Adam The God

I was at that game in Canberra. Morton was superb on Goodes. Killed him. I can see where you're coming from with this, Billy, but it seems reasonably clear Cale's greatest weakness is psychological.

She has a very short memory, unless it relates to a personal grudge of hers. That said, just about every AFL journalist has the memory of a gold fish.

I must be the only one who thinks he's comfortably beating Jones in the B&F. I've been pretty disappointed with Jones' season. I've been more frustrated than anything, because he's had to run the midfield single-handedly. I'm not convinced he's been tagged the last few weeks. I think he was getting a tag between about rounds 3-7 and it's dropped off since. He started the season well, while Col took a few weeks to get going, but I think the latter has been dominating the votes each week for a while now. You're correct about Griffen. I loved that. It was great to see that measured aggression. Within the rules and highly confident.

Shuey's an interesting one. Do you know his contract status, tatu?

Was waiting for this thread. Love this idea.

Perhaps, though Grimes turns it over too much by foot for mine. He certainly couldn't play key position like Dunn either. In fact, I think Dunn's a better kick than Grimes too. I'm sure he'll come in once fit, but I can't find a place for him outside of the midfield. That is if Clisby keeps holding his place.

Maxwell is hopeless one-on-one and isn't really a key position player. He's a third tall at best. Garland is a KPB that can play on tall or small. Is lightening fast and fantastic one-on-one.

He's a gem. It's great to hear. I wonder where Grimes fits in now. He'd have to play in the midfield or on a wing wouldn't he? Don't ruin a good thing.

Totally agree, OD. If we could get even a player of Luke Ball's calibre that would invaluable and allow Viney, M Jones and Toumpas to learn from them. Not to mention allow Nathan Jones a little more time and space. The problem with Carlton is Gibbs never turned into the midfielder they were hoping for, but Judd has shown Murphy the way. Obviously Carlton also have KPP issues, which is why they have never really looked threatening.

Grimes is never on the park. I'd be dividing it between Garland and Jones personally.

I hope you're right, Trenners. I think it might take a little more than a win over the Bulldogs to convince the majority. We need to show for the remainder of the season that we can match it with a mid-tabled side or two. I doubt it with our midfield though. I wholeheartedly agree that we have great promise at both ends of the ground. We also have some young talent in the middle. It's experience we lack there. If we land an established coach, as you say, they will still have a bit of a hard sell. We should be aiming to win 4 or 5 of our remaining games.

Tony Shaw was harsh. In fact, he was harsh on a number of Melbourne players. You could hear the almost disdainful tone in Hudson's voice all night too. I've watched the replay twice now. Loving it. :D

Spot on, Robbie. This is decision making and can be ironed out.

I'll admit that his ability to get so much of the ball means that he will turn it over a few times and therefore that may stick in the memory. I'd say my point about experience and decision making is still valid for Terlich though. Each to their own, I guess.

Actually I noted his contribution, just as I noted the work he needs to do. Disposal efficiency is an absolutely rubbish stat. It depends who you talk to, but what some consider an efficient disposal is the ball getting on the full to any player on the ground. Again, he reads the play well, has the ability to kick well, but makes poor decisions too often at the moment. I'm not saying he won't get there though.

Completely agree, BBB.

We MUST make sure we fix our midfield. We'll beat the Bulldogs' of the league, but won't get near even the mid-table teams with our current midfield. It lacks experience and class.

I thought his disposal was deplorable early on, but hopefully that goal on the run can give him a bit of belief and confidence in himself. That's what we need from him though. Don't go looking into the middle with dinky little passes. Either tuck the ball under your arm and run at the opposition or play the percentages. He can still make it, but needs to understand his limitations and the specific role required of him. He should provide a bit of speed from the stoppages and if he can kick a goal or two a game, run and carry the ball, he's worth a game.

I think that early check-side goal gave him some extra confidence to deliver a consistent game. Easily his best game. He almost looks like taking those pack marks now. His positioning at times still needs a lot of work. Well done on the game though, Fitzy.

Needs to work on his kicking, because he's a great reader of the play and doesn't have a problem finding the ball. Decision making is his problem at this stage. With another 20 or 30 games under his belt and hopefully we'll start to an improvement on that level. He could become a very important part of our defensive puzzle.

Did anyone notice that we seemed to have a PLAN B out of defence tonight? This is the first time I can recall that we've ever had a plan outside of simply kicking long to the back flank and hoping Howe or a ruckman would pluck it. That goes for all of the Daniher, Bailey and Neeld eras. Essentially, what I gleaned from it was that Frawley would bolt to roughly centre-wing. Terlich would then kick to himself. By this time, Frawley would double back into the space left by his opponent and Terlich is then left to hit him up easily. It worked a treat the first time. It's simple things like this that keep the opposition guessing. I'm probably wouldn't work against the top teams, but at least we're trying something different down there. Unfortunately, we're still persisting with the horrid huddle, but if the players work hard enough there's a chance that they can break that defensive zone. Aside from the team performance for the first three quarters, this is the aspect of the game that most excites me. More innovation, please.

Staggering that you'd not go and see the MFC play. Equally, that you'd ditch the MFC for a mind-numbling boring sport that involves a bunch of private school boys running into each other and throwing a ball backwards. Ridiculous. Further, get the F off our board if you're going to prioritise a game of Rugby over your AFL football. You sit on our board for crying out loud. Not for long, one hopes. Oh and I'm a swinging voter on the bugle. Some days I find it utterly pretentious and potentially harmless to attracting a wider fan base, while others I love it for the arrogance.

Agreed. Isn't it disappointing to walk away from one of our very few wins with a hollow feeling. That [censored] me off. The effort across the first three quarters was solid though. Also, before I discuss Watts and the rest of the team I think it's important to note the Garland love is through the roof at the moment. What a champ. Meanwhile, tonight wasn't the night where Watts announced himself, but I can feel him building up to it. I just hope it's not one of those 'switch it on for contract talks' run of performances. The only flawless game Jack has played so far is the defensive game against Essendon last year. I can't wait to see him play one up forward. Just a few poor decisions and one-on-one's that let him down tonight. Incremental improvement though. Should have kicked 5. A few observations across the rest of the ground: * Howe needs to work waaaaaaay harder defensively. He's fast becoming a one-trick pony. * Trenners played his best game for the year. His field kicking was efficient and his tackling as always was first rate. * Chip was fantastic in defence and supplied much need offensive run. * Our midfield was killed in the clearances all night, which makes it difficult to fathom how we actually won the thing. The fact that young Libba was the only Bulldog winning those clearances for three quarters probably helped. * The Geelong model of counter attack from half back seemed to be the go. Garland, Frawley, Terlich (who needs to really work on his kicking - he gets it enough, just butchers it), Clisby (who needs to know his limitations) and Tommy Mac (see the former) provided great rebound out of defensive 50. * Rodan was fantastic. Easily his best game for us, but not his only good game for the club. He's been pretty consistent as of late. Not only was he creative tonight, but he was instrumental in our ability to stifle the Bulldog midfield for three quarters. He probably kicked the goal of the year thus far too. * The coaching staff really have to work on the decision making of Terlich and Matt Jones. They are both great readers of the play and can get into the right spots to receive, but their decision making is abysmal. First season players, okay. But if they can iron out those flaws they'll become very valuable members of our side going forward. I'd add Tommy Mac to this point too. What was he thinking at the end of the third? Know your limitations and start taking the right options. Really like him as a player though. * Starting to get pretty excited by Toumpas. A couple of times tonight he showed great positioning, awareness and an ability to win the contested ball. Considering he doesn't have even a B grade midfield around him, he's beginning to look really, really promising. If we can get a few more hard bodied mids beside him to share the workload with Nathan Jones, he could develop into a really devastating ball user. Just think, young Jack Viney has barely played a game either. Really exciting. I just hope we can bring in one elite experienced midfielder over the summer. We'll also get another highly touted youngster. * I thought Nathan Jones broke even in the end, but his disposal in the early part of the game was deplorable for someone of his experience and ability. He did improve as the game wore on though. * Fitzy did a couple of nice things too. His kicking has certainly improved, while his height and mobility should trouble a few defences this year. * Dawes also did well with his pretty ordinary supply at times. That strong mark and goal in the final quarter proved vital. * My final thought: please get us a midfield! Thought he played his best game for the club. The disappointing thing is his man still kicked three and had at least 25 possessions. I felt Nicho, like many of his team mates, let his concentration slip in the last. We've got to work on this. Sydney are also coming off a hard slog in the rain, against a tougher opponent than us. They also have the flight down south. I think that'll even itself out. Totally agree. I had quite a strange viewing experience tonight. I was essentially hoarse at three quarter from all my shouting. For the entirety of the final quarter I was detached and somewhat hollow. I'd much prefer us having to slog out an entire game, rather than walk over the line easily at this stage in our development. The thing that I was looking for from our guys was who would stand up under the pressure when things got tough. It was Garland, Frawley and Dawes. Sylvia attempted to have an impact but he just doesn't influence the game enough. He's the icing on the cake type. Our defence stood up in the last, but our midfield killed us. The all the goals came from midfield. Even those kicked by forwards. It was from direct clearances that were then impossible to defend against. We have some work to do, but upon reflection I think this win will be really important going forward. It means little in the scheme of the ladder and the AFL season as a whole, but for us it's utterly psychological. An absolute dud. Thank whatever you believe in that he's gone. I hope he's instrumental in the continued stagnation of the Blues midfield next year too. Are you serious? We had a great run with the umpires tonight. That was a hopeless decision, but it more than evened itself out across the game. Personally, I could understand a few livid Dogs supporters. And let's be honest with each other here. Maxy tried hard but was no match for Minson.

Kruezer is overrated. Gibbs is softer than Watts. But Patton is a KPF who's barely played any games and is injured.

Seemed like a massive brain-fade that decision. Horrible decision either way.