DeeSpencer

Maybe we need to stop sacking and start getting people in line. If anyone had their head in the sand that there weren't problems they should have realised when Jim stated he was moving into the footy department that we had issues. Maybe the answer is to stick by Schwab as CEO (sacking him would be a poor move), but go for a stronger head of football than Connolly regardless of what we do with Bailey.

99% sure this is what happened. The saints got ridiculed at the time for having to pay such a large settlement, but it looks like the right idea now.I hate these cases because due to our justice system (which is about as fair as it can be) all you can say is that the court couldn't prove he did it, no the caught proved that he didn't.

I say if we are we are losing at half time next time we play the hawks that we serve them up some line in the sand. I'm so sick of taking their crap.

I think the biggest thing he lacks is a yard of pace to make himself truly dangerous. Without it he struggles to win the ball and to get out of tight situations. I didn't think he was completely hopeless yesterday though, but I was at the ground not watching on TV.

Collingwood are also the best team in the league, which makes it pretty easy to carry a couple.Cloke was always a promising key forward, he just had a couple of ups and downs. Davis could always play. Leigh Brown would still be a dud in most sides in most positions, but Collingwood invented a role he could succeed in. Buckley was never finished as an AFL player, he just got delisted, there are many success stories of young players getting recycled. Dunn is not finished. As a 3rd tall he is very mobile, has a good long kick and can do negating roles. He is simply in a race for similar positions as Green, Howe, Jurrah and Petterd. Bate is finished. I'm happy for him to keep his spot next week but tell me if you were a recruiter watching him play you'd say he's not up to the level. If you can think of a position he could swap to and succeed in then I'm open to ideas, but it seems to me that half forward is his best go.

We picked Bate to replace Jurrah as a tall forward and we picked Dunn to come in for Petterd who went into the midfield when we lost Scully.Who else do you think we should have picked? Evans and Bartram came out of the squad, after those guys it was pretty much Blease or one of the young talls. Bailey opted for the best 22, which is never the worst idea. Hopefully any/all of Scully, Macdonald, Bartram, Jurrah, Davey will be back soon which will help all areas of the ground and make competition for spots a lot tougher. At the moment we are facing a similar problem to before the last Carlton game, in that we are running thin on depth. It's a problem we've been open to all year due to cleaning out pretty strongly last year and then picking a lot of talls in the draft which means we don't get the instant increase in ready to go players.

I only made a few harsh comments at the top.Brad Green is hard to watch. Even player reasonably well today he inspires nothing. Jones is limited. He has limited speed, limited vision and limited skill. He continues to turn the ball over by hand for no apparent reason, especially as he's demonstrated a good kicking ability. I love him for trying, but his decision making gets found out so badly by top teams. Watts' game was both mentally and physically soft. He wasn't up against any sort of quality tall defender and allowed himself to be taken out of the game at CHF. He needs to prove he can do something at CHF to make himself a presence even when having a bad day. I was harsh on Bate, but find me someone who disagrees. Let's play Cook or McDonald next time we run out of players.

Depends who's fit: IN: Scully, Bartram, Jurrah OUT: Gysberts (rested), Nicholson, Bennell Bate can stay in as the sub, it won't really matter.

In most of our good wins we've execute some kind of press/forward pressure. We didn't have the cattle on the park to execute a forward press today. Maybe that's the selection panels fault but I think it just represents injuries and a weak list.

I rest my case. Starting these threads always ends in agony.

There's already one Bate thread, not sure we need another especially if it was just infighting. Bate was picked today due to his form in the 2's and the fact that really our options are limited.

Green - hard to watch Jones - very limited player Watts - a soft game Gysberts - needs a rest Bate - has no future Bennell - not worth comment Frawley - wasn't the worst Trengove- shuffled around wastefully Sylvia - frustrated is palpable McKenzie - taught a lesson Dunn - should be regular (note: his fault if he isn't though) Petterd - showed some class Maric - needs good run Garland - wasn't totally horrible Moloney - needs more friends Rivers - solid without spectacular Martin - ruckwork needs improving Tapscott - provided my highlight Howe - talent is there Jamar - just chuggling along Strauss - did reasonable job Nicholson - confidence fading fast

A young inexperienced backline (Strauss, Tapscott, Nicholson) got exploited at times but they will learn. Bartram and Macdonald might have been better on the day, but these young guys would learn lots from games like these. The forward line was as usual dysfunctional, but it never had the legs to do the chasing that is required. We all know we'll have a better set up in the future. The midfield was probably the big disappointment. No Scully, Davey, Bail but it's still meant to be reasonable, but they leaked possessions and the Hawks first 5 goals came from stoppages. Gysberts is in bad need of a rest but at the moment we just don't have a large number of guys at Casey gunning for midfield spots.

Watching Bate is like watching that once promising 2 year old colt constantly trail in the field of Saturday races as a 5 year old gelding. Eventually he goes to back to a midweek races and has a couple of wins and you think he might be back. So you get all excited and he fails again. He might run down the outside when the race is over one day, or hold on up front for a while, but he can never produce consistent finishes. He simple isn't fast enough anymore. Eventually you realise the dream is over. You think to yourself, the breeding never really was there, with hindsight you could have come out well infront if you sold him when he had the currency.

Every time someone starts one of these threads we got rolled. So thanks. Enjoy cursing us and don't do it again.

The St Kilda final - any final win is a great win! The Freo come back. The Broadbridge game. I think a game against West Coast (possibly?) which was a win for Jimmy Stynes was a great win. I think those 4 might be the only ones after 2000.

Are they playing 4 games or 2 at Hobart I forget. I think they would rather play GWS/GC/Port/Freo down there instead of us. Personally I'd rather us play North at Etihad. That way at least some of our fans can go, and we need to start winning games there.

We've had a good fixture, but this isn't one of the good points. I would have thought having the bye after the Darwin game would have been on our request list, so possibly it was one thing we got rejected. Our last bye (the WCE game) was a very short bye week as well so I don't think we've had full benefit of the bye's this year.

If we can win one of the next 4 and then beat Richmond and Gold Coast then I don't really mind what happens from then on - ie. finals or not. I think it will have been a decent season. However I don't really like our chances of winning one of the next 4. The biggest disappointment from a player perspective has to be Dunn. He played a great second half to last year but has delivered nothing at all this year. Besides that I think most players have been around where I expected them to be, with a few youngsters coming on well and a few probably not quiet reaching the level I'd love to see them at. The other big disappointment has been this Scully saga. It's been disappointing that it's drag out so long and with so much speculation. Hopefully we get through to the end of the year without any dramatic and can hold our heads high whatever happens.

Any of Davey, Macdonald, Bartram, Bennell, Dunn, Bate, Blease all pushing for selection should give us a couple of options for fresh legs. We didn't seem to kill Jamar too much tonight so hopefully he is fresh. It's the young midfielders who I see as the greatest worry - Trengove, Scully, McKenzie and Gysberts. Scully hopefully comes up alright and let's hope the others do as well.

If he doesn't commit before the trade/delisting period then we simply make the call for him. That's not harsh, thats reasonable. I like the idea of putting him on the rookie list if he still maintains interest but isn't 100% committed and back before the end of the season.

Thompson was so good for us in 2004 until he got injured, you could just tell he was going to be a gun from then on. We got a reasonable deal, but Moloney just isn't quiet as good. I know he hasn't kept the cleanest record off the field but I feel he'd be our captain at the moment.

Been watching a bit of Harry O this year. His defending deep is only average, and he does panic and just run and pump it long at times. Luckily he has Travis Cloke often near where they kick will land. That said his work rate is amazing and he's a tough opponent. His media stuff gives me the sh1ts as well. I think he's well meaning, but probably just needs to think a bit more before he opens his gob. I've heard less of him this year thanfully.

Oh god are we on ten. I can almost here the whining on their amateur commentary team already. The best bit may well be the Auskick segment.

He did as much as Trengove last year. It's kind of obvious as to why he hasn't done much this year.All players media appearances are guided by their situation, including on field performance and contract status, and I don't have a problem with that. If Scully re-signs he'll be doing a heap of media. If he goes he'll be doing even more. GWS would demand there star signing promote the club.