He did a few good things, but I just really sick of him getting the ball and allowing himself to be tackled all the time (as per the photo).

do you really think posting a photo of one moment in a game creates some sort of argument

he got caught a couple of times in the new-era style where prior opportunity is no longer considered

what part of my post is an attempt at comedy

all i see is a brilliant vending machine gag in response

PENCIL US IN MATE

Your pure golden ticket sham was pure comedy central..

In all serious stop trying to snipe and derail this thread ya clown.

Start your own thread if you want to start sniping blokes on here. Your continuing love fest for me is getting old and creepy now.

Anyways back on topic.. Clint in regards to Toumpas i dont see him getting tackled being a big issue. I think the bigger issue is Jack Viney trying to run through blokes then getting pinged. Nathan Jones use to do this early on his career and he found his limitations so im hoping Jack finds this aswell.

Toump will be fine. I just want the ball in his hand at all times along with Salem.

Your pure golden ticket sham was pure comedy central..

In all serious stop trying to snipe and derail this thread ya clown.

Start your own thread if you want to start sniping blokes on here. Your continuing love fest for me is getting old and creepy now.

Anyways back on topic.. Clint in regards to Toumpas i dont see him getting tackled being a big issue. I think the bigger issue is Jack Viney trying to run through blokes then getting pinged. Nathan Jones use to do this early on his career and he found his limitations so im hoping Jack finds this aswell.

Toump will be fine. I just want the ball in his hand at all times along with Salem.

its not supposed to be funny, it is illustrating a point, which I reckon is actually not even understood by your good self.

all you do is snipe, you can't deny that, but you can't take it can you, that much is clear

I'm not derailing anything. Based on half a practice match, you've already stated your opinion which is that we are guaranteed to finish in the bottom 3. I will be holding you to that for the entire season BTW. I've 'penciled it in'

Other people have used their brains in analysing the game which is a relief

PS Nathan Jones didn't 'find his limitations' you fool. He used to get caught because he didn't yet have the body for it and he hadn't learnt how to do it properly in the pressure of an AFL game. Cretins around here whinged about it like you are whinging about Viney now. Well, he kept at it and now he is a very hard man to tackle and does not often get caught (despite the fact the rules have become completely absurd with regard to how much prior op you are allowed). It's because he gained experience and developed physically - as Viney will, if people like you have the patience to deal with the fact that the kids in the side can't yet do what the seniors can. Stick to sniping.

Edited March 15, 201510 yr by Curry & Beer

The hardest part is getting the footy, clint...

DD36 and C&B.....chill.

You have different opinions, but debate, don't belittle each other.

Kent established himself as best 22 on the back half of last year...

Howe and Vince are the only ones who would slot straight in.

There was a reason Pedo was playing for Casey this week. Trenners and Petracca are obviously not best 22 because of their injuries and the last two are first year players.

What I should have said was, 'pretty much our best 22'.

Add Brayshaw and VanDemon on the bench. Who do you drop to make way.

its not supposed to be funny, it is illustrating a point, which I reckon is actually not even understood by your good self.

all you do is snipe, you can't deny that, but you can't take it can you, that much is clear

I'm not derailing anything. Based on half a practice match, you've already stated your opinion which is that we are guaranteed to finish in the bottom 3. I will be holding you to that for the entire season BTW. I've 'penciled it in'

Other people have used their brains in analysing the game which is a relief

PS Nathan Jones didn't 'find his limitations' you fool. He used to get caught because he didn't yet have the body for it and he hadn't learnt how to do it properly in the pressure of an AFL game. Cretins around here whinged about it like you are whinging about Viney now. Well, he kept at it and now he is a very hard man to tackle and does not often get caught (despite the fact the rules have become completely absurd with regard to how much prior op you are allowed). It's because he gained experience and developed physically - as Viney will, if people like you have the patience to deal with the fact that the kids in the side can't yet do what the seniors can. Stick to sniping.

Nathan Jones didn't have the body for it when he started.

Now i have heard it all..

Wowee

This is the best preseason form we've shown for a very, very, long time.

Goes to the heart of it.

He did a few good things, but I just really sick of him getting the ball and allowing himself to be tackled all the time (as per the photo).

Watched the game today for the first time. The toump was terrific. Not sure where this tackle stuff comes from. One he laid some great tackles himself. Two yes he got caught with it a couple of times but so do m Jones and viney (who seems to escape critisim because of his attack on the ball). Instead of the photo of him being tackled we might have equally referenced the play where he brilliantly avoided a tackle and won the ball in the forward pocket setting up an easy goal. Class

Watched the game today for the first time. The toump was terrific. Not sure where this tackle stuff comes from. One he laid some great tackles himself. Two yes he got caught with it a couple of times but so do m Jones and viney (who seems to escape critisim because of his attack on the ball). Instead of the photo of him being tackled we might have equally referenced the play where he brilliantly avoided a tackle and won the ball in the forward pocket setting up an easy goal. Class

Just finished watching the replay as well and was very impressed with the Toump. To turn a negative around, I don't mind him getting pinned when taking people on. I hope he builds the confidence up to try this all the time as over time when his body develops it will become easier.

On the 'next star' thread I queried the hype on Salem with my reasoning being he doesn't get enough of the pill. I'm chuffed he put me back in my place.

Was also happy with the skills of Jones and Grimes today. Thought they both hit targets more times than not which is fantastic.

I'm not sure of Lumumba in the guts yet. Looks good when he gets it and runs but he looks lost at times. I think the HBF is his best spot as he only needs to go one direction.

Not sure about the love on Frost yet. Yes he is a quick and is a monster kid, but I'd be more satisfied seeing him clunk a few big contested grabs before he gets on my pedestal

We stopped in the last quarter as the boys just figured it was in the bag and being a practice match I can understand that. The kids the dogs have obviously got a sniff and lifted which was good from a doggies supporters point of view and by then most of our boys couldn't give a stuff anyway.

Geez I love that Bontempelli kid! Very exciting to watch!

Was a shame Vandenburg (?) came off injured early. Was looking forward to seeing how he went in a full came, considering he did so well as the sub last week.

So happy that Toump looks to be coming good. Although if you know from my posts, i am a big supporter of him. Keep it up son!

The photo they used of Toumpas summed up a lot of his play.

Toump just needs to do the old fashioned get the arms up in the tackle so he still has a chance to do something with it rather then get pinned.

Just finished watching the replay as well and was very impressed with the Toump. To turn a negative around, I don't mind him getting pinned when taking people on. I hope he builds the confidence up to try this all the time as over time when his body develops it will become easier.

On the 'next star' thread I queried the hype on Salem with my reasoning being he doesn't get enough of the pill. I'm chuffed he put me back in my place.

Was also happy with the skills of Jones and Grimes today. Thought they both hit targets more times than not which is fantastic.

I'm not sure of Lumumba in the guts yet. Looks good when he gets it and runs but he looks lost at times. I think the HBF is his best spot as he only needs to go one direction.

Not sure about the love on Frost yet. Yes he is a quick and is a monster kid, but I'd be more satisfied seeing him clunk a few big contested grabs before he gets on my pedestal

We stopped in the last quarter as the boys just figured it was in the bag and being a practice match I can understand that. The kids the dogs have obviously got a sniff and lifted which was good from a doggies supporters point of view and by then most of our boys couldn't give a stuff anyway.

Geez I love that Bontempelli kid! Very exciting to watch!

Bontempelli looks a star doesn't he. Huge for a mid and will fill out even more

Watched the game today for the first time. The toump was terrific. Not sure where this tackle stuff comes from. One he laid some great tackles himself. Two yes he got caught with it a couple of times but so do m Jones and viney (who seems to escape critisim because of his attack on the ball). Instead of the photo of him being tackled we might have equally referenced the play where he brilliantly avoided a tackle and won the ball in the forward pocket setting up an easy goal. Class

The Herald Sun's Sam Landsberger reported that it was Salem that made that play. Poor Toump gets the wrath of the Haters and when he does the good stuff it's attributed to others! Feel for the Kid! If these reporters even watched the game, they should maybe learn who is who first.

Daniel Cross' words summed up beautifully why that performance has me so concerned:

"We were really happy coming into half-time with what we produced. We really wanted to put the foot on the throat and learn to finish off a side, but it was just disappointing the second half,” he said.

The fact that they wanted to learn to finish a side off and failed so miserably in doing so is my first concern.

The fact we almost managed to lose the unloseable after being up by 52 points and having a five goal breeze in the fourth, was a second concern.

The fact that the opposition that we wanted to learn to "finish off" was a VFL grade side full of draftees, is my biggest concern.

Make no mistake, what we dished up at Ballarat was not AFL standard, it was the typical Melbourne chocolates to boiled lollies, inconsistent standard that has long been a feature ever since the Reverend was coach.

I'm so sick of always being a yo-yo club, up one quarter down the next.

Can't we just become ruthless for once, I anxiously await that day in hope.

Edited March 15, 201510 yr by leucopogon

THE GOOD

JETTA - Had a good year last year, he will rise to another level this year, his run and carry was superb.

SALEM - Quality user of the ball, he will be a weapon this year, he made a few mistakes at the end but he will learn from it.

GRIMES - After the shocker he had last week to be one of our best this week showed real character.

DUNN - Getting back to his form from last year.

TOUMPAS - Real positive display from him, besides 1 poor kick I didn't see him do a lot wrong. Even Picket Fence gave him a reasonable review, that's how good he was so the rest of the haters get off his back.

THE BAD

DAWES - He's in the best shape he has ever been, time to show the benefits of that and start getting a kick, he has done nothing so far.

GARLAND - He looks really out of touch and undisciplined, I wouldn't have him in my best 22 due to his preseason form.

BAIL - Done nothing all day. Why Roos continues to persist with he and M.Jones is beyond me.

MICHIE - I rate him, but it looks like Roos doesn't, for him to spend so much time as a sub was disappointing.

VANDENBERG - Really disappointing to see him cop a cut head which ended his game, it has probably cost him a spot in our 22 for RND 1.

24 to play the Dons

B: JETTA, DUNN, GRIMES

HB: LUMUMBA, T.MCDONALD, SALEM

C: CROSS, N.JONES, NEWTON

HF: KENT, HOGAN, KENNEDY-HARRIS

F: WATTS, DAWES, GARLETT

FOLL: JAMAR, TYSON, VINEY

IC: TOUMPAS, FROST, GAWN, GARLAND

SUB: VANDENBERG, BRAYSHAW

Can't we just become ruthless for once ...

Short of morphing into Hawthorn overnight, no.

The fact that the opposition that we wanted to learn to "finish off" was a VFL grade side full of draftees, is my biggest concern.

Who got them back into the game? Their guns Boyd and Bontempelli. Where were our guns in the last quarter in N.Jones and Tyson? Nowhere to be seen.

I don't care about who we are playing if their guns are tearing us apart and our guns are doing nothing we will look ordinary.

I would take something out of the Freo game but we were always on a hiding to nothing in the next 2 games. Even if we have an ordinary game against the Dons I won't be concerned. I think it will be better going into the Suns game knowing we have plenty of work to do than belting 2 ordinary sides that will give us no indication of where we are at as a footy club. I just hope some individuals can find some form like Toumpas and Salem did this week.

Somewhat fortuitously I only got to see the first half (streamed, not live). All I could think was what it must have been like to be a supporter of pretty much any other club playing Melbourne in the Neeld era. It's amazing how good you can look when under minimal pressure.

Daniel Cross' words summed up beautifully why that performance has me so concerned:

"We were really happy coming into half-time with what we produced. We really wanted to put the foot on the throat and learn to finish off a side, but it was just disappointing the second half,” he said.

The fact that they wanted to learn to finish a side off and failed so miserably in doing so is my first concern.

The fact we almost managed to lose the unloseable after being up by 52 points and having a five goal breeze in the fourth, was a second concern.

The fact that the opposition that we wanted to learn to "finish off" was a VFL grade side full of draftees, is my biggest concern.

Make no mistake, what we dished up at Ballarat was not AFL standard, it was the typical Melbourne chocolates to boiled lollies, inconsistent standard that has long been a feature ever since the Reverend was coach.

I'm so sick of always being a yo-yo club, up one quarter down the next.

Can't we just become ruthless for once, I anxiously await that day in hope.

Spot on.

Anyone who thinks there wasn't too much fuss about the significant drop off in the second half, listen to Cross's post match. Tells it like it is. Almost getting run over in the second half by a bunch of kids is not nearly good enough.

We haven't got momentum yet. There was an opportunity to gain some and they blew it.

We need to absolutely thrash the bejesus out of the VFL Bombers. Stay switched on for four quarters and make a statement.

THE GOODJETTA - Had a good year last year, he will rise to another level this year, his run and carry was superb.SALEM - Quality user of the ball, he will be a weapon this year, he made a few mistakes at the end but he will learn from it.GRIMES - After the shocker he had last week to be one of our best this week showed real character.DUNN - Getting back to his form from last year.TOUMPAS - Real positive display from him, besides 1 poor kick I didn't see him do a lot wrong. Even Picket Fence gave him a reasonable review, that's how good he was so the rest of the haters get off his back.THE BADDAWES - He's in the best shape he has ever been, time to show the benefits of that and start getting a kick, he has done nothing so far.GARLAND - He looks really out of touch and undisciplined, I wouldn't have him in my best 22 due to his preseason form.BAIL - Done nothing all day. Why Roos continues to persist with he and M.Jones is beyond me.MICHIE - I rate him, but it looks like Roos doesn't, for him to spend so much time as a sub was disappointing.VANDENBERG - Really disappointing to see him cop a cut head which ended his game, it has probably cost him a spot in our 22 for RND 1.24 to play the DonsB: JETTA, DUNN, GRIMESHB: LUMUMBA, T.MCDONALD, SALEMC: CROSS, N.JONES, NEWTONHF: KENT, HOGAN, KENNEDY-HARRISF: WATTS, DAWES, GARLETTFOLL: JAMAR, TYSON, VINEYIC: TOUMPAS, FROST, GAWN, GARLANDSUB: VANDENBERG, BRAYSHAW

Considering the fact that we are playing the French Foreign Legion next week I would rather get some serious game time into both Brayshaw and Vandenberg rather start them as subs.

Roos does not give a damn about practice matches. In fact, I think this is the only one that any side he coached has ever won. In his time in Sydney, he went out of his way to lose these sort of matches.

That is why we should only really look at the first half, and make pretensions of dismay at the second half.

The first half is the way he wants us to play. In the second half, he took off our best midfielder and shuffled the other players around. That is what you do in a practice match, practise!

Roos does not give a damn about practice matches. In fact, I think this is the only one that any side he coached has ever won. In his time in Sydney, he went out of his way to lose these sort of matches.

That is why we should only really look at the first half, and make pretensions of dismay at the second half.

The first half is the way he wants us to play. In the second half, he took off our best midfielder and shuffled the other players around. That is what you do in a practice match, practise!

Careful! That sounds like tanking to me. I'm sure what you meant to say was that he saw pre-season matches as opportunities to discover more about his team and the particular skills of his younger players.

Your pure golden ticket sham was pure comedy central..

In all serious stop trying to snipe and derail this thread ya clown.

Start your own thread if you want to start sniping blokes on here. Your continuing love fest for me is getting old and creepy now.

Anyways back on topic.. Clint in regards to Toumpas i dont see him getting tackled being a big issue. I think the bigger issue is Jack Viney trying to run through blokes then getting pinged. Nathan Jones use to do this early on his career and he found his limitations so im hoping Jack finds this aswell.

Toump will be fine. I just want the ball in his hand at all times along with Salem.

I am not a fan of Viney ATM especially in the modern style game.

Yes he is hard as a brick wall, but he is also small, not quick, has ordinary disposal and can't kick far or even accurately. His handballs to the grass annoy me.

He has many limitations I believe. That is not to say he can't be a valuable member of the team, but I just see players like Petracca, Brayshaw, Salem, Toumpas, Newton, Stretch, Neale Bullen, Vandenberg, Kent, JKH etc going past him.

Edited March 16, 201510 yr by Redleg