Norm Smith's Curse

Im sick of hearing how great Jamar was - winning taps is irrelevant if you never tap to advantage. leaving the fickle older players out of the leadership group has just reinforced their 'cant be bothered' attitude. Putting the pressure of captaincy on a young bloke has made me too busy worrying about living up to the appointment to play his natural game. But the biggest problem is that none of our younger players actually look like they have the potential to come on at all. Bailey was wrong in getting rid of our few natural leaders. Leaving the young blokes to slog it out and now we've adopted a game plan that doesnt suit running players. I thought we'd turned a page in Geelong but obviously I was wrong. Geelong were just resting in periods. In terms of list - really Mitch Clark is the only player I think is safe on our list.

Ribert walls just keeps repeating the same points over nad over.

Morton's kicking accuracy is probably more reliable in the last few weeks than most in our team and he reminded me of someone else when he broke out of the midfield, ran in and nearly kicked a goal today from 55 metres out. Give him time and confidence and everything I said about him might just be proven wrong.

Hurry up and make Mitch the captain. In defense of Grimes he is trying to get back into the game after a ordinary run of injuries. I almost worry Trengove is trying too hard because he feels he has to prove the validity of his captaincy. Too young for mine. needs to concentrate on his game.

Im comparing Morton to where he was compared to now. He has made massive improvements where some other players have plateau'd.

While I agree that Sellar has done nothing this season i still notice that he manages to draw to players every time - something Martin can rarely accomplish. martin has had a shocker of a season though. And those saying that we showed nothing today are exaggerating. Morton nearly took the game on and broke out of the midfield and nearly kicked a goal from 55; Mitch Clark gave us a reliable option up forward when really our delivery was pretty ordinary. i was at the game last year and I can tell you it was FAR worse. But it was like the cats were just mucking around at times and cutting us apart.

No changes for mine! One of the reasons we were beaten in the midfield and at stoppages was because we were outsized. So dropping Sylvia (who i admit did very little) and Moloney to be replaced by more small bodies is madness. Poeple have short memories. As little as Sellar has done, at least he has drawn two defenders most of the time. Martin on the other hand was woeful in the early games by every measure. Bennell has to earn his spot. Watts might come back in but some of his tackling at VFL level was pretty ordinary again. Tappscot faded but had more touches than anyone else early.

I saw Sellar hit one out with both fists that actually went to our advantage. Jamar may need to review how he is tapping.

Morton's disposal and accuracy has been very impressive. i was a critic so I have been proven wrong.

Early on he was one of our best last night. And no longer on the outta as Bailey has gone, he might thrive.

i saw more from Morton last night than I have in a long time. And his disposal is an asset we need. So I wont complain about him again for a while

tappscott also impressed with his physicality.

i remember watching Ben miss 5 set hots in a game. Sellar needs to make the marks stick before he can live up to Ben's accuracy record

I think the improvement was very impressive last night. I still dont have a voice however. I think the difference in the game was just the saints structures and having the ball pressed into their 50 for so much of the last quarter. I would have liked to see Sellar take a mark or two and a few less clangers by the boys int he back half, but in terms of stupid errors we were miles from some of the earlier performances. I thought Cale Morton had a pretty good game and ive been a big critic of his in the past. I thought Moloney played ok - the missed goal was the main heartbreaker for mine. I think Nat Jones had a breakout game in a way as Ive never seen him play that well. Bate was very strong early. Bail showed a bit of composure and for once Batram's constant efforts were rewarded more than not. McKenzie and Tommy McDonald were the high light for mine. I thought Joel Mac did ok as well. I wondered why it was Dunn that was subbed and it was a pity that Col didnt have much impact on the game when he came on. All in all a great effort from the Demons across the board and with a few more ironed out errors and structure we can see real improvement.

I think I saw more than I bargained for. i cant really fault anyone other than one or two clangers. We didnt win but if we'd broken the saints press more in the end there was potential that we could have. Go Dees!

In good signs this is an opportunity for someone else to take a stand and get noticed. Lets see if that happens.

LOL - Ive been waiting for many to prove me wrong after many an argument defending them. Lets see how they go tonight.

Torture - definition. Long suffering melbourne members being seeingly compelled to go to each home game knowing full well they will walk away angry, frustrated and confused

Mate you have summed it up perfectly. I want to see urgency.

I just want to see something that gives me hope. Watts developing further, or Sylvia kicking a few in a row.

For some reason I have always rated jamie - Ive always believed he had that x-factor - but its disappointing that he hasnt come on at all.

A scary thought indeed. Now we'll have no forward to not deliver too... Rivers will have a tall order...

I wonder what big Neita thinks now...

Brad Miller apparently had so much potential as well. As for Sylvia, when i see Morton run out of the midfield and kick three in a row then your point will have substance.

What a joke. Beamer is about the only player in our midfield that you can rely on to usually put an effort in (contested possession and decent disposal). His disposal is usually first rate. Has a proven track record and won our last best and fairest. Had his first few seasons at the Demons not been ruined by injury we might have seen a lot more from Beamer. But your saying he will struggle based purely on this season (which is likely to have also been injury effected). Then your saying that Beamer (proven player as per above) is more likely to struggle than a pup like Cale Morton - an unproven player who despite being pick 4 in 2007 has barely been able to break into the side, has had zero impact when he has, and who walked out this season after the recall aware that everyone was waiting to see how he endevoured for the contest and what his second efforts were like and got more of the same... A player who we are told had to 'earn back' the trust of his team mates due to past poor performances. So I know where my money would be with who out of the two 'will struggle'. Dont get me wrong, perhaps Morton's problems are confidence and lack of development and there are instances where you can see why he was rated at one pouint but at the end of the day Beamer hasnt turned out to be another Scotty Thompson, but he is out best midfielder by a long shot.