Jaded No More

It was one of the most uninspiring, boring, dull, hideous games of football I've ever seen. Was hard to even muster up the energy to cheer, we were so woefully bad. But I'm trying to think of some positives, and here they are: 1. We won. For a team that has struggled to win, especially in close games, especially when they are off the boil, and especially when the opposition get in front with minutes to go, we managed to find a way to win and stay in front (just) 2. Watts. See above point. We only managed to do that because Watts stood up, all over the ground, while running himself into the ground. He has been brilliant this year, and today was probably his best game ever. Not on stats, but on heart. He saved our arses, both with his ball use and his hardness and willingness to run. Thank god for Watts! 3. I thought some of our kids had their best games yet, namely Stretch (used it really well, and ran hard), Oscar (much maligned and has the intensity of a baby giraffe, but was good overhead and at ground level) and Frost. 4. We won without practically all of our better players. Bernie was pathetic, Viney quiet, Hogan injured, Jones and Tyson average. Gawn dominated in the ruck, but wasn't quite as good around the ground I think we will play a lot better next week.

Currently we have 3 players in our team with elite kicking skills- Stretch, Watts and Trac

Absolute crap. Good to see that with the season nearly over we still overuse the handball. We learn fast don't we?!

A good off-season, especially if we sign Hogan to a long term deal, and I reckon we'll easily crack 40,000 next year. Good effort!

I just vomited in my mouth! Like Lucas Cook and the previous drafting blunders in this thread weren't enough, now Newton makes an appearance.

Any chance Pedo comes in for Dawes? I know he had an average game for Casey today, but it's not like Dawes got a recall on the back of any form! I legit can't handle Dawes. Pedo can also ruck and leave Watts more time up forward. Something which may help given Hogan is in ordinary form.

I'm obsessed with him! He is definitely getting a lot more attention now from the opposition which is why he isn't getting clear runs at the ball anymore. Has been such a revelation and one of the best things about this season. Should win best 1st year player (pretty sure he is eligible as it works on debut season) at the B&F this year!

Structurally I think the 3 most important players in our team are Gawn, McDonald and Hogan in that order. Hogan may end up at number 1, but premierships are won in defence. We need a Tom McDonald in finals. No team can win a flag without a strong backline. Some have won it with average forwards but defence has to be rock solid. McDonald, for all his kicking brain fades, is not even in the prime of his career and is already in the top dozen tall defenders in the competition. Do I wanna rip his head off when he turns it over? Yes! Do I thank god that he is ours when he takes countless of marks a week, punches the ball away, defends against the best forwards each week and can run out a full game without a break? You bet I do. If we lose him, we will probably go back 2-3 years minimum in our tilt at a premiership, and that's only if we can draft/trade/develop someone else who is equally as good. Maybe we won't. KPDs don't grow on trees. They are as hard to get as KPFs and they make or break a team. We have to pay maximum value for these players because losing them is going to cost us that much more in the long term. I will be furious if we lose McDonald for the sake of $100k or even $200k a year!

I feel for the Dogs. Injuries have ruined their season. That break to Wallis, my god poor guy looked in so much pain! Horrible. With Adelaide losing yesterday, I just don't think that any half decent team will make the GF. Who the [censored] does one even barrack for on GF day? I suppose anyone but Hawthorn. Not that Geelong or Sydney will be much better. And GWS- not with Scully in the side!

It was such a heartbreaking and frustrating loss, but you can't ignore the positives no matter how furious you are about the loss. We lack composure. If the tide is turning in a game we go to water, when the game is on the line we lose our nerves. We make bad mistakes at crucial times and we desperately need Salem back, because our kick outs situation is diabolical at times. Wagner kicking out? Really? Not ok. We don't have enough leadership to steady the ship and we can't afford to win the stats so comprehensively for 3 quarters and not make the most of it in front of goal! Easy misses, bad umpiring, poor decision making, these things are not permanent. The talent is there but we need time.

Definitely a defender

This game is like someone cut my chest open, ripped my heart out, handed it to Tom McDonald and said "save her by kicking this heart into this 700m wide pile of fluffy cushions"... And he misses. FML!

Umpires were disgraceful but this club is too weak to raise it. Shot ourselves in the foot with woeful ball use. Again. Same old same old. Cannot remember the last time I was this heartbroken over a loss. Time to get drunk and forget all about this club for a while.

Umpires can go [censored] themselves. Pathetic!

This breaks my heart. We just can't win when we continue to turn it over. We have no composure.

Nobody wants to play Dunn or Garland so we can't complain about our 12 day old defence. TMac's customary game changing turnover. Gold.

This game is going to be the end of me. My heart can't deal with this [censored].

How can they pay this mark? [censored] it. We just can't win this. We have zero composure!

Unbelievable. We spend 2 hours trying to kick a goal. They kick one in a second. OMac- where's the urgency son?

I can't deal with this game. We are losing it. I can't even understand.

[censored] off umps!!!!! Holding Kent twice. No frees. We wasted so many opportunities. I can't see us holding on sadly.

Completely agree. Our back line has gone from B grade to F grade. Massive rethink in the pre-season because this is not ok.

I can't deal with our backline. How is nobody ever in the right position???????????

OMac on Kennedy is not a fair matchup. Tom should follow him to the toilets.

[censored] Dawes off. Just [censored] him off. He is a joke!