Jaded No More

That comes down to our midfield and unfortunately in the past 3 years we've taken two steps back every time we've taken one step forward. We lost Junior, who may not have been our best players anymore, but he was experienced and strong. We gained McKenzie only to lose him to injury. Same with Scully. Same with Gysberts who couldn't get any momentum going last year due to injury. Jones has gotten worse, Davey due to heavy tagging has to play in a variety of roles and Morton spent half of last year out injured and has again missed the first two games of the season. We also lost Bruce this year, although it could be argued that he wasn't a midfielder anymore, nor was he much good. At the end of the day we have drafted plenty of talented midfielders who should, in time, rectify this one-side inside-50 situation... when they can all get on the field! At the moment we are relying on nobody but Moloney to consistently win the clearances, and while he is pretty good at that, he can't do it alone and he does lack a lot of class by hand and foot. I think Bail has been thrown in there and has proven to be quite good, and Grimes can definitely play in the guts if we find a good enough replacement for him down back. It's just very frustrating watching us get smashed at the contest every week, and we are lucky that we have a good backline who save our arse a lot of the time. Imagine us without Frawley, Garland and Grimes

WTF?! Martin has been excellent in the last two games. Great tap work, excellent ground coverage, good contested marking, good use of the footy. When has Newton EVER shown all that at AFL level? And Newton wouldn't have been able to go down back and line up on Hale. Dear god, if that change comes true I'm out.

Come on, if they kicked straight it would have been game over at quarter time. We had some breath taking moments in the second, and showed how good we can be when we win the contested footy, but they dominated in all but that one quarter. They are a far better team, with a far superior midfield and they'll get much further than us this year. If you believed otherwise than you believed the unjustified hype. In fact, I'm going to guess that the team that played them last year was more experienced than the team we had playing tonight.

How bad is the Garland injury? For me Jones continues to struggle in his primary role as an inside midfielder. I'd drop him and bring in Gysberts. We have to start to develop more options in the middle because we clearly don't have enough. Bail has been very good this year in that role, and Gysberts showed glimpses last year. He had a good game in the VFL by all reports, so he's in. If Garland is badly injured then McDonald comes in. We can't afford Rivers and Warnock in the same line up IMO. Maric could get dropped for Aussie, but I suppose he deserves more than 1.5 games to prove his worth. In: Gysberts, McDonald (if needed) Out: Jones, Garland (if injured). Lucky we are playing Brisbane next week! Edit: after reading the above, Morton comes in if fit. Bring in some class!!!

I need a midfield to love

FFS, Grimes is NOT undisciplined and he is NOT getting dropped. Find a new angle to this debate.

To call someone an absolute liability in their 28th match is an absolute joke. Yes, his kicking is sometimes terrible but it's the ones under no pressure that get to me, because 9 out of 10 bad kicks by Grimes is the direct result of having NOBODY to kick to. It looks better when Tapscott does it because he can bomb it 70m and get it further out from goal, but the result is still the same. I don't normally sit behind the goals but I did today, and I saw exactly what Grimes sees when he is kicking the ball.... shite all to kick to. Of course the job of a defender these days is partly to be able to clear opposition zones, but that is always made easier when your midfielders are moving and giving you targets.

6- Tapscott. The kid is awesome, and was better defensively than last week too, which was probably his only downfall in his first match. Gun. 5- Bail. Excellent work in the middle under immense pressure and with little support 4- Martin. An absolute revelation. Ran himself into the ground in all positions and did some excellent things, including good contested marks and good use of the footy. 3- Rivers. Much improved and showed why the coaching staff love him 2- Sylvia. When he is good, he is brilliant. Just wish he could do that for 4 whole quarters. 1- Watts. Definitely our most involved forward. Found a way to get into the game even when the forwardline was a dead zone. Good contested work in packs too.

Calling for his head when we drew one game and lost a game we knew we were going to, is ridiculous. There is no doubt he is under a lot more pressure than in previous years, and there are a few things that really irked me today. For one our lack of ability to stem the tide when Hawthorn got on top in the third, and our inability to clear the Hawthorn forward zone. The other really irritating thing for me and a serious tactical flaw was the use of Maric as a sub. Hawthorn had bloody Jordan Lewis as a sub, and our sub was a forward pocket who has proven little. I completely support Baily giving Maric opportunities after his great pre-season, but he is no sub material. We needed somebody who we know can make serious, immediate impact, the way Ricky did last week. It should have been Wonna given he can turn a game but isn't completely match fit yet. Of course there is also the issue of our midfield being completely and utterly hopeless when under pressure, and the fact that we can go through entire quarters without kicking a single goal. It's all very disappointing and it's all part of the experience. Unfortunately we are not good enough through the center to compete against seasoned, mature bodies. We are very lucky that Hawthorn's kicking at goal is pathetic or we would have been murdered. Bailey does have a lot to answer for after today, but to based his entire future on one game is seriously insane.

Dear god I was going to slit my wrists in the third term with our inability to clear the ball out of defense. Being at the game you could see Hawthorn zoning against us and yet each time we kicked to THE SAME SPOT. wtf??? How do we not have a different plan?! That has definitely been, along with our horrendous midfield, that we haven't been able to improve in 3 years. The coaching staff have a lot to answer for on this issue.

Hopefully it's out McDonald, Maric as sub. Chippa!!!!!

Agreed. Bell's ability to work and earn a living is no doubt now diminished due to the injuries he received while at Melbourne. We were his work place and he is therefore no less entitled to compensation than any other person injured on the job. He does not come across to me as greedy at all. But everyone is entitled to have their view on this issue.

I got quite upset reading that article this morning. As a big Belly fan I remember the amount of crap he copped on this site, so to read how upset he was after playing badly through no fault of his own is heartbreaking. He put his life in danger for our club and still remains one of, if not the bravest player I've ever seen play for us. To think of the horrific consequences he now has to live with as a result, is terrible. I hope he gets the help and compensation he deserves and that he goes on to live a long and healthy life. He deserves nothing less. Oh and while it is not Ben Johnson's fault, the guy is still a dog and I hope he felt sick reading the article today.

Please, what is the point of wasting Frawley's time at Casey? He trained last week and did more than half a pre-season. If he's given the all clear he comes straight in.

If he was a perfect footballer he would have been a number 1 pick (actually there is no such thing as a perfect footballer, but for argument's sake). I agree that pace could be his only worry but if the sub rule stays and the pace of the game is reduced consequently, it may not be an issue for him. I still think he will end up as a half forward because he lacks a bit of pace, but he brings a whole new dimension to the side with his toughness and long penetrating kick. He is totally different to anything we've had coming through in the last 3 years and that's a good thing.

Omg stat heaven for us nerds. Love it!!! How sad

I sound like a chain smoker today. Good excuse not to talk to my annoying colleagues

I'm glad it's not our home game because Sunday twilight games are dead zones, especially for families with young children. It's an awkward time. However we played Hawthorn at the same time slot last years, when both teams were vying for the 8 and the crowd was pretty decent, despite it being damp and cold. Of course nothing will stop me from going... I've waited far too long to not feel guilty about giving Bruce sh*t B)

McBurney is a downright horrible umpire. Seriously, his ineptitude is mind boggling. Thank god sanity prevailed, unlike when Moloney got rubbed out for almost making contact to the head all those years ago (yes, I have a long memory when it comes to the AFL screwing us over! )

I'm pretty sure Hannabal wrote Garland off, so it's not just complete fwits who did

Slow of mind I should have clarified. He was always a step behind. He was basically crap and a lot of supporters were [censored] that we wasted a first round pick on him. Garland wasn't much better either. His debut season was awful. His first game embarrassing. I think we saw yesterday with Tappy what a massive difference a mature body makes. He looked like a 100 game veteran because he had the body to compete. And it wasn't until Frawley became a beefcake and gained physical confidence that he became the gun that he is now. It's always really hard to contain expectations when there is so much hype, but we just have to be patient. Watts is getting better each week, but it's going to be a slow rise to the top. Don't lose the faith. It's very early days.

I'm actually thinking Chippa on Buddy, like last season. Best defender on best forward. Garland will do well on Roughead, because he is a lot stronger than he looks and should be able to match him in the air and on the burst. Rivers could take Hale, but he'll struggle in the air. If you put Martin on him you are basically making Jamar ruck for 98% of the match, and that's risky. I'd look at Warnock for Hale, but gees he was horrible in the pre-season and he is "poo your pants when he has the ball" type of player. In the end I think they'll go with Frawley, Garland and Rivers and McDonald will get the chop. He doesn't have an immediate match up that comes to mind, and he has to stop the brain explosions. When he's good, he's great, when he's bad, he's damn right woeful and he really really hurt us with his stupidity. To be honest though, the Hawthorn midfield is going to be the issue for us, as it is every time we play them. They always smash us, and I would seriously consider giving Maric the dodgy sub vest and bringing in Gysberts. Even if he doesn't do much, it'll be a great learning experience for him.

It's all one of the shame sh*t to me B)

Princess? seriously? that's the best you could come up with? Lame. I will bet you my sparkly princess crown that Tappy plays next week, and for many weeks to come, baring injuries. His defensive game was good, but he did lose some one on one contests. So did Rivers and McDonald, and they are 100 game veterans. For every contest he lost, he put his body on the line and won another. It was a very very good debut and there is nothing you can take away from him.

What....the.... oh heaven help us. It does not matter how good a kid plays on debut, you can always trust one supporter to stick the boot in and nitpick. IT WAS HIS FIRST GAME! FFS!