RalphiusMaximus

Random thought. My Umpiring stuff-up of the day would have to be the non-call when Tommy ran down Trengove on the wing. Trengove ran the ball out of defence, got caught on the wing, dropped it in the tackle. Both players turned and looked at the umpire waiting for the HTB decision. When the umpire did nothing, Trengove picked up the ball and ran off again. I don't think anyone could believe that one, including Trengove.

Aside from making a few too many poor decisions, I noticed that certain players just went away in the last. Did Watts get a touch in that quarter? Bail? THey were a big part of us dominating in the middle 3/4 of the match, but at the end when we really needed someone to stand up there was no sign of them. Still, as Dermie said, we are being killed by silly turnovers and bad decisions, and that is a lot easier to rectify than if we just couldn't get our hands on the ball or were being cut to pieces by their run. This is just a matter of getting our players to stop doing stupid [censored]. Once we get that we're a 30-40 point better side.

6 - Dunn 5 - Jetta 4 - Tyson 3 - Pedersen 2 - Vince 1 - N. Jones

It's still the same things that are hurting us. We give up silly turnovers and when we take it forward we don't kick to anyone, we just kick it into the 50 and hope for the best. I thought the last quarter was pretty terrible, although we did have the first five scoring shots for a total of one goal. Imagine if we'd kicked straight and had a 20 point lead to defend. But from then on we were shite and they just dictated play to us. You still have to say we did ok to get that close I guess.

I think the instruction from the bench was "a minute to go, just hold the ball and don't concede" as opposed to "a minute to go, see if you can get a last minute goal and be even at half time."

Grimes is another one who is better when he doesn't have time to think. His instinctive play is generally very good, but if he gets a bit of space and sums up his options he will often take the wrong one and/or miss his target. If we can get him to just get the ball and move it on instantly without thinking about it then he'll be a better player.

To be fair, Salem still has work to do, especially some of his defensive positioning and running, but geez he looks amazing when he has the ball.

My God Salem has some class! I just had to throw that in. That was an absurdly good pass. I can't believe how well some of our lads are playing today. Jetta is having a day out, Salem has had a few moments of brilliance, Jone, Jones and Tyson are great through the middle, Pedo is continuing to show class that none of us thought he had and Bail is leading the goalkicking. We could easily have had the lead at half time but for a couple of lapses (Grimes take a bow if you please). Can we keep this up?

Yeah, it would have been nice wouldn't it?

Ablett clearly played for the free. He assumed a completely unnatural posture to ensure his head was hit. It should have been play on.

Apparently Jeremy Cameron is thinking about a move. Might be worth a look or three? Article.

Are people seriously complaining about him saying what most of us on this forum have said? We have too many guys who were picked for specific attributes favoured by the coach of the day who aren't good footballers. That is absolutely true. We have a bunch of full time professionals who don't match up against guys who have to fit their football in around their day jobs. That is also true. He gives credit where it is due, but he is also willing to tell them when they are not performing. I don't have a problem with any of it. These guys need to know that they aren't working hard enough.

Anything is possible, but I would say it's a very long shot.

I was thinking about doing something similar, but I just can't fit it in. Hope you have a great time up there.

To be fair to him, I may well have taken the money in his situation as well, as would many I suspect. It's more than he should probably earn in his entire career for one contract that will see him through to the latter half of his career. He will have the opportunity to seek another club should he wish after that. My objection is more the manner in which he left rather than the fact of his departure. If he had stood up before the club and said "They're offering me an entire career's worth of salary to play until my mid-20's. It will set me up for life. I simply can't turn that down." Well, I'd have been annoyed, but he would have at least some respect for having the courage and integrity to be open about it. Lying to the entire club, including our cancer-struck president when he and his father had already agreed to terms and then carrying on that farce of being convinced by a weekend visit and blown away by their facilities and making a snap decision when he'd been going on for a year about taking his time. That is why so many of us despise the little [censored]. Dishonest and lacking in courage and integrity.

I think a lot depends on Mr J. Frawley. If he decides to make a change then we'll need to go hunting for another key back with swing potential. We could then be targeting Goddard over Brayshaw in the draft, and we'd probably have access to both with a fairly early pick (assuming that we have a terrible back half to the season causing Frawley to leave). I can't see us recruiting a suitable replacement, so it would have to be through the draft. Daniel Talia maybe? Not sold on him but he could be gettable as a more mature alternative. I would love to see us make a big play for Treloar from GWS. He looks like he could win a brownlow in a decent team, but he's wasting his time up there in the Great Wast of Space. Dangermouse of course. If he gives even a hint of wanting to leave Adelaide every club in Victoria will go after him. I don't think he will leave them, but if he does he'll be getting offers of a million plus I suspect. I also have a suspicion that Kieran Harper could be up for grabs. He's struggling at North and I know a lot of people really rated him in his draft year. Could be a reasonably cheap trade for a young HF/mid. He's a good size and would fit in with the Roos theme of solid, good-sized players who can run in the midfield and kick goals. I wouldn't mind us having a look at Chris Cain as well, although I suspect he's now a little past the age we're going to be looking for. Ben Brown could also be worth a look as well. Similar to Max King, possibly a bit more advanced. He's 2m tall and moves really well. Would need to learn to impose himself in the air a bit more to play as forward/ruck, which is about what he's doing for Werribee at the moment. I don't see us chasing more veterans at this point. Byrnes will retire, we'll still have Cross and Vince as senior players, so that base is covered for the moment. I know there is talk about Mundy, but I don't really think we'll go there. It's a short-term solution and he'd be better value in an established team.

That's pretty poor. As for the making a play for Frawley, not a chance. He'll either stay on or go somewhere where he will see success and a chance at a premiership. I'll back the Hawks as the most likely to land him if he decides to go.

Interesting to see Peninsula turning out some decent players. First Lachie Whitfield and now Lovett. I think the last AFL player they had was Stewie Lowe.

I'd love to get Junior back to the club as a coach. Surely with everyone involved in his sacking now gone he'd consider us again?

I would say they swapped Dawes for Lynch who they brought in to play the same role. Sure, the picks don't align, but that's what they did. Hasn't exactly been a great move so far for them.

I think there are a few non FA's out there who are worth a look as well. Kieran Harper was pretty highly rated by a few on here in his draft year and right now he's not getting a look in at North. He could be worth a trade for the right price. If we could shake loose either Treloar or Shiel from GWS that would be a win but I can't see it happening.

I can't vouch for the accuracy, and I hope their predictions are waaaaaay off the mark, but here's a list. http://www.footyjunkie.com.au/lists/2014-afl-free-agent-list/

I'm very happy with the direction at the moment. There has been a marked change in the comments coming from players in the last month or two which gives me real hope. The list still needs work. We are seeing that more and more with the guys at Casey. The brutal honesty of the most recent VFL review was very revealing in that respect and shows that while we have capable players waiting in the wings, they are lacking in the crucial "non-negotiable" areas that are becoming more and more a focus at the club. Beyond that, there is a crucial lack of class in the senior 22 which is hurting us badly and needs to be addressed before we will be contending for finals.

I have no problem with it. In past years we have often complained that the reviews were all fluff and no substance. This time we're getting an honest assessment of the players, what they did well and what they failed to do. I'll take that every time. I'm pretty sure the players are all grown up enough to handle it.

I loved it. As you said, he was brutal. He's put it pretty clearly exactly what they are looking for from each of the players and who is improving in those areas. I'm really looking forward to the next one to see if he continues like this. If so, it will be very interesting to see who improves their standing with him over the next month or two.