Adam The God

Unfortunately, Jack was the old, timid Jack Watts. Had a couple of good moments with ball in hand, but he was clearly carrying a niggle that he couldn't get over. He shouldn't have played if that was the case. We're just as likely to win next week. This is what I had hoped we were past. That is, the inconsistency from week to week. I'm more confident going into the North game than I was going in to today.

And some people were insinuating we didn't need Prestia.

Unfortunately, it's not. And Goodwin was also in the coaching box today...

You could see the lethargy oozing from our players. I watched so many of them jog between contests and jog between set ups. No wonder we were miles off being able to cover the switch off half back. I'm going to point him out again, because I thought he was pathetic. Dean Kent. Not a single touch in the first quarter. One in the second. And five in total for the day. He jogged most of the day. This is not a bloke that has been out of the side like Brayshaw (who was almost as ordinary today). But Kent has had the full pre season competition and Round 1 run up and still struggles to get involved in play. He'll probably play again next week, because we lack leg speed, but if we're serious about changing the culture at the club, he should be dropped. Oh and did I mention he had a solitary tackle for the day?

Essendon were first to the ball all day. The umpiring usually goes your way if you do, except if you're Melbourne.

Yep, deplorable. I could only name those three players as well and upon reflection Jeffy too. What an indictment on the rest of the team. Some of Gawn's tap work today was bewildering. I think those players owe the supporters big time.

I'm sorry, but what would Dunn have contributed? He's practically the same height as Garland and McDonald. In fact, I think he's shorter than McDonald. Lumumba looks ordinary when we don't work hard, but he did look good a couple of times when we took it from end to end.

I'm not sure that's entirely true. Our blokes didn't work hard enough. You could seenthe Essendon switch coming every time off half back and we were consistently too slow to act. Combine slow thinking with a lack of work rate and you'll see how we got beaten by a third rate opposition. But credit to them, they worked a lot harder.

If the Weed is half as good as Daniher I'll be very happy. He's not the greatest kick, but he's so hard to defend against with his reach. Their quick ball movement helped him too.

McDonald definitely played dumb football. His decision making isn't of the level of someone with the experience he now has.

We didn't get enough from too many players. Our ball movement was slow, we didn't work hard to spread and we weren't first to the ball. They smashed us in uncontested possessions and as a result we didn't deserve to be as close as we were. In some ways the defeat was comparable to the 148 loss. It proves there's still a very soft underbelly at our football club. I'm surprisingly calm. It was such an insipid performance though. I can feel the apathy returning. I was hoping this would be a season where we would become more consistent. I know it's early in the season and that could still come, but it's a pretty bitter pill to swallow.

I love the awkwardness of Pedo on the buzzer. He reminds me of a guy I went to school with who would just wander up to a group of people having a chat and stand there awkwardly. A love between Jesse and Jack, but not so much Pedo.

And he hits targets with those handballs. Something a lot of our guys have struggled to do in recent times. He's been a breath of fresh air.

Just gets his hands free every time. He has time that others dream of. I think the comparisons to Voss are quite apt, but there's quite a bit of similarity between he and Cripps. Our bloke is just doing it a lot earlier and has that quick burst of speed that Cripps doesn't have.

I did do a Google beforehand to check that Tyson was pick 3.

It's actually outrageous when you think about the access to top end talent our club has had*: Petracca: Pick 2 Oliver: Pick 4 Brayshaw: Pick 3 Viney: could easily have gone first round. Salem: Pick 9 Tyson: Pick 3 These guys will make a formidable group in two to three years time. Keep them all together, on the park and they will take us close to the ultimate. Big call, but these guys all have elite traits that compliment each other. I think we might just be seeing the formation of something special. Oh and the cherry on top at the end of this year? Dion Prestia. * It has certainly needed it though.

Why do people insist on putting Kent in this group? Add in Salem and you've got the most exciting midfield in the comp if you can keep them together and on the park.

Even more exciting is that we haven't even seen Petracca or Weiderman yet either.

Add in Prestia at the end of this year. Oliver is really, really impressive. What excites me is that someone like Thomas Bugg has stepped up and really shown his hand too. It just takes the pressure off a young bloke like Oliver, because there are more hands on deck and a sharing of the load across many. We are now getting goals from midfield and look dominant at stoppages. When was the last time we could say that? Gawn certainly helps us give first use, but guys like Oliver will provide really stiff competition for Gus, Petracca, Bugg, Kennedy etc. Really like Oliver's decision making and game sense though. He knows where his team mates are and he knows which decision to take. Very excited about him.

I like the look of Clarry. He's quick in and under and makes good decisions quickly. The pace of the game didn't seem too much for him. Looking forward to seeing more of him.

Looking forward to SOS bungling Carlton's list.

Are we? At times last year we really struggled for depth. The fact that Brayshaw played so many games says something. He was terrific, don't get me wrong, but in a side with more depth he plays 10-15 games. With Oliver, Petracca and the return of Trengove, we have a bit more depth, but I think Oliver will get an earlier call up than he would in a better side. I still think we can and should win 10-12 games this year though.

Couple of things here. 1) most of the big blokes that have left their respective clubs have started negotiating with their club's-to-be a year out from being uncontracted. Two years in this day and actually is more akin to one year. 2) he was presented with targets the club had to reach under Roos and we hit them. There's also clear wins to loss ratio improvement. 3) yes, the salary cap is going up, but Hogan's manager would have known that months ago. He would be negligent not to. Yet, still, Hogan's management sat down and listened to deals at the end of last year. If their intention was to wait until the salary cap jump (that they knew was coming), why did they string us along with negotiations late last year? 4) you can't seriously think we didn't offer him the rightful amount of money. We offered him oodles. Even with salary jumps, we won't be able to offer him more than $10 mill over 10 years.

He would have been offered something ridiculous by us, so given he has put off talks, that says he's gone. As if we wouldn't have offered him $10mill over 10 years or even more. Really disappointing. I'll find it very difficult watching him run around this season.

Seems to play quite a bit like Viney. Has that similar thirst for the pill.