rpfc

The most pleasing thing was that the Tigers players were worried as soon as they got it. You could see their eyes and body language react to pressure, even if it wasn't there because when it was there - they were smashed. Vanders tackle in front of the members in the third would be an example - that is how you 'train' your opponents to make mistakes constantly. I would have thought that Hardwick would have installed a team of his to handle that pressure and give it out themselves, but I think I learnt my lesson a few years ago. They look to be running on the spot.

I thought that you would come up with this PD/BH/Hannibal/LoneWolf/TweedPig again... Is it the only thing you have? You have been quiet with this 'devastating' knock on me and others that live interstate for two weeks while, you know, the footy hasn't been in Melbourne and here you are again. You don't have to read my posts - they my contain my opinions - so constantly qualifying them for others that don't realise I live in Canberra isn't necessary. I think most would know by now... But thank you for your interest.

The things he did poorly last night are the things he usually does well - he was making basic skill errors and poor decisions with the footy. There was nothing embarrassing about last night but two weeks in a row we have had wet games that don't suit Watts and he hasn't been tapped on the shoulder? I don't understand - what does the FD think he can do in a wet game - stop trying to think what is best for him, he is a big boy - he can take being pushed out of the team on the circumstances of the game. Keeping him in there just let him vulnerable to attacks like he is now enduring. He didn't flinch, he didn't get out of the way, he didn't shirk - but he is struggling for form and the last two weeks haven't helped. He will most likely stay for Fremantle and I highly doubt the other players feel disrespected to walk out with him just because he dropped a wet ball and is out of form...

Tipped us and won $50. Just don't like the Tigers as a team at the minute - watched them whinge and whine to the umps in the first and I knew we had them. CB - what do your elvish eyes see next week?

Your mate doesn't know footy, or just thinks 'nothing Melbourne do/has could be the best'... He has been hit around the head a great deal this year. Let's take care of him. If that means Ballatyne or Walters go nuts - that's life when a bloke gets concussion. You don't eff around with this stuff. I had a concussion a few weeks ago and struggled to function normally for a week - forget trying to play footy, constructing sentences were hard...

To those that are saying that all they criticised him for were his kicking - that is not what he is getting universally lauded for. He is being recognised for the things he already did but now makes more of an impact because we are a better team. He looks to have more purpose when he kicks long - they spear through the air - but am I the only one that is hearing the outside fawning of McDonald and thinking 'he has been doing this for a couple years now'?

Well, at least you are right about Brayshaw...

Again, of course it was soft - but what followed was nothing short of great footy. You can disagree if you like but your judgement of what followed that non-marking attempt is coloured by that non-marking attempt. Happy to agree to disagree as always.

Amen.

Again, ironically enough, his 'worst' effort in a contest was won by him and became a goal assist immediately after. He is quite an accomplished constant failure...

I will wait for a few more weeks until I turn my attention to 2016, thankyouverymuch...

You didn't see many Angela Lansbury gifs any days...

Interesting about Dawes into the ruck - I am sure he loves that... Well, if it has to happen for team balance he can suck it up.

Gawn has a tendency to be exploited by the other team as a lumbering lightpost that half backs run off of. If Roos thinks our forward pressure can accommodate a passenger then I am all for it - he is the only heir to Jamar that I can see on the list - I would like to see how he is progressing.

We have about 2 months left so we will pass 35k. Win Friday night and we will pass 35k in a couple of weeks.

I like the reputation this team has developed in three weeks (well, 10 quarters) of footy; hardness and fight. I don't think we are a better team than Richmond - in fact there would be only a couple teams we are better than - but I am warming to the attitude that we can bring to all teams save for the top 4; if you don't bring everything you have, you won't beat us. So if Richmond bring everything then that is that, but if they don't - if it bleeds - we will kill it.

That's the elevator pitch... BTW he shouldn't have dropped those two easy grabs and his attempt in the marking contest was a non-attempt - he needs to take those marks and disguise that non-attempt better. He also needs to lift his intensity around the contest. But fix these areas and he is still not doing his job. He still will rely on others to get him the footy. But when he does get it - it is usually a sublime experience that unlocks defences and gets us moving forward (something we struggle with of late). He is fearless with the footy, just not fearless to get it. Nearly every team at every level has these blokes. You can constantly push them to push their mindset but to harp endlessly about it is madness and maddening. From the outside looking in - Roos does the former, and Neeld did the latter.

Yes, it was the right decision - because it worked. Aussie Rules is an amazing sport that allows all kinds of different people with different skillsets and different characteristics and talents succeed in various ways.

Yes, he did. You don't react that quickly unless you know what you are trying to do. I have seen players in my own team know that they cannot 'win' a contest through a mark so they leave their body in, attempt to keep their feet and react quicker to effect the situation in their own way. I would have done the traditional attempt - smash in, and hope I don't get injured, give away a free and that my teammates are close by. Watts is soft. Why haven't we gotten our heads around this? We know this. Roos knows this and yet he still plays, and he still plays because footy allows all different types of players on that field and the way we continually expect more than we know Watts can deliver is a form of madness. Good footy teams have a balance of all different types of players and skill sets and Watts has AFL level ability with his skills, vision, forward IQ, and aerobic running ability. And again, we are not talking about hypotheticals here - his 'soft display' led to a Hogan goal. He knew exactly what he was doing, which I think is what is so infuriating for some of us.

Oddly enough, Watts immediately 'redeemed' his non-marking attempt by gathering the footy and having eyes in the back of his head to see Hogan streaming toward goal. This is the conundrum of the situation - he is never going to take that grab, he is only going to be value in that situation if he brings it to ground and turns it into a battle of wits. But we damn him for the 'way' he did his job, why do we continually do this when we know he wouldn't be able to do it any other way? I will remind people that contest led to a Watts goal assist.

I am looking at the fixture differently than I was a month ago - we have played 10 quarters of AFL footy and it is heartening. Keep up the focus and intensity at that rate for the rest of the year and we will be an AFL team (as opposed to what we have been) and we will win games of footy.

Really? That high? The point is that he will be defined by metrics other than Split Uncontested Marks on Half Back that Directly Lead to Goals. He needs to lift - he has been just going for the first three weeks of the season but he isn't alone. Garland is spasmodic with the footy, Dunn hasn't been as damaging with the footy as he has been, Jones is getting too many Handballs While Standing Still or Moving the Wrong Way, Howe is kicking dangerous 'one-steppers' into dangerous spots to dangerous players, Dawes has zero confidence in his ability to take a grab, Tyson needs to graduate from a few of the 'slam it on the boots' he does, Hogan, Garlett and Kent need to make the opposition pay or know their current limitations, etc. There are, and one can take heart form this, very few players running at full capacity at the moment and yet we are stuck on Watts? He has been poor this season so far (even his first game was 'just going' for him) but I am more interested in the exciting possibility of getting the other top 15 Demons to lift a little bit - that we know they can - and see where that takes us...

Yawn.

And the Watts-nesia is back - how exactly is he responsible for the second goal after his eff up? We decry a weak minded team and yet we allow them to sacrifice their resident scape goat to avoid blame for a concentration lapse that led to the second goal. Lumumba didn't read the play, Vince was too busy trying to pull a free, etc. I would have pulled Watts and Dawes if I knew it was going to rain so heavily, what did Roos think he was going to get from these two - Watts is the prototype for 'dry weather footy' and Dawes struggles to take a grab as it is; moisture isn't going to help him... Aside from these two distractions - we were tough and solid and relentless and mistake prone and lacking polish. I am starting to begin to like the season again - assuming we come out on ANZAC day eve with the identity we have had for 10 quarters of this year: fighters.

I am amazed we have graduated from the nonsense of the last few years where we can be so blase about keeping a team goalless and being up by 4 goals away from home...