pitmaster

Ditto - I have often wondered this year if that taking process has tainted DB's ability to demand the most from his players.

Whether it's this week or not this is surely the finish for Bailey but anyone calling for him to go before now has been premature. He obviously was given a license to rebuild totally which amounted to a license to lose. What's become clear this year is a lack of fire in the belly. But why the love for Malthouse? Is it just because he is a bad tempered so and so? He has coached three clubs - no flag at the Bulldogs, two at West Coast and one at the Pies. But WC and the Pies are the two best resourced clubs in the country aqnd when Malthouse had the Eagles they were a bloody state side. Three flags with all the advantages he's had does not make him a coaching messiah. I am seriously interested in a favored son doing the job and the one most likely is Todd Viney.

Addam Maric should be buying Tattslotto tickets.

Have you spoken to Adam Cooney?

It's been some time since I contributed to the Scully speculation so to avoid being attacked for being un-Melbourne I want to add something. I mean, how can I respect myself as a declared Demon if I am not adding to this thread? If his knee is as problematic as Larkins suggests I too have doubts about how hard we go after him. This could be a case of a career cut unnaturally short. I reckon one of the end of season things Tom has to consider is getting himself an independent medical analysis and prognosis for his troublesome knee. If it is something that can be fixed then it is not relevant. But if, as Larkins suggests, it is something that must be "managed" for the rest of his career then the temptation may be to take the money and run. In brief, if the knee is seen as long term dodgy, Tom may be more likely to head to Sydney. Make hay while the sun shines and all that. In that case we probably can't lose - we either keep the kid and demonstrate we can hold on to top line players when we want to, or we lose a bloke who may be just an intermittent, fleeting star over four or five seasons and pick up a couple of draft picks and open up some cap space. But then I think, what if one of those fleeting star moments was the 2013 GF?

spot on brendan. apart from the verbal tics - sharp audible intake of breath, the clicking tongue as he starts to respond - and they can be put down to inexperience, he handled that fine. sorry to be seeing clouds around cameron schwab, however, not so much from what Green said so much as the questions he was asked.

cute.

what flavour is that?

OK, it's down to the last six rounds. Let's put aside thoughts of where we finish. What do we want to see in the rest of the year? My wish list: 1: Lucas Cook to debut. I'd be interested in hearing from Casey watchers how he's going but as our first draft pick from last year I am keen to see him given a taste or two in what remains of the season. Howe looks like he will be the goods but Cook is especially interesting since he was taken before Jack Darling who has shone out west. 2: Sam Blease to get another crack. One quarter as a sub gave us a cameo from Sammy but not much else. We need leg speed so I hope we get to see what he can offer. 3: Tom McDonald to debut. Hearing good things about this kid but want to see them too. 4: Maxie Gawn to get another go. I don't know how we fit him in without injury but he showed enough to be given some more senior time. 5: Us cope with Etihad. We've got two chances and I want to see us using the ball better than we did earlier this year and knock off this bogey. 6: Jack Watts to have a breakout game. He's gone close a couple of times so I'd like to see him really take a game by the scruff of the neck, combine with Howe and Ricky and Liam and set the forward line on fire. Several goals directly and several goal assists as we show how exciting this young group might be in the years to come. Your thoghts?

North's a bit stiff - they are more of a chance than us but the AFL has written them off. What else could we expect? I will get over there if we are any chance of going into September, but for that we must win at least one of the next three.

Correct. Take out that ridiculous penalty against Tapscott for getting Osborne on the ground when Osborne started the push and shove (as he always does, it's his way) when Howe was about to get a free directly in front of goal from a marking contest (2 goal turnaround) and take out Maric's hopeless miss in the first quarter and you are down to a six goal margin. Fact is this game was fought out to the end, heads did not drop, we kept scoring and the physcial pressure was a vast improvement. My depression aside, there were a couple of positive signs there.

For goodness sake, Artie "Maric's an elite kick" Bucco is on this again. Maric is simply not good enough. He kicked three goals against mediocre opposition in Darwin and I was hopeful something had shifted but in the first quarter yesterday he showed the same blaze away in hope style of kicking that has always condemned his game. He contribued two goals to the margin - one his miss which was a gimme for a small forward running at goal, and the other that hopeless handpass that set up the Hawks on the rebound. He simply does not get enough of it to kick in hope the way he does. It's ingrained and it's not going away. And he gives us no defensive pressure in our forward line either. Sorry, to say it because I don't like bagging our own but I have never seen anything in Maric that warranted his relatively high drafting and I think the FD later this year will show they agree. The only thing that could save him is if Wona fails to look like a stayer.

Ditto to that...the camera pan clearly showed the ball moving into their area and Morton moving away from Lade and into the play zone. Lade, the knucklehead, was too slow to realise what was happening. Morton has been cruelly dealt with by Footy Show heroes. He should not have to cop it from Demon supporters.

EXCEPT IT? Not once, but twice? What are you, a New Zealander?

I hope he stays - it will be good for the group's sense of unity and pursuing their goals together, and it will be a feather in the club's cap to hang on to a player when the experts (inverted commas) say he is gone, gone, GONE. But I am less worried about losing him than I was since we learned of two first round draft picks as compensation although it's not clear where these will be. If at the end of the first round, then it's not such great compensation at all. Nah, the thing that has eased my concern has been Scull's continuing problems with disposal under pressure, and those knees which already seem a bit creaky. I know Judd had dodgy shoulders before he was drafted, and now takes the field looking like Tutankahmen, but knees are seriously hard to nurse. So if he goes, he goes, and welcome young Viney. If he stays, fantastic, shove that sideways, Mike.

You have to wonder? Really?

Maybe you're too young to remember but our early record at Docklands was very good. There's no reason it can't be again. We just have to play down the line more than at the `G. Turn it over going into the corridor at Dlands and you've opened up the opposition's goal face. I'd like to see us using Nicholson and Tapscott for long penetrating kicks off halfback and Davey for precision delivery. Then we might start to work our way through the press which is especially effective there. As for those who say we cannot win at Geelong, tone it down to unlikely. They've had a couple of slip ups lately, needed Pods to dig them out of trouble last week so let's try to keep a little faith. Right now I am really keen to see how we go against Hawthorn - no Roughie, Chip on Franklin, not a bad start, but who gets Cyril? Strauss who is mostly a negator? Has hardly done enough. Does Bartram come back? Mostly good but will struggle for pace. Nicholson? likes to back himself and that could leave us exposed. Let's put Jamar forward early and stretch their diminished defence. The midfield is crucial and that might be where we start to struggle first but let's see how our toughies Beamer, Sylvia and Jones go in there...lots to think about and look forward to. And three more weeks of it - whatever the outcome we should learn plenty, and I for one am hopeful of two wins, and I don't care which two although Hawks (with Osborne laid out) would be a fine start.

You said it...with Bate as the option...

He is really struggling - quite good overhead and has taken some strong saving marks since coming back into the ones but his disposal generally costs us at least one goal per game. That's not unusual in a defender but the worrying thing about Cale's turnovers is that they are often under little pressure. Saturday night was doubly bad with him costing us several goals - at least two directly - but given the humidity and the heat and the likelihood the ball behaved oddly in the air I guess we have to cut him some slack...again. At least, I would.

and Tappy or Beamer to take out Osborne..Oh happy day I think we are a reasonable chance against the Hawks and Blues - and having experienced a win at Kardinia Park a few years ago (and a narrow loss) I am looking forward to the Cats. It's so sweet to wipe those grins off the graziers. Almost as good as seeing Osborne horizontal.

The most encouraging development in all this is the "third party payments" yarn in the Hun - looks like we are getting our act together to cover all bases. While people are bagging Schwarter (and I confess I haven't read his book) can we also spare the time to rip into that phoney Mike Sheahan. I mean, Schwarter doesn't pretend to be a real journalist - he's just a bloke trying to make a living best way he can. But MS has to really have a good look at himself - his work on this subject is laughable in the context of the last few days. Interesting his name is not on the latest reports.

Our blokes need the spell - especially the first and second year players, and LJ.

absolutely correct

Been reading some rubbish on the match day thread so I just want to say I was worried about this game from the moment I saw the fixture last year. We played QB Monday, then Sunday (Freo), Saturday (Tiges) and Friday (Dogs). That is three short weeks - three 6-days weeks - makes recovery difficult and is too much for many sides, especially young ones. Would have liked to have seen more ins to freshen the legs but I don't think they were available. The lesson is we should not take too much away from this as disappointing as it is to lose to the dogs as their window is closing.

You're right thanks for that - '87 was a huge win on a fine day at the 'G. '88 at Waverley (the day I'm remembering) was wet (rained through the first half), very tight and Sean was crucial to the win