Wiseblood

Both are, really. When Dawes, for example, comes back into the side then Watts becomes a very dangerous third tall. Nev is clearly our best backman at the moment, and he is able to play both tall and small. Both are crucial signings for us going forward.

I agree with everything above, PD, except for the bolded part. I think Tommy Bugg has been one of our most consistent players so far this year. He might not be the greatest user of the footy but he runs hard all day, sticks his tackles and finds the footy as well. I think he is underrated by some on here.

Pretty much spot on there Moonie. It's why I don't understand how others think a Frost, for example, would have made any difference today. It wouldn't have. It's just deck chairs at the moment, and I think the inclusions of ANB and Newton prove this. Neither have set the world alight and, despite ripping VFL form, that hasn't translated to AFL level at all.

It wouldn't surprise to see both Trengove and Dawes selected. Plenty up for the chop, too. Who they go for is anyone's guess as the list would be a little longer than normal.

That's the spirit!

It's been super, buddy.

I don't think that's what many here are arguing, more that we are a young side and therefore performances like today will happen, whether we like it or not. I bet you enjoyed the game today though big fella. Nothing like a super chance to be negative. You roll with it almost as well as Buddy glided across the SCG on Friday night.

And you're turning in to a stalker.

Give it a few more hours mate. After a loss we seemingly have plenty of these sorts of posts. It makes for excruciating reading.

So McCartin clunks a few and he's the better player? I'll remind myself in future not to read your tripe as you clearly have no idea about football.

You're obsessed with 'Footscray'. Maybe you should support them instead.

I agree, as long as we direct the blame in the right place. Our half forwards and midfield didn't do nearly enough to help our defenders today. That's what needs to be looked at.

Exactly. It would be folly to do away with it after 10 rounds because there have been instances where it hasn't worked. It has worked on many other occasions this year and we can all see the benefit in it. We were never going to nail something like this straight away. It will take time and, more importantly, patience.

Don't bite, titan. You know better. Port were very good at keeping the ball in their half of the ground, no argument there. But that's not down to a Garland, for example. Sticking Frost down there wouldn't have changed a thing. Dunn is a better kick but, again, it wouldn't have changed anything. Changes need to be made to our younger brigade up the ground. Harmes, Kennedy and Kent would all be in the gun for their minimal impact and poor pressure up the ground.

What would you have them do when the ball is coming in without any pressure at all? Nothing that happened today was their fault. Many of Port's goals came from easy kicks over the back of the press, not one on one contests or from giving away a free kick.

Pest was good, no denying that. Gaahl was handy was well, though. Liked them both. I thought we got decent leadership today, but I felt we were outplayed and out coached more than anything. I thought we got ourselves back into the game in the third and then kicked ourselves out of it. I don't put it down to leadership, as I think we go okay in that area, but more about learning what to do when the heat is on and things aren't going our way.

And this is what hurt us the most. They didn't do enough offensively and they didn't do enough defensively either. Garlett can be put in with that group today as well. When that happens then our gameplan falls apart. Roos is big on the fact that we need everyone to play their role, and when they don't we see what happens. Too many passengers today.

For those of you who kept up to date with the game on here, or haven't seen it, then don't listen to those who suggest playing a Dunn or Frost or Pedersen down back, or up forward, would have made a difference. They're wrong. We were outplayed today by a side that exploited our defence superbly. Our small forwards and midfielders didn't do enough around the contests and this allowed Port to get first hands on the ball, release the ball to a runner, and they were away. It didn't matter who we played down back because they weren't given the opportunity to properly make a contest. What Port did well was get the ball to half back, bring it to ground and then run. They did it all day and we didn't do enough to stop it. Our defence is based on pressure and the press up the ground, and when we don't do it we look silly. Guys like Dixon and Wingard had acres of space all day. Dunn wouldn't have changed that. Our younger players like Kennedy, Kent, Harmes, Wagner and Petracca had minimal impact on the contest. Tyson was poor as well while others like Viney weren't able to exert the same influence on the contest. The other one is Hogan - he is such a fantastic player, but missing some key shots really hurt us. The big miss in the last quarter was the nail in the coffin. I think he'll learn from it and look to improve. Overall a very disappointing performance. We had a few winners like Gawn and Jones, but we just didn't work hard enough around the ground. On to next week and an opportunity to respond against the Hawks.

Mr. Gaahl, in his OP, made the claim we had no leadership. We were outplayed today, it wasn't down to leadership.

So we only need to win at one stadium? Super logic, that.

Ah right, that's the game, is it? If we win it's simply down to poor opposition. If we lose it's because we have no leadership at all.

What about in those 5 wins? Plenty of leadership there. But nah, let's over exaggerate instead.

Spot on. Good sides win anywhere they play.

You're the least astute observer of football on this site. Congratulations. Seriously, 9/10 of your posts add nothing and you can't see in front of your nose. It's a rare skill.

Hogan misses a sitter, they kick a goal within a few minutes. Very disappointing.