titan_uranus

True, but I meant that people gave Hooker credit for simply not giving up and running as hard as he could, even though it was in vain. Yes, Frawley caught him, but it was a similar effort.

The HUN has us making the finals, winning all of our remaining games except the Hawthorn one, and Sydney, North and Adelaide all struggling. I wonder what that's based on? Tbh, we should be able to win the four games identified (BL, Richmond, Hawthorn, PA), but we all know how we fare interstate. If we keep our form up, score another 3-4 wins, and finish 8-10 on the ladder, hopefully we'll be rewarded with a nice draw next year. That's the important thing for me. Not finals. In fact I'd kind of like us to finish 9th as a form of motivation for next year.

There is no doubt at all that when we have a kick to handball ratio greater than 1 (i.e. we kick more than we handpass) we play good football. The question is a bit of a chicken and egg one: does the good football come from using the ball by foot more, or is the higher kick count a reflection of a good day at the office? IMO it's the former. Either way it's clear that the game plan is not based upon over-using the handpass and that our best football comes when we use it by foot more than hand.

This is a fail of a post, and on the whole, you are a fail of a poster.

Legend. His chase of Lewis Jetta ought to earn accolades, like Cale Hooker chasing Buddy. Going to towel up Brown again this week.

I shouldn't have singled him out as the weakest or the worst, maybe, but IMO he's clearly the one who makes way for McDonald, Moloney or Trengove. Of course if all 3 are fit then we have to find other players, and it's possible Watts will be rested if he indeed injured his quad/thigh/whichever muscle they were working on at three quarter time, but I stand by my belief that Maric wasn't as good as our other 21 yesterday. Including Watts. I thought his first quarter was really great. Agree with both obvservations. Goodes was good, their best for sure, but not top 3 on the ground. Sylvia, Frawley, Green, Bruce I'd have in front of him. And Bate's going to struggle to get back in the side. On the radio before the game I heard Robert Walls say he checks his roster every week and smiles when he sees he's got a Melbourne game because he thinks we're one of the most exciting teams to watch and he enjoys watching the games we play and the talent we have to show. Hopefully this kind of good press, and a strong finish to the year, will give us some nice fixtures next year.

Possibly the best game he's ever played. Certainly the best I can remember. Does the shut down job week in, week out, and does it well. His kicking is at times atrocious, as evidenced by the 2 or 3 OOFs and some other missed passes, but his ferocity, aggression, hard running and McGlynn's lack of output made his day memorable.

McNamara. Which I don't like, as I feel he'll be cut so we can keep PJ as ruck depth.

I know people will call me a Maric-hater/basher/whatever but I just saw little from him yesterday. He was slow, hesitant, didn't showcase the kicking he was drafted for, and didn't really have an influence on the game. I did like his repeat efforts though. Exactly how I feel. He wasn't terrible, but he was clearly number 22 of 22 and with the talent we may well be bringing back this week he won't make the cut.

Well exceeded my expectations yesterday. Great stuff. 4 goal assists, hard tackling and chasing, some dodgy field passing mixed with a couple of thunderbolts. Nice stuff.

Really? Any of McDonald, Moloney and Trengove could be fit. I reckon it'd be harsh to be dropping someone instead of Maric, though we could find Scully or Watts gets rested. I don't think there were any injuries today, another positive.

Disagree. Well, maybe I shouldn't have singled him out but IMO he just didn't look up with the tempo of AFL football. Of the 22 out there his influence on the game was clearly the smallest. Like I said, it's not a knock, but I doubt he'll be in the side next week. I bet you he'll get Brownlow votes. He was good, sure, but I can name at least 4 or 5 Melbourne players who were better. I liked how Bailey left Morton on him all day. Good learning opportunity. Didn't really disgrace himself either.

Can't think of a match where we've played that well from start to finish (though we turned off a bit in the fourth, understandably given we've got a 6 day break then a trip to Brisbane). It is Sydney's biggest loss under Paul Roos. Really, and this isn't a bagging or anything, but Maric would be the only player who didn't really play well. The other 21 really had good games and it will be tough to find room for McDonald, Trengove and Moloney who could all be fit. Heck, even PJ played well. Can't see Warnock or Bate getting back anytime soon.

6 - Sylvia 5 - Bartram 4 - Garland 3 - MacDonald 2 - Frawley 1 - Green Apologies to Davey, Wonaeamirri, McKenzie, Jamar and basically the rest. Edit: Forgot Bruce, who was outstanding today. O'Keefe was totally ineffective all day, and Bruce even kicked a goal from 50. Great effort.

West Coast did themselves no favours by losing to Carlton, who from all account weren't very good. Still the favourites with Brisbane in my eyes.

I can't imagine this is a result of the polling the AFL did of fans to see what we wanted. I just cannot imagine there was any support for Monday night football, but I can imagine Saturday afternoon football being a popular timeslot. It's not like the AFL is going broke. For mine, it's well within its rights to schedule matches whenever it wants, but this might be a terrible move and I certainly don't want us to be playing lots of Monday night football. FWIW, I don't think it will catch on. Even though I'm sure it'll be populated by bigger clubs, which will mean the TV ratings are high, the novelty will wear off sooner or later and the clubs will begin to complain about having no one at the ground and more 6 day breaks. 3.10 on a Saturday stinks.

On the whole not a bad post, and I agree with your team. I'd be shifting Watson down the order for the Ashes and playing Hughes. Yes, he struggled in last year's Ashes against the short stuff, but surely he's worked on that by now. Too talented not to be in the side. Watson's batting is OK, his bowling is now a lot better, and if he's going to be bowling considerable amounts of overs he shouldn't be opening the batting, it's a bit too taxing for someone with his history of injuries. I'd look to dropping North, who just doesn't stand up when the team needs him. As replacements for Hussey and Ponting I can think of no better pair than White and Ferguson.

Look, I don't really mind it, I just don't like the Southern Cross. Maybe there's a reason, maybe it's related to the players/officials we've lost to war as the flame is, but I just don't like it. It's without doubt better than what we've got at the moment (the square). Why would I try to find something wrong with it? The first thing I saw when I looked at it was the Southern Cross. Doesn't make me think 'Melbourne'. The rest does.

Whilst I don't agree with dropping Bate for Maric, it's not like Bate's been playing really well the last few weeks. Maybe a drop to the VFL might wake him up a bit. I wouldn't be disappointed to see Morton play Bate's role.

It's apparently in the HUN. It doesn't look great. Has a Southern Cross on it for some reason.

You can hear the song here: http://www.goldcoast.com.au/article/2010/07/22/241191_gold-coast-afl.html. Click on the video link. It's crap. Not as bad as West Coast or Fremantle but still bad.

Interesting stat: we've only kicked 6 or more goals in the first half three times this year.

I'm tipping no change, although we might see Maric in for Moloney on the day.

She is, by far, the worst commentator out there. And before the PC moral seekers get on their high horses and trumpet sexism, it's nothing to do with her being a woman. It's everything to do with her voice, her bias towards Geelong, and her lack of knowledge about non-Geelong teams.

Brisbane suck, that's true, but it's been injuries more than anything. The world underestimates the influence Josh Drummond has on their side, and he's been out for weeks now. There's little coincidence that Jonathan Brown had kicked 17 goals in the first 4 weeks, then got injured, and that Brisbane won their first 4 games, then only 1 more... Fevola's been injured, Black too, as well as Brennan and Merrett. Do the same damage to most other teams and they will fall apart too. It's not the sole reason for their crapiness, as their depth isn't great and their midrange players suck, but it's a big factor.