Jaded No More

Ummm, you do realise that Jones was tagging him... Jones, who would struggle to beat a turtle in a foot race! That was one of the weirdest match-ups going around, and Pearce ended up having a dog of a day. Credit to Jones, but it wasn't the planned outcome IMO. If we really wanted to win, we would have tagged Cassisi, who was racking it up in the middle, or Rodan who broke the lines and gave them plenty of forward momentum. Edit: Grimes on Ebert?

Poor user of the ball, terrible decision maker, poor defensively. Just keep giving him a game and make sure he takes the kick-ins Bailey, please! :D

Quoted for truth and accuracy. These Watts discussions are becoming more and more ridiculous. He'll be a star, so let's move on and give him the time that he needs and deserves to develop.

Davey said that he and Matty Whelan nicknamed Jurrah "Warlpiri Wizard" and Aussie "Tiwi Turtle"! Jurrah was interviewed both on MMM and 3AW. For someone who speaks English well, I can barely bloody understand what Rex Hunt is crapping on about, so poor Jurrah really had no idea. He did say that he didn't like the cold ocean water, but that he loved being out there with the boys and flying for marks. Mentioned that he and Aussie will be moving in together soon. Davey said he was just so proud of him (and Aussie) and that he had spoken to Chris Connolly and the club about going to find some more talent up in the Territory because he thinks there is plenty of untapped potential up there that just needs to be mentored properly. What a remarkable young man Jurrah is. Barely speaks English, so would obviously find it hard to follow game-plan instructions at this stage (even harder if Chris Connolly is talking to him at 100 miles an hour :D), but just such a natural talent that loves the contest. We are incredibly lucky to have ended up with him. Edit: I love that his favourite player is Jonathan Brown. Mine too Jurrahcane, mine too!

They should have put The Chad in there. What a complete tool. Without a doubt the highlight of the game was when he gave us two 50m penalties. What a dooshbag!

Agreed. I want to lose, but we can't tank by way of dropping young kids, because that will harm us in the long term as well. Wouldn't you be furious if we had dropped Jurrah before the match? I would have been. That he pulled 4 goals and another 4 assists today, and that Ricky played the game of his life, is not something that we as a club can control on matchday. I think Bailey did everything he could to give us a losing chance, but in the end the players wanted it too much and played well. As much as I want picks 1 & 2, I don't want our players to ever tank or play uncommitted footy. Team selection for the rest of the year should slowly see some of our better players sent off to "surgery". Surely we can pretend that McLean's knee, which he hurt today is so bad that he needs the rest of the year off. Davey can do a "hamstring" at training. But on the other hand, I don't want Jurrah dropped, or Grimes dropped because they are playing well. That is just as harmful to our success as winning 5 games is! "List management" is a very fine art and one that should be heavily measured against player development.

The issue here is not whether Freo finish last, because they CANNOT get a priority pick before the first round. If they finish with less than 5 wins they will get pick 17 as a priority pick. The issue is that we need to win no more than 4 and finish below West Coast. Percentage wise, the gap between us and West Coast, plus the fact that we still play Geelong and the Saints, means we'll probably finish below them, but only if we don't win more than one game for the remainder of the year. Finishing 15th with 4 wins still gets us pick 1 plus 3. I'd be happy with that result. Just as long as we get pick 1. As we speak, the Saints lead West Coast by just 5 points in the third quarter. I will be crossing fingers and toes that perhaps they can pull the greatest upset ever. COME ON WEST COAST!!!

I think Bailey and Co did what they could to make sure we didn't give ourselves the best chance to win. For example Davey deep forward instead of setting up the play, Grimes deep in defence instead of setting up the play. Took Jurrah off at key moments, same with Jamar. At the end of the day, our bloody players decided to pull a victory out of their arse and Port were absolutely pathetic, particularly in the first quarter. They were unaccountable and loose and our players capitalised. I hate feeling annoyed when we've just won two games in a row, but seriously this is a very costly victory. I can't see us not winning another two when we still play Freo, Richmond and North. A big big tanking effort is required now, and I hope we've got the balls to do it. To miss out on PP and especially to miss out on Scully, will be a disaster!

He is contracted for next year, so no, not career ending. Terrible luck for Belly. He was poor to start with, but got into the game a little bit more before doing his shoulder.

Yeah the boys are certainly not on board the Scully tank, and unless we dish up our usual 3rd quarter rubbish, we are in real danger of winning this. We should be much further infront as well the way we are dominating. Jurrah is unbelievable, his vertical leap is phenomenal. Dunn has also been very good and seeing him suck Cornes in was awesome. Jamar, Morton and McLean very good as well. Hard to not barrack for a victory but...

18,020

I really don't understand how anyone can criticize Watts' game today. He has done very well for a big guy playing in a completely foreign position in horrendous conditions. His class is evident, his handballing skills are unbelievable, he knows where to run and position himself even when playing in new roles. He is just a naturally smart player. Can't teach that. He may not lay bone-crunching tackles, but he hasn't done anything today that would make you think "he should have gone there but didn't". His snap around the body for goal is just another example of class rising to the top. Edit: Watts' ankle is fine. No need to panic!

I don't know what makes you say he is soft. He is playing on the wing, but he is clearly playing an outside role. He laid a couple of tackles, and hasn't been caught in a marking situation where he had to stand up and take a contested mark. He and Whelan are obviously a class above. Watts' one- handed pick- up of the ball and 180 degree turn in the first quarter was superb. It's that sort of stuff that makes you say "[censored] this kid is gonna be special". I'm also impressed that he has gone out of his way to help his teammates up off the bottom of packs to congratulate them for their hard work. Bartram has been good. These conditions really suit him. Same for Valenti. Miller is the best key forward on the ground, kicking 2.3, whereas Newton stuffed up to easy shots at goal in the first and hasn't been seen since. I really like Wall. Anyone know how old he is?

And it's fair to say that over the journey, White was much better than Ottens. His last couple of years were average, but he was one talented footballer and gave us a lot over the years. So from that point of view, we didn't miss out on anything. TJ was universally regarded as pick 1 in his draft year, and on skills alone, you can understand why. If you take his skills and transfer them to someone who applies themselves, you've got yourself a top 5 pick even in 2009. There is nothing sadder in football than wasted talent, and guys like TJ make me admire guys like Junior, Miller and Bartram even more, because they get as much out of themselves as someone who is three times more talented than they are. To think that Junior, who was pick 51 in the 1996 Rookie Draft has won more B&F's and has as many AA's next to his name as a number one pick, is just amazing.

Stores don't simply go "let's stock Essendon products, or let's stock Melbourne products". Stores, and particularly big chains like Kmart and the AFL Store have stock analysts and buyers who would look at sales history, as well as the team's current performance and exposure before deciding on stock quantities. Really smart stock analysts (no need to mention names ) will also take into account things like marquee players, key occasions for a club (e.g.- 150th birthday, premierships, AA selections from previous years, Brownlows), membership levels, as well as the geographic distribution and socio-economic profile of supporters We clearly do not have a huge supporter base and certain areas will sell less Melbourne merchandise. For example I find there is usually Melbourne gear available in Southland Shopping Centre, which does cater for the majority of Bayside suburbs where there is a larger cluster of Melbourne supporters. Go to Highpoint Shopping Centre and you'll struggle to find any Melbourne merchandise. Interstate merchandise, particularly Freo, West Coast and Port stock is generally merchandise that is left over from minimum stock requirements. In most cases, it will get consolidated interstate at some stage.

No idea, but there are a number of AFL players who seem to have big crosses tattooed on their arm. They all strike me as the super religious types too You might also be happy to know that a couple more Melbourne players have decided to follow Rivers' lead and get their own last names tattooed on their bodies. Jones has "Jones" tattooed on his lower-back (aka 'tramp stamp'), while Frawley has "Frawley" tattooed down his back. That is something which you no doubt regret, when you reach an age where your brain cells are fully developed

Agreed. He has been played in different roles this year, and is adapting as well as can be expected from a second year player who rivals Kate Moss for skin-folds. I know there have been some questions raised in regards to his urgency and hardness at the ball, but on Saturday he laid 4 tackles, which was the team average. Not all of them hurt the opposition, but I definitely thought the endeavor was there. He also runs incredibly hard. From memory he covered over 13km on Saturday. Incredible stuff for a kid still developing his engine. As long as he is able to get hands on the ball and use it well, and as long as he keeps running to the right spots, he should stay in the side. We have got to pump as much experience as possible into these kids and now is the time to do it.

Tommy Mac was a bottom age recruit, drafted at 17. He has had a lot of injury concerns but has shown a bit with Casey this year. I hope we persist, because as a developing key position player, he might take 2 more years to grow into his body and really influence games. He is said to have a really good ability to read the play, which automatically makes him a worthwhile longer term project. With CG and WS coming into the competition, the spread of talent across 18 teams means less top talent for each club and a reduced likelihood of getting lucky with later draft picks. We should therefore try and hold onto young, developing players that we see have a definite upside. At 19, McNamara could well develop into a much better player than pick 50 in this year's draft.

I shudder to think of the implications for the GFC when Barry inevitably loses his [censored] and punches someone in the head again. The Bulldogs may take the risk for the year, to try and win it, but Geelong really don't need him even if their forwardline is a little suspect.

Well getting MOTY kept Newton on an AFL list for 3 years

Where's Watts??

Good luck Jim. Great to hear that he is in good spirits. That is a hugely important aspect in any recovery process.

I admit that I'm a bit insane when it comes to our apparel/merchandise, because that's what I study/do for a living. Also because merchandise is a major revenue source for many AFL clubs, and while I don't know the specifics, I am pretty certain that we don't make a killing in this department. There is a lot of potential to expand on the merchandise we currently have. I'd also love to know whether Reebok is responsible for the bulk of the design, or whether we have a designer working at the club or whether we employ freelancers. I keep telling myself that I'll get onto the club and try and offer my help, but I haven't got the time and I'm pretty sure my employer would be pretty [censored] if I did that. One day...

That sounds like a good idea, but it's too costly since it would change regularly and you would be making smaller, more specified production runs, which would be both a logistical and financial nightmare. Besides, since I assume we don't have a large number of gold members, you'd be hard pressed to find overseas factories that will be willing to manufacture such a small quantity (minimum order is probably around 10,000 units since the product itself is highly specified anyway) without charging you ridiculous amounts of money for it. We need to remember that since the club makes no money on these scarves, they have to keep the costs down to a minimum. From that perspective, design 2 would be the cheapest to knit because of its repeat bulk pattern, whereas design 3 would be the most expensive. I still like 3 though :D Again, the scarf would be the cheapest thing to get made. Beanies need to be knitted on a circular tube, and caps require a minimum of 3 pattern pieces as well as additional details such as those plastic tabs at the back. That all adds significant costs. Just be happy that we get something for free given our financial position. Sorry to sound like a cheapskate, but I know how much other clubs spend on crap membership merchandise each year, and I'd hate to think we spend as much.

3 is the most innovative and a bit different, so I went for that. But god our merchandising efforts kill me. Who is designing this stuff??? Wish I had time to do some freelance work for them.