RalphiusMaximus

Now all we have to do is teach our mids how to hit a leading target. I make it 3 or 4 times he left his man on the lead and had the ball kicked over his head right to the guy he's just lost. They did it repeatedly to Jurrah as well. Watts could have had 6-7 goals today if they'd been able to keep their kicks down.

Four goals from the rucks.

Terrible calls in bold. Our second quarter we were outscored by 1 goal. There's no shame in that. Green was really good and is working his way out of a monumental form slump, and Jurrah had some of the worst delivery I've ever seen on an AFL field, as well as terrible luck with the bounce at times. For me: The Good The Ruck duo none of us saw coming. Dan Nicholson Watts' best ever haul Green fighting back Howe Rednut! The Bad Freo The crowd Marking on Johnston during the second term The Ugly Our apparent inability to pass properly to a leading forward. The Carlton supporters on the train on the way up.

Well, it's not like it was a surprise to him. He already knew he was going at 1 and there was never much doubt that he was going to Melbourne. He kept his poker face on. I do that all the time when I win things. I prefer to have a bit of composure when I'm the focus of attention rather than grinning like an idiot, and he had a whole lot more attention that I've ever faced right then. As for the rumour mill, I used to go to school with a guy who's father was a big-time bookie. They both tell me that he's staying, and they'd know, having lots of connections in the horse racing industry.

Another Peninsula alum? Personally I thought his father was worse.

What I found very funny watching the game was how Collingwood responded to our kick-ins. They set up their talls in the only two locations we ever kick to, long down the middle and to our right flank. They set up several crumbing players 10-20m forward of that location. When the kick came in, they didn't try to mark it, they simply climbed over the pack and punched forwards. The crumbers moved laterally and picked up the easy uncontested possession. They very clearly did their homework, noted that 90% of our kickouts are to these two points and came up with a very simple plan to beat them. I think the fact that it was so easy is a damning indictment of our coaches.

The fact that GWS has two years to poach players gives them more room to offer big contracts. They can front-end them and give a massive payout in the first season and still have money to burn for next year. Also, Folau is being paid out of the AFL's marketing budget rather than the salary cap. I think you'll find that he is only getting around 300k from the cap. That's not going to put a dent in their ability to throw cash at our stars.

With that choice of words you'd almost think she was having a go at the Ox, wouldn't you?

That's a very insightful comment I think. Looking back, all of his best games have been when he's had a very clear role to play. Perhaps using him in tagging type roles for the rest of the year will be good for him? He could go to Pavlich next week.

I can respect that opinion, but I have to disagree. He did fade as the game progressed, and Shaw picked up some cheap disposals at the end, but I still say that he was one of our few winners for the day and deserves praise for it. Yes, he didn't go for a few contests when he should have, and it looked really bad when he stood and watched that mark in the goalsquare, but he's not alone in that. At least he knew he'd done the wrong thing. With luck he'll learn from it and do better next week.

WTF?? You want to drop Morton after a game like that? That's as well as we've seen him play for two years. He took on a tagging role, smashed Collingwood's most damaging rebound player and collected 22 disposals and 7 marks doing it. A bit of an overreaction because he stayed down in a marking contest isn't it? I can't count the number of times i've wished more of our players had the sense to not fly and spoil each other.

Totally agree. One of the few players in our side with the speed to do that. As for the shot, he would have been kicking from 55+. That's a long shot for him. There was nothing wrong with his pass except that the man on the other end wasn't good enough to take the mark.

I don't think we'll be seeing the Russian, which is a shame because the Fremantle rucks have been playing well even without Sandilands. That gives Gawn another game which is great because he's showing real improvement and is getting his hands to a lot of balls. I wouldn't be surprised if Jurrah were rested if he's damaged that calf again. A week or two of rest could be just the thing. I wouldn't drop him to the VFL. If he goes for a break, Petterd would be my first choice to come in. He is more versatile than Bate and Dunn, being able to play midfield as well as forward. Jetta had a shocker today. I'm not an advocate of dropping someone after one bad game, but if Tapscott is to come in, he would be my choice to make way. That being said, Tapscott may find himself in the VFL for a week to get some touch before coming back. All in all, I don't see many changes for this week. Nicholson will be inlucky to miss again, but there will not be a spot for him.

I don't know about missing the whole replay. First five minutes were pretty good actually. You saw some really good passages from Watts and Morton, which is a huge boost for us supporters. Goal to Sylvia. It was good to see. I think Watts had 5 disposals early in the first. It's just after that spell that things go downhill.

I find it very funny the things people say about Jones. He is the new Cam Bruce for exactly the opposite reason. While Bruce would dish off to a bad option to avoid being hit, Jones will occasionally hold the ball too long because he refuses to dish off to a bad option. I'll take Jones any day. Also, let me say that the rot began when someone (can't remember who) chose to handpass to Jones in the midst of three Pies rather than go the other way to three unmarked teammates. Even then Jones very nearly got the ball out again.

The area we are lagging behind is, for want of a better term, professionalism. I've watched our training sessions, and they don't look all that different from the ones you see twice a week at your local club. Compare that with the report we saw this week on how Collingwood train. Compare how well-drilled the top teams are with the indecision and uncertainty shown by our boys. A Collingwood player always knows exactly what his next disposal is going to be. He gets the ball and instantly knows what he is doing with it, because they are so well drilled in their structures. We never see that certainty from our team. We rely too much on individual skill and not enough on cohesive team play. I really do hope that the coaching staff realise how far behind the 8-ball they are, but if they did, wouldn't they be trying to improve?

Harsh to say that Sylvia was the only winner. Morton thrashed Shaw.

6. Sylvia 5. Morton 4. Strauss 3. Watts 2. Howe 1. Gawn I thought Strauss was really good today. I don't think I saw him beaten 1-1, which is a big improvement, and he butchered 1 kick for the day. Also got a lot of the ball. Watts drops behind him because he butchered quite a few kicks trying to be more creative than he needed to. Sylvia obviously was our only attacking threat. Morton smashed Shaw for most of the match and gave us run out of the back half. Howe and Gawn both gave us something, Howe constantly presenting and once again taking good marks, and Gawn holding up the ruck when we were being thrashed everywhere else.

I rate Morton as one of our best on the day, but he spoiled it by not going up for the contested mark a couple of times towards the end. At least on one of those occasions he knew he'd screwed up. I also have Watts in both the good and ugly sections. Overall game good. Nailed a run down tackle for a holding the ball call - Really good. Made some really bad kicking errors where he put it down the throats of opponents - Ugly.

I love a good but of pessimism. It makes my day so much more entertaining. I have another thought for everyone. The Ox would presumably have gotten his information from people around the club right? It stands to reason that this is his source, rather than random members of the GWS staff, Andrew Demetriou's PA, or Tom Scully's manager's dog. If this is the case and the management at Melbourne know for a fact that he is leaving, then not coming clean and telling their membership is a massive betrayal of trust. I would go as far as saying it's a 10,000 member loss for the next few years to breach faith with the faithful in such a manner. Surely if the club were certain he was gone they would be telling the world and giving the game time to someone who was going to go forward with the club. Logically, the current stance by the club is that of people who believe that he is staying, or at the very least undecided. Therefore I question whether the Ox truly has the information he seems to think he has. Where exactly are his sources placed that they have such information? Obviously not Melbourne FC. If it comes from GWS then it can be written off as crap designed to sow discord and aid them in pinching players. There is absolutely no reason for anyone in the AFL hierarchy to know the details of Tom's contract negotiations until it is signed, sealed and delivered, so no useful sources from AFL house either. Sorry to the doom and gloom brigade, but there is simply no logic in the Ox's claims. The only source of credible information would be from within the club, and it is simply not logical that they would be taking such a self-destructive public stance on the situation if they were convinced that he was gone. I simply don't buy it.

THey were stronger, fitter, and they knew that our tackles don't stick. How many times did they pick up the ball and just charge at us, confident in the knowledge that even if our boys could grab them, they couldn't prevent a disposal? I know it's a matter of strength and maturity, but it still hurts to see.

TV commentary had it right. We're crying out for a big bodied full forward who can make a real contest against those defenders. Hopefully Cook and Fitpatrick can grow into the players we're looking for.

I notice that nobody has mentioned the obvious truth. The only back on our list who has the physical presence to handle Cloke in the goalsquare is Warnock. Why on earth would you not have brought him in to take one of the three huge forwards Collingwood hit us with?

I'm loving the lines being trotted out on here. Everyone has their own pet hate to spout off about. Jones is woeful. Morton is soft. Sack Bailey. Blah. I agree it was an embarrassing loss today, but to say that Collingwood were bad is ridiculous. You have several of their regulars stepping up for career-best games, you have Cloke nailing his best ever haul, and they have destroyed us in contested possession. They were damn good today. They came in as a highly professional outfit and made sure that they dictated terms, stuck to their gameplan and won the key areas. I'm not at all happy with the way we played, but the reality is that this is the result we should have seen twice last year and I'm not really surprised we saw it today. Our boys were outmuscled at stoppages, outplayed tactically and in the end outrun by a team which is fitter, stronger and much better drilled than us.

You are kidding right? The kid is going to be great. Are you basing this on the fact that he's injured himself and as such isn't appearing in the write-ups? He smashed AFL rucks last year playing for Casey. He's another guy who will take time to come on, especially with the CFS issue, but he will be worth the wait.