leehow

i think his skills looked pretty good, its obviously only a highlights package, but he didnt miss a target and his hands were good in close.

shows how little of our games these guys actually watch, or how much they know. he questions why petterd is ever out of the team. probably because he was playing average footy. good to see him play well yesterday, but think he needs to do it for 2-3 weeks before he is promoted.

are you serious mate? two big betting plunges in two weeks? we played north with injuries and the suspension to trengove, who always beat us. the bookmakers put up stupid odds about north and were rightly claimed. we then played st kilda, who again always beat us, and we had more injuries. then we came up against carlton, who many people expect to finish top four. you obviously dont know much about punting, or have any idea of value. while i dont like doing it, i have bet against melbourne the last 3 weeks and it has been easy money.

davey out for at least 2 weeks. seeing knee specialist tomorrow.

what about the doctors and trainers? surely they are negligent in their duty of care for not calling for a stretcher earlier. they waited until the play came the full length of the ground even though they knew he needed to be taken off.

just posted this in another thread. will travis varcoe go for his tackle on goldsack. chased him down, slung him to the ground and he hit his head as he fell. pinned both arms so goldsack couldnt cushion his fall. while he wasnt injured, if this is the stance the afl wants to take in terms of protecting the head, then surely he has to be reported. (he definitely shouldn't, it was a great tackle, but this is the afl we are talking about.)

will travis varcoe go for his tackle on goldsack. chased him down, slung him to the ground and he hit his head as he fell. pinned both arms so goldsack couldnt cushion his fall. while he wasnt injured, if this is the stance the afl wants to take in terms of protecting the head, then surely he has to be reported. (he definitely shouldn't, it was a great tackle, but this is the afl we are talking about.)

can anyone tell me how the afl committee are appointed? is there anyway the clubs can pass a no-confidence vote and have them sacked? this decision sets a very dangerous precedent for the afl. if a player is dazed by a tackle after hitting his head on the ground, will this be considered high impact?

i agree with davey down back to use his kicking skills, and to break the tag he seems to be getting. i wouldnt mind putting green down back at least for a week, just to get him into the game. this would also free grimes up to move into the midfield. i would love to see us line up like this : FB bartram frawley garland HB green rivers davey C bail grimes morton HF tapscott watts sylvia F wonna jurrah bennell R jamar moloney trengove INT gysberts martin jones dunn/bate i dont agree with wholesale changes, although i was disgusted with the performance, i didnt see anyone in the twos that really stood out or showed they really wanted a game except bate. i would give them one more week, and if people dont start performing, then make changes.

have to say im extremely disappointed with the performances of the melbourne listed players so far. i would have thought after such a terrible game thursday night that people would be doing everything they could to get a game next week. bate - kicked 5, but still lacks pace, is poor on the ground, should be dominating this level newton - is just a good vfl player, shouldnt play for the dees unless we have injuries. petterd - good in patches, kicking letting him down at times jetta / maric - both been ok without doing too much been most impressed with howe and gawn. while gawn is still a fair way off, his ruckwork has impressed me, and is also good once the ball hits the ground, and shows some desperation. howe's marking has been fantastic, and is prepared to work hard to chase, might be a chance to get a game soon with the insipid performances of some melbourne players. but overall, pretty disappointing game against the bottom of the ladder frankston team.

its interesting how you say jack watts will never be a key forward, but you are happy for lucas cook to take at least 3-4 years to develop. dont you think we should be giving jack 3-4 years to develop? just as the club said when they drafted him. jack has shown some good signs at times, he is yet to show us he can be a dominant key forward, but dont you think you should wait a couple of years until he is fully developed to write him off?

Wrong...Hurley had a magnificent First Q. yes was quiet in the 2nd & 3rd, but in the last Q he was involved directly with 2 of Essendon's goals so i think that is a lot better than next to nothing as you said. if you look at the time i posted, it was before the start of the 4th on tv, so to that stage, other than the goal he kicked, he had done nothing, was labelled as the next superstar of the game by malcolm blight, then barely had a touch for 2 and a half quarters. one of the score assists he had in the last quarter, he sat off the contest, got a handball and kicked to a guy running into an open goal, ended up working but coach wouldnt have been happy if the 2 on 1 went carltons way. later he tried to kick a torp into the forward line which ended up going out of bounds. so overall, i would say it was a pretty quiet day for him. if you read my whole post, i wasnt bagging him, i was saying that a quiet day doesnt mean hurley not going to be a star. tomorrow is the time that jack watts needs to stand up and show his doubters that he has what it takes to belong at this level. we have seen patches from him, but against the younger and smaller bodies of the gold coast, he needs to produce a 4 quarter effort. would love to see him at full forward for the day and end up kicking 4-5. we all see the game differently, but from what ive seen, its only a matter of time before he starts to dominate. the skills are there, the intensity to tackle and work hard is improving, the pack mark against hawthorn showed he is getting stronger. from day one they've said it would take time, and its frustrates me that some of the posters here dont have faith in the football department and their decisions.

are all the pro-hurley people watching todays game? while i admit hurley has shown more to date than watts, he has done next to nothing today. kicked one goal early from the boundary line, but since then has barely had a touch. i am not bagging hurley, because i think he is a very good player, but it just shows that young players will have quiet games. you cannot expect them to dominate or be in the best every week. jack has really only shown glimpses so far, but we all know the talent is there. we all just need to be patient with him, because one day soon it will all click, and we will see the reason he went at number one.

i think they may use morton in a similar role to what bate has been playing. he has the tank to lead all day and outrun his opponent, is a good long kick and can take a mark. i think he will be a hard matchup because of his height and running ability.

give him a chance mate, hes been in good form in the vfl, so i think he deserves his chance. bate has has an interrupted season, therefore hasnt been at his best, so i think a few weeks in the vfl will do him good.

hi, have been reading for a while and finally decided to sign up. i agree that our kickins are definitely a problem, and have been for a long time. i think this will improve with time, and greater understanding of the structures. but i think that defending the oppositions kickin is as much, if not more of a problem. great_little_footy_team mentioned freo going coast to coast for a goal in the last quarter, and this happens way too often. we seem to be incredibly slow to set up our zone, which unless it comes from a quick point, never should happen. forward pressure is such a big part of football now, and we let ourselves down by letting the opposition get out of defence so easily.