Boots and all

Pretty bloody good all round effort with the exception of goal kicking (again). Really liked the tempo of the game and our ability to surge when needed. That 3rd quarter was nerve wracking. Our pressure dropped away only slightly and Port took a few chances. It really was a bit of individual brilliance that saved us in that quarter, thanks TMc. Viney and Harmes were frustrating to watch, getting the ball just to cough it up by handballing to someone's feet. Good defensive efforts by them both though. Trac, Clarrie, Salem were great. Trac got onto the end of a few as well so good for him. Our forward line seemed more open and dangerous. TMc was all class. I liked BB's disposal into the 50m arc on a few occasions, with a few lace out presentations. He managed to get well up the ground and presented really well. Seems a much better option than Weid based on that first performance back. Kossie is back in town after a few quiet weeks. His tackling intensity was brilliant and created opportunities for others and hit the scoreboard himself. I believed he was in need of a break, happy Goody knows the players better than I?. Spargs good, but would have liked more pressure from him, he lays a mean tackle for a little bloke. Langers seems off the boil, his touch has been off the last couple of weeks. Backline brilliant again, I needn't say more. Bring on the Hawks. It really would be great to keep building the percentage up. Top 2 would be brilliant. Not overly interested in playing the Lions up north or the Cats at Kardinia..

...and what's the go with Langers, seems his skills have reverted back to primary school stuff

Wheels have fallen off here, just sloppy shot footy around the ground. Intensity has dropped off significantly.

This has shades of the Adelaide game, let's hope the result is different.

ANB, jelly hands. Been hopeless tonight

Quick entries plus forward line pressure helps us. When the ball movement is a bit slower the long bombs into the forward line are killing us. They're mostly not to our advantage. Lower the eyes, there are targets!! Petty is like a deer in the headlights tonight, luckily it hasn't hurt us really. Vines struggling with hitting a target by hand or foot. Great pressure by Spargs and Kossie. Max is giving Lycett a clinic.

C'mon fellas, first centre clearance to set the scene...

If we can regain some functionality and increase pressured between the 50 m arcs we will win, simple as that.

Hi all, Anyone have thoughts on who might play on Jacko forward? Is Clurey likely to line up on him or would he be too short? Might be a good opportunity for him to get in the goals.

Hope he doesn't stink it up and make us all look like fools now. ?

Thought I might post ESPN's Draft Power Rankings link here - AFL Draft - July's Power Rankings: Daicos, Horne and Darcy duke it out for top billing

I noticed that too, really [censored] me off.

Yeah, I don't get why the resting ruck isn't providing a deep option up forward to inflict some accountability.

Well looks like he's in for the Port game. [censored] me that these stats aren't available on the Dees website. Hopefully he can snag a few.

I really think Jackson can play more time deep in the forward 50, swapping with Maxy. When rucking they should focus their efforts between the 50 m arcs and as needed, deeper in defence. TMc to play higher up the ground as suggested, primarily b/w wing and flank. We need to open the forward line up more I think. The opposition are regularly flooding our forward 50. I didn't see the Casey game, but based on stats alone, BB was very ordinary. No stats at all available indicating %TOG.

Nope, not pretenders. We may not be quite as good as our early season form showed because Burgo had us ahead of the pack with superior fitness. That advantage was never going to last forever as players gained match fitness. Yeah, we've hit a flat spot but we're still in the mix. Every premiership side (not saying that's us this year necessarily) loses games over the course of the year that surprise. I reckon they will respond and it will all be driven by our midfield. I just think that as a team we've swung too far towards the defensive mindset and now need to find that balance again by taking a few more chances, especially early in games. For us to kick 100+ points, we cannot rely on the forward line only, we need goals from Clarrie, Trac, Harmes, Langdon, Vines and JJ. Oliver and Trac are slightly out of form, but seriously, these guys will not be down for long and back kicking goals 1-2 each per game. Vines was in great form prior to his foot injury and is taking a while to hit form again, it's OK he will. In the back of his mind he would be really concerned about aggravating his foot again, knowing that it would likely be season over for him. Look at Dangerfield, he only hit top form against the Bombers this week. I reckon he's been back for 4-5? The backline is still strong and defensively we are really good. Teams are not going to score big against us. We will lose more games this season against teams we shouldn't, but also win a few that will surprise. It's not [censored]' over. Go you Demons!

Mmm, believe me my preference is for our stars to hit form and demolish the bastards ?!!!

A flogging at the hands of Port might give us a reality check. Any top side worth their salt would have beaten us by five goals at least today.

Bees to the honeypot...absolutely nailed it. I was amazed during the Tigers game, the level of confidence each player had in their team mate. Often, a single player was contesting the ball at any given time and there seemed to be an understanding of who would be next to the contest. The process was clean and ordered. At present, we have teamates colliding and jumping over one another to get the ball. This seems to indicate a lack of trust in each other, at least that's how it appears.

Our mindset has become so defensive that attacking smarts have all bit disappeared....

Is this just a coaching decision though? We played one loose in defence and GWS had an extra on the ball.

All spot on for mine, although I think Petty is OK and still learning the craft. Yes he made mistakes today but he also did some great work!! He found himself in situations where he needed to compete at ground level against mobile small forwards without support. I think he will become an excellent lock down defender as he gains strength.

I hope that [censored] hurts. This pattern of not starting will hurt us more as the season continues. Teams will know to come out hard, get a lead and try to hang on until the end of the game. Most teams will be willing to back their backline to hold us late. All season this happened and it all starts with a lack of intensity in the midfield. T Mc is a mobile CHF, let him play as one, but FFS we can't rely on Fritta to be our primary target in the forward line. Brown needs to come into the side and if not play one of Gawn or Jackson out of the square. Backline was good again today, all our issues are forward of centre.

That to DD.

Hunt got that handball away.