monoccular

Essentially my point too We had a chance to be 2 or 3 ahead of those teams, had we actually done the hard work and had the mantal toughness to beat them!!

Good to see Fitzy actually get a game and also get a mention in the 2s. I presume he will be back in the 1s in no time - he needs to be tested and see what he can do, though he would be excused for being "out of touch". How about - Cook - looks as if he may not have played; - Tom McDonald?

The results that actually hurt us far far more than any of those you mentioned, of which we had absolutely no control, were OUR inability to beat very out of form teams, I mean really badly out of form, namely North, Footscray and StKilda...........it is no good moaning about that which we cannot control, but I sure as hell have a big moan about those three totally inexcusable results.

Martin - as a serious ruckman Tapscott Nicholson Howe Bail Gawnius Maximus All great revelations - I include Martin despite the objections of some as his ability to play first ruck has been a revelation to most here. I really hope that the selectors will be able to get us all a glimpse at least of Cook, Tom McDonald, and maybe Davis before the year is out, and maybe even another look at Tom McNamara who seems to be coming along well in a new role as a taller mid at Casey. Frankly I would value seeing all of these get a gig more that seeing us KOd in week 1 of the finals, should we actually scrape in.

Wona has certainly had a very rough trot, and the Club has shown him an amazing amount of latitude and consideration. But all that said - Wona really owes it to the Club to let them know well before the desisting period if he is really prepared to make the commitment and the sacrifices needed to play AFL footy. If he is not he surely cannot expect to occupy a place on the list. IF he could go to the rookie list then it could be an option - he is going to have his work cut out just to regain general and match fitness after a year out of AFL, however strong his commitment. And someone mentioned AFL compassionate rules - I haven't heard of these. To be really cynical (and I am sure that I hear voices calling me paranoid), how could we possibly trust Herr Fuehrer and Anderson to not change the interpretation as and when they feel like it, like they do with the salary cap rules?

AFL making the rules up on the run !!! What an absolutely outlandish scurrilous suggestion - I am sure you are the one and only person to have been ever thinking anything at all like that!

!!!????Getting buys ??!!? Like, going shopping??

Yes, maybe, but we all know that Carlton anyway can do what they like outside the official cap.

Thanks Tall Defence That's good news - what is his current injury and how is it progressing? As I mentioned, he came highly rated, so it would be great for someone of his height to come along and star.

Thanks for that - I heard great wraps on him when he first came to the club (with, as I recall, chronic fatigue - correct me if I am wrong) but he has really fallen off the radar. What is his current injury and how is it progressing? If he looks at all like making it, I guess Jake may be the one who goes. I really can't see a list affording to have 5 ruckmen. I too would be shattered if GM left, unless we got something special and proven for him, which we won't.

1. I feel that even with only three games under his belt, our Gawnius Maximus is already well ahead of Jake Spencer - far more athletic, better tap work, OK at ground level for his experience and his size, reads the play well and either marks or brings it to ground when up forward. IMO he is the keeper of the two. 2. Sub rule - sure it really prevents teams from resting a ruckman, if that ruckman is one dimensional and can't "rest" forward or across HB - fortunately MJ and MG and SM have shown that they can go OK up forward, and SM does pretty well in defence. Unfortunately JS look far more uni-dimensional at best, and would have to rest on the bench, which the sub rule has almost made untenable. It is a challenge for our match committee to at least in some games, match ups etc , fit these three in the team. I don't think it is out of the question, and one could develop into a semi-permanent forward who does ruck work. A nice dilemma for us to have. I cant really see muck place for the four of them on our list. PS - has anyone ever seen Jack Fitzpatrick in action other than the few pre-season games a couple of years back? Is he progressing at all re his injuries, and is he progressing as a footballer? Does he still exist - is he the new Nick Smith 426??

I would like to see him get a run as a wing / HFF over the next couple of months, even maybe as a sub, just to see whether the very strong performances in his initial 3 games so long ago were a fluke, or true promise. And I am also glad to see that he is no longer regarded as a tall KPP defender, because he isn't! He certainly doesn't shirk any issue like a couple of our more highly rated players do on occasions.

Did Tom McDonald play? Blease?

I actually believe that more and more are getting to be patient re the whole team building process, but as many are becoming very impatient re Morton's lack of interest in becoming involved in just about every aspect of the game, save for his trademark "making space" aka avoiding the contest!

If he won't get involved in contests in his fourth season, when the hell will he?? You also mention him making space.....I could and probably would...just keep away from all contests!

He is in what, his fourth year? He hasn't filled out, and unlike Watts, Frawley, Garland who you mentioned he has not developed, or at least shown, the slightest desire to get involved in the physical aspects of the contest in what is really still a physically brutal game. How long FCS do you carry an unproductive person in a 21 1/2 man team? He still looks actually scared, as most of US would, when confronted, but we are not highly paid athletes who should, in this game, know and certainly show no fear. Where does he actually contribute? Name some memorable (positive) moments in his 59 games? I can honestly think of none. You say players of his size "take some time" - how much more can we afford?

Well if Joel is still out with a knee, maybe it is a good time to debut Tom. None of those debuting have let us down this year, which is more than I can say of many of their senior colleagues. If injury is preventing Jurrah from competing 100%, then maybe he needs a rest and Cook, despite apparently a quiet one Sunday could also have a run. Let us see all these enthusiastic young guys of the future before they are tainted by the Demon curse of cyclical apathy. And hell, I think we have all seen more than enough of Morton "making space" by running anywhere the contest ain't - in Tapscott who at very worst lets his opponent know that he is nearby!

The really annoying pert of e season so far to me is losing those three games at Doglands - all were against struggling sides, really struggling, yet we lacked the mental toughness to put up a real fight in any of them, other than an unconvincing lead vs North - otherwise just pathetic passive capitulation. ....."too hard to play here"....."never do well here".....mentally beaten even before arriving at the ground. We will never be successful until we get our minds over this defeatism..never!! FCS hire a bloody psychologist and find out what the problem is. We really should, if we were fair dinkum, and won these three, be on 9.5 win knocking on the door of the top 4, with Bailey signing up for a decade! Instead our defeatist attitude has us struggling for top 10!

I think that you are pretty much on the ball there -- it is bloody frustrating and disappointing to see our inconsistency resurface, but we are a young physically and emotionally / mentally inexperienced side and it is important not to throw away the babies with the bathwater. They need time together -- mass droppings are just that, droppings! What perhaps disappoints far more is the inconsistency of our more senior players, the likes of Green, Sylvia, Rivers. If the leaders stand up regularly, the babies will learn quicker and enjoy some more consistent success, which in turn will increase their self confidence. All that said, a win a Docklands this season is a must - unfortunately that means beating a resurgent WCE.....big challenge, leaders!!!! We have played three under-performing teams into form there, time we did it ourselves.

....but any worse than when he gets a full game???

Certainly well inside mine - see 'ology thread. A ready made player - he will of course now start to be noticed and matched up on by oppositions, though do you play a tall or a smaller quick on him? I would probably use a Garland type.

A very welcome change from the old ND "play the old favorites" days. And none of those debuting this year have really done much wrong - and Nicholson, Howe, and Tapscott prior to injury have all really fitted firmly into our best 22 at present. Well done recruiting team.

It may sound glib, but this really is a MUST WIN game for our young group. We need to show that we can win at that soulless amphitheatre; we need to show that we can beat the Dogs; we need to show that we can win more than three in a row. The injury curse following the Adelaide game may well be seen in retrospect as somewhat serendipitous - we have learned just what Martin can do, both as a ruckman and as a forward; we have unearthed Nicholson who to me looks like becoming a regular off HB or even as a midfielder; don't forget the samplers we have seen from Big Max Gawn, who did everything asked of him and looks to be a fine ruckman in the making, and Michael Evans who did well when thrown in the deep end; Strauss has had an opportunity to show his progress though he does have a way to go. So there have been many silver linings to the injury curse. Cast your mind back to mid 2000 - as I recall, we were absolutely thrashed by the Cheaters and by the Dogs, and many, indeed most, wrote us off for the season --- ultimately we reached the GF, though were far from ready for that task. Could this happen again? Only time will tell, but if the playing group maintain their enthusiasm and aggression, we could certainly progress at least a little way into September. It is over to the players and the staff. We watch with baited breath.

Exactly - the AFL have two, or maybe better to say multiple sets of rules to cover many situations, but woe betide anyone who dares question this megalomaniac's latest pet project, the expansion. He knows that it is the right way to go, because He dreamed it up, and He has decided that it must succeed, and stuff the clubs that have been part of the competition long before he or his forebears had even heard of Australua. Bugger tradition. Pay lip service to helping struggling traditional clubs, but let his new pet projects screw them as they start to rise anyway. The [censored] behaves like Mussolini or Pol Pot ---- "I know what is right, even if it is clearly wrong".

He is so multi dimensional - strength, leap, goal sense, second efforts, team work....a great pick up. Well done recruiters.