Little Richard

Certainly. Firstly, there was a contest on our forward flank with Watts and Talia (I think). Garlett was coming from the back and the ball was bombed in. Watts seemed to spot Garlett out of the corner of his eye and didn't go up for the ball at all. Subsequently, Talia took an uncontested mark and it looked absolutely pathetic. Of course in that instance, you'd expect Watts to go up and Garlett crumb, considering Watts was already at the contest and is the player that is 196cm? Secondly, later the ball was bombed out of our forward line toward the wing and a Crows player (can't remember who) attempted to gather and fumble. Watts was quite close but instead of running at the player full pelt and attempting to tackle or at least put on some real pressure, hung back in a fashion we often see from him and stuck the hands out. Not very effective. If you like, I'll watch the replay and give you more, but they are the ones that stick out in my mind.

I have to say, Watts is becoming more consistent these last couple of years. Plays a couple of good games at the start of the season then drops the ball and returns to his usual self. Did not go when it was his turn, multiple times.

Young player starts the season well, has injury which keeps him out for an extended period. This happens every year.

Not good. Aerially he is very average and he can barely get off the ground. He'd be murdered by more nimble, higher jumping forwards. I think Dawes has some great attributes, particularly his on field passion and physicality - he really throws his massive frame around, which we don't see very often. But the thing that frustrates me the most about him is the marking. I understand that it is not his strong suit but his attempts which involve just sticking the hands up and hoping, look feeble. I know he creates a contest but our small forwards are hardly good enough to win the crumbs on these, so it often ends in a turn over. Marking ability should be something that is a given in a key forward. For this reason, I'd probably prefer to have Pedo in over Dawes unless we see marked improvement in his marking.

This crap actually never stops. It never stops!

Why 'Special' Robert?

I've seen something similar but I don't think I've seen such a total wilt with basically no resistance. Maybe us having beaten GC last week makes it a lot worse... That's probably why.

Pretty accurate. I can't believe the difference in the first and second halves. I actually don't think I've seen such a change halfway through a game, ever... even when we were worse than pathetic. I'm willing to put this in the box marked 'Still Learning How to Win' but jeez, this can't happen again or else it shows how little we've improved. I still believe we are a better side than GWS and should have beaten them, but that obviously counts for very little when the scores say otherwise. Testicles crossed we can turn it around this week.

Dawes is such a dilemma for me. He uses his body well but he just can't mark the ball, which you want from a guy in the position he plays. At this point in time, he's a stop gap I suppose but he can be pretty frustrating. Far from the worst against the Giants though.

I'm very anti Clark but that's not quite right. It's Selwood that is pushing this. The whole thing is a prime example of why the media can be such a disgusting, festering ball of lies and agendas. There is no freakin evidence that the sledges in question were about his depression, yet the whole football world is going crazy because a couple of bulldust, fluff articles allude to that being the case. They have nothing to go on, and I personally don't believe that players could get away with making comments about his depression on the field without a very serious dust up occurring. The whole thing is total rubbish.

Purple's tactics are surprisingly effective considering everyone hates him.

And he's absolutely delusional if he thinks he's hard done by being booed and jeered. As long as the comments from the Hawks players weren't about his depression, I don't see what the fuss is about. It's sort of satisfying seeing other players get stuck into him about the move from Melbourne (as long as that's what the comments alluded to).

I don't think I'd be able to handle that without making a fake profile and trolling the lot of them. I get enough of that smugness from the few Hawks supporters I know. One day, I'll give it back I hope.

80,000 wankers. That's a lot of wankers.

Too important to structure right now. Who'd back up Jamar in the ruck? Vince for Toumpas for mine, otherwise no change if Vince isn't fit. I personally wouldn't mind seeing Dawes have another week off and really earn his spot because for me, he was pretty underwhelming a lot of last year and didn't exactly do much more than Frost or Hogan did on the weekend.

Most of them are disgustingly embarrassing (ie the decade long round one win drought), so I can't say I don't care about them. The flag is obviously the ultimate one though.

I'll be very disappointed if we aren't 2 and 0 after GWS but we'll have to beat better teams too if we're to win 8 or more.

Watched this at a pub in NY (where I currently am for the next 6 weeks), whilst sitting next to two blokes from Perth who were supporting GC for betting reasons. Fair to say I got the last laugh. Suddenly 8 wins doesn't seem so many.

Anymore room?

That substance must be superglue .

I didn't see the match but this is very much to the contrary of what I've heard so far. For Hogan to be 'disappointing' in his third game of AFL level footy is a bit stiff.

Jones is a legend. Must be satisfying for him seeing this recognition, finally. Well deserved!

I'm extremely happy to see the names we called out this year, however - those saying 'this is our best draft ever/in a long time' - that is impossible to tell at this stage, and impossible to tell for at least a couple of years until we see the kinds of players these highly touted youngsters become. It looks good at this stage, but some need to keep a lid on it, plz. For all we know these two could be the next Scully/Trengove combo.

Awesome! Just need Nathan Carroll in there...

Fantastic to see Misbah's innings. I never thought we'd win this series but I don't think we should be taking too much out of it. These conditions won't be faced very often. Although this is the case, we really, REALLY need to work on playing spin bowling. Steve Smith is the only player that looks relatively comfortable facing Babar, Shah and Hafeez.