Is it just me, or in his last few games, has he been playing deeper?

or atleast he has been getting the ball deeper.

Certainly last Sunday, especially in the second half, he played some time in the back half, perhaps following his man down there. He was very effective as an attacking half back with his speed, size and skilled disposal... Not that I'm advocating a change to the back half but he does have skills that would make him a very effective back a la David Neitz.

Certainly last Sunday, especially in the second half, he played some time in the back half, perhaps following his man down there. He was very effective as an attacking half back with his speed, size and skilled disposal... Not that I'm advocating a change to the back half but he does have skills that would make him a very effective back a la David Neitz.

I could see both he and Cook playing CHF and CHB equally as well. I also noticed watts started using his speed more as people have pointed out as his weakness. he was free in the middle of the ground but instead of loping and being run down he immediately put on the after burners then steadied to kick into the forward line. he is learning the game.

the commentary team repeatedly mentioned how mobile and agile our forwardline is - the combo of Watts, Petterd and Jurrah is a very tricky matchup for any side

the commentary team repeatedly mentioned how mobile and agile our forwardline is - the combo of Watts, Petterd and Jurrah is a very tricky matchup for any side

Add Green, Sylvia and Davey and you have a setup that can run through both the midfield and forward line swapping and disrupting match-ups constantly... Very hard to coach against when up and running...

Our long term forward line in taking shape. Watts is really critical to our structure moving forward, so I'm really happy he's progressing nicely.

196cm+ mobile tall options: Watts, Cook, Fitzpatrick

185-192cm medium marking options: Jurrah, Howe, Petterd, Dunn, Green, Bate

Small forwards: Wona

Flankers who are genuine forward options: Bennel, Maric, Sylvia, Trengove, Davey, Tapscott, Morton.

We seem to have an abudance of quality 190cm-ish marking options. In modern footy these players can be used VERY effectively is used in conjunction with good genuine Tall forwards and crumbers, bc they are hard to match up on due to being equally good in the air or at ground level. I also like how much flankers we have who can be really dangerous up forward.

I think looking forward the clear missing links are:

1. The genuine Hulk forward in the Chris Dawes mould

2. One more genuine Jeff Garlett-esk crumber

1. The genuine Hulk forward in the Chris Dawes mould

do we really need it with all those others in the mix? does that player become the lead from the square focus of all i50 entries? if so does that limit the damage of the others?

No. Watch the replay. There was no situation where that was called for. He had time, balance, he saw them... There was no way taking a low percentage snap was the team thing to do. It's not the end of the world, and of course if we weren't nearly 100 points up he never would have done it... But the point remains. Discipline is discipline. He played a good game, so no-one's crucifying him... but that wasn't his greatest moment.

That may be true, although i agree with previous posts in that he is criticised for not taking those shots and passing the ball when he can take a shot himself etc.... and was better to get a chance in a game like the weekend, heaps of players would have taken it

do we really need it with all those others in the mix? does that player become the lead from the square focus of all i50 entries? if so does that limit the damage of the others?

In my opinion yes.

Every team needs a 'get out' option. A big strong player that helps maintain structure when the team starts to struggle a bit.

Bailey has openly expressed a desire for this type of player. Jamar has been used in that role at times, but he's too valuable in the ruck

Is that not what we'd be hoping to get from Cook when grown?

Is that not what we'd be hoping to get from Cook when grown?

perhaps sylvinator is thinking more of next year, not 3-5 years when Cook is at that stage. That's if Cook is not another Nick Smith/Brad Miller/Matthew Bate/Michael Newton also-ran

Looking for positives from yesterday, and another step in the right direction for Jackie Watts.

He doesn't lose 50-50 balls like he used to, his intensity is right up, he is starting to use his speed, his disposel retention rate is outstanding and he is improving his on-field presence.

The fact of the matter is... our current best 22 is NOT going to take us to a premiership. HOWEVER... our current best 22 + a fully developed Scully, Trengove, Grimes and Watts just might! We need all four of those boys to become stars equivalent to the Pendles, Thomas, Swan and Cloke combination that led Collingwood to a premiership. A lot of pressure on those 4, but from what I've seen from their early development years, the signs are starting to take shape!