RalphiusMaximus

I've said it elsewhere too, but I didn't mind his attack today. He started off on the right foot going for a nice bump at the start of the game, he fought pretty hard for some ground balls. I think he's getting that bit ok.

Consider an example from today that pretty much summed up Jack's defensive game. The ball came in at a GWS forward. Jack elected to stay out of the contest and left it to SHANNON BYRNES to try to spoil. Somehow, Byrnes actually managed this. Jack then left it up to Byrnes to fight for the ball on the ground while he stood and watched. When the ball came out in GWS's favour, Jack then elected to not mark either of the two free men and instead watched as one of them was given an easy handball receive and kicked a goal. He did some good work with the ball in his hands today, but I just find his lack of defensive effort to be unforgivable.

Went hard and courageous. He didn't get that much ball, but he took some good contested marks, used his body really well and had some very nice i50s. Should have had two goals as well, but he seems to have a bad case of the yips with his set shots lately.

One thing I haven't seen mentioned yet. How good was Big Mitch running it down the wing? Three bounces then hits a target in the goalsquare. Buddy-like even. In all honesty I thought he had a better game than his stats suggested. While he didn't take too many marks forward, he wreaked havoc crashing packs and making his presence felt. He was also badly shortchanged by the umpires. Davis had his hands in his back in most marking contests and never got called on it. On the subject of Byrnes, I note that he took two kicks from the 45-50m range and never looked like missing. This is the value in recruiting a guy from a club like Geelong. Part of their professionalism is that they very rarely miss the basic set shots. None of the top teams do. Most of our team would have been 50-50 at best for those shots, but he was never in doubt. Compare that to Tappy's two missed set shots, one from right in front. If Byrnes manages to bring that one trait to our team and teach it to our young players then he will have been worth bringing in.

I was screaming at him to pull his finger out and get his ass to the ball for that one. Pathetic effort. The kick resulted in a point. TMac punched it through. Given how Setanta had smashed him one on one up to that point it was a pretty worrying moment.

6 Grimes 5 Sylvia 4 N Jones 3 Trengove 2 Garland 1 Evans Big nod to Gawn, Jamar, Howe and Byrnes. Could easily have had any of them in the top six.

Pretty sure he's had time by now. He's not a skinny kid anymore.

As I've mentioned in the Post-Match thread, I think Jacks big problem is simply playing too far off his man. He was caught out time after time giving his man room and not being able to close fast enough to save the situation. He wasn't overly soft today, went for a bump at one point (failed, but the intent was there), but he was so damn loose that his man was able to get away with murder. He has to get his head around the fact that he is defending and he has to shut his man down when we don't have the ball.

Forgot to add that there were some bewildering umpiring calls today. Does anyone know why the set shot was taken off Melbourne and given to GWS who went the length of the ground and scored? Pretty sure there was never a signal from the umps as to why they were taking the ball off us?

My first game of the year today, so I'm pretty happy with the result. Points of note to me: Gawn's big mark against two opponents in the goal square was a highlight. Jetta did some great things, including getting reported (I am a fan of a team showing a little fight). Terlich was great in the second half. Thrilled to see Evans have a good day. Likewise thrilled to see Sylvia have a good game. He was patchy, but when he was on he was really on. Watts was as bad as they say. It's not his attack on the ball or decision-making with it that bothers me but how loose he was in defence. He seems to be backing his pace to close the distance to his man if he needs it, and is getting caught out too often. He was creating goals for the opposition today.

Dank is just hitting out because he's being made a scapegoat for something that in reality involved a lot of people. He's refusing to let them sit it all on his head, and good on him for that.

I imagine he's thinking that he just had a great game, kicked four goals, had his forward partner kick three, thrashed a pretty strong side and life is good. Do you really think he gives a damn what the senior team is doing right now when he's still a year off playing in it? As for the rest, My GOD he looks impressive. There's that one photo of him leaning on his defender. He certainly isn't the one who looks too young to play AFL.

I have to agree with this. It was pretty evident the first few times we saw him that he couldn't hold his own one on one, although when the rest of the backline worked to get him free he could do some damage with his kicking. However I have noticed him working hard on this aspect of his game, and it has improved. I don't think he's anywhere near what he needs to be yet, but at least he's showing an awareness of the problem and a willingness to tackle it. I still have hope that he can get there.

We really need to get Junior back at the club in some sort of role. Midfield coach maybe?

I'm voting sexual harassment in the locker room.

Agreed. Let's hope that it's true.

I just have this odd feeling that Kent's first AFL year is mirroring his last year out west. He did everything right, played some great games, and for some reason they would never pick him for the representative sides. I will add, thank God they didn't pick him for the representative sides, otherwise we'd never have picked him up so late in the draft.

Thrilled to see Big Max in the side. He's worked really hard to get back from those injuries and kept his spirits up for over a year while he was forced to wait. Great work. I am however once again scratching my head over the omission of Kent. I would have thought this was the ideal time to give the lad a go.

The comments from Casey games seem to suggest that Kent is being left out because his defensive game needs work. I would hope that given how badly we've played the first three rounds this would not be enough to keep such a promising player out of the side. Surely it's time to have a look and see how he goes?

I'm worried this week. They have a pretty solid midfield unit coming through.

Good stuff. I'll look forward to the report.

So in summary, this is going to be a worthy spectacle and provide excitement and entertainment for the multitude who show up for the game?

Still no Kent. The kid could be a real gun or us,but they won't even look at him in the firsts. Surely it's time to give him a shot.

I won't be there, but any live commentary you can provide would be appreciated.

Humbug. This is putting of-field benefits ahead of on once again. Yes it's a great deal in terms of getting more cash into the club, but it hurts us in our attempts to play finals. Isn't there more worth in getting the club up to the top of the ladder?