Jaded No More

So I just saw Ward is in the starting 18. I know that with Petterd, Wheels and Bartram out, we are missing that drive out of the backline, but given that Ward is Mr.Unaccountable, and given that he can't kick, wouldn't it be worth trying Buckley in the back pocket? Does he have a single defensive bone in his body? Who knows. Is it worth finding out since we're 0-6 and no chance? Absolutely. Hell, give me Bizzell over Ward! Now that my rant is over, I'm going to assume that Holland, Pickett and Frawley will miss out. Clearly Jones, PJ and Dunn are needed, and lets hope that Warnock is given another game.

Such a bummer about Ricky! I will be furious if Ward gets a run. Hopefully it's a straight swap, Green for Petterd. Frawley is close, but I don't think they'll debut him after half a game in the VFL reserves. Maybe another week or two.

Ah yes, see it would have helped if I read the 'Auskick' bit I'm just going to crawl back into my hole. Carry on.

Brent Grgic called, he wants to know where the love is.

He spoke very well! It is a great testament to our recruiting that every young kid I have heard speak in public, has done so in the most mature, well-mannered way. This includes McLean, Bartram, Miller, Jones and now Petterd. He said that he is currently 80kg, but is hoping to be at the 86-88kg mark by next year.

So going by that logic, we should trade McLean but keep Bizzell? This has nothing to do with experience. Miller is a limited footballer, and even his biggest fans (like me), should be able to admit that.

Well I'm affraid that now that you've had a dig at Belly, I can no longer dispense friendly advice to you. <_< I'm a big Miller fan, but Bell is a level above him both in skills, and in football intelligence.

You've been here two minutes. I suggest you learn to read what people are saying before you get on your high horse. Just some friendly advice...

If anyone else laid the same tackle, like say Chris Judd, we wouldn't be discussing it. It's the fact that Bryon Pickett was involved, which is creating headlines.

You can be nominated in two separate seasons, as long as you played under 10 games in the previous season. So Jones is still eligable to be nominated, and indeed win the award. It might be hard to believe, but Jones only played 8 games last year.

Give up Rhino, just give up. :D

Oh God. What's Woewodin doing this year? Consistently taking on the best small forwards in the competition and beating them? Yep, didn't think so.

You're right, we should offer them Ward and Bizzell. FFS, we're talking about Judd, a proven premiership player and captain, a Brownlow medallist and so on, he is worth more than most clubs will be willing to give up. Certainly more than Bruce and Miller.

We would be stupid to say no to Yze_Magic's proposed deal, but as someone has already said, West Coast would be stupid to say yes. If all we have to give up is an ordinary forward, and a utility with suspect kicking to get Judd, he wouldn't be the best player in the competition!

Go Ricky!!! Well deserved kid, if only for your efforts in spoiling Hall last week. We need to start a "Go Ricky" chant. If it's good enough for the great Ricky Lake, it's good enough for our boy! :D Jonesy is a chance to win the whole thing if he gets nominated soon.

Yep, that's exactly why she gets no respect, because she has never played football. So according to this reasoning, no female will ever be able to make her mark on the game, which is quite sad when you consider that about 50% of AFL fans are females. I can think of plenty of media clowns like Huddo and Maher who have played as much footy as Caro has, and yet get more respect than she does. Bottom line is, she is opinionated and it doesn't sit well with the other journalistic puppets who never ask the hard questions, and who are too scared to speak up. She can get on her high horse too often, and her infatuation with Richmond is highly irritating, but at least she calls it as she sees it. Edit: Yep. Daniher didn't sound at all excited by the prospect of Newton. Don't think we'll see him until much much later in the year when finals are completely out of the question. Either that, or he is trying to keep a lid on the kid

Yep, strongest indication yet that he won't be coaching us next year, and I think that part of it is due to the fact that he himself wants to move on. I have no doubt that the club will separate on good terms if/when it comes to that, and I hope for everyone's sake that we start looking at new coaches in July, not September. I want Voss as an assistant coach, and from what I've heard, so does the club. So hopefully they make that one happen. As for Caroline Wilson, I feel for her... it must be hard being the only female in the AFL who is allowed to express an opinion. Kent Kingsley should keep his mouth shut, and concentrate on getting a kick. He can't even break into the Richmond side FFS, and yet he is taking cheap shots at people who have rightly called him on what he is... a crap footballer.

I wanna see Bell on Johnson. That is all

Once Bartram is fit, he should be played on the half back line, where he is both accountable and can give us good drive out of defence. This means Petterd can push onto the wing and get some tagging jobs under his wing. I think that every midfielder who isn't specifically an insider, should start out by being a tagger and doing jobs on the best in the business. It's the best way to learn IMO. I think Petterd is only being used in the backline because Barts is injured, Brown is a liability down back, and Ward is well... Ward.

He is still eligible to win the Rising Star.... In fact, yesterday was only his 13th AFL game

Funny you say that, because on the train on the way home, I was speaking to some equally [censored]-off Melbourne supporters who agreed that we should all donate a gold coin to help cover the fine, if Neale Daniher gives the umpires a real spray in his press-confrence and cops it from the AFL. It would be worth every cent, given the crap they dished up this weekend (and for most of our games in 2007).

But he could do a hammy or a groin if he is pushed to do too much upon his return. Remember, he has had 6 weeks off where he wasn't able to do any running, kicking etc etc... I know that he is far far too good to play in the VFL, but it might be good to ease him back. Alternatively, he will be played cautiously for a week or two, which is fine. 60% of game time from McLean is better than 100% of game time from most players.

... but it makes no difference now, does it? Jeff Geishen has come out and said that the deliberate out of bounds was the wrong call. Now nobody is saying that we would have won the game had the ball been thrown up, but there were 50 seconds on the clock, and all it would have taken was one clearances (which we were winning all day), and a long kick to a forward who could have taken the kick after the siren. So technically, had the decision been called out of bounds, and NOT deliberate, we could have gone on to win. For the sake of the AFL and the fans, I hope that the idiot who payed that free kick never umpires again. What a farce the AFL has become!

Murphy is most likely out for the Doggies, which is terrible for him, but good for us. He always gives us problems. So that, plus the fact that everyone escaped suspensions means that maybe our luck is changing.

Finally, common sense prevails. And I laughed out loud at Travis Johnstone abusing the umpires. It's nothing they don't deserve