CHASING TIGER TAIL

[Ted Lasso 16,814]

He looks to have very little muscle definition, hence no explosiveness or power. On top of that he stands around flat-footed too often.

certainly not in his legs, but his stress fracture would be restricting that quite a bit, but at least he looked to be running well, that's a very welcome change

[rjay 23,922]

About time Davey was played up the ground a bit more today. We need him hitting up forward targets.

[TONKA 64]

for the first time this year apart from one quarter against GWS im feeling a little positive after the game

pros:

- dawes. great work rate and another good target up forward. combine with clarke and our forward line could be potent.

- frawley getting reiwoldts measure yet again.

- davey. without a doubt the best kick in the team, i just wish he would bring his A game with him each week along with the kicking and stop stealing dawes goals!

- magner. surely his effort, intensity and sheer guts is enough to get a spot in this team each week?

- howe. although relatively quiet will this guy not go down as the best high marker the game has ever seen? his spekky's barely rate a mention from the commentators any more

- effort. today was probably the closest we have come to a four quarter effort this year

cons:

- nicholson, bail & mckenzie. costly turnovers, mistakes & poor kicking yet again. no more from these three please.

- kick ins. too many kick ins that either went into richmonds hands or to their advantage.

- groundwork. at least for the first half it seemed as soon as the ball hit the ground richmond always won it.

- basic skill errors and not hitting the target. needs no explanation dee's supporters are used to it.

[stueyspencer no12 73]

Why in the hell is he playing a sacrificial role, he needs to develop his game. You don't pick someone at 2 and play them as a defensive forward. No wonder he is struggling.

I'm not certain you are correct. In 1950 my namesake, the real Stuart Spencer arrived as a long kicking rover. In 1951 we were hopeless and S was dropped several times, then Norm SMith arrived and played him for a season in the back pocket. Then back onto the ball, for 3 seasons, when he became the Victorian Rover and won 2 Blueys in premiership teams

Then he made a career move and bought a garage in Clarence, Tasmania!

[jumbo returns 6,488]

I'd put Howe in the back line and give him licence to go for his marks - the kid's a freak.

Send Watts forward when he gets back.

Good game by Sellar.

[dees64 104]

We lack class in the midfield.....

Imagine Delidio,Cotchin etc winning ball & kicking to Dawes??

[Moonshadow 16,236]

Anyone still want to trade Frawley?

[Ted Lasso 16,814]

Anyone still want to trade Frawley?

He is our most valuable player even with clark and co in, if we trade him it would be the silliest thing we have done in a while

[Guest]

At this stage, I'd much rather Sellar to Tommy Mac.

Game was exciting, albeit frustrating. Was good to see some effort though

Side note: Dustin Martin is the biggest [censored] in the AFL. Couldn't handle copping abuse from us behind the goals when he was fighting with Dunn, so started pointing at the scoreboard. Well done, champion, you beat Melbourne by half of what an expansion team did; how about focusing on playing four quarters of football, and not finishing ninth.

Richmond are soft.

[Straight Sets Simon 23,113]

At this stage, I'd much rather Sellar to Tommy Mac.

Me too.

[The Song Formerly Known As 6,479]

Me too.

me three.

But both in form would also be good.

[Moonshadow 16,236]

Really like Matt Jones and Dean Turlich. Why is it that we have average results with high draft picks and do very well with late picks and rookies?

[Chook 14,549]

We need a strong target to kick to on the 80-50 metre area of the ground. I've started to think that's an even weaker area for us than our midfield. If we could find someone in that area to kick to, we'd be a much better side.

Also, does anyone else think it was no coincidence that our high conversion rate inside fifty coincided with Sylvia being out of the side?

I've said for weeks that he burns us so many times with his overzealous disposal into our forward line. Lo and behold, the week he's out we actually manage to hit some targets in there.

I don't rate the way Sylvia plays, and this week has done nothing to change that opinion. Obviously we have to keep him because he's a great player. We just need to use him more effectively.

Edited May 19, 2013 by Chook

[Return to Glory 7,730]

I thought that for the first time Jimmy T looked like he felt comfortable out there. Bad luck. Anyone know the extent of the injury?

[Return to Glory 7,730]

We need a strong target to kick to on the 80-50 metre area of the ground. I've started to think that's an even weaker area for us than our midfield. If we could find someone in that area to kick to, we'd be a much better side.

Also, does anyone else think it was no coincidence that our high conversion rate inside fifty coincided with Sylvia being out of the side?

I've said for weeks that he burns us so many times with his overzealous disposal into our forward line. Lo and behold, the week he's out we actually manage to hit some targets in there.

I don't rate the way Sylvia plays, and this week has done nothing to change that opinion. Obviously we have to keep him because he's a great player. We just need to use him more effectively.

Hoping Hogan will provide that or even Fitzpatrick.

[Forest Demon 4,681]

From the moment I saw Sellar in red and blue he has always looked good in the backline, but horrible up forward. Just leave him there FFS. He is directly competing with Tom McDonald for a spot and at the moment he is in front.

Magner immediately makes our midfield noticeably better, and even if it is only short term until others pass him, I don't care, he should be starting in the guts every single week.

[Cheesy D. Pun 1,762]

I reckon Davey is an interesting one. I think when the team is putting a lot of pressure on, he is the one that ends up being able to do some damage. I think if the team starts to find some level of form Davey will too. However, if the endeavour drops off again, his form will go with it.

[Grapeviney 8,844]

What the hell is going on with the kick-ins?

FMD !!

Aside from that, I thought the backline did pretty well in the circumstances, and we were much better at the stoppages than we've been all year.

[jumbo returns 6,488]

Really like Matt Jones and Dean Turlich. Why is it that we have average results with high draft picks and do very well with late picks and rookies?

Exactly!

That tells us that we trade ALL our picks this year for seasoned players - I couldn't handle another stuff up!

[Young Dee 1,303]

We need a strong target to kick to on the 80-50 metre area of the ground. I've started to think that's an even weaker area for us than our midfield. If we could find someone in that area to kick to, we'd be a much better side.

Maybe now with Clark out but next year we will have Dawes, Clark and Hogan (and possible Watts if he lifts). 2-3 of those 4 will probably push up to the 80-50m zone to make space for the FF. I think this is our greatest strength. We need to throw all our resources towards mids and a small forward.

Edited May 19, 2013 by Young Dee

[Dockett 32 1,213]

Maybe both of them and Clark. Some light at the end of the tunnel today, but what can we do about that midfield. Bl..dy aweful and continue to let the rest of the unit down. ( They should not be allowed to get away with this type of performance) As for Frawley - been our best player for sometime IMO.

Hoping Hogan will provide that or even Fitzpatrick.

[Return to Glory 7,730]

What the hell is going on with the kick-ins?

FMD !!

Aside from that, I thought the backline did pretty well in the circumstances, and we were much better at the stoppages than we've been all year.

That's what I want to know. You'd think a back line coach would want to work on that as a high priority. It's been shite for the last 6 years. And that's conservative.

[Return to Glory 7,730]

Still, Pleased about today. Evans I like accept for poor disposal at times but a goer.

[titan_uranus 22,443]

Much better performance, probably the best one of the year over four quarters.

The talls seem fine. Dawes is a great pickup, imagine if he had some support. Clark will give him that, Hogan in the long run. Watts should play forward in the meantime. In defence, Sellar started OK but he's still not great. Jamar smashed Stephenson in hit outs but still doesn't do anything around the ground.

Davey getting involved in the middle makes a significant difference. His kicking inside 50 was vital to us holding possession and scoring when we took it forward.

Howe doesn't do enough. His second half can't mask his first half, which wasn't good enough. He can't get away with attempting/taking a speccy each week and a nice goal from the boundary. Must get involved more.

When we put in an effort like we did today, it makes it a lot easier to identify our true problems. To me, what stood out the most was the number of sub-standard players we have in the side. It's not hard to see why we're lacking in skills when we have Dunn, McKenzie, Bail, Nicholson and Sellar in the side. I like M. Jones and Terlich a lot, but they're also not the highest quality kicks.

Put Clark, Viney, Grimes and Sylvia back into the side and put in the effort from today, and we'll get a few more wins, and look a lot better.

We worked hard for about two minutes. Endevour was there for three quarters, which is two quarters more than normal.
Just shows we aren't as bad as we are playing under Neeld.

Dawes was good as was Davey. Davey should be the reverse sub, play for 3 then off. He runs out of steam.
Garland is brilliant. And I will never speak ill of Jamar after watching Spencer for the last two weeks.

Huh?

[Swooper Northey 241]

Whilst it was an improved effort, the facts are we were beaten by nearly six goals by a side that only a few years ago, were behind us in their development. i just cast my mind back to 2011 when we put in one of our most promising performances in recent memory, beating the Tiges by just under five goals - Jack Watts was excellent that day. It is a sad state of affairs when in May 2013 we have to take heart from a comprehensive defeat.