titan_uranus

We are no chance for a priority pick. To suggest otherwise is rather silly IMO. We have won double the games of last year at an average losing margin of, what, half? We've knocked off some reasonable sides (as opposed to merely bottom 4 sides) and we have been in winning positions in about 6 of our losses. Moreover, our list is in better health than St Kilda's, and arguably also Brisbane, Richmond and Carlton's. We won't end the year the most needing of a PP, and even if we were, we wouldn't get it.

It's hard to say with much certainty or confidence this year as the bottom has been relatively even (e.g. Richmond winning and jumping 5 or so spots on the ladder). However, St Kilda looks unlikely to win another game, something which a one-eyed St Kilda supporter friend of mine told me would happen 6 weeks ago. They have Carlton, Bulldogs and Richmond, but they're really struggling right now, and they'd be mad not to 'tank' with key forwards on offer at the top of the draft. Brisbane's draw here on out is hard, with really just the game against us presenting itself as a winnable game. Don't forget their worst is as bad as St Kilda's (last week vs Freo is a fine example). Richmond and Carlton have shown enough and have more than enough winnable games to avoid this discussion, which is actually a good thing because they'll end up finishing higher than their list warrants and not getting the picks they need to actually improve. I see us as finishing either 16th or 17th with our draw. If we lose both to GWS and to Brisbane and St Kilda steals one of their easier games, we may end up last. I think we'll be good enough to beat one of GWS or Brisbane, which should be enough. But not enough to get out of the bottom 4, which is disappointing IMO as I do not think we are a bottom 4 side this year.

Is that what I said? Is that what anyone has said? He still has work to do in contested ball situations, and marking one-on-ones. But in a team that is full of very sub-standard skill, he stands out in that regard and it would be nice if people would recognise that he has what we need more than he is lacking in other areas.

Who cares if it would have been robbery? We got 'robbed' against the Dogs last time, I don't look back on that as a win. If we'd have 'robbed' it, we'd have 'won' it. And in our circumstances, a 'robbed' win is still vitally important for our development and confidence.

The majority of those who watched the game bemoan our overwhelming lack of class and skill. Surely you have to realise that we need Watts' skill more than we need him to be winning contested ball. We have plenty of players who can do that. What we don't have it skill.

A bit?? They're not just irrelevant, they're no bettee than we are. On one occasion we were better for 95% of the game. On the other, they played without 4 or 5 of their best players. No matter what else happens this year, I can't imagine anything else being more disappointing.

On the positive side, we went up a spot on the ladder today at least!

Sounds like Garland had another shocker. How much longer does he get to live off his previous credits for?

It's easy to pick on fourth quarter efforts and free kicks and what not that happened late, but surely that run of Dogs goals early is the true disgrace? With only two winnable games left for the year, we cannot afford to be playing so awfully against a depleted 14th-placed side.

Haven't seen any of the game, but I'm sure I can guess. We started off too slow, too many errors, not willing to attack enough. Second half we tried to move quicker and played far better. But skill errors all day killed us. Amirite? Two close losses to the Dogs, and losses to GWS and St Kilda is as frustrating as it gets.

I'd assume Terlich and Nicholson will be the ins. I'm really not a Nicholson fan but the only other option (given we're replacing two running players) is Barry and I just don't think one good game as a tagger from Barry is enough to get a senior game. So I'm resigned to seeing Nicholson again. He's going to have to be a lot better than he was on the weekend for Casey if we're going to win.

Cross out kills us, especially against the Bulldogs, a side that, if nothing else, competes really well at contested ball. They've got some big outs which evens the ledger slightly, but losing the importance of Cross combined with our depth being so bad gives me a really sick feeling about one of what may really only be three winnable games left. If Griffen was playing I'd be bracing myself for Nicholson, but with him out, surely we do not need to resort to Nicholson for a run-with role. Roos may well bring Terlich back and swap him with Grimes to use Grimes on Liberatore or someone else in the middle. I wouldn't like that, but if Terlich is the best bet of the players out of the 22, then that may be one option.

Why not? You're not the only one who considers Garland untouchable, but on current form he's pretty much 22 out of 22 right now, and he's adding very, very little to the side. His best is obviously very good but this year he's not there and he's currently, IMO, a liability more than an asset out there. No idea what's wrong, but he's not finding it in the seniors right now.

That was sickening. So blatantly unfair.

McKenzie out suspended, Salem needs a rest (don't play him for Casey, give him a week off altogether), and I'd seriously consider dropping Garland who is just useless at the moment. Not sure we have three players to bring in. Michie hasn't earned it, not sure Terlich has done well enough since being dropped either. I'm very reluctant to play Blease as I don't think he has the defensive game that's required, but we have to replace McKenzie and we need to move at least one of Salem and Garland down.

Question - why do key position forwards and rucks get afforded plenty of time, but key position defenders don't? No, his kicking even for a lockdown defender isn't good enough. You don't need to try to argue he can kick to win this argument though. If we had proper rebounding half-flankers we wouldn't be relying on McDonald to rebound so much. If we didn't concede so many inside 50s, he wouldn't be being asked to dispose of the ball so much. His first job is to stop forwards, which he does, and does well. His second job is to provide drive out of defence, which he does, and does really well for a full-back in every way except for his disposal, which is horrendous. Kicking aside though, he's doing everything you could ask of a 21-year old, 50-game key defender. Ease up. No one would have stopped Petrie yesterday if he'd kicked straight. The ball was given to him on a string.

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2014-06-18/have-your-say Did anyone else know about this? I didn't. It might be presented like a bit of a gimmick (results published in the AFL Record, for example), but it's at least a forum for fans to have their say, which doesn't happen enough. Get on there and vent about holding the ball, fixturing, etc.!

No. Just no.

Are you kidding? He mightn't be Blease/Nicholson but relative to other KPDs he's definitely pacey. And mobile. He was definitely beaten today, but it wasn't disastrous by any means. He's not just a 'lockdown defender' though, he plays a pretty important role linking up in attack. Rather than curb that out of him, I'd rather see his kicking improve and/or him learn when to attack and when not to.

I think it's clear now there is a significant problem with umpiring AFL-wide. Wayne Campbell has admitted there's an issue with holding the ball. It's inconsistently applied, both within matches and across matches in the same round. Too many mistakes are being made, both free kicks paid when there should be nothing done (e.g. the appalling high-tackle where the North player ducked his head and ran into the Melbourne player) and free kicks not being paid when they should (e.g. the goal where Ziebell kicked it off the ground whilst Dunn was trying to pick it up, clearly kicking in danger IMO). Major changes need to be made. The AFL needs to stop using rules and umpiring to try to dictate how the game evolves. Umpires need to focus on the obvious frees and let the 50-50 ones go. Holding the ball needs to be clarified, publicly, and a huge effort needs to be put into training umpires to see situations the same. Ruck free kicks should be virtually abandoned save for the bleedingly obvious, where KPFs and KPDs are tousling, just call play on (they're usually holding each other). And so on.

If there's anything we should take from Roos this year re: the Casey players, it's that he will not give games to those who don't earn them. Tapscott has not earned his spot in the side. If that means he doesn't get a game this year, that's an indication of where his career's at. Same deal with Evans, Nicholson and Strauss. Blease seems to be improving but I'm not sure his defensive work is at Roos' standard. It's one thing to want to see what they can do, but if they're not doing anything at VFL level it's not right to drop players who earned their spot in the AFL side to make way for them.

Possibly correct on Jones, might have been on his mind. Disagree on Garland - I thought he was pretty soft today. A couple of times he needed to get back into a pack and just stopped and watched the ball go over his head. Looked lost a few times and slow at others. Really nothing out of today's game was a positive IMO. We know it's there, hopefully it comes back. I think twice all our defenders went up into the pack, one of which led directly to a goal out the back. Then it happened in the forward line too, when we actually had a bit of momentum at the start of the third. Kent should have stayed down in the goalsquare but he got sucked into the pack and then missed the crumb.

The play with Grimes was pathetic. He didn't sum the play up at all, and went to shepherd when he should have been giving Grimes an option. His main issue, and it has been like this his whole career, is his kicking. He just cannot kick. His style is ungainly, I'm not sure if it's the ball drop or the follow through or whatever, but most of his kicks don't come off the boot well. They're often too low and are rarely on target. It's an enormous problem. Not sure what you're on about with his pace; most key defenders would kill to move like he does. I like his aggression, I think it's good and important for KPDs to be willing to get involved in the play (think Scarlett and Fletcher, two of the best of the last 15 years, they both love(d) to get up the ground and get involved). But he needs to learn when to attack and when to stay home, as he sometimes gets too excited when he shouldn't. The kicking is the problem though. It's very hard to carry someone in the side who simply cannot hit a target ever. Edit: forgot to say, in summary - he's a good player, still young, and definitely not one to write off to any extent. But definitely needs to work on that kicking.

Also, the kick-ins. The huddle may have worked last week, but it doesn't work when you do the same thing every time - Dunn plays on to himself, runs 5 metres, then kicks a beautiful long kick 50 metres down the line in the Jamar vicinity, where North Melbourne know it is going so they can either intercept the ball or stop our forward movement. As it always does at this club, it got too predictable too quickly. FFS - Watts was one of our best today. He needs to make tackles stick, sure, but so do pretty much 21 other Melbourne players. Meanwhile at least Watts ran hard, presented, and hit a target when he kicked.

6 - Vince 5 - Cross 4 - Dawes 3 - Dunn 2 - Watts 1 - N Jones Honestly, I thought N Jones played poorly today, but I really don't know who else could get that sixth spot.