load of crap

Thank you so much for these words of wisdom .

Were you having a dig at my comments or the performance of the team ?

PICKETT- EARLY COME BACK?????

Give his decision making, and footy in general a go... and if I'm wrong, I'll buy you your drnks for the night at the next demonland function. But I'm confident you'll come round.

cheers mate. my point though was not you defending bell, i have no issue with that, it was that you thought i singled him out and i hadn't.

of our current backline i trust in whelan and rivers....thats it. i haven't given up all hope in bell turning into the rebounding half back we would all love to see, i just think at the moment he is erratic, decision making can be poor and he's in general just plain unreliable.....not a great quality in a backman. i really hope i'm proven wrong because he was a high draft pick and i would like to think cac saw some consistency and reliability that seems to be missing at the moment. in terms of his endevour....i have no issue, he always has a dip.

i just think at the moment he is erratic, decision making can be poor and he's in general just plain unreliable.....

I'm sorry, but can you explain to me why Bell is unreliable, given that this week was the first time all season that he has conceeded more than 1 goal.

A defender's primary job is to stop his direct opponent from kicking goals, and based on that, Bell has been our best defender all year. Carroll and Whelan have both been demolished at least once this season, yet Bell has never conceed a bag of goals, not even when his opponent had 10cm on him.

His disposal has improved dramatically this year as well. Certainly I'm much happier to see the ball in the hands of Bell, rather than Carroll or Ward.

I'm sorry, but can you explain to me why Bell is unreliable, given that this week was the first time all season that he has conceeded more than 1 goal.

A defender's primary job is to stop his direct opponent from kicking goals, and based on that, Bell has been our best defender all year. Carroll and Whelan have both been demolished at least once this season, yet Bell has never conceed a bag of goals, not even when his opponent had 10cm on him.

His disposal has improved dramatically this year as well. Certainly I'm much happier to see the ball in the hands of Bell, rather than Carroll or Ward.

the last thing i look at when judging bell's performances is goals conceded. it's a purely subconscious thing, but i don't judge flankers either forward or back, on goals kicked or goals kicked against. ryan o'keefe is a prime example of a flanker that does a heap of damage without necessarily kicking goals.

you may well be right that he has been our best defender, with rivers and whelan injured for chunks of the season and carroll and co. not showing much. if bell has been our best defender, that might go some way to explaining our 0-8 start with all due respect.

you are also probably right about the ball in the hands of bell rather than ward or carroll.......but again, i think it shows our defense is rubbish ATM.

the last thing i look at when judging bell's performances is goals conceded. it's a purely subconscious thing, but i don't judge flankers either forward or back, on goals kicked or goals kicked against. ryan o'keefe is a prime example of a flanker that does a heap of damage without necessarily kicking goals.

Maybe this is where the problem lies.

You see him as a back flanker, I see him as our number one medium defender. Carroll and Rivers take the talls, Whelan the small and Bell the medium sized player (but can also take smalls like Williams). Just because he doesn't play CHB or FB, does not mean that his primary job is not to stop his opponent.

We have too many loose flankers who let their opponent do as they please, and considering some of the big jobs Bell has had to do this year (i.e.- stop a red hot Mark Williams), I think it is insulting to think of him as just some back flanker similar to Ward or Brown.

Bell >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Brown and Whelan by a long way.

Far better disposal (He would be one of our best users of the ball, I'm not kidding he is a wonderful kick), stronger, taller, faster and very hard at it (Brown is also, but doesn't have the other traits). He is also accountable and more often than not beats his man.

if bell has been our best defender, that might go some way to explaining our 0-8 start with all due respect.

Well that is just plain NOT all due respect. If Bell was playing like this with Rivers in and fit, Carroll and Holland doing what they did last season, Whelan at his punishing best, you'd see a player more free to do as he pleases. If Whelan (circa 2006) was on his own in a predicament like Bell, he'd play just as badly, but wouldn't be crucified for it. Bell is doing it on his own at the moment, and succeeding. Consider the fact that without him, we may well have lost each game by MORE!!! And to prove the point, we haven't been beaten by over 12 goals all yeat when he's played well. He plays badly once, and we're done by 5 goals more than at any stage earlier... Obviously that has a lot to do with one C. Judd and his mates, but still...

Absurd statement.... with all due respect

Bell >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Brown and Whelan by a long way.

That's true, but harsh. Not the Brown bit, he's been pretty bad. But wrecker? It's certainly true that he's having an AWFUL run at the moment. But I feel bad for the guy when he's given a serve by the fans. He's been such a good player, and has the brownie points put away.

But yes, you are right on these first 8 rounds.