Jack7

I don't think he'll come up here as he hasn't shown enough yet.

Who's blaming Petterd? If he didn't kick 4 goals we wouldn't have been in the game. What about Scully's and Green's missed goals from 30m out? What about Warnock's handball to Davis who kicked the winning goal? What about Jamar kicking out on the full from 35m out? What about Bennell crapping his pants when it was his time to go? What about Junior's stupid 50m penalty then goal? What about Bruce's dropped mark in the goalsquare,Medhurst goal? Hmmm,we made a few other mistakes and a team as young & inexperienced as ours always will!

Why close the gameday thread and start a new one? Last week we had 175 kicks and 176 handballs at a 1:1 ratio which was a huge mistake by Bails and i'm glad he tweaked the gameplan today for 198 kicks and 154 handballs (TICK).We were so much more direct coming through the corridor and the stupid 2 foot handballs didn't cost us as much as last week.Strauss was relieved of the kicking in duties today (TICK) and as i said a first gamer shouldn't be under that pressure and giving up 3 goals.Newton in for Miller (TICK) Newton was never going to be a matchwinner in his first game but he reads the play better and is a better kick.Spencer should be dropped (TICK)no where near ready at this level.Drop underperforming players and put every player on notice and watch the intensity rise (TICK).Play Pies man on man,shoulder to shoulder and take their space away (TICK) Everthing i wanted after Rd 1 was done,I'm happy.

I said Tuesday drop Miller for Newton and give him 5 games,i stand by that call.Newton is a better reader of the incoming ball and a better kick.How much game time was he given? He's not going to come in and be a match winner first game.I don't want Miller in again,he's given us 9 years of nothing.

I'm too shattered to type,i'm extremely proud of every Demon!!!! This is how we can play when we are mentally switched on for 4 quarters.

Still 5 points down,drew the 3rd quarter and our intensity has been great all game. I said Tuesday that Strauss shouldn't be taking the kick outs and he hasn't today,good move. 30 minutes of hard,tough footy to go,can we do it? If we don't,we take so much confidence out of going with a full strength top 4 team for 3 quarters especially when we are still injury riddled. This effort is a season changer!

Great first half Dees,5 points down,who would've thought against a top 4 team but that's what pressure does.I've been banging on about going man on man across the ground against the Pies and taking their time away when they get the ball.41 tackles to half time which is 80 pace again,that's where we need to start,they are a much better side on paper and grass for that matter but our pressure is troubling them,giving them no space.Grimes is killing Didak and Petterd carving up Shaw.Contested possession to half time is 67 each with Jamar on 9 the most on the ground.We are handballing less this week but we just don't have a key forward to kick to.I said on Tuesday Newton should come in for Miller and he reads the play better than Miller and is a better kick,a win there. Can we keep it up in the second half?

Thanks for bringing back some great memories.We can play like that but we can't do it consistently yet,consistency is our weakness atm.Secondly Mclean,Robbo,Wheatley,Jurrah,Sylvia all played that day,that's a 1/4 of the team and bucketloads of experience that has been replaced by 3 first gamers and Grimes (12 games experience between them). I believe when we get players back and become more settled and get some continuity,we will surprise a few teams this year.There will come a time when everything will just click and we jell together,the gameplan becomes second nature and we can maintain intensity for 4 quarters,at the moment that seems a lifetime away. It will come.

Outs: Miller---He has no idea about reading the incoming ball,he's forever out of position and an awful kick.If he stays in,he plays within 30m of goal only,because IF he does take a mark,it's his best chance to kick a goal but even then i wouldn't put the house on it. Dunn---Dropped 2 marks you'd expect to take in under 12's,runs around like a headless chook and has never nailed a position,good VFL footballer. Spencer---At one stage played 72% of the game without touching the footy,nowhere near ready at this level. Ins: Newton---I've never liked this kid and don't think he'll ever make it but we desperately need a target for our mids to kick to and it's now or never and i'd give him 5 games to prove himself once and for all,if he can't cut it,he's out for good. Sylvia---If he's fit he plays as a permanent forward,he takes a good grab and can kick it 60m. Maric---Permanent forward pocket who can crumb Newton's dropped marks,he can be very dangerous around goals. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Miller out Newton in Well that's a good start,dropping underperforming players is the only message that gets through,if you don't drop them,complacency sets in.I'm so happy Bailey is taking this stance because every other player knows what's coming if they don't perform.The intensity will be huge now,well done Bails.

I don't care what the score is i just want to see 100% from each player,not 100% from 17 and 90% from 5. If we get that,we couldn't have done any better. We played like this under Daniher and now under Bailey,maybe they are just too laconic and laid back. Anyone who doesn't play with 100% intensity plays 4 weeks at Casey and will only be re-considered for selection after 3-4 great games at VFL level. This is the only way to change attitudes.Exactly what Matthews and Voss did to TJ,they both banished him for 4 weeks,only TJ's attitude needed 2 spells. Nothing else works.

The Bermuda Triangle contains Bruce,Miller,Dunn,Martin,Warnock.

The fact the Davey and Green can't/won't kick right foot has peed me off for years.For example,in last years Queen's B'day game,Pies players took Davey's left foot space and instead of getting on to his right,he moved right,turned right,turned right,turned right again and kicked on his left,this happened twice on half back and once on the wing and for a senior player not to kick both sides in todays game is appalling. It's a pleasure to watch Scully kick both sides of his body (not elite yet,but it will come) because he will need to in the next 15 years.Imagine a tennis player who couldn't hit backhand but had a great forehand,you are behind the 8 ball and opponents soon find out your weakness.

Moloney was about the only one who penetrated Hawthorns zone with his 60 metre kick.Gilham was the last man in the zone and Moloney cleared him a couple of times but we had no-one to take advantage.Later this year we may have Watts & Jurrah contesting the zone breaker with Wonna,Maric or Flash cleaning up the crumbs. That's whats ahead when we have a full list and a lot of backlines will be under pressure in the coming years.When we build a better and stronger midfield and start winning the contested ball and clearances,we'll be sending the ball forward a lot more and taking a lot of pressure off our backline.At the moment we don't have a midfield that wins enough clearances and the opposition midfield takes control,sending the ball into our defence which is always under pressure.Strauss gave up 3 goals and had huge pressure on him kicking in,in his debut game,the poor kid was crapping himself.I would have given Strauss a bit more time at Casey and played Cheney,who's more advanced right now.Is Strauss going to take Davis,Didak,Medhurst? He's just not ready yet,sure,throw him in the deep end but don't destroy him in his first few games.

Congrats Greeny,kick a bag against the Pies. Greeny for Skipper next year!

OK,maybe i read it wrong,at least we're all on the same page,can we get Bailey in on the discussion? On every talkback radio show,newspaper and TV footy show,Bailey has been hammered about his gameplan.I'd be astounded if we didn't see something different against the Pies,in fact if we see the same,he's lost me forever. Some senior players have to pull their finger out and show some desire,intensity and BALLS.If these same players play the same way against the Pies,i'd send them back to Casey for 4 weeks just like Matthews and Voss did to Travis. Daniher didn't do it and it looks like Bailey won't either,this breeds complacency,"i won't get dropped"

I just finished watching On The Couch and Hird did say the above,not what we did on Saturday.We are handballing far too much in the back half,each handball is being received with more pressure,turnovers arise,GOAL.

"Bailey hasn't focussed on drafting players that are good kicks because he doesn't think kicking is important." That's just ridiculous,Strauss was drafted purely on his footskills!!! Any AFL coach that thinks kicking isn't important should be looking for a new job. Are we going to draft great handballers? Every team is putting a huge premium on players with elite footskills to break through zones with pinpoint accuracy.

"Hird said that if you kick the ball forward then Hawthorn were set up to turn the ball over and send it straight back with interest." I disagree with this view as no team can set up to turn the ball over at will. We had 42 inside 50's,with 21 scores which means that 50% of our inside 50's resulted in a scoring shot,meaning the Hawks couldn't turn over 50% of our inside 50's.

The board extended his contract becuase they knew we'd be 1-10 and the media would carve him up.How much is he on? If it becomes absolutely untenable like Wallace and Laidley,they will pay him out.You cannot continue another week when it gets to that stage.It will add to the debt and we'll be asked to pay it off under debt demolition for the next few years. This handball at all costs when you take posession is teaching our new kids the wrong way.When they win the footy,instead of letting their instincs dictate what they do with it,it's now "Shite,i have to handball it" and they handball it 3 feet to a team mate under the hammer,then turnover,goal.This happened 7 times on Saturday,because they're taught by Bailey to handball when you win the footy.He's not letting them make their own decision,he's made the decision for them before they win the footy.Trenners had 7 kicks and 16 handballs,Bruce also had 7 & 16 (thankfully)Jones had 6 & 12,Scully had 9 & 12 and the team had 175 kicks and 176 handballs and Hawks had 247/166.Collingwood had 241/143. Our kick/handball ratio is 1:1 This is totally wrong Bailey!!! Let the players run and carry and pump it into the 50,we have good crumbers if the ball hits the deck,it's better than 3 foot handballs/turnovers on Half back.

The only thing i'll say on this issue is i think he is a great coach to have that list where it is for the last few years,he extracts the best out of each player.They haven't had a ruckman for ten years,they were ranked 16th in hitouts last year and Fraser wasn't in their best 22 for the prelim,he was an emergency and they went with Cameron Wood and they still made the last 2 prelims.Funniest thing is they are going to axe him after 2011 for an untried coach after they've finished top 4 for 4 years,stupidest decision i've heard in years. Malthouse had a whinge today about playing the top 4 teams twice each,he didn't complain about playing us twice in the first 12 rounds,same as last year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes we have a huge forward line problem but make no mistake We lost the game and got absolutely smashed between the 50m arcs which put huge pressure on our backline. I have big question marks on Moloney,Jones & Bruce and Grimes,Scully and Trenners will overtake them very quickly. Week in week out Junior & Greeny perform but they do it on their own. Jeez i hope Green is captain rd. 1 next year.

The age/ave games stat doesn't mean much to me because if Bruce or Junior were out injured,we would have been younger and less experienced than them.If Buddy,Bateman played they would have older/more experienced than us.

We stuff around on the halfbackline/wing because we have stuff all forwards. Brown/Fev kicked 8 last night and Fev should have kicked 6. If those 2 played for us yesterday,we'd be a totally different team,we'd be going long off half back to the 2 big targets instead of [censored] around with 2 foot handballs and then turning it over,bang goal to Hawks!!! We don't have those 2 gun forwards,we have Miller and Petterd. We just have to make do with what we've got,which won't win us any games. What score would we kick if this was our forward line: Bate..Brown..Sylvia Davey..Fevola..Jurruh A lot of our problems would disappear and NO-ONE would be calling for Bailey's head,but he has to work with the injured cattle he's got,Period!

Outs: Miller---He has no idea about reading the incoming ball,he's forever out of position and an awful kick.If he stays in,he plays within 30m of goal only,because IF he does take a mark,it's his best chance to kick a goal but even then i wouldn't put the house on it. Dunn---Dropped 2 marks you'd expect to take in under 12's,runs around like a headless chook and has never nailed a position,good VFL footballer. Spencer---At one stage played 72% of the game without touching the footy,nowhere near ready at this level. Ins: Newton---I've never liked this kid and don't think he'll ever make it but we desperately need a target for our mids to kick to and it's now or never and i'd give him 5 games to prove himself once and for all,if he can't cut it,he's out for good. Sylvia---If he's fit he plays as a permanent forward,he takes a good grab and can kick it 60m. Maric---Permanent forward pocket who can crumb Newton's dropped marks,he can be very dangerous around goals. ---------------- Bruce---Was carved up by Osbourne who kicked 2 goals in first 10 minutes and Bruce gave away a 3rd goal from a stupid handball.I've always been a Brucey fan and he's versatile but if his disposal continually lets him down,i'd rather put 20 games into a youngster who'll be in our next finals campaign,Bruce won't be around by then. Bennell---Was carved up by Hooper and continually lets his opponents get goal side. Bate---Didn't have a preseason and was only played because of LJ,Sylvia,Wonna are out,he clearly needs 3-4 games to get his form back,we had no choice but play him underdone yesterday. Davey---Had a great year last year off half back as he was always in the play being in our backline but with a new role this year,it'll take a while to adjust because we just don't have the ball enough yet. Dean Bailey---In the first half he got the gameplan totally wrong.Frawley should have taken Roughead from the first bounce,Warnock will only be a battler,3rd defender at best,he shouldn't be taking the best forward.We played unaccountable football and got smashed and beaten up physically and mentally.In the second half Bailey went more one on one across the ground with much better results because each player had a specific job to do on his direct opponent and the second half tackle count was a huge improvement on the first half because we were more accountable one on one and the pressure on the opposition ball carrier increased.Next week against the Pies,we must start the game with the same one on one style that we played in the last 50 minutes of the match yesterday,if we don't,the Pies will carve us up and win by 70+ points.I would even play Grimes on Swan,Scully on Ball and Trengove on Pendlebury,throw them in at the deep end and learn on the job and they will learn a lot quicker this way than just running around unaccountable.These Pies will teach them where to run and when,where to stand at throwups around the ground etc. Overall a shocking game but Scully and JT showed they'll be class acts and great debuts in a pathetic team effort,Brad Green was great again and after having his head in a brace,comes back on and runs with the flight of the ball,tough as the plate holding his cheekbone together from last year.The tackle count was up to 83 led by Junior with 11 as usual but inside 50,we only had 6 tackles,nowhere near enough forwardline pressure,this games all about pressure when you haven't got the ball but i can't remember an 83 tackle count from a Demon outfit,so it's a huge improvement on previous years.We're still playing far too loose when they have the ball.When top 4 teams haven't got the ball,they are shoulder to shoulder all over the ground.

Stuff it,we don't need a week off next week,let's play the Tigers! On second thoughts,a loss to them would destroy the last drop of confidence we currently have. We are seriously looking at bottom 2 this year. Maybe even bottom one!