RalphiusMaximus

Dis I hear that someone's done a Hammy on Etihad? Who'd have thought?

Sounds like the umps are killing us again. MMM people are being careful of what they say, but it's clear that the calls are going against us again and many of them are bad ones. Holding the ball on Green right before half time?

I think your predicted margin is a little harsh. Looking at these two teams I see a game dominated by the backlines. The Saints are going to be relying on their small forwards and attacking mids to get goals, and we are probably in the same boat. It's hard to see either side kicking a massive score with these teams. COuld be that the winning team won't even reach 68.

That's quite odd. He's still on the main list. However, we all know that he was rookied in last year's draft period. Odd, is it not?

I'd say we are slightly below par for the season so far. Looking at the remaining games we have to play, we probably have a shot at four more wins, and that will be dependent on us playing well and possibly other teams playing badly. Assuming our fluctuating form continues, I would say expect to get two of them. Going by that we will wind up with 6 wins and a draw for the season. I don't think I was alone in hoping for 9 or so for this year. Admittedly we have been robbed of a couple of very big wins over the dogs and the pies, but these were not games we could have realistically factored into our calculations at the start of the season, so I don't see how they can be used as an excuse. That being said, there is still an opportunity to pull it together and end the season with a bang. We have upcoming games against Bombers, Sydney, Brisbane, Richmond and Port. All of these are very winnable, although we'll need to do better on the road. At the start of the season I said that I expected the team to drastically improve in the second half as the new players really clicked and found their place in the team structure. I based this on the fast finish of West Coast last year. They have nothing near the list we do, but were knocking off some very good teams at the end of the year. If we were to finally get some consistent form, it is entirely possible to finish the year with another five wins on the board. If that were to happen, a huge pass mark.

goalkickers? best?

Thanks for that summary. It's really handy for those of us who don;t get to see these players to have a rundown of who's who every now and then. Would Lynch be related to the one picked up by the Saints (it was the Saints wasn't it?)? Going solely on the info you have given us I like the look of both Lynch and Darling from that group. Both should be doable with our picks, and they have good size about them. Obviously I can't speak for their ability, but you give them both decent writ-ups.

I still say we need to use O'Hailpin as a benchmark for Martin's development. By that timeline he's got probably another two years before we can expect him to be really damaging. On the bright side, that's just about when we'll be challenging for finals/top four, so wouldn't it be nice to have him firing?

Well, that'd do it. If it gets messy enough it can certainly mess with your head in a big way.

Not missed. I'm actually very excited by this, it's just that there's absolutely no chance of being able to see them play.

What I expect is for them to bully us all over the field and hand us a thrashing to the tune of 50-60 points. What I hope for is a last gasp come-from-behind win on the back of a tight and accountable game. Not only would this be great for the players, but it would even up the ledger given that the Saints did it to the Dogs and the Dogs did it to us.

Incidentally, looking at the incidents Baker was actually charged over, I think he was quite lucky. There were at least two more clear punches he could have been charged over as well. Given the way they marked him, 18 weeks could have been quite easily achieved.

How about because even a team in a heavy rebuild needs some experienced leaders around the place to mentor the young guys? We are hellishly short on experience right now. If we'd gotten rid of the players listed we'd have nobody but Junior left.

Just a quick thought. Can a mod delete all of the posts not relating to the actual topic so that we can see some discussion of what contract people think JW should be getting next year? The last couple of pages seem to have degenerated into every other Jack Watts thread in existence.

Miller's stats are skewed by the Port Adelaide game. If you were to ignore that effort, his accuracy is terrible. Also, he hasn't kicked enough goals for the primary forward in the team.

He's not a mid. Well, he's not meant to be. The way he playes I sometimes think we should play him on the wing his entire career. Isn't J. Viney going to be in the team by then? Have to have him on the bench.

Jurrah is not even remotely ready to play. He's played one game at Casey and it was a shocker. I want to see him show some of his old brilliance and also a little desire for the ball before we bring him back. Worse for me than his poor form was the lack of interest he showed. As with several of his pre-season games this year, he walked around the ground as if he wanted to be anywhere else and stood there watching the game go by when the ball wasn't coming directly to him. Every person on this board who liked to bag Robbo about his lack of accountability and second efforts should be backing me on this. Robbo was never that bad. Something has changed in Jurrah's attitude since last year and until he gets it back he should be staying at Casey.

I'm seriously torn on this verdict. On the positive side, I think that there is no place for that style of play on the football field. A player has a reasonable expectation that he can show up at a match and not be assaulted by his opponent. Baker punched him repeatedly (and has only been suspended for the most obvious of them), and so should clearly be suspended. I also agree that attempting to further damage an injury is against the spirit of the game and should be punished. Further to this, I don't understand why the AFL stands in such a privileged position that an assault can occur on national TV and be captured from multiple angles and the police not be involved. If I were to repeatedly punch someone in my place of work, I would not only be fired, I'd be in jail. On the negative side of the issue is the inconsistency which is once again being highlighted. Baker is not being suspended because of what he did on the weekend. He is being suspended because there was a media uproar about both the treatment of Chris Judd by taggers (fueled by the Carlton complaints) and also over the softness of the review panel in not suspending Judd for his elbow on Pavlich. The review panel should be consistent and stick to their guns regardless of the pressure being applied by the media and club interests. Whether they have acted on their own initiative in this case or pressure has been brought from above, they have changed the way they adjudicate matches mid-season and with no notice to clubs. How can players possibly play in a manner regarded by officialdom as fair when they keep redefining the concept without notice? So as I say, I am torn on the matter. I think the only real conclusion I can draw is that the Match Review Panel have once again shown themselves to be a farce. Whether the penalty stands up to a challenge or not, they have thrown away what little credibility they still had. The wild swings from one extreme to another and the leniency on the stars of the game show us all that the MRP is a failed experiment and needs to be scrapped.

On the bright side, we there's a good chance for some outright smashings of them in the next few years. They are about to retire the core of their team and there aren't that many good players left to replace them.

OK. So the consensus it that Watts is still developing his body, is at the moment too weak to stand up to the big backs he's playing on and is timid ion contests. Does that about sum it up? Oddly, he has said very similar things himself. He, like everyone else here, knows that he needs more time in the gym to build up his strength and fitness before he will be truly competitive at this level. In fact he recently said that he expected to take another two pre-seasons to get his body up to the level it needed to be. Not only are these the words of someone who understands how much he needs to do before he is really ready for this level, but it speaks of a long-term plan by the coaching/fitness staff who would have mapped out for him the development they expect. Getting back to the actual topic, which has very little to do with how Jack played on the weekend or his falling over or general fitness... I think the club will be pushing for a three year deal with his contract. If they get him tucked away for three it takes the immediate pressure off him to perform (and since we all know they see him as a slow, long-term project this is reasonable) and also takes him off the wish-list for both GC and GWS. It would probably have to be slightly above what you'd expect a player of his experience to earn, with some nice performance incentives thrown in. I doubt they'd want to sign him to less than three years given the state of the game at the moment.

Surely if that is the case it is up to the manufacturer to produce a moulded soul boot with better traction? Why aren't clubs working with their boot sponsors to produce a moulded soul boot that will grip in terrible conditions and still be wearable with the amount of running players do? Surely it can't be that hard to make one with longer spikes?

Looking at the opposition it'd be worth bringing Cheney into the side. That way we would have him and Bartram to match Milne and Schneider. I don't think Roo will be back, so we won't need too much height in our backline. It's the small forwards and attacking midfield runs we need to watch out for.

I didn't see the game, but a couple of comments from the radio guys stood out. On Watts, they said you can't deny that he keeps moving and presenting. I would guess that what he lacks is the contesting part. Garland they said was continually making bad decisions and disadvantaging teammates. It also seemed that Scully and Grimes were turning it over a lot today.

I am perfect. Deal with it.

I wonder which of the interchange players will play. Watts is on there. Will they keep persisting with him or is he going to sit this one out?