Wiseblood

He is a little rat. I see that he had a crack at clubs for 'tanking', naming Richmond in the process, who are furious and are contemplating taking it further. This is after he wrote rumours about Carey that were totally unfounded. If he has to retract any further statements from his autobiography then it will be a short book.

This should go well...

Not a bad game so far. Nice to have two half decent sides playing on a Friday night.

He'll get his chance next season IMO. He is obviously right on the cusp of selection, he just needs it to click.

I agree that he is unfairly maligned by some on here. He is a player whose mistakes are magnified and everything else is ignored. He still looks a little timid and he can be beaten one on one, therefore it makes him an easy target. However I thought he was beaten a little easy last weekend in a few situations that, perhaps, a more experienced player may have been able to avoid. He seems to be playing the role Garland played previously, which sees him end up on players who have a distinct height and weight advantage on him. I'm happy for the club to persist with him going forward, but I am slightly worried about seeing him in a one on one contest on either Lynch or Wright this weekend. I think he will turn out to be a handy player for us in the future, but he still makes me nervous when the ball is in his area.

He certainly has and, as you say, he admitted it as such. He's almost made terrific selections as well and backed some younger players who have come good. It takes some courage (and a little piece of insanity) to back someone like Oscar, or a Jayden Hunt, put in most instances he has been on the money. Just quietly, though - I'm surprised Oscar got another run this week. Thought he was beaten a little easy in the contest by Kennedy and Lycett, and I thought they might turn to a Garland or Dunn instead. The decision to stick with him will either be a ripper or blow up in their faces. I sure hope it's not the latter.

We split hairs over selection when, really, we know little about it. There is so much more to it than stats or who we perceive to be playing well or poorly. The modern game demands adherence to a game plan and an ability to play the role that is asked of you. Getting all salty about it does little. We just need to back the FD on these decisions as they know far, far more than us.

No. It's just that everyone else has.

Flawed stat or not, my point is that we shouldn't lose to this side at all. Our midfield should overpower them with Gawny giving us first use.

Sorry, I knew I was off the mark there. Cheers LH.

T Mac is an interesting one. For someone who may be classed as a 'high profile' free agent, we are hearing next to nothing about him, good or bad. It probably means that is gone as it's rare for someone like him to leave it this late, but there hasn't really been any rumblings about it either. It's strange really.

The Gold Coast midfield can only be described in one word: poo. If we can't get another 60 odd inside 50's this week then something's wrong.

Who gives a stuff? Makes little difference. Hulett isn't ready anyway. Sorry, haven't got the energy this week. We split hairs over selection far too often.

Yeah, it's worthless practicing goal kicking. May as well stop practicing the game plan, kicking, handballing and marking as well. Makes little difference apparently.

What else can I say? I stuck by him last season and felt he deserved another deal, but I can't argue or deny how he has played this year. It hasn't been up to scratch. Do I hope he can find some of his earlier form from years gone by? Of course. Doesn't mean I think that will happen though.

You're killin' me Smalls!

Now I understand! Our losses are all Jesse's fault. How dare a 20 year old kid with the weight of the club on his shoulders have a few down weeks. Trade him I say!

You've hit the nail on the head, Earl. Sums up exactly how I feel. I like the analogy with Shaun Burgoyne. Surrounding these kids with more good, experienced players is something I hope we can do over the off season. As the season has progressed it's evident that some of our older players (Dunn, Grimes, Garland etc.) aren't up to it like we hoped they might be, so we probably need to look elsewhere to fill that gap.

I think we've been looking for a big fish for a long time. If we finish the season pretty well and there is someone out there, then I would give us an outside chance of landing one. We might have to be content with a few recruits who are not of the Dangerfield level but are still handy recruits who can improve our depth further and, hopefully, become best 22.

Will clubs outside of the 8 be willing to take the risk and throw cash at one of them in the hope they come good? You get the feeling that ones that are desperate enough (like the Tigers) will plonk down stupid cash to land one as a 'marquee' signing, only to watch them struggle through each season managing their injuries.

I agree. He won't get a touch sitting down.

I'm not a huge fan either. We need quality, and Clarke, Vickery and others don't really do it for me. Keilty looks alright, but can he ruck? He's spent pretty much all of his time down back. Again, I think he wouldn't be much of an upgrade on what we have. If we want to push for finals we need quality, not plodders or 'hopefuls'.

So we have two tall backs to play on Lynch, Day and Wright? I don't think so. Edit - I saw your suggestion of Wagner on Day. Wagner is not a tall back in my book.

I think what we can take out of this thread is that there is a need for that third tall / pinch hitting ruckman on our list, and it wouldn't hurt to see what's out there. I don't think Vickery is the answer, and it's becoming even clearer that players like Dawes and Pedersen aren't either. Spencer can ruck alright but he doesn't do much else. Who else is out there that we can actually get? I don't think Majak has a good enough football IQ to be the player some think he might be, and outside of that I'm not sure who else there is worth recruiting. I'm not really excited by Vickery. He's on par with John Butcher for me.

B+ C'mon Olisik, try harder.