Dappa Dan

Don't know about BOG... but he certainly likes those open expanses and enjoyed a nice change in luck. Now that he's done his Miller-like good game for the season, it'll be interesting to see what a bit of confidence will do for him. All the "Johnson WILL be delisted at the end of the year" (not might be) might be a little concerned.

No-one on our side cost us the game. Bruce's first half was diabolical but was ok after that. Bate was ok... not nearly as bad as people will make out. And despite a few poor choices and some bad kicking, I thought that was one of Watts' better outings. Umpires are an embarrassment to the game and have cost us at least 3 wins this season. We got ALL our good umpiring luck last week.

Was at the game last night, don't ask me why. Was weird. Just weird watching one guy dismantle a whole team from the forward line. Essendon's defence were... there are just no words. He kicked another 38 this year. And kicking 12 in a game HELPS constitute AA selection. What you're saying is, "Mark, you kicked 12 in the best return for a forward in 10 years, but we prefer to see a guy kick 3-4 a week." Anyway, with a bit of luck Green, LeCras, Riewoldt and a few others will push Milne out. Probably won't happen, but I can dream.

Jekyl and Hyde disposal is due to strong long kicks, weak chips kicks. According to Gotch. Rings true to me. His inability to go into packs is a problem, but I think a large part of that is that he has an idea that HE should be the one to end up with the ball, or running free to play to his strengths. Not that I'm saying it's a good thing, but I think he's either TOLD to play a receiver's role, or he's developed this as a rule when approaching stoppages.

You forgot the "Gary" at the end of that...

Cheney and Trengove out... Bench will be PJ, Morton, Bail and JMac. Emergencies: Cheney, Warnock and Maric. Wonder who will make the trip?

No. Junior should be captain. Should be match-day captain? Yes. But that's on rotation probably until Junior gets back, might be his turn this week. Should be captain next year? If Junior retires, maybe, but it's not 2011.

Yep. Just as we all say Trenners, he's dropped. Bugger. That's going to hurt us on Sunday too. Hannebery for mine if Trengove doesn't come back and pick up where he left off.

Yeah, the Barlow/Pods thing is amazing, but let's not forget Aaron Edwards kicked 100 in the VFL and ended up at the Roos during a period that they made some finals, but he's just another player. You could argue a list-clogger.

Can't believe people put Hannebery in front of Trengove. Trengove ahead, then Hannebery, then Rockliff. Bastinac and flavour of the month Stratton to raffle 4th and 5th. The last 7 rounds are going to play a HUGE part in it though.

That's pretty special. Pretty amazing too considering we couldn't buy a win lately.

Yeah, was a sad moment, especially when he got everyone to sing the club song for him. Gee that's confronting news. Peter, of course, didn't look well... but you could see the light in his eyes when Jimma quietened the room for him.

Is Paul Wheatley employed by the club in any capacity? He was at the game on the weekend, dressed in what looked pretty much the same as the players' suits worn by Juice, Hughes, Miller etc who were also viewing. He even came down the same set of stairs into the rooms the current players did. Confused me a bit. But anyway, he was there.

There was a great post years back on bigfooty that quantified accurately the difference between the words legend champion star etc... from memory it went something like... Legend > Champion > Star > Gun - Legend is something you use for retired players who reached that immortal status. EJ, Barassi... Basically the Hall of fame legends. No-one uses this word to describe current day players anyway. I think Robbie is a hall of famer isn't he? - Champion is the top of the tree. Only a dozen or so players can occupy this spot that are currently playing. Voss, Hird, Harvey etc would be considered Champions. Someone like Neitz would be considered a champion OF HIS CLUB. But not of the AFL. In his period of dominance I remember Walls wrote an article about the "Great Eight," that contained players like Archer, Harvey, Hird... Maybe Richo. Neitz was in the article, so it shows how high the term Champion is. Of current day players... Off the top of my head Riewoldt, Ablett, Brown maybe. There'd be a few others I can't think of. Goodes certainly a few years ago. Judd obviously, and Cousins of 3-5 years ago. I remember Lyon was considered, from a very early age, to be a born champion. - Star is reserved for a player who is in the top few in his team. One that coaches go in to a game and plan around. They regularly dominate games and are rarely beaten. But usually for one or two defects they are a notch down from Champion. Brent Harvey for example, a great player, longevity, rarely beaten, but has a reputation as a diver. Leon Davis is another. Brilliant player, has the skill to turn a game on its head in 5 minutes. Useless in finals = NOT a champion. - Gun I reckon is something people use for younger players who haven't yet got the runs on the board. Or for players who have waxed and waned. Ones who have the ability to win a game all on their own, but haven't got the consistency. Sylvia would be a good example here. Fev used to be a star, but now I reckon he's floating back into this area. This is very nitpicky, and I'm paraphrasing of course, but the post helped me to figure out once and for all why posters on there got so antsy when someone would come on calling their player a "Champion."

HA! Yeah... Pretty much. Interestingly... I wander down to bigfooty midweek sometimes, at maybe after a big win to watch the opposition fans panic... This week though, there's the weekly All Australian thread... A great number of them had Grimes in their squads. Along with Frawley, Jamar, Green and in some cases even JMac. That's a lot of numbers I reckon, considering it's only 40 or so. I think about 50% had Jamar on the bench, but what surprised me, the vast majority... probably 90-95% had Green not only in the side, but in the forward pocket or flank? 'Landers have been pessimistic... and the Robbo thing has taught us to be exactly that. But it's interesting. I wonder what Green would have to do to be assured of a spot. Top 8 in the Coleman? Top 6? Top ten for marks? How many goals exactly? Who can pip him? I must admit once I had a close look at the squad, I actually found it hard to find someone that deserved his spot more than him. Weird experience.

2) I thought the opposite. At the ground all I saw was a couple of dropped marks and a couple of times he was run down with the ball. In the replay I saw him set up Bruce for his lovely running goal by drawing the two tacklers then shooting off the handball. He also kicked beautifully to leads a couple of times, along with a couple of other lovely handballs. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't a good game, but geez he did a lot better than his other two outings this year. 3) Inside Footy game Garland an "8" Along with Green, Sylvia and a couple of others from memory. Interesting. I thought it was more of a six, maaaaybe a 7 at the outside.

The more I think about it, the more I reckon having 1 good KP forward plus one or two ok ones that come in and out of the side (Watts, then Bate/Jurrah whoever), is actually the way modern sides seem to compete. A goal from a small forward is worth as many point as a goal from a tall, and it's not as if KP players are kicking bags of 7 and 8 regularly. A good game from a small forward is 4 goals, and that's not massively different from a good game from a tall. I reckon as long as the players we get CAN mark, can contest, can run and tackle back the other way, and most importantly can kick straight, then I reckon a forward line full of Petterd/Green/Sylvia/Jurrah/Wonna/Bennell type players can actually do a lot of damage. Everyone likes the twin towers thing... but I'm happy enough of the players we have there are just reliable. The defence and midfield is where we have the real class anyway.

Yeah, naah I don't like that. I reckon it's ok if they wait for one to evolve naturally, I guess like the demons did going from, was it the Redlegs or Fuschias or something, to the demons based on a legendary coach's team address. But to never have one? Meh...

I love a sunburnt country... I would be pretty bored with it if I was a fan. Nothing at all wrong with Sharks. I like the idea of a mascot to instill fear. But hey, whatever.

It's just the reputation he has with his kicking that worries me. You want a forward to go the distance, he has to be able to kick the thing straight. This board was pumped about a player like Martin playing forward, now he's nowhere to be seen. I can't help but feel if he could kick straight he'd have been forgiven a lot more of his foibles. But then, of course, he'd not have dropped to the PSD. Neither would Fitzy have dropped to the 50s.

Wouldn't you have learned by now just to scroll over anything with the angry little cartoon demon? :D Sorry to hijack the Wonna thread.

Anyone remember the year Robbo was 2nd or 3rd in the Coleman or something? And he was denied an AA spot? Get used to it. I'm not THAT worried. Within most clubs it's considered a very Mickey Mouse award... or so I'm led to believe.

Speaking of fooling the umpires... Did anyone see that tool Mark Robinson decided that Jack Watts dived for his free kick, the one that got him his goal? I don't know about anyone else. But I'm unusually and unreasonably [censored] at that slobbering mass of meat pies...

My brother and mates saw him in the rooms after the game on the weekend. Fair dinkum, that guy is carved out of stone. You wouldn't envy opposition football clubs having that bearing down on you at pace... You know it's going to hurt and you know it's going to stick.

I think if you asked him now, he'd probably say Jamar has benefitted from the same regime. Mark has found an engine and ability to make contests he never had before. I actually reckon he's not as confident as he could be. If he were to get to the stage where he could hit packs at full pace and burst free with the ball at every opportunity, he could be every bit the player Ablett is. And I'm not even being hyperbolic. He has the attributes like you say... Maybe he's easier to tackle than Gary, but I reckon he can kick the ball further... :D