Dappa Dan

Nope. Dropping him is a proactive thing. He's worse than bad at the moment. He's even getting outrun by older midfielders. When Davey isn't absolutely at his top-pace he's a liability. He and Trav are supposed to be stars of the competition, and you'd be hard pressed to find 2 players who've played worse in the opening 2 rounds. They won't be dropped because A - Inuries, B - So many weak players, and C - Not enough other options to come back in. If the situation weren't so dire, he could really use a couple of weeks at Sandy to find some touch. It's COMPLETELY deserted him at the moment.

That's not true. The list os ok, there's certainly more than our fair share of young guys coming through, but it's still such a long way from looking like a premiership threat. Last year after round 3 I remember everyone was in one camp or the other. Either you thought we could still threaten, or you thought we were playing for Gibbs. The truth was that even if we won 11 of the next 12 we'd still not win a flag. And that was the truth. So what if we're 8-3? If the dees are capable of bringing just 1 quarter of that crap against Freo or WC at Subi or the Swans ANYWHERE we wouldn't get within 10 goals. The Hawks tried to hand us that game all day with their shots on goal. The list is good, but some of the best bits are about to go the the big football pitch in the sky, and the rest aren't a full side. You can have 3 Brocks in the middle, it won't matter without a Neitz to kick it to. Oh, and Freo are missing Johnson and Farmer something shocking. Tarrant and Pavlich are doing it all alone. When those guys get back, and they're as fit as a fiddle, Freo will start DESTROYING sides.

If only Juice had had the ripper he was due against the cats he'd be the guy we'd look to. With his skill set, he's the kind of player that is capable of kicking 4 in a quarter, especially given he'd get the 3rd worst defender.

On SEN he said something that fair dinkum nearly made me crash. The question was something along the lines of "What do you tell your players to do now?" His answer.. "Just shrug your shoulders and get on with the next one." What a joke. We all know it, but won't say it. It's not a case of Daniher "may" be gone. He has already made the decision, and is coaching to maintain his reputation. This is not the words of a coach who is DESPERATE to save his job. He couldn't give a stuff, he's no longer bleeding for the club, how can you expect the players to do the same? At least that's the way I see it.

Didn't seem to worry him last year...

?

Sorry. I meant to say a match where BOTH the names Yze and Stynes were nowhere to be seen. Should be in the 80s at some time.

You should look up the last time either of the names Stynes or Yze WEREN'T on the team sheet.

Agreed. Nice Avatar by the way.

Yeah, see... Naaah. If you're VERY young, you have had less opportunity to see and learn, and most important EXPERIENCE football in all it's facets. You're absolutely right that being young is no limit to your knowledge (the sharpest football theorist I know is only 22-odd, startling intellect), but when you're generalising over the space of 1000 posters, there is a correlation between age and experience. I do see your point though, and it is well made.

Couldn't disagree more about that brey. I thought Valenti was heading for BOG, and was playing sensational hard footy at about half time. Unfortunately he was one of the ones who went missing in the third quarter and even in the last at times. Yes he drifted out of the game but I don't know whether he stopped putting his body in.

Ditto.

- Hopefully Danny Hughes finds himslef promoted soon. I don't like seeing our good rookies in the reserve's reservess, though I understand he was coming back from injury. - That's pretty good news about Roughead not playing on Monday. Holland was dropped, and I thought that was brash considering their talls, Croad, Franklin, Roughead etc. But Roughie looked dangerous in the NAB cup, if inaccurate. It'll work well for us that neither are playing as Roughead - Holland was a win for them.

Roughead not playing = no Holland/Bizzell. You can bank on Godders making a beeline for Crawford.

Yeah. Oops. I can see that, reviewing my post. Didn't mean to make anything worse. As I said I'm happy with the relationships as they are. You can't let a few bad eggs spoil the bunch, and the ugliness comes up so rarely it's almost not worth mentioning...

- Wouldn't want to give him the satisfaction... - Couldn't agree more. I mostly enjoy the difference between the sites. It's actually a luxury if you think about it. However I would make the point that there ARE a few posters that don't treat it as a bit of fun. Personally, I couldn't give a stuff what the minority from 'ology or here have to say about one or the other. Creating an "us and them" mentality that's anything more than a little bit of tomfoolery is the very height of pointlessness. It's unfortunate, but posters on 'ology claim, with far more regularity, that they don't post on demonland because of perceived weaknesses in comparison to 'ology. They're told off for it, but they still like to snipe. Posters on 'land rarely make comments about the other site, and many have said they rarely cross the border simply because they don't feel welcome, or that they'll be berated for having a difference of opinion. Personally, I don't post there much because I reckon it's a bit crowded. Honestly, I don't think I'm quick enough to post anything constructive. Anything I've ever wanted to mention is usually covered, making my contributions superfluous. Also, there's a LOT of in-jokes there, which again, is understandable and should be encouraged. I like demonology, especially since the recent changes, and reckon Tim does a bang-up job, and I have quite a bit of tolerance for the grumpy old men from there. I'm only 27 years old, so I can understand that some of those guys have been waiting for a premiership for twice the amount of time I have. Under those circumstances I'm willing to forgive a little bit of "eccentricity." However I would hasten to suggest that there's nothing that brings the term "loser" to mind more than someone (who posts predominantly on one site) slinging out personal insults about the clientelle on another site. We're all following the same team, and if you attempt to suppress a demons supporter's right to follow his or her team in his own way simply because you disagree with their opinion, then you may as well hand in your membership. We have enough trouble getting numbers as it is.

What's wrong with that?!! I was happy with that. Was the comparison with Poyas the problem? Or the hair joke? I'll explain. Poyas has been a gun at this level for a few years now. Whenever I've watched Sandy he's absolutely dominated. He always looks fast, hard at it, physically dominant, can take marks usually impossible for a player of his size, and has a booming, penetrating, accurate kick. He wasn't too flash yesterday because he's coming back from injury, but the Poyas all Sandy fans know and love resembles Sylvia quite closely as a forward, at least at this level. Obviously there are differences, like Sylvia's unbelievable tackling ability, but for the most part they're fairly devastating players. Absolutely right about Newton. I saw him 4 weeks ago and he's the major reason I made the trip the next 4 weeks in a row, along with Sylvia, Byron and Ooze at various times. He didn't impose himself as much on this contest, but you still got excited when you saw his number. Has absolutely got the lot this kid, but if he doesn't get regular 4 quarter games at a true CHF spot or out of the square I'm gonna start cracking it.

It should be mentioned that according to at least one report I'd seen, Yze approached the coaching department to say that if they wanted to play him at Sandy to find some form he'd be ok with that. If true, that changes things for me.

Yeah, in terms of type, Yze is the obvious choice as he's played full games as a small defender. But given his form and the fact he played every minute of the game, you may as well sleect an under-done and injured Bartram. Bizzell unlucky, because whoever Bartram was going to play on will HAVE to be picked up by Godfrey.

- Sorry, confusion was the wrong word there. Should have written surprise. Usually I agree wholeheartedly with each and every phrase. Confused and surprised in your position, but you explain it perfectly sensibly, as always. - Haven't visited demonology lately? One of the regular posters there mentioned that if the 2 sites were to have theme songs, demonland's would be Strawberry Fields by the Beatles. If you listen to it it's pretty easy to understand what this poster is referring to. The idea is that demonology knows everything, and that demonland are a bunch of deluded teenagers. Mostly a bit of fun, but for some unnecessary. Have you not come across this in the past?

Rivers for Holland, Brown for McLean, Biz for Yze and possibly Godfrey for Bartram. Wheatley could take the place of any of those last 3. Has been playing great footy at Sandy for a short while.

He did go forward then, though. While he was in the middle, Sandy dominated, and when he went into the pocket, they faded.

So the Grand Final replay really was a grand final replay, with Sandy opening up what should have been an unassailable lead, only to trip and stumble over the line, nearly handing the game to Geelong. Sandy 23 11 149 Geelong 20 19 139 16 first-half goals was matched in the third quarter by the cats' 11. This was one of those games where the teams were evenly matched, and both sides were allowed room to play good flowing footy. The telling element on the day was the skill level. When Sandy outskilled Geelong they looked a million bucks, and in the second half when the AFL listed cats starte to come into it, the tables were turned. To go through the demon listed players without mentioning the Sandy listed players would be just plain wrong. Summers was BOG, Valenti, Sauntner and Gallagher played great games too, and went for 4 quarters, earning the win for Sandy. Of the demons... Yze probably could have dropped his head, but he played a fairly solid game, getting 20+ touches, playing mostly in the guts and delivering beautifully to teh forward-line on numerous occassions. He kicked 2 opportunistic goals too, one very important one to stem the tide. Not the best on the ground, but he more than did his fair share. Plenty of possessions in tight too, which was pleasing. I wouldn't say he shirked too many contests, but I do remember thinking he could have gone in a touch harder on 2 or 3 occassions. But not to worry. Baby steps. All this talk of him replacing Bartram is fairly doubtful. He played all 4 quarters, spending much of the second half in the forward line. If they were planning to play anyone for Bartram, you'd suggest it would be Godders, so that he can take out Crawford. Sylvia was probably the best demon on the day. Resembled Poyas with hair. All the trademarks, including a bit of pace late in the game coming tearing through the middle. Played the whole match on the ground too. Kicked 3 goals (Maybe 4?). A very Sylvia game. Can't be far away now. You'd love to have his services on Monday. He really is too good for VFL. PJ was pretty good in the ruck. Got plenty of very effective taps, and even took 2 over-head marks. In the last quarter he had one land right in his bread-basket uncontested and he spilled it which nearly led to a Cats' goal. 2 minutes later he picked up a loose ball and thumped it to Sauntner in the square who got the free and kicked the winning goal. A pretty good day for PJ which probably went a fair way to suggesting to people he has a bigger future than Jamar. Personally I expect him to play that well at Sandy every week. Buckley got a heap of it coming out of defence and was very sharp and direct with his kicking. Smart head on his shoulders in all but one play where he went for a mark he should have spoiled that nearly led to Sandy losing the game. He and Petterd (who apparently prefers the pronunciation "PettARD") were a fantastic pair, waxing to great effect at times, while going in hard and delivering beautifully. Ferguson plays this level well, but I wasn't too pleased with his delivery. He DOMINATED when the ball was on its way in, leaving his man and spoiling and marking to his hearts content. But when he got a bit of it, many of his possessions were clangers. I expect this is the way he'll always play. Garland kicked 2 early goals, and handed a later one to Sylvia. After that we barely saw him, but even on a high scoring day that's nothing to be scoffed at. Same as what we already know. He'll need time. Seems EXTREMELY mobile. Holland didn't have a bad day, but didn't have a good one either. Not a big possession winner and had a few problems in teh backline. Marked and goaled straight away in the last quarter which would have helped his confidence, but was nowhere near asking for a recall. Neaves was very quiet, but probably didn't get the game time he would have liked. Took a couple of marks I think, and didn;t make any glaring errors. Newton had a dirty day. Took the mark of the day on the wing just when he needed to in the final minutes, to stop Geelong's dominance. Gee didn't I lift then. In the first half, however, he was played on a wing and made a few errors, and a few incorrect decisions. Wasn't a liability exactly, as only 5-10 touches from him can be telling, but was a notch or two down from recent weeks. I was disappointed to see him NOT played from the forward line actually, and when he did drift forward it was all Sauntner. Petterd. I wish I could say something profound to those who haven't seen him play, but I can't think of anything better than "classy, gutsy, hard, poised" which is the same sort of thig that's been said before. He was accountable and hard-working, and has a sensational kick out of defence. Once again, he's skinny (but not a wuss) and probably will need more time, but he looks the goods. Wish I could be more profound as he played well enough for people to sing his praises. Pickett looked like he might do one or two things that might bring him into the game, but just as he'd do something good, he'd make a mistake. In the end he was benched and did VERY little in the second half. Isn't threatening for selection for my part, but then I might wait until Monday night before I stand by that. Warnock was only ok. Still has so much to learn, but his pace is wonderful. Spent a lot of time on the bench unfortunately. For the opposition Davenport and Johnson (5.5) were the dangers in the forward line. A hard earned 4 points today, but they deserved them.

Wow. Sandy have done everything imaginable to hand this game to Geelong. Unbelievable fightback from the cats though. Sandy victors by 10. Yze with a flicker of a smile on his face.

Newton goals from a 50 metre penalty. Sandy 22 11 - 143 Geelong 18 13 - 121 Sorry about that...