beelzebub

I've gone back to my 'failsafe' stance with Melb. Anything spoken or written is bullshlt.

Danelska do you really think the money is not considered ??

Its an odd thing from my cheap seats. You get someone to give you an 'edge' but we appeared to have NONE. Quite the reverse at times. Now this could also mean without him we would have been worse. ( god forbid ) or his value isnt that crash hot or...i dunno... Not sure Im seeing the benefit... I might need to get better seats !!

Thanks akum Given so many poor starts and some rather ineffectiveness during games im curious as to what his worth is. Maybe he had good input and no one listened !! Some strategies certainly failed to consider locations and weather. Certainly intriguing as to value for mine. Happy to be educated. Cheers

You lost your way Red. That's okay. Months of sun and other distractions . Then you'll be right to do it all over again

Mate I fully respect what youre on about I reckon its fair to say most here work their butt off in their jobs etc too

Devils advocate...what does he do, what has he done. How are we benefited by him staying. Im just asking Cheers

think youll find he played too many in the 1sts

What again was his expertise ?

fair to say a whole different set of circumstnace and opportunity. Dons made finals..he might be attracted by that

funny how we ( any number of people) see things differently Im the reverse here. I think fundamentally the essential players are actually here already for a decent forward line. Hogan, Jeffy ( though needs a rocket at times ) Milkshake , Hannan , Pedo McDonald T. A few lads like Weed and Johnstone to come in at some point when more capable. Harmes might improve I see the HOW we play forward ans more the thing to be bettered. We dont do thi swell..it seems rather adhock. if there IS style and plans here it's escaping this viewer. I see two areas of concern though with defence. We have no capacity to stem king tides when opposition decide to run the gauntlet of the corridor. Zones work to areas and fail down the guts ( imho ) . Also the 'rearguard press is fallible if your opponent has the capacity to back themselves going "over the top" Here you need the abilty to quickly shut down players as well as deny passage and the ball. Zoning is akin to spectator football in this respect and if caught out wrong footed by the ball flying over your head its too little too late afterwards. Here , thats us, Dees, need better tools of defence. We need the ability to teach players to identify the nature of incursion and automatically adapt. If a fwd needs manning up it needs to be done pronto.Currently we are very good at watching the other team mark a ball!! Do we have the manpower on board to do this right at the moment..Not how player X or Y might be in 25 games time...but now. No ..by my calcs we are 2 short of the ideal. We need a Lever type...we also need a REAL FB. Now this might surprise some but I reckon with another 5-7 kg and a change in role good ol Oscar could do this. It would in some fashion be a simpler if arduous role. Leave it to the Hibberds and Levers to cut off supply , intercept and set up Hunt for the reversed assault . If not Oscar..then 'someone' imported. Happy to have differing thoughts here Old oh..addendum. Some will straight away scream Watts !! I actually see him as neither a fwd or a back..Id like to see him develop as some sort of winger/come outside mid. A link man who CAN go fwd..who is excellent at disposal , is a better mark when not so quite congested in traffic and is the most reliable of any demon with a ball in front of the sticks anywhere up to 55m out. But he doesnt need to be a FWD to do this..just my opinion

If there's one thing for sure about the silly season , it'll be that trade/signing that has most uttering " well, didn't see that one coming !!"

The defence isnt tight. On good days the mids keep the ball going the right way and all is well. On days when we play teams that like to play the lines our style and capability of defence has some hope of corralling or just knocking over the line. For all the fawning over a wonderful zone tactic it is in reality just old school defending. Where we get split open and made to look as inept as the structures would provide is where oppositions have the temerity, the unmitigated gall to play the corridor. To this observer zones CAN NOT work then as there is nothing per se to protect. It becomes about the man and we don't man up. This IS why when other teams twig they can kick to a presenting fwd..or tall timber because they won't/can't be owned by our defence. Its not designed to. This is why the Levers of this game becone crucial. Theyre spoilers. They can mark when able and are good thinkers/ decision makers. Hibberd.. gem. Hard to fault. Cant do everything ( but tries ) Jetta. A rock. Almost unbeatable but gets pantsed when he has to take on someone with 300mm on him. ( But tries valiantly ) Hunt. Hot and cold rebounding/attack . When ON...wow...when not...where is he. He's young and will get better abd wiser. Fun times ahead. TMac...not a back.. as others rightly suggest DN ver 2.018 onwards Oscar Oscar Oscar. Dont think...do. Thinking is NOT your forte. Has got better. Doing some things well. Will do better with more experienced players beside him. Frosty. Exciting, but incons. Raw with potential. Floats between hero and nqr. Is really either depth or trade currency. Milkshake...see Tommy. Go forward. Might he be outside mid potential. Salem. Just needs to be FIT and WELL reallt. Be wonderful for him and us Vince...please leave it to the backs...just go annoy someone Lewis....am happy for him to drift through the back etc organising others where needed and taking those clutch moment marks. I think the defence needs rethinking. Current plan nqr !!

Ernest . I think JL has another season in him. Far from the slowest out there

Jones is actually a very poor leader on field. He plays a resilient game but seldom actually leads.

? And yet an undermanned, less experienced and younger team spanked us on Sat..

This is what I thought, until last sat.

Tbh. Im curious how Lever fits in if folk are wanting to keep the Backend as it is. I don't see how that works. Something/someone gives. Surely

There were times you could see him struggling with running..I doubt it was for the want of going. I think he started to come good only in the last two games tttt

I seriously reckon Watts was one of a handful playing with restrictive post injury bodies.

not yet..about 3-4 short of it

Im a grumpy old BA$TARD and I'm complaining right now. Also here in lies the problem to much of this narrative and it seems its the get out point for those in rifle sights. "at the beginning of the year" This is a bit like curtain 2, box1 or Door 3. We don't know really what to compare anything to. How ever if you open boxes, open doors and draw curtains you then are presented with some sort of picture of expectation. This is where we are now.. We KNOW what was there, what was on offer and what we got. Sorry Paul, not buying your mumbo jumbo . There was a very real expectation we should be in the eight right now. We aren't. If you were to revisit the same Melbourne supporter referenced and ask his thoughts now ?? We seized defeat from the jaws of successful campaign. Nothing new really.

Im not sure how far the knife will be plunged come circus time. The obvious..Harry Who...lamentably also JT Such a valiant effort. If only some of our lot had his heart, his dedication, work ethic etc Im not sure what Wagner offers really going forward so for mine his MFC must be iffy. I think it's sayonara Ben. Hes been there-abouts but ...just don't think hes what we really need at the top paddock. Hullett and White must be looking over their shoulders. Kent a major disappointment; just doesnt seem to really want it badly enough...sort of sums up the team really. Garlo...maybe he has the year as depth and numbers at Casey. Harris is a poor mans..'any number of names' Dead lucky hes got paperwork in my view. Stretch might be on a list alongside Frosty as bargaining chips. Kent might be on it to come to think of it. I reckon Vince will get ONE more year.that'd be it. He might wax between Casey and Dees though Jake will test the waters but unsure who'd offer him the #1 gig so might stay I think in the end we'll only change the list by 6-7 players . Now next year..!!

A problem with the stat quoted is it only looks at one end...i.e the disposal..the qualifier imho..is effect Now ol' Christian was far from alone in kicking it to the opposition, or a poorly thought and optioned contest..or the wrong side of a contest or to the middle of f'n nowhere..He wasn't alone in doing any of those things..I sometimes wonder if we don't have training drills in this because we've bloody brilliant at it

Needs much tinkering ..it does