rpfc

If you don't remember the past...

MASSIVE BUMP The recriminations that we went through after the West Coast loss at home last year that everyone has forgotten. We have a long way to go, and I hope we don't have a game where we get outscored 5 goals 10 behinds to 1 goal 5 behinds in the second half at our home ground by the eventual wooden spooners. Just a reminder that 2010 was not the smooth sailing after the Hawks game that many think it was...

This is a rewrite of history. I am going to trawl through and bump the game thread after the WCE game last year. The Eagles beat us by 5 goals at the G, and we scored 46 fracking points! The Roos made us look second rate, the Power did too, the Saints at the Dome, and the Cats down the road. We are a bad, inconsistent team, and we want to see marked improvement, fine. But don't move the goalposts based on your bad memory.

What about the rubbish we served up in 2010? The WCE game, the Port game, the Hawthorn game, etc. We are not a good team, yet. We have been getting ourselves into a lather in the preseason, a mastubatory internet session in which we fooled each other into thinking that the Sydney game from last year is what we should expect in 2011. We are not a good team in 2011. I could name 7 teams better than us. Geel, Coll, WB, StK, Carl, Syd, and Haw, at a pinch. Why are we surprised by this inconsistency? We have the ability to be absolutely rubbish...

We smashed Sydney in contested possies, got smashed by Hawthorn, and beat the Lions and the Suns. We were beaten in the clearances against the Swans and the Hawks and beat the Lions and the Suns. Make of that what you will. Personally, it's too early to make any judgements on progress in this area.

I'm glad you'll stick around. One thing - surely we cannot, after pleading for, and applauding, the bottoming out that got us the talent we are now expecting so much of, turn around and say that Bailey W/L record is a noose around his neck... 2009 Richmond, I know what I was hoping for when McMahon had the kick heard around the Land... I'm not reading anything into it, and I take every season as it comes, it's too early to tell whether Bailey will be re-signed. Miles to go before we sleep.

I think this is why so many are disillusioned - they expect the Sydney outing every second week (or every week). We were awful at times last year (perhaps someone should bump the thread after the WCE game, frack, someone should!) and we aren't in a position to demand that type of performance, application is a different matter, every week. And for those that say it is application that they are talking about - it has only been down for 4 quarters this year. Performance is another issue, but that illustrates improvement - we are playing poorly but didn't lose the 'WCE of 2010' equivalent against the Lions. We didn't lose the 'WB of 2010' equivalent game against the Swans, we drew and nearly pinched it (and smashed them in the contested possessions). The less said about the Hawks qtr the better...

This is a loaded post, and I was bored. Newbies are fine, but it is startling when someone comes on here and appears to be intentionally looking for attention and searching for responses. We bite and the rest is history. Internet forums have this phenomenon known as 'trolls' and they can be quite annoying. If you stick around, you'll find a very nice place to lay your thoughts down. Er, excuse me, I have always given grammar lessons. Never expected it to trouble anyone - a early footy coach once told me, 'if someone isn't helping you out and giving you advice, they don't think you're good enough.' And the 'lol' is my one and only internet speak indulge (apart from acronyms). It's been of late, because of the hysterical (double meaning) reaction to the start of our footy season. I don't know if it is "the way it actually is" but you're more than welcome to say it like you think it is. Sarcasm is prevalent on forums - it's easy and it's universal. But I like to think I diversify my comedy... But I'm open to criticism. If we are a clique - we are a bitchy one! We 'old boys' are constantly bickering... And I hardly the "we'll be right" mentality. This is where my brow furrows - the only thing I want is a flag. I applauded the tanking, I appluaded the long term view to recruiting, I applauded the trading away the present for the future. And winning is not everything - winning a fracking flag is everything. Don't know why this is relevant but ok... And of course we don't look like it - 19 months ago we 'won' our second wooden spoon in a row. This is a slow climb - the Demons of 2011 are not near the best teams. Nowhere near. We wishing Watts had 5kgs more and 80 games behind him doesn't make it happen. I'm a realist and I don't want knee-jerk decisions to get in the way of winning that fracking flag. And IMO, deciding that Bailey is gone on the evidence of a month of footy is knee-jerk. And you don't like the smart-arse comments? Welcome to the internet... If it helps you stay on here and vent your spleen - we all want the same outcome. We all want a flag. Those saying Bailey is not the answer believe that, and those that say it is too early to make a decision also believe that.

He think he does so much work that our midfielders get into bad habits when he is there, and get shown up when he is not there.

How can someone inflate a false IQ? And, BJ (heh), you're first post was a strange attack of Bailey for being to calm with a shout-out to Sean Wellman to come back. Your other lengthy post claimed the players have lost respect (ugh) and then you mention the Tigers and Roos as some sort of example of others rebuilding better than us. There you go, read your original posts, and I believe my IQ actually fell in the last few minutes so maybe you do have a point...

...and proper grammar. No, but seriously, welcome but you are overreacting, and undervaluing the work that has been done since Bailey took over.

You are asking for articulated development with an incredibly inarticulate sentence. Irony. And... lol

Articulated development? Ironic sentence, really.

Yes, tell.

He wasn't balck and white and they read too much into what he said. This is such a nothing issue. There will always be 'smoke' as it were, but it only leads to a fire when someone, or the situation, provides some fuel. And I don't see any. Check back in three months...

Are you making a computer game or something?

Leave the conspiracy theorizing to those who know how it's done... WYL, we have other clubs seeking to destroy our future dominance, go for it.

Yes, but Hawthorn made us look bad!! We haven't copied Collingwood well enough!! Hird!!

"Several directors were disappointed that the chief executive had not made contact with Bailey despite his comments and the potential ramifications of the Andrews review into the club that was dissected on Melbourne radio extensively on Tuesday." Directors heard people on radio talking nonsense. Hannabal mentioned two people who regularly love mentioning 'some people say' or 'inside knowledge is' to defend their BS. What if this is just a couple of out of favour players howling at the moon? Do we take it seriously? Would someone at 2pm in the afternoon on a low rating sports entertainment radio station with nothing else to talk about take it seriously?

Performance will go up and down over the year. If the core stats or KPIs stagnate or go down - he is in trouble (look at Schwab's WW for the Status Reports that they complete). So far, we are where we were in 2010 as far as I can see.Our third quarters have been abyssmal after being great in 2010. Some on here equate 2010 to the Sydney game - those people are clueless. Have a look at the WCE game at the G last year - we scored 46 points against the wooden spooners on our home turf! I am not fretting about our gameplan - they are constantly tweaked, nor the form of key players - they will improve, I am more concerned about our on-field leadership, but that only has a long term solution... I just don't think we are that good. I'd be happy if the team can lift their application to an entire game before we demand finals action...

We're not wizards...

For those that don't like Bailey - what has happened so far is not enough to call for his head. We are playing awful footy and our forward press isn't there at the moment. But we have only played four awful quarters of footy, accross four games and as we are a developing side - it's going to happen. I don't know whether Bailey can coach, I don't know if he will be resigned, but nothing I have seen makes me think we are off-track. In fact, I didn't expect Gysberts and Tapscott to establish themselves so soon this year, so if anything - we are ahead of where I thought we would be in our journey for a flag. Gameplans can be tweaked when we are good, but you can't put 3 years of experience into a kid over a pre-season...

I'm perfectly happy with the defensive forward, and goals aren't important if that is your job. I just have seen some bad habits from Dunn and I have seen a few of them in 2011. He has to step up, he has been here for 7 years and done very little. He is in danger of being eclipsed by a similar player. Especially with the resting ruckman placing a premium on smaller forwards and their harrassing skills.

You're still struggling...

They are all important players, this year is another year to pump games into out talent - ipso facto, we put them in straight away. It should be known that Frawley and Morton had very good pre-seasons before they became injured.