Macca

That logo is not good . Whooda Thunkit . That East division is still wide open . The Red Sox have their issues - pitching is better now but I'm not convinced . Tampa Bay do very well considering their payroll . Toronto's payroll ?

Yeah , I'm in two minds - we need him but at what price ? We've got young blokes that could develop into key forwards - McDonald , Cook etc but Travis would add wins to our team straight away . If the club did get him I think we'd all get used to it rather quickly 'GTG' . Much like our attitude when we acquired Clark .

Laugh out loud ! "Pick the bloody thing up"

Quite an aggressive stance from Cloke senior hey ? You'd reckon that Eddie will find a way to keep Travis - they can't afford to lose a player of his ilk . But ...........money talks . I see our Demons were mentioned again in the article . This whole thing is just not going away for the Pies . Good . Great !

Hate losing but if we can push Collingwood and get within 2 or 3 goals or less it's gotta be a plus going forward . If Swan is out as well we'll be right in it . The CHF spot is our weakness but if Garland or perhaps Clark can do a job there ya just never know hey ? Sylvia deep forward offers a real danger for the Pies as well . I liked his game on Saturday night .

Point guard , Quarterback , Playmaker . Sweeper at the back . All fairly similar but perhaps we can come up with an 'Aussie' term to describe what Goddard does and what Jack is fast becoming . It's not a new thing really . Doull and later Bradley had similar type roles at Carlton . Gary Hardeman was fantastic for us back in the 70's as a great 'rebounder' . McKenna at the Eagles etc etc . I really liked how Jack got a big fist on the ball many times . He could be anything back there with the way he reads the game and his efficient disposal .

The 'Arctic Monkeys' are another UK band hailing from Sheffield . 'Indie' rock with their own unique style . This is their latest hit . Macca 8.2 [media=]

Yep , if you were to judge our game plan in the last 3 games compared to the 1st seven games purely on what we see then there's been a definate change . Full marks and good on Neeld for the change in direction if that's what he's done . There's way less long kicks to a contest (along the boundary) , much more handballing , short passing , more use of the corridor , teamwork , etc etc . There are people that peer into the future and want to believe , have faith , hope and trust . Then there are the 'Here and now' people . Both sides should respect the others opinion . We're all on board , just in a different way .

The difficulty of playing forward or back is irrelevent in a lot of ways . What's important is where a player is best suited or which area he's better at . Hardeman was a great rebounding/marking backman . Schwartz was a great CHF - for our club anyway . Both Gary and David rarely went up the other end of the ground yet they both might have been ok at that role (but not great) . There's probably a long list of players who were star forwards at junior level but ended up as VFL/AFL backmen . Watts was drafted as a forward . But , so what if he ends up being a top line backman . The problem is , because he was a no.1 draft pick and there was so much publicity surrounding him , people have fallen into thinking that he must be a successful forward and don't want to change their minds . Just accept him for what he is , or what he could be . In a lot of ways he's looked an obvious backman ever since Dean Bailey threw him back there last season . There are a few other poster's who've said much the same thing . Does anybody remember what position Ben Reid at Collingwood was drafted as ? I had a friend tell me the other day and to be honest , I had no clue that he was earmarked as a forward . Tom McDonald looks a decent backman but who's to say he won't be able to hold down the CHF position in the future . Garland the same . 'Dee Zee' mentioned the Tom McDonald idea in another thread .

Boston wins game 4 ! Tense finish with James and Pierce both fouled out . 93-91 win to the Celtics in O/T . Boston went out to a big early lead . The big story will be Miami only scoring 2 points in overtime ! 2 points ! Boston's big 4 all played quite well . Pierce 23 , Garnett 17 , Allen 16 and Rondo 15 . James 29 and Wade 20 for Miami . Dwayne had a chance to win it on the buzzer but just missed . Off to Miami we go now for game 5 .

I'm a bit with Dappa Dan on this one . I don't compare it to the Freo win (as good as that was) but more with how we sometimes won in the Northey era . All players contributing with selfless acts , all game . Footy has changed vastly since those times but I reckon it was more of the overall team effort for 4 quarters that stood out . The pressure we exerted hasn't been seen before against a decent team for a long time . I can't recall a game readily .

Trav won many games for our team . If Blease wins half as many games for our team in his career as Johnno we'll have done very well . Judging a player on his draft number is wrong IMO . Travis didn't ask to be picked no.1 . Same as Watts . These blokes are 18 years old when drafted and totally under-developed . If you went through every draft since it's inception you would put all the players in a totally different order . Every single time . The draft always turns out to be a guide only - it's miles away from being an exact science . If you had TJ at pick 15 or 20 we'd all be falling over ourselves at how much of a bargain we got .

Excellent analysis 'joeboy' . Hard to argue with any of it . Trengove was much better - his last quarter was terrific . Howe picked up 24 possessions in another solid performance . All our players made contributions .

Those Red Sox of mine are starting to come good hey 'GTG' . Another win today against your blokes for a 3-0 sweep ! The 'steel' grey mixed in with Boston's red and blue looks quite impressive . Did our Demons ever have grey instead of white ? I seem to recall that we did . And Philadelphia are getting back into it , Dappa . That East division is a bunfight . Washington and Atlanta have come back to the field . In fact , both the East divisions in either League are tightening up .

As so often happens , there may be a player or 2 that will have one of those 'Mystery' one week injuries . That makes selecting the side easier . It would be difficult to drop any player from Saturday night . As it is Blease is doubtful and as 'demonkeaney' said , the Pies sometimes don't play a 3rd tall in their forward line . Though Jolly can make appearances down there . It might come down to match-ups .

Did you feel like 'Shirt-fronting' the coordinator 'Ctm' !

Thought Neeld definately out-coached Hird on the night . Sylvia on Fletcher worked quite well , Colin wasn't great but he was dangerous . Garland was an inspired move and Hird had no match up for Watts . We are playing more as a team , as evidenced by our possession rate . And we turned our contested possessions into clearances . Our relentless pressure in the end caused them to fumble and panic . We need to back it up now , the Pies are a tough match up but we can take it up to them , no doubt .

It's a weird thing with basketball , a team only needs to miss a couple of shots and have a turnover or 2 in a 2-3 minute period and suddenly 10 points are shaved off . And Miami have great scoring capacity so like a lot of good teams , they're not really out of games until it becomes absolutely obvious . OKC win again , this time a lot closer but the pressure now goes back on the Spurs . I hope they can win game 5 because the Thunder look very strong at home (where game 6 will be played ) Tomorrow Boston and Miami go at it again . 10.30am ESPN . Boston have to win to stay alive IMO with game 5 in Miami . Miami lead the series 2-1

Maybe we can just mix and match . The beauty of a rock thread is the links that it can bring .No rules! As long as it resembles rock JJ ! Speaking of which , these blokes really get into it . From Surrey in the UK . 'You me at Six' . Achieving lots of chart success right now . Macca 8.1 [media=]

Carter's O/T goal was a beauty . Devils had their chances . Quick held them out again - he's good !! Tuesday 10am for game 3 in LA .

We could easily go to overtime ! Plenty of shots though !

6 - Watts - very impressive 5 - Jones - contested ball was great 4 - Grimes - was good all night and used the ball well 3 - Rivers - top game and was steady and cool when the heat was on 2 - Garland - presented very well , lost his man a few times in a very clever way . Looked at home in the fwd line - big surprise for me . 1 - Trengove - a late fist deep in the last qtr one of his many highlights . Special mentions to Nicholson (pace) , Jamar (tireless) , Howe (possessions), McDonald (maturing) , Moloney (better) , Sellar (solid) and Tapscott (tough) . Sylvia's goal turned the game and Joel Macdonald had a good game .

The 1%ers and the 2nd and 3rd efforts was nothing short of suberb . A great coaching performance by Neeld as well - hats off ! A tremendous team effort and our teamwork was fantastic . They all played for each other tonight and should be rightly proud of their efforts . Bruise free is dead after that effort . We had many good players but a special mention should go to Watts . He had a real presence back there and Hird had no way of stopping him . The amount of times he got a fist to the ball was remarkable , apart from his 24 possessions - top game . We made them fumble and panic and I can now see how it all comes together - we showed signs last week but tonight was a real step up . I liked the way we ran out the game and we looked fit and confident . Bring on the Pies !

Have to use your line 'Yossarian' "I was fist pumping like a crazy man punching invisible unicorns"

Ha ha ha ! True story - I played against Tony in 1976 (in the thirds) when he played for Reservoir/Lakeside . I was playing for Diamond Creek (Demon jumpers) and Shaw didn't look very likely to ever play League footy . We all knew he was Ray's brother but we never thought he would make it to VFL level . From that game he was the only player who did . Just goes to show how far determination can take you . Barging into a tree whilst running in a marathon requires a single-mindedness that not many of us have ! Speaking of heads , I still shake mine at how much success he had as a footballer . I can still picture him from that game , running along the boundary line with the ball , not getting very far , very quickly ! All that aside , we could do with somebody like Shaw in our midfield right now . He serves as a constant reminder to me that the game is all about "Above the Shoulders ." His commentary ain't great though !