bing181

Salem for Wagner.

Don't kid yourself, they've been very good. Enough of their players are decent, and can be damaging.

Brisbane good, play(ing) much better than their ladder position. Making us work. We can go up a gear, but will we? Still plenty not getting into the game - and to state the obvious, we really miss Viney. Pedersen another decent game, though should have nailed at least one of those goals.

Also picks up a lazy 9 disposals in a quarter. 78% efficiency. Confirmation bias: you remember ever fluffed disposal, while ignoring the majority that aren't.

No, it's not the truth at all, at best it's your opinion. One obviously not shared by the medical and conditioning staff.

Great to see so many doctors and specialists (of the medical variety) on Demonland. I have an appointment with a cardiologist next week for a slightly dodgy ticker, but obviously I can just cancel it and get informed and expert opinion here on treatment and recovery.

Think the only real question here is who of Stretch or Maynard replace Viney.

Viney out is worrying. There are many injuries you can play through or work around (see Hogan), but not foot injuries.

This is one of Demonland's ongoing myths. No, he should not/need not dominate at VFL. On the other hand, he should work on/execute what he's been sent to the VFL to work on/execute. If that results in him dominating, so be it, but it's not the criteria. Good VFL players have been dominating at VFL level for years, but that does not make them AFL players. And vice-versa. My understanding is that Watts played largely in the ruck, where he's only really a pinch-hitter and is never going to dominate. Did he do enough? It's for the coaches to decide, only they know what they were looking for in his performance.

"I felt that he played a strong role in creating aerial contests for us to bring our ground level players into play. In the last quarter, when we needed players to stand-up and compete, he took two strong contested marks and kicked a goal. He also set up another goal. When we needed him the most on the weekend, he was there. It was great to see the young man influence the game in the last quarter." etc. etc.

Perhaps the player in question needs to take some responsibility here. Especially after 150 games.

If we don't win this, we won't get into the finals - but we won't deserve to be either. Happy with the changes, a bit stiff for Maynard, but understand.

Only if you look at the last game. Over the last 3 or so games, that's not the case, Watts has been poor, Salem has been so-so. If Hunt and Garland have a run of games where they fail to have much impact, then they would presumably meet the same fate. Goodwin and co. have shown already that they'll back players and support them in the short term, but that that support has its limits.

No, tapering doesn't really apply to team sports, or across a longer period (such as the finals). Also, it's too early to be tapering for events that are still a month away, and tapering isn't just "taking it easy" at all, it's about shifting the emphasis, with very specific (but reduced) loads. You still need to perform at peak levels, just not as often or for as long. If we were deliberately resting players, that's something else - but apart from Hannan, I can't see that we're even doing that.

Don't disagree at all, but money talks ... and money walks. What really put the cat amongst the pigeons with cycling was when the sponsors and backers started to pull out because cycling was getting (had) such a bad name/reputation. Alongside that there were situations where German TV refused to broadcast the Tour de France, so even the rights-holders were complaining. I think the problem is especially difficult in lower profile sports, where there's very little money either for the sports themselves or for the athletes. There, the difference between world level performances and being decent on a national level is the difference between being able to make a career of it or not. This isn't the case with say, footy, where even at country or suburban level, decent players can get $500+ per game plus perks. There's no equivalent to that if you're a weight-lifter, distance runner or mountain-biker.

Hmm. 17 disposals? And how many of those reached their intended target? His D.E. is only just above 50%. The knock on him was always that he was a bang-it-on-the-boot player, and that's still pretty much the case. Yes, he gets it, but he's just not damaging (or reliable), and he was one who constantly led to chains of possession breaking down. Happy to play him, he's still young, but if ever wants to become more than an average player, he needs to sort out his disposal. Fingers crossed.

The point made on the AFL site today: we have a midfield stacked with inside ball-getters who have no-one to feed it to when they do.

Could Tyson's disposal be better? Absolutely. But I just think it's one of these things where you see what you want to see. Re turnovers, a) he wasn't alone and b) at least he gets 30 possessions, which is more than can be said for some of the turnover merchants. Jones had a DE just over 50%, including 8 clangers, and I don't see too many people going after him for turning the ball over. Tyson's an in-the-guts player, and to a large extent, most disposals are under pressure. Have you seen Dustin Martin's figures for clangers and disposal efficiency?

We travelled interstate where we were beaten by one of the main flag contenders on a ground they haven't lost on in x years. And people are surprised? We're 2 - 3 years off being a decent finals side. Until then, we'll win some, and lose some.

Should pin this at the beginning of every post match discussion thread ... especially when we lose. Feel like we're in good hands, frustrating though some of these losses are.

"Billy had 25 disposals, including 14 contested possessions, 13 tackles, nine clearances and five inside 50s. He’s another player who impressed on the weekend."

Casey is full of players that when they played in the firsts, most here were happy to see the back of.

Fantastic from Brayshaw ... but very impressive from JKH. He just needs to learn to do it at senior level, he's got to be more than one of those players who stars in the lower leagues but never makes the step up.

Nails it for me. Time and time again, the ball would come into the forward half or the centre, but fail to reach a target. Hunt, Harmes and ANB stand-outs in this aspect, but it also includes players like Tyson, Petracca Jones & Viney. It creates opportunities for the opposition, robs us of momentum, and most importantly, limits our scoring ability, which when all's said and done, is why we're losing matches. We're not scoring enough, and we're not scoring enough because our delivery into the forward line (and around the ground in general) is often poor. Only 10 goals in each of the last two matches says it all. Getting the ball is only half the battle. I'm afraid that until we either improve our disposal, or bring in players who are skilled with the ball in hand, we'll continue to be not-quite-there.

Not excusing a poor performance, but injuries just haven't helped us. Not so much the injuries per se, but Viney, Jones and Watts are not playing nearly as well as they were pre-injury.