. At the moment sadly I think there is more bad than good from Bate and I think Miller is better option. Always more than happy to be proven wrong with underperformers.

I think that comment was directed at me. I've been his only real supporter this week, it seems, and have said a few things about him in the Lynden Dunn thread. But the basic gist of what I was saying there is that he got himself involved in a number of our goals, and when he screwed up, I didn't feel that his mistakes cost us in terms of goals or inside 50s (whether they be turnovers that cause the ball to leave our 50 or enter our opponent's), which I value more than anything else, since if you don't get the ball close to goal and keep it there, how can you expect to win?

No harping on here but his mistake in the dying seconds cost us the match. Albeit one of four mistakes in the dying seconds that cost us the match.

Personally I thought he was ordinary on Saturday. Better than his first match which was truly awful.

I'd have him playing 2's until he dominates a game for Casey but I can't see them dropping him this week.

I'm well aware that he's underdone but he needs to play better than he has so far.

By the way I'm a fan of Bate's and see him playing in our Premiership sides in the future.

He didn't need to be match fit to spot Petterd standing alone in the goal square in the last minute of the match! He could have won the game.

That's big game experience, this is not something most are born with, but must be learnt through experience.

Installment 1.

Next installment could be this week against a struggling top team.

People want him dropped.

How is that rating him?

Again, 4th in the Bluey means nothing to fans who only see the horrible turning circle and the ungainly kick, and the mistake at the end (surrounded by plenty of other mistakes by Dees players).

Drop him for who?

He's helping the team that has no acknowledged forwards atmo, he's underdone because of preseason injury, outside of his control.

He's gaining fitness as we play him. he gives us a focal point & helps to divide the opposition defense.

I can't really fault the match committee, except I disagreed with so many kids in Rnd 1, chicken & egg.