ArtificialWisdom

He deserves a whack for his recent form, was this particular one warrented? maybe not, but hopefully the negative attention gets some better output. Either way from where i was sitting it looked like it went 3m above his head and he just misjudged it completely...

I preffer to think of it as our chance to kill his career once and for all. And any of this ludicrous talk of them making a late push for finals while we're at it.

It's about supporters man, not enough make the effort to go to our games, particularly if they think they are going to lose. So putting us on prime time isnt going to happen. Hawthorn and Essendon will draw big crowds because of who they are, simple as that. Round up everyone we know and drag them to dee's games for the rest of the season and we might get 1 or 2 shots at a prime time slot. But while supporters continue to say thinks like "its cold and we're playing hawthorn so im not going" we are never going to get those slots.

AFL conspiring to have [censored] footage of the game so that people go to the games instead of watching it on TV . I hate watching games on tv now, its so frustrating. As for the commentary I would like to see the same format the NBA has on their online thing where you can select the commentary stream based on either home or away. Means you get commentary from commentators who actually know more about the club than the stuff printed out for them 5min before they go live. Unfortunatly its not super practical for our format because of the [censored] house broadcast rights they keep signing and then bragging about all the money they made.

At the start of the year I though he was little hope with Garlett, Kent, Kennedy and Harmes but given the forward half pressure problems do we think JKH might be in for a call up after a few weeks building fitness in the 2s? He's young and prob needs untill atleast after the bye building match fitness but he might be able to put some heat on the blokes like Kent and Harmes who dont have any serious pressure from below

He is starting to become horribly relieant on early influence. If he gets an early goal or sets one or 2 up his pressure seems to be up for the game but if he doesnt have any early impact he just starts to get frustrated and loses sight on the rest of his job. Something I hope can be trained out of him with experiance.

Because the fixture was developed under the delusion that the Essendon players were going to get off. As soon as WADA appealed it was plain as day they were going to be suspended. The AFL lives in its own little world where it gets to make up the rules as they please. Makes no sense to me, but lots of cents for them.

Untill I joined DL I had no idea how many Dees fans hated North Melbourne. Collingwood, hawthorn Essendon, Richmond sure but everyone seems to hate north, but I digress. Based on this year, Essendon, Gold Coast and Freo seem the clear choices to me maybe add Richmond and Brissy to the mix. I do want to see brissy get better though, I tend to develop a soft spot for any underdog... excluding the 4 I mentioned earlier they could be the bottom 4 for all of time and I would be happy.

I'm really interested in Hulett, havent seen much of Casey but I keep hearing good things. Do we think he will get a chance, maybe later in the year?

Horrible conditions for talls*? But I get your point. Had to chuckle a little at the conditions up on the gold coast saturday night... I know he isnt a contested marking player but he still should be taking the ones when he gets up with arms free of the defender. He does the hard work to beat his man then just doesnt take advantage.

I actually think we played the same zone, we just executed it better, they zoned off the same but they wernt as high ensuring their smalls couldnt get out the back as easily. If there was a stoppage just forward of center (for hawthorn) then they played much tighter than they had in the past and backed that support would come to help them rebound. We did leak alot more scores than I would have liked but playing deeper and tighter meant most of those scores were under pressure/touched/rushed. Rather than the countless joe the goose goals over the back. A defencive effort like that should get us over the line against any middle and low tier teams, but stilll improvement to come before it beats the best.

Might see another player rockin' the head gear I will be very unhappy if they play Lumumba after so long out, he surely needs a week or maybe 2 in the VFL before coming back, just for the run. But assuming Garlo is right to go then I think changes are spot on.

Am i correct in assuming I was not the only one watching Frost play on Saturday thinking something along the lines of "Thank God! Why wasnt he playing there from round 1!" He is strong, quick, mobile and uses his athleticism to run forward with the ball. I thought it was one of the better games I've seen him play. I know he lacks some plolished skills, but he gave real stucture to a backline that had stuggled in recent times, particular against talls.

My thoughts as well, first game back, horrible conditions, tough opposition. Would be hard for anyone, I'd give him 2 more games to show form then think about a revist to Casey. His defencive efforts as a big man have been pretty good in the past so I think thats what they are after more than his ability to mark the ball/ruck. Hopefully he can train that into Jesse who i think still seems more conserned with his own missed marks than he does with pressure at ground level As for the ruck, they cleary like Watts in the ruck and for the record I do too. Gives us an extra midfielder that has pretty good skills. Dawes adds structure up forward and demands 1 key defender means is 1 less on Jesse which we all would like to see. Dawes has said himself his whole career has been built around being a decoy, in space he is dangerous so they have to man him up. He does compete on the occasional forward 50 throw in, I'm not sure if this is by design or just because the ruckman are too slow getting there.

11th at 48% worst is Essendon at 43% then Carlton at 46% (overall scores idk the stats for just goals) I think uor issue for tackling and conversion is the same, we have a high volume of shallow inside 50 turnovers, they kill us on the rebound and give the forwards no hope of defending. If the ball hits the ground between 40-50m out then you have very little chance of scoring. Too often this happens, either needs to be sharp accurate hit up pass or long to a contest. Short to a contest is just pointless.

Kent is so hard for me to judge without bias. When he first start I latched onto him and said he was going to be our number 1 small forward after 5 years. A lot of good games just as many bad and a long term injury later I still think he can be that star but he just continues to tease and I'm starting to question if he will be that star I was hoing for.

All last year I was questioning their stupidly defencive game plan, and bang they have come out this year on pace for an all time record offencive improvement. They have done a few things that I have questioned and playing OMac is one for them. But they contrinue to improve and get results. They are playing OMac for a reason, they havent done anything without good reason so far so I'm going to be patient with this one.

Kent will have to play out of form for an extended period for him to be dopped because we a desperate for the forward pace. With kennedy out and fighting for a spot it might help the pressure but Kent keeps playing a few good games mixed in with bad ones which means he keeps getting the benifit of the doubt. Same with Harmes. Both of them could star tomorrow then just as easily be putrid the following week I did think ANB was a chance to stay in with viney out and Vanders wouldnt be match fit. Although from what ive seen of ANB at VFL level (admitedly limited) he is just an accumulator. While i think they can be usefull especially as depth, they also tend to get left out of the team despite big numbers over a player who has huge impact each time they get the ball. I mean we were calling for him for weeks cos of huge numbers, he comes in and is OK at best and gets dropped... Then we say the FD didn't know what they are doing leaving him out all that time. I'm fairly back and forth on him (you can probably tell) and although he is worth keeping around for a few more years, im more just hopefull than confident he will become a player.

He shows so much and i hope you're right. Either way I think he is 100% going to be part of our best 22 for the future. Just needs to become more consistant, which will come over time, I hope the same for Kent.

I wouldnt bin him, but he hasnt shown as much as either of Harmes or Hunt. Doesnt help him that we have so many inside mids, more than anything i think he doesnt fit right now, but given time he could take the spot of a Bugg or a Vanders. Given and if we keep him around then in 4/5 years he could replace a vince/jones.

. I think both of these can be very solid B+ players, they are not going to be superstars but will be important cogs. The Last 2 are role players at best, they'll pop in and out as required. The rest might as well be gone.

I see your point but look at players like Tom Mitchel. took years for him to get his chance but players stick by successfull clubs. If we keep improving they will stick around for the chance to play in that midfield. Looking at your list of players I see 1 you can argue is A+ in Viney (even then might be jumping the gun), then 2 A graders in N Jones and Bernie, Then you are left with either B+/B graders, Role players, or 'Potential' players. While i think Tracc, Brayshaw, Tyson, Oliver, Stretch and Trenners have the potential to be A graders we just cant know for sure. Therefore we must keep recruiting for them, if the that means we lose the likes of ANB, Michie or Newton who leave for oppertunity so be it. Players like Prestia who are young and right on the cusp of being A/A+ should still be high priority even with our added depth.

People are scared about this week, imagine what it's gonna be like then with Hawks reving up for finals and us tiring

Assuming form stays the same i think Gawn is in the AA on the bench (Goldy still Nr1) Gawny can hunt for the top spot next year. Viney and Jetta to get in the squad. Would think that Viney wont be able to get in the midfield this year, if he does it will be on the bench there are just too many star midfielders. Jetta is deserving of the pocket but AA selecters tend to like the flashier player so he will stuggle but its just fantastic to once again be in the discussion

I think the high raised arm is an easy enough trigger, I saw the matheison one in the 4th qtr of the brissy game from the other side of the MCG, same with the one on the memberswing when he wrapped the arm then pushed right back. Surely the umpire could see the raised arm too. Just ignore those ones and i'll be content. Failing that, a new tackling technique in order to dislocate sholders when the arm is raised in such a vaulnerable position should discourage it quick smart!