I agree completely...any other team would have smashed us in the first half. The press conferences and interviews from the club gave me the impression that nobody was that perturbed by how godawful our ball movement and execution was in the first half. It was really, really bad. Inexcusably so. Thin...

Pressure got a little better. We're tackling like we mean it. Still second to the ball and outnumbered at the contest. But I have never seen a side look less likely to score. Never. A few as bad as but none worse. And on the rare occasion that we have the pill, we've butchered it. They ought to be e...

I agree team defence was excellent. This is what I saw from level 3 last night. It is hard to pinpoint every player at stoppages at the other end of the ground but this is how I saw it. On the whole, team defence was excellent. We lacked potency in the first quarter and struggled to move the ball, w...

With what facts? Others than emotion?? What is elite in his game, Ball getting? disposal? Speed? Endurance? Marking? Hands? He gets games (in the midfield), even though he underperforms ... Whilst the graveyard of Small Fwd, two bad games and you're out. Blake Acres has been dropped twice this year...

Armitage is a workhorse who has an impact on games through sheer volume of work. He is very good at getting first hands on the ball and at impacting contests, getting his body in the right spot, pressure, tackles. But he is nowhere near as damaging as Martin. Martin can carry the ball further, kick ...

Webster would be conceding 6cm and, more importantly, 20kg, if he gets the gig on Waite. If they were boxers they'd be in different weight divisions. The pressure upfield has to be on or it could get ugly. lol at Webster on Waite Yeah, I kind of agree. I just remember seeing Webster hanging around ...

I can't see any changes, really. Maybe Lonie for Meatball, but I would prefer Minchington over Lonie. His tackles stick a little better (not having a go at Lonie there) and he is better able to help out at the centre bounces if needed. I don't think Goddard should come in. I don't think his VFL form...

People having a go at Geary all the time, and the severity with which they do so, is just ridiculous. The players he play with elect him to the leadership group and the coaches endorse that election! I think those 50 or so guys have a better idea about what Geary provides the team than spectators wh...

Hickey was excellent. I was at level 3 at the G and was mighty impressed. Worked super hard all game...he and Bruce especially put in massive efforts and kept us competitive in the air. Hickey is the closest we have had to Spider Everitt since Spider left...a good tap ruckman (when he drops it just ...

I watched from level 3 and find it hard to pick out a lot of individual players from up there, especially around contests. But we were smashed structurally. Around contests the dogs set up much much better than we did and when they took the ball away it was meaningful. When we would win the ball fro...

Kosi just ain't that good... He is reputed as one of the best forwards in the league but he is still DAYLIGHT behind Riewoldt He is an almost...he gets in good position then almost takes the mark...he works hard at ground level but fumbles, he almost gets the hands off...his ability to lead is alrig...

Raph Clarke is a great footballer He has so many fantastic tools...i'm convinced the only thing he is lacking is a consistent string of several games and the fitness that goes with that... He is: Tall, Quick, Agile, Creative, Good with the game in front of him (not so with what's behind), lovely han...

Kicking it to Reiwolt was a trap we fell into a lot last year he aint the best finisher. it was never selective kicking to riewoldt...as in, the kicker had plenty of options and kept choosing roo it was always that roo was the only player working hard enough to present as an option i'd rather keep ...

What are the traps to avoid for 2008? Last season, i reckon we beat ourselves more often than the opposition did...obviously by playing poor footy. But the reason for this poor footy was that we kept falling into self-made traps...poor footy habits if you will. Part of this relates to a new style o...

Whilst i am capable of seeing the positive in this situation, i thought i would play devil's advocate/pessimist on this one and see if posters can give me some real confidence about the following situation: Goose's return. For me last year was terrible for Goose. He was so far out of touch that i di...

It seems paradoxical that in an age where player skill is rising exponentially that an unskilled player, like blake, can thrive But i really think this new age footy suits blake here's why: he is a robot. fitness, heart and a clear (perhaps vacuous) head...put it together and it means Jason Blake wi...

You can look back at Kosi's stats retrospectively and see he has a 64% conversion rate but really, what does that tell you...? Very little which is actually useful. The fact is that that figure does not discriminate between a sitter which is 10m out and a tough, important kick from 45m out. I consid...

Terry wallace brought this up ages ago on white line fever He said to equalise the comp you needed a footy dept. cap. The only problem is that extra footy dept spending is often to help the players’ safety…no club should be prevented from employing more doctors and fitness staff, even if it give...

What we lacked then, was the 'core' that all flag teams have had. What we appear to be lacking now is the bookends - the youth and the veterans. As I said earlier, if Allen, Armo and Pick 9 come in this year - we'll have the ideal balance in 2009. we lost the 2004 prelim final because riewoldt's bi...

What we lacked then, was the 'core' that all flag teams have had. What we appear to be lacking now is the bookends - the youth and the veterans. As I said earlier, if Allen, Armo and Pick 9 come in this year - we'll have the ideal balance in 2009. we lost the 2004 prelim final because riewoldt's bi...

He said methamphetamine would have a performance-enhancing effect on an athlete, giving them increased stamina and assisting in weight loss. Not a bad 2nd half Cousins played against us in Round 21 ..... that's because he's a very good player why i remember back when he wore the number 35 guernsey ...

Yes....you want to go away from a game sometimes just knowing that the team has won simply because it has outworked a good opponent.. A bit like a Boa Constrictor....constant but slow pressure till you have squeezed the life out of your victim.. i'd take a male lion's strategy over a boa constricto...

Cousins doesnt give 2 flying farks about anyone or anything except Ben He is so far up himself hes turning inside out just admit that you don't know him, have never met him, been within several hundred metres of him or have any perception of the man other than what the media present you with... eve...

Ran this one through my mind just now and couldn't really think of anyone who should have a hampered pre-season...i mean, it looks like we're all ready to go... Looking at it, problematic players in the past include: Kosi - he's ready, with quite a season behind him Goose - same boat as Kos, leg inj...

Well, the AFL drug policy mandated by the AFL and the AFLPA has shown to be a toothless tiger of a policy that in effect has failed in the foremost duty it was written for, to protect the player. No ordinary player either, Ben Cousins, club captain, premiership player and brownlow medallist. In thi...