Redleg

We are miles away from the F word and galaxies away from the P word.

I would think under 20 is poor, over 30 is good and around 25 is not bad, given the interstate team.

You would think we would get a good crowd saturday, first game, good weather, we will see.

Beaten a short half head on a hard leaders track. Great effort from him as he comes from the back and likes some give in the ground.

I hesitate to post this but I have Briefed running soon at Sandown at 4.40. If he can get a clear run at them in the straight from not too far back he should be in the finish.

Smashing Andrew Demetriou for starters. Getting stuck into Caro for being the AFL mouthpiece for another.

I taped all of the Stynes tribute games plus the funeral service today and I have probably got 15 hours to watch, in addition to On the Couch and my daily AFL 360 plus this weeks game against the Lions. I will have square eyes when I finish.

Really enjoying Thommo on Footy Classifed.

You thought wrong.

GWS shouldn't be taken lightly and need to be shut down, to stop the free flowing game style. If not, they will hurt you when they gain experience. They have very skilled, quick players, but obviously without the strength and experience. You need to play them on your terms not theirs. They also have a good smart coach in Choco.

Is it just me or are others feeling it too, but the AFL is really getting me offside. I just want to see football and all I am seeing is them stuffing up.

Getting back to footy weather.

Hope it also includes film of a win against the Dogs.

I will be away for the round 4 game and am hopeful that the tribute will be shown on Fox so that I can tape it.

Saw them and MRP correct.

Wouldn't mind seeing the incidents. They might show them on AFL 360 or Footy Classified.

Are we just plain unlucky, that at the start of every season we have many players injured and unavailable and for long periods of time? Yes I know other clubs have injuries as well, but we seem to have a large number of long term injuries, before game 1 every year. The Hawks I think have only Bailey out.

Folau reported twice in GWS loss and he also clashed heads with T$. T$ to have a cheekbone scan. No need for anyone to get nasty.

We have been smashed in the midfield our last couple of practice games. Obviously Jordie is getting match fitness as is JT. Our bright light is the bloke many wanted to get rid of a year ago, Nathan Jones. I also don't think getting smashed in the midfield has anything to do with the game plan. It certainly makes it harder to work to any game plan when the other side has first use of the ball and they are heading to goal and more so when they have a good attack.

I think it is now nearly certain that we will activate both of our compensation picks. First this years draft is strong, second we may have a poor year making them high picks and third we need quality midfielders.

Late in 3rd quarter against Port and we are well down. Then I hear 3 Melbourne players called and all disposals called as poor and inaccurate and we lose possession. How long will we have to suffer this abysmal disposal?

Sounds like someone in the membership idea is running out of ideas.

Had a great night last night listening to former Demon Max Walker at a dinner for 24 guys. Sat next to Max and he was just fantatstic. Spoke for an hour and answered questions for another hour on topics like his football days, cricket days and his media days. He is a top bloke and very unassuming. If you get the chance to attend a function where he is a speaker grab it. Held at Lamaros pub in South Melbourne in Cecil Street and the food was great as well.

Agree. Except that we also have some good players. I was more of the view that we don't have a Buddy or Rioli who are great, whereas the others you named are good or very good but not in the Buddy class.

This is a post I put on another thread in answer to Malthouse saying we are not that bad but that we need a good game plan. "If you get down to the basics, that first line says a lot. If you leave aside Buddy and Rioli we probably have players as good as many of the Hawks. Why then do they thrash us? Because they play ultra disciplined football to a strong game plan. Every one knows the plan and knows what is needed. Is Bruce a superstar or Cheney? No but they were contributors and played well because they played to the game plan. Do you have to be a champion to know to run and make position for the next kick when your team has the ball? Do you have to be a champion to know to make each possession of the other side a hard won contest? Break down the game and see where we lost. They contested hard at the stoppages, which either gave them possession or caused us to fumble. Once they had possession they ran to create position and short kicks to a clear man enabled the set up for a goal. What did we do? When we got the ball we either fumbled from the pressure or just bombed it forward to Clark etc who was usually up against 2 or 3 Hawks. Why is that? Because their game plan dictates when they don't have the ball some drop back and others attack the ball carrier. All the while Birchall is left all on his own to sweep up. The first thing I would do when playing them is man up Birchall. They are not unbeatable, but to beat them you must be disciplined and play to a strong plan. Hopefully Neeld will instill such a plan and discipline in our side. Those not willing to adhere and give their all can play at Casey. " What I was trying to get across is that except for a few players, we are not too different to Hawthorn. I don't believe that they are an 80 point better side than us, but that they play an 80 point better game than us. There is a difference. I believe they are very well coached and that all players are totally disciplined to play to the game plan at all times. If I was out there and ran to position and we had the ball I would probably get a kick. I am 60 and hopeless. The point is they can deliver the ball to exactly where there man is. We have had trouble with this for years. There are two aspects to this, first a a strong game plan and disclplined work ethic and second, decent disposal. I have harped on about our poor disposal for years and I recall hearing we would be drafting skilled players. I don't see the good disposal yet. Maybe it will come in time.How many times do we see a Demon make position and the ball is kicked at his ankles or over his head or 20 metres away from him. That sort of disposal will never allow you to be a good side. The other aspect is the plan and players discipline. When we tackle hard and put pressure on we look better.Unfortunately we only do it for periods in a game. That is not good enough. Did the Hawks let up on us. No and it was only a bloody NAB cup game. I hope that when we come to grips with Neeld's plan and work out who is prepared to play to it and give their all to it we will see better results.