Pates

We got smashed early and were lucky not to be down by more. But the guys actually dug in a bit, mean the cats are beating us in most things but some efforts from Jones, Davey, and in particular Clark gave us some good opportunities which we made the most of. Random thing, Malthouses special comments are some of the best I've heard. He is making some really good points about how the game is going.

Why were the two coaches out on the ground for the toss?

Will be very interesting if there is some footage of the bump. I still can't fathom how that WC player got off from his hit on Sylvia in Pre-season last year.

Will be very keen to hear the results from this game with these two and Watts.

Wow I don't remember him saying that, not impressed. I'm happy with him being dropped, he's been serviceable this year, nothing special bad not terrible. Last week was poor, I want him to seriously want to be in the seniors and hate losing.

I found this quote very interesting. I challenge any club to have handle all of these issues better. The passing of Jim was sad and difficult, but in every way (off field at least) we have honoured him in a way that is tasteful and not over the top. Liam Jurrah threw us a massive curve ball as the culture barriers once again came to the fore, but unlike many clubs who would've dumped him and made a big thing about it we have chosen to let it stay in the background and let the law run it's course. The Davey issue, while likely originating from Davey himself, was caused by Mifsud over stepping his bounds and confiding in a journalist. And as for the "loss" of EW being embarrassing, I couldn't disagree more. We stuck to our guns and showed we are a club of integrity. We DUMPED them, and rightly so. Since then we have got our replacement in Opel, and covered the FOJ with Webjet who came to us. Has the team gone backwards, yes. But I firmly believe in Neeled and what he's bringing to the table, it's not a 2 minute instant noodle fix, it's a long term plan to get us playing well against all sides not just the bad ones. He's more deluded than us supporters if he thinks Neeled can turn around a culture that has been at the club since I've been alive over one tough pre-season. Clearly he had absolutely nothing to write about, because none of what he wrote is new. Just rehashing old crap to keep his paycheck rolling in. (Oh and for some reason I'm reminded of the South Park episode where they go to San Francisco and the people there are so smug they love the smell of their own farts!)

The Selwood one is inexcusable from the MRP, he throws the first hit and from all angles seems to be as forceful as Raines but because he went down and Raines copped it sweet he gets off. I think he's a brilliant player and has great courage in many ways but it Raines must hit the sweet spot for Selwood to go down like that. I will say this: Selwood is not responsible for the MRP findings, and they should've recognised Selwood as the instigator and the fact that hit appeared to be as forceful as Raines. You are a dead set joke MRP.

Best half of footy I've seen from him (first half), second was still good but last quarter definitely tapered off (understandable given his workload). If he can start to produce this consistently he will be on his way to being an A grader, which will be a great help to the likes of Moloney and in particular Trengove.

Very impressive. I like that this has come out now, and not just before round one as a fluff piece to make us look good. The doggies and saints game has given me confidence that we are heading in the right direction, albeit against opposition that aren't killing it at the moment. But what I liked is when our structures held up the saints found it very difficult to move the ball freely, and that is something the Neeled is trying to instill. Fact is our current gameplan requires high level fitness, which we may not be quite at yet. This is year is unfortunately another education year, but I feel we're pushing forward.

I'd be happy with this, maybe try to find a spot for Petterd if he plays well for Casey. But the forums (and admittedly mine as well) whipping boy, Morton, played the best game I've seen from him for a VERY long time and he would probably be the most likely person to give way for Ricky Bobby. Joel Mac might come out for Chip, and Ricky could come in for Sellar. In: Petterd, Frawley, Clark Out: Sellar, Joe Mac, Dunn

I'm very comfortable with the two Jacks as co-captains, they'll grow as leaders and players through time and for me some of the criticism hefted onto JT as been a bit unfair. He hasn't had a great start to the year but he is still learning, but how to be a captain and how to be a player. I'm in awe of Clarke, I was worried he could be someone that might pump himself up after us offering him a lucrative deal and might start to believe he is all that. But every game he's shown passion, aggression, determination, and on Sunday he showed great pride and respect for the jumper by getting himself off the turf and off the ground unassisted. Did the no.11 very proud. He's a great addition as a player and a leader. Captain? I wouldn't be 100% against it, but it goes right against what we're try to achieve with the pair of Jacks.

It's a difficult one, when a team is in the bottom 4 in the competition you're always going to get abuse at players. But I reckon another component of it that our club has been down to so so long, and it's definitely taking it's toll on people, and please don't take this the wrong way but I'm over watching the Dees lose every week. I love them, I'll continue supporting and continue my membership every year, but I've got a lot of pent up frustration related to our last 5 years. Still, these are our future fans getting turned away so I guess speak to the club to see if there are areas that are more family friendly and hopefully your kids can start to enjoy the footy more.

I've been thinking something similar for a while, given this will again be a "draft year", we must make sure we get this one right. J Viney sounds like hell be a handy pick up, but those two other first round picks can't be wasted. It sounds like we don't have a full time recruiting officer but we are trying to surround Todd with people that'll make his job easier.

Me I thought it was just a freak accident, it looked like his eyes were only for the ball and put one foot out to slow his momentum, it's just really unlucky his foot land on Rohan's ankle. For me the really dangerous one is when two people and running for the ball in wet conditions, and one player chooses to slide early. This puts the other player in a really tough position, either he jumps to avoid the contact or he gets collected and could break his leg. That's not intent for the ball, that's intent to use your body as a battering ram to protect the ball. I was shocked that the tunneling incident from the WCvHawks game wasn't cited, those are the biggest concern for me because once the player is in the air he has no control and can land very awkwardly (like Clarke).

Hopefully Jurrah will get a game this week, even if it's just a half in the VFL ressies to get him moving around on a footy field. Will be interesting to see how long it takes for him to get into the seniors.

I was gobsmacked that after one of our early beltings in the ins and outs thread people were suggesting the board be sacked. They have been brilliant this year, and CS was stoic in his resolve to get what our club was entitled to when it came to sponsors. Off-field we're secure, hopefully the players can start to step up.

The thing I like about this (apart from the $$$$$) is that in 2000 LG chose to launch their brand in Aus through us, and now Opel have chosen us to do the same. Great get Cam, you've had the month of you're life and come out very well.

Positives: Bate - has his critics and many will argue has no place going forward, but he was among our best today. Kicked two goals when needed and did little wrong Howe - again put his skills on show, I question what his role should be though. We appear to be using him in the Center, I think a bloke that can take a mark like him should be forward of the centre Clarke - did the jumper and his number very proud, hasn't done too much wrong since arriving. Really hope he's alright. Davey - still not a great game from him, but his two goals turned back the clock, hopefully it'll give him confidence Negatives: Accuracy - we kicked ourselves out of the game well before 3 quarter time. We could've/should've won this if it wasnt for some poor kicking at goal Hitting targets - some absolutely VFL ressies standard disposal today, these guys are getting very well paid and they can't do basics. If some of the guys were on accuracy based contracts they'd be heading to centrelink every week Concentration lapses - we again showed how vulnerable we are to these lapses in concentration. 1 point behind, with all the momentum and they somehow managed to squeeze 2 goals at the end, then 2 quick ones to kill the game. Switch the F on!!!!! Some points on two specific players who have been singled out (not unfairly IMO) in the thread. Morton - he looks a much better player if takes the first option, particularly by foot. He wins the loose ball but over thinks the situation way too much. If he has it for more than a second we're screwed, he will turn it over. Kick the effing thing long, short kicks and handballs will be a turnover most of the time. My opinion, he ain't got it. Joel MacDonald - like his endeavour and his hardness but his disposal has because a liability, simple. I'd fell more comfortable with the ball in Jake Spencer's hands than his, and that's saying something. Negatives outweigh his positives, if he is truly in our current best 22, then we're in a huge amount of trouble. These two should not be in a Dees jumper next week, simple as that.

I said to my Dad I reckon tonight was a preview of this years Grand Finalists, with that in mind it being at the G I reckon the Dorks will be premiers (much as I dislike them). It was a pulsating game to watch despite there not being any goals. I kind of liken it to a Premier League match between Liverpool and Man U, even if there aren't a lot goals you can just about guarantee that ever contest will be heavily fought. I thought Bruce definitely showed his lack of ability against the top skilled players, Cheyne did his job admirably and I think has been able to fit into their culture.

I hear a lot about this "buying into Neeled" and his gameplan, and I'll preface this by saying I believe in Neeled and where we're going. But something that's really annoying me is the fact the players keep talking about a new defensive gameplan. If we are more defensively minded, then why are we bleeding goals? Anyway, I'll be backing the players in every week and come back for more pain, but talk is cheap. From the outside, Clark and Jones appear to me to be only ones showing some real desire and aggression on the feild.

Loved this one!

I think he's been an excellent recruit so far, he's still learning the craft but thus far he's giving us an effort up forward and that's at least something we've been lacking for a while. Something I really love about him is he's got a little mongrel about him! I know a lot of "experts" would disagree with this, but I think what we are paying him is irrelevant. We know we paid over the odds for him, but we had to in order to get him, he was heading to Perth if we didn't convince him and money talks. Bottom line is we had a massive hole in our budget to fill thanks to $cully, and he had something we wanted. Once he learns more about running to the right areas, and when he starts getting decent delivery, he could prove to be our best recruit for a very long time.

The major issue here is the artificial turf on the ground. Why isn't it grass the whole way around? I think he's pretty bloody stiff, I thought at the time perhaps a free-kick but also thought that it was just the hard part of the the ground made it worse. From my eyes I thought the tackle started outside the boundary and as they were crossing the line they'd we're already falling. It's catch 22, we get labeled soft for not tackling properly and then a good hard tackle gets a suspension. We'll probably take the early plea, unless there's no chance of him copping an extra week.

Just over use of the ball is killing us, twice we were streaming forward and one extra handball turns it over. I'm liking the intent, just execution is lacking, but we're a big chance to win this, probably just need captain Jack T to set up a bit. Also two very poor misses at the end by Stef and Mitch.

I too thought the logo was enormous. I get the feeling this is just temporary though, that they just wanted to the team tops out as quickly as possible but didn't want to fiddle around too much with the size. It's clearly not printed on, so the batch of proper tops I reckon will have better dimensions. Great stuff Webjet!