RalphiusMaximus

I think Watts had a number of opponents through the day. He was switched around quite a lot.

I question the wisdom of giving the kids that many free games for a start. Surely it's better to have to fight for a spot in the senior side rather than know that it will be given to you anyway? Aside from that, Bailey often commented on the need to go slowly with the young players and build up to real workloads. Compare this to NicNat over at WC. They gave him heavy workloads in an effort to fast track him and allow him to compete with the rucks and key defenders he would be facing in matches. His physical development is miles ahead of Watts and he is fearless on the field. I would love to see what Watts would have been at this stage if he had been forced to work harder both for his spot in the side and on his physical training. The bar was set far too low for him.

It isn't their place to decide on a gameplan. Their job is to play the way the coach tells them to play. They are paid very well to do this. The coaches job is to come up with a plan to allow the players he has to win games. The boards job is to pick the coach they think has the right plans to win games with the list. If any of our players are second-guessing the coach to the extent that they are letting it affect their onfield performance, they can play for whatever dirt paddock little country side will have them, because no self-respecting team would put up with that crap.

In what world did Frawley beat Reiwoldt? JR kicked 1.3 with two OOTF. If he was kicking straight that would have been 6 goals. None of them were overly difficult chances.

It's not lack of tackling attempts, its a lack of ability to stick them. I lost count of the number of times I saw Richmond players take the tackle, pull their arms and the ball free and calmly hand off to a running teammate. Other teams seem able to tackle so the player can't make an effective disposal. Why is it that none of our players are able to do it?

You sure it was him? I swear I saw him get thrown down off the ball for the free.

Ooh, a BIG positive for me. Did anyone else notice what started the little melee in our forward pocket? It was Magner, under the guise of trying to get the ball out when tackled, landing a couple of short rights on the head a Richmond player. Replay footage shows his frantic punching at the ball lift up and become a few good solid hits to the scone of the guy holding him. Beautifully done James.

Not just pushing buttons, but not babying him. Bailey was far too soft on our kids and I think he really stalled their development.

Our clearance work would improve drastically if Jamar would learn where to hit the ball. He gets his hands on it, but rarely to advantage. He needs a better understanding with all of our midfielders, not just Moloney. He also needs to hit it further from his own feet. We got caned today because all of our mids were clustered in tight and the second the ball came out of the circle it was a free possession to Richmond. Their clearance players knew that all they needed was to get their hands on it for a second and flick a handball out five metres or so and there would be no Melbourne player to intercept. If we can fix this one aspect of our game we will see a massive improvement in the results.

Carlton recruited for speed and ball use, then taught them how to play hard. Now they have a team where every single player will hurl themselves at the ball and/or man to try to win that ball, and then run and work hard for each other once they have won it. Our light running players need to learn how to do this. If they can't they will be culled. Simple.

Very interesting game to watch. I've noticed that a lot of people in various threads are praising our backline. I find this astounding. They were shocking today. Reiwoldt beat Frawley for the first time ever, Miller pantsed us and we leaked goals from the loose ball all day. There were a few moments where I seriously thought the whole unit should have offered to resign in shame. It was only Richmond's shocking set shot kicking that made the figures look a little better for them. Looking past Richmond's poor set shots, we kept them in the game with some amazing judgement errors in the midfield. It could have been a very different story if only a few of those mistakes hadn't happened. Bail deciding that he should handball to Jones rather than kicking forward himself. Jamar passing behind the man and directly to an open Richmond player. Morton chucking a wobbly and letting D. Grimes have a free takeaway ball for the rebound. Clark playing on from a mark 10m from the goalmouth and getting nailed in the tackle. So many of these little moments could have gone our way with just a little more presence of mind and/or effort and turned the game so we were ahead at half time. IF that had happened, who knows how Q3 would have gone? I did find a lot to be happy with, oddly enough. Watts gave a good showing in the first half, although he faded. Took some good contested grabs and got involved. Morton was good until the above little tantrum which seemed to flip the switch for him and shut down his football ability. Took a very good pressure mark early and got hit from behind for his trouble. If only he could do that all the time instead of the odd occasion. Clark provided the highlight for the season thus far when he stoop like a colossus, throwing tacklers aside before breaking free, stepping another tackle and giving Sellar the easiest goal he will ever see. Davey is improving and really seemed to get into the groove as the small defensive forward. I still saw a couple of nothing short kicks, but babysteps I guess. Jones is a machine. The odd judgement error aside he was once again a pillar of strength in the middle. Howe was brilliant. Our midfield held it's own without Magner getting involved so much. For a half.

Grimes will be out for next week, so at least one change. Personally I think it's time to debut Davis. He's showing a bit at Casey, he is fearless and hard at it and he's a better kick. He could do a straight swap for either Grimes or Garland if the coaches get fed up with his kicking. Tynan has shown himself willing to attack and put his body on the line, so let him have another look. Not sure who goes out. I honestly can't see a lot of changes coming from this game. We weren't THAT bad. The margin was pretty much all from the third quarter, and if you take that out of the game, we were basically even. Obviously they showed us up with midfield pace (I'm pretty sure I called that a few days ago when the team came out), but there was improvement on the previous week.

6 - Howe. As has been said, he was everywhere, took some great contested marks, ran hard all day and had the commentators drooling. 5 - Clark - Had a couple of brain fades and was inaccurate, but he still gave us the target we needed all day. If he'd kicked straight he could have had another 5 today. Also the assist to Sellar was my season highlight to date. 4 - Watts - Only really a first half performance, but he was really good for that half. Took some strong marks, put his body in and worked hard. Needs to do this for the whole game (like the rest of the team). 3 - Jones. Keeps trying to lift the midfield. Kicked a ripping goal from outside 50, attacked the clearances hard and never slowed down. 2 - Bate. First Demon this year to hit a leading forward with a low spearing pass. Admittedly, it was too low, but it got there and was duly marked. Needed more of the ball butchered a couple of easy marks when he backed off rather than taking them high, but caught my eye with a few plays that deserve to be noted. 1 - Tapscott. Was shocking today when he had the ball, but I give him 1 vote because of a perfect bump on Martin that left the golden boy sore, sorry and limping. Came in so low he was on hands and knees by the time he hit, slipping under Martin's attempt to draw a high tackle and nailing him. There were a few guys who looked good in patches. Morton ruined his game with a couple of shocking efforts later on where he really looked like he just couldn't be bothered going for the ball. Grimes gave away goals with his poor kicking and decision making. Sellar could have had votes, but I marked him down for a shocking set shot. Davey showed far more effort and intensity, and for me is a real bonus to take from this game. Overall we were hurt by some shocking skill errors and an afternoon nap that happened to coincide with the third quarter.

I think we're top heavy at both ends and it's going to hurt us. But it would be nice to see Tom MC have a good game as a forward for us.

I'm looking forward to watching Melbourne on the TV for once.

Carlton started their tanking run at least three years ahead of us. They have more top picks than us and they got special dispensation from the AFL to offer money outside the salary cap to lure top players to their club. There is no realistic comparison between us at this stage. Our team in 2015 should be getting close to what they are producing now. If we still can't compete at that point, start making these comparisons.

I make no judgement calls on whether it could blow up in our faces. I merely point out that we have a player appearing in their ad.

Here's the video on youtube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=O1v67seaYms

I swear I saw Mitch Clark in an UltraTune ad this evening during the footy. He was running along the road being perved at by two women in a car that then crashed into a lake. I can't help but wonder if this is an indication that we're about to have a second sponsor announced?

I spent two months in Europe on $6000, and that was when the dollar was crap over there. You just need to shop around a bit. Admittedly, a couple of the planes were a little cramped, but I got by. As for the sponsor, I think this is a hell of an effort by the club. Do we have a figure yet for how much? I somehow doubt it's the 2mil we were supposed to get from EW. Still hope it's a nice chunky figure.

I'm not hugely happy with the backline as named. We seem to be horribly top-heavy. In fact we seem top-heavy all over the park. With their midfield they look like running all over us much like Brisbane did. Also, I'd be much happier with Couch in the side. I know he and Magner fill more or less the same niche, but we need quality Mids and I can see him doing a very solid job for us.

I have to say, it was an absolute pleasure to watch that game today. Those two sides really set the standard for the rest of the AFL and it makes it abundantly clear just how far we have to go before we are considered a chance. I think we're lucky to have had a match like that so early in the season, even with the awful weather.

Who did what?

I'm feeling a bit better knowing that Scully is having a fairly average game. He plays like a Melbourne Midfielder :D

Here's hoping Williams turns into an 80 goal full forward at AFL level too :D