bing181

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that Lewis came to us on a 3 year contract.

You missed out on cures all known diseases and walks on water.

All we need to know, though stating the obvious.

Agree on Jetta, not so sure on Hibbard. Feel that the backline are still adjusting to playing together, and roles are still being (re) defined, Hibbard's as much as anyone. Hunt's another one down there that seems a bit lost/down on form.

What is it with the "Wagner out" brigade here? He was fine, and won't be dropped. If you want scapegoats in the backline and who are under-performing, the two to go are Hunt and Jetta.

Brisbane may have been bottom last year, but they won’t be this year. Adding Hodge and Cameron, Christianson back ... makes a big difference. They already improved over the course of last season, and will continue. Most importantly though, with away teams having to travel, plus the humidity, they’re never going to be walkovers at home. Bottom 4, maybe, but they’re a mid-table team at the Gabba. Happy with the win, though as always, work to do.

To send Tyson a message?

Yes, but isn't that the point? He's "good" when for a player of his abilities, he should be doing better than that. Is he giving 110%, or is he falling back on his talent? I also wonder whether or not there's still a lingering confidence issue in regard to the head knocks. I'm sure he'll find his way back to the firsts.

No problems with that. Making it hard for Angus B though, but you can understand why Bugg would be selected ahead of him.

Good to see at least someone pointing out the obvious. I was struck by how uncertain Hibberd looked at times now that Lever is down there. But you're right, the synergy will come, as we started to see in the second half where we kept a top 4 side to 2 goals for a half (which is not all down to the backline of course).

Or not.

I noticed that as well, not sure what's behind it, especially Melksham and Harmes, they're quite low figures. Cramping?

Having waded through these few pages, I'm still little the wiser as to what Jones actually said. On the other hand, I have plenty of speculative information as to what people think he said, what he didn't say, and what people would have said if they were in his position.

Jesus wept ...

- we were able to steady and turn the game around - the new-look backline improved as the game went on - Max's mark in the dying moments. A bit lost in focusing on the kick that followed, but was massive.

Just not sure what happened with Melksham. For me he was perhaps the greatest disappointment of the day because he's been doing so well in the latter part of last year and the pre-season comp. He seemed to be playing further up the ground and/or not sure of his role/position ... though as always, I could be wrong.

You can coach all you want, but if for one reason or another the players don't execute. Someone (Goodwin or Nate Jones post-match) commented that this was the first match that the backline had played together with Lever there. I thought that even Hibberd didn't look his usual AA-self. There was (some) uncertainty as to who was doing what and the finer points of who was playing what role, especially in the first half, which Geelong were able to exploit. Yes, there were moves made which switched things around, but it's no accident that they improved as the match went on. Keeping a top-4 side to 2 goals for a half of footy isn't to be sneezed at.

While execution could be improved, the problem is not that the game plan is flawed - or at least this part of it. We had 29 shots on goal, and kicked what should be a winnable score (or close to). The problem is down the other end, where we let them kick an even more winnable score. You cannot have the opposition manage 12.8 in a half of footy and expect to win.

Wagner won't be dropped, nor should he be.

Viney and Tom McDonald are big outs which really hurt us. Both play key roles, and we don't really have anyone to replace them in those roles.

I think the more relevant question is "how old are you?"

Seriously? You've decided he can't coach because of the sound of his voice?

God almighty, Hawkins was kept goalless in a winning team where their mids had control for much of the day, and people here are bitching about O'Mac.

Well, we didn't lose because Maynard and Wagner were in the team, both did enough. The fact that apart from one bad quarter, we equalled or outscored them for most of the rest of the match shows that the team we had on the park was capable of winning. But too many out there not doing enough for enough of the time: Hunt, Harmes, Hannan, Salem, Garlett, Melksham, even Lever ... that coupled with some shonky kicking. Roll on next week.

Not confident about this, to be honest. Viney and Tom Mac out are big. Still, fingers crossed.