Wiseblood

No, but I doubt it would worry him much. He knows better than anyone where the list is at, and he knows the time it will take to get us back up the ladder.

The Dogs still have no forward line as well. Crameri is not even close to the answer. Great midfield but nothing down the other end to capitalize often enough.

This is the line that has me walking away from the game with more positives than negatives. We are already seeing a proper game plan and the players have clearly bought into it. It will just take time for it to click and for the new players to integrate themselves properly into the side.

As did we. I threw the other stat out there to show how easy it is to support your feelings by choosing one stat and ignoring another.

Love the cherry picked statistics. You're not wrong, but it's the first time we kept a team under 90 points since 2012 as well. Swings and roundabouts eh?

True, although after a loss in Round 1 there will always be a few scapegoats. I've never rated him as a forward though, if he plays at all he is a much better backman.

I agree, but he came with a huge reputation and hasn't exactly delivered on it. He would have been part of the group that rushed Clark back early in 2013 which obviously did far more harm than good.

Why do we need to trumpet whatever it is all over Australia? I think it's easy enough to understand that the bloke is clearly struggling big time and it is in his best interests to take some leave from the club and from the game. Who knows how bad it is and, if it is REALLY bad, it wouldn't help Mitch one bit to tell the entire AFL community about it. I'll back Roos in every day of the week and i would much rather see someone get better and improve their life than put that on hold to play football. I'd love him out there too but I want to see him get himself healthy and happy before he gets to that point.

Laughable post. We will improve when we have a forward line. In a few weeks time, if all goes well, Hogan and Dawes are back in the forward line providing a target and making Howe and Fitzy third and fourth talls. Garland is back as well as Gawn and Viney. That's some very handy talent still to return to the side. We showed what we can do - we got plenty of the ball and got it in the forward line plenty of times. We just had no targets to kick to and put the score on the board. Edit - and your disgusting jab at Mitch Clark is a disgrace as well. Pull your head in.

Best we can hope for next week is a call up for Gawn. Hogan and Dawes still a game or two away at best.

Spot on. Many times tonight we got the ball, looked up and had no tall target to kick to. Hurt us big time.

You need to sleep on it. Understand the anger and frustration, and I expected us to go much closer to a win than this, but with ZERO forward line you don't win games of footy. We had more scoring shots and more I50s, something we rarely do, but we didn't have the targets to turn that dominance into goals. Until we do we will struggle to beat any team.

Watts was terrific tonight. His vision and ability to find time and space in tight situations was exceptional. Was one of the only players tonight who didn't miss a target.

Usual responses here. Until we have a forward line we won't win games of footy. Forget Clark - no Dawes, Hogan and Fitzy hurts us big time with the domino effect. With those three there it frees up a Howe to dominate the flanks rather than get smashed by a taller, stronger player. We can still add Garland, Viney and Gawn to the mix on top of that, and once we do we will look much better. But with no forward line we won't be much good and we need to understand that quickly. Yes, we made mistakes. Yes, the same players we hate buggered up left, right and centre. But the will play for the time being until the other guys are fit and no amount of sooking about it will change that. I'm hugely disappointed in the loss but, in the end, not surprised. First time in over a year we kept a side to under 90 points as well. We had more ball, more I50's and more scoring shots. We just didn't have the cattle tonight to capitalize. That will come.

According to Twitter the Scorps played a very good second quarter and lead 7.5.47 to 4.5.29. Gawn, Blease, Best and Petropolous have been the best of the first half.

No surprises there, although didn't realise Jordie McKenzie had a foot injury. That side is good enough to beat the Saints and we have some handy players to return over the next month.

Caro just said on Footy Classified that Clark may not actually be headed back to Perth but is staying in Melbourne, and best case scenario is that he is back at the club in 2 months time, which works out to 8 weeks which is the minimum time he has to be on the LTI for. Still no real answers, although you can tell that they are treading lightly around the issue which is good to see for a change.

Don't assume though Master. While I agree with everything else you've said we can't throw 'mental illness' around until we are certain of what is truly going on.

You're spot on, but the speculating won't stop. I don't think anyone is doing it in a bad way, it's just human nature to want to know what is REALLY going on and to question the motives of those involved. We've heard a few different reasons why Clark has taken this extended leave, and I'm sure some of them are not far off the mark. But we need to put our faith in the club and trust that their decision to give him the leave is the right one, and that we can continue to move onward and upward without him there.

For crying out loud - get over it.

So when they start reporting that Clark hasn't been at training for two weeks we all go into meltdown mode and pot the club for not being up front about what is going on? I think the club have handled it properly - he is taking extended leave and we are supporting him 100%. For the time being nothing more needs to be said other than us getting behind him as well.

Yet you've once again answered him, meaning you have contributed in a manner that you don't want others to. You're no better.

Far easier said than done. He's on big coin and his contract isn't up until the end of next year - neither WA club would probably be able to afford him and we wouldn't get anything of note back for a player who hasn't played for a few years. I'd rather the club stick with him for as long as possible, which is at least until the end of his deal in 2015.

Last time I checked this was a thread looking for positive thoughts and messages directed towards Mitch. Take your crap to other threads where they belong.

This is the first thing to think when this happens, but I still hold out some hope. With Hogan, Dawes, Fitzy and Howe we still have a dangerous forward line, but it looks so much better with Clark down there as well. Just hoping this time away can be a positive time for him and he can come back with a new focus and renewed vigour for getting back out on the park.