Clark, Magner and Jones all looked good. Will take time for him and watts to work out in the forward line.

Bennell's last game in demon colours, enjoy casey. Gysberts has cement boots. Has anyone seen davey since 2010?

Clark - best on ground, Bennell - walk yourself off!!!!

I didn't want to come on with an MFCSS attitude but that was not a performance that inspires hope

Some interesting umpiring decisions, that terrible out of bounds rule and horrid weather... I'm not too worried. No injuries In the second game please.

Magner and Tynan looked solid, able to win their own ball.

Sellar's last kick into the forward fifty was ridiculous.

Watts looked like he would rather be playing basketball.

Davey showed a bit of the crumbing forward that he used to be.

MItch Clark provided an option and showed some grunt as expected.

Bennell was fairly average, beaten by Aaron Hall.

Tom Couch and Nicholson did next to nothing.

Gysberts was surprisingly quiet.

All in all, tough conditions but just a few really bad decisions by the players meant that it wasn't the greatest performance.

Edited February 25, 201214 yr by Clint Bizkit

Plenty of positives in a 40 minute practice game. Plenty of our top line players didn't play, Clark looked good, Tynan and Magner showed a bit and we are already getting the ball forward far more than in previous years which allows our forward line more of a chance.

Plenty of tired legs in the wet for their first run which allowed the Suns to come up over the top, and the only criticism would be we went a little too tall across the ground. Anyone whinging about a meaningless game in wet conditions is kidding themselves.

Worst thing I saw was Watts having 5 of them all over him on the wing and no support. Better win the second game.

wheres jeremy howe???

I'm not worried about our skills in this weather, more the fact that our decision making has been woeful and they've outnumbered us at almost every contest.

GC wins 26 to 23.

Hope we're better in the 2nd game but as Bailey would say; 'we need to be more COMPETITIVE'

Agreed.

I am a bit angry we could not knock of a poor team like the gold coast it is the nab cup but we should be putting teams like this away bennel was shocking

I thought Davey showed some improvement early.

Disappointing to lose the first game (and I think we're unlikely to win the next due to no rest), but I guess it is only the NAB Cup. And it's not elimination this year, which means we don't have to waste our time injuring players in the NAB Challenge games of the past.

I'm at the game - the umpiring was a genuine joke, Bennell was awful and the whole team looked half-arsed.

no, compare and contrast the sides.

gc17 were playing their best - ours were mostly inexperienced.

a 3 point 'loss' with 5 more i50s is disappointing, but all that matters is that we've had the first hit-out for 2012.

bring on brislions!

Tynan and manger were great and I was pleased with Clarke. They were horrible conditions, some more experience in next game is welcomed.

How does the game plan look?

Gysberts in cement boots - ha good call.

Just looked like we weren't really prepared for a wet weather game plan out there.

Yes we had a youngish team but GC didn't exactly have a team full of seasoned professionals.

So annoying that it's a monsoon, I was looking forward to seeing our new pinpoint precision slicing through our opponents along the boundary. ROFL.

Edited February 25, 201214 yr by Buzzy

Any chance of a Melb player hitting a target?? Skills are woeful!

Eff it, it's only NAB cup...

Decision making very poor,ditto skills.Overall a disappointing result.

Intensity good. Positional running and decision making a work in progress. Which is always how it was going to be. In the change from Bailey to Neeld the playing group is having to jump from a 2007 era game plan to a 2012 era game plan.

Davey seems to have a bit of zip back.

Conditions not improving!

How does the game plan look?

A little damp.....

Didn't we win these games last year?

Not really a reflection on much of anything really!!!

I'll have to wait until tomorrow when I can DL the game, but from the sound of things it was a pretty bad showing. SEN are talking up Hall and from the sounds of it Bennell had him and was patheticly inept as a stopper. Watts had 1 disposal. Clarke could have won us the game if he kicked straight and the little information I got from the AFL website suggests that they did far too well in the ruck.

How does the game plan look?

Beyond not playing the corridor and going the punch to the crumb, there's not much to tell to be honest.

That said, our zoning was VERY good. Clearance work looked better.

Edited February 25, 201214 yr by Striker475

A little damp.....

Didn't we win these games last year?

Not really a reflection on much of anything really!!!

Last point is spot on. We won both our opening NAB cup games last year. Look where we ended up.

These games have zero reflection on the season and you would think that people would understand this by now. So we lost in the rain by 3 points? OH NO!!! Season over!!!! Give me a break.

Poor conditions are no substitute for poor decision making.

7 weeks for Brown on Rivers!!! High contact, behind the ball...

Jamar stupid, just stupid.