RalphiusMaximus

The Age had Dylan Grimes playing for us yesterday.

Actually, I agree that Rivers should go, I just don't see any benefit in bringing Joel McDonald in to replace him. I'd much prefer to see a smaller running type take his place. The games we won came from superior running power, not from tall marking players. We have plenty of stopping power for the talls in our back 6 in Warnock, Frawly and Garland. Each of those players can run and carry as well as do the job defensively (yes, even Warnock). There is no need to add Rivers to the mix. Grimes and a couple of fater running players works just fine for me. Ideally, I'd like to see the ins and outs for this week something like this: Out: Bate (inj), Bruce (inj), Rivers, PJ In: Gysberts, Wona, Bail, Morton If Bail or Morton are not yet fit enough or deemed to need another game at Casey, you could put Jetta into the mix. Cheney is close as well, but I don't like the thought of him missing targets when kicking across the face of goal as he did repeatedly against Coburg. If these changes came in, we'd have far more running power and we'd be bringing in some very good ball-users to improve delivery to the forwards. I'd be inclined to put Morton into the forward 50 in place of Bate. He's shown in the last few weeks that he can kick some nice goals and with his height he'd b a hard matchup. Wona also in the F50. I'd be inclined to move Green into the backline to replace Bruce and use his great foot skills to set up play. Gysberts into the guts as he has been at Casey. He's all class and can only help. Bail to do exactly as he was at the start of the season. Watch us run them into the ground.

And yet who is in the picture accompanying the article?

That's not so bad. Adelaide we should beat again, although they are beginning to show some form. Port we are a chance against, but I admit they are much better this year than I thought they would be. The others probably not so much, but we did thrash Brisbane when they were on fire. As always, measure your expectations by what you predicted at the start of the season and you will see that we're actually pretty well placed right now.

So once again Melbourne has a good player with a facial injury after playing the West Coast. Is there a theme here? How did this one happen? Why was there no report (again)?

I still say this habit of NicNat's of getting his own clearances after the ruck contest is a bad thing. Firstly, it means that he has failed to find a target with the hitout. Secondly, it is symptomatic of his "see the ball, chase the ball" approach to the game. It looks great when he's crashing through opponents to chase the ball, but it's not something that he should be doing. Far better to get a quick effective disposal to one of his midfielders and use his pace to sprint forward and make an option in the 50. Hopefully this will come in time, but his hands will need to get a lot cleaner. As for his 2 clearances for 2 score assists, JW had 2 contested marks for 2 scoring assists. Which do you rate more highly?

So are you claiming that someone has attacked you because of your post? I can't see it in any of the responses. Wiseblood has made a direct attack upon the generalisation in your original post, not on you. Today's game was a classic example of the point he (and I) and many others have been making. Nick can do some freakish things, but he goes missing just as often. Today he took two great marks, and did nothing else of note. He had a total of 10 disposals, took only two marks (yes, very good marks), and no goals. Yet in every article I have seen on the game, he has been mentioned. How many of those articles mention Priddis, who did most of the damage in the game? For some reason people are infatuated with this guy to the extent that they rave about his game even if he did nothing of any real note. I have to say though, that there are some things I question in your earlier post. Firstly, Nick didn't kick any goals today. You seem to have him down for 2. Then there's the bit about him being a "generational draft pick." I really don't think you can make that call yet. There is no doubt that he is an amazing athlete, but he has no footy brain at all, his hands aren't great and his kicking is hit and miss. These are all things that can be fixed, but at this point they are gaping holes in his game that nobody seems to be willing to notice. At this stage in his career, he is the waterboy. He sees the ball and he chases it. If and when he learns to read the game, position himself to advantage, take the ball cleanly on the first grab and hit targets consistently, he will begin living up to your glowing assessment.

I can't agree with bringing McDonald back at the expense of Rivers. Every fault you point out in Rivers' game applies equally to Joel. He's not overly quick, not the best decision maker, not a great kick... Added to that he is not as good a stopper as Rivers. Our backline is top-heavy with Rivers in there, and I think we'd be better off going small and quick. If anything, I'd drop Green back to the half back flank and bring Wona into the forward 6 in his place.

Simpson actually looked really good last week. The tackle he was reported for was entirely legal. It's pretty much the same thing as Mumford. Also, the guy came up very sick, vomited and had to be helped from the ground B) . I was actually thinking he might get a rookie spot if he continues to show that sort of spirit.

Great to see Watts in the votes. So we keep him for next week?

I think they need to look at the changes that have been made in the last few weeks. We have been getting progressively worse as we drop running players and replace them with talls. We need to get more run into the team and get the midfield rotations up. Jamar can go back to rucking alone for now, so drop PJ and give the spot back to Bail. Bruce looks like he needs a week, so he can take a rest and Gysberts comes in. Rivers to go out, replaced by either Morton, Jetta or Wona. I still haven't seen much of Hughes, but from the reports appearing here he may be a dud. Still, I'd prefer to persist for now. This should give us a lot more run, something that has been sorely lacking in the last few weeks, and still allow us to maintain some marking power in the forward 50. I think Jamar would be happier playing as the sole ruck, and when he's rested we have several talls who are able to step in around their part of the ground. Also, it gets two good players into the side who have yet to play a game this year.

Once again looking at the stats. Grimes had 30 disposals and only 1 clanger according to the AFL site.

Just looking over the stats. According to them Watts outplayed NicNat today. What say those who were at the game? Edit: Lol, what exactly are dream team points based on? Some ridiculous totals in there.

I was working today, so I only got to see a few bits on the AFL website and the last few minutes on the radio. Seemed from what I could see that we were back to overusing the ball at half back and handballing in circles with no targets up forward. IS that about what everyone else saw?

Just got home from working most of the day. Did I have good news to listen to on the radio on the way home? Hell no. Crap day.

Not even close to the same situation. Geelong chose to give up Moloney because they felt that Ottens was a necessary part of their premiership side while Moloney was not. Also they acknowledged that to get a quality player thay had to be willing to give up quality and did so. GC and GWS are not giving up a damned thing for the players, nor are their clubs getting a say in whether or not they leave. Further, no club is going to receive fair compensation for the players taken in this manner. The secret formula (which is still being tweaked as we speak) is a farce to allow the AFL to pretend that they are not stacking the deck to a ridiculous degree in favour of the new teams at the expense of every other club.

Speaking of which, when does Judd come out of contract?

I dunno dude. Those temper tantrums whenever he didn't pull something off worry me... What I saw on the weekend was a guy who was desperate to show what he could do. Never a bad thing.

All we need to win this is to stop Mark LeCras. I'm voting for Bartram to sit on him all game. The rest of their team are not worth worrying about.

Realistically, there are half a dozen guys who are stiff not to be named in this side. That's why we're all so excited right now about the way our team is looking. To be able to say that Dunn is stiff for being dropped and at the same time Martin, Bail, Cheney, Jetta and Wona are all stiff not to be there is an amazing thing and something we have not had in far too long. It's only going to get worse too. Today I am a happy little Demon.

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/blogs/hit-the-post/the-biggest-vics/20100512-uxil.html?rand=1273714088804 B: James Frawley (Melbourne) Matthew Scarlett (Geelong) Dustin Fletcher (Essendon) HB: Nick Maxwell (Collingwood) Troy Chaplin (Port Adelaide) Heath Shaw (Collingwood) C: Jimmy Bartel (Geelong) Joel Selwood (Geelong) Leigh Montagna (St Kilda) HF: Paul Chapman (Geelong) Jonathan Brown (Brisbane) Adam Goodes (Sydney) F: Eddie Betts (Carlton) Daniel Bradshaw (Sydney) Steve Johnson (Geelong) R: Shane Mumford (Sydney) Gary Ablett (Geelong) Chris Judd (Carlton) I: Luke Hodge (Hawthorn) Brendon Goddard (St Kilda) Dane Swan (Collingwood) Michael Barlow (Fremantle) Emerg: Brendan Fevola (Brisbane) Scott Pendlebury (Collingwood) Cameron Ling (Geelong) Interesting selections. I think they've thrown in a few Collingwood players just because they wear black and white stripes, but not a bad team. Good to see Melbourne getting some respect.

I maintain that any player leaving for the GC or GWS sides would be a disaster. They are our players and the new teams have no bloody right to sniff around our list.

I add my congratulations to Bails. Spot on once again. You realise this gives you an awesome once-off power to start a truly outlandish rumour and have people believe it right?

Interesting to see Jack Watts at $126.00. Depending on when he debuts that could be worth a shot.

Bear in mind that Watts is quite a bit bigger than Dunn and has been doing some ruck training as well as his other work...