Two players that really impressed me today.

[Dee Fan 3,247]

I'm having a lot of difficulty believing what I'm reading here.

Morton was excellent today.

I thought so too, as did most of the Demonland voters, and the Age writer.

I guess some just want to be different.

[stevethemanjordan 6,952]

Wow.

No I just genuinely thought he did more bad than good.

Oh well.

[sue 8,409]

While Morton did well today, I thought that especially early in the game he hesitated a few times putting others under pressure. One time it wasn't the next guy who was under the hammer but an opposition player was able to get closer to the next obvious target who was then under pressure that would have been lessened if there was no initial hesitation.

[Harcourt 146]

Wow.

No I just genuinely thought he did more bad than good.

Oh well.

ok fair enough....i thought he took a big step forward today and really look forward to him playing a lot of good games in a row now. Toughness ain't everything for him right now.

[Harrisonrules 273]

You will all fall on me but I thought Miller did a good job of helping Jamar out in the ruck today and with an ounce of luck he could have snagged another goal.

He played tough today and was going as hard at the end as at the start.

Who wasn't going flat out at the end. Miller can usually take a chest mark and kicks 50/50 for goal. But notice how he almost fumbled that ball he got to Jones for a goal. He's so awkward with whatever he does and has a slow mind making decisions. Johnson would do no worse (and that's saying something) but would be so much better in the ruck.

Morton continues to develop beautifully. Now there is a guy who can run and as others have said finds space. Yes an occasional bad decision but then who doesn't. I do believe he needs to improve his short passing. Better kicking long. But I'm a real fan and agree he had a great game.

Basically all he lacks is a good nickname. Either Sticks or stilts might get the ball rolling.

[Hellaintabadplacetobe 4,089]

Cale Morton - 25 touches, 9 marks and a goal (94 supercoach points)

Colin Garland - 24 touches, 4 marks and a goal (114 supercoach points)

Both really important players for us in the future. Morton (and maybe Garland up forward?) is going to be a real match-up headache for a lot of opposition coaches.

Garland punched away so many balls from the pie's forward line and was precise by foot.

Really happy for both these guys tonight. Garland showed why so many rate him as forward with that massive goal outside 50.

I totally agree with your thread, but I wish you had included Clint Bartram with it. He does not get a lotta love on these pages, and I have thought at times that he may be playing his last year at the club, but he has turned the corner and is playing as good, if not better, than his excellent 1st year. Well done Barts

[pm24 451]

haven't read all the posts on the thread yet, however i think it is worth noting how well dunn played. His chase of Heath Shaw out of 50 was fantastic and really should have resulted in a deliberate out of bounds call and a free to us. In addition to that, his pressure and tackling in the forward line was good, and created a number of contests in the forward 50 and kicked a goal (should've had 2). He never should have been dropped in the first place and should remain in the forward line permanently. With he, bate and green we have 3 decent marking options up forward. Then with jurrah to come back it just gets better.

[Bay Riffin 1,413]

what impressed me today was Mortons goal. If you replay the 3rd quarter we kicked out from a behind to Jamar who took the mark around 50-55 metres out defensive 50, then played on straight away into the middle. If you look again, Morton is next to Jamar when he marks it, then takes of down the wing to accept the ball moving quickly through the midfield. not many could run that 100 metres like Cale did and nail the goal.

He will be something special and finally looks like he won't snap in half

[TrueGRITS 0]

I totally agree with your thread, but I wish you had included Clint Bartram with it. He does not get a lotta love on these pages, and I have thought at times that he may be playing his last year at the club, but he has turned the corner and is playing as good, if not better, than his excellent 1st year. Well done Barts

I was actually going to write the same thing... You can get pigeon holed early in your career and I think alot think bartram is no good just holding a spot until another comes up.... I think he is only 22??? and is playing the lock down backpocket job very well.

He is never going to be the best disposal of the ball but neither was whelan... (Cheney is 20 vs Bartram is 22)

I think a great example of an early myth is Brad Greens kicking for goal... All the commentators crap on about how good a shot at goal he is etc etc but besides his first two years when he rarely missed he nothing better than average and not what he was original like when he started his career. I think as he continues his career in the fwd line his accuracy may increase but it has only been okay over the last five years.

[Neita3000 37]

Garland is going to become like our Sam Gilbert. Does anyone agree?

I reckon he's going to be racking up some huge numbers off the back flank whilst keeping his opponent restricted

[hillie 41]

morton's first quarter was very ordinary. not going with players on the lead, indecisive, which lead to turnovers, and turnovers himself. but he improved as the =game went on. don't think you should all gush over his game though. i think bate waS selfish on a few occaisions. i thought miller was alright as second ruck too. collingwood dominate when he was relieving jamar. jamar was fantastic. moloney was great. jones was good too despite swan racking them up. his smother was brilliant. dunn was good shutting down there run out of defense as well as being an option. thought he could of been used on a couple of more occasions. watts was quiet and some of his decisions were poor where i thought he had time and still stuffed it up. needs to keep his feet more again. but he needs time to learn. frawly was brilliant. providied some great run out of defence and i thought he, rivers and col all ran forward at times and were used which was great. great effort. some turnovers killed us but i thought the effort was great.

[Akum 2,660]

morton's first quarter was very ordinary. not going with players on the lead, indecisive, which lead to turnovers, and turnovers himself. but he improved as the =game went on. don't think you should all gush over his game though. ...

Said it before and I'll say it again - Morton is much more damaging as an attacking weapon rather than a defensive one. He has a great engine, an amazing ability to find space, and on the occasions when he's decisive (an important caveat - his indecisive moments will decrease over time), he uses if well over 40-50m. We need to get him into the game in an attacking sense, not take him out of the game by making him have to play defensively.

And I'm beginning to think the same about Grimes. I long for the day when Strauss can take his role in defence & release him into the midfield.

[dazzledavey36 48,640]

I am not hating.

I enjoy watching the development of Cale but I can't believe my eyes after reading what some of you guys are saying about his game !!!

I'm hoping there are some who agree with me on this !

i agree becoz i thought in the first qtr he really rushed and lacked awarness and resulted in turnovers that cost us.

got better as the game wore which i was happy with. dont get me wrong he is still a gun in my eyes but just needs to dish off the first option.

good game cale!

[Binmans PA 25,890]

Cale Morton - 25 touches, 9 marks and a goal (94 supercoach points)

Colin Garland - 24 touches, 4 marks and a goal (114 supercoach points)

Both really important players for us in the future. Morton (and maybe Garland up forward?) is going to be a real match-up headache for a lot of opposition coaches.

Garland punched away so many balls from the pie's forward line and was precise by foot.

Really happy for both these guys tonight. Garland showed why so many rate him as forward with that massive goal outside 50.

I still don't understand why people want to play Garland up forward. He absolutely smash it down back today and he served up the form that got me so excited about him during 2008. Keep him down back.

[Adzman 2,085]

Morton is an interesting case. Much like Bruce earlier in his career, I cannot find the exact position he would be best suited for. Seems to flow in and out of different positions seamlessly during the game. He has not reached anywhere near his full potential yet, but the Collingwood game was a huge sign of faith for a player that could be dominant at this level.

Garland I plain like. Much maligned at times (unfairly, and sometimes warranted), Garland is the type of player that can really hold his spot on the ground and go unnoticed for much of the game. Looks a forward threat, but is just super handy at reading the play down back. Mr Invisible is better than we think. If he can remain fit and get a full pre-season without any problems we might see him develop out of his skin.

[Rhino Richards 1,467]

I'm having a lot of difficulty believing what I'm reading here.

Morton was excellent today.

After a challenging firt quarter, I thought Morton was very good today.

Who wasn't going flat out at the end. Miller can usually take a chest mark and kicks 50/50 for goal. But notice how he almost fumbled that ball he got to Jones for a goal. He's so awkward with whatever he does and has a slow mind making decisions. Johnson would do no worse (and that's saying something) but would be so much better in the ruck.

Miller is an ordinary footballer, a battler at times. But I thought he paid his meal ticket this week. Did you notice how he actually didn't fumble and got the ball to Jones. In a game where goals were at premium, Miller kicked two and had a goal assist. If it was Dunn, other would be saying Dunn has arrived in the AFL! (Dunn was serviceable yesterday). At no time did that pillow puss Fraser have any influence at the centre bounce. So Miller gets a tick there. And PJ!!..... turn it up. The ultimate tweener. Wins a Liston in the VFL but cant ruck, cant play forward and Jamie Bennell provides a bigger physical contest. We forget 12 months ago with PJ as our *cough* No 1 ruckman that Josh Fraser was close to BOG.

[Red Sox 2]

Jaded, I enjoy what you have to say a lot of the time but I can't believe you are saying this.

Morton does not enjoy one bit of rough stuff. There were a few instances today where he didn't go anywhere near hard enough.

I'm very much on the opposite side.

I thought he had a shocker today. Did some good things at times and his goal was nice but for the most part I thought he was nowhere near intense enough at going in for the ball, he panicked and turned it over a lot or put team mates under a lot of pressure. He was caught many times and had terrible awareness today. He was also far too loose on his opponent. (Brad Dick).

I can see that Cale has some thing's going for him but today was not a great game and he needs to improve many areas of his game.

Melbourne supporters please wake up.

Mate mate....couldn't disagree more, sure he does have a little issue with his decision making at times but IMO i see this improving as he goes....he was great today and our best last week. My main issue with Cale is that he doesn't JUMP for a contested mark...(SEE Pendlebury out mark him while Cale sat at the back of the pack) when he is such a big bloke, hopefully a bit more size will sort this.

The amount of Posts here that listed Garland as needing a rest???????? Could not understand it at all...a guy this good does not need to find touch in the twos. Wow, he has just improved week after week after 12mths out of the game and was AWESOME yesterday......he and Chip are brilliant and that goal (I was calling for the big Russian just to kick it himself) showed that he could be swung forward as the coaching department has hinted, but he is too good where he is as part of what will soon be the best defense in the game....to be 4th or 5th best now as we sit in 13th spot is a phenomenal result and proof of just how good that back 6 are.....I have to dip my lid to Clint Bartram who I have knocked and still believe there are better options (Strauss and Cheney) but those two will have to wait because Clint just keeps doing what he is asked to do....just hit the chest with those kicks Clint...GO DEMONS!

[e25 5]

Stevetheman, misfiring again.

Morton looked the goods.

[Dinosaur Rover 197]

After a challenging firt quarter, I thought Morton was very good today.

Miller is an ordinary footballer, a battler at times. But I thought he paid his meal ticket this week. Did you notice how he actually didn't fumble and got the ball to Jones. In a game where goals were at premium, Miller kicked two and had a goal assist. If it was Dunn, other would be saying Dunn has arrived in the AFL! (Dunn was serviceable yesterday). At no time did that pillow puss Fraser have any influence at the centre bounce. So Miller gets a tick there. And PJ!!..... turn it up. The ultimate tweener. Wins a Liston in the VFL but cant ruck, cant play forward and Jamie Bennell provides a bigger physical contest. We forget 12 months ago with PJ as our *cough* No 1 ruckman that Josh Fraser was close to BOG.

I agree that Miller within the confines of his abilities earned his keep. I think both teams were playing an extra man in defense sot hat when the ball came to Miller he was contesting one on two. He has alwsy provided a pretty good hit up lead but never the contested mark. He has a pretty good tank but when he gets kicks beyond 50 he cant kick goals and isnt reliable enough with the next disposal - the game now calls for the hit up guy to play on almost immediately before the defence recovers. Dunn also held Heath Shaw's run and carry game - indeed that may have been Dunne's primary or secondary mission.

[titan_uranus 22,218]

Yesterday should confirm why those calling for Morton and/or Garland to be dropped were just flat out off the mark.

These two are crucial to our future success. Both played brilliantly yesterday, and both are flexible enough to play in more than one position.