Maldonboy38

9 hours ago, Binmans PA said:

I'm not sure I agree with this mate, but why can we not continue with Howes, Woey, WIndsor and Laurie? I thought Woey struggled for most of the night and the jury is still out in general, but his intercept late in the game shows that he is slotting nicely into the back half and where he is supposed to be. 

High pressure early, he struggled, but let's give him some time. More VFL footy isn't going to improve that. He needs more AFL exposure and who would you play in place of Salem and Bowser? We need that extra small. For me it's Woey for now.

As for Windsor and Howes, they've been brilliant this season and did their jobs tonight.

Jury is out on Laurie too, but he was very handy when he came on.

Is it a lack of experience thing you're worried about?

I fully agree about getting games into them, and the club is doing it at the right time. Windsor is a lock, and I was glad to see Turner back in.

Howes, Laurie and Woewodin are good, and long term I can see Woewodin being at the club for a good long career. I can see the other two leaving for more game time with another club - like Jordon. However, at the current stage of their development they can show lack of awareness, iffy decision making, and all three are quite slow. I hope Bowey & Salem recover soon. If we go into the Carlton or Cats game with the same 5 young players, these weaknesses will be exploited. I am VERY happy to be proven wrong.

6. Gawn

5. Lever

4. Turner

3. May

2. Langdon

1. Rivers

Strange that Lever and May did not lay a single tackle. 

How can I enjoy a 7 goal win so little?

Horrible, horrible, horrible unpressured kicking. No reasonable excuse or reason. So much great turnover football at half back then trash kicking through midfield and into F50.

Petty? Looks disinterested and lacking intensity. Needs a Casey run to get his mojo back. Give me a clumsy ageing BBB. 

No way can we continue with Howes, Woewodin, Windsor, Howes and Laurie all in the same team. 

Another game where the best Dees midfield I have seen in my lifetime gets owned/equalled by an injured rebuilding one. Can't tell you how much I hate that.

Hats off to Lever, May, Gawn and Langdon. Well done Tuner and Fritsch for their cameos. Laurie impacted well when he came on. 

Defence, marking, game plan all great. Kicking composure running at about 15%.

How many of those horrible short passes have we stuffed up? Really poor.

Adding to the reminiscing, I just watched the Dees v Dogs at Whitten oval, last round of 1987 to get us into the finals for the first time in 23 years. 

Lovett, Yates, Stretch and Spalding tore the Dogs apart in the 2nd half. Jimmy got his running game going. Flower and Wilson were a class above the Dogs defence in the 2nd half. 

And THAT crowd noise when the Hawks went ahead v the Cats - we knew we were going to play finals. I still remember where I was. I was in the car with my parents listening to the game on ABC rural radio near Stawell, taking my parents to meet my girlfriends parents for the first time. 

Great win. Dees into the finals. Broke up with girlfriend a couple of months later. Win - Win!

This is the first ANZAC eve game I have missed, so like many others will be on the couch. 

I don't see this as an easy win at all. 3 main factors: 1)The Yze knowledge factor. 2) The Tiges three outstanding defenders (Grimes, Vlastuin and Broad) all back playing together, and 3) our still-forming forward mix.

But there is a huge class difference. Gawn will be at his unstoppable best, our backline should smother their forward efforts, and our best players are way better than theirs at the moment.

Even around half time, Dees to pull away to win by 25 - 30 points.

On 22/04/2024 at 08:58, Lexinator said:

Where can you watch these finals? Thanks in advance.

On YouTube - the entire games free and without ads. 

Just watched most of the 1987 finals where the mighty Dees played in their first final series in many years. Elimination final v the Roos, then 1st Semi v Swans. I attended the 1st semi final and can remember it vividly. A few thing stand out to me:

Robert Flower - no, my memory does not make him better than he was. He was simply football perfection. 

The joy of football played mostly one-on-one, or two-on-two.

Warren Dean was way better than I remembered.  Great mark, great kick on both feet. 

David Williams - until I watched these replays I didn't even remember him. Wow. Very quick and a great kick.

Danny Hughes, Sean Wight, Brett Lovett, Earl Spalding, Graeme Yates - that is a backline to remember.

Todd Viney & Jimmy Stynes both really young but already showing their skills.

And boy, were we TOUGH. No compromise if you wanted to play under John Northey as coach.

If poor Jimmy had not run across the mark in the Prelim final, I remain convinced we would have had the measure of the Blues. 

15 minutes ago, dees189227 said:

Gee suddenly west coast have found a gear

With how bad they have been the last 2+ years, all media and commentary forgot how good their coach is, and his track record in developing players. I rate Simpson in the same way I rate Goodwin and  if I was a lot younger (and a better footballer!) would love to play in a team coached by him. They have a long way to go, but can see them making it difficult for teams sooner rather than later. 

Pies, Blues and Bummers all winning. And I was having such a good day. At least the footy has been of a high standard and very watchable. 

1 minute ago, Chook said:

I know it's early in the year and a lot can change, but I'd be shocked if the Giants don't win the flag this year based on what I've seen so far.
Brisbane, Melbourne, Carlton, Collingwood could put together a good month and snatch it, but no one's playing footy as consistently good as GWS right now.

Probably way too early to make that call but there you go.

Good call Chook, for as much as we can conclude after 6 rounds. Their footy is a training video in how to play every part of the game. Must watch.

However, many premiers these days come from a team making a late run after round 12 so I reckon one of Dees, Blues, Pies, Lions or Swans still have a really good chance. 

Appalling from Rachele - serious errors and the old-fashioned footsteps. Not much better from  Tex. I actually feel a bit for Nicks. His system looks good and his personnel is also OK, but the players repeatedly cannot execute in critical moments due to total brain fades from individuals.

But that non decision while Draper is lying on the ball - umpires need to be dropped for that one. 

Some horrendous basic skill Errors from the Crows. 

Just now, deegirl said:

Is it me or does Rankine have the greatest disparity of hype versus actual output. The commentators froth about him yet he never seems to deliver all that much 

I reckon there are times when he does deliver, and his best is very very good. But for some inexplicable reason when he does ordinary things or even errors the commentators continue to gush and froth. 

Ahhh the joy of watching the Bombers struggle. Makes for a very pleasant Friday evening.

Tex Walker, not intelligent in a general sense but one helluva footballer. Love watching him at his best. And I would take that Harrison Jones too. 

As bad as Hawks & Tigers are, they have HUGE injury lists so there is no way to accurately assess them. 

And as bad as the Roos are, I'm not getting sucked in at all. They are doing exactly what Clarkson did at the Hawks in his first 2 years and with his track record the club will just wear all the carp. The current difficulty is, they don't have a Buddy Franklin and they need 2 large backmen. 

I know Ginnivan presented himself as a w-anchor when he started, but boy he is a natural footballer. His decision making and goal sense are brilliant. 

I have only watched the last 5 minutes of the Blues v Crows game. Do Carlton supporters think a tackle means holding the ball? Just shut up. 

6. Gawn

5.  TMac

4. Langdon

3. Chandler

2. Lever

1. Sparrow (his stats don't show it but I thought he was the inly midfielder who cracked in all night. 7 tackles)

Gawn, Sparrow, Rivers, TMac, Langdon and Chandler at least had a go. 

Marking practice at training required.

Trace Viney and Oliver all a pale version of their best.

Don't play injured players out of position to hide their injuries. Actually, don't play injured players.

Our young brigade were poor tonight. Tholstrup, Howes, Woewodin, McVee. I can't wait until Melksham and Bowey are available. 

22 point loss doesn't feel right. It feels like an 8 goal loss. 

2 minutes ago, doc roet said:

?

If we play 3 Saturdays in a row, that covers 15 days. For example Sat 6th, Sat 13th, Sat 20th. 

1 minute ago, watchtheeyes said:

Genuine question, is 3 games in 13 days a reasonable excuse?

Well, 3 games in 15 days is normal if we play 3 Saturdays in a row so no, not a reasonable excuse. 

I am going to have a very grumpy weekend. Even the goals video will only go for 1 minute. So few highlights. 

We are losing 9 out of every 10 contests on the ground, in the air, and our link up handball around stoppages has been like a bottom 4 developing team.

Our tall forwards are appalling tonight.

Tholstrup nowhere near ready for the AFL. Our other younger players - Windsor, McVee and Woewodin - have all looked lethargic and stunned.

Gawn, Sparrow, Chandler, Langdon and sometimes Rivers are having a crack.

Have no idea where Oliver, Viney and Trac have been. It is so rare for all 3 to have an off night at the same time.

All games have ebbs and flows but we have not shown even a 5 minute sustained period of excellence. 

Very, very disappointing.