btdemon

I don't see his decision making as being the problem. He can be a very good kick when he is not under pressure but his kicking action is suspect. The ball drop is iffy and works ok when he has time to balance himself but looks very flaky at times. The same problem as Bruce. I don't thinks he will ever put on much weight. Well not in a great hurry anyway. Its just his body type. You would expect him to be slightly heavier and stronger as he gets older but the increase won't be dramatic. He has those long limbs that seem to make all of his actions look a little loose, relaxed and in slow motion. This could be deceiving. The upside is, he is very tall, quick for his size, has excellent evasive skills and can be a real ball magnet. There must be a good use for a player with these attributes.

Maybe Russell Howcroft's ad agency?

I feel ill.

1.Serious shoulder, hammy and other injuries 2. Darklands stadium (I have never actually liked it) 3. People who don't like Dunn's mo

His mo is all the more pathetic since he has dyed it dark brown to make stand out. But I say, "KEEP THE MO!" It will be a symbol of the new demons era - great things from humble beginnings. It has given him the confidence and bravado of a Spanish conquistador!

I agree. I think Bruce has proved many people wrong this year but his game is built on run, evasive skill and the ability to nullify marking forwards and midfielders. You would expect that at 32-33 yrs old things would begin to tail off a little and he may be a more marginal player in the next year.

I haven't written off Bate yet either. Just remember that last year he was our most productive and reliable forward.

Don't forget Sylvia in that equation. He is now building the engine needed to be a powerful midfielder who rotates to the half forward flank, or vice versa. We are now starting to see that explosive mix of speed and power out of the middle that people suspected he was capable of.

Fantastic game today. He is learning to compensate for his lack of kicking accuracy making sure he is well clear of his opponent when he disposes of the ball. Frawley does the same thing.

You sound like an dreadful snob Deezman. The socially elitist attitudes are why I am sometimes embarrassed to be a Dees supporter. There are all sorts of people in the world. Making generalisations about groups in society can be a dangerous thing.

7 are showing the 1994 game vs Swans where Schwarz kicked 9 at 2pm tomorrow. I can't get up to the game tomorrow but at least I'll have the have the opportunity to have a bit of a TV footy orgy with that game followed by the delayed telecast. Whoohoo!

By Watts' own admission, he lacked fitness earlier this year. As he builds his engine he will make more contests and make them more effectively. He seems to be drifting around at times but is obviously learning a little each match. He does need to apply that urgency and power to his first few steps of a chase or a lead. I think they may be playing him as a high forward/winger with a view to having him run as much as posible with this in mind. Riewoldt is very damaging without being a 'pack-crasher'. The more I see of Watts the more optimistic I get.

I Agree. Bartram is progressively becoming one of those annoying Jared Crouch types. Not a great kick, but he is now more aware of this deficiency in his game and compensates quite well for it. His shadowing and tackling is becoming top rate and nobody could doubt his commitment and bravery. He is now developing some real footy smarts, especially in the last line. I wish his kicking was better but then look at the goofy unnatural style of Chip Frawley. He is another who has learnt to compensate.

When he accepted that handpass back and ran into goal my heart was in my mouth. He did kick it and then kicked another in the last. FWIW he was shaking his head and admonishing himself after putting Watts under the pump with that handpass. Bruce is still a valuable player. He does evade tackles and run the lines very well. Its just that horrible ball-drop and iffy kick and a couple of hospital handpasses that spoil his contributions.

i totally disagree. He did make two crucial disposal errors in the first quarter but he made up for it throughout the game with many great saving marks.

Signed with whom?

Carlton played very "unsociable" football yesterday. I worry whether our chaps are all a bit too "nice". You do need a significant number of "unsociable" players in a successful finals team in order to maintain that sustained level of intimidation.

While our third quarter comeback showed some steel, some very dubious umpiring decisions went our way which resulted in Melbourne goals. It also took until after quarter time for us apply any real pressure. What really disturbed me yesterday was the way Carlton confidently came out and bullied us from even before the first bounce. It was very interesting to watch Houlihan just pushing Grimes away from Betts like a schoolyard bully and the other players seemed to be unwilling to do anything about it. Whether they were worried about giving Carlton free kicks in front of goal. Houlihan spent much of the first half just blocking Grimes' path to Betts and it was extremely effective. It also seemed to bamboozle whoever was on Houlihan and freed him up do kick his own goals as well. A brilliant tactic and we had absolutely no counter to it. Grimes was obviously frustrated but didn't have the physical strength to do much about it. Warnock had his hands full, as did Rivers. Meanwhile, up the ground, Carlton were harassing us from Kruezer on Jamar right down to Carazzo on Davey. They had a arrogance and physical confidence about them which probably stems from their good form and the fact they they were bigger than us on average. The guys that normally work as our enforcers (Moloney, Sylvia, McDonald), had too much on their plates around the stoppages to worry about what was happening to Grimes at one end and Watts at the other. Why didn't Miller do something? It would have been worth him giving away a couple a cheap frees on the forward line to give Watts some support. I know Watts has to learn to fend for himself, and that yesterday he was pushed away from the contest like a skinny schoolkid, but Miller should have used his strength to counter what was going on. That's what Carlton did. They used smart intimidation to give there goalkickers an avenue to goal. I would hope that the coaching staff would work on this aspect during the next couple of weeks. While we have young inexperienced players learning the game, the older players need to support them. Jonathon Brown would never stand by and let stuff like that happen. By the way, Watts does need to go back to Casey for a few weeks and develop some confidence, passion and attack on the ball. Also, we really missed Frawley yesterday for all the reasons above.

NikNat hasn't been going that well so people have to start this ridiculous thread. WE TOOK FRAWLEY, RICHMOND TOOK RIEWOLDT! GET OVER IT!

Call that an article? A complete non-story. '"That's as much as I know," Connolly said. "He might have a cracked windscreen." Connolly said players needed to be careful about what situations they found themselves in. "Players are constantly educated about not putting themselves in vulnerable situations," Connolly said. Watts was the No. 1 AFL draft pick in 2008. He was still completing his VCE studies in 2009 at Brighton Grammar when he made his AFL debut against Collingwood in Round 11.' Ground-breaking stuff from Robbo.

Scully & Trengove. That's it.

While I agree that Watts appeared be a little physically intimidated yesterday and often seemed to be in between contests watching the ball go over his head, he was often double teamed. He still did enough to get a game next week. His hands are great and his ability to handball to the team's advantage is a feature of his game. This is smart play. The other thing he does, which can make him look like he is avoiding physical contest, is keep his feet most of the time. You will often see him reaching over and around his direct opponent attempting to tap the ball to his team's advantage, rather than making a high impact contact. I do get the feeling that he has not had to use his physicality much in his junior career because he had the advantage of height, speed and great hands. Also, he appears to be a person with a very pleasant nature. Mongrel and physical dominance of another player may not come naturally to him. He will have to learn this. The only comparison I see with Hawkins is that he has come with great expectations and that he too is not naturally aggressive. Hawkins has had to learn this and was very physically dominant yesterday. Watts, on the hand, has a level of natural skill way beyond that of Hawkins. His speed, ball handling and kicking are great and he has wonderful movement. He does need to apply his speed in reallly intense bursts. I think this is a confidence thing. He is not yet attacking the contest as if he believes in himself. This will come. Remember, he has effectively only played three senior games. I don't count last year because I think he was so overawed and unprepared that he would have not learnt much. His flower will bloom.

There was an arrogance about the Cats today. The way they played meant they had reason to be. I can't wait until we are in that position to treat other teams like kids in the way they treated us today.

The pressure on Moloney to perform was pretty intense today. !00th game against his old club. He tried to show leadership and inspiration but so often got caught trying to bust tackles. His first instinct is to take the ball and absorb the tackle. He almost seems to run towards the tackle rather than away. He was caught so many times today when a quick release would have been the best option. Jones also tries this too often. I've been a big wrap for Beamer this year but it was predictable and frustrating to watch today.