Lil_red_fire_engine

If anyone thinks we wont get picks 1 and 2 this year well they are showing no respect to Bailey.

Well ain't that a contradiction

Grimes, Bennell and Watts.

I think Sylvia has the skills but not the ability to get involved in games for four quarters, you call him disinterested. Maybe that should give you a clue as to why I will always rate McLean more highly, because McLean may struggle to impact a game, but he will never appear disinterested. Players who work hard on and off the ball will always have my respect, and that is exactly why I call Bruce on his poor disposal, but I never question his work rate (I actually admire it).

We agree on Bate, and yet it's OK for you to mention that he's poor below his knees, but if I say it, I'm biased?

As for Newton, if you think that Robbo hasn't shown more than Newton in his two games this season, than I'm going to have to highlight to you just how bias you are towards Newton.

If Newton is still playing at 30 (doubtful), and manages to come back from a torn achilles, and then proceeds to kick 3 goals (bringing up his tally to 400, plus 2 B&Fs) upon his return, and then takes some very good contested grabs and kicks 2 more the following week, then maybe we can start comparing and contrasting the two (and yes, Robbo can be pretty lazy when it comes to applying defensive pressure... just mentioning that, you know, in case you think I'm wearing my rose-tinted glasses again).

You miss the point again. You analyse a players game/performance with emotive bias. You decide whether you like/dislike a player and then praise/defend them at every opportunity or kick them at any opportunity that arises. Once you have made your mind up you are not willing to accept that you may be wrong and concede that the game or they may have changed in importance. You cease to accept that they could have a bad game(s) or if they do surmise the underlying reason. You then back it up with historical reasons which are unrelated. I admit I have my favourites but I dont view each players output output with a differing set of rules.

To say you will always rate a poor game of Mclean's above Sylvia because he works hard is ridiculous. Mclean is probably my favourite player and even I admit he was poor on the weekend. I also admit that we may have seen the best of him. Sylvia is highly frustrating but his second half was one of the reasons we nearly won the game.

Nothing wrong with stating that Bate is poor below his knees. You asked me for a view I chose to provide you a factual view. If you point me to the post where I called it bias I am sure I can identify why.

Thanks for the historical background of Robertson last 2 games but it further highlights my point. What has that got to do with looking at the two games I compared. Granted Robertson has taken more marks in the compared games but Newton had more kicks, tackles and shots on goal. It is only his failure to kick straight that has him out of the side. Yet you praise one and bag another for historical and emotive reasons.

Happy to continue to identify your biased responses as you post if that helps in any way.

And BRFE might enjoy having a crack, but I doubt he disagrees too much with my views on Sylvia, Newton or Bate.

Dont enjoy having a crack just find your ignorance at your own bias frustrating. Two players could do the exact same piece of play and you would interpret it differently based on who they are ie: Newton v Robbo, Mclean v Sylvia.

My views on the three just for completeness sake:

Sylvia: Needs to reduce the gap between his disinterest for the contest (first half) and his ability to impact the game (would have put him in our best three second half). Reduce those and he will not be a star like we hoped but he could be a strong contributor.

Newton:He would still be getting a game for mine. Aside from three ugly shots on goal has looked our most effective forward (that is not saying much though). Has Robertson done more in 2 games than Newton did in his last 2 before being dropped? Anyone that says his defensive pressure is poor needs to seriously watch him play as it has improved substantially. Needs to improve his body work and brainfades but could still be an important cog in our forwardline and should be given opportunity to find if that is the case.

Bate: Am not really a fan and would have either of the above two in the firsts ahead of him. Not quite a KPF or mid. Poor below knees and laterally. Booming kick but takes forever to get it to boot and it falls away under pressure.

Not even close.

McLean was good in the trenches and worked extremely hard to get into space. His disposal was hit and miss, but at least he got the ball. Sylvia had 4 touches at half time.

There is no comparison between the two. One has plenty of runs on the board, the other takes a couple of good marks a game and then falls asleep.

Jaded open your other eye.Your ability to attack certain players and defend others blindly at every opportunity is comical. Sylvia was poor first half and contributed in the second. Mclean had negligible impact on all 4 quarters of the game and his runs on the board are fast becoming distant memories.

Bennell - Fast becoming the next Aaron Davey.... Your future is very bright young man!

Bennell is the next Bennell.

6 Jones

5 Morton

4 Davey

3 Miller

2 Bennell

1 PJ

Best possible result.

Fought hard, and those priority picks are still looking good. It'll all be worth it at the end of the year.

Well done boys, a massively hard-fought game.

Could not have said it better myself.

WELCOME BACK MR GRIMES

Melbourne

B: James Frawley, Matthew Warnock, Ricky Petterd

HB: Cameron Bruce, Jared Rivers, Aaron Davey

C: Clint Bartram, Colin Sylvia, Brock McLean

HF: Cale Morton, Lynden Dunn, Russell Robertson

F: Brad Miller, Stefan Martin, Matthew Bate

Foll: Paul Johnson, Brent Moloney, James McDonald

I/C: Nathan Jones, Addam Maric, Jamie Bennell, Jack Grimes

Emg: Neville Jetta, Michael Newton, Kyle Cheney

Jones is a definite inclusion, and I doubt they'll drop Maric.

Hopefully the bench is: Jones, Maric, Bennell and Grimes

Please please please don't let Stef get injured in the ruck. Please!

Agree thats what the bench should be. PJ should just play a negating role on Cox and ruck all game bar the forwardline. Preference for Martin to not ruck except in the forwardline.

In: Bail, Mcnamara

Out: Bate, Bennell

Disagree on Bail and Bennell. Bennell will not lose his spot unless it is for "soreness" particularly with the opportunity for him to play in his home state this week. Bail moves beautifully but would want to show more intent for the contest and better disposal before he is promoted for mine.

Well done to the boys if true. Valenti deserves it.

not sure on young jordie. do we need more inside mids? Or back flanks?

We say we have alot of inside mids. I would argue we have alot of big bodied - one paced midfielders. None of them are really inside clearance specialists but it makes us feel better to call them "inside midfielders".

From the games I have seen of Jordie (3 live plus one TV) he shows more nouse as a natural inside clearance midfielder than any of our so called "Inside midfielders".

Best of luck to Valenti and Jordie if this is the case as they both deserve their chance.

Out Maric

In Jetta (his worse game this year has been better than any of Addam's)

Yep great for the kids development lets drop him after one game against the most mature side in the competition. Jetta sure as hell wasn't setting the world on fire in any of the first 5 but lets bring him back in. Maric had a mare today but give the kid a chance to learn from his mistakes and apply those lessons next week.

I did.

Bell I thought was fairly good, and I did mention that Aussie had a poor game, but he's had a great pre-season and we need him out there. So many times today the ball hit the deck and Geelong ran away with it. The pressure in the forward line when Robbo and Bate are in there, is terrible. Robbo, at 30, is never gonna change. Bate should, but probably won't. Aussie's pressure is something we sorely lack at the moment.

To be fair, Valenti was better than Bell, but won't be promoted at this stage. Grimes is clearly not fit, and while I'd like to see Bail debut, he probably needs a bit more game time with Casey.

Newton does not deserve a game on the back of one performance. Especially given how terrible he's been at AFL level this year.

As for Dunn, he pulled out too many times today. At least with Bell I know he'll throw himself head-first into every single contest.

Play favourites much?

Bell was poor yesterday.

Aussie had a great preseason that has now been wasted by his inability to run when he did his hamstring. His game yesterday was pedestrian aside from a couple of tackles. He needs to earn an opportunity.

Newton was not terrible at AFL level. If he had kicked straight in his last 2 games you would probably be praising him as much as you are bagging him now. He performed well at VFL level yesterday and Bates lack of performance means he deserves another opportunity ahead of him.

He is the only change I would make, otherwise you're making changes just for the hell of it.

Maric should be shown where he went wrong today (as if he doesn't know) and be given the opportunity to improve on these areas against West Coast next week. It's called development.

Out: Bate, Dunn

In: Aussie , Bell

Jaded did you actually see yesterdays game? Lets reward the 2 worst performed Melbourne players from Casey yesterday with promotion......

Out Bate

In Newton

allow + -ed

al⋅low   /əˈlaʊ/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [uh-lou] –verb (used with object)

1. to give permission to or for; permit: to allow a student to be absent; No swimming allowed.

2. to let have; give as one's share; grant as one's right: to allow a person $100 for expenses.

3. to permit by neglect, oversight, or the like: to allow a door to remain open.

4. to admit; acknowledge; concede: to allow a claim.

5. to take into consideration, as by adding or subtracting; set apart: to allow an hour for changing trains.

6. Older Use. to say; think.

7. Archaic. to approve; sanction.

a⋅loud   /əˈlaʊd/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [uh-loud]

1. with the normal tone and volume of the speaking voice, as distinguished from whisperingly: They could not speak aloud in the library.

2. vocally, as distinguished from mentally: He read the book aloud.

3. with a loud voice; loudly: to cry aloud in grief.

Rivers - Killed on the lead

Excellent point. Had at least 5 goals kicked on him today. If I was coaching against us I would instruct to deliver at every opportunity to whoever Rivers is playing on. He cannot play accountable football and when he does he is not good on a lead up or body player.

6 - Morton

5 - Davey

4 - Frawley

3 - Jones

2 - McDonald

1 - Meesen

Great to see Maric in. Interchange should be Johnson, Bennell, Morton, Jones

What Clint Bartram did i thought was incredible & i will never question his Loyalty to the Red & Blue. Good on ya Barts.

Could it not be argued that under such circumstances a player could not be 100% mentally focussed on the game at hand and therefore playing is to the detriment of the team and a selfish act?

disposal efficiency of 57% really sums him up. For someone that is under no real pressure with his kicks as he is an outside receiver its nothing short of pathetic.

Agree that 57% is not up to scratch but also not consistent with his previous matches (80%,72%,79%,80%). I would expect the drop related to the conditions and gamestyle (overall we were at 69% efficiency) and his high contested possession rate (45%). Your constant targetting of Morton is becoming boring.

This is the most laughable thread I have seen this year. The kid is in his second year is over 190cm and built like a stick. Yes he shirked a contest on the weekend and is prone to the occasional floater of a kick. To say he should be dropped is a joke. To say we should not have drafted him is beyond words. The only player available to us at pick 4 that is more proven in hindsight is Rioli. People can raise Palmer if they like but he is playing at his potential already and butchers the ball on nearly every occasion. He is averaging 23 possessions a game at 72% effectivness (77% before the weekend which even I admit his disposal was poor). Morton is an elite reader of the player and is one of the few players we have that is a quality ball carrier. What will he be like when he gets a body on him in 2-3 years time and already has 80+ games experience.

I agree. Lets play a year 12 kid who has done 10% the amount of training as the rest of the list and play him in the seniors. Afterall he has ran around in 2 Casey reserve games and kicked 1 goal. Actually since he kicked a goal we should play him at full forward this week against the likely premiers on the best fullback in the game. I am sure he'll bag at least 5 goals he is afterall the number 1 draft pick.

The last thing a player lacking in confidence would do, is attempt a silly banana kick.

Wrong. This is the first thing a player lacking in confidence would do. He was 10 metres out on a limited angle and did not have the confidence to kick it straight as that is what he tried with the first on. If he was showing arrogance he would have attempted to kick the first one which was the harder of the two with a banana.