nutbean

disagree - - they are not only old and boring but I think more importantly - they are just offensive. Just as easy to say - I don't like Bail selection in the team - he turns the ball over too much and doesn't get meaningful possessions. Critiquing a player is fine but calling a player a spud is just plain wrong.

I get the buddy deal - again...exposed form. Whether we like Buddy or not we have to agree that on his day ( and he has quite a few of them) he is a game winner. Boyd has no exposed form to justify the tag. I was gobsmacked at the price GWS paid for Scully but even he had shown during his two seasons with us he could run all day. Did not think he was ever worth the money paid but at least you had some idea of what you were getting. The Boyd play is the riskiest investment in AFL history that I can recall.

pleeeasssseeeeeee I give you Mario Bortolotto - two times premiership player for Carlton.. ( the blokes you mentioned were champions in comparison but I agree wholeheartedly with your point)

reminds me more of the Swans Kennedy - Danger has electric pace which Aaron doesn't have and Dangerfield slices through the midfield with pace and sideways movement - again - not Vandenburg - but his strength at the contest ( inability to be knocked off the ball) and his relentless attack at the man and the ball is Kennedy like. Even his marking is Kennedy like - not spectacular like Dangerfield can be but very strong hands.

And further to the point on how difficult it is - have a look at the Hawks this year - they have talent oozing on every line yet they have been very shoddy starters and have not really been able to maintain the rage for 4 quarters with one glaring exception ( damn their eyes). Sydney have also had moments of turning off. First half against the dockers. The point is that the team you mention are so good that in most cases they can recover from slow starts or passages where their intensity drops off - we can't

One is kicking goals and marking the ball in the forward line and the other isn't. I have no idea how long Pedersens form will hold or how long Dawes slump in form will continue. Today and now - it is a no contest - you would pick Pedersen.

Dawes has never been a good contested grab. Dawes at his best as a hit up forward. His work ethic to lead and lead again was very good. That has been absent. He has been stagnant and without movement he becomes a contested mark/body on body forward and that has never been his go. He was 100% right in what he said he needed to do to exploit Frawley and then proceeded not to do what he said he would do - that was exploit Frawleys lack of match fitness by running him around. You are right in saying that Hogan has struggled in a couple of games to hold marks and correctly identified that he makes up for it in other ways. Dawes has two strings to his bow - at his best he is good leading forward and he brings a lot of pressure to the forward line ( tackling/blocking/harrassing). At the moment he is only doing the pressure acts and that's just not enough.

And you think he would feel disrespected being compared to Fyfe ?

I think about the Boyd contract and shake my head. To me it is all about exposed form. To offer the millions they have given to Boyd - you want to see something in his first season to suggest that he will be a major player of the future - and i have yet to see it. That is not to say he wont make it but I would have wanted to see snippets in his first season to justify that sort of contract. Joe Daniher in his first season is far away from being a complete player but you can see the glimpses to suggest that he will be very good. Would you offer Hogan huge money ? In a heartbeat - his Casey season and what we have seen in his first few matches strongly suggest that the only stopping him being a "great" is injury.

not to be pedantic ( but I will be ) - in the past they have come off the ground and they could blow out a candle.

This thread is like the Kramer -" it is a loathesome, offensive post. Yet I can't look away." I think players mature and develop at their own pace so I think it makes senses to compare him to no one except himself. Compare next weeks efforts to last weeks effort.

It's not that hard is it ? I am a Dawes fan but in the forward line you have room for two "power" forwards, two smalls and two other bigger running/marking targets ( Howe and Watts). So it comes down to Pedo, Hogan and Dawes - you pick two and on form it is not a hard choice.

perception and reality. I really disliked Williams as a coach - irritated the life out of me. Meet him outside a 7/11 last year having a takeaway coffee - I just said G'day and he apparently was is in the mood to talk - I talked with him for about half an hour - he was engaging and personable.

I loved this line AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan said while the move was drastic it wouldn’t make the club any worse. “It’s probably well overdue. I knew Carlton were in real trouble when Melbourne requested a priority pick on their behalf.”

I will also add that you need clean contested possession to get better uncontested possession and we got clean possession away from the clearances on Sunday.

Titus O'Reily "Mick would have been safe and staring at an extension if he's just put in place a rogue supplement program."

Spot on... Even during our dark days under Neeld contested possession wasn't our problem. Yes we got smashed in total possession count including both contested and uncontested - but if you look at contested to uncontested possession ratio then it was clear that we had players in and under but no one spreading to take the ball and run. We keep hearing about "contested possession" but not enough people recognise that uncontested possession is a direct reflection of gut running, spreading and multiple leading. We have the worst contested to uncontested ratio in the league with gold coast. We need more outside run.

Why check then ? To what end ? Why not end of the season when you have completed playing and have a full picture. I keep using Neville Jetta as the example - if we critiqued him mid 2013 he was gone with no rookie spot. His last few games of that season saved him. What if Toumpas takes 3 steps backwards and blitzes the last 4 games ? still delist him ? Up until Sunday he had shown little - but on Sunday he made mistakes as did everyone but looked like he belonged. Happy to read all the speculation but don't indulge in the "sport" as it is unnecessary and more importantly very fluid - last weeks "dud" is this weeks hero. Contrary to what WYL posted about a month ago - no ones cards are marked yet and no cull has begun because simply - there is absolutely no need to do that at this stage of the season.

I believe his opinion was the reason they sacked him.

My belief is that Gawn still has the best skillset of the ruckman on our list but has been very inconsistent. Jake Spencer was great on Sunday - what I really liked was that he got involved outside ruck contests which has been a Jamar problem. We need one of them ( both of them ?) to step up.

There is mongrel and then there is going when it is your turn. ( for the record - Robbie Flower did not have any mongrel about him but absolutely went when it his turn) He may not have mongrel in him like Riley has mongrel but he showed on the Sunday that when the ball is on the line and he has to go - he goes - see post 285 and his effort in the second quarter. One swallow doesn't make a summer but even with some "panic moments" it was a pleasing to see a lot of hard efforts, hard running and clean first time gives. As for Grimes - he had his best game on the weekend for almost 2 years. What I really like is the way he attacked the ball and attacked the contest. So ....if Sunday was one off for both of them then like all players who don't perform they will be on shakey ground but if they both continue to have games like Sunday then they will be here next year

Love his game - don't give a rats toss bag about the rising star award.

Sorry - i think you are off the mark on this one. There is enough to criticise Bail for- I thought the pass off was risky. He was right to go back and take the shot - he let himself down with the kick and that will always be the knock on him. I thought both he and Jones added good forward defensive pressure but the best way to create defensive pressure on running backs like Murphy is get the ball yourself - it keeps them more honest. Neither got enough of the ball themselves. After a sluggish start I thought Vinces job on Bont was fantastic. Because Vince not only stiffled his output but started to get so much of the ball himself he had Bontempelli second guessing himself whether to defend or attack and ended up doing neither well.

I'm an unabashed Dawes fan - his tackles, his blocks, his spoils ,his 1%er's are valuable - unfortunately it is not enough if you are a key forward and not taking marks, kicking a few goals or at least handing them off. Pedo doesn't add as much pressure as Dawes but when Pedo is playing as he is now he takes marks and kicks goals and that is the prime aim of a forward. Kick 2 goals a games and you are a 40 goal a year forward - yes please.

Resting Brayshaw is sensible if he is sore or getting tired. Having 11 possessions in the last quarter doesn't scream tired to me and you would want him in the team and building on that form.