Red Sox

I'd like to see Bail, Sylvia, Jurrah return and given some time together in the forward line with Bate, Watts etc. I see your point on Warnock - they have played him on a needs basis and looking at Essendon he may be needed. Rivers could be in danger? I like Riv and with Grimes out as a spare floater he can do well but he is not close to being able to run and struggles in one on ones, more and more..CmoN Riv! I'm thinking Jones could do with a go back at Casey if Junior was to return but Junior is unlikely.

Seeing as we have a thread going on Jordie McKenzie's hopeful nomination this week, thought I might ask the question on who we thought was likely to get up this year. For sure the award is not everything and doesn't always mean a player will go onto great heights (see Kosi and Riv!)but something for the kids to aspire to. Some of the kids will start to drop off towards the end of the year you might expect. I'll try to be unbiased and suggest that if Dustin Martin was not ineligible he would go a long way to winning this years award. IMO he, Trengove and Hanneberry have probably been the top 3 standouts when you look at consistency, effectiveness and composure. Martin has probably had a fairly good hand in kicking clutch goals when the Tigers have needed it, as recently as again yesterday. As he is ineligible it comes down to Trengove and Hanneberry for mine. Hanneberry seems to have dropped off just a little where Trengove has continued his consistent output. I thought he was magnificent yesterday and really looks like he has been playing for a lot longer than the 13 games to date. No doubt that Trengove has been the more consistent between he and Scully. Not taking anything away from Skull in anyway as he has been excellent but probably just off the pace a little if comparing he and Trengove straight up. Trengove seems to have a bit more core strength than Skull just now but you can bet that Skull won't be lacking in any area for too long. I like how Trengove also seems to have plenty to say around the group. We are very lucky to have them both. I really do hope Trengove can continue his consistent form as it would be nice to see a Melbourne player up on a stage in September, even if only for this award it is something to take out of the season.

Had to work damn hard for his NOM did Rockliff....

Hold those comments Redleg. He has played good footy the last few weeks. Hopefully nothing close to what you are suggesting.

Yep some nice positivity there Eth....not quite sure we beat them exactly and clearances tell a very minor part of the story. I think we also beat Hawthorn in the clearances in Round 1? It's how we use it when winning those clearances. But your right to be positive as we went fairly well and St Kilda will do worse to better opposition than us. I assume that you are including me in that negativity. If you are viewing any of my comments as negative I would be disappointed as I look at it as being realistic. If we can carry the mindset of yesterday against Essendon we are a good chance. We must give ourselves every opportunity to win this game and if we put in anything less than 100% the season is getting away from us. Lets be realistic, lets expect some improvement. Don't think that leads to being negative completely.

All good E...realise you are not doing this nor am I at you. Look, I took a lot out of yesterday. I was somewhat surprised we didn't actually run the game out better as it has been a bit of a strength at times this year with guys like Jamar etc out on their feet in some tight ones. Probably more to do with the toll taken playing St Kilda, can't stand their game style but credit to them they just wear better equipped sides than us down and even though it was hard to watch zero inside 50's for the majority of the last we all should remember that they kept Geelong scoreless for an entire qtr and to only 3 pts for an entire half. I like that spin, who would've thought we could produce better than the cats? Well, we did on scoring alone anyway. I am really positive about our chances next week. Also about some of the highlights from the young guys this year. Watts is going to make so so many people on Demonland look absolute fools within a year or two. I am not sure that I would be scathing but I would be disappointed if we can't manage 6-7 wins for the year, wouldn't you?

No uproar from me E. Probably went over the top last week. Too close to my PC when watching on telly and went way too hard!! Passion can do that! I'm nervous that we wont get those 2 wins E and if we don't the season will be a failure. I repeat that it is not a reflection on what may happen in 2011 as I think many of our individual highlights (Trengove, Skull, Jordie, Watts continual improvements, Chip, Grimes etc) have been quite good and there are positives. But as an isolated season it would be a fail as a group. I'd be a little disappointed in the coaching dept if we can't conjure up the 2 wins. Having said all that I reckon we can get them and finish off with some positivity and everything will look a little brighter again. It starts this week.....

Always nice to take something from the season Dappa and why shouldn't we be encouraged at least when our players receive noms? He has a few credits in the bank and was nice to see him back to his early season best. Hopefully he gets one as he is working hard Jordie.

Absurd? Hardly!! I expected 6-8 wins. As I suggested above if we can win 2 on the way home it would be a pass. If we don't the season is a fail mark. Hardly absurdity to expect that we should see improvement from last year and be able to get to 6-7 wins. Why are so many people quick to jump on others that expect to see some incremental improvement at the very least? I certainly haven't deemed performances 'unacceptable' except for Adelaide and WCE. What I will say is that we have taken steps forward but are quickly giving back on those returns. It's hardly negativity at its worst. More expectation and if we can get those 2 wins we around the mark. If we don't, the season is a fail, nothing more nothing less. Plenty of individual highlights and encouragement, no doubt.

Dappa if he is fit enough I would throw him in there. We have gone backwards a little and we really need to get some continuity into the forward line group. People are getting into Matt Bate something chronic when he was 3 on 1 for most of the day - yeah he had a shocker but he didnt have much of a chance. Adding in Jurrah, Sylvia & Bail would add something to the mix of Bate, Green, Dunn, Bennell and an ever improving Watts. It would be nice to see this group play out the year with hopefully a glimpse of Tapscott late in the year

Anything less than two wins to get us to 6.5 will be a failure. Yes we could already be at this mark had we got over Pies in Rnd 2 and the dogs. Better efforts as we might have expected against the likes of Nth, Carl and especially West Coast (Oh how that game was a stinker!) and we would also be there. So, the two close one's while good games, we didnt win them, we should have been able to at least capitalise on another couple. I'm not saying it's altogether a nightmare and that we still shouldn't expect further improvement next year, but this year in isolation will be a fail if we don't win 2 coming home.

Nup....Brad Green's against the pies We would've got over the line had that sailed through!

Yeah, they played faultless football to be held scoreless for a qtr and only 3 points in an entire half. Imagine your disgust if that were us! Yep, even the best have their days Freak.

A couple of error's....silly I'll give you that and that nullifies everything that Jamar has done this year does it???!!! What an incredibly thoughtless post. The Russian got us over the line against Port and the 2 points against Collingwood. Not to mention his domination in the centre as a lone ruckman, he probably had as big a hand in our other victories. Clearly he went to smack it over the line BOTH times, If that was the case then it would seem NO ONE told him during the week that this is illegal and a free kick would be awarded against him. So, who is responsible for this not being picked up and Russian not advised? If he was then serious brain fade, but does not make all his hard work and effort through this year and the end of last year redundant.

Not sure I would go quite that hard. Beamer is a terrific leader and leads the group well. From all reports it is fairly obvious to see that either Beamer, Davey, Green would be the next captain. Beamer and Green as far as consistent output I would put ahead of Flash. Just goes missing at times, critical times. Beamers weakness is his lack of pace and this really hurts him at times, IMO this is why I don't believe we cant accommodate both he and Jones in the same side as they both lack pace, but Beamer is well ahead of Jones IMO as he is far more consistent. The fact they are trying to turn Jones into a tagger is proof of this for me and he is struggling as a tagger against the very best. Green leads by example, is consistent for the most part, can play an effective role in almost any spot on the ground, the fact that 3-4 years ago he changed from being an outside player to a running with the flight, putting body on the line type player sees him as our next captain - IMO

Cox was a rookie list player Nasher so your statement here would have to have some level of truth, the recruiters saw enough to have some doubts and look at him now. Spence looked terribly unco at times yesterday, seems to still be getting use to his frame and getting around the park, but he also seems to get to where the ball is quite often. I still compare him to Jacobs from Carlton who was just as bad but has but on more bulk than Spence. He is certainly worth persevering with while Gawn and Fitzy continue to come on. Would be a bit nervous if Russian went down and Spence was left alone though.

With a draw that includes Essendon, Rich, Nth, Sydney at home. If we have shown any improvement this year then we should expect to get 2 wins out of this and finish at list with 6.5 win result. Anything less is very disappointing. Bailey bangs on about the number of quarters we need to win. We are close to not bettering the result from last year. Not wanting to be a panic merchant people and for the most part thought we had a decent crack yesterday but I am not sure that Bailey gets the group going enough. From the outside he seems to show a lot of patience and talks well with the players but not sure there is enough urgency in the message. Yeah, Richmond are going better than us right now but really have only beaten the same teams we have, even yesterday with their win over Sydney we could compare the Brisbane game to, but it's the way they are going about it that is impressing me. They have a hunger that is more evident than ours and even when they were struggling they started games well and it was the class of other teams that pushed them aside, thats ok and to be expected. Consistent hunger and pressure need to see.

Watched the replay last night and yes did notice them sitting together and not saying a word. Not sure that any conclusion could be drawn by it though. Might just be Connolly paying Bailey regard and letting him do his work. No doubt that Connolly would get frustrated at times and want to say something but I'm sure he gets his message across when he has something to say, hopefully he does anyway because we need all the helpful advice we can get.

Wanting to see improvement for the year, I would hardly put in the realm of being a panic merchant.

Like to hear what everyone thinks about our upcoming game against Essendon this week. For the most part I think the majority would have been ok with our efforts against St Kilda but our overall performance for the past two months has dropped away and we have traded back many of the returns we had made early in the season. Essendon is a team who’s players seem to suffer as many doubts on the field as our boys. Both teams when playing at their best this year play exciting footy to watch but are easily pressured into mistakes when the heat is on. The fact that we play this game at the ‘G gives us much heart and we should go into the game with plenty of confidence in our abilities to win the game. It will come down to who is harder at the ball but as in most games it will come down to which of these two teams are willing to run and work hard when they don’t have the ball as when they do. I thought we dropped off in this area against the saints after going ok in an area they thrive for 3 qtrs. If we can apply ourselves in a similar fashion this week we should go well. We have the possibility to add some qualities to a forward line that has been lacking opportunities but also lacking a spark. Liam Jurrah I would suggest has done enough for Casey to come back and hopefully the coaching staff have the foresight to bring him in. That is some spark alone!! Bail has had an interrupted season but if he is right to go I would have him straight back in the side. He is a guy that just brings an almost intangible quality to the side and knocks up being around the ball. Sylvia is bound to return after a good game at Casey and hopefully plays as well as his first game for 2010. Watts is doing better things each week, another pre-season in the gym and more aggression at the contest is what he needs, other than that his kicking especially for goal is a joy to watch. Many people will be sorry they went early at Jack. Bennell, Dunn and Green together with the above really make for a good group of forwards. Would be nice to see some continuity in the forward line for the remainder of 2010. Our defence continue to hold up fairly well considering the increasing amount of ball they are seeing and should be well equipped to back themselves against Essendon. I reckon our midfield should be backed this week to go out and play attack minded football without any heavy tags and back themselves in. Of course they are expected to work back hard when we don’t have the ball and be accountable but I see that we have more quality in this area. A win this weekend would no doubt return some confidence to the group. Confidence that has seemingly dropped away a bit of late excluding Queens B’Day. With remaining games against Sydney, Nth & Richmond at the ‘G a return of some of that early season confidence could see us win another couple of our remaining games and finish outside that bottom four and what I would consider good improvement for the year. A loss could see us struggling to get away from the bottom two which I would consider a very disappointing season. It is a massive game for the dees!

Not good for Junior. Amazing how an injury can take a hold at that age. Before the injury would've expected he would play another year for sure. Not writing him off just yet so hopefully returns soon in good shape.

IN - Jurrah, Sylvia, Bail, McDonald (if right) OUT - Jones (a rest if Junior is fit a reprieve if not), Jetta, Bartram (if Cheney is not suspended) & OH SO SADLY ...Grimes. B: Cheney/Bartram, Frawley, Garland HB: Davey, Rivers, Bruce C: Scully, Trengove, Sylvia HF: Bail, Bate, Green F: Jurrah, Watts, Bennell FOLL: Jamar, Moloney, McDonald/Jones I/C: McKenzie, Spencer, MacDonald, Dunn

We'll he fits in well at Melbourne Jaded! I can see what your saying but not sure it would've mattered all that much. Would you rather he drop his head & not compete after that? You have to admit he was pretty good both on his opponent & as a forward when it actually got anywhere near it considering it was only there 30 times? Love and share your admiration for Watts Jaded so you should know how difficult it was as a forward for us today? Jack was terrific considering, impressing more by the week.

Anyone know how long Grimes is out for?