Maldonboy38

Good call. I am not too sure about Couch who is in the same mould as Magner, Jones and Moloney but Gysberts and Strauss should be in our best 22. Although I recognise that our midfield lacks class at times, and we also need one player with super pace, our problem is not in the players on the park. Look at Sydney's 22 and man-by-man we match them. It is the team football we play. Our forward spread and teamwork around stoppages is sub-par. If and when we start to get this right we will beat sides like Sydney, Richmond, Bulldogs etc... I am a bit surprised to Bennell holding his place but maybe the coach saw something I didn't, or was looking for different things.

Get him if he's available - simple as that. He has the three key ingredients: great skills, great work ethic, discipline. Also he seems articulte enough to communicate to the players. Agree with the above post that our midfield development went downhill after Ratten left.

I wouldn't say I am confident, or buoyant, or overly hopeful but I also reckon we do have a genuine chance here. Goodes out is huge in our favour and I reckon player by player we are equal to them. It is the team-work where we struggle. I feel better about this game than I have about most of the games this year so at least I will be able to watch it without knowing we will get done beforehand.

Watching Casey on TV: Get Jurrah to the Dees ASAP. He is excitement and intensity in everything he does It is a mistake playing Watts, Green, Tapscott, Blease, Jurrah in the twos. They might not be in great AFL form but they are all far too good for the VFL. They are all a class above. Just leave them in the Dees and let them grow, playing multiple games together. Lucas Cook is interesting. I don't reckon his fitness is great, but could he do any worse than Martin, Fitzpatrick have offered?

Generally speaking the first instinct of our players over the past 6 weeks has been to tackle and defend. On a number of occasions last night players stood back and waited to respond to the plays Hawthorn initiated. And this is really boring footy. Our initiative is mostly non-existent. Our creativity is mostly non-existent. Our forward spread is embarassing.

6. Bartram 5. Clark 4. Magner 3. Jones 2. McKenzie 1. Jamar

Great point made twice now by Tom Harley. It is those players and setups 3 - 7 metres away from the stoppages. Hawthorn continually have 3 players free in a group just off the play and our players are - again - drawn to the contest leaving free opposition players. Are our players not playing to the game plan or is the stoppage instructions poor?

I am so sick of journalists, commentators, special comments people and every other football opinionater in the country talking about Melbourne's 1-percenters, intentsity, structures, defensive efforts. It is gut wrenching to watch the game at the moment because 1) we just can't get the ball. 2) If and when we do get it we cannot kick. I will force myself to watch the remainder of the game, and who knows what could happen, but it is sheer agony.

Two things needed against the Hawks: Big bodies and brains. Small bodies get pushed off the ball, and dumb footballers get confused. IN: Bennell, Fitzpatrick (he might not be too smart but Sellar has been awful) OUT: Sellar, Dunn Can't believe people calling for Bail, Trengove, Tapscott, Magner and Moloney to be dropped.

6 - Clark 5 - Frawley 4 - Jones 3 - Moloney 2 - Morton 1 - McDonald

Dear Dr Who, It appears you are another person who believes your generation (whichever one it is) has a monopoly on understanding the current day correctly. You are probaly under 30 and think "if only all those old people would stop stuffing up the world - look at the mistakes they made..." You are no more right in your views than the next person but seem to have taken some sort of intelligence high ground because of some preconcieved opinion about your own intelligence. Oscar Wilde once wrote "the problem with youth is it is wasted on the young". All these "old people" and "Brighton people" you so quickly dismiss, along with what you consider their opinions to be, demonstrates your narrow-minded bigotry toward your fellow Dees supporters. Youth, or new thinking, or new methods are never THE answer but can often be part of AN answer. BTW - I still have no idea what your first post had to do with Dangerfield!!

I hate Americanisms also but if you hate it so much, why did you spell Americanise with a "z"? Language is never static and changes all the time. We are at a high point of American language influence that began post WW2, and you just watch Chinese language nuances start to meld in with English now that China is fast becoming the most influential nation in the world, especially in terms of finance. We could use regions, zones, divisions... whatever word you like, but I reckon the bacis idea is right on the money. One of the AFL's main focus is on the finances within the game to support and grow it so they are not looking for a fair draw or a level playing field. They are looking for exposure and the $ that comes from it. The idea has merit and should at the very least be explored.

Go all out to get him, regardless of what other clubs offer. Just like we did for Mitch Clark - if the coach needs to go and sleep in some dodgy motel - just go and make a play for him. We need his pace. We need his skill when at pace. We need his hunger for the ball. We need his exctiement factor. A potential game breaker and match winner who is in the mould of Coliln Sylvia but not so flighty or inconsistent.

I see a big future for Lucas Cook. I have seen him at training and at Casey. His contested marking is a definite strength and he is a good kick. Like so many other recent recruits, he needs to get fit and be injury free. I can see him getting a game this year if Clark, Watts, Martin or Sellar get injured and in terms of potential talent he eclipses both Martin and Sellar. If he gets 5 or 6 games in a row I reckon he will begin to shine in the way Tom McDonald has.

Somehoe Belzebub, I don't think that many will understand the id verse i.d. reference. But you are spot on. MFC basic impulses and instincts at Kardinia Park last year were disclosed to the world and shown to be weak, faulty and insipid. We have to fight the cats with every angry mongrel impulse we have, while maintaining enough poise and skill to use the ball well. Moloney, Jones, Magner, McKenzie and Bail are vital this week.

I've held off so far but feel I have to comment about Cale. Last year I posted on numerous occasions that I never wanted to see him in a MFC jumper again, and I was surprised when they kept him. But this year he has improved every game and he was better than good against the saints. He will never be a Beau Waters or Brad Sewell in terms of toughness, but he is putting his body on the line, his kicking efficiency is improving and needs to continue improving, he reads the game OK and he is quite quick at full pace. Currently he deserves his spot - he just needs to make sure he doesn't make unforced free-running errors. I am not going all out for him because he could still do those Morton things that he has become infamous for, but he is doing OK so far. Deserves some appreciation and recognition at this stage.

Totally agree with this thread and it frustrates me no end. Their faces and personalities have become as important as their content, yet their content is often about Tweeting, speculation and "reading between the lines". TV journos are one thing, but radio and print journos becoming famous on TV? No thanks. I liked One Week at a Time on channel 10 but that has gone. Now, the Sunday Inquisition on ABC with Gerard Whately and Stan Alves is the best footy reporting and commentary you can get.

Come on guys, you can't just drop players who frustrate you or who you don't like much, nor players who have played 1 or even 2 bad games. Sellar. No he didn't have a good game but on a wet night he gave a constant physical target in our forward 50 and he ensured St. Kilda didn't dominate the stoppages when Jamar was resting. If we do not have anyone better he stays, but he is likely to make way for Clark. Dunn's centring the ball that led to a Saints goal will really annoy Neeld, and he might get dropped for what looks like a clear breach of a team rule. But Dunn has done a great job on Murphy last week and Fisher last night and is playing his role well. Watts, Trengove and Tappy will benefit little from being dropped. They need to play continuous games with each other over a number of seasons. IN: Frawley, Clark, OUT: J MacDonald, Sellar Also, we might need Blease's pace for players like the Cats Christensen, Stokes, and even Wojinski played well in the reserves. Blease does not deserve a place out of form but we need more pace than just Bail and Morton. Unsure who to drop for him though.

Good reply - you are spot on. However the analogy works out, our unpressured turnovers are gut-wrenching.

The Good Contested ball Stoppages Intensity Jordie, Magner and Jones in tight Jones' and Bartram's goals Tom McDonald matched, and often beat, Reiwoldt Morton The Bad Trengove's pace Watts lack of physicality Missed easy goals Dunn centring the ball that led to Saints goal. Neeld would be furious. St. Kilda subbing that new bloke off. Marking and Kicking was superb. Worst sub ever and the excuse of "he had a twinge" was spin. The Ugly The missed holding-the-man free kick to Morton. The worst goal video review that we will ever see. Unpressured turnovers (again)

The Dees had a red hot go tongiht and I reckon Neeld would be delighted that we matched the Saints in all the indicators that measure effort and intensity. But Oh for some class!!! We keep shooting ourselves in the same foot each week, and that injured foot is our kicking between half back and half forward. Too many times both experienced and inexperienced players turned it over under no pressure, kicked or handballed straight to an opposition player, at times when we had momentum and could have put nails in the coffin. We need Frawley (not so much for class though), we need fit and firing Sylvia and Jurrah, we need Mitch clark as our target, and the potential class of Gysberts and Strauss. We have to start finishing off passages of play where we dominate but end up stuffing up through skill errors.

6. Jones 5. Magner 4. Morton 3. McKenzie 2. T. McDonald 1. Bartram P.S. Grimes got a lot of it but his kicking still makes my knees collapse.

I had a knot in my gut all night. We won the footy, had more possessions, covered Goddard and Riewodt, and ran out of the backline with gut running but we made some unpressured turnovers or mistakes that tore the heart out of the game and must have taken a toll eventually: Moloney's open goal miss Howe's set shot miss Jordie's running free kick straight to the Saints = goal Trengove playing on so stupidly Rivers and Bate booming kicks into our forward line to three-on-one But I loved the effort, the discipline, and the sense of mongrel.

With everything else that our playing group are currently displaying, someone decides to have a crack at the one player who is showing intent, obeying the coaches orders, providing leadership and doing the work of two men. Jones is killing himself for our jumper week in and week out with little or no help from our other midfielders. Maybe if Moloney, Trengove, Magner, Bail etc... could provide Jones with a bit of cover, or be positioned well for him to feed it out, or actually try moving around a stoppage, what is perceived as his poor decision making would actually work. Jones is not an issue. Move on.

I will definitely be going. Surely, regardless of how rusty he is, Casey will be a one week stop over for LJ and then back in the Red and Blue.