the pearl

It sometimes appears that Stevie May is not a smart player. He is certainly out of sorts and he looks slow. He is a skilful kick but a poor decision maker. What do the coaches do?

B. Hibberd Pedersen Jetta HB. Keilty Frost Vince C. Lewis Jones Brayshaw HF. Petracca Hogan Fritsch F. Garlett T.McDonald Harmes Foll. Gawn Oliver Viney Res. Salem Baker Stretch Melksham

Harry Petty can be excused. Total stagefright. First game. No support from a lazy midfield. What's Oscar's excuse? He was just as poor, he was poor against Port and even worse against Cox. Slow and lazy. Oscar should not be learning his craft in the AFL. He should be learning at Casey.

AFL.com.au shows no respect for us by putting Oscar Mc in our best 22.

Pleased to hang on to Garland. Maybe we should have delisted Oscar before he gets any worse.

I'm over Oscar.

You miss the point. Pedersen should be selected on form. Go back through the last eight or nine games and refresh your memory. What you are hoping for and what is actually happening appear to be different things. Now that is delusional.

Gawn is the current All-Australian ruckman. Different role to Pedo. T-Mac can play back as well. Best you don't compare Pedo's form with what you dream Hogan will be in the future and what you wish Watts could be. I would play him ahead of Watts and Hogan at the moment. They are all different. I would play him ahead of Oscar any day of the year. He has a tighter turning circle, can take a grab, doesn't drop chest marks, can read the play and can hit a target. First ten picked!

Pedo? How quickly some of you forget. Should be in the first ten picked at the selection table.

6. Barassi 5. Stynes 4. Flower 3. Hardeman 2. Wells 1. B.Lovett

6. Viney 5. Gawn 4. Watts 3. Ben Kennedy 2. Oliver 1. Jeffy

Big fish? I don't know. But there is the potential for a bit of a seafood combination. Tom (Moreton Bay) Bugg Rory Lobb(ster) Trent (John) West Jesse White(bait) Cale Hooker Aaron Mullett Aaron Black(fish) Farren Ray Mike Pyke

Stats chaser.

Kennedy-Harris - back to Casey Garlett - can't kick straight Spencer - two metres behind Dunn- poor vice captain Salem - touch of class the pearl - can't go on ...

8. Salem 7. Hogan 6. Jones 5. Vandenberg 4. Brayshaw 3. Vince 2. Jamar 1. Garland

Watched the game again to see what went wrong. Our midfield fumbled and were extremely poor defensively - wherever they were on the ground. Above and beyond all of that, they were far too slow. They can't and will not cope with quick midfielders ever - and that is a clear fact. If they can get their hands on the ball first, then at least they can compete. Jones has won three Blueys for courage and a great work ethic. However, he would have to be the slowest triple B&F winner in AFL history and it shows how far back our midfield is coming from.

6. Tom Mac 5. Viney 4. Jamar 3. Hogan 2. Maybe Cross 1. Perhaps .. someone else? -6 Captain -5 Vice captain

6. McDonald 5. Cross 4. Garlett 3. Tyson 2. Watts 1. Lamumba

Ablett's free kick stats were about the same as Nathan Jones last year - which were not much less than Joel Selwood.

Ha! What a pissa! He can teach them how to drop chest marks. Nah. Seriously. No harm done. They've got awesome forwards anyway, He will have little or no impact and earn a bit of cash.

Duuuudes!!

Stunned when Barass sent all to one side of the ground except Rob Flower on the Member's wing. The ball was kicked in Flower's general direction for one out contests. Time and time again, he won the contests and we went into attack or scored. Rob Flower was on the same plane as Hudson and Carey, in terms of the way he was the basis for a whole team offence - probably better than both of them because he could and would beat any player he was up against. Easily the best player I've ever seen anywhere! RIP, you shining light!

Very crucially critical.

It is a sad sign of how we clutch at straws, when we speak in glowing terms about Nate Jones, who is seen by many as our best player ( dual Bluey winner who might very well win his third this year) when, in reality, he is a battling scrapper who is B grade at best, compiling meaningless possessions. He has always been too slow to really compete with the best but we love him because of his courage and pure guts.

I wanted Sylvia to be captain a few years ago. Since then I've watched him find himself second to the ball more often than not. Then he had to try to tackle, which he didn't do too well and, let's face it, he really didn't want to tackle. Players have to want to defend; it doesn't happen naturally. When he hit the ball running, every now an then, he was unbelievable. I don't expect him to succeed - a la Woey - and it is quite possible, he will be watching future demons performances thinking: " Geeezuuus. I could have been part of that!"