RalphiusMaximus

Bombers without a doubt. They need to be taken down a few pegs.

Thrilled to see Davis get a call up. I really hope he gets a game. I don't expect him to set the world on fire, but he's hard at it and shows great desperation. Nicholson I think will have been brought in to sit on one of their small speedsters, Betts, Garlett or Yarran. If he plays a totally negating role then his kicking won't be such a huge issue. We certainly need the pace in the side.

I've only seem Blease a couple of times, but it's awesome when he puts on the afterburners and leaves tacklers in his dust.

You could almost ad Petterd to the list. He very nearly died a few years ago. Missed quite a bit of footy. The thing about this is in most cases it hasn't been a matter of fitness or training loads. So many of them have been random impact injuries and things totally out of our control. Blease and Strauss have both had broken legs. Jetta's ankles the latest, but he's had other similar problems. Gys and his jaw. The only concern I have with these injuries is that we seem to have had a lot of lower back issues in our kids over the last 4-5 years. That indicates something wrong with the conditioning, but hopefully Misson will sort it out. I've mentioned this in other threads as well. If our luck could change and some of these kids rack up some games, we might see a very rapid improvement in the team.

Nobody actually takes journalists seriously do they? They all have an angle they're pushing, either on their own or because it suits the owner's agenda. The days of unbiased journalism are long gone, as are the days of journalists being expected to back up their claims with solid evidence. Now it's all just rumour and innuendo. The articles and responses from supporters are sadly predictable. We cheer when someone who likes the club writes something supporting us, we get upset when someone bags us, and we say it's unfair when the masses sense blood in the water and jump on the bandwagon. None of it really matters. The "pressure" the club is under is entirely a self-perpetuating artifact of the articles being written. The more articles, the more "pressure." None of it has any real bearing on what the supporters or the club think. Enjoy reading the articles if you like, or ignore them. It really isn't going to make a lot of difference. When we improve and knock over a mid-level team or two, it will all stop.

From what I've read about both men, they seem to have a very different approach to it. Misson is very much into running and aerobic capacity, while the dude over at the bombers is more into muscle bulk to support the load being put on them. I do wonder whether there are going to be substantial differences in the results once both lists have been tuned by them for a few years.

I'm not going to argue over this. You are 100% entitled to feel this way and to hold this opinion. Personally I don't agree, but I haven't been supporting the team (or alive) for anywhere near as long as you and obviously have a somewhat different perspective. All I can say is don't burn your bridges. You feel this way now, but if, as so many of us hope, Mark Neeld manages to turn the team around and make them a serious contender in the near future, don't let pride keep you from coming back.

Oddly enough I really like Nev as a player. I think he suits Neelds style perfectly. He's got a real competitive side to his game and loves contested ball, and he can kick a running goal from 50. He lacks a little pace admittedly, but I could see him slotting into the team under Neeld and doing well switching through the middle and half forward. The ankle was a real blow to his chances to step up and cement a spot in the side.

Looking back at that, I can still see the logic. I've never rated the bombers that highly, and I still think they're going to fall off by year's end. We seem to have had the wood on them in recent years, but I think they'll have us this time given how the season is going. Bulldogs were always going to slide, and it's only going to get worse for them. They are being carried by their oldest players, and they are all around the 30 mark, so as they move on it's all downhill. Sadly, those few senior players always seem to bob up and ruin things for us. Richmond I was never certain of. I was really basing this on the fact that while they have an elite midfield, they are lacking at either end. Of course, Grimes has improved out of sight this year to give them a solid-looking defence, but their forward setup suffers when JR isn't playing well, and there is a reasonable expectation that Frawley will hold him (Which he didn't). I rated this about 60-40 in our favour on the basis that our talls should be more damaging than their smalls. Brisbane is the only game on that list that I had as 100%. Obviously, the weeks leading up to the game did us no favours, and Brisbane played the best game of their season that week, most likely expecting us to come out breathing fire and shaking the earth in our desperation to put on a good show for Jim. Nobody really thought about the negative impact it would have on our players, but we probably should have. Looking back on this, I was probably a bit optimistic. Calling Richmond and the Bulldogs a certainty was over the top, and the bombers have improved beyond my wildest imaginings. Given the way the season has progressed, the only loss I'm really disappointed in is round 1, but there are massive extenuating circumstances around that one.

It's important to remember that we have a group of guys in their early 20's who should have played 50+ games each, but have been stalled by a constant stream of injuries. This leaves a pretty big gap in our list experience-wise. Strauss, Blease, Tapscott, Gysberts and Jetta are the ones that come to mind immediately, Grimes and Bail as well. All have been very highly rated as juniors and have had nothing but bad luck since arriving with us, mostly with random injuries that have nothing to do with fitness or preparation. If these guys can get themselves back on the parkand play some sustained footy (Dare I say it, a full season or two?) we should see a drastic improvement, not only from them but from the team as a whole as the imbalance in experience evens out.

Play Tapscott on Mitch Robinson. It'll be a learning experience for him and he just might lay the guy out. We already know that we're going to be destroyed by their small forwards, so just accept the loss and hope we don't look as soft as we have in the past against them. I want no more "Bruise Free" comments.

Should we bill the AFL for the worldwide exposure?

There's been far too much negative feedback appearing on these forums. I think it's time we had a look at the things that are going right for us this year. Cale Morton - He's looking like a new player. His contested ball is far better than we've seen in the past few years and he's one of the players who have come out strongly in support of the new coaches. Nathan Jones - He's taken his game up another notch or two this year. Clearly thriving on being in the leadership group and loving the responsibility on the field. James Magner - A great pick up. He's grabbing his chance with both hands. Has real hunger and desperation to go with his hardness. Mitch Clark - Plenty of people questioned the move to recruit him, especially on the money we offered, but he's been a real shining light this year. Jack Grimes - He's taken well to the captaincy, although the media seem to think he's almost an afterthought. He's starting to get his game in order, racking up good disposal counts an most importantly he's getting consecutive games under his belt. Anyone else want to add to the list?

Say what you will about the man, we had more success under him than anyone since, and I still like his gameplan better than anything since.

I note in the article that they mention other clubs employing consultants to help them pick a coach also. I would just like to say that I find this a truly abhorrent practice and one that I am very happy we did not indulge in. Why on earth would you hire someone who is an expert at hiring coaches? Surely you'd be better off listening to people who know about the game and the club rather than an off-the-shelf solution that is applied to every situation. You may note from this little rant that I am not a fan of consultants. I also despise Leading Teams and their ilk, and MBA's getting management jobs in industries they know nothing about (yes, I've been unfortunate enough to work for one). Perhaps I'm behind the times, but I think if you want someone to help run a football club, get someone who knows football clubs inside out. It really isn't relevant whether or not they know about how water-polo players bond after a match.

Rivers has always been a better kick that Bartram. I don't know why people don't like his kicking. Bartram has obviously worked really hard to improve his kicking. His action to me looks better, especially when he has a little time, and he's hitting the mid-range targets that he used to butcher.

Harsh call. We got good value out of low picks in the Daniher era. Junior, Davey and Robbo leap to mind.

Most disappointing for me is the continuing run of bad luck when it comes to the health of our players. We lost Sylvia to a random pre-season injury again. Jurrah plays one game and goes for at least a month with an ankle. Jetta is out for a sustained period with an ankle injury. Gys breaks his jaw (and Viney). And if the on-field incidents aren't enough, Williams has encephalitis and nearly dies. Add to this Evans with a bad back, Gawn's knee and Strauss' ongoing leg problems. These are the guys who would normally be stepping up and showing something, but they've hardly been on the park since they got to the club due to the constant bloody injuries.

This from a guy who absolutely loved the club, fought hard right to the end to keep himself on the park and as has been mentioned, had the opportunity that these guys take for granted all but taken away from him by injuries. I wanted to link to his farewell to the playing group when he retired, but a quick search of YouTube failed to turn it up. Possibly the most eloquent and emotional display I have seen from him. If he is finding the attitude of the players lacking, this is an opinion worth listening to.

Funny thing about all the fuss. Everyone is so upset about our winless start to the season, but how many of those games were we supposed to win? I'm sure I'm not tho only one who had us down for one certain win (Brisbane) and a couple of maybes depending on how the team had come along. It's not like we've been playing against the worst teams in the league (Brisbane aside). I know at least one poster started a thread about the possibility of being 0-9 when the draw came out. How many of you can say that they are honestly surprised by the losses so far (barring round 1)?

I notice that nobody is mentioning Blease. 29 disposals, and singled out by several experts as one of the few positives from the game. Surely someone has something nice to say about his effort? It's a massive improvement on what he's done previously.

I think a lot of people need to take a step back and a few deep breaths here. Yes, this is a bad result, but I honestly don't care. This season is a wash. It was always going to be a wash. Neeld has signaled this from the moment he took over and we have seen more than enough from the coaching staff since then to back it up. This year is not about winning football games. It's always been about assessing the playing group, finding out who will be able to play the way Neeld wants and who is dead wood, and working on their strength and fitness. Even the article on Misson this week supports this. They are doing heavy drills midweek when most clubs let the players rest a bit. He said in that article that next pre-season they'll be able to run these sort of drills in January rather than during the season. We need to accept a few things about this year. We are going to be pretty bad. We are going to see some odd things as Neeld puts his players to the test. We are certainly going to see a cull at the end of the season. By my count we'll probably turn over about a fifth of the list. Once these things happen we will have a group who have had a year to get their heads around the plan and a year of physical conditioning to allow them to pull it off. I would ask you all to have a look at West Coast playing in 2010. Four years after winning a flag they finished last, with genuine stars still on their playing list. There were calls for the coaches head, oddly enough, but the board kept faith and look where they are now. They took a risk and overhauled their gameplan so that they could compete with the big guns of the modern era. They swallowed the short term pain, made the right decision and are now sitting at the top end of the ladder again, challenging for a top four spot. We need to do the same. Understand what Neeld is trying to achieve, support the club and hope that the plan is going to work.

I would go either Sewell or Cloke. They are a little younger than the others and both give us something we desperately need. Personally I think Sewell by a hair, simply because we have a number of tall options waiting in the wings at the moment. That being said, Cloke is a hell of a player, and has a reputation as a massively dedicated trainer. That's the sort of thing that could really help the rest of our boys with their off-field work. Realistically, either one would be a good pick up.

I refuse to get my hopes up. I'll be thrilled if we win, but twice this season I've looked at our team and thought us a good chance, and both times we were soundly beaten by hungrier sides. Sydney are a hard, experienced and disciplined outfit playing on their home turf. I can't see us getting over the line.

I see a lot of potential very good players, but not stars. I think our sanitised recruiting policy has robbed us of that. Most of the time the true superstars have attitude, and that is something we have been actively avoiding. We need to start recruiting players with some serious attitude and arrogance, as well as the ability to back it up.