Jaded No More

Our first quarters are a sick joke. Disgusting start, which is practically guaranteeing us a loss.

Have no issues resting Trengove. Better to give him a week off if he's a bit sore, than watch him go down a path of injuries (his "hip" better just be another way of saying "general soreness", and not another bloody long-term injury to a young star). Playing 19-20 games in his debut season is more than enough and a very good result for him and the team. Hoping like hell that final bench is Bail, Morton, Warnock and Maric, although I'm not fussed about Maric.

Terribly sad news. My deepest condolences go out to his family and friends. His passing is a big loss to the world, especially given his environmental work and his active role with our club.

Lame. "Here come the Gold Coast Suns, they'll steal your players and give you skin cancer"

I'm shocked! Herald Sun writers are just monkeys with typewriters. Poor monkeys don't know how to construct a proper injury list.

Unless Grimesy has made a miracelous recovery (please please please let that be true), that injury list has failed miserably. Mind you, it's still the smallest it has been all year, which is great to see *knock on wood*.

BARTRAM IS NOT GETTING DROPPED. But bring in Bail!

Jim Stynes was on 3AW last night and when asked about the Bruce rumour he didn't sound too convincing when he said he didn't think it would happen. I guess if both parties want it to happen, then it's going to be a win-win we should try and make it happen.

I understand where you're coming from, but really in years gone by we've had most of our home games set against interstate teams, which is unfair. I don't think any Victorian team, no matter how much of a powerhouse, can get a decent crowd against Freo or Port. It's unrealistic. This year we've received home games, for the first time in YEARS, against teams like Essendon, and it's paying off.

So so true. I watched the replay last night and my god was PJ poor. His ruckwork was average, but my biggest issue with him is his marking. He CANNOT hold a mark, no matter how easy, how simple or how perfectly directed at his chest. Now he is agile for a big man, but if he drops those easy marks against smaller guys, then 9 times out of 10 he's lost the contest because they are far more likely to grab the loose ball than he is. So if a big man can't mark, can't make good decisions is only an average kick, what use is he? I don't find the "give Jamar a rest" the right justification to play someone who cuts our run and doesn't contribute for more than 20 minutes of total ruck time. Having said that, I am all for giving Jamar a rest during games, which is where Dunn can go up in the ruck for all I care. As for Rivers, I don't think he was as bad as some make out. He had a shocking start, and yes his opponent was a nobody, but he was at his ball-reading best and helped out the other defenders. At the end of the day, the club clearly values his contribution, so we need to stop whinging about his deficiencies. It is becoming as useless as those Bruce threads.

Melbourne to start well, then fade out as Freo run over the top of us in the second half to win by 6 goals.

We couldn't maintain our intensity for four quarters against a miserably poor Essendon. What makes you think we can do it against a top four team at Subiaco? I dearly hope I'm wrong, and we win by 1000 points, but realistically, we have no chance.

No chance.

That is 100% spot on. I couldn't bring myself to cheer or sing the song after the game because I was so disappointed with the last quarter. It was lazy, arrogant and frankly embarrassing to see how we played in that last 15 minutes. It totally ruined what was an otherwise good display of football from the team. The last time we played 4 quarters of footy we smashed Brisbane. I don't always expect us to smash our opponents, but if we're 51 points up in the last quarter, it is unacceptable to let the opposition cut the margin to 3 goals. If I was Bailey I'd be pretty bloody furious.

Maybe they stratigically played Jamar less yesterday in order to keep him fresh for next week? He practically rested for the last 15 minutes of the game.

Who is Freo's backup ruckman? Freo rely very heavily on Sandilands, as we do on Jamar. Sandilands takes most of the ruck contests, and so does Jamar. I'd rather have Jamar go with Sandilands and rest when Sandilands does. Then have Dunn compete in the ruck when Freo's secondary ruckman goes up. I can just see us running out of steam in the last quarter if we don't go with an extra runner instead of a second ruckman who does very little around the ground. Not to mention that if we are down a midfield rotation we'll be stuffed the following week too, and that could cost us the game against Sydney (which is winnable IMO).

FBs can play well into their 30's, and given Warnock was a late bloomer, it wouldn't surprise me if he does. He is definitely in my best 22 and eventual premiership team. He doesn't need to be a good user of the ball because he won't ever be a rebounding defender. That job can be left up to the likes of Chip, Garland, Grimes etc For me, it's Warnock over MacDonald, Cheney and Rivers.

Yesterday was the most talented forwardline we've had all year. Bate - Watts - Sylvia Jurrah - Green- Bennell That's TALENT, not just deadwood we've thrown up forward in desperation. It made a huge difference, but we still lost the inside 50 count, which tells me that a lot of our preceived forwardline issues are actually midfield related. We have a good conversation rate from inside 50s, but we just don't get it in there enough.

You're the one who has Chip in their avatar. Disgrace!

Agreed. When he walks the boundary line I get strong urges to jump the fence and rip that thing right off his face. It is the dirtiest looking mo I have ever seen outside of a porn set.

Shut your face. I still lay massive claims to Grimes, but I have a man crush on Chip that will not subside (and by man crush I mean a woman crush, minus the sexual urges).

Spot on. No doubt we'd look to rookie a couple of giants too, see if we can turn them into the next Mark Jamar. This is the time to start being ruthless. If you couldn't get a game this year, then you're unlikely to get a game in the future (obviously I don't include first year players or players who have been injured like Blease). Most players who I think had question marks over them have been given an opportunity this season, or will be given an opportunity shortly (Maric will definitely play before the year is out IMO). McNamara is still the only one I'm unsure of. Would look to rookie him if possible. Buy him a couple more years, as he was drafted bottom age and has struggled with injuries.

Played a very good game today, in his natural position, which is the wing. He definitely enjoyed not having to be the one doing the hard tagging, and to have the freedom to run forward of the contest. I still cringe when he has the ball in his hands and is about to lay off a handball. And another one of my more maligned players, in Dunn, also had a good game. I thought Watson didn't have any big influence on the game, and Dunn did some good work in the centre circle.

Love that he has no neck now either, he is such a tank. It's like he woke up one day and said, the hell with you neck, you are totally unnecessary to my ability to be super awesome. And super awesome he sure is. LOVE him, and really struggling to choose a favourite player these days. I am so torn between the Grimes and the Chip.

Absolutely, those were some of the most soft, and idiotic 50m penalties I've ever seen. The Jack Watts free was definitely the worst one though. Hilarity. Mind you, nobody forced the Essendon players to run through the mark about 4 times. Or for their ruckmen to throw Jamar down in the ruck contest, with no eyes for the ball. I loved Winderlich's bemused look on his face when the free was paid after he proceeded to block Jamar's run at the contest, no eyes for the ball, bringing Jamar to ground. Yeah genius, that's a totally legitimate attempt at rucking. Idiot.