Jaded No More

Without bias I think we all agree that Bruce is a horrid user of the ball (which takes nothing away from the fact that he runs hard all day long), and Sylvia is verging on uselessness. That you can be so critical of Bruce (which I don't necessarily disagree with most of the time), and yet be so blinded by Sylvia's shinny calves is actually taking away from whatever tiny shred of credibility you have left on the Bruce issue.

Garland's absence is going to make us realise very quickly why he is in the top 5 most important players on our list. Poor Jnr Fanta Pants had a shocker, but when Davey fluffs them on a regular basis you know you're in trouble. Rivers should be taking them in Garland's absence, but that's robbing Peter to pay Paul isn't it?

Unless McLean is actually injured, he will not get dropped. He's had 2 shockers, but has the runs on the board and deserves the chance to play into form and fitness. Besides, just having him there in the middle takes the best tagger away from Jonesy and Beamer, and we know how badly those two play when they are the number one target. Out: Jetta, PJ In: Maric, Meesen Can't believe I'm advocating Meesen's cause, but we're paying him good money to do sweet all, and PJ is useless, so lets see what he's got. Brogan and Lade must have started celebrating already. By the way, lets be realistic here. There are not going to be 5 or 6 team changes, especially not in round 2 and especially if (by some sheer miracle) everyone lives to see another day. You can't go deflating a young team's confidence by dropping every second player, especially when their replacements are not much chop (or have played a grand total of zero matches).

His skills are more suited to the forward line IMO, and he should play there long-term. Garland going down is the shittiest injury we've had since the Rivers-McLean-Moloney triple whammy, simply for the versatility and run that we lose when he's not there.

Morton had 2 shockers from memory, but overall he gave us some brilliant run out of the backline. He is so smart, has great penetration in his kick, and played his role perfectly. He is also becoming more confident in his body, so he goes in harder at the contest now, which is great. Still needs a good feed, and IMO should end up as a key forward, but we have a really good player on our hands. Some of his evasive moves, given he is 191cm (192?) are amazing. I don't know what's going on with McLean. I doubt anyone is more in love with that man than myself, but he's had two shockers and today was the worst game I have seen him play. Either he is terribly unfit, having had a late start to the pre-season, or he is getting tagged out of the game. I'd give him a couple of weeks to play off the half back line or even as a small forward, and get some touch into him. Seems very frustrated as well, which can't be helping.

Spot on. Although Petterd needs to be persisted with as a forward. He gives us another dimension as that medium-sized forward that can play smaller and taller (a bit like Robbo really). Obviously he won't see much action when we're getting smashed in the middle, but than none of the forwards will. Also I think poor Miller fights his heart out, and battles really well against 2 or 3 opponents at a time. He rarely gets soundly beaten in a contest, and more often than not will create a spilage, if he doesn't manage to grab the ball. The issue of course is his kicking. He has to learn to convert. If he finished with 3.0 instead of 1.2 you'd say he had a very good game. As a third option he is excellent, but he ain't no Franklin and he can't do it on his own. Bate is complete hopeless inside the forward 50 right now, which doesn't help of course. Martin is going to be a gun when he learns to really tighten up on his opponent, because his skills for a big man are awesome. Love him :D

Bennell did some good things but Jetta needs time in the VFL to develop. If Maric plays a full game his week he should definitely replace Jetta next round. We need to look at the two halves in isolation. First half is where we're heading, second half is what happens when a bottom of the ladder team takes on a top 4 team. As infuriating as it is we are not going to get better over night. At least we can walk away from the game knowing that Morton is going to be a gun, Warnock is a defensive rock and Ricky has a bright future as a forward. I rather lose with a young team than an old one.

Terrible third quarter again. Shades on 2008 and our midfield is getting torn into shreds. This could well turn ugly.

You and I seem to be the only two who pass their time during the breaks on their iPhone Very impressed with the first quarter, but as you said we've lost the plot a bit in the last 15 minutes. Turnovers are going to be the hot topic again. Brock has been quiet and Bruce's disposal particularly bad. Morton and Martin however have been fantastic. We are still very much in this.

8 contested marks to their 1 in the first quarter... Or so the scoreboard says.

We really can't catch a break right now. Garland was set for a great year, and our backline was finally starting to take shape. In fact, our backline seems cursed. Either we have hopeless defenders, or we find good ones and they're always out injured (Rivers, Whelan, now Grimes and Garland). I guess the silver lining in all this is we'll get to promote another rookie and they might become a revelation (ala Aussie, Spence etc...)... and we're now even more likely to get those top 2 draft picks *ducks for cover*

I see your Newton and raise you Meesen :D

Carlton forced to relocate to West Sydney :D

For our sake I hope you're wrong and I can ban you for making up fake injuries... please oh please!

Thank god nobody here is our list manager, or we'd now be without Garland, Warnock and McLean. Oh dear! :D

What is with our defenders and injuries?! Martin, while it would be good to play him as a forward, will definitely be needed to take one of Collingwood's talls. Good to see all 4 debutants get another chance.

The only memo Jared Rivers needs to receive is the one about NOT GETTING INJURED. Rivers is the perfect example of how to be tough, not a thug. He displays courage each week, and stands up for his teammates without doing unnecessarily dumb things that will get him suspended. Thank god he actually retaliated after Junior had his head taken off. We need to show our opponent, and more importantly demonstrate to the youngsters in the team, that we will always protect one another. It gives a strong message of unity to the opposition, and lets the young players know that the older players are there to look after them.

There is still a lot of work to be done, not only to completely eliminate the debt, but to create revenue and above all else to ensure that we never EVER find ourselves in this position again. But to wake up in the morning and not be terrified of the fact that your club is on its death bed is a liberating feeling. To feel secure in the knowledge that our current crop of youngsters will be able to wear the red and blue long enough to bring us that damn 13th flag, and to live in the hope that our kids and grandkids will get to see many more flags beyond, is the best feeling I've had in the 10 years that I've been a member of this great club. GO DEES!

Just one more reason to get this done! Tassie deserves a team. Theirs will survive, but I predict GC and WS will be dead within 15 years (Just look at the membership and attendance numbers of the two very successful QLD and NSW teams which already exist. The AFL's desperation to beat NRL is going to end up in tears).

Well the MCC is giving us around a $1,000,000 this year, so perhaps this agreement means that the cash injection will be an ongoing thing. However, as this has already been agreed upon, it means that this deal will not change anything financially for us this year. At least that's how I understand it. Don't expect them to give us bucketloads of cash on a regular basis.

This does seem like excellent news, but the details are very iffy still. On SEN they said that financially, this announcement doesn't change anything.

That was Blease, his freckles are unmistakable! He has Junior Fanta Pants written all over him (note that Bate is Fanta Pants Snr, and Cheney is Ginger Ninja because he looks like a tough nut)

I've met her at a casting once and she was lovely (and much hotter in real life), so I approve :D

I was just going to say, next time you guys wanna give him [censored] for being an ordinary footballer, just remember that he goes home to that every night, and hence Miller >>> You

Those of us with reserved seating become very spoilt and picky I reckon. We form a 'relationship' with the people we sit around year after year, and you get used to having that atmosphere around you. Playing at the G' as the away team is a pain in the arse in that case, because if you want to stay on level 1 you have to settle for a crap view by sitting behind the goals, or you gotta go up to level 3. Unless of course you can now sit in the Southern Stand again when you're the away team...? (pre-renovations we'd sit there regardless of whether it was our home or away game, but during the renovations we were never let when it wasn't our home game??)