deespicable me

Selection interesting with the complete back-line available for the first time this year. The back six look pretty solid, especially if Oscar comes onto the bench to help cover our lack of talls. Hibberd, Jetta and Lewis in the back-line is a few hundred games of experience.

As a consequence Hunt and Melksham move up onto the wings. Hunt not having to be as accountable, linking and running forward looks good. We have played six good quarters at Etihad this year, hopefully another three will be enough. I think we'll lead by a fair way at some stage and then.............................................................................................cruise to victory.

It's a slippery slope Jesse is on.

Smoking to drugs to wanting to join Essendon in the off season.

9 minutes ago, FireInTheBelly said:

Elephant 4 - I love Watts like a brother, but has he ever taken a mark in his hands out in front? Ever? He was terrific today but he dropped some easy marks, and some tough ones, but he should be expected to take them. I'm a little concerned he's been training at the Chris Dawes school of marking.

Come on guys, stop attacking our core senior players, they all have weaknesses that will sometimes get exposed, especially against quality opposition. Watts took an overhead mark in the last qtr on the wing when he was important getting us a win last week against Carlton. He tried hard today and did a good job in the absence of Max and shouldn't be criticised at all. He was stuffed before the final siren. We tired badly tonight. Oliver is brilliant but had no impact in the last. Harmes is frustrating as anyone. His turn-overs in the last were awful but then he does something good and you think he might just make it. Petracca has a long way to go. 

There is one or two guys who we all should be upset with tonight though. Because they weren't out there in an important game that we should've could've won. The rest tried hard for the club and us.

I think we will win because we will back ourselves to score more.

Carltons problem is they can't kick a big total and can't defend a small total. (In simple terms)

I think we'll go for it and it'll rain goals. Rolls of goals. Goal after goal after goal. Goal upon goal. It'll be something beautiful to behold. 23 of them to be exact. Lovely.

Sorry forgot Max. He walked laps, looked O.k. but wasn't part of training.

Went along to training today. By the great deal of activity on Demonland I thought I might post as people like myself are excited by the season ahead. Main player missing was Hogan, but being early in the week it may not mean much.

Drills all morning. Very little contact as you would expect. One drill was interesting which was four players, one at each corner of an 80 x 40 meter rectangle, kicking the ball to two players in the middle, who would take turns in marking, turning and kicking down to the other end of the rectangle. The ball would then go from one corner over a defender to the other corner then back into the middle and on down to the other end. A little confusing trying to write it down but it was making the players kick low and hard to a player, then when a defender was there up and over to the other corner. There was a period I think in the third quarter on Saturday when we had about seven or eight non-contested marks in a row and this drill was similar. The skills were good, especially the low hard passes, Garlett was really good. Like Hannan's pass to Petracca on Saturday just as Reiwoldt got injured, the boys are looking to lower the eyes and hit targets.

Hibberd was doing run throughs and working with Cross and looked good but will probably join the main group next week. Frost and Wagner were in the main pack and looked good chances to replace Smith this week. Tyson and Kent were in the main group and also looked good. Pedo was on light duties running laps, I think he is O.k for selection if required if he trains at the later session in the week.

They finished with goal kicking and ANB kicked more balls than anyone else. He missed a couple on Saturday and was working hard to lock down that small forward role. 

8 hours ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Nah just you.

Look who's having the cheap shots now. 

21 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

And some need to take off the red and blue glasses.

Could learn a thing or two.

Why, oh great wise one? What great teachings have you got for us poor, simple weak minded fools.

The only thing I could possibly learn from your post is that you think your better than others. 

1 hour ago, Dante said:

That's the way Bernie plays, agree with it or not, he won't change. He plays it hard and goes out side the lines but he lets the opposition know he's around.

 

There were a few incidents on Saturday where he goes close (and over) the line. He was very lucky last year as they viewed vision but he wasn't cited. They're not accidental. He will hurt you if he can. Not injure but hurt. Make them earn it. I love it. I reckon he was fantastic on Saturday. He's genuine tough, and he's ours. 

And I'm sad he's missing but I wouldn't change him. He's great. 

19 minutes ago, Robbie57 said:

We should have won by a lot more. Thrilled there were no joyous celebrations by the players our approach is to get the job done. Oscar war terrible in the first half but kept at it and looked ok in the second. It's going to be hard to break in next week. 

Most of all I love the feeling that we can expect that sort of effort each week.

Put Oscar on Casboult next week. What a match-up.

Worth the price of admission alone.

Not surprised to read the Eagles "dossier" was suppressed by Fitzpatrick. Gee how's the game going to survive without him.

What an arrogant c### he was. 

15 minutes ago, ProDee said:

These are the types of comments I find absurd.  You have no basis of fact to back up this comment.

You'd rather blame the coach for not accepting poor standards than the player not producing what's required. 

Unfathomable to me. 

Jack has shown no poor standards "outside" the inner sanctum of the Footy club. He has been reasonable to fine according to track watchers. Yet Goodwin has chosen to criticise Jack "outside" the inner walls of the Footy club. He has chosen to let criticism of one of his star players play out in the media. This was a choice of Goodwin. Would Roos have acted the same way? I'm not sure. I don't think he would have criticised Jack publicly. I don't think he did. This is the point Pro Dee, it's not taking Jack to task for approaching 2017 with a poor attitude. It's the danger of going public.

So fine. Goodwin has layed down the law. We want everyone to follow high standards etc etc.

No problems, he saw a chance to set standards and did it.

I don't need to criticise Goodwin and back in Jack. I don't see it as one thing or the other. There's nothing I would like to see more than Melbourne kick the Saints butt and Jack be best on ground and come off the ground and give Goodwin a great big hug and publicly thank Goody for giving him the kick up the butt he needed. I want us to win. I don't need to be right.

Now Pro Dee I understand your view and I think it's fine. It's the company line, and the company line always holds sway over the individual. But you surround your views with such dramatic words. "Unfathomable". "Absurd". You find my view unfathomable and absurd. Well, that's a little sad. I was hoping we could bond.

4 hours ago, Wiseblood said:

Do you know more than we do?  If not then you're in no position to claim he has been 'hard done by' as you have no idea what has gone on behind the scenes.

I have every right to have an opinion. I said in my post "I think". I said nothing about I know.

For you and Pro Dee just remember there is a lot of love for a new coach in their "honeymoon" period.

Goodwin has chosen to single out Jack and whether wittingly or not it once again became a big issue that Jack has had to deal with.

I agree with Saty that Jack was a bit down at the intra club, and he may have had issues off field but I don't agree with how its been handled. My opinion. I'm not desperate to prove anything Pro Dee, just my opinion.

And I'm happy for you to have yours. But for me its a black mark as much against Goodwin as it is Watts.

Whats he going to do when Jack doesn't perform in a game. Coz we all know he will have off days.

I will judge Goodwin by how he and we respond to a loss. That is quite often where a coach can lose his players. Roos has been a master at keeping a cool head and protecting the players sometimes when they don't deserve it. If this is an indication of how Goodwin handles his gun players "I think" we're in a bit of trouble.

That o.k with you Wiseblood

I went along from about 10.30ish. Missed Frost. Spoke to Garlett who said he is back in full training next week, was doing run throughs and looks fine, Kent was in full training and is probably a week or so ahead of Garlett, if there is a choice between them.

Watts looked fine as he has all pre-season. I am also in the camp that thinks he is hard done by. If you saw Suckling in the Dogs second pre-season game he had love handles! Goodwin says we'll get back "a very good player" when he returns, well he already is a very good player. He has been a top track worker over the years and this year is no exception, I'd be [censored] if I was him, getting dragged through the media again, but Jack just keeps bouncing back, he is a very resilient character. Anyway sorry I got distracted. He will play Thursday as reported above so hopefully all this can once again be put behind him.

Tyson is back and should play Thursday, looked good.

Jetta was in fine form and will take Hibberd's place in Perth I would think. He trained very well, never beaten and always hit his targets when he had the ball, which brings me to Melksham. I think Jetta helps free up Melksham to attack and get off his player and up the ground a bit as he was doing in the match sim.

Kent needs a few games to get back to full fitness,came back with a bit of pud and with his injury has never got to full throttle this pre-season. May play Thursday.

Johnstone keeps impressing me. He has something, I think he's a good pick up.

They are working hard with Joel Smith. With especially Frost who was terrific in the intra club the last time we saw him and Wagner and now Hibberd out our depth is being tested for the third tall defender. Joels disposal is not great but he attacks the ball. Pederson who looks a bit out of favour used mainly as a back up was played in defence today.

He's a long way off. He won't get a look in for the first half of the season and if we go as well as we all hope (with some justification) he won't get a look in all year. He needs to look towards putting in a really solid year at Casey and maybe next year. In my humble opinion.

I really like the look of Johnstone from the latest set of recruits.

17 minutes ago, Dees_In_October said:

That's like saying human life expectancy is irrelevant to the punishments given for crimes. A jail sentence is the amount of time the criminal will spend behind bars in relation to the average human lifespan. In footy, there isn't some inherent length of time that makes a penalty just. It's in proportion to a season, or a career.

I'm not saying that it wasn't a dog act or that this kind of play should be encouraged. But I think the penalty given is enough to deter others. It's not like players in the men's game are wiped out for the length of time the player on the receiving end is injured. That's way too arbitrary. And Meg's out for the hamstring as well anyway.

The implication that the MRP are somehow going lightly on the women's competition is one that shouldn't be perpetuated.

But in this case they are going light. Anyhow why should it be in proportion to the length of the season.

Why isn't it in proportion to the crime, as against other crimes.

I reckon O'Dea is one of if not our best player. She's tall, athletic, strong and her tackles stick.

Go number 5.

Very, very light. Absolute minimum she could get. Chance to send a message and they go soft.

She went past the ball, made no attempt to avoid contact and it could easily be argued she changed direction to intentionally hit her victim who was in a vulnerable position, raised her elbow and knocked her out. Meg had no chance of returning to the field and further will not play this week and was in hospital till 2am the next morning.

It is an absolute disgrace. An absolute disgrace.

It should be appealed. Disgrace.

The naysayers don't get it.

Its not about quality football. I will get more frustrated by the mens game anyway with all the stupid umpiring interpretations.

But women's footy is about free entry, a fun night out and back to suburban grounds and grass roots.

I went to the Dogs, Demons game late last year and it was a totally different crowd. At one stage I just took time to look around and only about 30% of people were actually watching the game. But the rest were having a great time anyway.

You remind me of people who carried on about the Big Bash as a joke game.

Some people need to stop being "old stick in the muds"

He's pretty heavy through the thighs, his natural full grown weight will be 10 kgs heavier than Watts. Watts and Hogan are longer in the legs and probably have more spring in their legs. Oscar will get harder and harder to move in a marking contest as he has more weight closer to the ground. I think Hogan may have dropped weight in the last six months, both he and Watts will look to run a lot in the season, I think young Oscar will be more a stay at home backman on the less mobile forwards.

I just think Hird has tried every possible angle to be viewed as "the victim" in this whole sad and sorry mess.

Remember Dimwit tried to get North the sweet Tasmania deal near the end of his reign but got blocked by Hawthorn.

In a State where plan A is and always should be a stand alone Tasmanian team and Plan B, the spoils of the Apple Isle should be shared equally like Friday night matches amongst all the Victorian clubs, but instead we are left with plan Z where Hawks and North (because of Dimwit sympathies) are the only ones to share in the booty.

With Dimwit as Gils mentor its little wonder the AFL has bought Etihad and I'm sure we'll see more terrific little deals heading the Saints way while Gil is in charge. It's absolute corruption. But with the sycophantic media throng that surrounds the AFL we the public are fed #### and are expected to go "num, num, num. please give me more."

It's becoming like the Olympics or F1 or World Cup soccer where there are families that are born to this life of elitism and privilege. "Ladies and Gentlemen let me introduce The Fitzpatricks, The McLachlans"

"Oh yes, let's bring down the price of chips, that ought to shut them up for a while."

6 hours ago, Sir Why You Little said:

When did H actually become concussed??

I think it was shortly before changing his name. 

Is it catchy? He makes me feel a little bit concussed.

What about how his brothers star has risen all of a sudden? Can't watch the bloke but channel 7 use him in everything.

Now he's on SEN. Won't be listening to that show.

It's as incestuous as Fat Phill's deal with GWS. They all drink from the same gravy boat.

8 hours ago, Goodvibes said:

A little more knowledge than the average bear but like most prediction threads I'm having a bit of a stab in the dark. I'm a little disappointed with the drafting of Melbourne. WA footy is really strong and with the Victorian talent split 4 ways I think Freo are a clear favourite. Brisbane have a solid team with some exciting young talent. And sadly, I think Western Bulldogs and Carlton have drafted the best of the Victorian teams. I don't believe South Australia or NSW should have been given a team as their development and commitment to Female Footy has been significantly behind other states. I think they'll both struggle.

Thanks for that, good info. I'm going to follow it in the New Year, I think it's slotted into a good time as a lead in to the big boys games and I hope our girls go better than maybe both of us think.