mo64

You weren't the only one. The 2 NRL finals have been a better advertisement for their game than all the AFL finals so far. Both NRL games were a great contest played at a high level. Same can't be said of any of the AFL finals. The Crows/GWS and Sydney/Essendon games were a snoozefest. Tigers played at a high level and Cats were insipid.

C'mon Redleg, Tim Smith a star key forward and Jake Spencer a key ruckman? Really? There is no such thing as "would have beaten them" if things were different in a game. Injuries and suspensions are an excuse. Your final 2 points are the real issues.

Was thinking the same thing. Maybe Lever's management advised the club that we're not in contention, so we immediately re-signed Frost.

Watched the doco, and thought I'd wait to read the actions on here before posting. The underlining message that HL was getting across was that there is an inherent racist and homophobic culture within Australian society. And his thoughts are justified when you read this thread. I've now totally divorced my thoughts of HL the Melbourne footballer with HL the human being. He is a complex but courageous person.

The whole system was compromised by Mark Evans, the then GM of Footy Ops, when he stated that he didn't want players suspended, and hence miss out on the chance to win the Brownlow, for making contact that wasn't deemed forceful. That led to a plethora of fines being allocated for incidents that previously would have copped 2 weeks. Basically, it's become a free-for-all as long as it's not considered forceful. It also led to high profile players like Fyfe getting off for actions that clearly warranted a suspension.

Based on his non-selection, I'd be staggered if Spencer's still on our list next year. The FD think that we're better off being non-competitive in the hitouts, than having an immobile unskilled ruckman like Spencer. It makes no sense to perservere with him.

Aside from Mac brothers and Frost, who are all playing, which other key defender is injured. And don't say Garland, because even if he was fit, we'd be looking to pension him off at seasons end. Smith is more of a half back, who could play on a 3rd tall.

Hulett looks like a suburban footballer. Could dominate a game due to his superior phsical prowess, but as you say, I don't see anything in his game that translates to AFL level. Another Leigh Williams in my opinion.

He was pretty outspoken about the recent staff cuts by The Age, so he may have dug his own grave. It's a shame that his moronic counterpart at The Hun didn't suffer the same fate. As a journo, I'd take Connolly over Slobbo any day of the week.

If the club is currently targeting opposition players to recruit, they'd be doing the sums as to what cap space is required. They'd have a fair idea as to which players are in the firing line.

I'm surprised O Mac isn't in the team, with all his 1%s and TOG.

Sorry HB, but if anyone believed that Danger was going to any other club than Geelong, they need their head read. Every year, the club would have a wishlist of potential recruits. I wouldn't be surprised if some board member or coterie member gets wind of the list, and tries to bignote themselves by passing on the info as being definitive. GNF may be getting that info 2nd, 3rd or 4th hand.

Something in me finds it uncomfortable when a former player comments on a sacked coach, regardless of whether it's positive or negative. The players had the chance to redress things at the time. And Brad needs to understand that there's more to being a head coach than tactical nous.

No he wouldn't. Pedersen playing as an old fashioned follower is more effective than having Fitzpatrick on the field.

It's a cop out to put those bad losses (Freo, Hawthorn, Richmond, North) down to missing Gawn and Hogan. We lost similar games to Essendon and Carlton last year with Gawn and Hogan playing. And does that mean that every season we have an injury to a key player, we just write it off as bad luck? We've got a talented list, but still haven't got a winning mentality. Until we start stringing wins together, I'll never be satisfied.

I assume you're relating this to the negative criticisms of O Mac. In Frawley's case, in his first 3 seasons at the club, we won a total of 12 games. that's hard going for a young key defender. It's fair to say that every player was copping a whacking, including Nathan Jones. Frawley was an All Australian in his 4th year. I just don't see that level of improvement in O Mac.

I think you're spot on Fat Tony. It's easier for the opposition to apply pressure on the ball handler, or intercept our short corridor kicks, when they are fresh. But I also think that our backline isn't strong in one-on-one contests. We can defend ok when our mids push back, but would need to know the limitations of our backline, and don't underestimate the opposition forwards. In the 2nd half against GC, our strategy was to have 10 players behind the ball after a goal was kicked. Two players would rush into the square an our mids would run forward if we won the clearance. It worked well against a team that seemed to give up.

The point you make about positive risks is a good one. Last week it was identified that the better players in the comp had the most turnovers. One reason is because they get the ball in pressure situations more often, but they also make the most risk/reward decisions. So people who bring up stat lines such as turnovers / DE% and 1%s, are either lazy or don't understand the game. When I look at individual errors, my starting point is what I expect of an AFL player as opposed to a park footballer. If an AFL player hasn't got the football smarts or skill level to execute something that a park footballer could, that stands out for me. Some of us get accused of being naysayers, and I'm one, but that's because we see the same players making park football errors. We then get accused of having whipping boys. A case in point for me was Garland. For ages myself and STMJ kept banging on about what him being a liability. My biggest criticism of him was the he prevented quick ball movement with his penchant to slowly go back after taking a mark from short kick. These things don't show up in the stats sheet. My current "whipping boy" is O Mac because he continues to make park football errors. A recent example was against the Crows when he couldn't man the mark properly, and allowed Tex Walker to stroll past him and have a ping for goal. Again, it doesn't show up on any stats sheet, but it was cringeworthy. And if Jack Watts continues to try and take chest marks and get intercepted as a result, he'll become a "whipping boy" once again.

Jones, Garlett, Melksham, Hannan and Oliver had 0 one percenters. Another meaningless stat.

There are so many things wrong with your logic. For starters, if a quality player who addresses a need becomes available, you make a play for him, regardless of where you are on the ladder. And $700k is not exorbitant. Secondly, you want to use that 1st round pick on a classy outside mid. Do the names Morton and Toumpas spring to mind? How they translate from junior to AFL ranks for outside mids, is the hardest to assess. Take a proven commodity in May. If you think that Lewis is almost done, he has another 2 years on a contract which wouldn't be much less than $700k. And finally, your offer of $250k for Jack Leslie isn't much over the minimum wage.

When you're an underachieving team like we are, isn't it prudent to try to identify why? Sport isn't always rainbows and unicorns.

It's the most inane list I've ever seen, and if anybody draws any conclusions from it, they need to give it away. Captain Obvious can tell that Freo will win more games with Sandilands in, and the same applies to Jarrad Waite, but 50% of the players on that list weren't playing because they weren't selected.

I don't think that joeboy can ever be accused of going overboard when we win. He may see some players in a different light to others (Tyson), but that makes him no different to 90% of the posters on here. Some think that O. Mac does his job, others think he's a hack. Some players will always polarise opinions.

He does so many things that don't reflect on the stats sheet, particularly in the game against the Crows. I have him in my Dreamteam, and from that perpective he is frustrating. So nice to see him getting rewarded for effort on Sunday, and team of the week is deserved recognition. Has all the tools to become a good player.

Good point. I reckon I've seen Hannan smother the ball off the opposition boot at least 5 times in the past 2 weeks. He also corrals the opposition when they have the ball, which forces them to kick to a certain area of the ground. These things don't show up on Champion Data stats. As for Kent, I was a fan, but have come to the realisation that he's a downhill skier. Has currency, so would look to trade.