RalphiusMaximus

Oddly enough, if we get a win next week and follow up against the tigers, we will be in the eight for the first time in god knows how long. Stranger things have happened.

That is a rather brilliant summary of our team as it stands. I'm feeling very pessimistic about our chances, but it is equally possible that they young guys could turn on a showcase game and [censored] them. My comments come from the theory that such an inexperienced group is unlikely to produce the same intensity two weeks running. I'd be thrilled if the could show me otherwise, especially if it gave them a sniff and some momentum going into the Richmond game which has to be seen as a must-win for the team.

It's only legitimate if he's standing behind the player on the mark. He was clearly standing beside the man, and as such violating the 5m protected zone.

I'd love to see Green captain the club. Davey would also be a great choice, but bear in mind that he is the younger of the two and could inherit the title when Green retires.

We're in yo-yo land right now folks. We had a good game this week, look for a let down in the next. I expect the Crows to be all over us.

Have to say guys, one of Brad Green's goals came from Bennell backing into danger and emerging with the ball. He showed a lot of poise, kept his feet and never took his eyes off the ball. Had the two Pies not hit each other he would have been crunched. Admittedly, this is not always the case, but you have to admit that he doesn't always shirk the contest.

I have to say folks, while the Umpires did screw us by missing a few frees that a blind monkey would have payed, when it boils down to it if we'd been better with our shooting we would have won regardless. We had plenty of chances in the last two quarters to kill it off and failed to even register a score, let alone a goal. Also, in defence of Bail at the end, earlier in the game he found himself in exactly the same situation and took the shot rather than passing. He missed everything and had Brag Green screaming at him. The second time he did the team thing and passed to the open man rather than take the shot. In hindsight it would have been better to go for it, but he couldn't have known how little time was left. Possibly a more experienced player would have had the situational awareness to sum it up and realise that any score was better in that situation, but maybe not.

He copped a couple of high hits, but nothing too bad.

Vast improvement on last week. I hope he plays the rest of the season like he did yesterday.

I'm watching the game on bigpond right now. Scully has more balls than brains at the moment I think. He's throwing himself around with no sense of self-preservation. Great to see in a young player. Once he improves his consistency he's going to be amazing.

I never did want him.

Doesn't that make you feel better about last week?

I agree with the earlier comment. Our forward line looks better with Newton in it. He may not justify the spot on his form, but for some reason the shape changes when he's there and the other players all work better. It must be some difference in the way he goes about it compared to Miller. Perhaps it's that he's less inclined to go running off up the field? Whatever, I would prefer to see him stay in, firstly because he makes the rest of the forwards more effective, and secondly because he might just have a couple of good games and get us over the line.

Worth backing I'd say. He's doing some pretty impressive stuff.

I've just been looking through the game stats and the thought strikes me (as it did last week) that Jordie McKenzie is playing some brilliant football. Now he's still only 19 and has played fewer that 10 games. Is he eligible for the Rising Star given that he's on the rookie list? I know a few people have mentioned Trengove, but looking at the stats, Jordie was be far the better player again, and his 12 tackles will probably be the best of the round again.

I for one am truly and bitterly disappointed after today. I was stuck playing host with my brother down from Canberra and didn't get to the game! Even worse, I only caught the first 15 minutes on the radio! Bloody Easter holidays.

Looking at the draw for Richmond, they could be in real trouble. A lot of the games against weaker teams are away, so there is a significant home-ground advantage to consider. I think WC at the G could be the best shot they have.

He's shown quite a bit in the preseason games, so I have reasonable hopes for him playing in the senior side this year. Best of luck to him on his debut mk 2.

Nephew I believe.

There is no hardball. There is a secret formula known only to the powers that be in the AFL, and they will not deviate from their position on that. If Ablett goes, Geelong will not get anywhere near his value, in particular given that he was a father-son and thus quite a low draft pick (bear in mind that position in the draft is one of the criteria in deciding compensation). I can guarantee that if any of our players go we will be shafted in the compensation with no right of appeal. Feel free to quote me on that.

Utter nonsense. The reason we're rubbish right now is our senior players. The reason we should be worried is our teenagers. Given the state of our forwardline, how would you feel if GC decided to throw a huge wad of cash at Jack Watts and nab him while he's young? Suddenly we find ourselves without a forwardline for the foreseeable future. How about if GWS manage to grab Scully? Do you really believe our big rebuild could survive that? Even better, given that we're just beginning to find our feet financially, would the club survive it? What a blow to morale and membership to be stripped of our prized no. 1 draft picks before they've even begun to have an impact. In this case, Mathews is 100% correct. It's not just about giving the bottom clubs a chance to rebuild, it's about preventing them from folding altogether.

NikNat is overrated. He had a whole 11 possessions on the weekend, yet was still somehow named in their best. Imagine if he makes it to 15 or so, he'll be in with a shot at the brownlow! I'm still happy with Watts.

All I can say to this is, wouldn't it be wonderful if a raft of talented players signed high-paying two year contracts with GC, cashed in for those two years and then came back to their original teams? Massive egg on the faces of both the AFL for giving them such absurd powers of acquisition and on the management of GC who couldn't keep players. Not at all likely to happen, but damn it'd be funny. Speaking of which, is anyone else thinking that the GC team will be like Freo in their infancy? I'm talking a bunch of talented teanagers being thrown together and payed a fortune, told they are elite... And wind up spoiled, lazy and all but useless on the footy field. Freo took years to undo the damage from their early years and develop a reasonable culture. I can see GC ruining the best talent in the country for the next decade.

Were Barlow and Silvagni even in the national draft? As for not taking Gawn and Fitzpatrick, I see that as nothing short of lunacy. We were set to take them with 18 and 34 if available. The fact that they both slipped through at the numbers we got them if nothing short of a miracle.

The difference is the game plan. Simple. Miller was a focal point of Daniher's plan where we would kick long out of defence to the leading CHF and he would dish off quickly to a running mid who could either take a shot himself or hit one of Robbo, Neitz or Schwartz (before he retired). Miller's deficiencies were hidden because he very rarely kicked the ball, almost never took a shot on goal and because of the rapid transit from the back 50 rarely had to take a contested mark. Now we have a different coach, different plans and no dominant target in the forward 50. Suddenly Miller is the only experienced KPF we have left and every weakness in his game is being exposed. We discover that he can't hold his ground, is weak in contested marking and obviously can't kick a goal to save himself.