Yokozuna

I said the same thing to those around me at the game. Bartram should have kicked the ball further away and then chased and tried to use his pace. I know the goal that got them back in front was from that play, but there were plenty of other opportunities to win the ball, clear the ball and control the ball prior to thatpoint, which would have also won us the game. To place it all on that one play is just wrong. There were many errors madein that game and against the pies, which I am hoping is just inexperience and the fact we have not been in many winning positions prior to this year,so we will hopefully learn from them. Bartram should not be dropped on his current form, but I can understand that he may beone who will make way for our other youngsters coming up.

What is with bagging Daveys kicks? I would rather him kick shorter kicks to a teammate in a dangerous position rather than belting it long to nobody like we previously did. Anyway, 3 things I want 1) A Melbourne domination, winning by over 10 goals. 2) The forward line of Sylvia, Bate, Hughes and Watts to all kick a few goals each. 3) The commentators to get off the NicNat train, and jump aboard the team that will become the new powerhouse!!! (On a sidenote, I am so sick of hearing about Natanui. He is an exciting player, but he touches the ball 10 times agame! He gets in the best for doing 2/3 really good plays, I cant stand it. I w ould rather a very good consistent player than a sometimes ecxiting player. Give me a Grimes/McKenzie etc. anyday!!!)

You dont think that Garland and Frwaley can match them? I think they both have the pace. I guess it also depends ono their taller options, who at the moment are Waite and O'Hailpin. I would think Bartram would get Betts, Garland on Yarran, Frawley on O'Hailpin, Warnock on Waite and then Grimes maybe on Garlett. We may need to bring in another small defender as back up and/or to release Grimes, so they would need to be quick, maybe Bail/Strauss.

Flash is still having a great year. I think we sometimes try to dissect everything a little too closely. I would think that he has still been one of our most damaging players simply for the fact that when he gets the ball, something good happens. He still hits targets in dangerous places and sets up many attcking plays. He might want to get another few possessions, but I would still say he is in our top5 for the year. I also think some people may be expecting him to be a 30 possession winner all the time. 15 touches from him are worth 30 from some others, just for the way he uses the ball.

It is interesting that this is an issue. I have played footy for over 20 years, and in that situation I would, and most players I know, would have jumped as he did. If his legs were still on the ground he could very well be having a knee reco this week. Also, I saw Liam Pickering bring this point up on one of the many footy shows on Foxtel. He thinks it is a big issue with players sliding into other players legs. I agree with him. It is very hard for the player standing up to do much when someone dives at them. It is one of my many pet hates when it comes to rules how players can dive into peoples legs, and either get a free for high contact, or they knock the player over, who falls on them and they get an in the back free. That is besides the point though. There was no lack of courage by Bennell, (maybe just a lack of courage by the posters who think he shirked the issue), it was the smart play at the time. And if we are going to focus on every individual piece of play, I am sorry, but I am sure we could focus on a few more minute pieces of play which were just as "bad" by many of our players. Lets stick to the positives, and be happy with the improvement being shown, and be glad we are not still down with the Tigers!

I find it amusing that they admit it was a mistake, and say it wont happen again, but I am pretty sure it has happened before. I know it is bad to say that without a factual back up, as I cant remember the game, but I am sure I have heard people complaining about the colour of the umpires tops before. It is pretty simple, whatever the situation is, the umpires should be in complete contrast to the 2 teams playing. SO even if Melbourne was wearing red and not pink, I think the umpires should still not have been in pink. Make them stand out. They should have been in bright green or something like that.

Yes, Grimes made a few errors,as did many others. 2 things to take into account: 1) He is playing in the bcakline, so his errors are more noticable, if he was doing ot deep in the forward line it probably wont result in a goal to the opposition, so we wont be as critical. 2) His decision making is fine, it is just that he likes to take a risk, and not just do the percentage play all the time. Some people may dislike this, but I love it. We need risk takers who will kick the ball to a person in the middle of the ground instead of around the boundary. Too many players are scared to try, but not Jack. He will be a gun for us, and a star in the AFL because of his style, and if you cant accpet a couple of errors every now and then, then I guess you would prefer he be a robot like most other players.

6. Moloney 5. McDonald 4. Scully 3. MacDonald 2. Sylvia 1. Bate Apologies to Jamar, Jones, Warnock

I really like Bate, and as we were winning easily, I thought I would watch him carefully. Now, before I start, if you watched the game on TV or are watching a replay you will probably not have noticed what I did. I know people bag him on occasions for being slow, lazy etc. etc. Everyone is entitled to their opinions, so i wont try and convinve people. However, I saw him make so many leads that got unrewarded, he was by himself through his hard running, and was always in the right place to get a short pass in the forward line (the only one to continually lower his eyes was Bennell in the second half). My brother and I got to the point where we were wondering if they did not want to kick it to him cos he has red hair!! I just want some people to watch how many leads he makes, over and over and over until he is stuffed, and then start bagging him. I love Col Sylvia, and people talked him up for kicking 5 goals, but he got some cheap ones too. Was he any better cos he was kicked to a couple more times than Bate. I am not sure? All I can hope is that they both keep it up, cos the forward line lead ups of Bate, Sylvia, Petterd and Dunn all looked good yesterday, but it was only against Richmond, so lets see how it works against better opposition.

Did not realise you were so defensive Spirit if Barassi! Was not having a go at you, but if you got offended, well I am not sure what I need to say. I was just stating that I like him as a player, but need him to continue his form. I guess we agree that he needs consistency to stay in the team.

6. Frawley 5. Grimes 4. McDonald 3. Moloney 2. Trengove 1. Bail

I constantly said I did not want him dropped, and I am glad he got another go. To say he is "definitely" in our best 22, well I am still not sure. There are many players who can be in our team, and many players currently injured, so he could be replaced. I guess it shows our depth is getting much better.All being said, at the moment he deserves to be ini our best 22 and if he continues to pllay as he is, he wont get dropped. I liked his speed to attck the game and the opponents, and he put great forward pressure on today. He also had more impact with his possessions today. He played smarter, especially his short pass to Bruce in the last quarter, instead of bombing long into the forward line like so many others did. I was also impressed with his leap, took a couple of good high marks.

Curry and Beer: I think people have predicted, not merely asking a question. The fact the first poster says I think we can make the top 4 would be a prediction in my thoughts. If you get upset with "lame" jokes, well I guess you may have a hard time reading too many posts on here. I was more or less trying to say that I think the top 4 prediction/question is way off the mark and that "most sensible" football followers would not even contemplate it. In regards to my last post I think I clarified my thoughts by stating all the teams that I think are currently better than us. I hope we play as well as we did on the weekend for every game this year, but even if we do, I dont think we will beat too many teams this year. We still make too many errors of judgement and skill, and as I said before I think we will get 8 wins. If I am proven wrong and we make the finals I will be the first one to congratulate those who thought it would happen, and I will be a very happy Demons fan.

I am not saying that the players who won it did not deserve to win it, I am just saying that the player who get the publicity and get built up by the media have a greater chance to win. Also, thanks for the updates on winners from bad teams, I was too lazy to look them up myself. So I guess we need Melbourne to win and the young blokes to play well for a nomination, and then hope they play well all year, which may get them the award and will also lead to more wins for us!

This award is like so many other awards, it is often biased and many people are influenced by others, some may say it is even political. It is also annoying that media people get to vote on awards when half of them have no idea what they are doing. Natanui will almost likely win it, and he will be nominated as soon as WC win a game. Rich was talked up all last year, from Rd 1 onwards, and was always going to win it. I would love one of our players to win it, and realistically the only 2 who have a chance are Scully and Trengove. I dont care how well McKenzie is doing, but he is not flashy enough and will not get the media coverage, which is what the AFL wants. I cant be bothered looking it up, but I am guessing most previous winners would have come from "winning" teams, so that may make it hard for our guys.

I have played football in the AMMOs for close to 15 years, and I consistently make mistakes, that is why I am not in the AFL. If you want to use the excuse that we cant comment cos we did not play in the AFL, well none of us could comment, and I doubt any AFL player or ex player would be on this forum. I understand you get annoyed with people bagging players and you want to defend them, but people believe what they believe, so there is no real reason to try and change their minds. All being said, we dont want to watch robots, but we are all wanting a winning team, and when the experienced players continue to make mistakes, that is when most people get annoyed. I have watched the replay 2 times, and went to the game. At the game I was frustrated with Bruce, but watching the replay he was not that bad. Again though, I think he needs to do more if he is supposed to be one of our top players. Our veteran, so called best players need to be consistently good as the young players will be the one who are inconsistent.

Just wondering how many people who actually think we will make the top 4 this year actually have any idea about football? Are you seriously thinking we are better than St. Kilda, Geelong, Hawthorn, Bulldogs, Brisbane and Collingwood, not to name clubs who have shown heaps of improvement such as Sydney, Port and Freo. We are better than North and Richmond, and are maybe equal with Essendon, Carlton and WC. I would realistically hope for 8 wins and continuing to build for the future.

Satyricon that is one of the stupidest posts/excuses I have ever read. You can try and justify his mistakes by using the noise, tiredness and the fact he has worked hard previously, which is fair enough, but if we all use that excuse I am guessing there is never a reason for any mistakes on the football field. I am not sure, but just remind me of whether or not he is a professional football player who has had over 10 years to perfect his craft. If I was to continually make mistakes in my workplace, for which I have been at for over 10 years, I am not sure if I would still be employed. All being said, I still like Bruce in our team, he does offer some versatility and flexibility. However, I do think he will begin to struggle for a place in the team mid to late next season.

All players, bar a few, have limitations. Part of fottball is getting the best out of players and using their strengths to help the team. We could only dream that all our players were perfect, or close to it.

There is no way we will finish in the top 4 this year. I will be over the monn if we do, but it just wont happen. And for the few people trying to justify why we can, of course there a lot of "ifs", but be unbiades, use some sort of a brain and think about it. It will not happen. And to use the 1976/77 example to prove your claim, I will use the remaining 100 seasons to say that the team that finished last in the previous season did not win the flag. We have some very promising players and we saw what our game plan is supposed to look like, however, we will be very inconsistent for a couple of years until we play together for a bit longer. Not many people expected us to play how we did last week, and yes we could do it again, but not many people expected us to play so bad in Round 1, and we could also play like that again.

I will bag Brock if he plays bad, I will bah him when he plays against us. Why? Because he plays for another team. I am greatful he donated money, but so did many other players and many other people. There were also many other people on way less money than him who donated. If that is the best he has done for the club, good on him, but people who stay at the club and give their all are much better than him. A waste of time topic, and I am not sure why I replied. Must be that I am on holidays and have too much tiime on my hands. PS. I think I will be much happier seeing any of our recent draft picks dominating a game in the future rather than Brock slowly accumulating 20 average touches.

Are people actually saying they would delist Maric if he does not become a premanent player this year? I would not be doing that, he will get more of a go this season and hopefully show the doubters. He needs to get 4/5 games in a row, where he can play FP rotating in the midfield. If JB struggles, he will replace him. We also need to have depth, we cant just have 22 players, we need 30 players capable of doing their bit when required. I will get shouted down, but I would almost delist Wonna before Maric (even though I would not get rid of either yet), as he is always injured, at least Maric is available.

I was at the game and met Max Gawns parents. They said he is going well and has been told he can take part in training now, however the club is being cautious with him. He will be doing more rehab for 4-6 weeks, then taking part in training for 6 weeks or so and should be playing some form of Football by mid to late season. His parents and Max are both very happy at the club and looking forward to finally playing. Also, as he is on the Long Term Injury List it is better for the club to say indefinite, to keep their options open.

The only reason Bate will not be in the seniors for the next few years us when he is injured. The coaches love what he brings to the team, as do I. People can debate it and argue it all they like, but he is one of our most important players. He is obviously underdone, but still gives us more than our other tall options (Miller and Newton) at the moment. I sadly have watched the replay 2 times (on holidays) and he did more than most people think, he led up well, set up some goals and put his body in when needed. I would love him to be BOG but not everyone can. I said Frawley was very good on the weekend cos Medhurst did nothing and I wsa told it ws not good enough cos he did not attack enough. Everyone has a job to do, and if they do it well or better, the team plays like they did on the weekend. And for those saying he lost us the game with his non pass to Petterd, you are crazy. If we want to be picky we can say every player who missed a set shot cost us the game. A player who ruched a behind cost us the game. He kicked it to the correct spot, to the top of the goal square cos he did not see Petterd in his 0.5 sec he had to get rid of the ball while under pressure.

It also seems they like to give the nomination to a team that won on the weekend. That being said, I think Jordy may get a nomination, but there are many impressive young players going around at the moment, so to just be nominated is very impressive in itself. I would love if all our young players get nominated at one time or another, as it will help boost their confidence. On Bartram, I am surprised he got 2 years, but i do think he ended last year pretty well, he was actually being more attacking. He is good depth when the yonger defenders are struggling or injured for the 2 years. I also though he did a good job on the weekend, Davis kicked the final goal, but he was not very damaging.