rjay

Not sticking tackles though, so very limited to no real pressure. He's the only out I see (probably no change though) and agree with 'chook' that Smith's likely to stay in until Hibberd is ready.

I don't think Jimmy was that naive 'Earl'...he made some poor decisions and let his ego get the better of him. Jobs for the boys nearly killed this club. Bailey was an outsider. Probably enough of this looking back but it's hard not to get engaged. I still get very angry (and I'm not an angry person) when I think of the damage that was done by the people in control of the club at that time. In the words of the coach, it was a good learning experience (I hope) and we move on to the next game.

I would prefer we got a bit more experience and not another novice like Mitchell. I had my eye on Richardson if the Saints went down in a heap...a great assistant coach but likely to stay on now. Highly regarded in SA...

The people that went after Bailey...no names (you can work it out) were convinced the players were being molly coddled (probably some truth) and needed a bit of old fashioned discipline (overkill). Neeld in his haste and desire to pick up a senior gig was only too willing to sell the message they wanted then tried to carry it through. It was a rotten period in the clubs history and the blame should not be Neeld's alone. He was a symptom of what was wrong and very much the wrong choice by a club clutching at straws and wanting to hear what they wanted to hear. They had no idea. Thank goodness PJ came on board then Roos otherwise I don't know if we would have made it through...

Footy isn't expanding at the moment, it's in decline. The numbers are down & that's why the AFL are looking at radical rule changes. They have got to be kidding themselves if they think they can set up a pathway like the US college system here.

Frost couldn't mind.... Lynch would blow Frost up in the first Q...'Rusty'. If we stick with the same defence then Frost will take Tex and O-Mac will take Jane. If Pedders comes in for Tex then I don't know where Frost goes but I think O-Mac still takes Jane...

If I was WC I would be throwing a truckload of cash at Patrick Cripps....a WA boy. ...that means letting Gaff go and we are in the box seat.

In principle this argument as run by the likes of Roos seems sensible. Unfortunately as much as the AFL likes to think of itself as the major code and that it will be forever and a day, it won't be. The AFL is not run in a vacuum (the only vacuum is in Dill's big head). It just opens up the young talent to other sports. Cricket is now a real threat with more money and opportunity in the short form game, basketball is growing again and kids have big opportunities o/s, not to mention the huge cash in soccer for talented kids worldwide. 6 months is a long time for a kid (it basically means a year in football terms). Will I go to cricket and get my couple of hundred k starting now (opportunity of millions in near future) or should I be running around playing park footy for another year with no guarantee's??? I believe we will look back on the McLaughlin era as the big error of football that started the rot & pushed it back to being a regional amateur sport like Gaelic football is now. I just hope we get a Melbourne premiership whilst it's still a premier sport and means something. By the way, anyone who thinks they can build a solid pathway around the country has rocks in their heads. They don't have the money and won't use what will be better spent lining their pockets.

I don't think he's up upgrade at all 'Red'... Just a small example of his work. "Mitch Wallis’ decision to ignore a short pass to Mitch Honeychurch and go longer to Gowers inside the last minute backfired, with his kick going out on the full and North then going coast-to-coast from the ensuing back pocket free kick." I think we will be looking at other avenues, he will be a good pick up for Carlton.

I couldn't care less about your predictor or anyones for that matter. I will wait until the end of the season and see where we finish. Good luck with your analysis...I hope it's as good as your posts.

I think that's what I said 'titan'. ...it leaves us very susceptible.

Understand all that 'titan' but the mix in the back 6 is still a problem...

I get what you are saying 'Wise' but the back 6 is our glass jaw. The Swans for example when playing well could take a lot of heat in their back half and not give up on the scoreboard. Ours leaks like a sieve when it gets in there. No Hibberd or Lever...having Bernie, Jordan & Nev, the only leg speed being Frost and a first year player basically as the 3rd man up. The loss of form & now injury of Hunt is also a big loss. We can't afford to carry the other 3 in the same backline (Bernie, Jordan & Nev). I mean Menzal is as slow as treacle but found way too much time and space.

I hate a lot of ours too...maybe why I don't go as much these days. Prefer my own company at home.

We don't really...they just haven't fully developed yet. Our core leaders are now the young guns, Oliver, Petracca and Brayshaw along with Max. They are still young and/or inexperienced but stood up pretty well. We were also missing 2 other important young leaders in Viney and Lever. We don't have 3 future hall of famers around the 30yo 200 game experience mark yet. This is one area I'm not at all concerned with (I am with the defence). The Tiges lost all the tight games until it clicked for them, now they win 'em. Cotchin wasn't a leaders boot lace until he was...the same will happen with us.

If Tex is playing he might be a better match up than Frost but it would be a punt 'Dee'... Oscar can take Jane...

That we will never know 'AF'... He did cost us goals through poor positioning though. For what it's worth I probably would have made the move earlier but I'm not sure it would have been that effective & understand why Goodie let it go. He has the closing speed to get a spoil on the ball but Hawkins would have and did give him the run around. Apart from the one I mentioned in the chain to Toohey check one a bit earlier in a pack situation where Frosty couldn't get up to kill the contest then stood flatfooted watching Hawk turn and goal. We don't have the options at the moment so Frost it is unless they want to give Pedders a run down back. Check 5.30min where Hawkins rag dolls Frost and contributes to the goal, 6 min the incident I mentioned above, Frosty is just watching and of course the Toohey one at the end.

If you notice my posts on this I'm talking about Frost's positioning and of course you are right that many things go to a loss of this type. So many what if's...what if Goody hadn't taken Max off for a rest when the Cats got their run on. What if Gawn took that boundary throw in, what if he didn't clash heads with the Geelong player, what if Nichols wasn't the 23rd Cat...lots of what if's... However, Frost lost his spot in the team in a big part due to his positioning. He often finds himself in no mans land, stuck in the wrong places and I'm concerned he hasn't learned his lessons. He keeps making the same mistakes. He's most certainly not 'Dee', go and have another look. Frost is ok when the ball is coming straight at him, apart from that he has no idea.

Exactly, a first year player who is a defender forced to play a forward role. Where was Frost? why wasn't he able to zone off an inexperienced player to help out with Hawk? or to cover space? Make no mistake, his was the final bad decision that cost us the game. Those that think moving him to Hawkins earlier would have been a match winning move are kidding themselves. Hawk probably would have kicked 10.

Not so sure. He had his chance for that one good contest & failed. There are many things that cost us the win but watch where Frost was when Hawkins made position to take the ball on to Toohey. He was in no mans land between where the ball was (ball watching) and Hawk giving him a good 20 to 30 meters break. By the time he realised what happened the damage was done. That as much as anything cost us the game. If Frost was with Hawkins the ball probably doesn't go to him or if it does then maybe he (Frost) kills the contest, but there was no contest. Frost often gets caught in no mans land, Frost often kicks to no one at best, the oppositions advantage often.

The big change I would make is to bring back the real 'DeeSpencer'... This season has either done his head in or an imposter has stepped into the avatar. He was a reasoned poster in the past & even when I didn't agree with him I could at least follow the logic. Seems to be making some pretty extravagant calls of late.

Frost gets drawn in between the ball & his opponent (in no mans land) to late getting back to Hawkins making position in the corridor, marks the ball passes to Toohey & the rest is history. We've got problems with our defence, no doubt about that but Frost is part of the problem, not the solution. What was he doing for the other 95 minutes of the game?

Yes, but you don't see the bigger picture & positional moves which means you are reliant on the clowns they call experts to fill in the blanks. The ones who thought it was going to be a boundary throw in when the behind decision was turned over because it hit the point post & was out of bounds on the full....imbeciles.

Running through the Selwood brothers...

I think I would give Harmes a 9 or10 tonight 'Pick'...he beat Selwood up then did the job on Danger. He's a tough kid and moving along nicely no matter what those who think he should be dropped every week say.