Allen Jakovich

agreed, mrp is a frigign joke.

Has had a very consistent year. Don't know where we'd be without him.

Perception is very different from reality when it comes to Col.

Sign him up.

I think fitzy should be developed as an inside mid...

NB: This post has mirth attached...

Yes. I'll be there.

great article.

You know that phenomenon were teams who's coaches are sacked come out and play awesome the following weekend? People often say "they played for the coach, but why couldn't they do that previously"?

Well I have a theory, I believe that happens because often when things are going south at footy clubs, and pressure is really mounting on a coach, the players really feel that. They feel a weight of responsibility, which makes them less confident, less able to positively attack games. We've seen it this year in many games where we play quite well, and then when the going gets tough, the players find it very difficult to play with freedom, they second guess themselves, they think, oh no, another big loss could be catastrophic for Mark... etc.... and the confidence level plummets. The collingwood game is a prime example. It's not that they are not fit enough or good enough, it's that the weight of responsibility forces them to go into their shell.

Then when the coach departs and that cloud lifts, often they attack the following game with a freedom not previously seen. Garland said it in his presser... "we have nothing to lose now".

Who knows, maybe I'm talking crap, but I'm going with it, and it makes me confident of an improved showing today.

GO DEES!

I have a very good feeling about today's game.

I think we all know what the solution is... Jesse Hogan, captain/coach...

j/k.

Remember watts playing as a mid in the Saints game at etihad a few years back? Was probably our best player for the day from memory. Bring it.

Watts was improved in this area against the Pies, that's for sure... interested to see how he goes on Sat night. I know one thing, Col Garland is probably pretty happy he doesn't have to man Milne Saturday night for the first time in a long time Vs the Saints.

Nice work.

Gawn in, Jamar out. ASAP.

I've been a fan of his for a while and he's been on the fringe of selection on a few occasions both this year and last. He is always a steady contributor in the backline and is improving his disposal. I think he should get a run in the second half of the season. He had 26 possessions today and controlled the defence.

Really? Wow. I think from what I 've seen the thing missing from his game is getting involved offensively (and as you say, efficiently), from the sounds of it this was present yesterday so here's hoping he gets a call up v. soon.

Alternatively can we just drop the hype on this kid a tad. He is playing well at VFL level I hope like everyone that it means he is a gun but gee over the years how many gunnas have we seen? Schwartz could have been anything but stuffed through injury, Jackovich injury, attitude? Charles injury, neglect, Glenn Lovett injury, jurrah, community meltdown, Warren Dean, knee, Tingay workplace injury, where do I stop on the talent that has for not been fully realised over the years. Let us give him some time and space to make his way into the seniors and treat him like any of the others. If we as a club have got our act together in two years time he will re sign ata fair price.

I agree but Warren Dean?

Having written for this mag and knowing RUssel Holmesby as a consequence, I wouldn't ever pay much attention to what the bloke writes, tbh.

He's become my new favourite player, I gotta say. Have loved the way he has been a real strong leader and positive presence around the club this year, especially in front of the media.

Compared to blokes like Moloney and McLean this guy is a 10x better leader.

Great to see him starting to get some fitness and touch on the field too.

I'll be there again. Bring it.

As bad and I hate saying this I just hope Hawthorn beat us by a minimum of 80 points, I just want Neeld gone by Monday to end this madness at least for now. I don't want him coaching at the Pies game.

I hate Hawthorn with a passion and I always want the dees every week to have a red hot dip but I don't want them to take it easy on us because people feel sorry for us!

Neeld should just do the right thing and resign after this game so the club doesn't have to pay the guy out. He created a big part of this mess he should just do the club and himself a massive favour

I want to see us lose by 30, then by 20 the following week against the Pies. Then beat St Kilda and the Dogs.

This joke has been around for years, it's just a case of "insert the current crap team here..."

Out: Jamar, Sellar, Bail

In: Fitz, Pederson, Rodan.

Fitzy at FF. Pederson on last line of defence.

If T Mac is good to go then somebody should miss from Sunday's team because those 3 blokes deserve the call up.

One word. Confidence. Casey has it. Melbourne don't. That why they play the man instead of the ball. It's a mindset issue.

Now I forgot someone Troy Davis. He really impressed me yesterday. He certainly needs to get involved more from an offensive perspective, but wow, anything that went near him he thumped away, even up against the huge Vardy. Really good ability to find a way to affect the spoil. Not ready for 1s but has potential IMO.

Okay so great win by the scorps. They were certainly the better side on the day, although they had a very poor first half of the 1st and 4th quarters where Geelong scored about 8-9 of their goals... Their tackling was excellent, that was the big thing I noticed, especially after watching the Dees pathetic attempts at tackling in the Freo game. Couch, Rodan, Spencer, Casey's 3, 13 and 10 (sorry, don't know their names) they hunted and gang tackled and it was great to see. I was there with my wife so I can't say I was paying 100% attention but here's a rundown of what I saw:

Spencer: A lot of taps but a bunch of them went straight to cats players, got around the ground well, took some very nice big marks, but made some pretty basic errors too. Not worthy of a call up IMO.

Pedo: Wow. Seriously, if this guy doesn't come straight in for Sellar then someone's on the drugs that killed River Pheonix. He hit the packs hard, rebounded well, and showed something you don't often see in the dees backline. The balls to take the game on and kick long and well. He took pack marks, peeled off his man and linked up, and a number of times he made 2nd or 3rd efforts which were goal saving tackles or bumps. Seriously, I was shocked how good this guy played. He did concede a few goals but often that was because of quick turnovers from the middle of the ground he couldn't do much about. He also cleared the backline with pinpoint 50 metre kicks on a number of occasions. Definite IN for next week.

Couch: In everything early and in many ways kept Casey in the game in the first half. His contested work was bloody good, tackling and harrying and bumping and harassing and just pushing the ball forward. Definitely one of the Casey's best.

Blease: Sam would have only had a handful of possesions and I'm not sure if even one of them was effective. In the 2nd term he danced around three defenders on the last line of defence, desperately trying to take the game on rather than handballing off to one of the four teammates standing within 15 metres of him then hit a pinpoint pass to a cats player all on his own 45 metres out directly in front of goal. It was possibly the worst individual effort I can remember seeing on the footy field. To make matters worse, he got cleaned up after disposing of the ball and was groggy as all hell and didn't come back on.

Clisby: Was really impressed by this guy. Found the ball in close and used it well in space. Seems to have footy smarts and is a courageous player.

Tynan: Wasn't involved much at all, did a few good things but didn't notice him much.

Taggert: Really good game from this guy, broke the lines a few times, seemed to play in the middle a little bit and got a few clearances. Like Clisby, was strong and courageous and really took the game on.

Rodan: Massive game, was very influential. Laid a bunch of excellent tackles, got a heap of clearances, was a real catalyst for the run of goals in the third term and played a leadership role, constantly encouraging and directing his teammates at stoppages.

Macdonald: Was good, dependable. Didn't see him make a mistake (which was a change from his AFL games!) His kicking seems to have improved. I'd like to know his effectiveness stats because I didn't see him miss a target by hand or foot.

Kent: Was involved a little but nothing he did was terribly impressive. Work rate seemed high but not a lot of impact.

Barry: Played well, was encouraging. Drifted in and out of the game but showed he is up to the standard of VFL firsts. Was very elusive and had a few scoring involvements.

Fitz: His ruck work didn't seem that great to me but wow did he make the most of his opportunities up forward. He really used his height and speed well in front of goals and was on the end of a few ripper passes from his teammates, including Hogan. He crumbed and snapped goals, he goaled on the lead and is worthy of a call up this week. His sealer goal was might impressive. Fifty out on the boundary with Geelong having all the momentum, he lined up sideways and snapped it through, a seriously clutch goal. Should take Gawn's spot IMO.

Hogan: Okay now I know people are keen to hear about his game today and for the first 20 minutes of the game i don't think he had a touch. However, just before quarter time he dragged in a big pack mark over three Casey players and although he hit the post with the set shot from then on he was on fire. He took marks on the lead, he crumbed and snapped goals, he tackled ferociously winning a number of free kicks, he was seriously impressive. What excited me was that he was sooo smart with his leading. He knew instinctively how to outposition his opponent and then to lose him on the lead. With a bit better delivery he would have have 8 goals. He also led right up the ground on numerous occosions and delivered effectively, setting up a few goals for his teammates. Not only that but with fifteen minutes to go and the Cats playing all over the Scorps, he was placed behind the ball in the backline and took a number of intercept marks, and tackled and harassed really well, stopping one or two shots on goal that would have seen the cats hit the front had they resulted in goals. He also directed his teammates down there and told them when to slow it down and chip it around when geelong weren't manning up but when they did man up he was demanding, screaming they kick long down the line. Wowee, seriously this was a captains game. He was the best player on skilled stadium today and given he is only 17... we seriously need to find a way to start getting the footy inside fifty next year because this guy will do the rest...

Okay that's all I can remember and the GP is about to start sorry if I missed anyone but go Scorps!

Considering Gawn plays more forward than ruck at the moment you'd think Fitzpatrick has now put his hand up high enough for Gawn's spot in the team if big Max can't produce today. I too am not sold on Fitzy but at the moment I'm looking at our structure of Jamar (ruck), Dawes, Hogan, Clark (ruck/fwd) for next years forward line with Gawn back up ruck. With Spencer looking a lost cause for AFL level and Pedersen and Sellar both looking like defenders I'm thinking Fitzpatrick becomes an important prospect. So he's worth a shot at AFL now for more experience.

By the way who played today guys? Did Spencer play? What percentage of Fitzpatrick's goals came from forward compared to ruck?

Spencer played well. Nothing super special, but he competed hard in the ruck all day, took some strong marks and was generally involved round the ground consistently.

All of fitzy's goal were when he was forward.

2-3 crumbing goals then the other couple on the lead inside the forward 50.

Casey win. Ill write a full report after Dees game.

Fitz!!!!!!! Snap goal from the boundary 45 out. Casey will win now