titan_uranus

The problem I have is that he has had numerous opportunities at AFL level to show that he has the capability to be a number 1 ruck (fail, Jamar has that spot now), a decent forward (fail, I believe Martin can do it better, and really to be honest if we want a half-decent forward we ought play Newton) or a key position defender (massive fail, he sucked there whenever we put him there, and clearly we have much better defenders than him). I just don't think we'd be better off with Johnson when we have Martin and Spencer on our list, both of whom are younger and have had less chances than Johnson. I can't say I agree with anything you've written here, except that Martin is smart, which we know he is. I don't think he's that good as a tap ruckman, I don't think he's better than Martin, I think Martin played quite well as a forward on Saturday and gave at least what PJ would give, Martin has the same physical traits as PJ and probably uses his body better anyway, and the kids don't need protection, have a look at the way McKenzie, Scully, Trengove and now Bennell are throwing themselves around. I just cannot see PJ offering us any more than Martin, and Martin has so much more upside and potential.

Won't it depend on your membership? If you're allowed into away games in Melbourne then you're set. Otherwise (and I'm guessing this is most people) you'll have to buy a ticket. Of course, I really have no idea, as I'm the typical MCC supporter who doesn't give a toss about games that aren't at the 'G.

That's what I meant. Whether it's that our players are better adapted to the plan, or the coaches have made a change, it's still a change. We see our forwards coming less often up the ground. Bate also makes a difference. He plays that 'traditional' CHF role, leading up at the ball carrier, providing an option in most plays.

I don't particularly want to see PJ back in the team this year. If we're needing another ruckman, I'd prefer Spencer to get a game. I've seen enough of PJ to know he just isn't going to make it.

He played well. Both in the ruck and as a forward. Surprised me.

Not true. Adelaide definitely changed their style of play within the space of 1 or 2 weeks last year. Just after we beat them, actually. That was a noticeable change.

There's really only 1 game this week that has little to no significance or excitement: Western Bulldogs vs. St Kilda Etihad Stadium North Melbourne vs. Melbourne Etihad Stadium Adelaide Crows vs. Port Adelaide AAMI Stadium Essendon vs. Hawthorn MCG Sydney Swans vs. Brisbane Lions SCG Geelong Cats vs. Richmond Skilled Stadium Carlton vs. Collingwood MCG West Coast Eagles vs. Fremantle Subiaco Oval The derby, the showdown, three matches between massive rivals, us vs North which is all of a sudden not such a dull encounter, and Sydney vs Brisbane, two teams with 1 loss each. Then of course there's the slaughterfest at Geelong (well, at least you'd think so). But overall, this is going to be a massive round of football. Big crowds, you'd expect.

Fair enough. It just seems that this thread is on the same topic as a lot of others.

Well they won. By 36. That won't be enough to bring Geelong below us. So we stay 9th. Considering we're only 1 game (and percentage) behind Sydney who's on top, it's a pretty close competition.

I'm going to sound like a bastard, but anyway: Did this post need its own thread? This could have gone in about 4 other threads.

Of course not. But it sure would be nice in terms of being able to stick it up some Carlton/Hawthorn/Essendon fans. But alas, we must wait yet another week.

Argh I hate Carlton! So we need either Carlton to smash them from here, or Geelong to fight back and make the margin really small. I doubt either will happen. At least it gives the player something immediate to aim for I guess.

Read again the criticism of Bruce. It's not that he turns it over directly into an opponent's hands. It's that he often sells one of our own players down the river by handballing or kicking too high, allowing an opponent time to force a contest, or handballing to someone flat-footed, or going sideways when he could viably go forwards, or calling for the ball when he shouldn't be. None of that gets included in your precious 'clanger' statistic. I will definitely agree that Bruce is a good runner, especially for someone of his size. We should all recognise that.

There was one key change from Round 1 that has helped us no doubt. We almost always now have someone forward of centre, and more often than not we leave 2 to 3 players well forward of the ball. Last year, and in Round 1, we didn't have this. We continually allowed our forwards to come up the ground. Now we leave ourselves with at least 2 or 3 options to go by foot, and it makes a hell of a difference. The rest of it is the same as it always was. Based largely upon running. Edit: Have a look at Essendon. They look just as bad as we did last year because they largely refuse to leave themselves a get-out option up the ground, and when they do they don't kick it to him/them. They try too hard to handpass and retain possession along half back.

I really want to say Bail in for Dunn. I really do. But I won't. Let's try to go with no change again. People suggesting Martin should be dropped badly undervalued his imput on Saturday. He played well.

We certainly can't afford to think this will be an easy game. There is still talent in this North Melbourne side (Harvey is on fire at the moment) that could burn us if we're even slightly off. Having said that, North struggled to put away a side like Hawthorn with no ruckman, no full forward, no full back, their best midfielder missing, and their second best midfielder playing ruck, as well as the best small forward in the game playing as badly as one could hope for. They also struggled to beat West Coast in Melbourne, failed miserably in the second half against Sydney, and we all know how poorly they played against St Kilda. Pretty simple: we have to approach this game just like the previous 4. Etihad doesn't seem to treat us well, but with our current playing style we should perform better this week than any time over the last 4 years. I believe the Bulldogs game in 2007 (we all remember that one) was at Etihad/Telstra Dome. Which makes that our most recent win away from the MCG. Winning this week would be fantastic, especially since it would make us go into our only Friday night game this year on a 4 game winning streak against a premiership contender. Could get 50,000 to that game if all goes well. Oh come on, you've answered your own question. Of course Goldstein and McIntosh are going to get tonnes of hit outs. Their opponents were a full forward and a midfielder.

Legend. Thank you very much. You just have to pity the West Coast, Fremantle, Port Adelaide, Collingwood and Hawthorn players. When they win they get to sing garbage. Only Richmond and Sydney are as good as ours (and probably better).

Beats the hell out of going to the football and hoping for a loss.

That's true, however of the three wins, only the Adelaide result was truly still up in the air. Richmond was done and dusted at 3/4 time, and Brisbane needed to kick 5 goals having only kicked 7 for the match to beat us. It'd certainly be nice to see us kicking even more, but I reckon we're doing fine the way it is, and as you say, once we get Jurrah, Wonna, even Watts back into the forward line goals will come even easier.

We're the only team to have won all 5 fourth quarters (none of the remaining teams to play in Round 5 can match us). Round 1 vs Hawthorn: 4.4 to 2.1 Round 2 vs Collingwood: 3.2 to 2.4 Round 3 vs Adelaide: 2.4 to 0.1 Round 4 vs Richmond: 5.2 to 4.3 Round 5 vs Brisbane: 3.6 to 0.2 Total: 17.18 (120) to 8.11 (59) One thing that's really improved this year (among a lot of others) is our ability to run games out. We ran Brisbane off their feet yesterday. It's a great advantage to have I reckon. Last year we won 10/22 fourth quarters.

Everyone? Yes, we have to assume that injuries and lapses in form will create situations where players not currently in the 22 will be called upon. But the names Strauss, Cheney, McNamara, Maric, Watts, Wonaeamirri, Jetta, Blease, Spencer, Gysberts, Bail and then later on Morton, Jurrah and Tapscott all, for mine, come before the names Bell, Johnson and Miller (and, for that matter, Newton). I don't think there is any future in Bell, Johnson or Miller, and, if the necessity arises, there are others I'd like to see in the team before them.

Don't bother with Johnson or Bell. Rivers is going to find it hard to crack back into the side the way we're going. Wonna will take time, as will Watts, and Morton is still a few weeks away, but will get back in straight away I feel. Bail deserves his spot back but might not get it just yet.

Did I, or anyone else, suggest he should be dropped? By the way, what exact 'flexibility' does Bruce bring to the side. As I see it he's a half back flanker who could possibly play key position defence (but is no good at it) and can take turns running through the midfield. Those kind of players aren't hard to come by. But he won't be dropped, and probably doesn't deserve it just yet. But he cannot continue to dispose of the ball the way he is now, as it just isn't good enough. What a terrible post. You haven't got one reason why what I said was wrong. Just a load of ramble. Bruce often takes the ball and handpasses to someone who doesn't want it, shouldn't get it, or isn't able to take it (i.e. is flat-footed). That person is then often caught with it, or is forced to cough it up, and a lot of the time Bruce wasn't forced into that option in the first place. Yes, I'm sure the fortunes of our team depend entirely on Bruce, and when he doesn't play well we lose. And I wouldn't be any good as a Richmond supporter, as I have teeth.

Oh that's who that is. I never realised until now.

Martin didn't play defence though. He rucked, and did well, and went forward, and did better than he's done before. He stays.