whatwhat say what

wasn't it the smallest at the g for all time, or some such stat?

eh? demolished farmer in the finals? you've gotta be joking. farmer kicked 2.2, had a hand in about 4 more, and picked up a dozen or so possessions. you're right in that he does work hard defensively. but that's not my gripe with him; my gripe is his disposal, and his incredibly poor decision-making. bell did blaze away last night - he butchered the ball time and time again. that's what he's like when he's 'taking the first option' - he's no good at it. if he stays on the hbf for melbourne in 5 years time he'll be thought of just as brown is now - a good, honest trier who gives his all but is just not good enough when it comes to disposing of the ball.

yep, like the idea of bell as a tagger and sylvia off the hbf. bell's biggest problem, other than dithering, is that he too often simply blazes away, and not merely because he's under pressure because he hasn't taken the first option. in packs, that's (almost) allowed. he's fast, he's hard, he can tackle. i think he could succeed as an on-ball tagger - it's definitely worth a try. the only part of the game where sylvia looked ANY good last night was opposed to davis. he is worth a try on the hbf on a more permanent basis, essentially replacing bell i guess.

nope, i loved his attack on the ball last night, but his disposal and dithering had me tearing at my hair in frustration. he's a good, honest trier. but that's all. and it's not like he's the only one i ripped into; he's just a demonland favourite. i thought my sylvia critique and byron blasting were far more negative.

daniel bell turns it over time and time again. his attack on the ball is exemplary; his use of it is less than ordinary.

being at the game, you see the side in a completely different way. on the tv, we don't look nearly as slight as we do in person - where has the likes of bruce and johnstone's muscle definition, particularly in the upper body, disappeared to this year? at the moment, i honestly can't see us winning a game. we lack heart, we clearly lack conditioning, and we seem to lack any desire. 6. matthew bate - not the worst, not the best. tries hard, but does some stupid things, like handballing to stationary players time and time again. came off injured, i think? 7. brad miller - tried hard up forward, was completely out-pointed down back. can't mark the ball in front of his face but always wants to take it on the chest, meaning that when he doesn't have a break it always gets punched away from him. at least he tried hard. 11. paul johnson - can't mark, but other than that was one of few who consistently put in. would love to see him continue to be experimented with as a key back - he reads the play well, is good at ground level, and punches well from behind. 12. colin sylvia - will clearly play over 100 games for the red and the blue, by dint of being a high draft pick alone. i think if he was a 4th round pick this year would be his last at the mfc. will never be anything other than a fair-to-ordinary player. 13. adem yze - pleasingly, put his head over the ball. at one stage he had the opportunity to soccer off the ground but instead you could see him think about it, and then pick it up, and deliver it cleverly to a forward-moving player. was good to see. 14. lynden dunn - yep, he's a good n. looks a natural footballer, which is something he has over the likes of miller. his coralling of barry on the hff at one stage was the sort of instinctive defensive work that can't be teached, but is naturally intuitive. 15. ricky pettard - looks a footballer. tough, courageous, thinks before he disposes of it instead of simply blazing away, works hard off the ball to be a further option, and can clamp down on his man. should replace ward/brown/bell as the running hbf of choice for the rest of his time at the mfc. 16. travis johnstone - lazy, ineffective, and can't cope with a tag. looks frustrated as he doesn't have support from teammates or umpires with constant scragging, but doesn't look bothered enough to try and run to the next contest. 17. chris johnson - has no awareness at this level. he tries really hard and his disposal is quite clean, but dithers with the ball. 20. colin garland - should not have been playing, ideally. he's a long way off being afl-ready, but should continue to get a taste of senior action while there's no other options with neitz and robbo out. 21. daniel bell - personally, i'd be happy if he never played for the mfc ever again. has no lateral movement, dithers with the pill, disposal is shoddy, runs hard and works hard but should never be a starting 18 player. could go home to adelaide and play a role similar to torney - coming on and off the bench to do a pinch-hitting role every now and then. not up to it. 22. brent moloney - tries ever so hard, but how much longer can he keep playing for? runs up and down on the spot after half time - clearly his groin is knackered. off to the glue factory, i'm afraid. 23. james mcdonald - what a trier. but like bruce and trapper is another who seems to have lost muscle in the upper body - can't stick his tackles like last year. never stops trying though. 25. nathan brown - see bell, minus the adelaide connection. 27. jared rivers - gee he's good. reads the play, disposes of the ball cleanly, works hard off it to provide an option. we'd be in an awful spot of bother defensively if we lost him. 30. simon godfrey - didn't get within coo-ee of goodes until he injured himself, and even then the man with one arm still played better than him. having godders in the starting 18 sums up the position the mfc is in at the moment; rooted to the bottom of the ladder. 32. cam bruce - i just can't understand why his body shape has changed so much. it isn't as noticeable watching on the tv, but he looks like a twig. he really tries, but gets brushed off the ball, and his disposal is poor. 33. byron pickett - fat and ineffectual. provided the occasional bit of run and sometimes a nice tackle, but at other times looks completely disinterested. wouldn't be surprised if he pulled the plug on his afl career at the end of the year, unless he really is broke and needs the cash. 34. jeff white - effort, effort, effort, but too small to play ruck these days and not strong enough to go forward. still, without him i doubt we'd win a single take-away from around the bounce of the ball. 36. aaron davey - so pleasing to see him provide some genuine dash. worked hard, laid a couple of stellar tackles, and looked interested in getting the football again (unlike the first few rounds when he was more interesting in chatting to the umpires about the scragging he was receiving). 40. mark jamar - ineffectual, at best. barely won a tap, barely got the ball. can't kick. can't position his body in the marking contest. 41. nathan carroll - i thought he was okay on hall, who was the go-to guy in sydney's forward line. provided rebound, and did his job defensively too. i think we're in huge trouble for the rest of the year. we have far too many players who simply look like they can't be bothered, and others who try hard but are simply not up to it. oh, and the coaching? the match-ups in the first quarter were abysmal. miller couldn't get near hall, and trying to play johnstone as a forward to lose the tag is a ridiculous move - it essentially concedes defeat in the middle before you've even started the game.

he didn't tell neale to go and get stuffed when asked to shift from midfield to the forward line in the second quarter. he spent most of the rest of the game up forward - where he had no effect whatsoever on the play. our midfield rotations make no sense. when hawthorn were coming back in the second junior and jones were both sitting on the pine. crazy. we look very, very slow.

I too would doubt whether Pickett, Moloney, and potentially McLean will have the fitness base for a round 1 team. I think the latter will probably play regardless, but the other 2 might have to prove themselves at Sandy first. Holland should definitely be in as St. Kilda are so tall - but it's possible they might go for Ferguson. I'd go for Holland as he's just that much bigger. I think bizzell will be included as he offers some versatility btw being a tall and a mid-sized player in the backline I think trav will start on the bench; he usually does. Until he can play 4 quarters as well as he plays 2-3 he'll never be more than a "very good" player. Hopefully 2007 is that year. Dunn gets first crack at CHF. My personal belief is that Miller doesn't suit our game style that well any more, particularly not on the mcg. plus dunn can actually kicks goals. Frawley will just miss a chance to debut, presuming the likes of pickett and moloney aren't fit to come up. he looked promising against Hawthorn, but Chris Johnson MUST play, and i think Yze will hold his position in the senior side (for now), so Chip just misses out. Jamar will get first crack at the ruck tandem position, but I'd hope that the more mobile Paul Johnson can replace him before mid-year. Ward over Brown for mine. Both spray the ball around, but Ward runs slightly faster and hits slightly harder. B: Matthew Whelan (45) Nathan Carroll (41) Ben Holland (4) HB: Daniel Bell (21) Jared Rivers (27) Clint Bizzell (3) C: Nathan Jones (2) Brock McLean (5) Brad Green (18) HF: Matthew Bate (6) Lynden Dunn (14) Chris Johnson (17) F: Russell Robertson (24) David Neitz, Capt. (9) Aaron Davey (36) Foll: Jeff White (34) Cameron Bruce (32) James McDonald (23) I/C: Daniel Ward (10) Adem Yze (13) Travis Johnstone (16) Mark Jamar (40) Emerg: Brad Miller (7) Chip Frawley (8) Ryan Ferguson (35)

it wasn't too bad; it wasn't too brilliant. we clearly didn't look as 'ready' as they were, but when we were actually appearing to be bothered (second quarter, mostly), we looked pretty good. for mine, here's how i saw the players: 1. simon buckley - looks the goods. has genuine pace, can win the ball, and deliver it nicely. 2. nathan jones - clearly ran out of puff, but is superb in the clinches. doesn't chase much though, does he? must improve the defensive part of his game. 3. clint bizzell - looked terrible. i had high hopes he'd return to (near) his 2002 best in 2007, but he really does look 5 years away from it. perhaps he was just rusty having essentially had a year off injured in 2006, but he just didn't read the game as he used to do. 6. matthew bate - his ability to break through tackles is super impressive. strong over the ball, silky mover, seems to have all the goods. now he needs to find consistency. 7. brad miller - stick a fork in him. he's done as an afl footballer. couldn't mark on the lead under any pressure whatsoever, kicks go up and under, and he runs to the wrong spots when deep in the forward line. it was no coincidence that we dominated the game when he was off the group. 8. james frawley - has the strangest kicking action i've seen. it seems to work, and his endeavour looks good. would be surprised to see him play in the seniors unless there's a rash of injuries - touch wood! - but he's definitely one for the futre. 9. david neitz - for such a big bugger, and an old man, he's superb at ground level. looks fit and firing. 10. daniel ward - provides great run, but only runs one way. no real accountability. i agree completely with those who say we can only have one of ward or brown in the side. for mine, it's ward. he's tougher. 11. paul johnson - clearly the better ruckman for mine, as he can work with the ball around the ground. he won his share of taps, but only took 1 mark (uncontested at that). 13. adem yze - those writing him off based on this game do a disservice to adem's proud history of representing the mfc. he has his limitations it's true, but he looked good early and put his body over the ball on the hf flank and got crunched in the back. looked extremely ginger thereafter. 14. lynden dunn - yep, love him. this is what a chf looks like - ability to create something out of nothing (cf. the soccer goal), can lead up and mark the ball, a good kick, a smooth mover. leave him at chf and fughedabout miller. 17. chris johnson - definitely his best game in the mfc guernsey. he played clever football, moving to the right spaces, worked hard without the ball, and used it well when he had it. the dilemma is where he plays - he's a flank player, and can flit btw hbf, wing, and hff, but ideally you want him to settle in one or the other. has time on his side. 18. brad green - his kicking was superb. he's a clear leader on the field too. great to see him looking to be back to his best. 21. daniel bell - his lateral movement and recovery when the ball hits the turf after the first contest are a worry, but e's tough as nails, constantly tries to do his best, and disposes of the ball neatly when he's not dithering over what to do with it. 23. james mcdonald - blew the cobwebs out, laid a few excellent tackles. 24. russell robertson - was a pleasure to see him being able to move freely. he's such a tireless team-man, and will be vital to the mfc having a good 2007. super dangerous whenever the ball comes in deep. 25. nathan brown - see daniel ward, minus the aggression. 27. jared rivers - looked as rusty as the proverbial gate, but still read the play nicely. 30. simon godfrey - slower than the ox at his chunkiest, takes too long to dispose of the ball, doesn't stick to his man as a tagger should, and will hopefully not play for us all year. 32. cameron bruce - wasted disposals, but got plenty of the ball. virtually all were receives though. 37. matthew warnock - how a defender can be beaten by a one-sided forward i do not know. get on his left-hand side fer chrissakes! poor awareness, but i do like his endeavour and application. 38. daniel hughes - one-sided. moves well, but strictly a receiver. still, you need to have a couple in every side, and seeing as ours are 'veterans' these days, he's probably worth keeping an eye on. 40. mark jamar - oh good grief. big, lumbering, and can't use the football. will win his fair share of taps, but sent most of em to hodge, mitchell, and crawford. 41. nathan carroll - see rivers. all in all, i think it was a reasonable first-up hit-out. most important thing: no (serious) injuries! oh, and davey is going to love the 'no hands in the back' rule. the amount of spills it creates at contests means he'll rove the packs all around the ground better than most. tj too.

every time whelan goes down injured we lose all drive out of the backline. he's the best ball carrier in our back half by a country mile.

moo kowal. for mine, still the worst player to play 100 games in the red and blue. had pace...shame he couldn't kick, mark, or handball. sean charles and brent heaver both debuted by kicking 5 against carlton...who recruited both of em after they'd given us service. paul prymke was shaping up as one of the best fb's of his generation, only to be cruelled by a bad back. we picked up a lot of duds from sa - sampson, ormond-allen, nick pesch, et al. balme had a soft spot for his fellow croweaters.