Jaded No More

Robbo can play up a bit, and it does get annoying, but he stands up when the game is on the line and has won us plenty off his own boot in the past. We don't have anyone right now capable of replacing his four goal contribution, therefore he stays. Gotta take the good with the bad. By the way Graz, Robbo's second efforts have been much better since he was dropped. One example yesterday was where he dived on a loose ball in the forward pocket, literally sliding across the ground to get under the opponent's feet. It was a great defensive effort, and one that he needs to keep repeating every week.

I'd say Grimes would have loved it as well. 9 games, 8 loses, and to sing the song of the club he grew up barracking for would have been fantastic for him. Probably a moment he dreamt of as a kid, and to know that he had a huge hand in helping us win just makes it so much better. If you look at the vision of them singing the song, you can see Watts in the outer circle singing too!

I hope that's all it is, I really do. You'll forgive me if I'm slightly paranoid about losing young talent to other clubs...

And that is precisely why, a few errors here and there, are nothing to worry about (I agree that concentration and mostly fatigue is the issue, because he has good technique off both feet). Because in his 9th game, that boy stood up in the final quarter, when West Coast was making a run for it, and said "no f'ing way". He was as much of a leader out there as anyone else and he helped to carry us over the line. That is not something you see everyday from someone with such little experience. Can't wait to see what he can do without injury set-backs, with more experience and physical development and when playing on the ball. That is a very good thought!

He is generally standing free in the corridor. Today, there was one instance where he stood on the 50m line dead in the centre of the ground, waving his hands in the air like a nutcase, and nobody kicked to him. Maybe it's because, when he turns sideways, he disappears (edit: didn't see your post condemned... damn it!) In all seriousness, sitting near the bench you see plenty of player interaction, and to be honest I don't see Morton being part of any sort of clique or group (and there are some very obvious ones out there). I mean even today after the game, he was running behind the group as we ran into the rooms. This is just a very shallow observation, and I obviously have no idea what goes on behind closed doors, but from things that I've heard and seen, Morton is not the most popular guy going around. Hopefully this changes quickly, because if he is unhappy and wants to leave, maybe even to play with his brothers (who he lives with), I'll be mighty [censored] off. This kid has every weapon to be a star, and the guys around him need to realise it and embrace it.

His kicking today made me want to pull my hair out. I love love love Jared Rivers, and was pleased to see him return to his best marking days today, but he has got to find his kicking boots again, or just go by hand. Rivers and Warnock and Wheatley (wtf?) all had their encounters with Kennedy today. From memory Kennedy kicked two goals on Warnock, one on Rivers and one on Grimes?

I think the instruction went out to one man, Mark Jamar, and he played him perfectly. Physically dominated him from the first minute, which is exactly what someone like Jamar (huge, limited skills) should be doing every week. By the way, it will be a long time before Naitanui dominates anything (same goes for Watts). He didn't touch the ball for 2 quarters, and couldn't master a kick today.

West Coast's midfield was shite today, and we smashed it in the ruck, hence we won the midfield battle. What today showed, is that if we can get the midfield up and running to the point where we are able to compete against real quality, then we'll be right to go, because we have the cattle at both ends of the ground (minus Watts and Aussie up forward and Garland down back!) to manufacture a win. Today was also a really good show of Bailey's game plan. For the first time this year, we were the hunters. We went out there and we were the ones applying all the pressure, meaning we could control the tempo and movement of the ball. So for the first time in two years, we were able to move the ball quickly using a combination of short kicks/handballs and then the long kick inside 50 (or a goal from outside 50), our half forwards pushed back at the right time, ensuring we always had a forward target to kick to, we played the wings and the corridors equally well. In short, we did not look like the dumbest collection of players ever put together on a football field. Oh and Grimes officially became a star :D

Way too early to be making any sort of call on him, just as it is too early to be judging Watts, but a few of things really stood out today with Naitanui. For one, he is the biggest 19 year old I have ever seen in my life. Surely he is at least 100kg, so from a physical point of view, there is no more development to come. He seemed very lost in the contests and had that lack of awareness in terms of positioning himself. Now obviously that is something you learn with experience, but I think Watts showed a lot of natural smarts in his first three matches, and a much better awareness and understanding of the game. Thirdly, his skills looked like they need plenty of work and polish. He is an amazingly quickly and agile guy for his size, but he comes with a huge risk. If he can't polish his skills he'll struggle for impact, and if he lacks smarts and awareness, well we know you can't teach that. He is either going to be an absolute star, or a very tall, average player and that is the risk that West Coast took. I'm glad we didn't, because put simply, we cannot afford to make mistakes like that. Watts is a small risk- high return. Naitanui is a big risk- huge return. Finally, that hair makes him look like a palm tree and/or an upside down toilet brush. So distracting! :D

Just watched the replay, so I'm doing the votes a bit late 6- Grimes (Stood up in the last, and pretty much was the difference in that quarter. Star!) 5- McLean (Did the hard stuff, some clever touches, plenty of contested possessions. Good return to form) 4- Warnock (Criminally underrated) 3- Jamar (Huge rucking effort) 2- Jones 1- Green I controversially left out Bruce, who worked very hard today, but I just felt that he was not as instrumental in the really critical moments. Rivers, Frawley and Davey stiff as well.

The amount of times Morton gets free, makes good position standing around waving his hands in the air, only to be ignored, is ridiculous.

There is no way Jamar should miss out on votes. He may have only had 7 disposals, but we kicked 12 goals from clearances and Jamar dominated those from the very first bounce. He worked so hard and was really instrumental in the win.

Surely this week the kid will be rewarded for what has been a brilliant start to his career That boy is an absolute gun!!! No issue with his kicking either

You love PJ, fair enough, and nobody is saying that Jamar is some sort of superstar, but Jamar has shown more in his two games this year as a ruckman (note: that is the primary role of both), than PJ has over his career. I will be surprised, if he is around next year (if uncontracted). Bailey is not a fan of poor users and thinkers. PJ is both, so his survival seems improbable.

The man can't take a contested mark to save himself, and is hardly a beautiful kick. I lost you at the Schwarz comparison

Each to their own. I guess some of us are not blinded by three bad loses, or one meaningless win. I too am sick of losing, and it will be nice to win, but in the long term, a win or a loss will mean absolutely nothing. In fact, a loss is technically going to be classified as a win. There is no doubt in my mind that we will actually win this game, and by a fair margin too, but if we don't, I'm not gonna slit my wrists or go on a massive killing spree, because win or lose, we will be in the exact same rebuilding phase as we were in round 1. As for the media, 5 weeks ago we were "the best worst team ever", now we are simply "the worst team ever"... that's reactionary [censored] if ever I've seen it

Paul Johnson's game tally was significantly boosted this season by the injuries which attacked our entire ruck division. He has been floating between terrible and average this year, and will be lucky to survive the cuts at the end of the year. He is a poor ruckman, a terrible decision maker and an average user of the ball. He can't take contested marks, and while he can run fairly well for someone his size, he has no idea what accountability is. As for Miller, he is struggling, and some of that can be attributed to our terrible forward delivery. He started the year well, and provided a good target, but for some reason or another, hasn't done that recently. His lack of confidence in front of goal is also a major worry. Needs to go back to Casey, take as many contested marks as possible inside 50, and go for goal EVERY SINGLE TIME. Otherwise, he and Newton will keep handballing it to one another.

Nobody is falling apart, and one game does not make any difference. If we win by 100 points, are we all of a sudden in contention for a flag next year? Is Bailey all of a sudden the messiah? Seriously, people need to stop being so blinded by weekly performances. If we played Geelong tomorrow, would people be annoyed if we lost, because we "didn't do it for Jimmy?". As long as we play with the right level of intensity, and don't [censored] ourselves in the first/second/third quarter, before coming alive in the last when the pressure is off, that's a satisfactory result for all involved. Jimmy will rest comfortably knowing we just stole the PP off West Coast if we lose. He is not a short-sighted sort of guy.

What exactly is Wheatley's role? He is not accountable, so essentially he is a rebounding defender. I'd much prefer Grimes, Bennell or even Cheney to play that role (Cheney was poor on the weekend for Casey... about as poor as Wheatley! ), and really that spot in the side should belong to Petterd this week, if we are ever going to see him do anything of value ever again. Wheatley is not a KPP, he is not an on-baller, he plays what I call a "soft" role, which is one that alters to fit the game. There are 6 or so players capable of playing his role, including Dunn. I rather try younger players in new positions, to see what they can give us, than start farewell campaigns this early on. Dunn played a few games down back previously, and has been doing everything right with Casey, to the point of dominating regularly. I'm not saying he is much good, or in fact, any good, but has the club already made their decision about him? Is he gone, can we play him and try and get some sort of trade value for him? do we know which position suits him best? And you are kidding yourself if you don't think West Coast are tanking this week. Kerr with "general soreness"... they are not even hiding it!

Crap news if true. Should never have been dropped to begin with! <_<

The next two weeks are our best chance of getting some wins into the kids. While it was inevitable that Wheatley was going to get a farewell tour at some stage, it seems an odd time to do it. Firstly because he had a shocking game with Casey last weekend, and secondly become this is a game we can win, but shouldn't. I do note however that Strauss is not named for Casey, and neither is Maric, so the options to choose from are thin. I would have preferred to play Dunn instead of Wheatley, purely because he has been in great form at Casey, has more of a chance of saving himself from the chop at season's end and is not prone to turning it over constantly (the last thing we need). Since West Coast are clearly tanking, this would have been an ideal week to bring in someone like Bail, instead of dropping him to the seconds. And given the choice, Whelan ahead of Wheatley every day of the week (although both should retire).

16,200 Too many weak supporters have already jumped off, and not many West Coast supporters will be making the trip given their season.

Clearly West Coast are not intent on winning another match for the rest of the year. Kerr rested and no Cox. Make no mistake about this, they can still grab those picks 1 & 2 off us, even though they are capable of winning at least one more.

Not great about Watts, although I don't entirely believe the "illness" thing. This would have been a perfect week for him to really get comfortable, given we are playing a lesser opponent. He may have even experienced his first win! Paul Wheatley getting a game after his average display for Casey on the weekend, is bizarre. The farewell tour starting early? And never thought I would say this, but thank goodness Jamar is back!!!

Swine flu is your friend! :D