rpfc

Well, sometimes the Lord makes mistakes (Joaquin Phoenix anyone?)... Watts should continue to learn his new role in the midfield this Friday.

Nice sediments...

That's the other side of the extreme coin - we were never as good as that day suggested. Save for Goodes, that Sydney team was terrible and was run over by a team that 'turned up' on the day. It was an outlier and time and bitter experience has proved it thus.

Coopers?

That moment when you realised ages ago that it is on Valentines Day and you never had a chance in the first place...

The criticism of Roos extolling how damaged our psyche is and how bad we are is criticism Roos' statements of the obvious. He can't describe what he sees because he is the one charged with fixing it? How is that a good argument?

You do realise that every team plays two NAB Challenge games and then has two practice games? There is nothing to push into.

I think Friday will be more about gauging performance than rewarding it.

What about 'sh*t myself it was so close' for those with incontinence issues?

I agree, he will not treat it the same way he infamously did at Sydney - one can recall the tongue in cheek aside to McVeigh that he 'go forward but don't kick any goals'... However, more important than winning are the spots up for grabs for that first game against St Kilda: Frawley, Garland (if fit), McDonald, Grimes, and Dunn will make up 5 of the defenders. N Jones, Watts, Trengove, Vince, Cross, Tyson, Viney (if fit), and M Jones will make up 8 of the midfield rotation. Dawes, Hogan, Clark (if fit), and Howe will be the 4 that form the basis of the forward line, and Spencer looks to be the starting first ruck from Roos' recent comment that it is his to lose. That leaves 4 spots up for grabs and a further 3 most likely for injuries to Viney, Garland and Clark. Giorgiou, Pedersen and Fitzpatrick are the most likely to lay claim to the spots reserved for Garland and Clark while Byrnes, Kennedy-Harris, Blease, Tapscott and Bail look to be fighting it out for the the small forward role that will also be apart of the midfield rotation. The last 3+1 (the sub is the +1) spots will include an extra defender, injury cover for Viney, and be fought out between those aforementioned plus Strauss, Terlich, Clisby, Toumpas, Evans, Michie, Salem, and McKenzie. My point is that with 7 of the 22 seemingly undecided or 'up for grabs' there might be a desire to give those in contention (16 by my count) for those positions more time to prove themselves in the NAB Cup.

Ok, answered my own question - you can have between 4 and 18 players... Who the hell would have a league with 4 players? Anyway, it is a way better setup than SC.

Hey Jarka - can you have a UF league with ~10 players? In Super Coach they force you to have 18 players and if you league hits the cut off with fewer than that it will put randoms in there... I can't find a definitive answer on the UF website other than it is very customisable.

http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/2014-02-07/roos-out-to-shed-melbournes-baggage Looks like Roos is channelling another Super Coach Pete Carroll (New Super Bowl winning coach): http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/9581925/seattle-seahawks-use-unusual-techniques-practice-espn-magazine Dwelling on the positive is very difficult for a lot of us but get ready for Roos to do this in 2014 as he rebuilds some confidence.

Do I 'doubt that Clark will not play much this year?' I don't doubt that I don't know, and that no-one will know until he does or does not play much this year. Hope that's clear.

I wasn't talking to you rah rah rah. lol Seriously though, mjt, let go of your dislike for me - you're embarrassing yourself. Please go and find my 'snide, disgraceful and pathetic' comments about Neale Daniher. But you won't will you? Because while you think of me as a 'try hard' and a 'know it all' - you don't try very hard to know anything you comment on. Here, I will save you the ignominy of looking for the nuanced views of others. I wrote this in another thread: Neale Daniher was a very good coach and would be alongside Northey in a list (we all wish was longer) of the best coaches since Smith. However, decisions made many years ago effect the club well past the point they are initially made.

They play different roles, and have different capabilities. As you continue to tell us - Clark is struggling, so Fitzpatrick is his direct replacement. Dawes is a big body that will be given a bullocking job that Fitz can't do and Hogan shouldn't do.

Then you must think you're wonderful...

ND was a very good coach. The list management decisions and poor drafting from his time still reverberate to this day however.

How do you figure?

Once assigned a team - any newbies - select 2 players you wish to keep, and two players born in 1992 or later. You will understand once Jarka has assigned you a team.

Yes, but I think he was relating the way the players were treated onfield aswell; the players were incredulous that we would only have one gameplan. They didn't trust him that that was the case because of the multitude of ways the multitude of coaches have asked them to play in the past. I have had this discussion in the past and there will be some diehards that remain - you only have one gameplan. You can change tactics for sure, but not the way you are instructed to play. It's hard enough to get 20 blokes playing one game style well, let alone another or a few.

Great read. About ten threads could be started (or added to) from that article.

In Neeld's second NAB engagement we beat Collingwood. The NAB are unglorified practice matches. What you read into them is frought.

Feb 7 2014 - 25,675

Good work. They must have changed that in the last ten years or something... maybe I had it wrong to start with...