Earl Hood

I think Ricky had a burst cyst in the lung that wasn't allowing air to exhale, it was life threatening at the time. The doctor had to actually puncture his lung with a needle to let air out. A different situation I think.

Song can you do something about the weather? Every time I go down there, on a weekend, a cold front comes through and it stuffs up the surf. Despite that I too love the sea, the forests and the bird life.

I am getting some bad karma about all this. Fingers crossed I suppose but I am mindful of the worst case scenarios that we always seem to have to deal with at this club.

I dips me lid to you sir. I missed your conversation on SEN Saturday night as I trudged home depressed from the Anglesea pub on Saturday night. My television digital signal had earlier given up the ghost before the game at Anglesea so I had to head out to the pub to see the game.

Whack!! Try an unexpected touch, inadvertent contact to the face. Georgiou is very unlucky I think to get a similar finding to Gibsons full on hit from behind to the head. Reckless and high contact I think for Gibbo and should be similar to some of the bumps that have been judged to be too high but inadvertent. By the way Machsy I reckon Georgiou is a positive, he has a real go. When you find a silky skilled half back to take his place let me know.

They talked about Watts on SEN this morning and Plough Wallace's thoughts were that the best option was for Roos to give Watts 4 to 6 weeks playing on the wing where he trained to be all season and see what he has to offer the team and tell him that is what you are doing. That is you have 4 to 6 weeks to demonstrate your worth. This seems a reasonable approach because the club has tried him in many rolls to try to identify his niche position. Most players are happy and willing to play the role they are assigned to. This approach gives Jack some certainty of his near future and a sense of urgency that he needs to start to perform and a level of accountability as long as Roosey's expectations are made clear. Those expectations may be as simple as minimum tackle counts, pressure acts, defensive acts etc, all the stuff that anyone who is committed to the cause could do. All the things we don't see Jack do. I would also have a sports psychologist working with him, some of those dropped marks under no pressure and handballs backward to anyone else remind me of someone who is not focused on the job at hand, devoid of confidence, thinking negatively about what could I stuff up next.

I used to think Real Power was measured in Watts. Not anymore!

Watching us last night then watching the Hawks vs the Toigs, good heavens how far away are we? Light years I think particularly given we have made a dogs breakfast of many of our past drafts and trading, not always of our own fault. The talent in the bank is very limited. We have been cruelled by injuries to the likes of Jurrah, Wonna and Clark for example. They had talent but couldnt sustain it. Much of that was beyond our control but we have gone past a number of good players and picked duds. Are the latest picks, the right talent, well let us hope.

And what really shytes me is these two have the skills that the side is crying out for. We have a dozen hard working journeymen trying to win the ball, if only these two were there to receive it more often. It seems to me Watts is avoiding engagement. His confidence must be shot to pieces. Howe needs a run on the ball to get him involved

Except those that aren't! I agree.

I checked the records we took Donald Cockatoo Collins at number 11 the same draft!! I think that one gazumped The Jackovich pick, which if you look at that draft may have been inspired if he had regained his fitness. I think I remember we picked Donald that year because his brother was also with us as a promise to his mother. Very good of us but not very professional. Neither of the boys could really play as I remember.

Can any of them play?

I agree that Barrett operates at the bottom of the food chain but he would not be a problem for us if Hoges was playing VFL or AFL or Toumpas or Salem were tearing it up at. AFL level. He would have no ammunition but of course we are the perennial soft target for Barret and Denim because we are always battling with forwards who are injured and first round draft picks who are taking too much time to show their worth and numerous ones who never did.

Pennant love your positive thinking. However this injury scenario has me worried for one. Kids who can't get on the park tend to go home. Scott Thompson spoke recently that 4 years of injury at MFC led him to seek a change back home at Adelaide. We can lament also about Jurrah and recently Mitch who went home, although not to play AFL footy. Not looking great in my mind.

How did we get here? I am grieving over Hogan isn't that enough to deal with at one time?

Anyone who can get on the park and stay there. If they can play a bit that would be a bonus.

After the last 4 or 5 years I am in the Worst Case Scenario school these days. I am utterly sick of it but it just keeps happening like some recurring nightmare!

We are cursed! When will it all end?

Interesting if Brisbane really bottom out badly, the AFL will want to provide draft assistance I bet but because they refused our request last year for draft assistance, they are somewhat hamstrung, if they don't want to look like hypocrites. But of course that has never stopped them before if they want to engineer an outcome for a favoured team or in the case of the tanking fiasco, a team like MFC that they want to hammer for whatever reason. Of course an up side maybe they will decide to provide help to both teams in some form while we are probably raped again via Free Agency!

Yes I have noticed the same when I have attended and have asked before whether there should be more match simulation at training. You do need to spend time practicing skills, kicking, marking and running to the right areas etc but this is done against minimal pressure and generally the guys look good. Come match day and the skills evaporate under pressure where there is minimal time and space to react. Would it help to do regular match simulation training in a confined space where two teams have to compete and practice making quick decisions and they can practice their tackling as well?

Yes poor Cheney was hung out to dry I thought watching that last quarter, conceding 10cm and about 20 kg. I was hoping Clarko would swap "Tickets" Gibson onto Hawkins to see how he handles a man on man contest with a big forward with the ball coming in repeatedly, I suspect the result would have been the same.

If Frawley walks I don't think we will be doing much in the FA period, hoping for an early compensation pick, that we may then use for horse trading with clubs desperate for some of the talls supposedly available this year.

There was a classic case of incorrect disposal up the Punt Rd end I think in the third, it might have been Prestia caught with the ball and the Dees tackler had him by one arm and he basically just threw it sideways to a team mate right in front of the umpire and of course it was called play on!

I cut him heaps of slack because he has so many silky skills, none of our other players have, but today he struggled and for no obvious reason that I could see. I just think mentally he is not totally focused on the task at hand.

To me Georgiou stays in with Garland and Dunn moves up field to the wing or half forward, but can come back if required. Alex is a real goer I reckon. He stays. This team is losing it around the mid field, not at the book ends. We have some real goers down back and some talent up forward but around the ground, as usual we struggle. Where do we get some leg speed is my concern.