RalphiusMaximus

On the bright side only 8 frees for the half. There probably should have been a few more paid to us and there were a couple of shocking HTB's paid to them, but it could be a lot worse.

So, we're in touch at half time, which hasn't happened a lot in recent years. We've seen some interesting umpiring, including yet another "Salem picked up the ball" decision and a HTB against Watts when he handpassed it. Our defence is keeping us in this game without a doubt. Especially the 4th eighth of the game when Collingwood were dominating and only got one goal from it. Dunn is fighting hard against Cloke but as their midfield gets on top it's getting harder. I don't hold a lot of hope of our key forwards scoring goals, so the flankers and mids need to step up and take the slack. Frost and Keith are going to be very hard to take marks on in range of goal. All in all 3/4 of that half we've been really good, and when we let them off the leash we limited the damage.

We're getting quite a lot of respect from the TV commentary crew on 7. Good to see that they're finally acknowledging the improvement.

You have to work, not on ly on a public holiday, but on THIS public holiday? I think you need a new job.

Was Georgiou playing as a key defender? That would account for a lot of the difference. He's not really big enough or quick enough for that role but with Davis out it might have been dropped on him.

Jordie is probably next in line for a senior call-up at the moment. He's been getting heaps of ball at Casey and the reports from those games say he's doing well in improving his weaknesses. Add to that his ownership of the coaches award for the past few years and he looks pretty likely. Coaches love him because of his work ethic and willingness to take instruction. The above applies also to those who think he will be de-listed. Not a chance. As I said, coaches love him. I've also pointed out in another thread that Cross is currently doing Jordie's job in the senior side, but he's only here for a couple of years. If Jordie can get his disposal up to Cross' level then he'll be set. He doesn't have to be as good a kick as Watts or Salem, just reliable with his disposal to go along with his high workrate and ability to get his hands on the ball and negate an opponent.

They only have to beat us and one other. Netherlands and Chile will be a great match.

They're trying to get Jordie to work on his offensive game. There was an article earlier in the year where they talked about him improving his ability to hurt the opposition, not just negate an opponent. He's now showing that he has the ability to win a lot of ball in the middle, but there is still a question over whether he can use it well when he gets it. If he can get that aspect of his game sorted then he will be in the team for a long time. Right now Cross is playing the negating role in the side. If Jordie can get his disposal to that level he'll do fine.

Fitz could be pushing for a second ruck gig again soon with numbers like that.

I took a couple of things from that interview. Firstly, he said he still loves the game. That is a big one to me. It says that he would love to play again if he can get his body and mind right. Secondly, it sounded very much to me that he hinted a couple of times that at his worst he was thinking in terms of self-harm. I don't think any of us realised that he was in quite that dark a place.

You never know, he might have an amazing second half of the season and force his way back. It could happen. Actually, I would be thrilled if it did happen, because he has shown glimpses here and there of how good he could be. It's just a matter of actually getting there.

Manger got shafted. He was brought in to be an inside ball-winner with heaps of grunt. He came into the side and did that job exactly as advertised, and for two or three rounds he was notching up 30-odd possessions playing in the guts. Then for some reason they decided to start shifting him into other roles. We got him to win inside ball, so let's try him as a tagger. How about as a half-forward? Nope, obviously can't play so we'll drop him. He would have been fine if they'd just left him in the middle to do what he does best.

Looking at the guys on the list for this year, it looks like we'll be fairly active in the draft. You'd think at the moment that Blease, Strauss, Tapscott, and Barry are all on thin ice. Clisby seems to be doing better but can't crack a game in the seniors and Byrnes is probably retiring. Even if we keep the others, that's still five or six gone.

Scotland retired.

I think Jetta might get first crack at him.

Dawes in for someone. That's all I can see happening. So far this season Roos has shown a reluctance to make changes for changes sake and Casey's last game was pretty poor, so nobody there is really knocking the door down.

I think it's going to build the need to win. This isn't the demoralising impact of getting thrashed by ten goals a week. This is getting a sniff every week and falling a hair short. I think that being in a position to win and falling short is going to frustrate the hell out of them and sooner or later they will collectively have had enough and will throw everything they have at getting over the line against some decent opposition.

I'm not sure about the drunken part, but I did hear that he got stoned and took part in a bondage orgy after the game. He wore his studs for the whole night.

It's a position thing. He'd never get a game with us because we have a strong and settled backline. The Hawks have a number of injuries in their backline, so they bring him in because for all his flaws he is a tough competitor. He won't get a sniff if they get their injuries under control, but he's having a go while there is a spot up for grabs, so good on him.

If Frawley leaves we would need to get another tall defender into the side. I know we are playing without him back there right now, but what we have at the moment is undersized. We can't rely on Dunn and Garland to play as key defenders against 2m plus forwards. More and more we are seeing these types coming into the game and we'll need some real size down back to counter them. Realistically I think if Frawley goes we'll take the best available key defender and another mid with those two picks.

Statistically Dunn was the best 1-1 defender in the league last season.

As I said in the post-match thread, the issue Grimes has is that he panics when he has time to think about it. When he's in a tight spot and has to act without thinking he's fine. His defensive work is very good. It's when he manages to get himself a bit of breathing space and looks around at his options for a few seconds that his brain gets in the way and he tries to do something stupid. The obvious solution is to simply ban him from trying to be a playmaker. He's fine if he sticks to his guns defensively and when he has the ball in hand his options are to belt it long down the line or switch if the man is wide open. If the coach simply bans him from trying to finesse the angled pass into the corridor that will remove most of his clangers.

I've always liked Nev but I honestly thought he wouldn't make it after being dropped to Rookiedom. I'm thrilled that he's going so well now that he's bee promoted and is holding down a regular spot in the backline. He's showing courage, a bit more speed than I thought he had and some good disposal. He could be the answer to the small defender spot that's been vacant since we lost Bartram. Bail too has shown a big improvement in his disposal. He was always a running machine and a ballwinner, but the fact that he is now hurting teams on the scoreboard has made him a genuinely valuable player. I think we have to also give a nod to Jack Watts for working with him on his kicking given the results we're seeing. Totally agree here. After last year I was disgusted with the trade to bring Pedo into the club. He seemed to be an utter waste of space on our list. Now he's become a genuine threat, is consistently taking contested marks and scoring and is useful pinch-hitting in the ruck. Massive turn around for him, and I think massive congratulations to him for the obvious work he's put in to get fitter and stronger over the off-season.

You might be adding Jetta to that list soon. He's looked really good the last few games he's played. He's shut down two of the best small forwards in the game in Betts and Wingard. Someone in another thread suggested he's on track for AA, and if he keeps this up they could be right.

That has been the case every week bar one. We may not have that many wins on the board this year, but we've been in touch in every game except WC. That is a massive improvement. I think we should be thrilled to see the way we're competing this year.