titan_uranus

Melksham was one of their best on Friday. Both of them have about 10 times the credits Strauss has. That's not to say Strauss won't make it as a player, but right now, if you had to pick one, it wouldn't be Strauss (it would be Melksham IMO).

Correct. Amazing how the thread keeps going and the suggestions get worse and worse. For instance: As wrong as any post has been this year. The Gawn comment is way off too. More rubbish. Maric undeserving of a recall. There's nothing wrong with playing debutants, especially when they perform like Howe, Evans and Nicholson did. One week is not penance. Warnock was horrendous against Carlton. We have Frawley and Rivers to do the job on Cloke and Dawes. I'll back them in.

Improving, sure, but not best 22 material, considering the quality that is out of the side.

Unstoppable? He's not Jonathan Brown. And he's not at his best. One good game for Casey does not wipe out his poor recent AFL form. No deal.

No chance. The forward line functioned brilliantly, given the percentage of scores we generated from inside 50s. Petterd, meanwhile, has played one decent VFL game, after three or four shocking AFL games. Still not deserving, and I don't care how well he did against Collingwood last year. Agreed. If Sylvia isn't right, Bartram will take his spot. Otherwise, no change. Bennell and Strauss will do the jobs on the small forwards. Neither Evans nor Nicholson will be dropped until the cattle starts to return (I'm talking Garland, Tapscott, Bail, Jamar etc.).

Your categories are all fine. I just have no idea where you're getting the impression that Strauss is as good as you think he is. I honestly look at him and think, 'he's good, quite good for a third game player', but I most certainly do not think, 'wow he's an elite kick'. Really, there is no evidence in any of his three games that he is anywhere near as good as these kind of comments suggest. Same goes for Maric. And for the last time, I liked Strauss' game immensely. Moreover, there's no reason why he won't end up being one of our team's elite kicks. There's just no evidence at all to base those comments on right now. First of all, disposal efficiency is a bogus stat that does not take into account decision making or pressure. So I don't care what either player's efficiency rating was. Second of all, the fact a player kicks the ball out does not mean the FD rates his kicking, nor does it validate the outlandish claims that he is an 'elite kick'. Third of all, you are dumb. First line, and third line, are totally true. Second line is ridiculously OTT.

This is such a pointless exercise. And I have an exam tomorrow. Nonetheless, I shall now do it: Coll (MCG) - Lose Freo (MCG) - Win (we match up against them well, still no Sandilands, even though they played well today, and they'll have Barlow back, I'm confident) Rich (MCG) - Win (not confident at all) Dogs (Etihad) - Lose (at the G, we'd win, but not at Etihad) Port (TIO) - Win (no confidence with this either, but Port is rubbish) Hawks (MCG) - Lose Geel (SS) - Lose Carlton (MCG) - Lose West Coast (Etihad) - Win (absolutely no confidence with this one either, but by this stage I reckon West Coast will be tiring, and our season will be on the line. Pretty optimistic though) Rich (MCG) - Win (still no confidence) GC (MCG) - Win (the only one I can confidently predict as a win, as I reckon by this stage the Suns will be knackered and hopeless) Port (AAMI) - Lose (we could be on top of the ladder, and we'd still lose this) That gives us 10.5 wins, which is a pass mark for this year, provided of course we play decent football doing it. We could easily lose most of those wins. In saying that, at our best we can beat the Dogs, Port and even Carlton. Pretty simply, it's all about consistency. If we can get some consistency (at the level we displayed on Friday of course), then anything's possible. If we hop back on the rollercoaster, though, we're no shot at all.

No. It's a Monday. Even Carlton can't draw supporters to Monday night games. Leave it at 2.10.

Scully, Trengove, McKenzie, Gysberts ... Ablett, Bartel, Selwood, Corey

Agreed. The fact that, at centre bounces, we have consistently had two to four forwards starting on the edge of the square and pushing in, and the other two to four forwards starting about 30 out and pushing up into the space behind, was evidence that there was a coaching flaw.

It was sub-standard. He missed some easy kicks. People seem to think he was hitting targets with laser precision, which he wasn't.

Oh, right. Would not have thought of him. But agree wholeheartedly, he's pathetic, weak, afraid of contact, and hopeless when he tries to get 'aggressive' (which for him means throwing punches, bumping players in heads, and generally looking like a goose). I do not want to see him back in the side unless absolutely necessary (defined as either when he's played consistent football at Casey for a sustained period of time (4 week minimum) and there's a spot available for him, or we run out of other players)

He's not? Although I read 'jumper punching' as 'jumper grabbing'... Davey?

Green was good last night. Settling into his captaincy role. Ease off.

One swallow does not make a summer.

At AFL level, neither of them have shown me anything special with their kicking. Last night some of Strauss' kicking was sub-standard. One of them was a shank. Overall it wasn't terrible, but it certainly wasn't anything like people are making it out to be. It's not like he kicks it like Hodge, or Thomas. Of course I criticise Maric's kicking. That's because it's shite. Actually have a look at him play. He's not even 50% as good as people think he is. Don't take these comments to mean I'm not happy with Strauss (or Maric, for that matter). They've both improved considerably this year. All I'm saying is that neither of them is a 'superb' kick. Or an 'exceptional' kick. Or even a 'good' kick.

Might be true, but he doesn't deserve to just walk back into the side. Like Dunn and Bate, he needs to go back to Casey and play consistent football there for 3-4 weeks. And if there's no spot for him in the MFC side, so be it. He lost it, he has to earn it back. Of course, we're just as likely to play insipidly on QB as anything, so we might see him back sooner rather than later. But there is little to be gained by reverting straight back to the tried players when the younger ones are doing their jobs.

Oh yes, I am. It's quite enjoyable really.

I really, really liked that game. Gave Martin the chop out he couldn't get from Newton/Dunn, but did more than just relieve. His tapwork was good. His mobility was exceptional. His enthusiasm was great. Also loved (I think that's the right emotion) seeing his face when he came off after missing his kick. He was absolutely gutted. He will take time, lots and lots of time, but I saw enough last night to tell me he is our ruckman for the future. Him and Martin.

Great game, in fact, it's been a great month for Watts. Really showing great signs. Trengove is a star. His marking is fine. The ones he drops are often the ones where he's up against two or three defenders, who are all stronger than him.

Oh dear God. We've just won a great game, and within 13 hours someone has suggested that the team could be improved with Dunn. Can't agree. He still doesn't go hard enough for the ball when it's there to be won. There was a passage of play in the third, when the team was up and running, where Jones kept the ball in play, but it fell near Jurrah's feet. He limply bent over to pick it up, letting an Essendon player dive on it and snatch it away. It's not necessarily his job, nor forte, to go hard for the contested ball, and if we had a bigger forward line he wouldn't be playing the FF role. But he still needs to work harder, chase harder, and look more enthusiastic.

I'm sorry. But really, the same people who were bleating here last week about how terrible Bailey was, about how he has no passion and no ability to connect with the players, are now saying he's a legend. The mood swings on this forum are ridiculous.

No idea where you pull that statement from. His kicking last night wasn't anything special; in fact, it was on the sub-standard side for mine. Especially for someone who was drafted under the pretense of being a superb kick. That being said, I liked his game last night. Worked really, really hard, is much more confident than he was last year (which might be due to his increased strength, he's really built up his upper body mass), and looked much more willing to get his hands dirty. Pleased me, even if his kicking wasn't that good.

There's no saying which Melbourne will turn up. If we play like we did last night, or like we did against Adelaide, it will be a good game, as we do match up well against them. If we play like we did against Carlton, North, West Coast or Hawthorn, they will smash us to smithereens.

He should be OK, given the 10 day break and the fact that it was only a corkie. So long as he comes up, I guess we won't need to make a change. Hopefully.