stinga

Berry is only 2cm shorter than Adams, and it's early days yet , but it seems Berry is close to going ahead of Adams as the next 3rd tall for the senior side in defence.

On Sparrow He has always been aggressive and giving his all to create pressure, but he had this horrible habit of getting possession, looking for options (Prior opportunity) then getting tackled and giving away a free kick. This week he knew the options beforehand and got rid of the ball quickly. The only times he kept possession was when he was in space and moving quickly. I hope he continues that way.

Latrelle seemed to have a problem with his knee and wasn't moving too well, so wouldn't be surprised if he was rested. Gold coast have 4 players over 200cm so would be an ideal game to give Heath a run. Would make Mac Andrew more accountable. Obviously CJ is out with either Rivers or AMW as a replacement. Petty has to play to counter Kings height.

What a day for emotions. Full of optimism with Max and TMac playing their 250th Paddy playing his first game. 1st Q Fumbles, wrong options, free kicks, dropped marks, no run - ready to give it away and not watch the rest 2ndQ Back in the game but no-one can kick straight, but at least competitive 3rd and 4th quarter complete turn around with huge pressure and one of the best come from behind wins for years Just on pressure it is a telling stat - against Freo we had 49 tackles and lots of players getting none. Today we had 82 tackles and every player except one had a tackle. I hope JVR gets back to running all over the ground as in pre season and against the saints. Trying to go one on one static doesn't suit him.

more of a medium half forward and can take a mark. Plays tall for 183cm

If the side is as selected and Lindsay plays up the ground, then over then next weeks I think Rivers will come back into the side as the spare half back, however he then has to overcome AMW. With a Casey bye there's no opportunity to compare them. Tholstrup is the only other obvious one in the team to rest the other HBF's. Seems a bit out of balance to me.

I think that's true. Playing a midfield role and getting possessions looks good but against a losing midfield and you only have one tackle means there is little pressure. Whilst Sparrow doesn'r look as good he had 9 tackles. I'm sure he'll be back and firing. Couldn't agree more. When you are getting thrashed through the midfield it means you are not applying pressure. Getting lots of possessions looks good, but not when the other side is getting lots more. Windsor, Steele, Picket, Lindsay, Langford, Culley, Lever, Tholstrup all got between 3 and 9 tackles. Salem, Howes, Sharp, Latrelle, JVR, Max and Fritsch were others who never got a tackle and it shows in the result. We can't afford to be labelled as playing bruise free football against the blues again. It took years to live down the last time.

Does anyone know if Artic Park ground surface is still shaped like a dome. I remember if you were in the front rows you couldn't see what was happening on the other side of the ground. Probably good for training the ball going out from a kick between the arcs - there would be a lot of that.

No john Lord only played 132 games

It will depend on how the game flows. Last week in the 2nd and 4th quarters and the week before when we moved the ball in quickly we were able to score opportunistic goals from Sharp, both Picketts, Fritsch, Culley, Chandler and the midfielders. JVR was able to lead into space and Mihocek was able to out body one on one. When it came in slow or was crowded the opposite happened. Will be interesting to see which version we get next week.

It was interesting when you compare Berry with XT. Berry just that little bit older and thus a solid body and XT with a slim teenager build. In a game where Dogs were packed with experienced AFL players and bulked up VFL types, it as no wonder Berry looked better than XT. XT might get an AFL game ahead of Berry on a skill level, but next year it will be interesting as Berry will have picked up more skill and Taylor's body will have filled out.

All other posters have said what went wrong with the game so I want to go to the positives. We were 42 points down at quarter time and lost by 48 points whilst being inaccurate in front of goals, so all is not lost. Max, Steele and Langdon did an amazing job of keeping us competitive. Turner was our best defender before he was injured, and if he misses then TMac is a good replacement Whilst Lindsay had a terrible day in defence he looked so much better up the ground. Both he and Salem have to bend over and pick the ball up insted of trying to block it with their feet. AMW was BOG in the VFL game and could provide a spark in defence Sharp continues to kick goals. Desperately need Kentfield back. Heath did OK in the VFL but probably broke even in the ruck at best. Taylor, Only and Matthews tried hard in the VFL but are a long way off

Agree AMW best Add TMac and Campbell and we would look much stronger. Adams slipped back again - needs another year to build up his frame and doubt they will give him that long. Asking too much of Taylor Only and Matthews as first years when no other big bodies around. Would have been a good game for TeAmu to be a focus.

Wouldn't be surprised if AMW came in for Swallow and Lindsay had more time CBA (centre bounce). He looked much better there than in defence and having a lefty gives more options. Against that, dropping Swallow after one game is a bit harsh.

we had 340 disposals which is around average or higher and that's without a couple of players getting 35. It'll vary week to week and if one player kicks it then another doesn't, so there'll always be a couple of players down on possessions. Saints had 70 more possessions but most were just fiddling around, whereas ours were direct and going forward.