Rollo2

Both Carlton and Collingwood are better teams than us at this stage, and should be able to beat us. But the poster is right that these are important games. As a supporter, you want to see your players busting a gut to play finals – and they would be giving their all for these matches if that was the case. Having said that, despite what a lot of posters here seem to think, 2011 is still maybe too optimistic as far as playing finals goes. Our list will still be incredibly young next year – guys like Blease and Tapscott will just be getting their first games, and there will still be very few games in Watts, Jurrah, Mckenzie, Scully, Trengove, Gysberts, Bail and even Wona.

Absolutely incredible effort – never seen a first year player do anything like that. This kid has enormous heart, enormous tank, enormous courage, obviously loves a big stage, and is already an on-field leader of our football club after 7 games. It was extremely disappointing to lose tonight, but boy, you have to be excited about the midfield we are building. Congratulations Tom Scully!

Speaking of Col, does anybody remember his first few games (or SEASONS for that matter)? They were rubbish. And look at him now. Jack has played 3 games, and is just coming off an interrupted pre-season. So just let the kid develop, it's going to take time. The fact is we have recruited extremely well in recent history, and Jack will be no exception. The only risk with him is the weight of unrealistic expectations and negative attention affecting his confidence and enthusiasm, and hindering his development. But they say he has a good head on his shoulders, and I trust Bailey, Schwab et al. to keep his development on track, so I doubt that'll happen. So sit back, relax, and look forward to watching his career unfold.

Am calling this now for posterity. B: Bartram, Warnock, Garland HB: Grimes, Frawley, Rivers Toughness, composure, & versatility. Kick a winning score against these blokes and you're doing pretty f**king well.

Hm. OK, I may be playing favorites a bit here, but I have always been a fan of Clint's. Have loved his courage, toughness and intensity ever since his first season when he and the Wrecker used to terrorise opposition forward lines together with their manic pressure. In addition I consider him to be quite a composed decision maker in defence. His entire football career has been marred by injury though (even through junior footy, I believe), so I just hope he can get a good run of senior games together and remind everyone of what he;s capable of.

Frawley is a superstar in the making. And Bartram is a very good footballer, which too many people seem to forget. And another twenty touches from Bail today. I like this guy, he runs really hard, attacks the footy, and it was his follow up effort after kicking it inside 50 in the third that led to one of our best goals. We still lack a forward who can kick a goal from outside 20, but lets not nitpick...

Yeah, I knew about the couple of great games in defence he played- I was at one of them, I think. But I still got the feeling it was maybe a bit of a flash in the pan, and wondering if he truly had the mindset to make a good long term defender. I can remember Miller keeping Barry Hall goalless once, and people thought we'd found a gun new centre half back! 3 goals in the NAB cup is OK too, if not incredible. And... to an extent, I do think the club rating him is meaningful. But the post I quoted called him 'one of our very best'. Just don't pin too much hope on the guy is all I'm saying. That's what Wattsy is for

Who is who in this post? I'm assuming 'one of our very best' is referring to Colin Garland? Hate to be a bit negative, but I really don't understand why everyone here seems to rate Garland so highly. I mean, he played some decent games in defence for us, but so do a lot of guys. So did Alistair Nicholson at one stage! And any time I've seen him play up forward he's had no impact at all. So why the massive wraps?

Out- Spencer, Bate, Strauss, In- Martin, Sylvia, Bartram (if fit), Stef Martin is much much better than Spencer, I don't care how he played against West Coast. Bate NEEDS to be dropped after that game, and Sylvia picks himself as a replacement. Strauss will be OK eventually, but Bartram is already OK, and much more intense, which we need. Apart from that, you're struggling to make too many more changes for lack of options. Eg., I'd love to drop Miller too, but for who? Newton?