nutbean

You can be Hogan's Heroes new sidekick at the club ! Without any insight into how injuries presented themselves, ongoing investigation or management you conclude poor management by the club - astounding.

Does anyone else think that Judd looks like Voldemort ?

me either - but after 4 quarters I end up with the worst indigestion of all time.

Semi fair conclusion..... You acknowledge that the players know what was required and didnt do it in the 2nd quarter and that is a big negative - agreed. Yet you acknowledge that it (effort) returned after half time - that is not a positive ? It is all a matter of degrees - nobody but nobody who supports us would have given us close to a pass mark for Sundays game. That's the big picture. Were there small positives ? - absolutely ! Have we progressed at all from last year - in my mind undoubtedly ( but don't confuse that with being happy watching us lose every week) Playing poorly most of the game but still hanging in ( As Roos said positive but frustrating). Viney continuing to improve in form. Two big forwards being wasteful but at least getting their hands on the ball. Jones continueing to be Jones. Some positives.

Which game did we try and rush Mitch Clark back ?

The ox is slow after 3 knee reco's

I posted that earlier. Injury estimates are exactly that - estimates. They take the "normal recovery time". Many players take the "normal recovery time" - like Dom Tyson during his preseason recovery ( and also Viv Michie) and sometimes (Hogan, Garland) they don't. Both Clark and Dawes REINJURED themselves so that is another case again entirely. I also commented that Aiden Riley seems to be coming on quicker than anticipated and that rarely happens.

7 little words that so succinctly sum up the whole debate.

We could use Hagrid at full forward and dobby could be that will-o-the-wisp forward pocket we are screaming out for.

"you can't judge a book by its cover". HOWEVER I guess my biggest problem with Watts is that he doesn't look like he is trying hard enough. We hate skill errors and bemoan a players lack of leg speed but we move on. Lack of effort ( and I grant you that it may be perceived) burns badly.

And yet Dom Tyson was recovering from injury during the offseason and was aiming at being ready for round 1 and was. Relapses, recoveries not going as planned, further complications are all part of injuries not only to sportsman but to people in general. I used Judd as an example of a player that was due to be up and firing for the beginning of the year. Goodes and Tippett ( he now has a rib issue) are also weeks behind their estimated return dates. I read the injuries reports as not being optimistic but rather " if everything heals and recovers in the normal course of events". "Normal course of events" commonly don't transpire. I find it interesting that we actually have one player that looks to my untrained eye to be ready much earlier than anticipated- which is unheard of - Aiden Riley.

Two parts to the equation 1/ Players up the field not working hard enough to give an option 2/ Lack of trust from the kicker to the option being offered ****** *** this applies all over the field and something I noticed on Sunday that sets us apart from decent teams. Hawthorn players present options and their kickers (granted - their kickers are highly skilled) honour most leads first time - this moves the ball on quickly. We have trust issues either in the player leadings' ability to mark the ball in front of his opponent or the players own ability to deliver the ball to him. So we look slow and stop start.

wingardium leviosa ( levio-SAH levio-SAH)

The reason for circles is because what you describe as false expectations others are describing as the club giving estimates on the bodies fickle and ever changing recovery times that need to be taken as estimates and nothing more.

Isn't that exactly what Roos promised ? He didnt promise wins but did promise that our percentage wouldn't be 50% ? Not happy with that message now ?

I looked at the injury list this morning for all clubs and we are actually doing much better than most other clubs. I don't give any credit to Misson and his team for this. I give all the credit to luck. We are lucky that our players havent been injured in a high collision sport called Aussie Rules football and the ones that have been injured have, in the main, recovered and are playing.

Can you imagine the meltdown from "the medical experts" on this board if Chris Judd was a demon ? Judd's ankle injury and its recovery kept getting extended and extended as it didnt respond to treatment in the timeframe indicated.Then it appeared Judd's injury miraculously recovered and he was rushed to get him back for last weeks game and then he did a hammy in the first minutes he was on !!! The supporters here would be calling for every medical practitioner in a 50 km radius to be sacked.

put your hand up for the job - your years of medical and fitness training will be an asset to the club.

You suggest that not playing well is definitive and absolute. How can you not see the difference between not playing well last year and not playing well this year. Prime example - I do not think that Pederson played well on Sunday but he pretty much kept at it and having a go - compare this to last year where Pederson did not play well and was a dispirited waste of space on the ground. We did not do enough of the right things for long enough on Sunday, not enough players played well, yet the team kept plugging away. At what stage did we "plug away " last year ? edit - I do not consider Sunday's effort and output acceptable. I do consider that there are improvements on last year -the two aren't mutually exclusive.

expectation vs realism no-one can help you with realism I can help you open your eyes to our list and where it stands compared to all other clubs - but I cannot make you see. - that's up to you.

That depends on how productive your other 6 hours are and whether they compensate for the 2 hours you stuffed up. There is no doubt in anyones mind that the 2nd quarter was very poor. We shouldn't accept losing and no AFL player goes out onto the ground to lose. But you have an expectation the Lada will be turned into a porsche overnight. I'll ask you this. Do you support Roos and agree with what he is saying - in particular do you agree when he said that we are coming from a long way back and there will be some steps forwards but be prepared for some steps back as well ? ( paraphrasing). Thats exactly what we saw on Sunday. The difference for me was that as poorly as we played in the 2nd quarter the players didnt throw in the towel ( as previous ) and the effort of most was still there until the end of the game. ( unfortunately in many cases, the execution wasn't) I hate losing with a passion but am I seeing any rays of light so far this year ? Absolutely. Have there been times this year when it has clouded over and obscured any rays of light ? Absolutely. I am not disillusioned at the moment like I was for the last two years. I am not despairing because I can see areas of improvement. Do I want to see us win every game going forward ? Absolutely, but I have to temper this with realism and for now whilst I hate losing I will continue to embrace the forward momentum from last year.

Tom McDonald played a bad game on Sunday. He was beaten comprehensively on Sunday. I ask why JW cops such criticism but TM doesn't. I have not been a vocal critic of JW but I am now. It is not that he played badly - he is copping well deserved crticism for the manner that he plays badly. I think supporters can half stomach a player getting beaten by a better player on the day as long as the effort was there ( TM being a prime example). It is the lack of apparent effort that I can't stomach.

I applaud Nicholson knowing that IMO he will never make it. Others may disagree but I think his disposal skill is ingrained and he simply butchers the ball often and I don't believe this will improve. Nicholson is more your outside football who doesn't have a lot of physicality about his football. But you can see he is busting his guts when he plays. Effort comes in many shapes and forms - from constantly blocking or shepherding or being at the bottom of the pack - the physical efforts - or constantly presenting and leading hard and often, working tirelessly to make space and give an option - the non physical. I don't care how exquisite Watts' disposal skills are ( which they are) - watching him on Sunday and his lack of effort made me groan - I prefer Nicholson and I never thought I would say that. ( actually my preferred option is for Watts to give effort)

Bottom line is that Terlich's disposal is average at best. He also a habit of taking off with the ball with what appears to be little thought as to where he is going and runs himself into a corner or runs then pulls up quickly as he has nowhere to go.

When looking at the height of players it is important to note how they use it. Sandilands great strength is he is tall - but he does jump a little making him taller and he has great arm extension and palms the ball at its apex. Gawn ( and I do note he is still learning the craft) is only 3 cm shorter than Sandilands but as yet is to use his height to advantage like Sandiland does.