Jaded No More

Sadly, the way the system works, it is best to come last if you can't come first. I rather finish last (not that this is any sort of guarantee that we'll get the first pick) than come 9th, but it is far too early to be thinking about this sort of thing. If we are good enough to win 9-10 games this year than there are probably more deserving teams out there who could use a number one pick (except Carlton, they can rot in hell :angry: ). However if it cames to the last few rounds and we were battling for bottom spot, I would prefer for us to 'manage our list' wisely and not try too hard to win. In round 3 however, the focus is firmly on finals, even if we are 0-3 at the moment.

Making the finals, while it would be nice, is not the main objective of 2008 I wouldn't have thought. As long as Dean Bailey is able to drill the players with how he wants them to play, behave and lead their teammates, it will be a very productive year. I think our performance yesterday showed that we are not as bad as many people thought we were last week. A lot of supporters thought that it will take three or four years before we are contenders again, but that is not the case. Bailey has said all along that the nucleus is there, our under 23 group is good enough to continue to build around which we will do in the coming years. It is impossible for a new coach to change years of training and thinking in one pre-season, especially when all but two (Neita and Yze, anymore?) of our listed players have never played under any other coach. And even moreso, when the playing style is so far removed from what the players have been previously used to. Besides, if we can improve our decision making and disposal by just 5% each match we'll go a long way to beating the opposition. The thing that cost us most yesterday was the fact that we handed the ball to Geelong on a platter so many times, and when you are playing such a quality team you absolutely can't afford to do that.

Bit worried about Petterd. Hopefully he is not sitting on the sidelines because of more lung problems.

He hasn't had a great start to the season, but our backline has been under a lot of pressure in the first 3 rounds. Given how often we turn the damn ball over, and how easily the opposition delivers the ball to their forwards, everyone has been under a lot of pressure. When Whelan comes back, it should free Bell to play as a back flanker, allowing him more creative control to rebound the ball out of defence and create the play. It will also allow Bartram to play in the midfield, which is better for our match-ups and structure. Bailey singled-out Bell a number of times over the pre-season, so obviously he sees special things in him just as you and I did last year. Don't you go abandoning our love child now! P.S.- Am still waiting for the day when Mr.Bell makes his entrance into the midfield... yes, I am still flogging that horse!

Bate hasn't played in over a month. He needs a run with Sandy before coming back into the side. With that in mind: Out: Garland In: Whelan Robbo and Sylvia = thin ice. They have 2 more rounds to change their attitude or they can go and win Sandy another flag.

He is a pretty introverted guy as far as I know, so maybe the captaincy is out of the question, but certainly a role in the leadership group is the way to go. I've always liked having a designated leader in each section of the ground. Rivers is, without a doubt, the backline general. And yes, if he goes home I can see quite a few Melbourne supporters checking themselves into a psych ward soon after. We have to make sure this NEVER happens. Just by the way, Rivers is not from Adelaide, from SA, but not from the city of Adelaide.

Not anymore I don't

I was throwing pillows at the TV at that point, so I missed it as well, but... JARED FOR CAPTAIN! :D He had every right to give him a spray. I would have probably punched him, which explains why I don't, and should never, play team sports

It's good to have things to improve on, it means you won't fall into a comfort zone too early in your career and just get by with minimum effort. He is never going to be the most gifted player, but he is the sort of guy that will enjoy working on different aspects of his game and learning.

It was interesting to hear Bailey's post-match comments on Robbo's game. He pointed out that Robbo has really excellent aerobic capacity and that he did, on a few occassions, run down to the backline to help out. Then he mentioned that we need more output from him and that it was disappointing that he didn't kick any goals (a rarity).

Absolutely. If only some of his more-skilled teammates showed as much hunger and passion for the contest. Miller was great in the first half. He presented, he made his physical presence felt and he kicked with purpose. We were playing far more direct football when he was at CHF. The whole "Miller doesn't kick goals" argument is pointless. He played half his career down back, and when he is at CHF his purpose is to lead long and hard and provide a link. He CAN kick goals, as he did today, but it has never been his primary role. I think some people can't get their head around having a player who actually does what is best for the team, not what is best for himself. He is not a selfish player who will do whatever it takes to gain some personal glory. Miller has sacrificed his own game for his entire career in order to fill holes up forward and down back for the club. I find it amazing that supporters jump up and down and get stuck into one of the only players in the team who actually leads from the front and meets all of Bailey's work ethic criteria. No, he isn't a superstar and he never will be. Who at our club is?

He was one of the best in the first half. Unfortunately as we were playing defensively in the second half, he didn't make much of an impact. I like him leading long and hard, it opens up the forward line and now that he's kicking and hitting targets, he provides a good link-up between CHB and CHF. Certainly been our best CHF option this season. Will be interesting to see what happens when Bate returns.

I agree with those. McLean may have struggled with the tag, but he was getting tagged by Ling... not exactly the worst player going around. He'll get Brady Rawlings next week no doubt, so another big challenge coming up. Credit to Dunn for playing a good defensive game on Bartel. Sylvia is an infuriating player. Needs to be dropped for his complete lack of interest. For someone with so much skills, his impact on games is minimal at best. Very poor effort from a 5 year player who was taken so early in the draft.

Maric is still going to school everyday, and I wonder if that causes him to miss some training sessions as a result. Aussie has a LOT more meat on him than Maric as well, in fact Aussie looks like he could eat Maric for lunch! However if Maric can continue to impress at Sandy, he will get his turn, don't you worry. Bailey is not exactly shy about playing the kids.

Our forward line, once our strength, is currently our biggest weakness. We have 2 dinosaurs who can barely take a mark these days, and a lack of crumbers. Sylvia tries to play like a big man, when he could in fact make his mark by playing low and pressuring the defenders on the ground. I thought Aussie showed a lot of endeavor, but he needs to play closer to goal. At the moment we are struggling badly to take contested marks up forward, and when the ball hits the ground, it gets cleared out far too easily. Our forward pressure in the first quarter today was great, then it died. Why? Was it because we were pushing numbers behind the ball in an effort to stop an onslaught of goals? By the way, the forward delivery, if it wasn't so incredibly crap half the time, would also help the forwards enormously. Time and time again we kick into the hole where 2 Geelong defenders would happily mark and stroll the ball out casually. Maybe permanently resting Jones/McLean at the feet of the FF is the way to go, at least until Maric is ready to play. Bringing Newton into that forward line is only going to make the situation worse. If we want Newton, one of Robbo or Neita has to go.

Lets not get carried away. He is not a captain's bootlace, but he is at his best when given a defensive job, and I hope that Bailey continues down that path. God knows our backline needs all the help it can get. His job on Johnson was excellent, and it was great that he managed to push forward and kick goals as well.

Beat him with a stick Jared... with.a.stick!!! Completely inexcusable lack of aggression there from Whitey. Almost ruined a perfectly good match from him. Lets not forget that Rivers hasn't played in about 18 months. It will take him a while to adjust to the speed of the game, but still, some of his spoils were first class. He knows how to position himself better than anyone in the team.

It's the last 10 minutes of each quarter that are killing us. We drop off significantly and let the opposition kick 3 or 4 quick goals. Mind you, if we only lose by 4 goals it would be an absolute miracle. We have to go back to the forward set-up we had in the first, with Miller leading at CHF. Pity that bloody Ling is all over McLean now. I knew they wouldn't leave McLean on his own after the break. Now I know Davey had a foot injury during the week, but when was the last time he ran and actually tackled someone? He runs up to the player and then brushes his hand past in an half-arsed effort to tackle. It's really not good enough. He is giving us nothing! Morton & Aussie are playing great games.

Hi, I'm willing to do my part for the future of our club and have many of your babies :wub: Rivers >>> The rest of our backline

Forward pressure has died off in the second, but our pressure through the middle is great. Robbo going for the screamer and then GETTING UP and chasing the ball.... WOW! Not only was going for the mark the right thing to do, he did it without giving away a free kick and he backed-up his effort. Gold star for that one. The key here is to see whether we can keep it going for the whole match. Given that we have a few players who have missed out on full pre-season, or who are still quite raw (Morton, Aussie), it's going to be a big ask to play like this for 4 quarters. Still, that's what good teams do, and that's the only way to ensure we don't get smashed week in week out.

Garland made a good spoil... I don't know where the angst is coming from. I am however planning to beat the crap out of any Melbourne player who fluffs a disposal when they are under no pressure. Dean Bailey... time to bring out the shotgun. However credit must be given. I was dead certain that the flood gates have opened and that we won't kick a goal for the rest of the game, after Geelong kicked 7 in a row. To go back and kick 3 in return was fantastic. Brock McLean is killing it. You can't keep a great player down for too long. Mind you, who is his opponent? Geelong are clearly not tagging him. Expect a change after half time. PJ is coming on in leaps and bounds. Now if only he learns to kick. White is also playing a great game. Bailey needs to keep giving Bruce big defensive jobs. He absolutely shines in these situations. Players who are having shockers include SYLVIA (what the hell was that kick on goal?), Jones (love him, but his disposal is killing us) and Green has done very little. Carroll is doing ok on Hawkins, but his brain farts are costly. Bartram slowly back to his best. Rivers doing his thing, he is just so important to our backline. Please oh please don't let them smash us Melbourne. All we want is a respectable loss!

BLOODY CRAP SKILLS ARE KILLING US!!!! :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry: If you can't hit a target, just go away and don't come back. As much as I love Jones, he cost us two goals. And lets not even mention Carroll... what the hell was that [censored]-weak handball? Other than that, our pressure is fantastic and we are playing really well. Unfortunately for us, we can't win because we have some of the most craptacular skills in the competition. Still, as long as the effort is there. By the way, Miller at CHF is doing extremely well. Love his "don't mess with me" burst through the pack.

He is not ready for senior footy, is what I meant. Even if he recovered in 3 weeks, he still wouldn't be getting a senior game given he has had no pre-season. And it's hilarious that you talk about clubs drafting injured players and you mention Judd. Huge mistake that one was, wasn't it? Besides, this severe back injury that you talk about didn't stop Grimes from playing and leading his team last year, so it can't be that bad. I would say they are just managing it for now, taking it slowly to ensure it heals completely and never returns.

In all honesty, just how friggin dumb do you think our club is? Would they have drafted Grimes if he had an injury that they believed would profoundly effect his career? Ever think that the club just wants to give Grimes all the time in the world to recover, while taking advantage of the long-term injury/rookie promotion system? Even if Grimes is ready to play in 3 weeks, he won't, so you may as well bring in someone who has a skill we desperately need (forward pressure). It's smart list management (hooray!).

This thread is keeping me very amused at work.