Jaded No More

The only way I can see us winning is if we shut down the game, and make it a scrappy, low-scoring affair. Obviously there is no better team at winning the ugly contest than Sydney, but an open style of game will see them smashing us with a far superior forward line. We have beaten them at their own game the last couple of years, and if memory serves me right, we lost McLean and Neitz last year too. We need to get back to the basics of being accountable, tackling and playing tempo footy. It won't be fun to watch, but right now, we can't be choosy on just how we win a game. Hopefully we can keep a full bench this week, which will allow the players to chase and apply more pressure than the last few weeks.

I don't know why we're even discussing Wheatley. He wasn't dropped, he is injured. It was a great effort from him to get back on the ground and defend with one arm on Sunday, but clearly the selectors favour players who have 2 functional arms. Who would have guessed!

Feels the AFL commission should intervene with the West Coast situation and punish Cousins Not sure that Cousins deserves to play again, not in the short term at least, as he is affectively a cheat (he didn't say cheat, but he implied it and compared Cousins to a cyclist who gets caught using drugs and is punished with a long suspension). Said Headland's reaction on Sunday (kissing the tattoo), was inciting the fans We got fined $7,500 for the runner getting in the way of Sandilands on Sunday, no explanation or a 'please explain' given either. We've obviously asked why the fine is so heavy, when Braun only got a $5,000 fine for swearing. (My 2 cents worth: What a friggin disgrace, $7,500 for a silly runner mistake. Gees! ) Said he expects Daniher to coach us in 2008, but there will be no contract discussion in the press. Also said Daniher may not necessarily want to coach us next year, as he may want a break (will this be the excuse for a mutual parting?) Wants Neale to be our next premiership coach, and believes we are still in a premiership window. We're capable of winning a flag in the next 18 months according to PG. Just quietly, I don't think Daniher will coach us next year, but PG is showing public support to try and get the media off our backs. I'd be very surprised if Neale is still there in 2008.

Nice call I agree with the sentiments Old, but I would hope that we can find someone better than Ward to play up forward. Sure, being unaccountable won't be an issue, but what will be of his complete inability to hit a target? Sylvia in the backline next to Bell is worth experimenting with, but I would suggest that he'll be stuck up forward until he is fit, and the club is confident that his OP is under control (yes, I am well aware that this may never actually happen )

He is stiff, as I said, but let us concentrate on the positives. We get 3 of our best 18 back, and not one, but TWO players are making their debut. This is unheard of in Neale Daniher land! I guess there isn't really a match up for Bizzell, given Rivers is back and they lost Buchanan last week, leaving Bell to play on O'Keefe.

No word on how bad it is. According to Ch.10 he injured it last Sunday, but couldn't come off the ground because we already had no bench. Hopefully it's just a strain, and nothing more serious. I guess if he tore the hamstring, he wouldn't have been able to run out the game no matter what. At least his loss is balanced somewhat by the return of TJ and Beamer. Sylvia will surely play FF now.

No full team yet, just the changes from Ch.10 News: In: Rivers, Moloney, Johnstone, Petterd, Garland, CJ Out: Green (Hamstring), Whelan, Wheatley, Jones, Ward, Bizzell Great changes when you consider the injuries. Good luck to both Petterd and Garland! Very happy to see Ward dropped, his unaccountability is really hurting us (see last week where he let Headland have his first ever decent AFL match!). Bizzell a bit stiff though I would suggest. And Sylvia makes it 2 games in a row... Could it be?

No big surprise when you consider we've gained even more injuries during the week. It's like the friggin plague down there! Steven Quartermain on Ch.10 news just previewed the sport, and I quote: "More bad injury news for the Demons"... Woo, can't wait to hear who's injured now! <_<

I wonder what the next Sylvia injury-excuse will be. Knee? Please. The guy can't play two consecutive games because of his groin. It's so incredibly depressing!

Moloney, Brown and Whelan have a history with these sorts of injuries. Don't really think we can blame the fitness guy for that. The reason we have so many injuries is simple, we've had a truckload of bad luck delivered to the club at Round 1. That's it. Every club has years where they are decimated by injuries. Look at Brisbane last year. It's unfortunate that this, a year where we planned on making a real challenge, is also the year we've been dealt a huge injury blow.

I really need to actually start tipping...

I really hope that that's not the case. It would be a terrible shame for such a talented player to end his career so prematurely, all because of a freak injury. If he does call it a day, I hope he announces it on a more credible and respected forum than the Footy Show.

I'll be mighty [censored] off if they risk anyone who is not 110% fit. One more week will not make any difference in the long run, especially if these players are at risk of re-injuring themselves. I doubt very much they'll play Neita before Round 7.

He isn't an automatic selection, but we have quite literally run out of midfielders. McLean, Moloney, TJ and now Jones are all injured. That's 4 regular midfielders not playing. If Moloney and TJ don't come up for this week, we need to select someone who can replace them. We tried Whelan, but he's injured. Bell will be needed in the backline, Green needs to spend a bit of time up forward, and Sylvia is nowhere near fit enough to take on Sydney midfield. So who do you suggest comes in and covers the midfield injuries? Buckley is a midfielder, and has had a couple of years to learn the craft at Sandy. I rather we get him in to cover the injuries, than bring back Phil Read! <_<

I doubt he'll play but Neita is a 50-50 chance to line up this week Also, Brent Moloney (groin), Travis Johnstone (hamstring), Daniel Bell (concussion), Paul Wheatley (shoulder), Nathan Brown (calf) and Jared Rivers (hamstring) also are rated as tests for the Swans game. I'm not sure how accurate this is, as Ch. 7 declared Browny to be out for a couple of weeks. However, if we can get Beamer, TJ and Rivers into the side and Belly is also fit, we are some sort of a chance. Not a big one, but still a chance. Am I dellusional? P.S.- when did Travis injure his hamstring?

The SCG is small enough to possibly have Miller on Hall, with Dunn at CHF and maybe Sylvia/ Green/ Yze rotating out the square. But I'd hate to push him down back after he's been doing so well in the forward line. A bad game on Hall could completely ruin his confidence.

Not bad, but we won't make 3 unforced changes, given our injury list. Johnstone and Rivers are clearly needed if fit, and Petterd or Buckley should hopefully debut. But we will not drop Jamar and bring in Holland. If you want to bring in Holland, you need to drop PJ as they essentially play the same role and there is no room for both in the backline. Ward is deplorable, and I hope they drop him, but I just can't see it happening. The way it stands, he still has more pace than anyone else who could cover his position. Bartram and Frawley will hopefully push him out of the side later down the track. Out: Jones, Whelan, Brown, Wheatley In: TJ, Rivers, Petterd, CJ/ Buckley or obviously Moloney if fit!

Dunn > Jolly. It will prove to be a good decision in the long-run. If there was one ruckman we shouldn't have traded, its Simmonds. He is a much better all-round player, and ruckman, than Jolly. But that's old news, and we need to deal with the realities of the situation, and that is that White is nearly done, PJ is not a ruckman, and Jamar is extremely average around the ground. Whatever happens, we certainly need to look seriously at drafting a good ruckman and possibly elevating Neaves. I doubt both PJ and Jamar will be on the list next year, unless PJ proves himself a capable defender (not holding my breath on that one!). We just cannot waste list-space on 2 extremely average ruckman.

According to Ch. 7, Wheatley should be fine this week, but Jones and Brown are going to miss a couple, and we know that Whelan will miss 3-4 with a hamstring tear (is it just me, or does he ALWAYS injure himself when playing in the midfield?). Jones was on crutches when going for scans. God help our midfield!

Here is what I don't get... Last year people were accusing Miller of not kicking enough goals, and over-using handballs and getting suspended for ridiculous brain fades. This year, he has done more than his fair share of goal and field kicking, and is yet to lay a finger on an opponent illegally. Given that he is now double, even triple- teamed with the absence of Neita and Robbo, I think he has been more than admirable. He works hard all game long, but he also produces results and has an impact on the side. He was unlucky not to finish the game with 5 goals. That's a damn good outcome for an apperantly below-average forward. And the fact that at no point did Daniher attempt to throw him into the backline, goes to show that Miller is vitally important to our forward structure at this point in time. As for Carroll, I don't know many defenders who can shut down Pavlich, especially given the lack of midfield pressure.

You don't see the passion?? He's been one of our most consistent players this season along with Bell. Just because he's decided to stop belting people stupidly, doesn't mean he's lost the passion. The weight loss is probably due to his OP trouble last year. Losing weight means that the load on the legs is lighter.

Injuries are not entirely to blame, of course not. Adelaide are a far more disciplined outfit, tactically they are superior and they also have a number of star players who perform each and every week. We don't. But I think that we underestimate the affects of the injuries sometimes. For example, yesterday we had 30 less interchanges than Freo (3 times less in the third quarter alone!). We also had a few players running around in the last quarter who were not fit to play. How can any side, in a competition that is so even, except to be their opponents when they are this depleted? I think the injuries are exposing all the cracks in the walls, the ones we've covered up over the past 3 seasons by winning games and playing finals. But I also believe that we would have beaten Hawthorn and Freo with a full bench and a couple less injuries. Speaking of stats, I was shocked to read that we finished the game with 74% effective disposal, exactly the same as Freo!

The bigger issue is that the injured and wounded are always our top players. As if we weren't depleted enough, we had our best in-form defender in Bell coming off, followed by our best clearance player in Jones. I can't decide which part of the ground is suffering more right now.... middle, backline or up forward?

I actually thought Miller's kicking was good yesterday, not just for goals, but his field kicking too. For starters, he doesn't seem so keen to hand the ball off at every opportunity, and his delivery into the forward line is much improved. His marking wasn't great, but a lot of that has to do with our players constantly kicking over his head, or kicking to him when he has 2 opponents on him. BTW, he should have finished the game with 4 or 5. The umpires stupidly robbed him of 2 goals, one when they paid in the back, and one where they didn't.

Is Bruce McAveny his doctor? Is he aware of how bad his groins are? He wasn't at top speed, which really doesn't surprise me given he had no pre-season, didn't play at Sandy last week, and hasn't played senior footy for months. But at least he was chasing, and running and making position. It was an encouraging sign from him, and I just hope he doesn't pull up sore today. FFS, people's expectations of some players are just far too high. Did supporters really think he'd come out and dominate and kick 10? He got through a full match, which is victory in itself.