Good call Jaded. If people cant see the increments of improvement in Watts then I dont know what they expect.

Some supporters clearly go to the game and pick up on every mistake he makes, instead of looking at how much he improves each week.

He used to get lost on the field, now he runs into the right positions. He used to lose his feet, now he is keeping strong in the contest. He was fairly criticised for lacking aggression at the contest, but today got crunched several times to help his teammates. He is a beautiful user of the ball, he has great speed and agility, and he is 12 years old.

What the f' was Jack Reiwoldt doing 4 years ago?

Watts showed today something that he hasn't shown yet, which was aggression at the ball. He laid some nice bumps and got smashed in the goal-assist of the day. However the highlight for me was when he intercepted an Essendon handball in our forwardline and weaved his way through 3 opponents. Sadly he didn't have the confidence to back himself for the goal, but that evasiveness is rare in someone so tall. It was Buddy-like!

Good call on Watts.

I saw Cheney put his body on the line numerous times and won free kicks in front of packs a couple of times which prevented shots on goal for the bombers. He is not as bad a player as everyone makes out, although he has a lot to learn.

I saw Cheney put his body on the line numerous times and won free kicks in front of packs a couple of times which prevented shots on goal for the bombers. He is not as bad a player as everyone makes out, although he has a lot to learn.

Cheney has great courage and is good above his head but that is about all. His decision making is poor and I would be suprised if he plays next week.

Cheney - won't make it

MacDonald - back to brisbane

Watts - just needs weight. Once he can take the hits and also dish them out his confidence will soar and he'll be elite. Nothing to worry about there, move along.

Rivers - better than Warnock

Garland - Will destroy forwards.

Trengove - will be elite

Scully - will be elite

Morton - bring him back

McDonald - miss the skipper

Moloney - come along way

Grimes - Missed his dash

Strauss - need him to make it

Johnson - oh my

Blease - love his dash

Jurrah - will be unstoppable

Bennell - will keep improving

Maric - Lets hope so

Frawley - AA CHB soon

Bate - set to explode

Petterd - no more injuries

Tapscott - Lets hope so

Mckenzie - in the best 22

Gysberts - Future best 22

Davey - good but is better

Dunn - Million Dollar casey forward

Colin - set to explode

Green - 3 years at FF

Jamar - Hats off to a great man.

Jones - intensity good, will need to improve to stay in best 22, I think he will.

Jetta - Keep at it

1 of Gawn, Fitzpatrick - needs to step up by 2012-13

McNamara - Can still make it

Martin - The Forgotten Man

36,132 members - 2011

Jim Stynes - gets the all clear

Debt - Demolished

Roost It - Pumped about the Demons, loves the footy, absolutely loves beating Essendon.

Cracking return to form, joeboy.

Bruce - wonderful all day

And will we hear about it? No we will not.

Johnson - fumbled and stumbled

Not the worst game he's ever played. Having said that, if there was any pressure from another ruckman, or if we'd lost and were looking for a scapegoat, he'd be the one. Probably in our worst three players on the day. In his defence, he doesn't get a whole lot of game time, and he did get a few handy looking ruck taps... just directed ALL of them to opponents!!!

Jurrah - needed the run

Deserves a little more credit I think. And not for the two cheapies he picked up. He looked to be running more freely than he did late last year, I thought. But gee he is a little rusty. Kicking wasn't great, a couple of bad options he chose, and didn't seem to back his leap. ALl of this will come in time, and if you're going to have a warm up game, it's nice to kick a couple to get the confidence up.

MacDonald - provided important aggression

Moloney - important centre breaks

Rivers - reliable and safe

Scully - important linking game

Sylvia - an important return

So what you're saying is, they were important. :D

He needs to get the idea of taking the ball and sprinting with it for a half dozen steps just to get clear of his immediate opponents.

Did you see that play in the pocket, I think in the second term? He got what looked like a 50/50 ball, then burnt off two guys. I was sitting in that pocket and I was sure he'd have a shot, but I think he passed it off and we turned it over.

You're right, he has the pace... Maybe not the fitness yet. I reckon maybe he just has to get some confidence in using it. When he tilts forwards and goes hammer and tongs he leaves guys behind him.

Watts was OK today. The problem is that he loses almost every 50-50 contest.

This will change as he gains strength and experience.

Patience is a virtue.

Also, what's with people not recognising Bate. Thought he played really well today, worked hard. He marked the ball/found the ball 60-70m out from goal a number of times, which is a good CHF's game.

Watts keeps improving. That's all we want. Period.

He also attracts a reasonable defender as does Jurrah which then frees up Green. Think structure people before you start calling for him to be dropped for not taking 12 pack marks and kicking 8 in his 12th game!

Rivers - first three kicks?

They were atrocious and it was looking ominous however to his credit he was really good after that and read the ball fantastically well. That needs to now be his baseline performance on which to build.

Watts wasn't bad today. He's still a little shy when it comes to body contact, but he's improving. He took a couple of big hits to get the ball into a teammates hands, one of which was a direct goal assist to Sylvia.

The other are he really needs to improve is his running. He gets the ball and slows down to asses his options, allowing the opposition to tackle or corner him. He needs to get the idea of taking the ball and sprinting with it for a half dozen steps just to get clear of his immediate opponents. He has the pace, but too often he's too busy looking for the next play to use it.

He is learning about the body contact and putting himself in more hard contact situations which is what we want.

As far as the running goes, their is nothing wrong with his running, just his confidence to back himself. The perfect example was when he pinched the ball, danced around a couple, made a few quick sprint steps to get space but didn't back himself in to finish the goal- something that will come. Confidence is a wonderful thing.

Thought Bate was good in patches, especially when the Bummers were coming back at us. He was linking really well between mid and fwd line.

I think one of the biggest thinggs with Bate is that he is a laconic footballer. When he isn't getting the ball he looks slow and disinterested however if you watch closely he is the same way when he is getting it. That's just the way he plays. I still fancy having him there as he provided another good avenue to play through and for the first time in about 12 weeks we actually looked like we had a dangerous forward line today.

I love Chip. He is awesomeness wrapped in goodness packaged in win.

And Garland was giant today. Did Monfries get a kick?

Also fantastic to see Sylvia back dominating. He is a pleasure to watch when he is on.

Definite low lights today were PJ (will he ever take a mark?) and I thought Cheney got lost way too many times. Rivers did some great things, but his opponent who is a no-name kid got 3 on him, which was disappointing. MacDonald is another one who does some great things, then turns around and hits an opponent on the chest with a 12m kick. Maybe it's because we've become spoilt with the likes of Chip, Garland and Grimes in our backline, but these defenders leave much to be desired.

Certainly there is room to push one of them out and bring back Warnock, who may not be the most talented guy in the world, but has plenty of pace and strength.

The man-love for Chip will be widespread and is reaching Grimes proportions!!!

Garland was awesome too.

Sylvia made them look more potent both forward and on the ball.

PJ is PJ. I think we've all seen enough to know that he ain't much but i also believe that Jamar is better for having someone who can relive him for short periods. That extra bit of rest helped him dominate today and meant sylvia wasn't wasted going up for hit outs.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Cheney out for Bail next week.

we also have to bring Jimmy Mac back in so i see that they will possibly drop MacDonald or "rest" one of the young kids.

i thought watts did well

just couldnt finish off.

bennell did good not great but enough to keep him in the side

pj didnt do to well not bad but it really helped jamar and i think jamar played alot better with him there

Johnson - good final quarter

i thought watts did well

just couldnt finish off.

bennell did good not great but enough to keep him in the side

pj didnt do to well not bad but it really helped jamar and i think jamar played alot better with him there

Bennell has amazing talent and one day he will put it all together. He drifts out of the game for long periods and should try to present more; he has incredible hands and picks the ball up off the half volley as good as anyone I've seen.

Here goes:

Bartram - another reliable performance

Bate - terrific linking role

Bennell - fast skillful moments

Bruce - put in 100%

Cheney - good and bad

Davey - sublime at times

Dunn - impressive once again

Frawley - brutal and skillful

Garland - almost our best

Green - b o g

Jamar - dominated all day

Johnson - good ruck work

Jones - not his best

Jurrah - some good signs

MacDonald - important at times

Moloney - another gutsy display

Rivers - atoned for errors

Scully - more to come

Sylvia - made a statement

Trengove - young gun; classy

Watts - on the way!

McKenzie - great at stoppages

Watts played awesome today.

He ran km's, tackled was into it. Linked up, got free, made

Contests.

Usually watch him for one or two quarters from up the top of the members. You see much more from up there

Instead of being the punching bag he was doing the punching!!

Got stuck into Hurley after greeny kicked one, got stuck into a couple of other players that had obviously given it to him earlier.

The bloke is the next reiwoldt. Fact. Nick, not jack. We have enough jacks.

His engine is getting there.

I watched him run the full length of the field twice in the first 5 mins and kept doing it all day.

Edited July 11, 201015 yr by Friday

Watts was OK today. The problem is that he loses almost every 50-50 contest.

This will change as he gains strength and experience.

Patience is a virtue.

Also, what's with people not recognising Bate. Thought he played really well today, worked hard. He marked the ball/found the ball 60-70m out from goal a number of times, which is a good CHF's game.

Part Agree. Bate ran hard many times to be ignored, and was a gerat link with long kicking into the forward line and outpositioned his opponent at times.

Watts wories me. Great footy smarts when selcting an option but reflxex and intuitive action seriously slow - i hope its just a maturity thing.

Bennell has amazing talent and one day he will put it all together. He drifts out of the game for long periods and should try to present more; he has incredible hands and picks the ball up off the half volley as good as anyone I've seen.

Sorry RobbieF I thought Bennel was one of our poorer players today, I hope you are right but just does not finish off well enough for me.

I think he will struggle to make the trip to WA.

I have not been one of Watts greatest fans however I thought he earned his spot today

and he is definately playing a lot better than a month ago. And who would take his place as a tall forward?

Frawley - biggest mancrush ever

people have a man crush on Jonathon Brown,,,,but i think a new man crush is coming...step aside Brown...Frawley is the new pin up boy for man crushes!

people have a man crush on Jonathon Brown,,,,but i think a new man crush is coming...step aside Brown...Frawley is the new pin up boy for man crushes!

Love that he has no neck now either, he is such a tank.

It's like he woke up one day and said, the hell with you neck, you are totally unnecessary to my ability to be super awesome.

And super awesome he sure is. LOVE him, and really struggling to choose a favourite player these days. I am so torn between the Grimes and the Chip.

Love that he has no neck now either, he is such a tank.

It's like he woke up one day and said, the hell with you neck, you are totally unnecessary to my ability to be super awesome.

And super awesome he sure is. LOVE him, and really struggling to choose a favourite player these days. I am so torn between the Grimes and the Chip.

You just lost any slim-none claim you had over Grimes

You just lost any slim-none claim you had over Grimes

Shut your face.

I still lay massive claims to Grimes, but I have a man crush on Chip that will not subside (and by man crush I mean a woman crush, minus the sexual urges).

I still lay massive claims to Grimes, but

I may have to consult Redleg/WJ, but I believe the phrase is "I rest my case"

I may have to consult Redleg/WJ, but I believe the phrase is "I rest my case"

You're the one who has Chip in their avatar. Disgrace!