DEATH BY A THOUSAND KICKS

[McQueen 17,864]

Yes. Why is that OOB Rule even being remotely considered??

Its pathetic.

It was taken directly out of the rule book for AFL Masters Football, WYL. It is used because either the umpires or the players are too rooted to run to a new stoppage and contest it (and to keep the game flowing).

Those who play Masters footy should know where I'm coming from.

[Sir Why You Little 34,773]

It was taken directly out of the rule book for AFL Masters Football, WYL. It is used because either the umpires or the players are too rooted to run to a new stoppage and contest it (and to keep the game flowing).

Those who play Masters footy should know where I'm coming from.

Thanks...now i know why it is so wrong!!

[sue 8,473]

It maybe a factor until the ball is bounced. After that i don't buy it.

And why can it be not used as a motivator "let's show solidarity for Liam?"

You may well be right WYL, but one thing you didn't factor into the equation... they are human ;-)

Unless you have played at AFL level I don't know that any of us would know how much the Liam factor would affect the game. If the players usually spend time in the days leading up to a match thinking about team structures, their likely opponents etc but instead spent that time in the sort of frenzy exhibited by us supporters, who knows what the effect would be. And then they get a couple of miracle goals kicked on them early on - who knows.

[mrtwister 650]

What gets me is we won the contested possessions & clearances, yet still get smashed.

Does anyone have the time in possession stats?

Could be a major factor.

[Curry & Beer 5,444]

Buddy Franklin is also the arsiest player I have ever watched play the game.

terrible call. He is the biggest weapon in the league, he is utterly unstoppable

[Guest Dr Who]

]

Our biggest problem is we are not turning out top grade players. I look at Zaharakis (B&F at Essendon 2011), Rockliff (B&F Brisbane 2011) and Nat Fyfe of Freo - 3 footballers that we missed in recent drafts - and wonder whether we just recruited badly, or we have been unable to develop the current list. I suspect it's a bit of both.

Imagine if Rockliff, Zaharakis and Fyfe were in our midfield last Saturday night.

Bit rough on our drafting team re Rockliff. Every team missed him. He was actually training with us after the draft and would have been taken as pre-season pick had it not been for LJ. Had Brisbane not picked him in the pre-season with the last live pick (you cant count the Tigers they had committed to Cousins) in the draft we would have rookied.

Edited March 12, 2012 by Dr Who

[Buffalo 203]

I think everyone is panicking for no real reason yet...it took John Northey 3/4 of a season before the penny finally dropped for the Demons in 1987. Our win/loss record after 16 games in that year was was 6/10!

[Robbie57 1,996]

Its taken me two days to come back to the site, like most of you I hated Saturday nights performance. I felt sick in my stomach.

Nab cup or not, they hurt.

Then I watched the Neeld presser and thank heavens he was feeling sick in the stomach as well.

He hates losing and is not going to tolerate it; "my round one team is not the same as it was 7 days ago".

Sylvia wouldn't be playing round 1 after his efforts.

More importantly Neeld knows what is going on, missed tackles were the result of Technical (we went too high in the tackles) and attitudinal (not hard enough at the contest) issues.

This guy is not going to leave anyone in the rooms wondering what he expects and how hard it will be to get a game.

We failed in the middle with poor clearance work (we won clearances but our disposal was poor) and Neeld let Hale teach a young guy a lesson.

Unlike others I think we do have the cattle its just they have some learning to do and he will kick their sorry arses until they have learnt the lesson.

No one is guaranteed a game under this regime.

More importantly he is not panicked by it and he believes he has the answer.

We will know sometime in the second half of the year if our players are up to his challenge.

[Dee Fan 3,247]

The problem as I see it is we are neither here nor there; we don't have a team of potential stars like say Gold Coast and we don't have a team of seasoned performers like Hawthorn.

We lack good quality, hard bodied, senior players and only have the likes of Moloney and Sylvia as our on field teachers, as we all know they are sadly lacking when the pressure is applied. Our Junior brigade have a bit of potential, and so they should after the years we've spent trying to recruit them, but potential is one thing and at this stage they haven't shown anything to me that indicates they will turn out to be top line players.

I'm not going to give up the year as yet but they need to show a hell of a lot more than they did on Saturday night to convince me we are on the right track.

[Diablo Deemon 220]

I find it hard to argue with any of that except the last line. But then we're Melbourne supporters. We were born to suffer.

As I said earlier, there's a distinct lack of class in the team, and I have a sinking feeling that we didn't maximise the recruitment during two years on the bottom of the ladder.

With regards to our drafting

2007 Draft - Looks to largely be a bust

Morton - Isn't a top 5 draft picks shoe laces he seems destined to be maligned in the same status as Juice

Grimes - perpetually injured has the skills but entering year 5 and 32 games doesn't cause confidence

Maric - bust

Remember Rioli, Dangerfield, Cotchin were taken that year what's their status? Quite simply they are known factors, you know they will perform

One player doesn't look to be in our best 22 the other can't catch a trick. I'm not sure either will be a consistent contributor into the future

Anything after Maric is speculative so there is no point being critical

2008 Draft

Watts - will make it i'm confident just needs the belief and that will come

Blease - 2 years behind everyone else from his draft

Strauss - I think he'll make it one thing he does is heals quickly! His game sense needed work last year but was getting better leading up to the leg.

Watts is the only one I'm willing to consider as a regular player into the future.

2009 draft

Scully - we know what happened

Trengove - has the skill set to make it to elite status

Gysberts - Can find the ball but he's a stick fact is he's at least 3 years away from playing in the middle

Tapscott - size and grunt something we didn't draft enough of in the last 5 years

Trengove and Tapscott are the only likely players. If Gysberts can add 15 kegs sure but we have seen what waiting for morton to bulk up gets you.

2010 draft -

Lucas Cook - don't see it at all, not to say it isn't there just don't see it.

Howe - inspired i cant fathom the polar opposites of these two draftees

Howe will be a player for sure.

2011 draft

no use commenting yet although I've got massive raps for the way Tynan has gone about it.

My point is in 5 drafts I have around 4-6 players who are likely to be regular 22 and of those i think only 2-3 that will be elite

What's other peoples break down of the last 5 drafts I think its pretty stark

[McQueen 17,864]

With regards to our drafting

2007 Draft - Looks to largely be a bust

Morton - Isn't a top 5 draft picks shoe laces he seems destined to be maligned in the same status as Juice

Grimes - perpetually injured has the skills but entering year 5 and 32 games doesn't cause confidence

Maric - bust

Remember Rioli, Dangerfield, Cotchin were taken that year what's their status? Quite simply they are known factors, you know they will perform

One player doesn't look to be in our best 22 the other can't catch a trick. I'm not sure either will be a consistent contributor into the future

Anything after Maric is speculative so there is no point being critical

2008 Draft

Watts - will make it i'm confident just needs the belief and that will come

Blease - 2 years behind everyone else from his draft

Strauss - I think he'll make it one thing he does is heals quickly! His game sense needed work last year but was getting better leading up to the leg.

Watts is the only one I'm willing to consider as a regular player into the future.

2009 draft

Scully - we know what happened

Trengove - has the skill set to make it to elite status

Gysberts - Can find the ball but he's a stick fact is he's at least 3 years away from playing in the middle

Tapscott - size and grunt something we didn't draft enough of in the last 5 years

Trengove and Tapscott are the only likely players. If Gysberts can add 15 kegs sure but we have seen what waiting for morton to bulk up gets you.

2010 draft -

Lucas Cook - don't see it at all, not to say it isn't there just don't see it.

Howe - inspired i cant fathom the polar opposites of these two draftees

Howe will be a player for sure.

2011 draft

no use commenting yet although I've got massive raps for the way Tynan has gone about it.

My point is in 5 drafts I have around 4-6 players who are likely to be regular 22 and of those i think only 2-3 that will be elite

What's other peoples break down of the last 5 drafts I think its pretty stark

I think you've nailed it IMO. We've not had a look at Taggert yet but they breed them pretty tough out Horsham way. I reckon he'll go alright for us and be one of those hard nuts.

[Whispering_Jack 28,067]

Just thought this piece of trivia might interest some people.

In a NAB Challenge game played on 4 March 2011 at AAMI Park, Port Adelaide 19.21.135 defeated Geelong 7.9.51.

Geelong finished up winning the premiership and could someone please remind me where Port finished up?

[biggestred 4,368]

Can't even be facetious round here anymore

[rjay 24,005]

I think you've nailed it IMO. We've not had a look at Taggert yet but they breed them pretty tough out Horsham way. I reckon he'll go alright for us and be one of those hard nuts.

Really looking forward to see Taggert, it's a pity he's been injured during these pre season games. Might have to head out to Casey when he is up and about, he is a strong unit, good hands and good kick.

[leucopogon 1,472]

Just watched the replay of the game. Dismal. I have real concerns for the season now. Now that we're in transition (again!) I really can't see us getting more wins on the board than last year. I'm predicting bottom four this year (6 or 7 wins) as we learn the new game plan and predict that most of the old guard will be put out to pasture (talking about Davey, Rivers, Green, MacDonald) by years end.

Also, I don't see Trengove ever becoming an elite AFL player, he reminds me of a young Brock McLean.

[Josh 1,420]

You learn more from losses...

No Magner, no Melbourne.

Rubish

If we are relying on a mature age rookie we are in my trouble than anyone could imagine

[rjay 24,005]

Also, I don't see Trengove ever becoming an elite AFL player, he reminds me of a young Brock McLean.

Can't agree with you here, if he were playing for Geelong we would already be talking about him as elite.

[old dee 22,970]

Just thought this piece of trivia might interest some people.

In a NAB Challenge game played on 4 March 2011 at AAMI Park, Port Adelaide 19.21.135 defeated Geelong 7.9.51.

Geelong finished up winning the premiership and could someone please remind me where Port finished up?

Beat us in the last game of the year!

[Fat Tony 4,498]

We broke even in the contested ball count and lost by 79. My thoughts:

• Neeld’s kick it long and wide game plan will be obsolete by the time we have the talent to challenge for a flag.
  

• We need to get of our some better kicks playing in the back half and pinpoint our way through the press. Davey and Watts should also be played more on the wings so their kicking skills can be used to navigate through the press. By contrast, Bartram should not be played in the backline anymore and should be used in the midfield as a tagger.
  

• Our backline needs more run and we should play only three KPD.
  

• There wasn’t a lot fundamentally wrong with Bailey’s game plan, we just did not have the skills to execute.
  

• Mitch Clark looks a great pick up. I think he needs to be used a bit higher up the ground to help combat the press and better utilise his running ability.
  

• Despite his good preseason Bate is still too slow and one sided and isn’t in our best 22.
  

• Dunn has lost weight and looks like he will play more games than most on Demonland expect.
  

[nutbean 8,837]

Blaming the umpires is just another excuse . I haven't seen enough decisions yet that I would question but then again I never blame umpires . I see it as a cop out .

In my years of watching I can count on one hand where umpires have cost us a game. Unfortunately, I am now seeing too often when an umpire ruins the game for me.

[nutbean 8,837]

Just thought this piece of trivia might interest some people.

In a NAB Challenge game played on 4 March 2011 at AAMI Park, Port Adelaide 19.21.135 defeated Geelong 7.9.51.

Geelong finished up winning the premiership and could someone please remind me where Port finished up?

I think the difference is that the NAB cup doesnt mean as much for the top teams as it does for the middle tier and below.

[nutbean 8,837]

With regards to our drafting

2007 Draft - Looks to largely be a bust

Morton - Isn't a top 5 draft picks shoe laces he seems destined to be maligned in the same status as Juice

Grimes - perpetually injured has the skills but entering year 5 and 32 games doesn't cause confidence

Maric - bust

Remember Rioli, Dangerfield, Cotchin were taken that year what's their status? Quite simply they are known factors, you know they will perform

One player doesn't look to be in our best 22 the other can't catch a trick. I'm not sure either will be a consistent contributor into the future

Anything after Maric is speculative so there is no point being critical

2008 Draft

Watts - will make it i'm confident just needs the belief and that will come

Blease - 2 years behind everyone else from his draft

Strauss - I think he'll make it one thing he does is heals quickly! His game sense needed work last year but was getting better leading up to the leg.

Watts is the only one I'm willing to consider as a regular player into the future.

2009 draft

Scully - we know what happened

Trengove - has the skill set to make it to elite status

Gysberts - Can find the ball but he's a stick fact is he's at least 3 years away from playing in the middle

Tapscott - size and grunt something we didn't draft enough of in the last 5 years

Trengove and Tapscott are the only likely players. If Gysberts can add 15 kegs sure but we have seen what waiting for morton to bulk up gets you.

2010 draft -

Lucas Cook - don't see it at all, not to say it isn't there just don't see it.

Howe - inspired i cant fathom the polar opposites of these two draftees

Howe will be a player for sure.

2011 draft

no use commenting yet although I've got massive raps for the way Tynan has gone about it.

My point is in 5 drafts I have around 4-6 players who are likely to be regular 22 and of those i think only 2-3 that will be elite

What's other peoples break down of the last 5 drafts I think its pretty stark

i keep repeating but I will give it another go.

I dont think our drafting has been our failure. I think our ability to develop footballers has been our failure

[Sir Why You Little 34,773]

i keep repeating but I will give it another go.

I dont think our drafting has been our failure. I think our ability to develop footballers has been our failure

Could well true. Attitude early is so important.

[Vipercrunch 2,818]

So much negativity about one pre-season game. Very, very hard to believe.

I seriously think some of the contributors here need to take a deep breathe and just relax. Hawthorn are a very good side AND are up and running (unlike so many of the other fancied sides). We are 3 weeks into a new coaching panel with a rookie coach. The side selection and match ups SCREAMED education and experimentation. The players and coaching are still learning (and will continue the steep learning curve for the first half of the season).

Next week is the dress rehearsal and some more can be taken out of that result, whatever it is.

March 31st is opening night (18 days away) and it is then that we will really be able to how far we have come and how far we have to go.

When we have our bye in Round 12, and have played 11 real, bonafide AFL Premiership Season games, that is when a considered and level headed judgement can be made about our list, gameplan, player developmet etc etc.

Until then please stay away from sharp objects and dangerous heights.

[mollydee 22]

March 31st is opening night (18 days away)

Bring it on !!