mrtwister

I certainly don't think that this week was as bad as last week. The majority of our players ran the game out and would be absolutely exhausted tomorrow. They didn't lay down this week and had even more quality players out. My pros and cons as observed from Level 3 behind the goals at the Southern end are: PROS: Evans was gold today. Good confident debut, he showed he appreciated the opportunity and left nothing in the tank to prove he should be a regular. Jonesy battled his guts out, appeared to injure his elbow and/or shoulder at the start of the 4th quarter. The trainer ran out and called for an interchange to be organised, but then the ball came back to Jonesy's direct opponent so he shrugged it off, chased him down and tackled the bejesus out of him. Summed up his first 100 games perfectly. Jetta played hard and played to his strengths. Fast, elusive and pressured all day. Frawley, despite his 'more than usual' error count today must be given respect for today's effort. He chased Reiwoldt (the league's most overated superstar) all day. Now, this is a rare thing, most teams rotate a couple on him just so they can keep up but today, Frawley kept up and also tried his guts out to run the ball out of defence as well. Martin looked more like a borderline 1st ruckman today, he was taking hits in the ruck well, as to say he prepared himself well for them and contested hard. Watts was solid without being great. A few disposal errors that put a few guys under a lot of pressure, but he stood up today which is the most important thing. Gysberts proved to be valuable today, chasing hard, applying a lot of pressure and had good efficient disposals. Green showed some improvement in form today. Good to see him in the forward 50/goal square area for the most part. Gave us a solid target up forward (see cons for other targets) Maric played well, a few goals, swung back into defence to try and jam it up a little. Ran hard and made hiself some space. His improvement will result in a valuable small forward not unlike the [censored] on the Saints who plays that role. (Except Maric is most definitely not a [censored]) Neither here nor there: Warnock was impossible to judge today. He was on Kositzke (Gotsoftski) who did bugger all. Hard to say whether he was held well or just rubbish. He certainly made Warnock look quick. Moloney/Silvia were both a little quiet by their own standards today. Both showed typical courage but didn't stand out. Rivers didn't stand out at all today but didn't really do anything wrong Cons: Davey: Totally out of form, can't read the play at the moment, can't get a hard ball at the moment, is crunbling under opposition pressure. He really needs to run (and I mean run) into some form at Casey for 2 or 3 weeks. Jetta played Davey's game a lot better than Davey did today. Newton: Well. Don't know where to start. They were physical with him today. He didn't get anything easy (except for his ridiculously absurd miss from 8 metres out, which by the way would possibly have been the momentum swing we desperately needed at the time). Petterd was soft today. Didn't get any open space with good passes on the lead today which showed his inability to make an impact on taller, stronger opponents in the air/pack. Jurrah was ordinary today, despite 2 goals in the last quarter of the last quarter. He was injured and limped off quite badly during the second quarter. He came back out a short time later but made little impact from there on. I did see him up the ground more and even ran a good ball out of defence at one point which was pleasing. I like that he's being challenged with that. Bate was not that good BUT I see some potential. He's not a liability and would benefit from a few games in a row. He works hard but just misses the last little bit of what he does. It will come with some confidence and some more experience at this level. I'd give him more games before I made a decision on him. Players we missed in order of importance: Jamar Trengove Grimes Tapscott Garland Bail Players we didn't miss: Dunn (sorry Dunny but your performance last week has me wondering) Just for the record. I don't think Bailey should be sacked during the season. I respect what he's done for this club. I think he's been a great teacher of these young guys but I think they now need to be coached. Can't wait to be back at the G

Agreed, let's hope it turns out well for him and the club.

I know it will never happen, you're right, he will be supported through thick and thin. This is after all a hypothetical topic. Having said that, getting the most votes doesn't necessarily make you the right person for the job.

Moloney/Davey - Surely you wouldn't consider jeapordising the possibility of good form for the rest of the season with the added pressure of captaincy Frawley - Plays too far back Grimes - Too injured Rivers - loses it a little bit too easily for captain material Green - His performances are too important for team success. Give him less pressure. Trengove - Too young, despite showing leadership qualities. Jones is my pick. His form isn't based on performance as much as the others. The pressure of captaincy can cause players to try a little too hard amd it inevitably has the opposite result. Jonesy's value is in his 'lead by example' quality of no nonsense, non fancy, constant, tough courage. You can be having an off day but if you keep putting in 100% effort things can change. Argue or laugh if you will but I really think you can rule out players that are considered to be our most talented or experienced. If your top players (Moloney, Green, Davey) are tagged and cut out of a game, their captaincy takes a back seat and they get a little self focussed (for the team's benefit of course) but who's rallying the troops then? Look at the teams that are well lead Collingwood (Maxwell) - best player? Hell no. Geelong (Ling) - performance vital for team success? No. Judd at Carlton is an exception but c'mon, the guy's a freak. Let the key players focus on their own games, and let a blue collar tough nut lead the troops into battle.

Okay, I now have another trait on my wish list

That would be good too, but I can't help but get my hopes up for someone as physical as Tap to do 'the job'.

Please oh please can we see Tapscott crush the ever-irritating Milne this Saturday. Please tell me DB will do his best to make this happen.

Agreed Jurrah up the field is probably a neutral result. But surely if you can challenge someone with his smoothness and cleanliness with the ball without giving away more in return that can only be a good investment. Maybe start him there for a bit and if he's blowing too hard, rest him up a bit in the pocket. I just hate to see such a quick, explosive and instinctive player restricted to a third of the field.

If I had to pick 1 word. Inspirational. As a captain should be.

Firstly, I would like to say that I think Dean has done a fantastic job at readying this group of 'kids' for AFL football. Their skills are very good, their understanding of the game is good and they are fit enough to run out a whole game. However, I think he has taken this group as far as he can. They need an elite coach. A tactical master who can tie all of the pieces, that Dean has created, together. A coach that is as revered as he is respected. He needs a little bit of intimidation and a whole lot of "I don't want excuses" about him. They need a taskmaster to slap 'em around and steer them, kicking and screaming if necessary, to where their potential is waiting for them. They don't need a coach that they want to win for. They need a coach that they feel they must win for. Whether it's to avoid a spraying or whether it's in fear of letting the coach down, it doesn't matter. I don't believe they have it now.

"For my money I'd replace Green with him as Captain in a heartbeat." I was just saying the same thing to a work colleague yesterday. Green's form is too important to the team to lump the captaincy on him. He has clearly put too much pressure on himself. But Jonesy is different. His value is in his effort, in his toughness. You can't psyche yourself out of that, it's pure aggression and hardness. Smash it up this Saturday Jonesy.

What do you all think of Jurrah moving up the ground (I'm thinking wing) and pushing Green back to the FF line? Jurrah is impressive in motion and Green is more accurate when he leads and marks. Surely when you are in the situation we are in (with injuries) you can afford to think a little more outside the box?