Axis of Bob

I agree with the overwhelming majority that totally disagree with the OP. It was Geelong's outside run that killed us far more than their inside work. Geelong got outside us, ran hard and used the ball well. We lack speed and class. I'd take one more inside mid (if they were a tall inside mid) but I'd rather focus our efforts on midfielders that can get outside and use the footy.

What a depressing group of grumpy old men this place has become. It's like walking in to a bar with your new wife and having a group of sad old men tell you all the sob stories of how horrible their divorces were. Everybody is so comfortable being miserable that they try to shut down anything that might give them hope. It's become 'cool' to be the most depressed person here. I thought it was good to hear Kent saying those things because he's a WA boy and good mates with another WA boy, who happens to be the most important player on our list. That he wants to put it on record is a good thing.

Yep. Defenders set up behind the ball when it's inside our 50. Half forwards push all the way into the defensive 50 at stoppages or to provide an option, then push all the way forward to kick goals.

Last night's stage was compelling viewing. Wet weather, cobbles and riders taking risks to take time off each other when vulnerable. The crashes were caused as much by the aggressive riding than anything else. The conditions were slippery, but they were going flat chat, which wasn't what the conditions called for. High risk, high reward. Nibali rode fantastically, especially to stay at the front and away from the danger of the middle of the peloton in those conditions. It really opened the tour up.

Westrupp getting his first run in the seniors.

Pedersen was, for most of his career, an undersized ruckman where he used his running to play as an extra midfielder. Also, that was one of the main thing that caused Jetta to be delisted. He was rookied and did a really good preseason. This allowed him to play AFL, although it's in a role that requires very little running.

He is, as discussed here: http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/threads/for-caroline-wilson-this-time-its-very-personal.1069480/ The guy's name is Paul Cousins, who is just an Essendon fanboi (http://twitter.com/PaulSCousins). The website is just a front (with no news on anything but this specific issue).

His problem is that he's not a great runner. Has footy skills, toughness etc, but if you can't run in the modern game then you're stuffed. He needs to get his running up to AFL standard.

What?! Tapscott played well in the VFL so he became the emergency for the AFL. And you're viewing this recognition as being a bad thing for him?

I only saw the televised games, so take this with large quantities of salt ... Is there a chance that Ahern could challenge as the first midfielder picked? He certainly seems to have a huge amount of upside and a bit of x-factor. Fast, uses it well and his hands just seem insanely clean in all situations. One of those players who has the tools but just doesn't produce the high numbers yet. Here's footage.

I have no problem with the reports. They are just honest. They aren't belittling, they simply outline what they did well, what they didn't do well and what the main focus for them is. Good, constructive feedback. We, as supporters, just aren't used to hearing it.

The problem for Dank is that if he sues them then he has to answer questions in court. Lying in the media is easy, but lying in court gets you time in the slammer.

It's a very interesting thought. I suppose each of them had their own question marks over them. Ablett was a bit lazy, so he didn't produce as well as others did that year. Fyfe was a skinny, flaky, late developing medium forward. Dangerfield was a low production player who didn't really understand the game, Judd was a known star with dodgy shoulders and I can't really remember Kerr well as a junior. I suppose what the later picked stars had in common was that they had super clean hands and a physical gift that would give them an advantage over AFL quality players (with the rest needing to be developed). Ablett's movement, Fyfe's leap and Dangerfield's power and speed are better than other AFL players, then the rest can be developed. I suppose, in short, the stars have a talent which is better than other AFL players. This unique ability gives them a chance to be a star if they can develop the rest of their game to AFL standard.

Apologies to everyone else, but this will get boring for a little bit. I agreed with rpfc's post that we lack skill in defence, and that focussing solely on McDonald is missing the point. I reinforced this by explaining that we lack skill in defence. In fact, my exact words were: "We have a backline that only has one damaging kick - Lynden Dunn. Our inability to break lines from defence, by foot or with run, has been a big problem for a while." You didn't read my post. You saw the first word and assumed it was a direct attack on your POV. You made a mistake because you didn't read properly. The best response you could have made was "Oops, I misread your post" which would have resulted in nothing further happening. By continuing to try to cover up your mistake you are just making yourself look foolish. You don't get out of a hole by digging. At no stage did I focus on the poster. I responded to rpfc's post, not yours, because he is a good poster who makes interesting points.

Let's go back a step. You implied that I don't think skills are important. This was directly in response to my post, which was of me bemoaning the lack of highly skilled players in our backline. *sigh*

How did you get any of that from my post? Did you even read it?

I assume that wasn't in response to my post.

Agreed. We have a backline that only has one damaging kick - Lynden Dunn. Our inability to break lines from defence, by foot or with run, has been a big problem for a while. Ironically, McDonald is actually one of our best at running through the lines from defence!

And miss this? This is gold, Jerry!

Ha! Watching picket fence have a full on meltdown in front of everybody is pretty funny. It's like he considers being angry to be an argument. Carry on. *grabs more popcorn*

The problem isn't that everyone is unintelligent, it's just that there is a culture of stupidity on the site that is a direct reflection of those that post the most on it. Generally the best posters on Demonland post less frequently (with a few notable exceptions).

Stef Martin was recruited in the draft before Prendergast took over, IIRC. WYL said that BP recruited "a bunch of basketballers", when I can only think of one basketballer that he recruited (Watts). I don't like people throwing out stupid claims without any evidence to back it up. It isn't even a stupid opinion which can't be backed up ... it's just plainly incorrect!

Name two basketballers Prendergast recruited.

I'm sorry that you didn't understand what I was saying. My tactic of quoting you and then responding to that specific quote may have been more subtle than I expected. I'm also not entirely sure who you are still arguing with, since we've already established that we both agree that there needs to be a balance in recruiting.

To be fair, KP really is.