Mad_Melbourne

I wouldn't say comfortably, he has competition in Maric who has has a good pre-season to date. It's good that there is competition for spots too. Jetta is probably another.

my thoughts exactly, although i would have said maric had a very good pre season haha

Oh Please MM it is difficult to put newton and

In fact I cannot Put Goodes in the same sentence.

Whatever Juice's talents are he is not a defender.

it really did pain me to suggest something so ridiculous, but i did think it was good for a laugh

no wonder bails elevated newton, saw this thread, saw there was no ideal match up we had proposed, and it just came to him, juice will do it, juice will step up to the plate, juice will take on goodes

franklin is a monty, but he will top our goalkicking provided he stays uninjured.

secondly, if he wins our goal kicking i think it will mean that there would not be big influence from players around him, and therefore we will not be winning many matches, i feel that we need a variety spread to win matches this season, so if he is averaging 4 goals a game, we are either scoring really well, or he is kicking a great percentage of them.

One has to wonder if some people actually go to the football....

..

SO to suggest he will be "picked up by...." in the forward line and "picked up by..." in the backline is laughable.

This actually happens alot in modern football, through some midfield taggers not wanting to play in the backline, when the forwards go back to rest the role is assumed by a defender, and then when they move back into the field the tagger gets the job.

It is a harder role to do with Goodes, due to his size, but definately would not suprise me if when he plays in the forward line he is matched up by garland, and then as he runs through the midfield he is put through a hard tag.

Garland is the likely option to line up on him when he comes inside the forward 50, or playing on the flank, or even on a wing for mine, as he is the only one who is likely to match him for speed and strength.

Macdonald is the second option, and could well run around on him all day.

Grimes, ridiculous, his defensive side of his game is definately not his strong point, and if sydney saw a match up like that it would be goodes alone in the forward 50 and he would be stoked, and longmuir would think coaching is the easiest job in the world.

Warnock, and rivers are likely to be too slow, but rivers is maybe a possibility.

if he moves into the guts then a possibility of bail chasing, but really if he goes into the centre, Nathan Jones will be a possibility, only for a ridiculously hard tag, but the fact remains he is too short.

Or just put sylvia next to him if he lines up in the middle, and back sylvia into having a break even or better game than him, although sylvia could well be getting the hard tag.

Another option i just thought of is Tapscott maybe, younger, good engine, bailey wants him in the backline, physically could match it, and we wouldnt mind him playing up the field, but probably too inexperienced

in the modern game young tall forwards will not play consistently good football, and will take 5 odd years on a list to develop into a good player and may not even break into the team until then, everyone that is saying that watts is a lost cause, or we should have picked someone else, just wait 2-3 seasons, i guarantee this season watts will play some poor matches, some average matches, and a few amazing matches where we see who he is going to be in future seasons.

his disposal ios top notch and this will be perfect to pierce zones and hit leads from outside 50, so heres hoping it is him kicking it into our 50 more so than moloney and jones.

if we are 0-4 there will be riots, i will be bitterly disappointed, and there will be laughs from the directions of everyone as we would be the team that was beaten first by gold coast ...

The main problem that i have taken out from our pre season is our, for lack of a better word, inability, to defend against a smaller forward line. Essendon implemented one, Brisbane played with mainly small forwards, and from the second half onwards, it was a smaller forward line for Hawthorn and we just couldnt find either the right match ups for the player, or just someone who was quick enough to play on these small forwards. With Rivers, Warnock and Joel Macdonald, not really the quickest players, i feel that there is really only room for two of them in the backline, and Grimes, not really having that acceleration off the first few steps, the smaller quicker forward line has really led to us being lost in our defensive 50. Due to this I think players like Bennell and Bail are pretty essential to play down there with Bartram, and then Grimes to be the third small defender on the roatating midfielder. This would mean that Rivers, Warnock, Garland, and Joel Macdonald would be left to take the mid sized to tall forwards.But to me i think it is obvious that, without Frawley in the roatation i feel our backline does lack that ability to design our desired match ups, and can not wait to see him in round 2 or 3.

Having said that, i am not too worried about the issue yet, as I think through our pre season we have been experimenting with zonal play and younger defenders like Nicholson and Evans, and it will be interesting to see in round 1 if Sydney stack their forwardline with the smaller quicker players, and if we have a somewhat smaller backline to start with.

That is revisionist rubbish.

Bate has had two top 4 finishes in the Bluey.

But because he had a poor 2010 he gets less credit than Dunn who has played half a decent season in his career.

Fans with short memories...

no doubt bate has played well in past seasons, but dunn chases, tackles, has a bit of size and adds a bit of grunt to our forwardline, that without him we lack. he is one of our most intimidating presences on the field, and especially in our forward 50, and is able to get in the face of the opponents, and annoy them, which is an important role.

Bate has attributes that make him a good player in a poor team, but he will struggle to find a spot in the squad this season, if we are playing good football, i think, i personally do not like him as i think that he does not use his speed enough to chase or pressure opponents, and will only sprint if he thinks he will be able to get a goal out of it

Where has this idea that Watts has been poor precipitated from..?

in adelaide he was good enough,

didnt really get much of a sniff in both the essendon and the brisbane match.

none the less, if bate gets a gig ahead of him in the forward line then that is a joke... bate is a good casey player, but if he plays many matches this season id be thinking we would have an injury or two.

goood trade HT

Melbourne rested a lot of senior players from yesterdays game. Apparently they were in the stands.

I think we'll see most of them in Launceston, Friday night. Which , is also a short week between these 2 games. Go, Dees.

they were in the stands, with a few of the younger players taking notes, mcnamara, frawley, garland were hanging out with pen and paper taking notes on the zone and structures, and mistakes that were made, was good to see.

My smokey is Tom MacDonald by round 10 to replace one of the taller backs

he looked really really rushed and uncomposed down there, hopefully this will improve, agree with most other points, apart from bartram, i think he is basically a walk up start, always beats his opponent, and stops a live wire forward from kicking goals.

I think he is referring to you having picked Davey twice in your team

what a mess, never do a best 22 hungover and not thinking haha

Certainly doesn't seem to be what we are trying to do. I support playing young kids to give them a chance to see what it's about. But we have played so many there is no way we can expect any system out of them. Yesterday's system was abysmal. Not much better against bombers.

we were using a full press zone in both the matches, and ill bet come round one we will be playing man on man, as the midfielders and defenders had no clue who they were manning up on as brisbane players ran into space.

so its a teaching experience for the defenders so they can slot into a position if injures occur.

Have we recruited Alwyn?

i think id see davey playing in the guts.. i like the idea of getting him around the ball as much as possible.

Geez M_M, youv'e gazumped me. That looks a very strong team.

i just realised i forgot green :|

and i had two sylvias, i should learn to proof read

it was pretty similar you yours other than bate, and its pretty personal, i just do not like him haha

B: Bartram Warnock Garland

HB: Grimes Rivers Joel Macdonald

C: Trengove Jones Sylvia

HF: Green Dunn Petterd

FF: Jurrah Watts Maric

R: Jamar Scully Davey

INT: Moloney , Martin, Jetta sub:Bail

Emerg: Bennell, Jetta, Tapscott

really tough to pick, there are about 28 players who really could be playing round one, warnock will be removed asap, but i do not think frawley will be right for round 1.

i thought jmac was a bit of a negative, so many cheap free kicks, resulting in goals, turnovers in the back 50 and not enough defensive pressure

look both this week and last week we tried to employ a full press defensive zone, and like anything, until it is worked out properly and practiced enough, it will not work out. The fact is that there were so many cheap marks by brisbane players running into gaps in the zone, and players refusing to move off their line to follow the lead. If we are to implement a zone throughout the season, both midfielders and defenders need to know that they are responsible for the space around them and the opposition players leading through. But also we were missing about 8 or 9 walk up starters with four of these being defenders.

another thing, if we are going to win matches this season, warnock will not be playing and nor will bate, in my opinion neither can really cut the standard of afl, and look well of the pace and skill that is needed for afl level.

to work on a tactic that will not be used during the year, like full press zone

crunch year for strauss, it could well be his last year on the list, if he cannot work his way into the squad and show something at an afl level, his kicking is so good, yet he rushes himself and puts more pressure on himself than is actually around, his defensive skills are pretty good, and his foot speed is solid enough, he has the makings of being a chris newman esque defender, just teeing up passes off the back flank, [censored] hitting leads, yet he has not capatilised on his potential yet.

how does signing players work? is it just out of the players no one picked? think i might pick up griffen from freo, he might get a game as second ruck for em, sandi playing more forward might get 15 hit outs.

delist, then sign, you have a 3 day waiver before you sign the player.

I am in need of a ruckman, McIntosh went down with the opposite achilies. kruezer wont be ready for round one. am interested in a 20 hit out B R or F R. Lets Talk. Also High Tower, you offered a fair trade but i think Hurley will be more valueable to my team. thanks though.

that is tough luck, it will be hard to find a ruckman i think, trading will be tough aswell.