rpfc

Foley is a gun. Deledio is a gun. Richmond have an awful attack. Richmond have an awful defence. Richmond have a very good midfield: Deledio, Foley, White, Tuck and Richardson.

Hilarious.

And younger. That team had an average age of 24. The one last sunday: 22.41 I know... I was bored.

"Playing Richmond is a great opportunity in that we see it as a game we can win." As opposed to the games we don't see as a win? He is doing everything right at the moment but he has got to learn to keep the honest conversations he has with Bailey to himself or it will let the players off the hook in the games "we don't see we can win." But it is a good idea to put the pressure on the boys, it'll get them to play with some intent and hopefully we can maintain it and eliminate the extended sleeping periods this week.

The jury hasn't been assembled yet. We are at the start of the crime here. Before the opening credits on Law & Order... Miles to go before we sleep... or pass judgement.

He has beaten Harvey and Ebert in the last three weeks. Annihilated them. He can't kick but, jeez, you can't drop him. Unless there are niggles I don't know about, and if Moloney comes up, we might have a settled side. Sylvia should be given another month to turn it around or that's it. Petterd might be a chance if Maric is ready. Jetta and Bennell give us some energy but one might need a rest. Dunn should not get the yo-yo treatment. PJ doesn't play like a 200cm rover, rovers like the hard stuff. He is playing like a 200cm Chris Johnson...

But that is the point. You cannot tell how a bloke is coaching, when you are in a rebuild, until 2 or 3 years down the track. Too many people want to be 'pessimistic optimists' - fear the worst so whatever happens you are pleasantly surprised or, and this is a personality fault, feel they're vidicated for their rash rejection of a coach so early in his career.

Long thread for a bloke that is quickly becoming surplus to requirements. That's because of the investment we put in him. Sylvia needs to run until he throws up. He would never have come close to doing that so far in his career. We'll see if he can work his way back into the top 30 at the club.

I don't know why I bother but stop doing this to yourselves. For the last time: We are sh!t. As long as I can see development out of the younger ones, we are on the right track. Now stop talking about the coach, it's getting annoying.

They have a very good midfield. Won the clearances easily on Monday. Breakeven in the middle and we will win. Unless Richo goes nuts...

When you are as behind most other teams like we are the players that are doing well are those that 'gut run,' throw themselves around when the ball in is dispute, and are selfless in helping their teammates. Those that fall into these categories so far are (to varying degrees): Davey, Morton, Bruce, Moloney, Jones, Green, Warnock, Rivers, Martin, Frawley, Bate, Miller, McLean (unfit but has done well in the stoppages - 16 tackles and 16 clearances is very good), McDonald and Batram. Then there are the kids that show these qualities sparodically, as kids do: Cheney, Jetta, Bennell, and Petterd. Some have not had enough of an opportunity to see what their input is but Sylvia doesn't run enough and he needs to come off the ground exhausted against the Tigers. His career is passing him by. james1977 - I'd love to tell you that there is some cure-all to our woes other than patience and giving opportunities to the kids. But there isn't. BTW, players can always run harder. That is what I want to see from Sylvia, Jones, McLean, Moloney, Batram, Jetta, Dunn, and Cheney this week.

We have evolved from blaming the forwards to the 'forward line planning,' when you get to the fact that we had 39 and then 40 Inside 50s in the first two rounds I'll be waiting. We had 46 on Sunday, which is better, but our midfielders need to work as hard as Miller and Bate do. They need to gut run, Grant Thomas is an arrogant arse but he is right, players who want to take the next step need to run to exhaustion. I take issue with our midfield group because I only see the constant running from Morton, Bruce, and Davey.

This is all subjective but I would have thought the following teams will have a chance in the next 5 years to win a flag: Geelong (duh), Hawthorn (incredibly young), St Kilda (provided JK stays fit and NR doesn't go north), Bulldogs (provided dominance from the middle), and Carlton (until Fevola gives it away, and also dependent on midfield dominance). The other teams I think can be considered ill equipped to challenge in the short to medium term future, possible exceptions would have to be Brisbane and Adelaide. But they both could fall into the category of good teams that are do not have the personnel to challenge for a flag because of massive holes in their lists or looming retirements: PA, Rich, Ess, and Syd. Collingwood and North have youngish lists but massive structural deficiencies and a lack of class. Freo, WCE, and Melbourne are in rebuild mode. It's arguable whether we are further along than WCE, but I think if we are talking about ability to win a flag in the next 7-10 years we would be running at around 8th favourite. And with the next 5 years destined to be dominated by Hawthorn and Geelong, we might be ahead of a dozen clubs when their grip on the competition loosens.

He copped a corkie. Simmer down.

Judd is Judd. The best player until Ablett got going in '07. I will say this though, Carlton better win one in the next 3 or 4 years because Fevola is 28. And, personally, I don't think their backline is good enough. Nor will it be inside the 3 to 4 year timeframe.

Neil Craig has personality? Ross Lyon? You mentioned in an earlier post that "at least CC would bring some humour and semblance of life," and a 'skit' is theatrical attempt at comedy - something you apparently want to see at press conferences that coaches do after the game. I'm sure it'll bring a lot of RESPECT... And you have no time for Bailey, therefore every thing you see is through that lens. You are not alone, but you have to get past that bias and see the reality that we have the worst list in the league right now. He is going to get time whether you like it or not so you may aswell forget these small arguments and argue personnel problems or structure rather than his performances at press conferences.

Bate has been better since a down Rd 1, and Miller is a proud bull. He won't put his head down and whinge. They both have their limitations but they don't stop presenting and working. I just know that Jack Watts will be a better player for having Brad Miller right next to him. If a man of his talent works as hard as Miller works - he will be a star.

You may take your shots but at we lost today because of a pathetic 25 mins over the HT break. 20 min mark of the 2nd - PA 40 - Melb 28 Then PA kicked 7.7 to one behind until we kicked our next in the 17th minute of the third. 89 - 29 and we were cooked. We kicked one more goal than them from that point on. A young team will go missing for periods and they did for 25 mins. Positives: We broke even in tackles, clearances, and had our most Inside 50s for the year (46). Meesen had 22 hitouts and was the main reason we held our own in the middle. Bennell is becoming an AFL player very quickly. Miller (should have had 4) and Bate (could have had 4) are tireless and selfless (to a fault, sometimes). Morton is an elite athlete that does not stop running, learning from Bruce who can't kick straight but is our Forest Gump ("I just felt like running"). Jones is picking better targets by hand and foot. McLean drifted in and out but had 8 tackles and 6 clearances. Dunn had 12 touches and 5 clearances. He showed something today. Batram destroyed Ebert something fierce (He still can't kick though). Martin and Frawley continue to impress. Lessen the workload and they will beat their opponent and provide rebound. There are caveats and addendums to all these statements but remove the "25 mins from hell" next week and we will be competitive. We are improving. If anyone remembers last year as vividly as I do you have to agree... We are improving. (Just to prove I am not polyanna: Johnson is now the 4th ruckman at this club, Sylvia should watch how hard Bate runs and works if he wants to stay in the side, all mids need to work on kicking to space for our forwards, and our mids/defensive runners tense up to devastating effect when challenged - They need to run as hard as Bruce, Morton, and Davey do.)

I do not want the senior coach to do a skit in front of the press. You just don't like the guy. That's fine, but his demeanour at press conference is meaningless to me and every right minded person on this site.

When you are as young and raw as we are, you have to be process driven; break even in contested possies, clearances, and tackles. If they do that I'll be happy. They have more polish and will probably win but it will augur well when we have more developed bodies and a forward line.

Older players take longer for muscle tears: Paul Wheatley – Calf – Test, Matthew Whelan – Calf – 1-2 weeks, Russell Robertson – Achilles – Test Pre-existing condition: Jack Grimes – Back – 3 Weeks Broken bones are hardly something staff can prevent, only catch before they become worse (in the case of stress fractures): Daniel Bell – Broken Thumb – 3 weeks, Mark Jamar – Foot – 6 weeks, Colin Garland - Foot - Season A bloke doing an ankle: James Strauss – Ankle – 1 week Poor management: Austin Wonaeamirri – Hamstring – 3 weeks (was brought back too early and reinjured at training) Read into my groups what you will, but sometimes you just have bad luck.

Maric should become a goal-scoring midfielder in the mould of Ablett. Not saying he will be as good, but he can be bloody important to our tilt. Because nothing is as valuable as goal-scoring mids.

I think he can play CHF the way CHF is played these days. I'd prefer to see him do what Richo does on a wing. Basically play as a link from defence to the HF line, or read the play a kick ahead and get on the end of it. Richo is an artist at that. This is counterintuitive but he will kick more goals on a wing than he would at CHF.

In terms of vision and poise - yes. But at 196cm I see him more as a Pavlich/Riewoldt style of CHF or Wing Forward if you are Malcolm Blight. Just as a side note - Does anyone remember Blight's first commentary effort for Channel 10 a few years ago? Sydney - Brisbane, and he hadn't seen a game in three years and had no idea about the rule changes with 'chopping arms' and 'holding the footy if you drag it in.' It was bloody funny listening to him get confused and angry at all the decisions. Hilarious.

Right now Aaron is our best player and he is a leader. Not just to Bennell, Jetta, Jurrah, and Wonaeamirri but to all the younger players who want to become elite runners and kicks of the footy. He is slight, but no-one can deny he doesn't give for the team: one percenters, constant pressure, gut running, always willing to be an option etc. He is quiet, but I grow weary of leaders that strut around and yell and don't get you anywhere. The youngest group in the league would get a lot out of following Aaron Davey. IMO if McLean and Moloney continue to have trouble staying on the park and in form, Aaron Davey and Jared Rivers would be the next in line.