Adam The God

18th for clearances. The stats say they are. Doesn't mean we can't expect some improvement out of the younger guys.

We've only just moved to the state of the art AAMI Park. Is there a need to move so soon? If PJ is involved in this, which I'm sure he is, I'll back it, but it does sound a little random.

I've been to every game this year, except the games against GWS, Adelaide and Port. The first half of the Bulldogs game was equal to, if not worse than the Eagles game. I agree we seemed to play without care in the first half, but I feel like we haven't brought decent intensity to a match since the Port game. We've been okay in patches since, but really, we haven't hit 100% again. Disappointing. There's no doubt we've shown improvement this season though. It didn't help that Tommy Mac was playing injured on Riewoldt, who ended up being the difference.

Fair enough, Nash. I thought we played one really good quarter and one okay quarter. Very hard to take a lot positive from it, except that the margin was still only a goal at the end of it all.

They're different types of players. Has NikNat ever received three votes? Jack has twice. He's more consistent. NikNat is flashy and is, IMO, one of the most overrated players in the league. Jack has dominated games, not physically, but he has dominated them. The sooner people accept Jack's not a KPF, the sooner people will appreciate him for his skills and decision-making. I'm not saying Jack doesn't need to improve his physicality, but your statement above, BB, is simply unfair. Don't get done over by the media hyperbole.

Grimes had two critical moments that cost us goals, but his second goal was excellent. I'd give him a pass mark, but IMO wasn't in our best.

I think that was code for: 'we can only delist so many'.

Lol. Two coaches in a row. The dreaded Neeld phrase.

And Jimmy Toumpas had a double hip operation in his draft year. What's your point? I'd argue that the birth of his first child might be affecting his game over the past two weeks.

I'd argue the only one of our mids who doesn't do this is Bernie Vince. He consistently gets quick kick clearances. Jones has got better at this (hence his rising status in the game), but Viney and Tyson still try to do too much. Get it on the boot and get it moving forward. I agree, ADC. We have to get rid of this. All good, mate. My post should have made that clearer. : ) Yeah, I thought the Doggies would have had an incredible tackle count. That's also a fascinating statistic, that Geelong one. I was at that game. We had a real dip that day, but lacked class across the ground - sound familiar? ; ) Toumpas was picked under a different regime. Would Roos and co have picked him? Who knows? If you're to believe some rumours, Neeld overruled Viney on that call. But, what's done is done. Toumpas is an MFC player and I will back him, until his position on the list is untenable. For the record, JT has better careers stats than Stringer, who was taken the pick after him, but played more games than Jimmy. Stringer also hasn't played the majority of his footy without leaders, in possibly the worst team of the past 30 years. Okay, we've improved this year, but Roosy is making the young guys earn their stripes. That's fine. JT will be back and given more chances. That's Roosy's style. Mine too, RF. Thank you, Adelaide.

I concur, although base camp was so low, that it muddies what should be reasonable expectations for any AFL side. When a fellow bottom side have two of their three best mids out, we should beat them. Our resurgence in the third term shows how 'diabolical' our first half was. Jamar was absolutely hopeless in the ruck. In the first half, he was clearly winning the hit outs, but the Bulldogs had 9 hit outs to advantage, we had zero. Yesterday, he regressed to his 2012/2013 self in the ruck. He was half decent up forward, except for a contest late in the fourth, where he failed to mark against Morris (a foot shorter than him), when the kick was perfectly placed to his advantage. Perhaps, some of the blame can be placed on our mids shoulders for their lack of work rate in the first half, but Jamar consistently tapped directly at his feet and appeared content with that result. Gawn was the one that changed the game, when he started to tap into space for our mids to run onto it. Spot on, mate.

Thanks, mrtwister. That's surprising, although I remember their tackling being absolutely ferocious in Round 8. They would have out tackled us that day, would they not? And I meant MFC games, not necessarily the whole comp. But that is an interesting stat.

And what about Jake Stringer, who was taken just after him and averages less possessions, but who has played more games? Toumpas also came off a double hip surgery before his first pre season. I thin kwe certainly have to give Jimmy time.

There's no way today was a respectable loss though, D. I've seen the word 'diabolical' used quite a bit in the wash up. I reckon it's extremely apt.

There were 177 tackles laid! That's not bruise free footy. In fact, it goes against my rule: if your team lays 80 tackles or more, you invariably win the game. We laid a staggering 91 tackles. 91! They laid 86. Simply staggering. I'm pretty sure that's a season record. I can't remember the last time we laid that many tackles. Even if Frawley is in our best players on the day, some have a whack.

I'd argue Vince has really stepped up over the last two to three weeks, RF. And the bolded bit is interesting. Some Demonlanders seem to be happy to do this with Frawley.

You like stirring the pot, don't you, HH?

Well, I do understand things have changed, yes. But preferring draft picks to a bloke who is 25 and an AA full back is ludicrous, IMO. He showed his worth today. My post was directed at those who are saying they hope he leaves, so we can get more draft picks. That's a very disappointing attitude, given where we've come from. I do detract my statement though that draft picks wouldn't help. They could very well help, but I'd prefer a top draft pick (which we'll get due to ladder position) and keeping Frawley.

The Casey debacle is exactly the sort of reason that will prevent Roos from committing to the club long term. That is, as Senior Coach. That's why he's all airy fairy about his contract, IMO. I hope we can fix this soon.

So what's going to happen if and when Frawley re-signs? Will people all of sudden think he's a champ again? Some of the thinking in this thread and the Frawley thread is ridiculous. More draft picks aren't going to help us. Surely, the past 7 years has taught us that much.

So what's going to happen if and when Frawley re-signs? Will people all of sudden think he's a champ again? Some of the thinking in this thread and the Frawley thread is ridiculous. More draft picks aren't going to help us. Surely, the past 7 years have taught us that much.

Agreed, B_N. I think our overuse of the ball right across the ground has been criminal for weeks now. Our midfielders look for a handball option running towards them or wide, before looking for the best kicking option up field. It draws pressure on our guys consistently, when the better option is a quick kick forward inside 50. This would then put our opposition under pressure, rather than our team mates. So frustrating. We got away with it a little bit more today, but it still cost us a number of times going forward. It means we're essentially moving the ball slower and it's one of the reasons why our forwards have such a hard time of it.

I thought Boyd killed us, particularly in the first half, but Frawley was certainly our best and deservedly in the top 2 players on the ground.

Gawn's tap work was terrific. Easily his best game for the season. Was impressed by him today. It was Jamar's tap work that cost us. When Gawn moved into the ruck in the third, he started tapping aggressively and he managed 3 or 4 hit outs to advantage for the quarter. We looked less likely to win the centre clearance with Jamar are in there, but he was an important foil for Gawn, whose tank is obviously not quite there yet. I think Gawn showed today that he's going to be a very good tap ruckman. Jamar had the height advantage up forward and should have kicked four or five. Disappointing in the end. As for our midfield, I thought they were thoroughly outplayed around the ground again, but in the centre square they held their own and were excellent in the third term.

Good point, D. This was Jones last year. I'd like to think that with a season and a few more games under his belt, he'll start to learn to take that first option. Hopefully, he'll also get a few more foils too.