stevethemanjordan

Ah I see.. Yes, it's difficult to understand. What was his mindset like during those games? Why is there such a huge contrast in the way he played those games/parts of games when compared to the majority of his other games? Surely someone has pointed it out to him? How does he take himself back to that place in his mind? It was so clearly visible on tv that he was 'playing in the moment' with a purpose.

What do you mean one year OD?

Angry? And nice to see? Are you kidding?The holding the ball decision against him was a result of his next to non-existent sense of urgency when around the contest or when the ball is in his hands. Palmer had a dig at him because of it and then fell over when Watts pushed him. It was stupid by Watts and frustrated me greatly. He definitely didn't portray any anger and it definitely wasn't nice to see. What would be nice to see would be to see Watts run at the man with ball or just the ball with ferocity and intent. Past coaches and players have contributed to the way in which Watts plays today but part of it is the way he is conditioned. As many already say, in a side with a really strong group of players all over the ground, Watts would be able to play a minimal role really well and would be made to look like a decent footballer. It's only because the MFC have so many holes and problems in the list that his weaknesses stand out so much. I'm not excusing it. But I understand that's the way it is. Frustrates me to no end and I still hope eventually things will click for him and he 'awakens'. Realises that there is an intensity that needs to be adopted to play at AFL level. That round 1 St Kilda game and the first quarter against the pies last year it was there. I've seen it. He just needs to find it again, and this time not lose it.

If all the village idiots, from all the villages, left their villages, and made their own village, of idiots. In that village, you would be the village idiot.

Frawley's performance yesterday absolutely proved my point, and the point that others share in that he absolutely is part of the problem. [censored] me I'm baffled at how clueless some supporters are. He is in our [censored] leadership group and showed absolutely nothing yesterday. Sure Dawes had similar impact but at least he chases, harasses and follows up with repeated efforts. He demands more of himself and others. Garland is in the same boat as Frawley and whilst Dunn has had a great year, I still see old and conditioned habits in the way he plays. These three guys plus Grimes are meant to be the ones carrying the club forward. How can they all be so inconsistent in their performances year after year. Why has Jones bucked the trend? How has he survived the virus and managed to better himself year after year and become such a consistently good player and performer? I don't know what to think about any of it. It's as if we need to completely rid the list of any players who have been on the list for 5 + years. With the exception of Jones. And then bring in older experienced and consistent performers to come and show our younger guys how to train, behave, play, think, talk etc. Players like Cross, Vince and hopefully Malceski etc. There's honestly a virus and it's got to go before it affects the next group coming through.

Wow. I honestly thought these types of games were well behind us All of this and Ward, Patton and Davis all injured during the game. The problems are scary at our club.

The amount of time we take move the ball on from the back half is deplorable. You can even see guys leading, a few yards clear of their opponents and players like Grimes just don't have the trust or confidence to hit up that target. So we go sideways, for absolutely no reason except for it being the safest kick. Backline again. Major issues with moving the ball.

What a thread.

'Loyal' country boy. Don't forget that bit... (Whatever it means) Thanks for the report though big fella.

Your man crush is out of control.

Jesse has been in the system for two years and is light years ahead of where Watts was before he made his debut. I don't know why people keep banging on about it. This will be one of the most overdue debutes we've seen. Of course I'm not saying he should slot straight into our forward line regardless of his form on the weekend. But if he was to dominate, I'm sure he'll get the call up.

Was lucky enough to see some more vision this week of Brayshaw and I completely take back what I said! I thought Brayshaw was a right footer. It's clear his ambidextrous but his left foot does look like his preferred foot and actually looks fairly neat. Glad I saw that. What a gift to have. It's clear it doesn't faze him which side he kicks on but his left looks smooth. I might need to pipe down about Petracca after all. This bloke looks pretty special too. Along with Weller.

Anyone know if it happens to be televised off the top of their head? Can't be bothered looking it up. But can be bothered coming back and checking demonland to see if someone posted it.. In fact I could have just looked it up in the time it took me to write this. Cool.

Very happy for the great man. Onwards and upwards we go.

We'll soon find out, Machsy.

Watts needs a hit of Ayahuasca and some psychological awakening to form a bond between his mind and body because at the moment they're so far apart. Until he is comfortable in his body and strong in the mind, he'll always float about. The guy doesn't need any more football related training or exercises. He needs to see a sports psychologist and strip back some of the conditioning that holds him back on the field. And ayahuasca.

I reckon he's a lot smarter than you give him credit for.For me, his awareness and peripheral vision in close is elite and it's clear that's a result of his Bball background. I know people are sick of hearing that but if you watch how he moves in close and seems to wait for the right option to open up before giving it, you'll see what I mean. That's rare. He takes players on and gives off to the best option. At this level also, players who are exceptionally quick thinkers can sometimes dictate where they want a teammate to run etc. Petracca's awareness and decision making in close would be amplified at AFL level. Unlike Sylvia, he is a smart, determined and self driven player who works extremely hard to get the best out of himself. He'll get a tank and he'll get the best out of himself. You only need to listen to the way he speaks. All other attributes of his are at a high standard which is why he's rated so highly. He can pretty much do it all with a couple of standout and elite attributes being great hands, explosiveness and power, goal kicking ability, awareness and time in close, contested ball winning. His field kicking and technique is the only thing he'll need to work on and I hardly see it as a weakness anyway. He makes good decisions when in open space. Just my view.

Which is strange because I keep hearing Brayshaw is a good user of the ball.Petracca reminds me of an Oli Wines kick. Definitely not a weapon, but effective enough when under no pressure.

What are peoples opinions on the disposal quality and decision making of Petracca vs Brayshaw? Hypothetically speaking, if we were given first access to pick either, I'd say they would key attributes in determining which player to pick. I've heard neither have elite disposal but from that limited footage someone posted, I didn't see the 'neat' disposal that people speak of with Brayshaw. Petracca on the other hand whilst not a Salem kick looked like he's got better decision making and awareness when it comes to disposing the ball by foot. Early days of course but one thing we got right last year was nailing two picks that have AFL standard kicking and decision making ability in Salem and JKH. Needs to be a theme for this draft too. We know how much our team lacks in skill execution and decision making.

Keep in mind they've both played under 5 AFL games each. Seems we're developing them properly, and holding them back in the twos until they start playing their roles consistently well. The same can't be said for a host of others on our list who have been developed poorly and who have less ability than these two. Confidence is a huge thing for younger guys trying to break into a best 22 and I'm sure Dom and Michie would be feeling good about their contributions yesterday which is a really positive thing for the way they'll approach the next game.

Call me ludicrous, but I have a feeling we'll be in with a chance. We'll get within 20 points I reckon. Hawthorn have had a pretty cruisey few weeks and are ripe for us to take it up to them. Obviously the difference in class will see them win but I reckon we'll make it a scrap and they'll be inaccurate. (Like most teams have been against us this year). Hawks by 20 points.

He's been consistent because of his work ethic and ability to gut run. Which is the reason he was drafted. As for football specific skills, they're almost non-existent. Unfortunately for Melbourne, we've failed at drafting and developing players who have both aspects of their game covered. (i.e. A burning desire to work extremely hard on getting everything you can out of yourself and an ability to perform the basic fundamentals of our game to an AFL quality standard). Bail has one aspect of the game covered which in my view explains his 'consistency'. His ability to get to contests and be in the right position this year has seen his possession count go up and that's attributed to his running capacity and ability to work hard. The other side of his game however is deplorable. We've still got blokes on our list who neither work hard enough, or have the skill to play at this level which contributes to people overvaluing a player like Bail. So again: You know your list is in trouble when Bail is being talked about as a 'keeper'.

You know your list is in trouble when Bail is a being talked about as a 'keeper'.

Gee that's generous to McKenzie.

Agree with your sentiments big fella. One thing that irks me to no end is hearing Kevin 'shifter' Sheehan bang on about potential draftees who are 'elite' in a particular non-football specific area. Like the 20 meter sprint as you rightly pointed out. He is one who pays far too much importance on that nonsense. You're absolutely right, the micro-analysis is bordering on absurd. I'm sure it would confuse recruiters to no end when they've come up with a list of players pre combine testing, and then they see how those players go in isolated movement testing and it throws a spanner in the works as they'll start second guessing who's a better pick.