binman

I wonder if Neeld might be tempted to tweet some encouraging words.

No backwards steps

To quote Greg Champion - You can get arrested for that - and so you should (stalking not peeing)

We get the point Lamashtu (insert joking emoticon here)

Alcohol not a factor apparently (he was breath tested). Weird though because he seemingly hit 3 cars head on totaling his car and the other 3. Police are continuing to investigate the collision but say it is too early to determine whether speed was a factor. Do they mean how fast the car was travelling?

Wasn't he pulled over in an unregistered Jeep recently (and from memory he doesn't have licensee). Same event or different?

you're under no such restriction

With Trenner, Hoges, Salem and the Toump building themselevs up, Garlo a full pre season, Gawn not gawn, Dawes ready to go round one, one plug and play gun recruit and an early draft pick we will have a great side round 1 next season. can't wait

As i said in a post yesterday: 'One more thing. I'm not being trite but comparing Watts to Trav is an insult to TJ. Yes they both look a little casual, yes both have sublime skills, yes trav wasn't overly physical but i rarely if ever questioned TJ's courage or commitment'

I have hesitated posting anything about JW as i wanted to cool down a bit. On Sunday night i thought he needed to be dropped. Now that i have calmed down a bit, i think he needs to be dropped. I have never seen JW through rose colored glasses and from the beginning have agreed he needs to improve his physicality. That said I have been a great supporter of Wattsy and have defended him many times on Demonland. I expected the penny to drop last year when moved to the half back flank and again thought Roosy might find the key to getting him going. Perhaps he still will but i have to admit the signs are very bad. Watts was hopeless against the Eagles and i posted then i thought he was on thin ice. I only listed to the GWS game on the radio so not really sure how he went in that game. But he was truly woeful on the weekend. Other posters have given enough of examples of why but the one that resonates is Dawes running straight past him in the center of the ground to try (unsuccessfully) and get to a man on the wing. This was Watt's lack of effort and letting his team mates down writ large for all to see. And i'm sure Dawes was making a point by gusting a gut for what was a lost cause (though not for Watts if he had gone hard and early) and i'm equally sure his anger in the post match interview with Burgs was at least in part related to Watts lack of effort throughout the game. Jeez the Leading Teams model must cause Watts nightmares as surely his team mates will let him know their thoughts. There was another example and one that i don't think has been noted thus far. On the half forward flank at the city end (where i was sitting) Ablett had the ball and was running towards goal at right angles to where Watts was (JW was about 15 metres away and on the move). Watts had the perfect opportunity to absolutely pole axe Ablett and force a turnover. He wouldn't have been at any risk of getting hurt as he would have completely blind sided him. Instead he ran to Ablett at half pace, made a weak attempt at tacking which Ablett brushed off and pumped the ball into the goal mouth. My son, who is 11 nailed it later in the day when on another occasion he failed to commit to a tackle he said 'he is so hesitant'. I hate bagging players at the footy and rarely do it. I couldn't help yelling in frustration at him a couple of times. One such time was just after half time when i implored him to change the direction of the match and win it for us, as nothing short of that would have lessened my frustration with him. To be fair he improved his intensity and laid an excellent tackle at the Punt road half back flank on the kid with the white mop. But really too little to late. With Roos having so publicly made clear what his non negotiable are (the basic footy stuff) he has left Roos with little option but to drop him and i expect that is what he will do. Surely if he doesn't it will because Roos has given him an ultimatum and one last chance to turn things around.If he is dropped it will be for quite a long time i reckon and you have to wonder if he has the bottle to force his way back. So depressing. One more thing. I'm not being trite but comparing Watts to Trav is an insult to TrJ. Yes they both look alittle casual, yes both have sublime skills, yes trav wasn't overly physical but i rarely if ever questioned TJ's courage or commitment

Don't feed the troll.

Given the post about us merging from 'household demon' i would be very wary of believing this info. Smacks of trolling to me.

Spot on Nasher. It is a huge bug bear of mine when people play that game. Of course they could of easily (and should have) been well up at half time - but they weren't. And who knows what might have happened if they got say 30 points up? The game might have opened up and who knows e might have been freed up to attack and piled on some quick goals. How many games have people seen where the better team were not as far up as they should have been and half time and then lost? But also it would be easy to say if we had taken our chances at the end of the 3rd and during the 4th we might have won. We didn't and we lost.

its on channel 7 I do believe

The other thing about Nev is the issue of development. Most would acknowledge development has been pizz poor during his time at the club. Roos, Stone et all will have improved that. I look at a player like Cheney. Despite a great work ethic he couldn't crack a regular senior game at the dees. Few would have been concerned when he left and no doubt he copped much the same bagging as Jets does. Goes to the Hawks, spends a few seasons developing in the 2's, learns the Hawk's system, develops and improves as a player and now has played well in every game this season with the reigning premiers. Go figure. The other lesson Cheney provides is that in modern footy players are given a role and good coaches play players in positions that suit their skill set and negate weakness (such as lack of pace). Roos will give Jetts a role and judge him on his ability to play. I will be intrigues as to where he plays him as that will give us an insight into how his lack of pace is covered.

If nev takes his chance and cements his spot it will be like having 2 new players

I've always liked Nev as a player and for what its worth i am reasonably confident he will become a regular best 22 (cue stupid comments about that showing us where we are at). On his elevation and selection, both are completely consistent with how Roos goes about things. He has consistently said form in the twos (as he always refers to Casey) is really important and will be rewarded. As Saty has pointed out he ha been in the best at Casey for most of this year and the second half of last season. You play well for long enough you will be selected. Full stop. As someone elese has said he could have gone with the Toump or Clisby but no at the first opportunity he has elevated Nev and put him straight in the side (and i'll bet he strart on the field).

Don't hang out with dees fan, they're annoying

he's uncanny is nostry. Always seems to know where the ball is going to be

I was joking - i should have used that stupid smiley face or some other similarly daft emoticon but i can't stand them. I also like consistency from posters, though i must say i also like it when posters change their views as a result of logical discussion

You don't miss a chance do you BB.

Thanks for your insights Saty, much appreciated

Another point about those threads about NN was that many posters were vehement in their views that NN was the obvious choice between the two, with some resorting to lazy, sneering, dismissive insults of any one who did not agree (Ben Hur says hi). Those views was shared by many if not all in the press, including IIRC Gary Lyon. Now most still would take NN probably but that view is shifting and maybe by the end of say next year, if Watts has two big seasons, a lot more people might say Watts was the right choice. I think there is a lesson there in the current debate around Wines v the Toump and the looming Kelly v Tyson/Salem discussion. Most DL posters and football commentators are pretty adamant we made the wrong call. Which may prove to be correct as Wines has obvious footy smarts and can play (though i think there is some validity in the argument that he has hit a high level very early and may not get much better - not that he needs to). However as the NN v Watts example shows things can change and the absolutes that get sprouted by self professed football experts can be proven to be hollow.

I recall quite a long Watts v NN thread (s?) in which i argued that we made the right move taking Watts. A point i made was that so much of NN's potential was based around his athleticism - in particular his leap, but that was also potentially a weakness as it meant that if he experienced any injuries that impacted on this strength he didn't have the football smarts and skill to cover this. I think we have seen this come true a bit. He struggled last year with injury and again the pre season just gone (and potentially again now). Injuries impact on all players however they have exposed his lack of true footy skill.

Please DL its an insult to Dunn to have a newbie like Tyson on the banner and not have Dunny. Please can we have the Dunnster up there!