titan_uranus

Good one, I thought the contact was so minimal he'd get off. I am surprised that, based on the Heath Shaw decision, Max Rooke didn't get anything for his umpire contact. But I'm glad he didn't.

Something we should all consider: Magpies chief executive Gary Pert said yesterday: "Our responsibility if for us to be playing well enough that our supporters are going to want to come along regardless of what the fixturing is." That effectively sums up the 'team' side of the team v crowd debate. If we were playing decent football, the supporters would be more likely to be showing up. I'd expect this week's crowd v Geelong to be down on what it could have been if we'd played decent football last Sunday.

I think some poor media is deserved considering what happened. We played like amateurs, supporters chose not to go, it was a crap-fest all round. We are entitled to be copping flak for that performance, especially considering we had just had a win and played some good footy in the process. And to be honest, I thought the newspaper reports could have been a lot worse that what they were. I think we got off lightly all things considered. Port Adelaide's getting it a lot worse that we are at the moment.

Yes. My candidate for Most Improved 2009.

Did you see the two attempted handpasses: i.e. he picked the ball up, then went to handpass, then dropped the ball. He makes far too many mistakes to be keeping his spot at the moment.

That's exactly right. If the other match on Sunday had been Carlton v Fremantle, then we'd have been in with a chance to get the better slot. However, this Sunday we've got Geelong at 2.10, whilst the Dogs and Saints have the twilight match at the Dome on the same day. I guess Seven likes showing Geelong.

I like him as a forward too. But he doesn't get much of the ball at the moment, so I'd prefer to see him further up the ground.

Hmm. I understand what you're saying, but I still disagree. In a trial, the onus is squarely on the prosecution to provide enough evidence to prove that the defendant is guilty. In every trial. So I'm happy to say that Bock is innocent until he is proven guilty, even though, in my mind, he's guilty. I do get what you're saying though.

You've got to be kidding? You're telling me the players wouldn't care about football unless they had a big crowd to play in front of? The players should be able to play decent football regardless of the size of the crowd watching them. Oh, come on. I'm sure, if I could be bothered, that if I looked up free kick figures for matches involving Adelaide at AAMI stadium (or any other interstate team at home), I'd find plenty of instances where they didn't win the free kick count. I'm also sure I'd find instances where there were a lot of free kicks at matches with big crowds.

No it's not. It is always innocent until proven guilty. He 'admitted' it because he had to, because he is a football player. That's not to say I think he's innocent, because I don't.

Petterd would be doing a lot better if he wasn't being wasted in the forward line. I think he should be playing midfield. He doesn't get enough of it up forward, and that's a waste of his talent.

You weren't the only one...

But, as has been said before, he hasn't kicked 10 goals. He hasn't even kicked 5 goals. He's kicked 2 goals in 2 matches. That just isn't enough from a key forward. I wouldn't think that getting 9 shots at goal in 2 matches, whilst converting only 2 of them and doing nothing else at all, is enough to be considered a capable AFL forward.

I agree. Attempting to tag Ablett won't work. I'd rather us work on the other midfielders, and hope that he has a bad week.

What? Jetta looks tired to me. It's not like he's dominating anyway. Give him a rest.

You are 100% right. If there was a great post thingo on this board, I'd be giving you one.

He looks tired. I think he will be a great player, but he's played 5 consecutive games at AFL level and I think that might have taken a lot of energy out of him.

When they whack one of our players that's an on-field thing. I have no problem booing someone for what they do on the field. But we should leave their off-field problems alone.

McLean is not a good kick, sorry Freak. He's just not. But I agree with your versatility point.

Bartram - should be excused Bate - his worst game Bennell - showed some signs Bruce - not his best Davey - a fantastic kick Dunn - better up forward Frawley - most improved 2009? Jetta - tries hard; tired Johnson - just shocking overall Jones - good at stoppages Martin - a bright prospect McDonald - better than others McLean - much improved effort Meesen - better than Jamar Miller - unseen all game Moloney - another sterling effort Morton - too much handballing Newton - please drop him Petterd - played wrong position Rivers - kinda just went Sylvia - needs bigger efforts Warnock - another strong effort

This is true. And it is the reason why people wrongly sing Bruce's praises. Too often he handpasses to someone who is flatfooted, not ready to receive the ball, but who does, meaning the disposal was 'efficient'.

It's been done to death, but part of the problem can be attributed to the recruiting of the 2003-2007 era, when the priority wasn't good skills, but was strength and hard-ness. Hence we have Bartram, Sylvia, McLean, Moloney, Jones and Dunn, all of whom seem to do alright in the clearances/hard-ball stuff. But, Moloney aside, none of them are good kicks.

Which makes the round 9 clash with Hawthorn (their home game) interesting.

I've seen people here saying they were proud of the Melbourne supporters for booing Bock. I thought it was low and uncalled for. Plenty of people here happily bag Collingwood, Port Adelaide and Richmond supporters, yet what went on yesterday makes us look worse. I have to agree with Neil Craig when he said that the booing was in bad taste: Bock boos at MCG in poor taste, says Craig.

Completely agree. Wrote something to the same effect in the changes thread. He didn't kick the goals because he's not good enough. We are wasting our time persisting with him.