Pates

I don't know if I just had rose coloured glasses on but I didn't think we were meek and mild mannered last week. I just though Geelong were that bloody good that even though our players busted their bodies to win the ball, Geelong just had that better poise and ability to smash us.

Given both Williams and Eade have expressed an interest, and PJ has state that this is a job for an experience coach I cannot see that happening. But then it is Melbourne........

We play like we did against the swans, we will at least come very close. I actually see this game going right down to the wire.

In fairness to him, every week people were calling for wholesale changes. But I definitely think the idea of a settled team helps build confidence and trust in each other. Will be interesting to see how Gawn and Fitzy go this week, Maxxy fought hard last week in tough conditions and Fitzy barely got a look at it because the ball never made it down to the forward line. This will be equally tough conditions for them with the humidity and slickness of the ball. Have a feeling Viney will relish this conditions.

He was one of our best players last week, I can understand people calling for him to be give the flick most of the time but not this week.

Happy to see Viney back, this will be his sort of game I reckon. Also happy to see a settled line up.

Mark Williams appears to have an X-factor about him. Eade would be a classic straight down the line coach, no BS and no mix messages. Whereas I feel Williams would change things up more and be less predictable. I also think he'd be better at spruiking the club and being a premiership coach would carry more weight with the members who may be on the fence about getting on board. Williams at this stage is my choice, however if we win 3+ games and start to look quite good then Craig has to be given serious consideration. Early on the players seem to be responding to him but it could simply be a release from being under Neeld.

Patrick Smith is a great example of what is wrong with the AFL/sports media in this country. He tries to crack these pathetic analogy jokes, all the while making wild and crazy statements that he doesn't have to back up and has no accountability for. Him and Denham come off as the most smarmy, arrogant sports journalists (loose term) when they speak on SEN. That article on Agar you referenced is brilliant and puts you in the moment. Having said that, GWS really stuffed up in dudding Mark Williams of the top job. No surprise they're struggling to get one win with Sheedy the main man.

I'm shaking my head at these comments of people calling him soft. He went in hard many times vs Geelong and he showed some very good inside work which is totally against what he is known for. There is nothing about him that reminds me of Cale Morton. He's showed some real confidence in the last few games, and I expect that confidence to grow.

I loved seeing Wona back in red and blue, his game vs Brisbane with Jimmy and Wona Snr watching over brings a smile to my face just think about it. Just on another topic with it, i really think the packages on the website are looking good. I don't know if the club has invested in better equipment and better people working on it, but they actually look professionally done whereas in previous years it's been so tacky it's looked like the players have done it in their spare time.

Howe was a forward in a team that scored the least ever inside 50s, a bit hard to critique a player like him especially when everyone's been screaming when he's played in the midfield/defense. Frankly this was just a tough week to judge full stop, they went in as hard as we've ever asked of them and competed in clearances but just didn't have the poise or polish the cats do. And to make matters worse defense was something the cats were focusing on. The goals were always going to come, but they really wanted to restrict us and they are a team that usually gets what they want. Melbourne Team - Went in hard

Actually I'd just about sign Craig up as our next coach straight after the team song!

Firstly I reckon St Kilda were out of line to sack Blight so early into his contract. This culture of giving the coach th flick at the drop if a hat is pathetic. But yes what your saying has to be a concern at some level, especially if the asking price is so high. I mentioned it back back MN was coach and people were asking what happens if we keep him and it all turns to s___ again. I countered with wht happens if we sign Roos and it all turns to s___ again? There's no doubt he has the runs on the board though and you would think even though none have played under him the players would already have a huge amount of respect for him. If he does come to us then I think we supporters need to be careful about seeing him as the messiah. All that talk comes from fans.

Or Frawley for that matter. I'm definitely happy to say I always back Chip to become a good backman!On Fitzy, he is an odd one. In every sense of the word! I really enjoy watching him play because every time he did something good it really looks like he shouldn't! The question I have is where does he fit in long term? With Dawes, Clark (fitness permitting), and Hogan as big power forwards who can rick in the forward 50 and Watts and Howe rotating as medium forwards/HFF/hole-pluggers where does that leave Fitzy? Both he and big Max need to add some body strength on because they seem to be out muscled in the rucking. Are they ready to be a ruck combo and what do we do with them when the players earlier are in? Anyway I'm really happy to see him playing well, he's had some tough breaks so nothing has come easy for him.

That's exactly how I saw it, there doesn't appear to be anything in the rule about hand balling it into the goal. So the moment the ball hit his hand he brought the ball into play incorrectly therefor it is irrelevant where the ball went after that. So ball up. In the spirit of the rule? No. But that is the rule and from what I can read and from what a mate who's an umpire told me it definitely should not be a free to the attacking team. [EDIT] And yes the umpiring was horrendous umpiring at times today, oddly it felt good letting loose at those maggots today! And it was great hearing the demon boos!

He's my tip for the Bluey, Jonesy has still had a good year but Col Garland has been a rock in very difficult circumstances. Of course if Nate has a great second half the year he'll be hard to beat. Shame my bet for Watts to win the Bluey won't come to fruition but he's looking like he could have a good second half of the year.

I just wonder how big a mistake it was to let him come back BEFORE taking out the screw, there was no need to rush him as we weren't in contention for anything but they made that call to play him and sort it out later. I swear the info on him keeps getting sketchier and sketchier, when he first went in to remove this screw he came out and they said 6-8 weeks everything went well. 6-8 weeks later and I haven't heard any improvement. On topic, Grimes seemed pretty confident when being interviewed that he'd be back this week so who gets the chop for him? Kent? He's been solid for us this year but it couldn't hurt to give him a week off. Blease and Viney are both down as "test", I see no reason to risk further injury with season were it's at. Out: Blease, Brynes In: Strauss, Grimes Strauss apparently had a good game on the weekend and used his speed well. Although Blease plays as a forward this could be a chance to give Strauss or someone else a different role. Grimes comes in and for me this leaves one question, does Jones return to being a VC? I say just leave him as a co-captain, he's done a very good job in his time this year and whoever is the new coach I think will have a tough time justifying not at least making him a co-captain next year. [EDIT] Forgot about Byrnes, he goes for Grimes instead of Kent.

Screw the PP, you reap what you sow and we've made some god awful decisions. We have some very good talent in the wings with Toumpas and Viney in the midfield, we have Hogan on our way with another high pick along side him. We also have Grimes to come into the midfield and Trengove can (and I think will) improve to become a very good player. People are seriously worried about us winning knocking us out of contention for the pick? Well maybe we should tank then, because that worked out so well last time. Lets focus on us in the here and now, lets try to win and get some good vibes going through the club. I will go on record right in saying I don't want and I don't think we deserve a PP.

No for me playing 8 games in Tassie. It's a slippery slope and perhaps I'm being paranoid but if the day came where the AFL thought that we weren't worth salvaging they could well say move to Tassie or die. If we're already down there it wouldn't be a hard sell to some people. This might not seem like much but if they said 6 games Tassie and 6 games Melbourne I might be more into it, but the idea of playing more home games interstate than at home doesn't sit well with me. I have no issue with us pushing into NT, yes it takes a lot out of the players but I really think it's an opportunity to spread some good will.

I am and have been a fan of Jamar in the past, he has been pursued many times by better clubs looking for a ruckman and he has always said he wanted to repay the faith. Having said all that, I wonder whether he'd be open to a trade to a club that is likely to play finals next year. His currency won't be huge but as a ready-to-go ruckman I think there would be sides keen on having a look at him. I do feel we need senior players still around at the club, and I don't want us to treat another good servant poorly, but we are quite well stocked with ruckman. Saturday night showed that at the moment Gawn isn't ready for the no. 1 mantle, but next year after a pre-season and conditioning he may well have the tank to better run out games. We will also have Clark and Dawes who can chop out at times (mainly around the ground), and Fitzy has shown much more than I expected in the last few games he's played (although I don't know if he has the body to ruck at AFL level). For me I think we need to either move on Spencer or Jamar, and given Max's development it might be better to move Mark on to a finals bound club. But I will say this, if he wants to stay and isn't interested in going elsewhere then I think we leave it at that. I would like him to exit the club on good terms and if that can't happen in a mutually beneficial way then we keep him to mentor Max, and we move Spencer on.

I don't think he will continue after this year but that doesn't mean he can't be of value for 2013. He will provide experience for the younger players and from all reports has been a wealth of knowledge for J Viney. Sensational goal on the weekend, hopefully there's more to come!

I'm really happy to hear him talking up the future with coaches, I was a bit concerned that he had a really close relationship to Neeld and would be disgruntled by his sacking. From last nights performance couldn't be further from that. I swear I'm starting to see bits of his game rubbing off onto Watts. Dawes has been really good at cajoling and forced the ball forward. I know this is a Dawes thread but there was a moment, didn't lead to a goal but the ball was in dispute and Watts picked it up and was being tackled by two doggies and he just kept moving and managed to forced out to one of our guys. Can't wait for Dawes, Clark, Watts, Howe, and Hogan to play together. Get the midfield right and opposition defences will be [censored] themselves.

I was working tonight so I missed the game but huge positive to take that we outplayed them for 3 quarters. Extremely disappointing that after all that work we let it go for 15min and almost lost it. BUT I will always take a win. It was interesting to see Trengove after the game and he was clearly annoyed by how they finished, I'm sure he'll celebrate the win but he knows that that wasn't good enough. I'll watch the game properly tomorrow but I'm happy the hear Watts played well and played a crucial part in the final minutes of the game. We know there's talent, slowly the desire is starting to match it. At least for this week it's a grand old flag!

Our home game, simple as that. Good to see us in our true colours though.

Great work, wish I could've been there. I hope this becomes a regular thing, congrats to the Dee Girls!