On the bright side

[Spin-it-to-Goodwin-it 579]

BRIGHT SIDE++++...I actually think we may have won something today :D - *the current front-runners for making the biggest mockery of the NAB Cup competition*

And somehow getting away with it, without looking like a Sandringham reserves side - Colliwobbles a current close second

I can’t be stuffed figuring out how many senior players are missing from other teams, but I reckon we must have the most so far...Anyone?

[Hannabal 4]

Your arithmetic was about as bad as we played today. Maric and Valenti played their first games twice! Other than that you have a point although I would add that some of our more experienced players performed poorly which made it even harder for the young guys.

I thought Tom McNamara was as promising as anyone else given that he's still a 17 year old. He would not normally have been expected to play so his effort was a real bonus. Should be a very good player in a couple of year's time.

Well, I have been drinking, Loosey.

[Spin-it-to-Goodwin-it 579]

what about colin garlan soooooper goaalll! come on people...what about valenti

Yeah let's talk up Garland....some people on Demonland have been sceptical of his ability in the past, but today he really showed something.

I can see why Mahoney and co have been talking him up recently - He moved really well for a big guy, showed some serious goal kicking nous and just looked like he belonged out there.

Named at centre half forward and kicked 3 goals. There is just so much to like from today's game :angry:

[Spin-it-to-Goodwin-it 579]

Valenti got plenty of the ball but got wrapped up a fair few times today, do you guys reckon it was just a matter of adjusting to the pace of the game? Getting used to his team mates?

When we get other gun onballers into the side like Mclean and Moloney, surely that will free up guys like Valenti and Jones from the bullocking type work, and we might see the best of them

Viney used to do that well.... Sylvia would surely do that job well?

[gOLLy 401]

Haha, well said H. About time somebody called out Rhino for simply taking pot shots rather than actually taking a stance on anything.

here here!

[gOLLy 401]

You can talk it up all you like but notwithstanding the players missing, today was a truly pathetic outcome with few real bright spots and the enormity of the task ahead for DB is being formed. There is much to do. Many of the senior players that did play may want to consider the future if todays performance is a guide.

Seriously Rhino you need to think about what you say before letting your lips loose. Id like to say more but mods might play the heavy's ..Pffft

[Redleg 40,926]

Your kiddin yourself. Hvae you ever played the figgin game? why the ^%$# would you want Green putting his body online in a NAB cup game?

You are absolutly dilusional *spelling

go away little boy

I thought Green's disposal was absolutely pathetic today. I counted at least 6 clangers. How did you see it?

[Bang Bang Bang 5,826]

Look the fact we had so many key players missing is a perfectly valid excuse. But it is also a concern. Is the fact that we have up to a dozen of our best missing a sign of said players being extremely injury prone? Or does it mean our conditioning this pre season has once again been pitiful?

[beelzebub 23,377]

We had 10 first game players today. .............................

......................I found your post far more "pathetic" than today's effort.

nice to see a bit of perspective amongst the all too ready doom and gloomers

Melbourne mightnt have been showing their true colours today but some here on deeland are!!

its going to be very long season for some !!

[praha 11,240]

nice to see a bit of perspective amongst the all too ready doom and gloomers

Melbourne mightnt have been showing their true colours today but some here on deeland are!!

its going to be very long season for some !!

Believe me, the whole way through I was very impressed with our youngsters. I am very hopeful in that sense. I only pointed out Green because his game was no different than what it has been over the past 1 and a bit seasons. He's an overrated hack. Like Bruce. You build a club around those two softys who look good with their skills and you end up being a team that can't finish a season off and that crumbles under pressure. Melbourne failed to do so in 04, 05 and 06.

[beelzebub 23,377]

Baileys methode championshipe was to get some kids off the bench and onto class players. To see what they did. A babtism of fire ?? well we're Demons are we not!! lol

Some took to the challenge and others were left a little shell ( stadium) shocked . There were no premiership points on offer despite it being what some see as a 'important' NAB outing.

It was a test run against reigning premiers..everyone learnt something...and no one was carted off !!

We live to fight another day.. a little wiser..a little more experienced. Some genuine talent was simmering near the surface today.

Its February.. worry only if we are floundering come Sep !!

[Courtney_Fish 183]

A fantastic result. We did much better than the team that were runners up last year.

[joeboy 3,166]

I thought a significantly positive aspect of the game was Bailey's willingness to experiment , whether by choice or necessity ( and not necessarily successfully ) - at one stage I saw White and Robbo lined up on a wing at the centre bounce , and , on a few occasions , all 4 ruckmen on the field at one time to try to create mismatches.

This seems to be totally opposite to Daniher , who frustrated us all with his unwillingness to experiment until it was too late.

[demon3165 2,719]

You can talk it up all you like but notwithstanding the players missing, today was a truly pathetic outcome with few real bright spots and the enormity of the task ahead for DB is being formed. There is much to do. Many of the senior players that did play may want to consider the future if todays performance is a guide.

Another positive post, cannot wait for more.

[Hards 2]

A fantastic result. We did much better than the team that were runners up last year.

Haha, now that is taking the brightside :D

Of the guys out yesterday, Neitz, Rivers, Carroll and arguably Dunn (depending on setup) walk in to KP roles

McLean, Bruce, Moloney, Bartram and Petterd into the midfield

Davey back into the forward line

Wheatley and Whelan into the backline

Look at the Lions last night and tell me their best side is worse than Essendon's. Changes the dynamic a bit when you put Brown, Bradshaw, Black, Merrett, Roe, Charman and co back into the lineup.

12 of our 22 come back in, I'll take that.

[kramer 0]

Seriously Rhino you need to think about what you say before letting your lips loose. Id like to say more but mods might play the heavy's ..Pffft

rhino says it how it is IMO , some of you people live in fantasy land. you spend the whole season justifying mediocre performance.

[dazzledavey36 54,947]

i thought aussie was good yesterday with his defencing pressure! him and davy tearing it up in the forward line! gold. mcnamara was great and zomer impressed me with his ability to lead straight and hard with pace aswell. maric has a leathel boot. meesen was awsome! he was like a rover at one stage and got a few clearences, got him mixed up with newton a fair bit. bode needs to lift. i didn't see cheney get a kick. weetra is quick and nippy. was chasing hard all day. i actually thought warnock was pretty impressive! spoiled well and marked strongly. i didn't relise how quick he was. bell was a bit up and go.. sylvia was good. if simon buckley can continue his form from yesterday we have a more harder quicker! and passionate player to fill travis johnstone spot. very impressive. jamar was ok but i wish he wouldn't hanball the bloody thing! stefanie martin was pretty impressive too i thought. will play afl for sure. valenti is an out an out gun!! needs to be elevated quick asap.

other then that im not worried at all! sandy will enjoy our young kids!!

go dees!

[Key Deefender 143]

While we never like to lose and especially get belted, some context and perspective need to be recognised. As stated elsewhere, we had so many first gamers and those with under ten games. These guys were not only inexperienced themselves, they had also never played with many of their new teammates and were trying to execute new game plans under new coaches, most of which have been learned on blackboards and in training drills. The experienced guys in the team, while I wasn't really happy with many of them, were also playing alongside new teammates whose strengths and weaknesses, speed and decision making abilities are foreign to them.

Pit all of this against a seasoned team on their own dung heap, with 14 of last year's GF team, who know their own game plan backwards, then this was always gonna happen. Take away the "rabbits in the spotlight" effort of the first quarter, and the tired last 15 minutes, I think of it as an effort by some babes in the woods who can take much from what they brought to the table yesterday.

Tomorrow's superstar, Tom Hawkins, had topliners all around him and yet he did little, an effort that would inspire nothing in Cat supporters, and though many of our own even less experienced kids did more than he did, with alot less available support and talent, some here will choose to bag their efforts.

These kids will now go away and take the lessons learned from yesterday and play scratch matches wherever. They will now play in an unmodified rules scenario, which in reality will serve them better than some of the circus rules that are for the NAB Cup only.

Bailey will now have a better grasp of what he has at his disposal - it was also his first game yesterday - and I think we can safely say there are quite a few good players to come back too.

Let's give them time and support - and bring it on!

[s-t-i-n-g-a 439]

I was at the game...a couple of points:

I did not think Yze was a positive yesterday. Didnt go nearly as hard as he should have and made mistakes by foot that he just shouldnt.

Was impressed with Maric. He didnt do a lot bt he just showed a few good signs. For someone mosted noted for his foot skills than anything else, I was most impressed with his pace and attack. He made a few really good efforts to chase down an opponent. I think he will be good in time.

Aussie was good for his first game. Not quite the next Davey but useful none the least.

Garland - was impressed with the way he moved. Quite agile for a big fella.

The troubles of the past are not quite gone...too many time yesterday we handballed to stationary players or those under pressure. As opposed to Geelong who found players in space and ran in waves. In the first quater in particular it seemed as though Geelong had an extra 5 players on the field.

[Jerry Lundergard 420]

I think the other thing to mention about the players missing from both teams, is that we replaced ours with many first gamers or really inexperienced players, where Geelong used alot of fringe players who have been in their system for a while like Byrnes, Tenace and D.Johnson.

We were putting players out there who were playing just to see if they could compete at the top level, where Geelong had many players out there who were playing to show they could break into the Cats first 22.

I can't cop that we go down to Geelong and play last years premiers with an almost seconds team and get thumped, and people are dissappointed. Yet the Pies can get smashed by Adelaide, and most observers can objectively say it's just a preseason match it doesn't mean anything.

Let's pause to remember who has won 2 of the last 3 preseason cups, and also look at the way a team like the Swans has gone about their work in the preseason, and get a bit more perspective.

[Yencks 8]

I think the other thing to mention about the players missing from both teams, is that we replaced ours with many first gamers or really inexperienced players, where Geelong used alot of fringe players who have been in their system for a while like Byrnes, Tenace and D.Johnson.

We were putting players out there who were playing just to see if they could compete at the top level, where Geelong had many players out there who were playing to show they could break into the Cats first 22.

I can't cop that we go down to Geelong and play last years premiers with an almost seconds team and get thumped, and people are dissappointed. Yet the Pies can get smashed by Adelaide, and most observers can objectively say it's just a preseason match it doesn't mean anything.

Let's pause to remember who has won 2 of the last 3 preseason cups, and also look at the way a team like the Swans has gone about their work in the preseason, and get a bit more perspective.

exactly

[brey9186 102]

my main issue was delivery around the whole ground was fairly shocking! time after time kicks went over heads, or bounced twice before getting to the man, or just went wide

i know adding a few more players into the midifeld will rectify this, but skills werent the best yesterday

btw, the boys standing in the area behind the melbournefc bench area were classic, musta been sandy boys, cos they were giving mr valenti, i mean "oi number 44!!!" hell all game!!

garland, buckley, meeson were all eye catching too

[Dappa Dan 2,188]

rhino says it how it is IMO , some of you people live in fantasy land. you spend the whole season justifying mediocre performance.

:D

Rhino tells it how he sees it... not how it is.

But you're right... demonland has a reputation for rose-coloured glasses that is well deserved. In this case though, what did people expect? A 10 goal victory?

[Damo 3,356]

How I saw it from the Barwon Heads Hotel where I was constantly asked how we managed to hide Dean Bailey from 15 other clubs.

1. Its no use saying how many players we have got to come back, they werent fit to play so we played our best team. Why talk about who isnt fit?

3.Yesterdays team(our current best )is the bleakest outlook in (fill it in yourself) years.

3. Geelong took their foot off the pedal in the second half. Thompson didnt want them to get big heads.

4.We have no leaders.This is our major battle. Those in the leadership group yesterday were pantsed by Jones. Macca is a good ordinary player and NO leader. Green and White lived up to there teammates expectations.

if we cant get some senior players back we wont beat Richmond next week.

It is just the way it is.

[Jaded No More 68,922]

Yesterday's result is no indication of where we're going this season... unless of course Bailey wants to field a VFL line- up each week.

I don't need to repeat the number of regulars who missed yesterday and how raw their replacements were.

I was more interested in the quick ball movement, which yes, we did struggle to implement (again, you can't expect players who have never pulled on the boots to execute such a plan perfectly), but at least it's going to help our forwards when we get it right.

Also interesting was that Bailey was not afraid to experiment and try first gamers or second gamers in important positions. Sure, many of them struggled, but it's a fantastic experience for them, and it gives Bailey something to work with. I rather see McNamara than Ferguson, I rather see Buckley over Godfrey. When you clean out your list the way we have, you will not have 44 players capable of competing straight away. It's a short term sacrifice.

The good news is, that with Neita, McLean, Rivers, Bruce, Dunn, Frawley, Davey, Petterd etc... we are no longer a VFL side, and we are no longer short on experience in key positions.

I also wouldn't be surprised if Bailey is keeping his cards close to his chest in regards to implementing a specific game plan. No point revealing your hand before the season has even begun.