Red Sox

We've got some time on our side.....Fitpatrick and Gawn for the long term....IMO Spencer is still a valuable work in progress. Josh Fraser?? Cannot stand the bloke....cant remember what year but remember him giving the wave to Jeff White on one particular Queens B'day game after the wobblers got a good start.....we ended up running all over them which was as sweet as it gets!! I understand the point that it is tough for Russian to play a full year on his own but IMO there is no point playing a second ruckman if cannot provide value....Stef Martin is another prospect in this area as well....IMO Stef has some potential he just needs to impose himself when he gets his chance as he could provide value around the ground. I find him to be a little soft in the contest at this stage, but this may be more of not understanding the positioning required at times rather than a pre-meditated opting out of the contest.

Yeah fair enough E25....was just a little agitated and dropped to the level...shame shame! Like the 'Snatch' quote !

Getting a bit personal there aren't we?????? Maybe you were kept up learning to read properly because you obviously couldn't read above and see my admission of guilt in that I declined to acknowledge Jones tagging effort on Pearce. Again, no need to be personal chump.....state your opinion and move on!!! I stand corrected and I will IMO again state that Jones has a serious lack of awareness in his game......IMO!

I am hanging to see this new emblem.....anyone that can help...please dont keep it all to yourself ! It is amazing what this football club have done over the last 2-3 years.....Jim, Cam and Chris C are just red and blue through and through and you can see in everything they do and say that they bleed for the club as much as any player on the field. I am 35 now and never in my time have I felt so connected to the club and so informed on a regular basis by these guys. I'd suggest that they will release the new emblem around the time of the move to AAMI...wouldn't it be great to smash the pies on Q Bday, move to AAMI and release that new emblem all in the space of a week!!!!! This fire is burning oh so brightly!! Go DEES!

THE BEST song in the league!!! Really looking forward to this new emblem but NEVER should the song be changed and it wont! "This heart beats true for the red and blue"!

Yes fair point Dr....is sometimes easy to forget the hard work done! But IMHO when the Dees are at or near the top I would suggest that it will be on the back of our new midfield brigade.

Cannot agree with McKenzie being dropped in any way!! I thought he was one of our better players against the weagles and to drop him is a bit strange...but....the board, the coaching staff really seem to be making wise decisions and I think that we should back them up in these decisions. Scully and Trengove in my mind maybe should be rested in separate weeks but as long as they are both back for Carlton the rest is a good move......they come back fired up for Blues/Pies then get another rest. I say back the FD on their decision and embrace the inclusion of Jordie Gysberts.....HE WILL BE A GUN!! My only concern.....if Gys has a good game 20+ good touches then he plays again....Skull and JT return, who gets dropped next week? Also would like to see a quick return of McKenzie. Yes I am looking ahead but this is what the whole club is doing....rightly! So I will look to next week and hope to see: IN - Scully, Trengove, McKenzie? OUT - Possibles - Wonna (will need to show an improved level of fitness this week or go back for a week or so), Jones? I heard someone above say that McKenzie didnt play well in Darwin? If that's the case then what does that say about Jones 12 possession game? I am all for Jones hard approach at the footy but his lack of awareness that is shown up 2-3 times per game will see him on the edge......I've no doubt that as we go forward I would hope that Grimes, Scully, Trengove, Gysberts, McKenzie...even Blease will be ahead of Jones.....no disrespect!

I reckon that if we can play anywhere near the potential we have shown this year and bring the ball through the middle quickly then the narrow dimensions should actually suit us. Now, if the cats lets us play that way is another thing but as far as I am concerned Bailey has our boys playing Geelong like footy....the only difference just now is that we can fumble and miss targets, something the cats rarely do. Once we have the FULL confidence in each other our footy is going to be very exciting to watch......who knows maybe Bomber and the Cats might want to take us on through the middle...why wouldn't they back themselves to beat us at their own game? But for mine this is what may give us the best chance to get a good result....a win? Perhaps not but at least within a few goals and keeping them to a lowly score another feather in the cap of what is fast becoming one of the better defences in the game. The Dees have opened at -47.5 pts......at $1.91, I really like these odds and will be disappointed if we cant get within that margin.

Chip certainly hitched a ride with Motlop on Saturday night!!! What a ripping performance by Chip.....even when Port had a run on in the last Motlop STILL didnt get a sniff....

A great all round effort by many....clearly were eager to get the result.....bit more of that last week and we would have 6 wins on the board by now but these boys become more exciting to watch by the week...... 6 - Bennell - i'll give him BOG because I have been in to him at times for a lack of consistency, but he seems to be putting more full games together which is great because he has a lot to offer! The BOG could have easily gone to others below. 5 - Junior Mac - This bloke is just an out an out star....flick through the papers and at last he is around the top 10 of the papers awards as he deserves to be - THE MOST gutsy leader in the AFL with the lowest profile, which proves profile means nothing when you lead like Junior does!! 4 - Chip Frawley - Of course the forwards finish off the work and if Motlop is allowed to do so we wouldve lost the game - even when Port had the run on in the last, besides a handball over the top Motlop STILL didnt get near it - Chip is OUTSTANDING!! 3 - Miller - I could almost give Watts a 0.5 and Brad a 2.5 because I said two weeks ago Brad deserves a chance to be played with Watts and some smalls aorund them would love it!! One game doesn't prove everything but gee it worked well....with Sylvia playing well off half forward (and in the ruck..OMG!!) the forward line looked more mobile than for some time. 2 - Trengove - He and Scully - it just brings a smile to the face....JT is very clean and head over the ball always - and the hit over the line for the point......gotta love that!! If anyone gets a chance have a look at the TAC cup from last year - watch Skull and JT dominate, watch Gysberts dominate, watch Tapscott kick bags and watch a raw Fitzpatrick show plenty - this team is going to be some force!! 1 - Jetta - apologies to Green, Davey, Jamar, Sylvia and others but I'll go with Nifty Nev for the last because of the huge influence he had on the game in only his first for the year....once Wonna gets fit if they reckon Setanta's little friends are good.....wait til they see these boys....oh did I mention Jurrah!!!! A great win Dees - can be tough to watch a decent lead melt away like that and I must admit I thought "not another one goal loss" but to take the lead back twice was fantastic by the boys. Bring on the cats!

We wont make the 8 pure and simple......that's not negative, it's reality. That's not all together a bad thing.....anywhere from 12th above would leave me satisfied and the players left with the hunger to improve further but knowing that improvements have been made. Had we got over the line against the Dogs and Pies and not played as poorly against Nth and Wet Toast then we would be a very good chance of making it....the fact we didn't should make it fairly obvious we wont get there. Happy to be proven wrong but out of 13 games remaining we need to win at least 8, most likely 9 to get to 12 wins. 9 wins out of 13 games for us would be.....I'll stop there...it wont happen, but what a ride if it did!!

At the end of the day, last week was a shocker and Garland, Frawley and Warnock could've been sent down there, it wouldn't have made a difference as I cant remember the ball getting to our forwards at all during the last qtr. West Toast weren't even that good.....we just couldn't get going through the middle and didnt get a spark that we needed.

Deeceiving - I wouldn't argue with your point as far as pinch hitting is concerned.....but IMO this is not required at this stage. We are still developing players currently and I stick by my point that we need to develop continuity in a group of forwards that will take us into the future. Sure, should we find ourselves in games and need a spark on a given day I have no problem and would expect our coaching staff think outside the square to try to get a result, but for the overall I would not be worrying about sending players all over the field. In 2 years time when hopefully all pieces of this great looking puzzle come together and we are 'expecting' to win everytime we play...yep, got no problem with sending guys to other positions for that 'spark' PS - Seecamp did some nice work for us but cant say I can remember anything of significance he did up forward?!

I dont believe that we need to be looking at attempting to make players forwards, especially Col Garland who is such a good defender and will only get better. Last year cost him a bit as far as development and continuity with a developing backline and by years end with an injury free year we will see Col blossom further as his confidence rises. His athleticism will shine as he runs off opponents, this will increase further the more our midfield dictates play......same as we have seen from Chip. IMO Bailey has done an excellent job in developing a great backline, this is where all the great teams begin and the stats will tell us that we are currently the 3rd best defence in the league as far as points against....this is fantastic and will only get better as our midfield grows and dominates....the ball ends up in our defence quite a bit but to still hold such a strong record for points against is one of the dees best signs for the future not counting all our great picks. IMO the same now has to start with our forward line - we have continually lost players in this area, Petterd, Sylvia, Bate, Wonna, Jurrah have all missed games, some for longer periods than others. Adding youngsters such as Jack Watts and a Luke Tapscott (I like what I hear about this guy)to a forward line that includes Jurrah, Wonna, Bate, Petterd, Sylvia and giving them some time together is what the forward line needs. (4 out of that 7 are currently sidelined!) That is without adding names such as Bennell or Jetta! The 7 I mentioned IMO all have different attributes and X factors that a good side needs and will hopefully see a nice spread of goalkickers into the future. All the talk in other forums of trading for a Taylor Walker, Westhoff, Stanley, Dawes IMO is misguided. We have the cattle and plenty of potential in the guys above and I am very confident that they will prove to be ALL fantastic players and part of a very potent front line!!

Blease will be part of this team when it starts to take shape......Grimes,Scully, Trengove, Gysberts, Morton, McKenzie, Blease, Strauss, Tapscott into Sylvia, Davey, Bennell, Jetta will be the strength of depth of a great midfield rotating around half back/half forward. Going to be exciting but time is on our side (I'm 35 and yes want the glory ASAP but.....patience!...guys like Blease need to be managed coming back from such a difficult injury so young. If he is given that time he will prosper....he is too good not to and I'm sure DB is well aware of this. Great info this post and much appreciated......really cant wait to see Gysberts, Blease and Tapscott.

Go Jack.... 858.....

Fair point regarding Warnock....smallish side Port. More reason for Spencer to be replaced for Jetta. Still nearly 20% of the side changed....don't think that is ever a great thing, but Morton and Wonna back is great. A win would be awesome and Aussie to get through without issue....even better!! Cmon Dees!

Sorry PM!!! Bored at work and just waiting for the team.....was ready to go!

Couldn't agree more....I think Spencer is a long term possibility but no way known is he needed in oppressive, humid, slippery conditions, especially as Port only have one ruckman (Bogan!) to worry about....surely surely surely Miller could chop out Russian and Jetta plays. I certainly hope the 'best late change ever' call rings true!

MELBOURNE v PORT ADELAIDE Melbourne B: Clint Bartram, Joel Macdonald, Jared Rivers HB: Jack Grimes, James Frawley, Colin Garland C: James McDonald, Jack Trengove, Aaron Davey HF: Jamie Bennell, Brad Miller, Cale Morton F: Nathan Jones, Brad Green, Jack Watts Foll: Mark Jamar, Brent Moloney, Colin Sylvia I/C: Tom Scully, Austin Wonaeamirri, Jordie McKenzie, Jake Spencer Emg: Neville Jetta, James Strauss, Lynden Dunn In: Miller, Macdonald, Wonaeamirri, Morton, Spencer Out: Cameron Bruce (hamstring), Paul Johnson, Matthew Bate (ankle), Daniel Hughes, Matthew Warnock (soreness) Far too many changes....Warnock out.....will be missed

I have nothing against them as such....and am not saying get rid of them by any means. For all our sakes we have to hope that others do push them for their spots. As jones is only 22 hopefully the added pressure from the kids coming up does see an improved level of disposal.

Good hard at it players Beamer and Jones..........cant have them both going forward. Junior surely goes around again next year....hell he can go as long as he wants....what a gem!! Beam and Jones just don't use the ball well enough and I think players like McKenzie, Trengove, Gysberts will prove to be just as effective as Beam and Jones around the packs with far better use of the ball.....well I'd hope anyway cause that is what delivers flags. I've seen enough of the hard at it great clubman....time for our turn at some out and out superstars!!

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