Pates

We need to win the next close one, it’s those sort of wins tat galvanise a team. But yeah this years close losses have torn me up, especially knowing we probably should have won most if not all of them.

He’s definitely got that arrogance of “I’m the smartest guy in the room” about him. Interestingly I actually thought he was ok at Adelaide, just seemed to go about his business and do it very well. Since going to Geelong he very quickly got that superstar stink about him that seems to permeate from almost all Geelong players. I ligitimately feel like they think their [censored] doesn’t stink.

It was a free, it wasn’t in the spirit of the game or fair play but it was a free by the laws they’ve created. He manipulated it with skill and precision, was he hamming it up? Yes. But he was being block from the contest as “ruckman” and he knew exactly what he was doing as you can see with his celebration where he tapped his head to say “we outsmarted them and the umpires on that one”. Geelong seem to be the masters of manipulating the rules in sneaky ways, they have always been the kings at leading with the head and lowering the body for high contact. It wasn’t a good look but the umpire was unfortunately correct. Wouldn’t surprise me if you randomly see midfielders nominate for the ruck in sneaky ways similar to how Dangermouse did.

My girlfriend (a Brit) was really surprised and shocked at how [censored] off I was after the Port loss. Of course I would never hurt her but she kept poking and making fun of how upset I was. I had to calmly (but still clearly annoyed) tell her to just let me be, just let me be annoyed for a bit and let the frustration out. She then got annoyed at me for that! ? My point is I’m a very patient guy and I can let my frustrations out in healthy ways. There are too many that don’t, and it’s silly to ignore the fact that heightened emotions from sport create higher instances of DV.

He was so accurate in the VFL the week they were flooded, he obviously struggles to maintain composure and the same skills when in front of a big crowd. I think kicking that goal might’ve made him, but now I can’t see him at our club next year. I’d be up for Bugg coming in, even though he has very questionable skills his work rate, pressure, and pest-nature creates shots on goal.

Big question marks over our mental strength given the amount of times we’ve been in winning positions and let it slip. I almost feel like for pre-season we should go on some kind of training camp that tests the players not just physically but also mentally, pushing them to the limits. Anyone know where one of those might exist?

I’m done believing in this year. I really thought we were going to do it last night, just like I thought we were going to do it against Port and Geelong again in round one. ALL THREE of those games should be wins, no excuses, no ifs and buts. We haven’t got the mental steel for it this year, which is frustrating because I feel that’s step backwards. Last year the question wasn’t could we beat the best teams, it was why weren’t we beating the teams we should? I’m shattered by this loss and I’m sick of us being laughed at by the competition. We’ve become the new Richmond, the team that everyone enjoys getting so close to success they start to believe only to have it ripped away from them. Oh and the cats can go suck a fat one, they are the luckiest club in the AFL.

It’s getting up there now, three key injuries and a chunk of depth in Smith, Hunt (who’s having a down year), and Stretch. Plus Jetta test as well. Big challenge for us now, really hope Hibbo’s quad injury is on the lower end of severity.

Bad loss, Hibberds been down on his output from last year but he’s a cool head down back which is so important especially in high pressure environments. I feel like they’ll bring Wagner in, the coaches appear to rate him and he started to show some good signs after a terrible first couple of games earlier this year.

Oops so he was! Point is I always heard when his contract was coming up that he would leave Perth but it never happened.

About bloody time, though as you point out it’s none of the key/star players. How do you think they would go with Rance out for the year (Lever) and Cotchin (Viney) out for an extended period of time. Would they still be cruising easy on top? I’ve said it so many times you can’t win/compete for premierships without luck and they have had it in spades. Not taking away from their achievements because every premiership team every year has had it.

Gawn was far and away the most influential player on the ground. If he can't see that he shouldn't be a football commentator anymore, he was a great (and thuggish) player back in the day but that's not this day anymore. These last bunch of games will be a true test of our club. We haven't really beaten anyone of note, we have to now.

I feel that's harsh on Jones and a little disrespectful to his achievements. Yes he rose to the top of our club during probably our worst patch, but captain out of necessity? He showed grit and determination when everyone else just wanted to roll over. That's not a captain out of necessity, that's a captain full stop. As for his current position in the team, he's able to take more of a back seat while some really talented young guns step up but he still shows his presence and leadership, it might just not be as obvious to us armchair experts. I think he's got a big role to play as we press on, and with Viney out for a while (again) it'll be incumbent on him as sole captain to step up and lead us.

We've seen it enough times when we're on the wrong end, sometimes teams will be missing players but they'll see it as a challenge rather than defeat. Round 23, whether it hinges on our making the finals or not (I really hope not) is going to be a huge game. If it does end up that way I'm on board with the stand alone Monday night fixture.

Normally this is true and he's got a very accurate long kick, but boy there were some shanks on the weekend. Don't get me wrong he was fantastic for us, and he was a key part of our third term destruction of the dogs, but that one that came off the side of the boot and went out would've made Simon Godfrey himself blush! Loving seeing Gus play great footy, gives me a warm fuzzy feeling every time I see him singing the song. He's done it the hard way, and boy he deserves it.

Jeez the wording in the title was really similar to the Jack Viney thread, I was worried he'd turned up on Monday complaining of a sore shoulder and being put into surgery or something! In terms of him leaving us to go back to Perth I wouldn't put any credibility on Harvey's word, he's not a former player turned reporter with his "ear to the ground" he's just giving his opinion which is based off other opinions. All reports say he's very happy in Melbourne and honestly if he didn't go back to Perth after everything that happened last year I feel like he'll be less inclined as the years go on. He also looks like he's enjoying his footy at the moment (why wouldn't you when you're hird on the Coleman medal), which to me seems a bit different from his last couple of years. Last year his head was obviously not in it, understandably so. Remember everyone said it was a foregone conclusion that Pavlich would return to Melbourne.

As with any injury to a major player there are two sides to it. Obviously it’s disapointing we don’t have him and we should tread very carefully with it given his history, but we certainly have better depth now and we can use this as an opportunity for someone to step up. Tyson is the obvious candidate to come back in but he’s very hit and miss (literally) even though I’d say I’m a fan. We brought Hannan in vs Bulldogs to increase our leg spear on the outside, and we have Spargo showing quite a bit of upside wherever we use him. The other one could be Oscar Baker might get a chance in Viney’s absence if he shows enough form at Casey. Bottom line it sucks but let’s make the most of a bad situation.

This upcoming match against Geelong is one of the most important games for us this year as it’s a team we are very close to on the ladder and the ramifications for a wins vs loss are huge. We are also very similar in ability, both teams have shown their best and worst although we are yet to get a win over someone else truly in contention other than Adelaide. That round one loss against the Cats must sting, we were a little lucky to be kept in it when they could’ve put us away but they were equally very lucky that Maxy missed a chance to win it for us while we dominated the inside 50s and didn’t make the most of it (seems to be the theme for the year). Bottom line is we owe them for that loss and the Cats are one of those teams that inflicted so much pain on us for so long that I want us to give some back. We can definitely beat them on their own turf and if we do it could be the making of this team. One week at a time, let notch up our first big contenders win for the year

Lever is the only key injury in that list. With such a good run there is no reason why we shouldn't be competing for a guaranteed finals spot.

I feel like we'll make it, but not easily. The only thing that'll change that is if we pull out an unlikely victory against the cats. I still honestly feel like we have the capacity to play some great footy and be a real threat, but we just don't seem to bring it when it matters. The tigers were in a similar position last year having serious questions asked about them, they turned it around because they seemed to come closer together as a group and decide near enough wasn't good enough. I hope our players have a similar resolve somewhere inside them.

I mostly agree with with, but he took his eyes off the ball and looked at his opponent for a moment. The players know that if they do that they run the risk of giving away a free kick. He needed to disguise it more.

I definitely feel like he should be dropped, that passage play where he gave away the 50m penalty is not good enough from a leader and it's massive momentum killer. I think should we still make the finals like we all hope he will be a very important player for us, but for there here and now that kind of behaviour must be addressed as simply unacceptable. I would also add that if it was a one time affair then I'd let it slide but in the two years he's been a Demon he's done it more times than I can think of than any other player and it has cost us at times.

You'd struggle to find a better first 50 games from any player to pull on the red and blue let alone the competition. The kid will be a genuine superstar.

I go further back then Neeld, back to Bailey, and even further to Daniher. Don't get me wrong I loved the Rev when he was our coach and we had some great times under him but we haven't produce ANY out and out stars of the competition in decades. This is despite several very high draft picks. Our current crop looms as the best chance we have to do that. But mostly I put that down to our club being unable to take players from being decent possibly A-graders to anything more. Most got to a certain point and then plateaued to just being very good. Trenners I put more into the unlucky category, if he'd had a clean run and managed to get a chance under the current coaching panel with no injury issues he would be a gun. Watts has application problems, always has, but he was terribly managed in his first year trotted out with Ron Barrassi and put up on a pedestal before he kicked a ball for us, the years following that were just as bad. Toumpas was woefully managed where he was coming back from a serious injury (hip surgery unless I'm mistaken) and thrown in there before he had proven himself just because he was a high draft pick. Of course these are only my opinions but there are so many others we have failed to develop in the last decade (or more).

The article's last line is pretty spot on, as much as Toump and Watts had application issues we failed all three of them (and others) with our pathetic inability to develop our high draft picks. It's bad luck for them that they joined us when we were the very definition of a rabble.