Macca

To prove my point I might just come back to this thread every time May makes an error. And he does make errors. I've seen him mistime his spoils and turn the ball over and he has only played a handful of games. He's not exactly squeaky clean himself. And I don't have May in the gun either ... it's more about the principle of giving players a spray out on the field. He copped a spray from the coach for rolling up to pre-season training in poor condition and then another spray from the leadership group for getting on the grog during rehab. Perhaps he thinks it's his turn to dish it out. And some of you want him as captain? Astonishing.

This has got nothing to do with Frost (in principle) ... if we were to see players giving other players a spray for making an error (an error not meant by the way) then all the players would be giving all the other players a spray all game long. Taking it even further does a player who makes an error deserve to cop a spray from every other player in the team (including those who have made errors themselves) May himself made a colossal error during the game when he short passed the ball straight to the opposition in their forward 50. So if we're being consistent Frost would have been within his rights to give May a spray for his needless turnover. Yeah, let's do that hey ... spray city. Great for club culture. Not.

Jones isn't the problem even though he is in his twilight years. The most obvious problem is that we have any number of C & D graders who haven't given any real service to the club in terms of standout performances. And to my eyes they probably never will. So 12-15 players could go before Jones and I wouldn't bat an eyelid. Keep the good players and get rid of the rest - it isn't rocket science. We've got about 12-15 decent players along with about 5-8 up and comers and that's about it. And many of those 12-15 decent players have struggled this year (for one reason or another) thus the poor W/L record. It isn't just the coach or the coaching staff. We are falling short in a number of areas. So I would definitely keep Jones around as we are a long long way from having a decent replacement for him. He is doing ok across half back anyway which is a lot more than can be said about numerous others.

Not a good look and that sort of thing doesn't need to be aired in public. Leave it up to the captain or the coach. May has let himself down badly. No captain should ever carry on like that and he's not captain of this club anyway. An embarrassing moment and no justification for the outburst. Rolls up to pre-season training unfit and now this. He makes plenty of errors himself including short passing the ball straight to the opposition within their own scoring range (2nd qtr?) Did he cop a spray for that? Future captain? No chance. What he showed wasn't leadership ... more like coming across as being a law unto himself.

Better still would be to have 5 or 6 blokes who can deliver the ball well into the forward line. But we still need our forwards to play in front and to lead to the right spots as well as having leading patterns that confuses the opposition. The sport is now an extremely complicated version of keepings-off and we're just not very good at it. For fleeting moments we look good but from.an overall perspective, we're lacking. Personnel changes is the real answer but a lot of our issues have to do with not working hard enough at the basics. And there is a connection to the coaching as well so we need an across-the-board lift from all concerned. But above all else an injection of talent. And lots of sprint training as we're too slow. Today I saw a player jog to pick up a loose ball on the wing and then kept jogging after he picked the ball up. At no stage did the player get into sprint mode. His kick was rushed as a consequence A goal scoring opportunity was lost but that happens all too often. We don't accelerate enough from the contest and too often we are jogging to the contest. There is nowhere near enough urgency.

Correct ... the perennial problem of having poor depth and too many C & D graders on the list (and in the senior side) is the real issue. We just aren't good enough talent-wise so the turning over of the list continues on. We need to add in 6 to 8 good players to be a real contender but it's difficult to even add in 2 good players in any given year. Add in 3 good players in one season and you're doing very well. In the meantime, the number of good players that we do have can start dissipating due to age or loss of form. The good news is that most of our good players aren't veterans. But the reality is that you can't really have 1 year in this league where you don't recruit well. And because of our poor recruiting (previously) we don't have anywhere enough good players on the list who are 26 years old or older. That age demographic can be compensated if we had an abundance of talent aged 26 or younger but that just isn't the case. There was a reason why we've had to recruit seasoned veterans. Most of them came cheap so that wasn't a problem but the chasm still remains If Oliver, Petracca, Brayshaw, Salem, Harmes, Viney and a few others were 2 or 3 years older it's a different conversation. So we're playing catch-up with the usual obstacles in the way. It's hard work building a great list. And you need top coaching and great admin to go with it. And as most are now quite aware, there is a luck factor with drafting so nailing picks is easier said than done. And to acquire decent free agents a club has to go hard really early with lots of dollars on offer. The good news is that it isn't 2012 or 2013. We are in a much better position even though this years W/L record is abysmal.

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But we are not heading in that direction BM although I do agree with how you'd do it Where we are heading is a fingernail on the ball ... that will be how things are judged We can rally, stomp our feet and do whatever but like nearly every other large sporting organisation, the AFL are a law unto themselves and won't use common sense. And their pattern of behavior is easy to see. So the fingernail on the ball with state of the art technology involved is the future. My way of making the best of the situation is to turn away from the sport and at the same time have a greater interest in the MFC.

So am I disagreeing with you? No I just prefer to look at things from a different angle ... adding to the conversation without repeating what numerous others have already said. I'm also a realist, a practical thinker and my first port of call is logic. And logic tells me that the AFL are going to do whatever they like and are pathetic custodians. And I don't expect anything to change. To a point where I now barely watch the sport ... I've got better things to do. AFL isn't even on my radar and I'm only here because of the MFC. That's it. I go to our games (or watch on the telly) and sometimes the last 10 minutes of a few other games. So I'm probably ahead of you with my cynicism Rack-'Em. Years ahead in fact. And that is no knock on you either. You'll catch up with me eventually. Broaden your horizons and embrace some other sports is a good start. But you can do whatever you like.

So if a player barely gets a fingernail on the ball then it's touched off the boot? Only the best technology would show that up but how far do we go? A simple solution would be that touching the ball has no bearing. Otherwise, we're heading for millimetre adjudications once the best technology is used (if it ever happens) And what about if a player wears gloves and the ball only touches the fabric part of the gloves? Murky ground ahead.

My thoughts are not as far-fetched as what you might think Maysir. it's just an extension of what lengths players will go to to gain an advantage. For instance, did ypu know that putting vaseline on a cricket bat has the effect of nullifying hot spot? Not such a crazy idea hey. Speaking of which ... That whole Bradman, cricket stump, golf ball & water tank way of practising could be argued as worlds-best-practice. Anyone copied it? The whole idea might have looked quite ridiculous if he wasn't such a successful batsman.

Great point Wyl but if you had to put a substantial wager on whether the AFL will invest into that technology you'd be betting against it So we'll just have to live with anothet grey area spitting out mixed results (no consistency)

Yeah ... precisely as I outlned. I have run this past about 50 people in the last few years (since the technology appeared) and the reaction is always the same "I never thought of that, good point" (or words to that effect) These players only really do one thing in their lives and that is to train and play footy So if my idea hasn't crossed their minds I would be surprised. The sport is full if cheats and cheating so why not?

Yes and no. It is entirely possible to have a number of different outcomes depending on the action. You are still flinging back your fingers ar the right moment to smother the ball (if practised enough) The sport is full of cheats and cheating if you really analyse things

Not really ... quite a simple exercise in fact. Would take a bit of practice but like a lot of faking that goes on in footy, can be done. Not everyone can do what Selwood does with regards to accentuating high contact, but not everyone has to do it for it to be a problem It's like a 5% - 7% PED use in any sport ... the whole sport is therefore compromised becaise of that 5% -7% PED use.

Round the neck, holding the man, the push from behind have all been exploited.... all grey areas.

You go in for the smother with your fingers in an almost fist like position ... at the appropriate moment, flick your fingers back.

Touched off the boot can easily be exploited by a player attempting to smother the ball. Just flick your fingers back at the appropriate moment. Easy as pie. Who is to say it hasn't already happened. So we now have another grey area which will continue to be a grey area. Unless it's an obvious touched off the boot I'd pay it as a goal. But what is an obvious touched off the boot? Again, just another grey area without a definitive answer. Hot spot? Technology often brings its own issues. I don't trust the technology in cricket even though the graphics paint nice pictures. Especially ball tracking. I prefer the rub of the green alternative ... take the good with the bad and get on with it. You want perfection? You won't get it.

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Meanwhile the AFL turns a blind eye to PED use ... but the public doesn't care about PED use anymore (except when the Olympics or Cycling comes around) No votes to buy there. I'm not excusing Stephenson either ... more so highlighting the inconsistencies with regards to the integrity in the sport. A 10 week suspension for transgressing the rules with regards to gambling on the sport vs 1 urine test per year per player for PED use. Out of whack in my book.

We have to do something different though DW ... Petracca is the only one out of the 7 who plays forward (McDonald, Weideman, Hannan, Hunt, Spargo & Garlett being the others) who is getting to enough contests and therefore getting enough possessions. And when they do get it they butcher the ball. Our forwards just aren't doing anywhere near enough ... the eye test and stats confirn all that. And it has been a problem since round 1. If any of them got dropped would we be surprised? So Viney or Jones or Oliver playing forward couldn't do any worse in my opinion. We need players forward of the ball who can win the ball. With Rawlings taking over the forward line they might collectively get 1 more opportunity but I'd be making at least 2 changes to the forward line right now. Probably 3 changes and send a clear message.

Yeah it is a chronic problem right throughout the club Dockett ... that's why I'm loathe to point the finger at any particular player. We have very few players operating at maximum output and if we were to analyse the whole season not one player comes to mind as a standout other than Gawn. The above is the reason why I believe we can finish off the season well (if we can get our act together)

Previously (last week) I mentioned here that because our year is almost certainly shot in terms of finals, playing Oliver forward with Jones/Viney rotating forward as well was worth a try. Petracca to play out of the middle for the rest of the year along with Brayshaw & Harmes. We could rotate all the above as well. They've all got talent so what have we got to lose by changing things up JD? TMac, Weid, Spargo & Garlett to take up somewhat lesser roles but I'm not sure all 4 of them deserve to be playing anyway. 2 of the 4 play and maybe blood a couple of the new additions (to fit in somewhere) We can experiment and still go all out for victories. In some ways we need to start planning for next year but that includes gaining momentum for next year.

A fully fit Viney can play a lot better ... he doesn't look fit to me which takes away his greatest asset (attack on the ball with the ability to break tackles) However, he needs to work on his decision making once in the clear. He is another keeper for mine but I doubt he would be put up for trade anyway.

Last Group 1 of the season at Eagle Farm on Saturday (Tatts Tiara Race 8 ) ... a good betting race too. In fact the 4 feature events (Races 6, 7, 8 & 9) are all good betting races by the looks of it. Go to Racenet.com for more details. And the first day of the Ascot carnival was raced overnight. 'Blue Point' won the feature sprint in impressive style and the connections (Godolphin/Charlie Appleby) may well be eyeing off the Everest in the Spring. The horse is a fine sprinter with an excellent record so it racing in the Everest would add a lot to the race Lord Glitters won the Queen Anne Stakes whilst Circus Maximus won the St James's' Palace Stakes. Replays can be found on youtube or Tab.com.au