nosoupforme

5 hours ago, Deemania since 56 said:

Ahhh, the memories! Noted earlier note about The Racehorse, Graeme Osborne. He was so fast, I still reckon he was the fastest man I had ever seen on the footy field. 

And sometimes he was clumsy in his play not that l didn't like him.  Made mistakes because  he was trying to dispose of the ball too quickly. let along throw in a clanger or two. However was a season where he polled ok in the Brownlow. 

In 1976 Melbourne tried to off load Osborne to Hawthorn but negotiation broke down, and in that year in 1976 he polled 18  Brownlow votes.  Do you remember that  Ds56.

31 minutes ago, Turner said:

Kelly offers so much more as an outside player than Merrett imo 

Kelly is  very good  i don't doubt your opinion in fact they are all excellent  players however if l was to pick one for consistency it would be Zach Merrett ,

Apart from the Covid 19 season with an average  disposals of 25 .8 being short quarters  he missed only one game.

In the previous 4 seasons 2016,-,19, before the Covid  average disposal  around 28.0  played  88  games plus 1 final. didn't miss a beat.

Now that is impressive you would say.   He certainly is an A grader. 

On 1/22/2021 at 2:38 PM, Pollyanna said:

Kelly, Merrett, Billings, Sheed all of interest.

Forget the rest Merrett is the best !  Without a doubt.

On 12/31/2019 at 12:26 PM, Deemania since 56 said:

Graeme Osborne ( The Racehorse) - he was given games with Prahran in recovery from injury. Fastest bloke on the field, I'd reckon.

Kim Smith ex Melbourne played at full forward and kicked 7 goals Wayne Johnson Carlton played in the 78 GF as well Ross Thornton ex Fitzroy and  Sam Keckovich  ex NM and many more ex VFL players from  Prahran and Preston. 

On 1/23/2021 at 9:07 PM, Macca said:

Here's an intricate and eye-opening article by Greg Chappell about the state of cricket in India and how we fare as a comparison

'Only Surprise is that Anyone can Compete with India at all'

 

Footnote: The good news (!) is that we don't play India again in a Test series until October 2022 (4 Test series in India)

Personally I'd rather be playing India earlier than that but we've got nearly 2 years to prepare at least

Carey in for the South Africa Tests replacing Wade .   Good Call,  time for new faces.            

I think that the reason for the excitement is because the season isn't far away from starting. Hopefully we will  be able to see games live in the flesh.          It is called withdrawal  symptoms.

Well done stinga thanks for your observation, Good to know something is coming out of training.  Rosman looks impressive i like that.

If you are looking for speed to break the lines we have him J Hunt played his best football off the half back flank.

He knows how to kick a goal running through the middle of the ground and links up well.

1 hour ago, rjay said:

Not fair play but in the end both clubs got screwed...Tom & his dad set themselves up nicely through no fault of their own.

You have always been a fence sitter.         How did TOM  and his Dad get  Screwed?    Please explain. 

 I think you meant we got screwed.     The father maneuvered everything for his own gain through his son when he saw the opportunity.  I am sure GWS had a say.

In 2012 Tom Scully moved to GWS on a six figure sum and signed a contract for six years worth six million dollars, However his father Phil was also working as a  recruiting officer for the Giants and was on a 100,000 dollars a year for six years. Not long before signing Tom.

How coincidental,   as Tom stated he had no knowledge of  an offer to his father prior to signing  his own deal.

That is not fair play.

Scully and Patton are clearly not in a good space at the moment and as for Tom whatever the reason l hope the kid is ok. 

 I am sure that  most would like to see  Hawthorn struggle as myself but not because of two young men and there issues.

1 hour ago, Better days ahead said:

Play finals at the very least otherwise we risk losing him. We can’t expect an A-grader like Trac to rang around waiting for us to get our act together when he would grace any team in the league.

Not much point worrying about it in pre-season though. Let’s see how the season pans out before fretting about his contract.

   Yes l agree.  However IMO Petrac even Oliver would have to play in a consistently high level as expected for us to have a better       chance of playing finals and finishing at least top 4 . 

  They are the A graders and if we cannot make finals with both of them  sound then l would hate to think  Bda.

Home games at the Gee no problem if we have 25 to 30 thousand paid up members turn up. Should have priority if it comes with a designated seat. 

If there is  50 to 60 thousand cap to the Richmond game and the Queens Birthday game against Collingwood we have them as our home games in 2021  lets see what sort of an outcome eventuates with the seating;  Interesting times ahead.

24 minutes ago, DeeZee said:

How could the Pies possibly afford him?

They just got rid of two very good players because of cap issues.

Petracca wouldn’t leave for less than 750k per year 

And why should he leave at all.  He will be well looked after l am sure of that.

Sorry to hear Marty go down with his knee he is a handy backup to have and l rate him. He missed every game in 2020 with an injury to a broken toe and then had surgery on his Quad that ended his year.

Now the ACL in 2021 just isn't fair for Marty. Hope he gets back for the start of 2022.    Good luck mate ! 

1 hour ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

Thanks LH.

Yes, given the short pre season you'd have to think May has a niggle of some sort. Hopefully he gets back to main training ASAP as he clearly benefits from a healthy pre season.

I watched from outside the cyclone fence (behind the Wiz who was inside) on the outer wing and could see most of the play. I didn't even try to get into the ground given that other posters have a had a few issues so far. I'm assuming COVID protocols essentially bans supporters from coming in??

Thanks for the report BBP it is always great to have some feedback on how the boys are going.

Imo we have at least 18 players that could be in the leadership group and that is almost half of the list.   l might have overlooked someone however they are all leaders.

Should be inspired when you wear our great jumper. 

 Steven May looks the goods to be in the leadership group. Why shouldn't he be, after all he was the captain at Gold Coast in 2017 and 2018 before moving to the Dees.

He had a sensational year down back in 2020 only being bettered by Petracca  and that was no mean feat. He is certainly IMV a leader who leads by example.

Gawn  C   Viney VC   May   DVC.   and in the not to distant future l would imagine Petracca and Oliver to be included in the leadership group.

31 minutes ago, joeboy said:

On SEN, Lewis made the comment that Kossie was comparable to Cyril at the same age ?

The expectation might be high however he has exquisite talent and a year under his belt will do him good. Lewis is  well respected has  the knowledge  to  compare Kossie.

I hope Lewis is right  because we might be in for an exciting year. 

Let's keep the injuries to a minimum which is the key to a good season. Thanks for the report GOTO.

RIP Mark

Peace be with you.

I am sure your young children will be well looked after.

16 minutes ago, Macca said:

Our batting is the issue and we've had major problems building an A Grade Elite batting order since the early 2000's

At times over the last 2 decades we've been very good,  other times average and poor on many other occasions ( e.g. the last time we visited Sri Lanka we lost 3-0)

Batsmen are supposed to set up wins and our batsmen (as a collective) don't deliver

For instance,  we should have made 450+ in the first innings in this test match ... but 4 or 5 batsmen threw their wickets away

Our bowlers were out on ground too much this whole series and that doesn't happen if the batting occupies more of the match time

Placing the blame on Paine's shoulders is classic scapegoating.  His own players let him down (primarily the batsmen)

Selection is the root-cause of our batting woes though.  We pick too many teams for the right-now without having a real eye on the future

Since Michael Clarke we've only produced one long term A Grade Elite batsman - Smith.  Labuschagne could get there but he is not there yet

Warner is good on home decks but struggles overseas. 

Is there anyone else AM?

 

 

Yes how right you are Macca we have two batsman in Smith and Labuschagne that can not carry the the team on their shoulders all of the time. Need an opener and a middle order bat I don't think Wade is the answer his use by date is up and young Green has a future with the Test team and should persevere with him.

Yes our bowlers spent too long on the field in the last two tests and looked tired at times for this test. Would have been good if we rotated an extra bowler in Pattinson through the 4 Tests.

34 minutes ago, Deemania since 56 said:

There is a God. Lewis back with the Red'nBlue. What an asset ... Yze, Chocko and Lewis. Drop the unmentioned one and we have a Premiership.

Yze; Choco and Lewis  are a breath of  fresh air  and can only help us  moving forward.   Looking forward to the year and beyond.

I realise it is only mid January at training however l feel as if  things are on the up  for the boys and  the injuries are few which is  a change to recent years. 
Hoping it continues with minimal problems which will set us up for a good year, 

Wade throws his wicket away. Plays a pre meditated shot  Manus gets a hundred and not long after plays a pull shot and skies it. So undisciplined   by both who should have done better. Let their team mates and themselves down.

Those sort of shots are only played when playing park cricket.