14 hours ago, Nasher said:

I actually thought the biggest mistake in that chain was that the handball existed in the first place. Oliver should have taken the first option, which was to kick the Sherrin in to the second tier in between the tall sticks. Who handballs from 40 when open and charging towards the goals?

Ahrrrrmmmmm Melbourne does!

11 hours ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

Massive overreaction. Maybe wait until he actually strings some games together before making the call.

Its not a massive over reaction at all, but thats fine, thats your opnion, this is my opinion and one that many share.

14 minutes ago, Demon3 said:

Its not a massive over reaction at all, but thats fine, thats your opnion, this is my opinion and one that many share.

I don't share it.

29 minutes ago, Demon3 said:

Its not a massive over reaction at all, but thats fine, thats your opnion, this is my opinion and one that many share.

Perhaps, not many share. I don't.

Edited July 16, 20196 yr by ManDee
It's it's and that's not its and thats. Surprised you didn't go for thiss.

48 minutes ago, Demon3 said:

Its not a massive over reaction at all, but thats fine, thats your opnion, this is my opinion and one that many share.

You're right we could have Lochie O'Brien and Ned McHenry instead of Lever! We'd be way better off.

3 hours ago, PaulRB said:

Frost

Hunt and Petracca are two others who have lifted their games as well.

Having said that, it would be nice to add a few more names to the list.  It's one of the myriad of reasons why we're having a season to forget.

Really  need a sarcasm  font 

9 hours ago, 58er said:

That's the problem Dr we LOST BY 8 POINTS  no cigar !!

Us vs Eagles Crows Pies and Dogs these errors and disposals and other minor errors have cost us these games 

The coaches have not improved us one iota really this year 

Name other than Salem who really is playing better footy this year than last ?

Losing by 8 points isn't reason to go bananas, demand everyone is sacked and rewrite history on Roos, Jackson et al

 

Frost is better. Petty is better. We've found players in Hore, Baker & Lockhart. Petty has shown something. This year has been a disaster but there have been positives and enough to see that with better run with injuries and some tinkering to the gameplan we will be back next year.

But keep raging if that makes you feel better.

Edited July 16, 20196 yr by Dr. Gonzo

2 hours ago, Demon3 said:

Its not a massive over reaction at all, but thats fine, thats your opnion, this is my opinion and one that many share.

He is 23. Has already been named as an AA. Started showing some great form last year before going down with his knee. Has played two games since returning from a knee reco, 1 in which he was quite good (Collingwood) 1 in which he was quite poor (Footscray).

But sure if that's enough of a sample for you to make definitive statements from go ahead ?

4 hours ago, ArtificialWisdom said:

You're right we could have Lochie O'Brien and Ned McHenry instead of Lever! We'd be way better off.

And we could have had Ed Richards (pace) and Xavier Dursma as well. Its all speculative isnt it, much like Jake Lever and his future.. for me, its a big watch. Respect the chat.

22 hours ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

 

That was some posting streak you had going on pg 17.

Just wanted to give some kudos

11 hours ago, Wiseblood said:

Having said that, it would be nice to add a few more names to the list.  It's one of the myriad of reasons why we're having a season to forget.

Sure - but you can't have players missing huge slabs of the pre-season and then expect them to take it up a notch the following year. Just not possible. So by the time you take out all the injured/operated-on, there aren't all that many left - and no surprise that those who have been mentioned here (Salem, Frost), had full preseasons.

The disappointment I feel with the game comes from seeing the same mistakes being made. We were dominant in the second quarter but didn't put it on the scoreboard. We generated plenty of time inside our forward half/50 but didn't score.

But we played with a makeshift forward line (none of Petty, Hunt, Preuss, Lockhart or Dunkley were in our plans for our 2019 forward line during the pre-season, I doubt Fritsch was either, but here we are. I mean, Lockhart and Dunkley weren't even on our list!) and we played with two underdone defenders (Lever, Jetta).

My view has been that if anyone is borderline on fitness we shouldn't be playing them in this long-dead season, but I want to see us keep Lever and Jetta in the side to get our best backline working together and using these last 6 games to gel.

Our big problem is our forward line though. Not enough pressure, too many out of form/low on confidence players, it's all just not working. Petty was promising and Fritsch is a better forward than he is a defender/wing, but my view is that if we don't markedly lift our defensive pressure in our forward half, we aren't going to improve. Conversely, upgrading out defensive pressure in our forward half will make significant difference given the rest of our gameplan.

9 hours ago, Unleash Hell said:

That was some posting streak you had going on pg 17.

Just wanted to give some kudos

Was just catching up on the thread ?

On 7/15/2019 at 11:14 AM, Demon3 said:

One more.. i think the Lever acquisition may go down as a move that really stifled our future. Hindsight is wonderful, but he cost us alot.. a lot.. and his Knee injury is bad luck, but i reckon he played 2 maybe 3 ok to good games for us before he did his knee. I think he is poor with ball in hand, often gets in the way of other players, has no obvious pace and is not good one on one. Basically he is Marty Hore, but Hore is quicker. Lever may have a good footy brain, but i dont think Stephen Hawking could help our players sometime. Waiving your hands around and acting like a general cost us 2 first round selections.

 

Brutally tough call re:Lever.

In 2017 he was acknowledged as one of the upcoming rising star defenders in the AFL, and was duly recognised by being named in the All Australian squad of 40.

He started 2018 poorly with the MFC, however hit his straps by round 5, got a couple of brownlow votes in round 9 and then left the club and its supporters devastated after doing his knee in round 11. The following 3 games we fell to pieces. 

Lever's a lot better than what he dished up last week. He should be judged after a full pre season and a full 2020 season.

 

Edited July 17, 20196 yr by Bring-Back-Powell

2 hours ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

Brutally tough call re:Lever.

In 2017 he was acknowledged as one of the upcoming rising star defenders in the AFL, and was duly recognised by being named in the All Australian squad of 40.

He started 2018 poorly with the MFC, however hit his straps by round 5, got a couple of brownlow votes in round 9 and then left the club and its supporters devastated after doing his knee in round 11. The following 3 games we fell to pieces. 

Lever's a lot better than what he dished up last week. He should be judged after a full pre season and a full 2020 season.

 

First of all i really appreciate the measured response. I admit it is harsh and probably pretty premature. He may well turn out to be a really good player for us and i honestly hope he does.

My observations are not just off the cuff, i watch a lot of footy and i think he has areas where he needs to improve, dramatically.

Happy to re-visit after 2020 and hopefully im proven wrong.