Chook

Lots of out of bounds on the full was our problem in the corresponding game last year. I reckon we'll have about 7-8 this week too.

You want to tackle below the shoulders Melbourne?

James Frawley is never guilty of bouncing the ball when he doesn't need to, which is great. But for god's sake bounce it sometimes!!

Who needs big forwards when you have Lynden Dunn to kick goals from outside fifty?

Anyone who reckons Mitch Clark is a forward just needs to look at the way he failed to take that mark all alone inside the fifty. He had the opportunity of just sticking the knee in the face of the defender and taking the easy mark. Of course he didn't do it, because he's not a natural forward.

Appropriately pessimistic.

Mistake to make Bate the sub. Great to see Tom McDonald. Why is Stef out? Injury? Wasn't he in the rehab group this week?

What is this thread short for? JWICGAW means . . .?

That's debatable. A year off seems to have done him good, but who knows how he'd have played in 2011 if we'd kept him on?

No Moloney is a benefit. He simply did nothing last week. The only downside to his non-appearance this week is that now someone else gets tagged. As for Bennell, I don't think you'll find many people criticising his disposals. It his toughness, consistency and work ethic that people criticise. If he can put these more effort and knowledge-based aspects of his game right, then he will become a worthwhile addition to the team. I'm sure the coach can get that out of him.

Franklin, I Betts your Lyon.

How could a player (not in the leadership group) carry a groin into round freakin' ONE!? Is there a chance he was dropped from the leadership group because he isn't honest about his physical fitness? I seem to recall him hardly getting a touch against Geelong because of a cold he had (which no-one but he knew about).

He didn't drop Macdonald or Bartram (the biggest battlers in our side). He dropped our softest front-runner and two players who would have been absolutely mauled going interstate in their second games. Seriously, give the guy a little more credit.

It's not like football is a game of rock paper scissors. There are other factors in play beside x beats y beats z beats x. As others have said, matchups, byes, breaks, injuries and so on all have a big impact on what happens from week to week. I also think Tom Rockliff bought into his own hype last night. Always skirted around packs and didn't do much defensive running. He mauled us last week and didn't fire a shot against Carlton. These things happen. Perhaps Kennedy won't destroy us tomorrow since he had it so easy against Markovic last week. Who knows?

The threat of losing sponsors in exchange for picking up a recruiter who won't waste our picks is a damn fair trade for us.

Exactly right, Jaded. And about the sum of money I said Nicho's on: Well I'd say I got it wrong because I'm drunk, but I don't have that excuse at my disposal. Unfortunately I'm just too stupid to remember he's a rookie. There are things that I find it hard to give up, so I can understand the difficulty people might have eliminating alcohol. The hardest part of giving up alcohol seems to be the social aspects of it. Damn near every event or family get-together I go to has someone offering me a beer or a glass of wine every five seconds. It's not that I don't drink because I don't like how it makes me feel. It's that I don't drink because I don't like how I feel after I drink it.

These are the questions I've been asking myself, and this is the conclusion I've reached. Quality post.

If the coach wanted to deliver a message to Mifsud on the bench, he'd have to get a runner to do it. Apparently Mifsud can't operate a telephone.

Idiot. How hard is it to not drink for six months? I don't drink at all, and I don't have a two hundred thousand dollar contract which requires my utmost physical performance. Does it take that much willpower to JUST AVOID DRINKING!?

No. They take place over the course of months and years, so unless he has a DeLorian or a Frozen Donkey Wheel buried at the bottom of a well . . .

Yeah, because we have a midfield of Judd and Murphy. Tonight just shows how important a brilliant midfield is.

Get over it. We pick skinny kids - so what? At least Misson knows how to develop them. We'll see some great improvement from our so-called "blunders." Stop bignoting yourself with the "I picked it but everyone else is stupid" rubbish. It's seriously doing my head in more than anything else on this website. Plus, I can't believe you didn't put in the "Too Early To Tell" option. Obviously you don't know how to run a poll right. Even political polls have "This, That and the Other" options.

I think people are overlooking the fact that Jamar played ratshit. He didn't help us in the ruck with his tiggy little "taps" down to his own feet. Hopefully he'll relish the challenge of NicNat and Cox, and actually do some damage with his taps. Glad to see Aaron Davey out of the side. Beamer's clearly legitimately injured, and despite his poor performance on the weekend and his (IMO) pathetic leadership in general, we're worse without him in the side. EDIT: Also, Macdonald remains in, which indicates the coach's intentions of only playing triers and battlers - even those whose skills are not quite up to par. I'm okay with that.

It's an extremely short article he could have written in fifteen minutes waiting for lunch. I wouldn't worry about it too much.

Too true. Sh*t like this doesn't make you weak. It makes you tough.