mo64

Dunn on Petrie, T. Mac on Waite, Frost on Brown. Garland wasn't just bad last week, he's been abysmal throughout the NAB challenge and against GWS. Every time he had a matchup with Lobb, he got beaten. If the FD had any sense, they'd scrap the zone defense and match up one-on-one with the opposition key forwards. GWS cost themselves the game against us by not keeping Davis on Hogan. Marchbank got caught out on Hogan in the last qtr, and that won us the game.

And you were going so well until the last word.

Cut the crap. Garland hasn't beaten an opponent one-on-one for over a year. He's even worse playing in a zone defense, when he actually has to read the game. A long overdue omission, and may it be permanent. Agree on Kent. Been saying for a while that he's overrated. Lives in the glory of the odd good chase down and tackle, but does little else for the rest of the game.

I reckon Dunn, Frost, Stretch and Wagner will all come in. Frost in the backline where he belongs. Additional omissions will be Kent and Bugg.

Can't think of an occasion when the club announced a rookie elevation/selection, and then used the player as an emergency.

We must have gone back to selecting players based on fitness, because Wagner's NAB form doesn't warrant selection. Good luck to the kid.

You mean they're more understanding of flogs who want everything their own way? Matthews had the same philosophy as one of the great coaches in modern day sport, Gregg Popovich. Matthews said that you spent 90% of time on 10% of players, with a veiled reference to Aker. Popovich's view on talented players who want to play like individuals is "cut 'em".

The topic warrants a separate post. There were alarm bells with our defensive structure after the NAB challenge, but the masses on here dismissed it by saying "we won FFS". Too often we'd get caught out the back because our backmen were out of position. What made it worse was that when they did man up, they got beaten in a one on one. Our prime backmen aren't good enough or smart enough to be playing a zone defence. What's the point of having the likes of T. Mac and Garland playing loose? With ball in hand, they're more damaging to us than the opposition. Even if we got over the Bombers, our gameplan is susceptible to be picked apart by a decent team. Roos has a gameplan in place, and clearly doesn't want to deviate, regardless of the opposition. I'm sure he'll put it down to "all part of the learning curve".

Spot on. Unfortunately we are not seeing it being utilized this year. You can partially blame that on not having another key forward. The opposition would allow Hogan to take marks on the wing, knowing there's no other key forward to hurt them. But this role for Hogan is better for the team than the crap he's served up so far this year, including the GWS game.

Does he remind you of a petulant key forward playing on the other team?

But at which club?

It was happening throughout the preseason and against GWS as well. There'd be a turnover, and the tall forwards would be caught out of position. What baffles me is that neither Garland ot T Mac are skillful enough to influence the contest anyway, so why have them following the ball? This tactic can work if you're an attacking team with a mantra of beating the opposition in a shootout (Dogs and GC). That's not Roos' philosophy, so the opposition are always in the game.

We may have been in front on the scoreboard, but we were getting beaten all day in general play. That falls on the coach, but we'll agree to disagree.

I've written plenty about what I think of "Leadership Groups". Nathan Jones didn't preapre the players leading into the game. Nathan Jones didn't pick a team that was incapable of stopping a tall forward. And Nathan Jones didn't devise a negative gameplan.

I'm not ashamed to say that I had a small wager on the Bombers at $5.75, and had a significant wager on the line 37.5 points. This game had all the hallmarks of an upset.

You can't point the finger at Nathan Jones. The lack of leadership comes from Roos. Poor preparation, selection and match day coaching. He learnt nothing about our loss to Essendon last year when Daniher killed us, or in fact, he learnt nothing about our inadequacies against a tall forward in Lobb last week. After a preseason when we were being lauded for a more attacking gameplan under Goodwin, we've averaged 11 goals in 2 games against average/poor teams. If this continues, David King could be on the money, and Roos needs to stick to his media job.

Ascobar, maybe your problem is that your expectations are based around training reports and match summations from supporters on this forum who wear blinkers. Or maybe you just like to read all the positive things that posters write about the players, and ignore reality. Blaming the "state of the game of the game" is a cop out. Your anger should be solely directed at the coach and the players. Actually, also direct your anger at the forum posters who write crap about how good we are, and have falsely set your level of expectation.

Followed the Dees since 1971 and can only recall someone kicking double figures twice, Jakovich and Lyon. Explains why I find this thread absurd.

How many did Hogan kick against the Dogs reserves team in the NAB Cup? And how many did he kick against Carlton and Essendon last year? Jeez some supporters get ahead of themselves when it comes to the MFC.

Thankfully they've stuck true to picking players on form. O. Mac needs time to develop, whilst Frost will never be a forward. Team looks far better balanced than round 1.

Obviously homesick like McCarthy, lol.

Now I'm confused. An hour ago I backed the Bombers to win based on your premonition, now you're telling me the result has reversed? If it ends up a draw, I'm coming after you Doc.

I'm not a Dawes fan but that is a massive exaggeration. At least Dawes can read the ball to get into position to mark. The reason why Frost was knocking the ball away from his opponent, despite being the forward, is because he's poor at reading the flight of the ball. Classic case in point was the goal which Harmes kicked from a Frost spoil. Pederson is a far better option up forward than Frost.

He's not a natural footballer, hence he's not smart enough to use his speed and athleticism to get to contests.

You're kidding me. Frost contributed nothing other than getting out of the way. Hogan, Watts and VDB were the architects.