Western Demon

2 - 8 (hooray!) 5 - 9 Bennell - who has been busy all day

The only praise given is to McDonald for endeavour

1 - 8 5 - 9 (Burton's third: Garland free kick)

Faint praise by ABC commentators for the Dees...playing okay, just not finishing off.

HALF TIME 1 - 8 4 - 9 "little wonder that neither team have won this year"

"very lackustre second term"

MELB 1 - 8 ADEL 4 - 8 "scrappy" game

MELB 1 - 7 ADEL 4 - 8 18 mins into 2nd quarter

MELB 1 - 6 ADEL 4 - 7

There is no god

2 mins left...down by a point

MELB: 12 13 - 85 SCUM: 12 14 - 86 25 mins

Time ON: MELB: 12 13 - 85 SCUM: 11 14 - 80

MELB: 9 11 - 65 SCUM: 10 10 - 70 dead even 3rd quarter: 3 goals apiece

MELB: 9 10 - 62 SCUM: 10 9 - 69 10 mins remaining 3rd quarter

We lost the first three games in 2006, and ended up 5th at the end of the year. Don't despair. I am by nature an arch-pessimist, for good reason (46 good reasons) and I get angry at myself for seeing good games from players, and good days by the team and assume that's the bench mark - when in fact it's our peak. Knowledgeable comments in this forum list all the potentials which will bear fruit within three years. As for yesterday's (vs Hawthorn) disappointment we were (a) defeated by a good team and (B) that team was about 10%-20% better than us. Statistically, there are days when a match like that will mean we'll be beaten by 10-20 points, and there are days when a match like that will mean we'll be beaten by 100 points. In other words, in the worst of scenarios, we lose almost EVERY contest for the ball 'by 10%': we're thrashed; at other times we lose 10% of total contests, and lose by a respectable margin. It's the latter scenario which has deceived supporters for many long unproductive years: (a) good games were not bench marks, but the best possible, and (b)narrow losses were ALWAYS going to be losses, not near-run things. Happy days will come fairly soon. But not a flag - not till we get three strong, tall 'A'-list players.

Give Mrs Red Leg our best regards, and we hope her headache gets better. Keep looking on the bright side - you probably would've put your back out anyway.

Well corrected: I'll check next time

I hope you're right, I really do - but from what I have seen of Watts he is very, very slow over those first 5 metres...and big lads don't get faster. Natanui has flair.

I'm from the West....yeah, they're pretty bad. But it's a long way to go...we're only expecting 5-7 wins this year: rebuilding etc etc...aiming for the eight in 2012. Poised for the Flag in 2015.

I hope they persevere with Bennell...he positions himself well, and is a hard worker. He didn't seem to be a popular with selectors last year. How much to go this quarter ?

Thanks for the posts....nothing here in Perth, so I am grateful.