Joel has been left out of the starting 22.

IMHO this is a disgrace to drop joel and not Rivers who has been a shambles for some time now.

/end rant

Joel has been left out of the starting 22.

IMHO this is a disgrace to drop joel and not Rivers who has been a shambles for some time now.

/end rant

Joel has been showing some worrying signs : eg : panicking with the ball, taking too long to dispose of it and making poor decisions.

I was actually surprised he was in the round one team after some of his pre season efforts.

He cost us a few goals against the Swans.

Rivers is in the leadership group so he is valued highly, and will probably get a few more chances before he gets dropped if ever.

Long term id probably have Tom Mcdonald instead of Rivers and Cale Morton instead of Joel Macdonald

Yeah... Well, all I can say is "told ya so."

It wasn't hard to see this was going to happen, but I still predicted it.

Maric for sub too.

Yeah I'd drop Rivers first too. Even being shorter I think Joel is more versatile, remembering when he started with us he played taller KP roles, one on Cloke and did ok.

I don't like Rivers and Jones being in the leadership group, it'll take weeks of fail for them to get dropped, and their best isn't even that good.

Rivers' saving grace is Chip and Garland allow him to play the only role he can, the spare floating defender.

Yeah... Well, all I can say is "told ya so."

It wasn't hard to see this was going to happen, but I still predicted it.

Maric for sub too.

*golf clap*

The FD clearly prefer 27 over 28. I don't agree but I'm happy to defer to the experts. "Disgrace" is definitely over the top.

Good in, good out IMO. Both had poor games. Rivers gets reprieve because of the Buddy, Roughy, Hale threesome. To be honest I thought Joel Mac Was lucky not to get rubbed out for his kick/trip.

Well done Demons.

2 reasons this happened.

1. Rivers is a better player. He's also the 'general' of the backline and a real leader at the club.

2. Horses for courses. Hawks have 3 forwards- Frankln (198cm), Roughead (196cm) and Hale (200cm) Garland can take Franklin, Frawley Roughead... that leaves spot for 1 for either Rivers or Joel MacDonald. Simply put, Rivers is a better match up. MacDonald is 185cm, can't take Hale.

Hardly a surprise. A good ordinary player at best. Doesn't have the skills & footy nous to get himself out of trouble. A gutsier version of Daniel Ward

I complained bitterly when we recruited him instead of Dylan Grimes.

Rivers was poor early on but fought back in the second half & is more versatile.

How Fickle we are....4 weeks ago after the Adelaide Games Fans on here were Lauding that Joel Mac was a gutsy Champ that people loved, now he is a dud!!!

How time flies....Joel will be back, I Hope Rivers puts i a beauty against that Gorilla Fwd Line of Hawthorn.

Joel would be more suited to the shorter fwds i would say.

Edited April 1, 201114 yr by why you little

sam reid was giving macdonald a belting aswell..

Sylvinator sums it up in this thread. And it's been known for a few hours. Discussed in other threads (at length in some cases).

Neither one of them was great. Toss of the coin and one had to go.

Joel was a bit stiff to get dropped. I recall this happening last season, and he responded with some good form with Casey and was back in the squad a few weeks later.

Someone had to make room for Chip. Joel will be fine. Important year for him, I do not think he will let this get in the way of him having a solid season.

Maric will surely play sub.

There is no room for two of the exact same type of player in our team. It's either Rivers or JMac. One of them had to go. Hard truth.

A disgrace?

Jeez, we're an excitable bunch of no-hopers aren't we?

Rivers is the better third tall in the backline. JMac is value but his offensive work and kicking are not good enough to keep the much smarter defensively Rivers out of the team.

Even bothering to argue about MacDonald or Rivers in the line-up is like complaining about brokerly or pumpkin on your plate. You hate both, but one is slightly more palatable than the other.

In other words, who cares ?

"BROKERLY"??

What have you done with the real Hannabal???

How Fickle we are....4 weeks ago after the Adelaide Games Fans on here were Lauding that Joel Mac was a gutsy Champ that people loved, now he is a dud!!!

Never noticed?

Rivers was only selected because of Hawthorn's three talls. He was worst on ground last week.

"BROKERLY"??

What have you done with the real Hannabal???

Your (sic) so yesterday mate. Fit in and get with the times.

"BROKERLY"??

What have you done with the real Hannabal???

You just jelly you aintz got H's mad skillz!!

Rivers was only selected because of Hawthorn's three talls. He was worst on ground last week.

did you see #4 last week?

Did Joel actually play for Casey yesterday?

did you see #4 last week?

Haha this comment reveals more about your judgement than of Watts.

He performed admirably for a kid last week.

Joel Mac gets overrated on this forum.

Yes, he wins some pretty good 50/50 balls from time to time that make him look good, but it's his performance in general play & when the ball is in his hands that concerns me.

The problem is a lot of supporters far too often notice a few standout instances of a player's performance and judge their entire output based on those few moments.

I can still see why Voss believed the Lions would never win a premiership with him there & subsequently delisted him.

Not far off being a list-clogged in my opinion (that's not to say that he is one, yet).

Did Joel actually play for Casey yesterday?

No, i think he is the designated emergency for the game today.

Im interested in where people see our backline going forward - a lot on this forum dont really rate Rivers nor Macdonald, so who will step up to take their spot in our hypothetical premiership team? One of the talls we drafted this year (who are still pretty much unknown)?