20 hours ago, daisycutter said:

whoever plays on him needs to sacrifice his game and play close at all times. riewoldt must be under constant physical pressure at all times and not given free space, i'd be leaning towards frost myself

A loss in Round 1 will anger me, but if it's a loss with Riewoldt let off the chain, anger won't begin to describe my sentiments. 

Put Frost, T Mac AND Buggy on him if that's what it takes.

29 minutes ago, rjay said:

All good to discuss 'steve', but it's not just pointing out a fault.

It's the endless pointing out of the same fault that I take issue with.

 

Well you better speak to him about improving it then?

Tom is a very good defender and defensively, he is up there with the best in the competition when on song.. But I'd argue that due to our thin key-position back stocks, nobody is putting pressure on him for when he has down games and when he kills us with his poor disposal/decision making. Which is the reason why it's almost 'universally expected' on demonland that he just has scratchy foot skills and as some have said, "he is what he is". (A vague line). 

Supporters now accept that Tom possesses this weakness simply because we have nobody threatening his position in the side. That is the simple fact of the matter.

But I guarantee that if we had better established key position depth and quality, Tom wouldn't necessarily be a lock for CHB every week if his kicking and decision making continued to let him down.

 

 

25 minutes ago, P-man said:

A loss in Round 1 will anger me, but if it's a loss with Riewoldt let off the chain, anger won't begin to describe my sentiments. 

Put Frost, T Mac AND Buggy on him if that's what it takes.

I don't care who it is just don't let run him around with no one within 20 metres

Edited February 27, 20178 yr by old dee

8 minutes ago, stevethemanjordan said:

Well you better speak to him about improving it then?

Tom is a very good defender and defensively, he is up there with the best in the competition when on song.. But I'd argue that due to our thin key-position back stocks, nobody is putting pressure on him for when he has down games and when he kills us with his poor disposal/decision making. Which is the reason why it's almost 'universally expected' on demonland that he just has scratchy foot skills and as some have said, "he is what he is". (A vague line). 

Supporters now accept that Tom possesses this weakness simply because we have nobody threatening his position in the side. That is the simple fact of the matter.

But I guarantee that if we had better established key position depth and quality, Tom wouldn't necessarily be a lock for CHB every week if his kicking and decision making continued to let him down.

Over his career to date he's the only player to rival Watts in the frustration stakes for me. His best games are superb. His intercept marking and general reading of the ball in the air is elite and invaluable. One on one he wins a lot more battles than he loses. He can run all day with just about any opponent. We all know the massive positives in his game. I'm not sure he would be under serious pressure for his spot unless it was players of the caliber of Rance or McGovern coming in.

It's the turnovers under little to no pressure that are the hair pullers, made worse when the pressure is brought on by himself in taking on more than he can chew. I try not to envisage it happening at a critical moment in a critical game but it's just so easy to picture.

It's frustrating because I think it can be fixed by him realising his limitations and seeking out the easier option more often.

Just now, P-man said:

Over his career to date he's the only player to rival Watts in the frustration stakes for me. His best games are superb. His intercept marking and general reading of the ball in the air is elite and invaluable. One on one he wins a lot more battles than he loses. He can run all day with just about any opponent. We all know the massive positives in his game. I'm not sure he would be under serious pressure for his spot unless it was players of the caliber of Rance or McGovern coming in.

It's the turnovers under little to no pressure that are the hair pullers, made worse when the pressure is brought on by himself in taking on more than he can chew. I try not to envisage it happening at a critical moment in a critical game but it's just so easy to picture.

It's frustrating because I think it can be fixed by him realising his limitations and seeking out the easier option more often.

Agree with all the positives you've listed. I've never knocked him for his defensive attributes, (as far as I can remember)..

However, view the Jack Watts situation and you'll see that a similar theory would apply if we had better depth in our KD stocks.

Maybe his spot wouldn't be under 'serious' pressure long term, but players are dropped all the time for a multitude of reasons and perhaps T-Mac would receive a shock omission for not playing to a the level that is required of him? Perhaps it'd kick his concentration levels into gear and he'd be made more aware of the fact that he simply can't take off with the ball whenever he likes nor seek a target that is a low percentage hit.

Similar to Garland and Dunn etc over the years. Different reasons, but my point stands.

So I got to watch the game last night. I have to say I'm not entirely happy. It says a lot for the dominance of our mids and backs that we thrashed them so badly, but I still saw too many directionless bombs forward under no pressure. How many uncontested marks did their defenders take after yet another blind bomb to the hot spot? We will never win the flag while this play is still in our toolbox. It's fine if you look up, assess the options and make the kick knowing there are targets in place, but to do it blindly without looking for a target is just handing over the ball and asking for a rebound score.

On the bright side, there was a significant improvement on the fumbles. It makes a noteworthy difference to the speed and fluidity of our play when the mids are taking the ball cleanly. The tackling and movement off the ball wrre also first rate. 

Edited February 27, 20178 yr by RalphiusMaximus

On 26/02/2017 at 11:22 AM, rjay said:

Not sure if anyone heard the commentary on SEN but I thought Chris Connelly as special comments man was hilarious.

.............

Does that mean that we will be done for some trumped up non defined offence again?

CC should not try to make jokes.....AFL think he is covering something up.   (Hope Brock McLean didn't hear what he said)

5 hours ago, Biffen said:

My 2 cents on Tmac

How many Dong is that??

What are posters preferences

Beat the Aints rd 1 or

Lose rd 1 and win the next 4 or 5???

Haha I am excited for this year, it's going to be HUGE

36 minutes ago, Unleash Hell said:

What are posters preferences

Beat the Aints rd 1 or

Lose rd 1 and win the next 4 or 5???

Haha I am excited for this year, it's going to be HUGE

You haven't provided a negative to beating the Saints, so naturally I prefer that one.  Then we can start the season with five or more wins on the trot 

Would be nice going into the geelong game with 2 wins on the board, round 1 will tell us if we are the real deal or not, we don't have to win but cannot get blown away like last year, it is a massive game 

1 hour ago, Unleash Hell said:

What are posters preferences

Beat the Aints rd 1 or

Lose rd 1 and win the next 4 or 5???

Haha I am excited for this year, it's going to be HUGE

Remember dropping the first 3 in 2006. The 3rd loss was a home game at Carara part of the ground access issues at the G due the the Commonwealth Games. In the 2nd half of the Adelaide loss we showed signs of turning the corner. I remember we went on a very good run till we travelled to Meth Coast and lost. We were a good side that year but not quite up there with the Swans and Meth Coast.  If you give me a 5 & 1 with the only loss being to the Saints I'm taking it 

11 hours ago, bjDee said:

How many Dong is that??

340 VND

So I've been able to watch some good chucks of the latest JLT v Carlton and it definitely provides tangible hope for finals this year. 

Our seems to have a cohesion to it that I haven't witnessed for quite a while and the best part is the it's largely being driving by younger players who will be responsible for this club for quite a while. 

Love the look of Hogan, and really liked seeing him start in the middle. I'm sure it will be an imposing sight for the opposition when we throw him in there at times. He's also becoming a more rounded player, thinking things through and delivering with good skill. 

Petracca could explode this year and his ceiling for me is the highest of all our younger players. Really can't wait to see him take on the saints in round one. 

Oliver, Brayshaw, and Salem are all working through really good pre-seasons and that will make for great competition for spots below them. Anyone wanting to get into this side will have a really figh on their hands. 

Despite all the positives I will just mention (and yes I know this is pre-season) there are still some concerning turnovers that don't seem to be just a one off. Carlton weren't good enough to punish us most of the time but if you give GWS, Sydney, Bulldogs, Geelong etc that kind of free opportunity they will hurt us. Vince was actually a bit of an offender with that. 

But as I say, it's pre-season. Cliched as it is we need to take it week by week. 

Keeps the wins coming Goody!

10 hours ago, Unleash Hell said:

What are posters preferences

Beat the Aints rd 1 or

Lose rd 1 and win the next 4 or 5???

Haha I am excited for this year, it's going to be HUGE

What a strange and somewhat defeatist question.  

How about a positive mindset.....win round 1, AND the next 5, and the next 10, and the next ten??

1 hour ago, monoccular said:

What a strange and somewhat defeatist question.  

How about a positive mindset.....win round 1, AND the next 5, and the next 10, and the next ten??

Ummm?

I think we're a good chance of winning the first 7.

But reality says rd1 and typical Melbourne will drop a couple we should win....

So i was simply asking would we prefer to rid the stk& etihad hoodoo and possibly drop a few clise ones or if we happen to get done round 1 (which is very possible) go on a run and beat cats at etihad and smash the blues. ..

 

Just a thought and discussion. We're not Hawthorn. We are going to drop some games this year thats the reality.... not being negative.

I'm excited for 2017 and watching this team development 

Watched the replay with my son last night and we were impressed with Joel Smiths mighty leap - no mark. We called his father Air Smith, for obvious reasons. My son says "Fresh Air has a great leap". New nickname perhaps?

18 hours ago, DeeSpencer said:

I can somewhat live with the turnovers with Tom. What still upsets me is since his hot start to 2015 I'm yet to see him play with the same power. 

His spoils lack conviction, his marks aren't strong, he isn't pushing forwards off the ball and his tackling is meek. Watching Weitering sell him candy and walk by him was very disappointing. 

He had one really nice athletic spoil going back with the flight but that's about it. Otherwise his game was mainly just hard work, which is nice, but it doesn't beat the best forwards.

In the 3rd preseason game I want to see some power. 

Early on Tommy had a real nasty streak in him, I remember one time he beat Paton in a contest and then stood over him giving him a mouthful, he seems to have lost that little bit of nastiness, maybe he was told to by the coach.

Tom is a good player and will be better but he needs to get that core strength back, he seems to get pushed out of the contest too easily at times.

 

 

On 27/02/2017 at 2:31 PM, stevethemanjordan said:

VAFA?

Div 4?

Thirdsies?

They'd allow that.

 

Played all around Oz during military service then ACT then VAFA, I just admit making mistakes on the field; anyone who does play makes mistakes or skill errors , at least once a game

Edited February 28, 20178 yr by Satyriconhome