Jaded No More

At half time we were doubling them, and I thought that they wrote the stats down wrong. I don't know how many of these so called clearances were actually to advantage. We didn't seem to move the ball anywhere but sideways, or into the hands of Geelong players. It's like saying that Jeff White won the ruck...

Please, they are not China-dolls! Buckley was good in the NAB cup, he showed a hell of a lot more than some senior players who continue to get a game based on reputation, rather than form. Newton has been in the system for 3 years, Buckley for 2. It's not as if we're throwing them into the complete unknown. Bartram had no physical development when he debuted last year, and it never stopped him going hard for the ball. Jones should have debuted much earlier, and is now single-handedly winning the clearances for us. How bad could Newton have done at FF? Worse than PJ? Worse than Holland? Worse than White? Unlikely. BTW, while we're talking about unfit players getting a game, did you see Wheatley coming off the ground in the first quarter? He could barely master a breathe. At the end of the day, playing Buckley instead of Godfrey or Newton instead of Ferguson would have made zero difference to the results. I'm not naive enough to think that we have kids at Sandringham who could be the solution to all of our problems. Not even close.

Correct. He's a ruckman who can't ruck, and a forward or can't mark. The backline was the only position in which he didn't look completely terrible. His endavour is good, and he has pace for such a big bloke, but that's about it. Mooney kicked 4 posters in the second half, so it's not as if PJ completely nullified him. We need Rivers back like I need my arm. He is absolutely crucial in holding the backline together. And I agree with whoever said that Frawley is a must when fit.

With the exception of Bell, Jones, Moloney and possibly Miller, nobody deserves a score above 4. Put it this way, if they were being tested today on their skills, heart and determination, would any of them have passed? If not, they don't deserve to get 5 or above.

Jeff White was shocking today, absolutely shocking. He is a ruckman, and should therefore be judged on his rucking, which today was pathetic (he can't hit the damn thing to advantage!). He got beaten by a nobody. His disposal around the ground was also ordinary. He made some huge errors with the ball, and dropped some seaters. One of his worst performances. Whelan was Whelan. Davey needs to be dropped. Chasing from behind is just not enough. Bell, Moloney and Jones... all under 23, and all full of heart. The rest were on the wrong side of rubbish. Be it in their disposal, their hardness, or their willingness to chase.

Would they have made a difference to the outcome? Nope, and I never said they would. Would they at least given us an insight into their capabilities? Yes. I know what I'm going to get from Wheatley, Ferguson, Brown, Holland, Godfrey... I don't know what Buckely can do at senior level. Who knows, maybe Newton would have done well. How much form has Hawkins shown prior to his selection? How about the kids at Collingwood? It's not as if the players who were brought in were absolutely dominating at VFL level. Buckley has had a very good pre-season and deserves a go. The other two may not be setting the world on fire, but these are desperate times. At the end of the day, not only do we walk away with a humiliating loss, we are also more aware of just how shallow our experienced depth is. Just great!

Dunn, CJ and Pickett better play next week. Dropping CJ was a complete disgrace to begin with. Ferguson, YZE and Wheatley can go back where they came from.

There is no talk out on the field. Players handball to stationary teammates, who go for a run and get caught from behind. Why don't they talk to one another? Jones would put himself in a winning position, but would get attacked by 3 Geelong players with absolutely no teammates in sight to land a hand. It's just so disappointing, because these are very basic things that every coach should insist upon. Chasing, shepparding, talking to your teammates. Nobody can expect us to win with such a large injury list, but for god sake, there is a profound lack of intensity and hunger that has nothing to do with the fact that we're missing key players... or is it that Neita, Robbo, McLean, Bartram and Rivers are the only players who give a damn about winning and about the jumper?!

Yep, listening to that while driving home nearly made me crash the car. He was pleased with our second half because we kicked 5 goals, and so did Geelong. How about the amount of behinds Geelong kicked, or the ease with which they moved the ball, or the fact that our players can't man-up, can't kick, and have absolutely no desire to go at the man with the ball? How about dropping CJ to bring back Yze, who did absolutely nothing? How about Jeff White's diminishing ability as a ruckman? How about Wheatley and Ward playing miles away from their direct opponents? What about your midfield kicking over the head of Miller 10 times in a row? How about leaving Jones on the bench at the start of every quarter, when he is the only player with a half a chance of getting an effective clearance? Nope, we kicked as many goals as Geelong did, so all is peachy at the MFC! :angry:

Yep, it would have been nice to see someone like Newton or Buckley or Petterd show something, instead of a whole collection of hacks show nothing. For some reason, Daniher thinks that playing the kids is a sign of giving up. What he doesn't realise, is that his depth is completely ordinary. We can't do anything about the injury list. It's shocking, and it's growing by the minute. What we can do, is make some use of this time to try and unearth new players. It's not as if playing these has-been players is going to get us the win. PJ at CHB... well at least it's something different, and he didn't do too badly. Would have been great to see some more positive moves like that, instead of the same old "White to FF", "Godfrey on the wing" etc etc.

Moloney looked to have pinched something late in the third quarter, and yet they sent him back on. WHY? It's not as if we were actually a chance FFS! Terrible management of the bench, and even worse, the selection coming into the game was woeful. We dropped a runner in CJ, only to have tall timber wasting away on the bench. Stupid, stupid, stupid. The disposal is getting worse each week. It's primary school stuff when players can't hit a target 10m out. Utterly embarrassing! No accountability, and absolutely no visible game plan. We bottled it up in the second half, as if we were protecting a 70 point lead. What a joke! Green, Belly, Beamer and Jones can hold their head up. Bruce needs to learn to kick (I will keep saying it every week), picking up possessions as a loose man in the defense is not exactly rocket- science. Still, according to Bruce on MMM, Daniher was very pleased with our second half...

The fact that Freo is 0-3, when everyone has them in the top 4, just goes to show you that we are not the only unstable, unpredictable, prone-to-dropping-our-bundle, side in the competition. The difference is, Freo has a great home ground advantage, and no key injuries. At least they'll take some heat off us.

Exactly, and it's good for our young kids to come through such a successful and strong club. I know a lot of the players are very proud of pulling on the Sandy jumper and of having won the 3 premierships.

That's not such bad news. Neita, Brock and Bartram should all return around the same time, which will be great.

Are you sure you're not talking about Melbourne here? <_< Daniher wants to win and is doing whatever he can to make that happen. His faith in our depth never ceases to amaze, and I just hope he's right. Maybe as more injured players return, we'll see the inclusion of a few more new faces to excite us. Certainly Dunn and Sylvia (both not fit this week), but maybe also Buckley, Frawley and Newton.

Of course we can! Watch Jamar, PJ and Godfrey kick 100 goals between them in the next 9 weeks

Please look at the other established threads before making new ones. We don't want to fill up the boards with multiple threads.

I think all the other rivalries were taken, so we got stuck with Geelong. Although, our recent history makes for some rivalry. Our 1 point victory over them in 2005, then they smashed us in the final, plus the draw last year. Or maybe the rivalry is that we both haven't won a flag in over 60 years

Rubbish! He had very limited ground time, and when he was on the ground they threw him down back. He wasn't worse than TJ, Davey or Green. I'm livid that they dropped him. Yze spent 3 years under-performing, and gets a one week holiday in the VFL. CJ has an average game due to limited opportunities, and becomes the scapegoat. In a week where we could use as much pace, and foot skills as we can possibly get, dropping him seems senseless. I don't get it either Graz!

ARGH! I can't believe they dropped CJ. Talk about scapegoat! So that means... Out: Neita, Robbo, Rivers, CJ In: PJ, Ferguson, Holland, Yze Slow, immobile forward line here we come!

The Geelong backline would out-run, out-mark and out-smart them all (apart from possibly Holland, who is pretty hard to out-mark). We cannot win with a forward line of slow tanks, not against one of the best backlines in the competition. And the way our crumbers (Davey and Yze) are travelling at the moment, I don't know how much you'd get out of them.

So do Davey, Bartram and TJ going on form, but this is not the time to be dropping class players with above-average disposal. Not when we're already missing McLean, Rivers, Bartram, Neita, Robbo, Pickett, Sylvia and Dunn.

I don't get it. Why the sudden fascination with Bizzell and the forward line? As a tall forward, he can't mark nor out-muscle Scarlett. As a smaller, more mobile forward, he doesn't have the speed. He was an eratic forward at Geelong, who flew for the occasional specie, but was extremely ordinary overhead or on the lead. If he plays, I hope they use him to cover the loss of Rivers. Yep, Green, Yze and Davey for me too. Rotate them out of the goalsquare, with Bruce and Miller at CHF/ on the flanks. As long as we don't see more than one of Jamar, White, PJ (if he plays) or Holland up forward at the same time. Please!

Standing with your hands on your hips and your head down screams poor attitude to me, and he isn't alone in that. Davey was another prime example of someone with a defeated, mind-elsewhere, body language. When running along the boundary he also looked to be in his own space. Daniher said on the Footy Show last night that Travis tends to come across that way, so maybe it's just his personality and I'm reading far too much into his body language.

If CJ gets dropped, and I wasn't such a sucker for this football club, I'd boycott the game! With an already depleted forward line, this could be his chance to shine. He got limited game time last week, most of which was spent down back (not his natural position IMO). What the hell are we doing if we drop an unproven 22 year old for an over the hill 30 year old?!