Jaded No More

Excellent news. If there was video footage he would have got 4, dirty dog. Learn to hit a target, instead of hitting players behind play. Idiot! <_<

Cheney isn't slow, he is no Bennell, but his speed is adequate. We will always have Garland and Frawley as an option for the super quick smaller guys anyway. And with experience, Cheney can learn to play in front, which is his big strength.

Nothing special, but is good on the lead (less so in the air). We need small defenders, and even if he isn't the creative type, if he can shut down an opponent then his place in the team is secure (for now at least). Not every player in your side is going to be a star, and your lesser lights are equally as important if they can do a job consistently. I like that Cheney is hard at it, and his marking skills are pretty good for someone his size. Kicking is passable. Good replacement for Wheels, and a good return for our investment.

I don't think Grimes deserved it based on last round either, however, Joseph has played twice the number of games Grimes has this year (6 vs. 12), and here are their stats: Disposal Av. Per Game: Grimes: 19.3 Joseph: 11.4 Mark Av. Per Game: Grimes: 6.8 Joseph: 1.9 Both have kicked a goal, and Joseph is ahead in tackles by a significant margin. Ward also averages less disposals and marks than Grimes, but has kicked 7 goals in 9 matches. I realise Joseph is a tagger, so his primary job is to shut down an opponent, but he is certainly not more deserving of a nomination than Ward or Grimes FinalSiren stats actually show that Grimes is #16 overall amongst the 'Rising Stars' (link) (sorry for hijacking this thread with Rising Star talk that is not related to injuries <_< )

The Rising Start Award is a joke. I mean come on, Aaron Joseph gets a nomination this week ahead of Ward who got like 30 plus disposals (and has been really good all year), and Grimes.

James Hird says hi!

Bell might not be the best decision maker, but he can consistently hit targets by foot. His disposal is far superior to Bartram's, and he is equal in terms of doing the team things and working hard off the ball. We know what Bartram gives us in that tagger position, so why not try something else for the rest of the year?

I have a soft spot for Belly, I do. But I don't think he has the required decision making skills or awareness to play in the backline. I've long wanted him to play midfield, and I'm glad Bailey played him there when he got a game. I still think he has some important qualities to add to our midfield, particularly tackling and strength. I would like to see him replace Bartram (he has superior skills) for the remainder of the season and play as a tagger. Whether that happens or not, I'm not sure. I also don't know whether or not he's done enough to avoid the cut at the end of the season. A lot will depend on what our senior players decide to do (Junior, Robbo, Wheels).

Glad that nobody could answer my question so far. Just goes to show that Wheatley isn't good enough to push anyone out of the side, and should not be a Melbourne listed player in 2010. By the way, the kicking thing is a myth. He turns it over consistently (even with Casey), and has no basic accountability; two things Bailey really seems to hate.

I would really love for the media to give this Watts issue a rest and let us do what we know is best for him. The club works with him daily, while the media replays the Davey tackle over and over again. FFS, if we didn't play him at all this year they would have just continued to ask "when will Watts play?" at every press conference we had. Now he's playing, and they are saying we played him for the wrong reasons, or he isn't ready, or he is being damaged. What will Watts learn at VFL that he can't at AFL level? Will he get any bigger playing for Casey? will he adapt to the pace of AFL playing for Casey? will he understand Melbourne's game plan better when he plays with Casey? The kid can kick, mark, make great decisions by hand and foot... he doesn't have any deficiencies that can be worked on at a lower level. The only thing he needs is time, weight and experience. If he doesn't play, it's because he is physically and mentally due for a rest, or he has school commitments, not because he "isn't ready". Of course he isn't ready, he won't be for 2 years. That doesn't mean that gaining experience at the top level isn't valuable. In fact, it's likely to fast-track his career. If Watts is happy to play out the year, and his body passes the test, I hope we play him. Even if he spends the rest of the year collection 2 possessions a game. If he or the club want him to go back to Casey to play at a lower intensity to gain some touch, or some confidence, that's fine too.

I see that nobody has an answer to my question... Who do you drop from the backline in order to fit Wheatley into the side?

For anyone who wants him in the team, who would you drop out of the backline in order to give him a game?

There is no doubt that Bartram is not good enough to be part of a premiership assault with his poor disposal and decision making. However, given where we are as a team right now, we could do worse than having Clint in the side to do those things that really, everyone should be doing, but very few actually do. I'm talking tackles, blocks, 1%ers. He has the speed to play on many small forwards and midfielders, and right now he is not so much of a liability purely because his work on gameday helps those around him. Plenty others will go ahead of him.

No doubt. I just wish we're as ruthless as them, and if we do win, it's because we're at home and our young kids really step up, not because we went in with our best available team and superior matchday tactics. This really is a game that we cannot afford to win by simply letting West Coast do as they please. If we win that game because Jurrah kicks 6, Grimes gets 30 disposals in the middle, Bennell steps it up, Frawley, Warnock and Garland demolish their forwards and Watts takes 10 contested marks, then I won't walk away from the game angry that we may have just blown our chances of getting Scully. Having said that, lets bloody well just lose that game. We've been [censored] for 3 years, what's another 7 losses gonna do?

I would be disappointed if we don't attempt to "list manage" that game. If we get out-tanked so be it, but I want to see us take a ruthless approach. If it's good enough for West Coast, why shouldn't we do whatever we can to ensure we give ourselves every chance to get that all important pick 1. Losing Scully would be so much worse than losing a meaningless game With that in mind, may we see Jetta in the ruck and Juice at FB

That's fair and might be the path we choose to take. I would dearly love for him to travel with the team for the sake of bonding, and spending more time being part of the club. It would also be good for Watts to play a younger, less experienced backline up in Brisbane, where he won't be made to play on Fletcher, and against a lesser opponent in Round 14, where he might even get a chance to experience a win. How is that different to a player sitting on his couch at home before the game, exercising their muscles on the Wii? Or taking their dog for a walk? Garland takes public transport to games, no doubt spending some trips standing all the way to Richmond station in order to avoid annoying, smelly people. No wonder he got stress fractures! Watts had a kick to kick? dear god, we wouldn't want him using a football five hours before a match, or laughing, or walking, or talking to his friends, or even using his eye sight. Now I know why he hasn't kicked 10 goals in a match yet. And we definitely don't want Blease to spend anymore time outside with his mates.

First of all, I changed the title of the thread because there is no confirmation of this yet. Secondly, we appreciate inside information, but the delivery could be done in a less egotistical manner. Additionally, if you are wrong you will get suspended, as many before you have for falsely reporting injuries. And finally, can we stop abusing one another? read the Code of Conduct, follow it, or go away. Cheers.

I'm not down with the school holiday schedule these days, my sincerest apologies Still, given what Bailey said at his post-match press conference, I doubt he'll play this week. Will be great if he does though, because every AFL game under his belt is invaluable experience that he can't get at Casey.

It's not Bailey I'm worried about. I realise Watts has a really good head on his shoulders, but anyone, particularly an 18 year old under so much pressure, would look at some of the comments made in the media and feel dejected. Hopefully the club, who would have realised the attention he's going to get when playing him on QB, will handle this issue well with him, just as they have handled him well so far. I have no doubt we did the right thing in playing him, and that mentally he was ready to play (and physically he was fit enough). Hopefully some of the negative comments made in the media thus far don't ruin what has been a really good program and build up for him.

You're right. It just shits me how the media can turn something that is meant to be good, into a negative, when we really really don't need any negative publicity right now. More importantly, I worry how all this is going to impact on Watts, particularly if (as I expect) he doesn't play next week and the media frenzy continues with "we told you so".

Knowing the list, and thinking the list is good, are two different issues. I can name 5 players that have improved under Bailey just off the top of my head (Frawley, Garland, Warnock, Davey, Jones), but there are plenty more. He is still in the process of turning our list over, and doesn't have the luxury of leveraging the talent of his senior players. Have a look at other new coaches, and you'll note that they inherited a list containing at least 3 or 4 elite senior players (to be fair Harvey inherited just one, and that shows) that they can build a young team around. Much easier to build a young list, when you have Lloyd, Fletcher, McPhee, Hill etc... there in key position roles. Not to mention Judd, Stevens and Fevola. Our senior players are poor, have no leadership skills, and to top that off don't occupy key positions on the ground. Bailey has built us a backline in two years, when Daniher couldn't build us one in 10. He has lost his best senior player and FF, and our senior ruckman, and now has to rebuild both the forwardline and midfield. To expect miracles after two seasons is ignorant and unrealistic, when our list in 2007 was 50% [censored], 30% mediocre and 20% unknown. The easiest job in football is to coach a great team to success, the hardest job is to build a great team.

We went overboard this week, did we? By choosing to debut him on Queens Birthday we were always going to draw plenty of attention to him, no doubt. But time and time again we reiterated that physically, he is behind, and that this year is about giving him a taste, and experience. This week, nothing was mentioned by the club in regards to Watts, apart from Bailey mentioning that Jack was disappointed with his game. The attention this week is purely media driven, and what a shame. Instead of focusing on Jurrah's debut, they are drawing attention to an 18 year old with no pre-season, who, when compared to many other young KPP has put on two solid displays of football in very difficult circumstances. Also, the amount of times I have seen that vision of Davey run Watts down, is hilarious. As if that is all of a sudden an indication that Watts is no good or not ready. 200 game veterans get run down from behind nearly every week!

I don't remember anyone suggesting that a player wasn't worthy of pick 1 after two games. I agree that the media attention last round was partially brought on by us, but this week not even LJ's debut was enough to keep the vultures away. It doesn't matter what the average supporter thinks, but for the media to go out of their way to highlight how this kid is not ready, is just stupid. Of course he isn't physically ready, nor will he be until 2011 probably, does that mean he should be kept on the sidelines until then? Plenty of kids debut when physically underdone, and nobody raised an eyebrow. At the end of the day if our club deemed him mentally ready to play, than he is. It's just such a shame that what should be a good news story has turned into a debate that is no doubt going to impact on Jack's confidence.

By picking I mean the media scrutiny and suggestions that he is not ready to play, that is a boy amongst man, that he has shown nothing to suggest that he's worthy of being pick 1 etc etc... Would be nice if he was afforded the same luxury as other kids, where the club, and the club alone makes comments and decisions regarding his readiness, as opposed to every second media troll attempting to become a player development coach or list manager.

We play interstate on Saturday, meaning we'll fly up on Friday, so IMO Jack won't be playing, because in order to travel he'll have to miss school. If I had to guess I'd say he'll go back to Casey this week and probably play the last 3 or 4 games of the year. In the meantime, I hope the media finds something better to do than picking on an 18 year old!