DemonWA

i dont know if Adelaide are a top 8 side this year...

most of the players on the list are out of their reach now, must have been a list put together last year?

i saw this list - its not suprising, they've basically listed every good young player in the AFL so no big suprises IMO

Current top 3: Jack Grimes, Tom Scully, Brent Moloney Past top 3: Adam Yze, David Neitz & Jeff Farmer

watching the game from the stands on thursday the main thing that struck me was how easily the eagles were able to pass the ball, and how easily they could release a free man when we were trying to apply a press/zone to them. i think we should play man-on-man until bailey can put his hand on his heart and say that the players can implement his zone style with positive results. Playign man-on-man makes playes ACOUNTABLE, which currently they are not IMO, which was backed up by the player review on MFC.com.au which painted a far too rosy picture of alot of player imo. So what do i want to see? For now, players picking up oppositon players not space.

was at the game last thursday and Watts started really well and maintained a high level of instensity - great work

IN: Bate, Jetta, Joel Mac, Warnock Out: Dunn, Morton, Gysberts, Frawley Bate for Dunn because i thin khe'll be hungry for afl and after kicking 6 deserves a gig Jetta in becasue for all of his downside, he atleast goes hard at contests Joel Mac in for his hardness Warnock in to replace chipa who, like brian lake, looks a different player to last year

i was there too. I lasted out the entire game, but it wasnt pretty. Flying over for the tigers game at the G later in the year. Based on this form im wasting my time

http://www.bom.gov.au/products/IDR703.loop.shtml#skip It wont pour dwon or anything, but i wouldnt be suprised if we might get a bit of a spit of rain at some stage. the ball will be quite greasy for the game anyway

I think we need Sylvia to spend more time closer to goals for us to kick a winning score tonight. I'd really like to see Watts kick multiple goals too - he almost had a break out game against freo at subi last year, if he had kicked straight he might have won us the game, and gained the confidence to take his game up a notch

i feel for him and I'd prefer him over Dunn, but i think the FD are hesitant to make changes to a winning team even if the team havent been overly impressive in their wins. also maybe his comments after round 1 as a sub have bitten him? He said he wasnt happy about being the sub and maybe the FD thought he was getting too far ahead of himself?

i'd take him back if he was happy to play VFL! I think he'd struggle to get a gig week in week out, but i always liked him as a player and seemed to be into the club...until he walked out?!!

woosha talked it up the week before they/we had the Bye.

yeah its been raining all day on and off. The boys should be used to the rain and the cold!

Eagles have put all of their eggs in this basket. They know they are going to loose the next 2 games so have rushed back LeCras for the game tommorow night. here is to hoping he goes down with the same injury inside the first 5 mins!

Im not aware of anything to be honest mate. They did a pre match function (dinner last nigth) becasue the boys are basically straight on the plane after the game so cant see much chance of anything happening in terms of formal functions. The training session tonight is an open session, but again i doubt that is much help to you as you're not flyign over until tommorow! If we get up i'm sure you wouldnt be the only bloke wearing red and blue who might be looking to enjoy a few post games beers, so i'd follow the crowd to one of the pubs near by (maybe even to drown our sorrows!)! On a side note, apparently the club want everyone to bring their flashing horns to the game. As its the first night game for the year they are keen to light them up when we kick goals etc haha. if i bring mine they wont be going near my head, but the idea of a flashing sea of red amongst the eagles dominated crowd could be pretty cool.

Bails seemed pretty happy with the thursday night game - he said that the travel factor has been taken out of the equation as they have arrived here early and by the time the next game rolls along they will have had 9 days in between to recover so no excuses based on flight times / recovery etc

yes & yes Watts was there and looked in good spirits

agreed. Speaking with LJ last night he was saying last time Shannon Hurn played on him.... seems like they know they dont have anyone to negate him totally, so they are willing to play a create player on him in the hope they get a little more space themselves?

last night bailey spoke at the western demons dinner about the matchups on Lynch, Kennedy & Darling. No suprise Riv, Garland & Chip are the 3 that will go to them, he didnt specify actual match ups though. Also said that Martin would pcik up cox on natinui if they rested forward. Bailey said that if we can prevent their big men from marking the ball (ie make our spoils) then we back our smaller running types to beat them at ground level.

haha maybe, who knows?! Bailey was asked the usual "how far away is jack watts from a break out game" question. Along with the usual talk about him being 20, and lightly built, he did make mention that the more oppertunities he gets the better he will become, but not in terms of number of games, but more along the lines of number of marking contests and number of shots on goals, so again i'm not sure if this has been discussed with the players, but the FD seem aware of the fact that he needs to be gven the footy to be able to improve.

He was there and looking in high sprits. Connolly introduced him as "Jack Watts, number 1 draft pick and #1 forward target"

Maric is in the touring party too...

Morning all, Last night I attended the annual Western Demons dinner. It's a great night for us Dee's fans who live over in the west. The playing group & coaching staff are in attendance and the players are allocated to sit on tables with the supporters. They allocate one player per table, and rotate the guys through the tables every 1/2 an hour or so. We had Barty, LJ & Grimes sit with us at various stages throughout the evening. Chris Connolly, Dean Bailey, Green, Davey & Chippa also spoke at various stages. Thought I'd share a few things i took from last night; Barty was really good value, more than happy to chat about anything and everything. Barty spoke about the teams "game plan" and the perception that they rely on turning the ball over at half back / fast breaks from defence. He said that basically they aim to get their hands on the ball where ever they can, and obviously focus on forcing turnovers in their forward half is the preference. He did say that they do focus on moving the ball quickly out of defence and turning defence into attack, so whilst it's not what they'd consider to be the game plan, it's a focus and something they work on. He also said that pressure for spots is getting really competitive; guys like Warnock, Joel Mac, Bate & Maric could all easily slot back in, and as a current member on the side you just have to hope you play well each week because the pressure is on to retain your spot. LJ was surprisingly very talkative. Amongst other things he spoke about playing alongside Aussie, and how he feels like they have each others back when they're both out there together. Let me just say Jack Grimes is a great bloke and i can see why he is rated as a future captain. One of the guys asked him about Tom Scully and Grimes said he was 100% sure Scully would stay. He said that Tom is a great guy who loves the club and family man to the point that he actually gets home sick (went home early from china), so he couldn't imagine him moving from the Dee's to live in Sydney. This is all stuff we hear in the press but to hear it from a fellow team mates mouth was pleasing! We also spoke about him growing up as a dees fan too. He said he used to sit at games and discuss deficiencies and get frustrated about why certain players weren't doing things, but it wasn't till he started playing that he realised how hard AFL actually is. Bails was asked a range of questions, which he answered with the usual dead bat. He said he gets enjoyment from seeing guys like Ro Bail play some good footy, and also spoke about Cam Bruce moving on, and whilst it was unfortunate has opened the door for Tapscott etc. Jamie Bennell wasn't at the function which i assume was because he'd gone to see his family? Also Addam Maric was in attendance so he may be in contention to get the call up?

im guessing you have #10 on your jumper?!