On 01/07/2011 at 12:54, Striker475 said:

Still better than bloody Morton tonight, nevertheless wasn't great.

Bennell's issue is he's very one-dimensional. Bit like Warnock - slot him into a specific role and he'll execute to perfection, but outside that he's generally poor.

Sorry i do not agree IMO there was no one worst then him and the Coaches agree he was subbed off.

End of story.

please Casey is his spot.

  On 01/07/2011 at 12:56, sydneydee said:

+1

Bartram would have been useful against the dogs tonight

Spot on SD could he have possible been worse

  On 01/07/2011 at 12:53, old dee said:

WYL mate I went tonight to see Bennell, I was determined to watch him closely.

Unfortunately I got what I did not want.

Very ordinary performance.

If you are subbed off early in the third quarter does that make you the worst on the ground?

May be not but it sure puts you in the worst few.

Believe it or not it gives me no pleasure to say I told you so.

He is an ordinary player at this level.

God knows what you and others see in him.

So what, you watched him closely, hardly unbiased, you make Fox News look like the pinnacle of journalistic integrity.

He was disappointing tonight, he simply doesn't get enough of the ball.

Being subbed has nothing to do with being worst on the ground, it was most likely predetermined prior to the match, Blease, Bennel, like for like.

One of the worst performances I've seen from Bennell. His best is good but his worst is completely ineffective.

  On 01/07/2011 at 13:02, 36DD said:

So what, you watched him closely, hardly unbiased, you make Fox News look like the pinnacle of journalistic integrity.

He was disappointing tonight, he simply doesn't get enough of the ball.

Being subbed has nothing to do with being worst on the ground, it was most likely predetermined prior to the match, Blease, Bennel, like for like.

He is not up to it at senior level end of the story.

By the way who in your opinion was worse than him?

Cannot keep carrying guys who can't get more than a handful of disposals in an entire match.

You're not good to us if you can't actually get the ball, even if you can run and kick.

Back to Casey.

  On 01/07/2011 at 13:09, old dee said:

He is not up to it at senior level end of the story.

By the way who in your opinion was worse than him?

Doesn't really matter who I throw up Bennell is your whipping boy and has been for some time.

While stats may not reflect, I was more disappointed with Chip Frawley's game tonight than Bennell's. Remember Chip is an All Australian backman who was made to look second rate by a 34 year old. Chip for some reason played with no intensity tonight and chose to watch a number of contests which he really should have been involved in. The Cooney soccer goal came about by Frawley seeing Cooney running to space yet choosing not to man up on him, watch the replay, pretty damning.

I was more disappointed with Garland. Couldn't turn a trick against a (very good) old fella who has way less size than Garland, and was much further below his best than Bennell was below his.

  On 01/07/2011 at 13:05, Allen Jakovich said:

One of the worst performances I've seen from Bennell. His best is good but his worst is completely ineffective.

Sums up the our entire way of life at this point in time......

  On 01/07/2011 at 13:38, 36DD said:

Doesn't really matter who I throw up Bennell is your whipping boy and has been for some time.

While stats may not reflect, I was more disappointed with Chip Frawley's game tonight than Bennell's. Remember Chip is an All Australian backman who was made to look second rate by a 34 year old. Chip for some reason played with no intensity tonight and chose to watch a number of contests which he really should have been involved in. The Cooney soccer goal came about by Frawley seeing Cooney running to space yet choosing not to man up on him, watch the replay, pretty damning.

Made look second rate by a 34 year old? Halls first goal was a good kick to his advantage, no defender could have stopped that, the second one was a missed mark from Gysberts meant Frawley lost sight of the ball and to be honest I can't remember the 3rd. Frawley was beating Hall in the few times it was one on one.

The Cooney goal was the fault of whichever midfielder was on him at the time, not Chips. Chips job was to play on Hall, why is he meant to run to Cooney as well?

I don't think Chip was great tonight at all, I do agree he looked a bit uninterested which is most unlike him, but he wasn't made to look second rate by Hall nor was the Cooney goal his fault.

Back on topic I don't think Bennell will become an AFL standard player, has lovely skills and pace but is soft and doesn't get the ball enough.

He is just so soft. I cringe watching his half assed contested situations. Harden up or get out.

  On 01/07/2011 at 17:22, Pipefitter said:

He is just so soft. I cringe watching his half assed contested situations. Harden up or get out.

Not sure who is softer Bennell or Jurrah. So scared of contact it's sad. Both need to harden up at Casey. Everyone just has a go at Morton but those two always put in softer performances but get away with it because they are flashy players.

An absolute shocker. Deserved to be subbed off much earlier than he was.

He is truly over-rated by many. His best is not that good, and his worst is as bad as anyone we've had on our list in the last 4 years. He doesn't run hard enough, doesn't get enough of the ball, looks disinterested at times, and can be soft. I don't like him, I'm not convinced by him, and I want him out.

  On 02/07/2011 at 06:14, titan_uranus said:

An absolute shocker. Deserved to be subbed off much earlier than he was.

He is truly over-rated by many. His best is not that good, and his worst is as bad as anyone we've had on our list in the last 4 years. He doesn't run hard enough, doesn't get enough of the ball, looks disinterested at times, and can be soft. I don't like him, I'm not convinced by him, and I want him out.

Agree

  On 01/07/2011 at 12:53, old dee said:

WYL mate I went tonight to see Bennell, I was determined to watch him closely.

Unfortunately I got what I did not want.

Very ordinary performance.

If you are subbed off early in the third quarter does that make you the worst on the ground?

May be not but it sure puts you in the worst few.

Believe it or not it gives me no pleasure to say I told you so.

He is an ordinary player at this level.

God knows what you and others see in him.

You make a good point Old dee but i didn't think Bennell was any worse than 5-6 other players, when the delivery out of the middle is that bad many players are going to suffer.

Bennell is in the side for his speed..he was not able to use it last night. Some of that is his fault yes, but also those around him.

  On 02/07/2011 at 06:40, why you little said:

You make a good point Old dee but i didn't think Bennell was any worse than 5-6 other players, when the delivery out of the middle is that bad many players are going to suffer.

Bennell is in the side for his speed..he was not able to use it last night. Some of that is his fault yes, but also those around him.

Mate I am just DOWN today.

This must be how Bennell feels today.

Feel sorry for the kid.

Will the misery ever stop?

  On 02/07/2011 at 06:53, old dee said:

Mate I am just DOWN today.

This must be how Bennell feels today.

Feel sorry for the kid.

Will the misery ever stop?

I am with you O.D. i was really upset last night. We had a chance to rise another level against a team that will do nothing this year.

During a week we lost one of our favourite sons, who always HUNTED the ball to the last second.

Still so far to go....

  On 01/07/2011 at 12:54, Striker475 said:

Still better than bloody Morton tonight, nevertheless wasn't great.

+1

Just watched the Tigers get hammered by the Blues. Carlton's bigger bodied mids given first use by their rucks, not to disimilar to our effort last night. Our ruck effort was the worst we've had for many a long day.

  On 02/07/2011 at 08:11, Dockett 32 said:

Just watched the Tigers get hammered by the Blues. Carlton's bigger bodied mids given first use by their rucks, not to disimilar to our effort last night. Our ruck effort was the worst we've had for many a long day.

This amazed me, we always seemed to be in the wrong position

they had 1 ruckman and he took our two apart.

That must have been Jamar worst game in 3 years

  On 02/07/2011 at 08:39, old dee said:

This amazed me, we always seemed to be in the wrong position

they had 1 ruckman and he took our two apart.

That must have been Jamar worst game in 3 years

Could our midfield also not read Hudson's work??

If things are not going right, you can always adjust i would hope.

Not easy to do i admit, but good players just do it.

I think if our (or anybody's I suppose) smaller, quicker and more skilled players get space to work in, they can be very effective. We've shown this a few times this year. Bigger bodied top sides don't provide that sort of work environment however and the law of physics then takes over and we get monstered.

Perhaps we would have a 'plans b & c' for such a circumstances.

  On 02/07/2011 at 06:53, old dee said:

Mate I am just DOWN today.

This must be how Bennell feels today.

Feel sorry for the kid.

Will the misery ever stop?

Only you & Bennell that are feeling down today huh Old Dee!?? Not so bad then haha

Me today >>>

And last night (as i was tossing and turning in and out of nightmarish replays of the game with the after effects of a few frothies thrown in the mix) >>>

Don't worry mate.... we're on track to do a Geelong by 2015!! At least that's what i've been led to believe!

  On 01/07/2011 at 13:05, Allen Jakovich said:

One of the worst performances I've seen from Bennell. His best is good but his worst is completely ineffective.

IMO, Outside type players of the Ilk of Bennell, Jurrah & Morton prefer the wider spaces of the MCG.

This is their weakness in their games, that they can't, or won't, or Have not yet developed, to play the harder game in close.

IMO Bennell can still learn to play the big boys game, but I don't think he will if we just keep throwing games at him. Think Morton, we kept playing him even when he wouldn't even look at the Ball with anger, let alone go in for a tackle.

Now we're doing the same with Bennell.

Back to Casey Jamie, to learn to play properly.

  On 02/07/2011 at 08:11, Dockett 32 said:

Just watched the Tigers get hammered by the Blues. Carlton's bigger bodied mids given first use by their rucks, not to disimilar to our effort last night. Our ruck effort was the worst we've had for many a long day.

I personally believe our ruck division has been somewhat ordinary versus medium to quality opponents on game day (yes even when we have 2 against 1). We may get more hit outs overall on the day (i think we may have even had more vs the Pies but don't hold me to this, a great effort by Martin given where he came from mind you) however, it's the effective hit outs to advantage to me that count rather than just a total number of hit outs overall.

I'm not judging Rush too harshly over last night though, as he's been out a fair while. Takes any player a good 3 - 4 matches to find their fitness and the pace of the game at this level after being out for 6 weeks or so. I think he'll get better as the year progresses.

But as an example, If you watch the Pies game, Wood beat Martin early in effective taps to advantage which got them going and gave their play makers plenty of first usage, bringing many of them into the game early. I know the Pies are an unfair comparison given their massive advantage in physical maturity/experience/talent, but they are the benchmark atm (along with the Cats) and we could do worse than looking at what they do well.

We also lack 2nd 3rd efforts from too many players far too often, including some of our veterans at times, in most games when the opposition is half decent or better. Our first efforts are generally commendable. But its what happens after this IMO that is letting us down too often. The opposition probably sense/see/feel this during the game (and may well be told to apply themselves accordingly pre match and they'll eventually break us down). Probably thrive and feed off it and grow an extra leg when they see/sense that it's working. Not hard last night given we had the most rookies in for the whole year i realise.

What worries me going forward with the present FD is the apparent lack of an alternative strategy/game plan to slow the game down and try for a momentum change when other teams get a run on, in order to limit their scoring rate/opportunities while they're hot.

In addition i would also say that playing at Etihad is extremely difficult given the leg up that any home team gets there from the Ump. I'm not saying this is an excuse for our poor overall effort and the final result last night but it doesn't help. Personally i think it's a 3 - 4 goal advantage.

And one last thing, we don't act in unison as ONE team in a professional manner, for long enough and often enough. As one example of this - When the Cats tackle and their opponent is over the ball, other Cat players close to that contest as well as the player tackling, will often appeal to the Ump for a free kick and place pressure on the Umpire to make a decision. And they often get it! When our players tackle an opponent and he's over the ball, no other players of ours around the contest appeal for the free kick, including the tackler, in most cases. There are rare cases, but usually it's just the tackler. A minor point, but to me all these little 1 percenters add up and can make a small but meaningful difference to outcomes over the long haul.