Radar Detector

Brad Green says hi.

Watts in my mind is quite symbolic of the team atm and the Hurley v Watts comparison is an interesting one. Hurley is already a very accomplished player, much better than Watts is right now and the risk averse amongst us would take Hurley every day of the week. Watts is unarguably an enormous talent, albeit unfulfilled to date, with possibly greater upside than Hurley if he continues to improve. However like the Demons list in general, talent and potential to burn, it would be naive to think it will all just automatically happen for Watts. He may become a superstar, and we may build a multiple premiership winning list, but a lot of water still has to go under the bridge before we're there on either count. I think Watts will get there and I hope the team does also - we need to remain patient - but lets not get lulled into thinking either are a foregone conclusion.

No actually. He has the pace to go with Ablett, if not the tank. Jones has been torched by Ablett because of his lack of pace, and using Moloney as a tagger doesn't make sense as he is our main clearance mid. And I don't think Gysberts has any of the right attributes for the job. Bail could do the job, but my thoughts on using Davey are that if he can follow Ablett around the ground when he's on-ball, it limits the effectiveness of a potential tag on him. His main weapon is his use of the ball when we have it anyway and I don't see how this would be compromised. I think you under-sell Davey's fitness if you think Ablett will blow him up so fast. He's been a key part of our midfield for a long time now.

I'd like to see him tagging Ablett this week with a licence to create when we have the footy.

Are you unable to detect sarcasm? Seriously? Your constant personal attacks are tiresome. Give it a rest.

Have stated in another thread that I would bring in Joel Mac and move Grimes into the midfield for the whole game. Would be equally happy if Strauss was promoted despite his reported shocker for Casey.

I just want to see the team put their head over the ball and show some endeavour and desire for the contest for 4 full quarters. The flakey attitude we have shown all year so far bothers me more than the results. If our effort for a full game is at the right levels, we will beat plenty of sides and smash the GCS. Haven't seen much more than flashes so far though.

Grimes to midfield. Joel Mac to take Grimes' spot.

6. Jamar 5. Moloney 4. Jurrah 3. Gysberts 2. Sylvia 1. Jones

Good solid game by chunk today. Made two obvious clangers today but was happy with the other 25-odd disposals. If Bennell or Jetta had played that game, half the posters on this site would've creamed themselves and predicted superstardom. Everyone's happy to take pots at Jones when he deserves it, less are happy to give credit where its due. Apologies if that makes me a "poor watcher of football".

Players on the cusp are Petterd, Joel Mac, Maric and Juice. Players on thin ice are Bennell, Watts and Dunn. Morton also looked underdone. And Moloney is a chance to be suspended. If Beamer is suspended, I would promote Joel Mac and move Grimes into the guts for the whole game. Could also swap Bennell (who I think gets as much of an armchair ride as Watts but is less important long term) for Maric - but would be relaxed either way. I would prefer to see Watts retained as I'm keen to see how he plays with some decent ball coming to him. And I thought he did plenty right yesterday without being honoured often enough by his teammates. Wouldn't be too concerned about the other two spots, any of Morton, Dunn, Petterd or Juice could play next week. I thought Aussie added heaps to the forward line today - we look a lot more likely to lock the ball in there when he's playing. If everyone had his endeavour over four quarters we'd play finals.

Rivers was great in the closing stages of the game in particular, but he gets led to the ball by his direct opponent to often for my liking. If a 200cm gorilla is repeatedly leading you to the ball by 5 metres, you're in strife. Still, by the end of the game was one of our best.

The "out of character" and "don't penalise the team" mentatlity are both poor excuses and I would be disappointed if the club acted in that manner. Sylvia was penalised for a late night not drinking, so Moloney should be suspended if he's guilty. I don't want the culture of our club compromised because Beamer is an important player. As a vice captain he should know better.

Are the other Demon emergencies out there KC?

I personally think it's rubbish that three of the four guys "demoted" to the extended bench are forwards - add Maric to that list too. I still don't see how a forward is supposed to exert influence on the contest when the ball isn't forward of centre for almost an entire half of football. I thought Watts played well in the first half when he was getting some ball and Petterd deserves some games and should not be dropped despite his one brain fade. Dunn would be a good sub so don't really have an issue with that. To put half the forward line on notice when it was the mids who were so comprehensively smashed sends somewhat of the wrong message for me. That said, there isn't a lot of midfield fire power available to come in this week so maybe that's the rationale.

I have it on pretty good authority that Alipate Carlisle is also gone... Not that it really matters to us. But it illustrates an interesting point. He is already playing interstate in a team with hazy prospects, few supporters etc. Wouldn't be giving anything up to go to GWS on more coin. Guys like Sculls would be moving to a new state for all that downside. More money would be the only upside for someone like him, Thomas or Pendlebury. At least the latter two have won a flag, Scully hasn't even experienced team success yet. Would be a strange move.

Worrying signs? I would've thought it shows we've just been through a comprehensive rebuild of the list meaning that our talent is skewed towards the young and raw end of the spectrum. More like positive signs if people have the PATIENCE to wait it out. Sometimes I think I've jumped on the Yellow and Black board by mistake...

Bhima, you are by far the poster I most enjoy reading on this site. Top example of why. My only comment is that for sides that score heavily, such as Collingwood, the %s are less relevant. I would hazard a guess that Collingwood's actual scores from defensive pressure would be higher than most, even though their %s look low simply because they score so heavily from clearances.

Pretty hard for a young key forward to exert real influence in a team getting flogged... And after 20 games.

All this heat on Bailey is a tad rash in my opinion. Firstly, no game day coach, genius or otherwise, would've been able turn the tide on Sunday. The simple fact is the players couldn't lay hands on the ball. It was first and foremost a clearance issue and any game plan or tactical set-up will crumble under the sort of seige our clearance "work" allowed on the weekend. That in itself was not necessarily a coaching issue either. While we had Sylvia, Moloney and Jones, the core of our young midfield that we hope will take us to a flag was not playing and are still probably too raw to match it with teams like the Hawks consistently anyway. Scully, McKenzie, Morton, Gysberts and Blease were all missing on the weekend. In time we hope this core plus Trenners, Sylvia and maybe Grimes will be our Ablett, Bartel, Selwood, Corey etc. but they are a way off yet. And realistically, the midfield stocks yesterday were thinner than they were for most of last year against a top four team with a gun midfield. Bailey is not a miracle worker guys. He has driven improvement in the side in each of the years he's been at the helm and put together a talented list that is still several years away from peaking. Let's not jump the gun Richmond style before we see some real evidence that he's no good as opposed to some of this over-emotive scape-goating that seems to come up every time we lose a game.

Agree. Jurrah has been crusing in both games so far this year. Good for a couple a game but never really looks like he's out of second gear. I'd love to really see him tear some sides apart. That said, it's hard when the ball doesn't get forward of centre.

I agree Maric was on a hiding to nothing. Not blaming him for his relative lack of impact but think it was a tactical error to have him as sub. Agree on all your other points - midfield is where it is won or lost. Forwards and Backs are almost powerless when the midfield is so comprehensively slaughtered. I can't remeber ever seeing such one-way traffic at stoppages before. I als can't understand how anyone can draw conclusions on Bailey's ability to coach a game plan when the team couldn't get hands on the ball. I re-iterate that when we one first use in the first half, our game plan looked good. It all comes crumbling down when the mids can't lay hands on it.

I don't think you can say on form that we SHOULD beat either WCE or Adelaide, the Crows in particular. We should beat North but they're a real bogey side for us. While we certainly have the ability to win against any of these sides, I wouldn't be surprised if we only win two of these games.

FFS Buddy did the same thing running into an open goal. Next topic.

Agree on the experience and that Jones should play more time, certainly with those currently available. Highlights our lack of tough midfielders. When Jordie and Sculls are back we'll have more options. I just think it needs to be someone who can go in and win their own ball in any situation. Would be great to have the luxury of Jordan Lewis in that role.