titan_uranus

In: Maric Out: Green Give McDonald another week. No need to rush him back from a hammy at his age. Robbo's surely another week away at least. Don't know about Grimes or Wonaeamirri, but if they're close, then Bartram and Bate are getting shaky (I know Bate played well vs Port but it's one out of four so far). I also don't know about the fitness of Bennell and/or Jetta, and whether or not they need a rest to prevent them from burning out.

Because it wasn't the right call from a senior player. He didn't realise how much time was still left, and even if it had been closer to half time, we don't have the necessary skill to attempt to play a short-kicking, possession-retaining game.

Damn straight. So frustratingly slow when he's got the ball. But I think he's improving. The extra muscle may have helped.

Agree re: Cotchin. He looks like a brilliant player in the making. Depending on the severity of these injuries he's been getting of course. I think you are referring to Robin Nahas. A rookie. Which says a lot about Richmond's senior list. Ha, so was I 45. So it's not just me... Yeah, but the point is we won. Against terrible opposition, we did what was required. Obviously we can't hang our hat on this win, and we'll have to improve considerably to contest against almost every other team (Freo being the exception) but at least we can be proud of the fact that we were able to play better football on the day.

Oh the waxing and waning of Demonland members. One swallow does not make a summer. Let's make that clear. But it is undeniable that his effort in the second quarter was one of the main reasons we kicked 8 goals. He was given the responsibility by being moved on ball, and he responded. The task now for Sylvia is to do it more than once. And I'm not surprised that both papers had him best on ground. Journalists were probably more interested in Richmond and Wallace than Melbourne's players. Sylvia was easy to notice in the second quarter because of his two long goals and his overall dominance.

I'd be very upset if this tactic was from the coaches box, because it's so incredibly clear that we don't have the skill required to chip the ball arounf for 5 minutes. But I'd suspect it was the 'senior' players who tried to do that (e.g. Bruce, Jones, Bartram, PJ who were all players I saw flapping their arms around at some point in the game). I hate the tactic, and as CB said above, most of the time we were in a prime position to attack, kick long, and maybe score.

Yeah, my play of the day (nothing against Petterd's great effort) was seeing Frawley take the game on and sprint through the centre corridor with pace. That attack of half back is what we need.

I was surprised that it reached 40,000. Before the game I didn't think it would get to 35,000. And we weren't outnumbered either. Good effort from both supporter groups I think.

Certainly this is as good a form patch for Davey as I can remember.

I loved Miller's game yesterday. Just what you need from a CHF. Strong marking, good leading, a physical presence, and 3 goals as well. Great effort.

Bartram - runs all day (trying to find a positive for him) Bate - might get dropped Sylvia - about bloody time Bennell - a future star

PJ may well get a fine even though it seemed like it was clearly the umpire's fault.

Too late to be counted, but anyway: 6 - Davey 5 - Miller 4 - Sylvia 3 - Frawley 2 - Moloney 1 - Jones

31,652

Maric had better be a late inclusion. PJ had better play a blinder.

Be prepared for Watts to do virtually nothing. He'll probably get a half or less, and spend most of it working himself out. He's a smart kid, he'll know he doesn't need to kick a bag first up. More important that he prepares himself after a long lay-off.

Ha ha ha....

Who would have thought that by Round 4 2009, John Meesen would be our first ruck? Have to say, I'm not entirely happy with this team. Too many players on the bench that should be playing, Bennell and Jetta are lucky IMO. Hoping for Maric, Spencer, Jones and Petterd. But that means Cheney misses out, which is unlucky for him.

I'll give you Hansen, he was pivotal. But Lynch and Ablett are average players. And how do you think Lynch got his 60 goals? A super midfield. Without that supply, Lynch would never have done as well as he did. Agree.

I'm the same. Still, when I opened the paper today to look at the teams, I habitually looked for Sandy first. It'll take a while to fully switch over to Casey for me.

Yeah I thought it was clear. The ball doesn't reach his boot the way it should, so he gets mongrels every second kick.

Well you could go another way and look at the premiers and their forwards: Hawthorn 2008 - Franklin and Roughead Geelong 2007 - Mooney and ??? West Coast 2006 - ??? and ??? So both arguments suffice. And at any rate, I think our midfield is more of an issue. A decent midfield would make our forward line look a lot better.

This is the opinion I've held on this issue, and I don't really feel like changing. Yes, it worked for Hawthorn. But they didn't have to tank. They used trades to get extra picks. And in some respects you could argue they got lucky with Richmond leaving Roughead and Franklin behind. Carlton's had 3 no. 1 picks, but not much of their other drafting has been totally succesful. Other success has come from trading (e.g. Stevens and Judd, potentially Warnock too), which happens much less often these days. And let's not forget Richmond, who had 5 picks in the top 20 in 2004. They selected who they thought were the best players available. Look how that turned out.

I don't think Buckley has the defensive capabilities to be a tagger. Bail I don't know enough about. They've tried Dunn in that role as well. Seems like we don't have anyone who can play a shut-down role and has decent skills.

What options are those hoopla? He's been tried forward: didn't work. He's played ruck for most of his career: still hasn't developed any consistency. His 3 matches so far have been poor. He doesn't use his weight enough. I'd much rather use Spencer than PJ.