astrodee

Fully agree BB. Bring in the kids. Let's be daring for a change. Only the last time ND was daring was probably when he went out without nappies for the first time - and he had no say in that.

As long as he doesn't handball it to someone not expecting it

This club has a history of keeping players a year too long. Godfrey is all heart - unfortunately you need feet and hands in footy. I actually believe our list is pretty good - not good enough for a flag, but not all that far away. As I've said in many posts - our coaching is mediocre. Last year at least our defence functioned as a unit, and our forwards were among the AFL's most efficient - so why swap Riley and Curran - moronic! The injuries will give us (I hope) an opportunity to assess our younger players. I was very taken with Garland's 1st quarter on Saturday, and had he not got that knock he may have had a great day - but that 1st quarter was dynamic: 2.1 and 3 assists from 6 disposals. Newton looks freakish in some of the things he does - attitude's always been strange, but cometh the hour, cometh the man. He just might be waiting for the seniors. Let's not revert to the tried, tested and failed. Now's the time to be adventurous - let's see if the reverend has faith in his youth.

Stategist - long term planner. Tactition - planning tactics used in today's battle, and changing them quickly as the stuation demands. Matthews would be a dream come true. As for the assistants available - there are a lot of ordinary ones around. Hopefully one or two good ones, but IMHO we need a gnarled tough old veteran.

Miller- a capable display. I've been very critical of Miller. Today he played a capable CHF's game. Presented, kicked 3 (admittedly one of them just floated through), took one really good mark and a few gimmes, gave off adequately. IE: he played like a reasonable CHF. If he can go on from there and use this game as a benchmark, he just might turn into a handy footballer - considering he was a speculative draft pick in the 60's.

We had Wells, Alves, Flower - all top 30 players while we languished at the bottom of the ladder. We need a TEAM that is mentally tough and plays for each other. Then we might be successful. A star COACH would help too.

Listen kids, I've been a member since 1957 and I've seen some REALLY bad coaches at this club, and 1 really good one. Daniher is a mediocre coach, a good strategist, a smart list builder, a very poor tactician (and match day coach) and a breeder of mental softness. We have built a good list in his time, but have hung on to poorly skilled players for far too long. But to suggest that Michael Voss, with no training as an assistant coach would be an improvement is infantile. Same with Hird (as if he would give up his stockbroking and other business interests to coach Melbourne - absolutely laughable). This is a list that needs a tough scary coach - one who will brook NO softness. This may sound silly, but if the filth were to get rid of Malthouse (who has a great record in the first 5 years at clubs he has coached) or if Sheedy were available (Essendon want ND, apparently - a straight swap would do), they would stand for no s**t from players, and would get rid of any softness. I have been saying for 5 years that ND is no good - but his replacement has to be carefully thought out. Roos was a special case as he was much loved by the Sydney players and faithful - and even he was an assistant for 18 months. And what about putting Curran back with the forwards, and Riley back with the backs - the changeover has paid no dividends. As for Paul Williams...

I have been calling for Daniher's head for a long time. It's not just the game plans, if they can be called that. It's the fact that for years our skills have been deficient (compared to WB, WCE, SS, etc.; our team has been mentally soft; we are bereft of leadership across the board on the ground; we hold on to talentless players for too long; Daniher never takes any responsiblity for bad losses (Grant may have been a bad coach, but at least he wore a lot of their losses, Craig often accepts responibility, etc). etc,etc,etc

I, too, am very taken with Bate. A couple of times last year he took wonderful flatfooted, arms outstretched strong contested marks - reminiscent of Greg Wells at his best. He played a hell of a lot of his footy in the U18's @ FB, and does occasionally look lost in the forward line. His runs are superb and I like him round the wing or HBF. Given time I do believe he will turn into a great utility, and like Bruce (when he's on his game) will play both tall and short. I rate him behind only McLean and Jones. I also rate CJ - on the basis that we didn't see the best of his father until he was over 25 - and he, too, could be a lete developer. Let's not forget that Alan created the modern back pocket game. With Sylvia, Rivers, Bartram, Dunn, Newton, Buckley, Frawley, Pettard, and to a lesser extent, Bell, the future does look very promising. They only need to be decently coached - Mark Williams is developing them well - it's the senior coacihing that worries me.

My daughter is a close mate of Brock's cousin. She spoke to him about 3 hours ago. He reckons, no ligament problems, CT scan tomorrow, and he'll be back in 2-3 weeks - if they don't find anything on the scan that he doesn't know about.

Forgot to add (interrupted by my daughter) : Doggie was Doggie - courageous, reasonably pacy, some good, some bad. Should not be in our starting 22 Ward was Ward - lots of ball, some fast runs, kicks went anywhere, turnovers aplenty. Bell was Bell - as above. Only braver and stronger. Of the above 3, only Bell would be in my best 22 - and only just.

Also travelled down the highway to watch a scrappy match. We had 23, th cats had 25 - so we were always going to tire more on the last quarter. Things I noticed were: Goldy was the emergency umpire and looked sore Nathan Jones, apart from some poor disposal, was terrific. He manages to get from contest to contest, be in and under and then present to receive a handball. If he keeps improving at the rate he has been - he will be a beauty. CJ - oozes class, his vision and decision making are improving, his kicking is sublime. Miller - took some marks, presented well, spilt plenty, kicked a good goal, has no football brain, no vision, and is an appalling decision-maker. The jury is still out. Brock - rusty, but had a great patch in the 3rd quarter. Can only get better. Moloney - best game to date this pre-season. Is almost there. Bate - good second half TJ - TJ Biz - smart footballer, was great early, did less as the game wore on. I think his brain and creativity are important to the team. Rarely made a bad decision. Furgs - pantsed by Mooney. Jamar - took a couple of good grabs. Bidn't do enough, but what's new. Garland - has good timing, knows where to run - needs a bit of time at Sandy. Pettard - brave, kicking let him down. Presented well. Needs time at Sandy. Buckley - fast, courageous, presented well, but needs more time at Sandy. Wheels was good. Davey chased but did nothing creative. Neitz ran hard, but did little else. Robbo was good in parts. Is River's injured? - in tracksuit pants after half time but looked ok. Big Ben - Big Ben White - was ok.

Not much to add except that Ward turned the ball over 6 times with errant kicks. The team was incredibly indirect a few times and just seemed to be waxing. Whenever they played directly they were terrific. There was too much bombing down to Neitz early, and the tiges whipped it out of defence far too easily in the 1st quarter and a half. Miller improved as the game wore on, after being appalling early.. Dunn did a lot of 1%ers whenever he was on the ground. Bate ran well and protected his team mates a lot of the time. One of his runs was memorable. Carroll had at least 3 kicked on him, but provided a lot of run. Barring a few good things, Rivers was largely superfluous, and Whelan was terrific. And I am just SO excited about CJ, Chunk and Bell. We dominated the midfield.

Sydney have won one preseason game in the last 4 years. Their lack of pre-season winning really cost them dearly in the last 2 years. Yep, losing practice matches is a disaster of mammoth proportions. We should be going all out to win them - bugger the season proper.

ND said no Chook, Beamer, TJ, Flash, White on 3AW.

In his time at HFC, their soft tissue injury rate soared. The bloke I regularly run with, who was at one time the fitness guru for the umpires (and still privately helps a couple of the older ones), reckons he is a disaster area. I am horrified that he's with us - unless he has drastically changed his ways.

[One of the most skilfull players I can remember since the early 60's. What Geoff Tunbridge did some of the time, Robbie did all the time. If he had a weakness, it was the set shot at goal in a real pressure situation. Otherwise he was the epitome of grace on a footy field.