JJJ

Michael Evans was getting about yesterday on crutches. Doesnt he have a back injury?

Im not against dropping him. I just want to know who comes in for him? I want to drop 20 of the blokes running around yesterday but who would replace them? I like Bennell as a forward but it seems the new coaching staff see him as a defender.

Thats all good and well but we need to replace him with some pace. We can't close the game down at Subi, we couldn't yesterday at the G. WCE will cut our slow team to ribbons on the wide expanses of Pattersons. Im not even sure I can bring myself to watch it.....

If Morton played well yesterday he deserves to play against WCE. Apparently the penny dropped for him some time during the pre-season and was showing signs of his old self. He has holes in his game but he also has enough weapons to benefit the side next week.

We are tanking. I just figured it out. It explains our game plan yesterday. 3 1st rounders to get 2 A-grade mids and 1 A-grade small forward.

Re Tynan. The only reason he may get dropped is because of a lack of fitness. The big ground our west may find him out. People who are singling him out for criticism are off the mark and should be looking elsewhere for scapegoats. I didn't see him squibb once. I can tell you that the coaching staff had no problems with his hardness and application yesterday. As he gets used to the speed of the game he will learn to take a little more time to dispose of the ball. He is a great find. Davey just can't play in a tight, congested game. We've known this for years. He at least provided some chasing but he no longer has electric pace and elite disposal. A fringe player at the moment.

Trengove - the effort was there but he looked a little short of a gallop. It will come. Grimes - great early but fatigued due to constant pressure. Jones - couldn't find any space and time. Needs more clearances. Bartram - not sure what to do with this bloke. Watts - almost all of our best passages of play featured watts. Needs to do it over 4 qtrs. Bate - impacted game but it was already gone. Frawley - a little loose. No attacking aspect which we need badly. Clark - not great but limited chances with our delivery and slow ball movement. Mckenzie - out of touch. Blease - short steps and not a natural forward Green - horrible vision and skills Garland - worst game for years. Just awful. Moloney - ditto. Rivers - at a hiding to nothing. Had to fix others mistakes. Too small to defend lewy. Macdonald - should have gone to rockliff way earlier. Coaching staff very slow to react. Martin - typical Martin game. Some good some bad Davey - not a congested football type. Needs to think about his future Howe - played from behind most of the game. Not impressed by unwillingness to present as a hf. Jamar - yikes. Bail - a better running version of bartram? Butcher by foot but does other things well. Can you have these types in modern footy? Magner- good first up effort Neeld - reactive and has players hopelessly out of form. Is the game plan to play boundary at all costs? Hmmmm very predictable team with the ball in hand.

6 Magner 5 Watts 4 Trengove 3 Jones 2 Howe 1 Tynan

overheard some people in the Presidents area talking about how much better we would be this season if Viney were able to play. I asked if they were talking about Todd or Jay. Round 1 and already looking at new talent......

This lot doesn't spread well, that is true. I actually think their biggest problem is that all of the above a pretty poor defensively with the possible exception of McKenzie who looked short of a gallop to me. Magner was pretty good 1st up but I thought his setup at dead ball situations was awful. We were getting smashed and he still wouldn't defend. Kicking aside it is his biggest weakness in the games I've seen so far. When Moloney isnt getting the pill he is just plain terrible as he is possibly the worst defensive mid since Trapper.

People who are calling for Tynan to be axed are way off the mark. He was a bigger positive than Magner for me.

He didn't look too happy to me when he had to pick up his girlfriends tickets off the ground. Took him an eternity to bend down to pick them up.

Rockliff and Redden have more runs on the board than any of our young mids. Neither team looks great in attack so far in 2012.

This was surprisingly easy for me.... I had hoped it would be extremely difficult but alas.... The only one I wasnt sure about was Bennell but we need a small with speed down there. FB: Bennell, Frawley, Garland HB: Grimes, Rivers, Sellar C: Trengove, Moloney, Blease HF: Watts, Howe, Petterd FF: Davey, Clark, Green R: Jamar, Jones, Magner IC: Bartram, Mckenzie, Martin, Tynan Emerg Bate Bail McDonald Would love it if in 2 weeks time Gysberts, Morton, Tapscott & Couch were in there....

Usually, I like to think anyway, I have a reasonable grasp on what is in store for us but I have no idea. I voted 12th. More variables than usual it would seem.

I am thinking/hoping that we are not only trialling defensive strategies but implementing the new game plan at its most stringent. The players seem hell bent on playing the boundary line at all costs. Fingers crossed that we show some more cohesion and attacking flair in a couple of weeks.

Our midfield are pretty average. Captain obvious statement but it is even worse than I thought.

Clark would be a little scared about playing deep forward for us right about now...... He has no idea how cold you can get standing in our goal square in June.

We miss Watts...

There aren't any doubts about Davis at club level. Both he and Tom McDonald exceeded expectations last season and will play senior footy in 2012. Both are great athletes with a fierce competitive side.

Sellar....... wow! I mean wow.......

I was desperate, what can I say?

Go hard or go home for O'Meara. He is an unbelievable talent. Both compo picks and Petterd? That is probably not enough. Chuck in Bater? I honestly don't think we have the pieces to get him but I would like to think we will be proactive. Martin plus the picks may go close but we would seem reluctant to trade him as we just signed him. Would it tear at the fabric of the club to offer the picks plus a Jones or a (gulp) Grimes? Can you tell that I am undecided about what we could offer?

Limiting his work load for next friday. I heard last night that all he had to do today was play half a game and pull up ok and he was in. We'll see.

We will find out soon enough how good he is. He said at the Wharf Hotel after the game that he was given the all clear to return to action this week.