Dappa Dan

Who's the one person who voted Melbourne? Tell us what you're thinking!!!

Yup. Agree with the rest of the paragraph too. We have an ok starting 6 in defence Frawley and Garland and one of Rivers and Warnock cover talls. Grimes and the ultra defensive Bartram cover smalls. But then what? Oh, and should someone get hurt we have nothing in the cupboard. I think it's why we end up seeing Bruce and particularly Green and Davey drift back there, where they CAN play but don't belong. Either that or we crowbar in average players like Joel MacDonald. Suffice to say you'd rather we had something like our small forward situation where a number of guys are competing for that running back role, which is SO important in the modern running game. Yup. I was thinking this the other day. One more tall forward option. Maybe a swing man who can go forward OR back depending on what is needed a la Lake. Green is perfect for this. I think a starting set of targets like Watts, Jurrah and Petterd is ideal. Any more on the day and we'd be too heavy down that end. We also need more in development. More on small forwards later. That's just silly. Jamar was absolutely woeful in his poorer years. He'd take one or two pack marks and miss. PJ is a different sort of player, but just insisting that he NOT be the guy to play forward smacks of prejudice. If he plays there and does ok for 30 minutes a game, then why not him? Maybe it's enough that he plays up the ground a bit more. Whatever gets Watts deep with Jurrah out of the square is worth it IMO. Didn't work so bad on the weekend. I was wondering the same thing. Got us up and about though, albeit on a tangent. And here's the rub. I think I may have mis-spoke. I guess it's not that he's wrong... some of those guys could make it. But I think if you look at 2010 in the small forwards category, it has been a failure. I don't think it's a certainty we have quality X-Factor down there at all. In fact many have frustrated. Petterd was awesome, but got hurt. Also he's been playing a lead-up role. Not really crumbing all that much. Jetta frustrates the hell out of me. Wonna is in trouble in my opinion. Maric hasn't got a game despite all the injuries. Bennell seems the most credentialed in terms of skill, but even he has had issues and been in and out of the side/heard footsteps. Jurrah isn't really a small is he? I guess you could argue he plays like one, but I think a 192+cm player has to be called a tall, especially given he provides the leads, contests and marks that cause spillages. I would put Petterd at the top of that pile (I exclude Jurrah), though I'm not sure he plays a crumbing forward role. The rest haven't made it yet IMO. I would say our KP forward crisis, ruck crisis and rebounding defender crisis are more pressing, but just having lots of small forwards isn't enough. They have to be earning their place, and I'm not as positive on them as most. I reckon the long list of names in there belies the fact we have problems in that area.

Absolutely. This is why I get VERY bored with these "INS : (insert favourite player) OUTS : (insert least favourite player who had a sufficiently bad game)" threads... Bate has been down on form, but against the Bombers he came into the game in the second half, and against Freo he got plenty of important touches, he just couldn't convert. Had he drilled all three shots, we'd be singing his praises. The forward line has had enough trouble getting on the end of the pill. Dropping Bate is only useful if there's a whole lot of KP forwards with engines screaming for a game in the VFL. As it stands, we need him. Even a poor form Bate is better than no Bate at all.

The Watts thing bothers me a little. Just because he's playing as a high half forward now, as a skinny kid, doesn't mean he'll be stuck there his whole career. Doesn't really scratch the surface, IMO. Just offers a shoot-from-the-hip diagnosis. The idea that he thinks we have good small forwards is another example of this.

But they have to, don't they? Both on a week by week basis with the nominations, and at the end of the year... It's not an ideal situation, and you wouldn't go comparing defenders to mids as a rule. But when it come to the Rising star?....

It's very easy to pick the team with the worst recent performance as the spooner. I reckon the Toigs have earned a lot of respect, but are actually a lot worse than everyone's making them out to be. They're due for a prolonged lull, so I'll pick them. That said, we're a long way from being out of the woods. Jack kicks that goal I'd be a lot more confident.

More worried about Strauss getting a couple more games actually.

You're probably going to get a hard time for that, and while I won't get stuck into you for hoping for violence, I will disagree with what you've said. I'd love him to learn from, if anyone, Brad Green who I think may have been suspended once for a VERY out of character headbutt. The hard-hitting, Johnathan Brown style intimidation is ridiculous to expect from a guy his size. Wait til he's 95-105 kegs... Then he'll be doing it in marking contests, in tackles, in bumps... and most importantly on the scoreboard. That's where it hurts the most. Would hurt to have a second big body in there. Draftee # 457036.... Luke.....

There's every reason to be excited. I think everyone is annoyed because they're not seeing the pack-marking that we all saw him do in the TAC cup. Personally I think he has that in his game, he's just under instructions at the moment, his body is underdeveloped, he's not confident enough and probably doesn't quite have the engine. I don't have anywhere near the concerns everyone else does. I've seen him lead and compete and get buffeted around. But the intent is there. He's just not big enough to be the guy who does the bumping... instead of the guy who GETS bumped. I was saying to my brother the other day that in his body, he has the frame on him to put the weight on. He stoops a bit, but he's got the size to be able to add the muscle. Not chronically skinny like Morton. I think with 6 games to go, barring disaster, he'll have the preseason we all want him to have, and THAT will be the thing that makes him a player to watch out for in 2011, and a force in the AFL in 2012. He's ticking all the boxes you want him to tick at the moment. He's learning, he's not so arrogant that he's getting ahead of himself, he's working for four quarters, he's starting to run with the ball, dispose of it to the right option, run far and wide to get the pill a la Riewoldt. If he works as hard as Nick, or even slightly less hard, I think he has the potential to be the preferred player between the two as he can kick absolutely beautifully. The 14 year old kid in me wants him to be nominated, and to have some praise heaped on him, and for him to get some profile like Nicnat. But if you gave me the choice between what he's done so far, and a single 4-6 goal game... I'd take the former every time. On a slow-burn style improvement is Jack. Am starting to trust him with the pill.

Nothing erratic about our first quarters. We're probably the most consistent in the AFL. Consistently awful. :D

Is that kind of a lot? It was late but not THAT late, surely. Means he'll miss the dees game which is something I guess.

I love the big man, but PJ I think may be the reason we lose against the Swans. I'm relatively happy with our setup against theirs. But Mummy is the 3rd best ruckman in the comp at this stage, and I have a feeling when PJ goes in the middle, we're going to get smashed.

Um. Nope. Not unhappy with hands off to Davey. His kicks usually hurt the opposition. I reckon they'd be thrilled to see someone like Rivers bombing a 50 metre hospital instead of handing it off to Davey who does way more damage. He may look like he's having trouble, or being awkward. But the end result is almost always impressive.

Yeah, see... that's where I just can't see the logic. Up until the start of last round, LeCras had kicked 2 more goals than Green. Then he comes out and kicks 12. Putting him, now, 13 ahead of Green. You'll find that LeCras' season has been just as consistent. What you're saying is, in effect, let's punish LeCras for having a great game. What if Green had had the same season as LeCras, playing just as a forward and coming out and kicking 12. You'd be screaming for an AA gurnsey, and rightly so. What Mark hasn't done is picked up as many touches/marks/kicks and all that because he's not been given free reign to go all over the ground. He's a stay-at-home forward/forward pocket. But that's not his fault, is it? A small forward like him, playing in a disgraceful wooden spooner side... And he's 3rd in the Coleman at the moment. He's ahead of Green for AA at this stage. It's as simple as that. And that's ok. I can live with a player taking over Green because he kicked 12 in a game. Hell... I think even Green would say "Jesus.... 12 goals? No shame in losing out to that guy. I know I'll never kick 12 in a game. I'd be happy with half that." For what it's worth, I think Green deserves a spot too. If it were me, I'd give them both a position ahead of Milne, who is a stay-at-home forward, playing in a top-2 side, and has kicked one more goal than Green. Best small forward ever? Not even the best small forward this year... And Stevie J. has been patchy (and is injured/suspended/on Mars). Those four guys are the only smalls in the first 14 in the Coleman race at the moment, with Betts being the 15th. So for mine: LeCras > Green > Milne > Stevie J. >>>>>> Betts/Didak/Walker/Thomas. Didak could trouble the selectors, just because he's, you know... Didak. And he plays for the Pies. They might be keen to fit in a few borderline ones just to make sure the side has some black and white, particularly if they end up where they are on the ladder come the end of round 22.

Shocker. :D I think it'll be Dunn. The Pav is a similar player in that he gets Frawley up forward and Dunn in the middle. So if he plays mostly middle, Dunn will get first crack. Doesn't mean it'll work though. McKenzie not big enough, old enough.

I always thought there was going to be a lull mid-season, then we'd come home with a wet sail. The lull has lasted a bit longer than I thought it would, largely due to our draw. I reckon we'll fix this problem by season's end. Though people won't see it that way. Every sow start we have for the next couple of years will be attributed to Bailey.

STOP YELLING!!

I'd take Hardwick before Malthouse. But I'd take Bailey before both as it stands.

I've been annoyed with him by ever increasing amounts. Last week being a good example why. But that was perhaps his best match yet, I reckon. He did everything but finish I think. He's just starting to show the embryonic stages of a player who isn't afraid to just say "This is my ball, everyone outta the way!" Still a long way to go of course, but well done big Jack. Stay the course.

Nothing against you particularly, d me... But F%#K me I'm sick of these stupid threads/posts! We lost those games. We didn't win. There IS no "if we only..." EVERY team has a few close ones. You don't play 22 games in a year, have maybe 6-8 of them be close ones, and WIN EVERY ONE! You always break even, or maybe get a bit a head, or a bit behind. This year we've had Pies X2, Port, Dogs, The Freo one... and you could argue the win against the Crows was only in the last 10 minutes or so. Out of 5 games, we won 1, drew another and lost 3. That's not outrageous. Furthermore, even if we DID get up in all 5 (6), we would be hearing the OPPOSITE of this. That as good as the dees are, we won 5 of our games by less than a kick! We lost those games. MAYBE we didn't deserve to lose them, but we NEVER deserved to win them. If we did, we'd be on 9-7... What I want to see is for us to be a 5-goal-a-week better side. That way we win these ones, and start pushing the teams like the Blues and Roos harder.

Beamer off at the stage of the game he went... Subi... Good top 4 side. Lots of excuses this week.

I think you need to look up the word proof. And maybe the rest of the words in that sentence. If you're still happy with it, maybe go out and buy a book on Australian rules football.

Bruce, Bate, RIvers, Sylvia and Davey, fair enough. They are patchy at the best of times. But I won't hear that about Moloney. Even his bad games are ok. He can't do it on his own. And Green was sensational today I thought. Seemed to do more than what the stats sheet said. You can't blame him for not getting enough ball when he was playing deep forward in the first half. Both those guys deserve to be let well and truly off the hook. Both fell out of the consistency tree earlier this year and hit every branch on the way down. Aaah. You've got me there. I think what I meant was that when we got our poor decisions (which we did this game. It wasn't as bad as the Pies game, but I saw a number of just stupid calls. Scully holding the ball between his toes?), we seem to get them in close games when the game is on the line. Or in important plays that arrest momentum. The Davey Fifty. Wasn't a free kick, and was nowhere near a fifty, going by what we've seen this year. But you're right of course, we only have ourselves to blame for the loss, and I'm sure that's the way the players and Dean will look at it. Huge call, courageous call, correct call, Gary.

I liked the Morton one. Garland one might have been a touch harsh. Otherwise, having a good year Joeboy. Oh... And you know as well as I do Watts won't be nominated. Liked his game, except the kicking, but you know the mugs that nominate won't allow it after a loss. I think there might have been a small forward in the WC/Dons game that might pip him.

Mmmm hmmm. On the other hand, the side deserves to be 6.1.9 at this stage of the year. We've been good enough... We ARE good enough. And the fact we're only a game and a half clear of the spoon (plus percentage maybe) isn't an accurate sum up to me. I was thinking by about the 20 minute mark of the 4th that, if we assume luck is all fifty-fifty, the side deserved to win the game. Hell, once Watts marked it could have been it.