We have a long way to go.

[Weedster 174]

I can't disagree with you more.

Yes we want to see some young guys get game time. But our kick-ins, stoppage work, system and effort should be working. We have been training FIVE MONTHS!

Our draw is the best we have had for years from a football perspective. If we get off to a flyer, it sets us up for the year. Momentum is huge in football and belief among young sides can do incredible things. We play Swans, Hawks, Bris at teh 'G, Gold coast, bye, WCE, Adelaide at the G. We should easily be 4 and 3 after 8 rounds.

It is imperative we get off to a good start.

I can't stand this weak crud we have to put up with in pre-season. What have they been doing for 5 months????? Because we didn't look fitter or more skilled than Brisbane yesterday. Nor did we show stronger desire. Our system and efforts were inept. As was the performance of our coaching staff.

Agree - have seen them play twice now - in person - and am very disappointed with the apparent lack of systems and structure. I too wonder what they have been working on for the past 5 months, notwithstanding the players rested this weekend. Still struggling to get first use, still looking for players to step up and take the game on. Will be interested to see how they go with players returning this weekend. B)

[jnrmac 19,323]

Absolutely no clue.

I agree you have no clue. Refreshingly honest assessment of yourself KS.

73 marks to 29 at half time says a lot about the way we were playing. The full time stats also suggest nothing was done about it.

The point of having, say, a kick in defence system is that it doesn't in essence matter who is in there. Now of course it does because of the talent but it should LOOK the same regardless of who is in the team.

And the intensity at the contest should be a standard regardless of who is in the side or how elite they are.

If you think that our first 8 games this year are not important in the context of our season you are deluded.

[Dee Fan 3,247]

I agree you have no clue. Refreshingly honest assessment of yourself KS.

73 marks to 29 at half time says a lot about the way we were playing. The full time stats also suggest nothing was done about it.

The point of having, say, a kick in defence system is that it doesn't in essence matter who is in there. Now of course it does because of the talent but it should LOOK the same regardless of who is in the team.

And the intensity at the contest should be a standard regardless of who is in the side or how elite they are.

If you think that our first 8 games this year are not important in the context of our season you are deluded.

I've been to the last two games and the problem is the players who made the mistakes wouldn't have done any differently whether it was practice or not. Jones still tries to beat several opponents, gets caught and passes off to a player in trouble, that hospital hand pass was one of the worst I've seen. Beamer still bangs it long without any thought, Jack missed two easy marks because he allowed the defender the opportunity of punching the ball by not taking it out in front of him. Joel Mac has no presence when under pressure and coughs it up as does Warnock. Martin hasn’t got the ability to play at the top level and is neither a forward nor back if he can’t play well now how will he go when there is real pressure?

We were 2 to 3 metres behind our opponent all day and were led to every contest hence the number of marks they took and this is a side that is considered to be one of the worst in the competition. On that basis even with a sub strength side we should have done better, anyone that went there on Saturday and was considering whether to sign up for membership would be thinking twice.

Anyone that went to that game would have been a little worried by the total lack of skill shown by some of our senior players.

[Demon17 4,638]

That is such a ridiculous post, we had plenty out last week and today AS IS CLEARLY WRITTEN IN THE POST EARLIER IN THE THREAD we were missing 11 of our 22

What happened today is of zero importance

Absolutley.

I went to the Essendon game and we were 8 points down at the 5 minute mark of the final 1/4 FGS.

Gave them 3 goasl start and caught them, and they got out to 30 points ahead - and caught them again.

Let's not get too excited.

What did I learn from the game?

Trengove will be a champ again this year.

[Disco Demons 92]

i think because the bombers have gone so well in the nab cup we have been extra critical on our players, coaches and game plan.

I think many thought that we'd do well in the nab cup (myself included) and now the bombers are doing better than expected it raises questions.

the good things to take out of the nab cup is we've been able to play many players...maric and jetta have improved...so this proves the coaches are doing there job.

from what i've read and heard about our games...we play well in patches...i think we've missed on field leadership...

[stranga 328]

I've been to the last two games and the problem is the players who made the mistakes wouldn't have done any differently whether it was practice or not. Jones still tries to beat several opponents, gets caught and passes off to a player in trouble, that hospital hand pass was one of the worst I've seen. Beamer still bangs it long without any thought, Jack missed two easy marks because he allowed the defender the opportunity of punching the ball by not taking it out in front of him. Joel Mac has no presence when under pressure and coughs it up as does Warnock. Martin hasn’t got the ability to play at the top level and is neither a forward nor back if he can’t play well now how will he go when there is real pressure?

We were 2 to 3 metres behind our opponent all day and were led to every contest hence the number of marks they took and this is a side that is considered to be one of the worst in the competition. On that basis even with a sub strength side we should have done better, anyone that went there on Saturday and was considering whether to sign up for membership would be thinking twice.

Anyone that went to that game would have been a little worried by the total lack of skill shown by some of our senior players.

I agree with this. Players cant fix life long faults in their game between now and round 1 (Jones, Bate, Moloney Warnock, Struass etc)

The other thing that has become glaringly obvious is that our depth is nowhere near as strong as some people on here have been thinking/saying. We are a few injuries away from having another disastrous year. This is because the second tier are either too young are just simply not up to it.

Im just hoping the players have another level of intensity that they are conscious of and will enact in round 1.

[Dee Fan 3,247]

I agree with this. Players cant fix life long faults in their game between now and round 1 (Jones, Bate, Moloney Warnock, Struass etc)

The other thing that has become glaringly obvious is that our depth is nowhere near as strong as some people on here have been thinking/saying. We are a few injuries away from having another disastrous year. This is because the second tier are either too young are just simply not up to it.

Im just hoping the players have another level of intensity that they are conscious of and will enact in round 1.

I didn't mention Bate because I just don't see any place for him in the side, he just cannot seem to get himself in to the right position to mark and he seems to either wrong foot himself or get brushed aside in the contest. A couple of times he seemed to be right to contest the mark but all of a suden he would be totally out of position and no chance. His only attribute seems to be the Brad Miller run up the ground take the mark out in front on the wing wheel round and bomb it in long to the forward line, which is where he's supposed to be.

I'm not sure what the structure is supposed to be in the forward line and who's supposed to play which part, so maybe it will become clearer when we have all our forwards on the park. Problem is I don't see him fitting in, he can't take a pack mark, he can only kick left foot, he's not hard at it and not aggressive, he has a huge turning circle and he's no good below his knees.

[Samsara 65]

Bailey has stated that a near full strength squad (missing the obvious injured players) will play against Hawthorn Friday night. This will give a better indication of where we are at against really good opposition.

[jnrmac 19,323]

I agree with this. Players cant fix life long faults in their game between now and round 1 (Jones, Bate, Moloney Warnock, Struass etc)

No, but they have been training for 5 months!! It seems to me too much of the off season is about building a fitness base and strength but the game plan is neglected.

[Curry & Beer 5,444]

this thread is garbage! Do any of you whingers actually have a memory that is longer than 2 weeks? We are talking about a team that in 2010 played the premiers twice and finished 1 point down. We are talking about a team that was 85 points better than Sydney. We are talking about a team that could well have finished on 14 wins if a few things had gone our way. Were any of you at those games? I was, and I didn't hear many people whinging about fitness, strength and skills then. All I heard about was our 'cat-like' ball movement and how we are destined to become a league superpower. What do you think has happened? All of a sudden, instead of maturing and developing we have gone backwards for no apparent reason? You must have the brain of a pigeon if you watch a praccy match with half the side out and re-evaluate your whole position on the club. Fair dinkum use your heads and HTFU

[jnrmac 19,323]

this thread is garbage! Do any of you whingers actually have a memory that is longer than 2 weeks? We are talking about a team that in 2010 played the premiers twice and finished 1 point down. We are talking about a team that was 85 points better than Sydney. We are talking about a team that could well have finished on 14 wins if a few things had gone our way. Were any of you at those games? I was, and I didn't hear many people whinging about fitness, strength and skills then. All I heard about was our 'cat-like' ball movement and how we are destined to become a league superpower. What do you think has happened? All of a sudden, instead of maturing and developing we have gone backwards for no apparent reason? You must have the brain of a pigeon if you watch a praccy match with half the side out and re-evaluate your whole position on the club. Fair dinkum use your heads and HTFU

Hey I was at those games! And I was at the West Coast, Carlton and North games too

And I was also at the Hawthorn game in Rd 1 after we had played shizen in the praccy matches and showed no game plan. If you think we can flick a switch and turn it on in Rd 1 you are deluded.

And this year we have an incredible opportunity to be 4 and 3 after Rd 8. If we start like we did last year then our year will derail quickly.

I understand that our progression won't happen in a straight line but I want to see intensity, structure, system and not the same weak mistakes we have had for the past 4 years. It ain't the losing that gets me it's the way we lose and the same culprits creating the same errors.

[BLWNBA 368]

The last two weeks also showed another gaping hole. I say no Jamar no Melbourne. No onewithin cooee comes near to Jamar. Hope he stays sound for a very long time.

Same can be said of Frawely. Warnock tries hard but doesn't compare at all. To be honest I thought he was dissapointing and down on his 08-09 form, but I know it's only early days and the season proper hasn't started yet so I'm not going to make any harsh calls on players form just yet

[rpfc 27,637]

Hey I was at those games! And I was at the West Coast, Carlton and North games too

And I was also at the Hawthorn game in Rd 1 after we had played shizen in the praccy matches and showed no game plan. If you think we can flick a switch and turn it on in Rd 1 you are deluded.

Well, I guess this is being unaware of one's thoughts. You can't 'flick a switch' as evidenced by Rd 1, 2010?

Then what about Rd 2, 2010?

Wasn't that the epitome of a 'flick switch'?

And this year we have an incredible opportunity to be 4 and 3 after Rd 8. If we start like we did last year then our year will derail quickly.

I understand that our progression won't happen in a straight line but I want to see intensity, structure, system and not the same weak mistakes we have had for the past 4 years. It ain't the losing that gets me it's the way we lose and the same culprits creating the same errors.

I thought, apart from Rd 1, we started 2010 pretty well.

And I see the progression of this young team to include the "performed below expectations" year that young teams go through.

Will it be this year?

Or next?

Frankly, other than a decent gameplan and exposing our talent to AFL - I don't care.

Just looking forward to the footy and watching the kids grow up.

[Dee Fan 3,247]

Bump

I was wrong Martin can play at this level but I reckon some of the rest of the posts on here were pretty spot on.

[Dee Fan 3,247]

As i said in another thread:

People who are bemoaning the skill level, lack of pressure, poor delivery, lack of structure or targets need to realise a few things. It is not just a case that we had 10 of our best 22 out of the team today. It was that the 10 players who were playing in their place were made up mostly of blokes who've never played AFL or have only played very few games. Many rave about the performances of Howe, Cook, Nicholson, Evans, McDonald and Nicholson however from a brutally honest perspective, none of them are yet up to it. They did some nice things but often fumbled under pressure, missed targets, didn't apply the required pressure and don't have big engines by AFL standards. All of these things can and will improve with time and training but all are reasons why we looked so bad.

In turn it puts pressure on the rest of the team because of the poor use of the ball.

With many to come back in the side this will improve greatly. It is just the pre-season, it has absolutely no bearing on the season as a whole.

Don't take much away if anything other than perhaps a little more love for Tappy...

Still reckon we'll improve greatly? Good judgement there.

[Hellaintabadplacetobe 4,110]

this thread is garbage! Do any of you whingers actually have a memory that is longer than 2 weeks? We are talking about a team that in 2010 played the premiers twice and finished 1 point down. We are talking about a team that was 85 points better than Sydney. We are talking about a team that could well have finished on 14 wins if a few things had gone our way. Were any of you at those games? I was, and I didn't hear many people whinging about fitness, strength and skills then. All I heard about was our 'cat-like' ball movement and how we are destined to become a league superpower. What do you think has happened? All of a sudden, instead of maturing and developing we have gone backwards for no apparent reason? You must have the brain of a pigeon if you watch a praccy match with half the side out and re-evaluate your whole position on the club. Fair dinkum use your heads and HTFU

Haha, this thread is a cracker, nice bump!

This is a beauty C & B......sadly for me, I would have agreed with most of it when you wrote it!

One thing I have learnt however. A lot of people screw the noses up at pre season form. I will no longer do so because what we dish up in Feb/March, is unfortunately a sign of things to come for the coming 6 months!

[rpfc 27,637]

I thought, apart from Rd 1, we started 2010 pretty well.

And I see the progression of this young team to include the "performed below expectations" year that young teams go through.

Will it be this year?

Or next?

Frankly, other than a decent gameplan and exposing our talent to AFL - I don't care.

Just looking forward to the footy and watching the kids grow up.

Oh, 'March 2011 rpfc' - little did you now that your team was going to go through that year.

The pain, the pain of it all!