RalphiusMaximus

Just thought I'd quote this post by Crazy Bomber from the Bomber page as it seems to have us nailed down pretty well. I think that is possibly the most well-balanced assessment of our list I've seen this year.

I hope it was just a really bad day, maybe didn't sleep well or something. The other options would be injury or attitude. Either of those would be a terrible thing, so I think I'll join the "shocking day" camp rather than consider them.

Well, it's not a bad assessment of our list as it stands. Sure, he's not up to date with all of our players, but how many of us can name every player on the Bombers' list? I would be interested to see what he would have said had he a more accurate idea of who plays where. He regards our backline as weak and lacking talls. No mention of Warnock or Martin (yes, I think he's better off down back), or indeed Garland (I think this omission is excusable given that he missed last year). Obviously he's missed most of our new run-and-carry brigade, with no mention made of Bennell, Jetta, Cheney or Straus and a misplaced belief that Blease is a forward. However, to his credit he regards the midfield as our big positive. I'm a little surprised at the glowing praise of our future forward line. Especially when he seems entirely ignorant of who is in it. We all agree that Watts and Jurrah will be a good combination, but no mention of Bate, Maric or Wonna, not to mention the contributions of Jamar and Morton at various times last year. Still, for all the inaccuracy when it comes to our list, he has us pretty well pegged. I have been wondering if we are overrating our backs in light of some of our performances (last year as well as last week). I completely agree that Frawley needs to take another big step up to become a serious FB. Warnock is a decent gorilla keeper, but not an A-grader. Rivers has shown a bit but needs to keep improving and stay healthy. Add to that that none of our smaller backs have proven themselves against decent opponents and there is reason for doubt. I'd give this review a solid B-. Fairly good grasp of things, but he loses points for not knowing who plays where and probably rating us a couple of places too low.

Honestly, I thought he was going to be rubbed out. It wasn't so much that he went past the ball to bump a player, but it looked very much like he lifted his elbow. If that's the case then it becomes a much more serious charge.

Lets not forget the dark horse here folks. We've been told by the powers that be that Fitzpatrick was taken more as a forward than a ruck. He's 200cm tall, very mobile and has played in the forward line at u18 level. It'll be a while, but don't be at all surprised to see him there in 4-5 years time alongside Watts, Jurrah and Bate.

You think we'll win 4 out of the first 5 matches? Have you seen our draw?

We were clearly tanking. You could tell by how many of our players were played out of position. As in they were on a footy field when it's becoming clear they belong in the stands. :D

Interesting. I noticed late in the match Scully picked up the ball at a flat out sprint and was running out of the circle and into space when a certain Mr J McDonald ran into his path and blocked him. Result was that they both wound up being tackled and the ball was turned over. Are we going to see this theme a lot this year?

Yes. What we saw last night was that our skills were not holding up under pressure. The way to improve this is to change the drills our players are doing to include more pressure while they execute. Why don't you look at what the Bulldogs do with their skill drills? Last time I checked they did everything with a tackler breathing down their necks. I haven't been to many training sessions, but those I have seen featured a lot of kicking/handpassing with absolutely no pressure on either player aside from being jeered when they dropped the ball. If we want to improve our disposal on match day we need to train under match conditions, and that includes being grabbed, pushed and generally pressured while trying to execute the basics.

Is there even a faint chance of it being shown on TV?

link?

Hell, the best thing out of this game is that now we have a much better idea of where we sit in comparison to other teams. I think 8-9 games this year might be waaaaaaay beyond us.

That was pretty bad.

Miller Kicks a goal? Twilight Zone stuff.

Agree. A pack of wheezing old farts chuckling at their own jokes.

So we're not to post links to sites streaming tonight's game?

Read here. This article chears me considerably. It's a great thing that these two seem to be getting along well. It can only help us down the track. Also quite good that they're already looking like stars.

Have to say, I don't think much of Henderson. He didn't show a hell of a lot tonight. Kreuzer didn't do much in the forward line either. Given how bad O'Hailpin's kicking is, I think they're in real trouble this year.

Personally I'm more inclined to despise Carlton and Collingwood. I'd be happy to have an epic rivalry with either of these.

Agree with WJ on most points. I'm not entirely sold on Warnock. He was decent, but I don't see him as a star yet. Still, he's young. There is potential there. I was thrilled by the lack of forwards in this game, and by the poor skills. While Sydney have Bradshaw and White to come in and kick goals, Carlton really don't have anything unless you count that Irish guy who can't kick. I think Shane Crawford might have to print a retraction looking at the way these two teams played.

It's very easy to sit back now and say that we should have taken him in '08 as a rookie, or that the FD made a mistake. Just remember that no club made a move on this guy at that time. I don't pretend to know the reasons for that, but obviously it was agreed on by everyone. On a personal note, I repeatedly said I didn't think much of this guy during the lead-up to the draft. Clearly I was wrong on that front. Well done to those who liked the look of him.

To be honest, I'm very worried about the player poaching issue. We've Been on the bottom for so long, and as optimistic aw we all are, it's fragile optimism. Imagine how we'd feel if GC managed to talk Watts into going north. What is that was followed by Scully going to GWS the year after? We have a raft of hugely talented young players who could be targeted by either team. Morton, Frawley, Watts, Scully. How do we respond if we have two of them taken from us? We already know that we'll get peanuts for compensation under the AFL's magic formula. Likewise Jurrah. These are players to whom we are looking to form the foundation of a sustained period of success. They are also players who could very well be targeted by the new teams. I won't be happy until every one of our young guns has been secured with deals taking them out of the reach of these two clubs.

What he's talking about is you arbitrarily assigning both Gawn and Fitpatrick to the rookie list. It can't be done. Yes Gawn can go on the LTI list, which would allow the promotion of a rookie, but that does not mean that he is then placed on the rookie list. Likewise, should a rookie be promoted at round 11 he remains on the rookie list, he is not swapped with a player on the senior list. The only time a player can be assigned to either senior or rookie lists is during trading and drafting. As for either Fitzpatrick of Gawn being placed on the rookie list at some point, you need to remember that they are both on 2 year contracts. Should the club choose to delist them and try to pick them up again in the rookie draft (which due to the contracts could only happen with the permission of the players in question) they would almost certainly have one or both poached by another club. Remeber that GC have all of the early picks in the drafts this year, and WS the year after.

Interesting article. I notice that his English has improved and he seems more comfortable talking about himself.