Cold light of day

[older saint]

Waking up this cold morning having digested last night's rubbish like a dodgy chicken fillet a few things become clear:

- This AFL season is the most even in years and being just 5% off against most teams flirts with disaster
- This is still a developing team and list and last week was nothing more than a perfect storm (in reverse) where everything that could go right did. We are to good enough at this point. Our depth is young and cant afford to have guys such as Webster, Membrey, Armitage, Longer, Dunstan, Acres, Weller, all not available due to suspension, injury or form.
- This group can play as the hunters but cannot as the hunted
- I believe AR is a good coach and has these guys on the right path
- IF we make finals will scape in ( i think we miss by %) and making up numbers - WB have given everyone the delusion you can win it from anywhere.

Now the stuff which i am sure will start debate:

- Hickeys performance last night was unacceptable. His lack of competitiveness and effort at times was embarrassing for a guy who 12 months ago was No.1 ruck and smashed the best ruckman last year in Gawn. Footy starts in the middle. Must be dropped.
- Whatever we paid for Carlisle was unders. Without him last night we are 10 goals down at half time.
- Roo is one of the best players i have seen wear the jumper but i think time is up . He still has the desire and ability to influence games every so often but he is a Champion and should go out with a little left in the tank rather than running on empty. Ultimately he has earned the privilege to make the call i just think it should be done soon.
- Joey was great last week but is he off half back stifling the development of Rice, White, Webster, Savage, etc? While he is probably better than them at the moment we aren't winning a premiership this year . Tough call does he go or can he be a Matthew Boyd type?
- We lack a class on baller. We have no silk. Ross is a hard worker and probably a B+ mid. Steven covers ground well but foot skills can let him down, Newness and Billings are almost there but again not as good with disposal as should be. We have no Winmar, Dal Santo, etc. Class users who will hit targets lace out consistently. Whatever it takes to get Kelly or Martin or Whitfield must be done.

All we want to see is effort and improvement which overall I have seen this year , the next step though is the hardest and perhaps we need a small step back to go forward?

Cant see us beating Syd, Port away
50/50 - WC here, Melbourne and Richmond
Win North.

[remboy]

Waking up this cold morning having digested last night's rubbish like a dodgy chicken fillet a few things become clear:

- This AFL season is the most even in years and being just 5% off against most teams flirts with disaster
- This is still a developing team and list and last week was nothing more than a perfect storm (in reverse) where everything that could go right did. We are to good enough at this point. Our depth is young and cant afford to have guys such as Webster, Membrey, Armitage, Longer, Dunstan, Acres, Weller, all not available due to suspension, injury or form.
- This group can play as the hunters but cannot as the hunted
- I believe AR is a good coach and has these guys on the right path
- IF we make finals will scape in ( i think we miss by %) and making up numbers - WB have given everyone the delusion you can win it from anywhere.

Now the stuff which i am sure will start debate:

- Hickeys performance last night was unacceptable. His lack of competitiveness and effort at times was embarrassing for a guy who 12 months ago was No.1 ruck and smashed the best ruckman last year in Gawn. Footy starts in the middle. Must be dropped.
- Whatever we paid for Carlisle was unders. Without him last night we are 10 goals down at half time.
- Roo is one of the best players i have seen wear the jumper but i think time is up . He still has the desire and ability to influence games every so often but he is a Champion and should go out with a little left in the tank rather than running on empty. Ultimately he has earned the privilege to make the call i just think it should be done soon.
- Joey was great last week but is he off half back stifling the development of Rice, White, Webster, Savage, etc? While he is probably better than them at the moment we aren't winning a premiership this year . Tough call does he go or can he be a Matthew Boyd type?
- We lack a class on baller. We have no silk. Ross is a hard worker and probably a B+ mid. Steven covers ground well but foot skills can let him down, Newness and Billings are almost there but again not as good with disposal as should be. We have no Winmar, Dal Santo, etc. Class users who will hit targets lace out consistently. Whatever it takes to get Kelly or Martin or Whitfield must be done.

All we want to see is effort and improvement which overall I have seen this year , the next step though is the hardest and perhaps we need a small step back to go forward?

Cant see us beating Syd, Port away
50/50 - WC here, Melbourne and Richmond
Win North.

Agree with just about all of this. Not sure about Hickey. I was a fan last year but I'm not sure playing VFL every week has helped him. Don't know about dropping players after one game but last night was unacceptable.
I'm still quite bullish about what we can achieve for the rest of the season but we need to be at our best. Any drop off and we look second rate. Can't see us winning the next two but we can win the next four. The season is all over the place. Could anyone see us beating GWS earlier or predict the result against the Tigers?
Our biggest area for improvement is class through the midfield. Kelley would be ideal but we probably need another one as well.
And re Carlisle, with every game he plays that trade becomes a bigger win for us.

[Proph3t of egan]

Some tough but fair calls there

[older saint]

Waking up this cold morning having digested last night's rubbish like a dodgy chicken fillet a few things become clear:

- This AFL season is the most even in years and being just 5% off against most teams flirts with disaster
- This is still a developing team and list and last week was nothing more than a perfect storm (in reverse) where everything that could go right did. We are to good enough at this point. Our depth is young and cant afford to have guys such as Webster, Membrey, Armitage, Longer, Dunstan, Acres, Weller, all not available due to suspension, injury or form.
- This group can play as the hunters but cannot as the hunted
- I believe AR is a good coach and has these guys on the right path
- IF we make finals will scape in ( i think we miss by %) and making up numbers - WB have given everyone the delusion you can win it from anywhere.

Now the stuff which i am sure will start debate:

- Hickeys performance last night was unacceptable. His lack of competitiveness and effort at times was embarrassing for a guy who 12 months ago was No.1 ruck and smashed the best ruckman last year in Gawn. Footy starts in the middle. Must be dropped.
- Whatever we paid for Carlisle was unders. Without him last night we are 10 goals down at half time.
- Roo is one of the best players i have seen wear the jumper but i think time is up . He still has the desire and ability to influence games every so often but he is a Champion and should go out with a little left in the tank rather than running on empty. Ultimately he has earned the privilege to make the call i just think it should be done soon.
- Joey was great last week but is he off half back stifling the development of Rice, White, Webster, Savage, etc? While he is probably better than them at the moment we aren't winning a premiership this year . Tough call does he go or can he be a Matthew Boyd type?
- We lack a class on baller. We have no silk. Ross is a hard worker and probably a B+ mid. Steven covers ground well but foot skills can let him down, Newness and Billings are almost there but again not as good with disposal as should be. We have no Winmar, Dal Santo, etc. Class users who will hit targets lace out consistently. Whatever it takes to get Kelly or Martin or Whitfield must be done.

All we want to see is effort and improvement which overall I have seen this year , the next step though is the hardest and perhaps we need a small step back to go forward?

Cant see us beating Syd, Port away
50/50 - WC here, Melbourne and Richmond
Win North.

Agree with just about all of this. Not sure about Hickey. I was a fan last year but I'm not sure playing VFL every week has helped him. Don't know about dropping players after one game but last night was unacceptable.
I'm still quite bullish about what we can achieve for the rest of the season but we need to be at our best. Any drop off and we look second rate. Can't see us winning the next two but we can win the next four. The season is all over the place. Could anyone see us beating GWS earlier or predict the result against the Tigers?
Our biggest area for improvement is class through the midfield. Kelley would be ideal but we probably need another one as well.
And re Carlisle, with every game he plays that trade becomes a bigger win for us.

Funny i was a Hickey fan until last night, and trying not to be too hard on one performance as these are humans who have same issues as everyone and can have a bad work day, but the lack of effort just burns.

[The Pinch Hitters]

I was one of those suggesting Hickey was close to All Australian last year, so his form this year has been perplexing.

There seems to be a divide where there are some supporters in the "Billy camp" and others in the "Hickey camp" and they both seem to revel in the failures of the other camps ruck. This is silly because we need them both to be firing, performances like that from Hickey last night shouldn't have had anybody c**k a hoop.

[Scollop]

Waking up this cold morning having digested last night's rubbish like a dodgy chicken fillet a few things become clear:

- This AFL season is the most even in years and being just 5% off against most teams flirts with disaster
- This is still a developing team and list and last week was nothing more than a perfect storm (in reverse) where everything that could go right did. We are to good enough at this point. Our depth is young and cant afford to have guys such as Webster, Membrey, Armitage, Longer, Dunstan, Acres, Weller, all not available due to suspension, injury or form.
- This group can play as the hunters but cannot as the hunted
- I believe AR is a good coach and has these guys on the right path
- IF we make finals will scape in ( i think we miss by %) and making up numbers - WB have given everyone the delusion you can win it from anywhere.

Now the stuff which i am sure will start debate:

- Hickeys performance last night was unacceptable. His lack of competitiveness and effort at times was embarrassing for a guy who 12 months ago was No.1 ruck and smashed the best ruckman last year in Gawn. Footy starts in the middle. Must be dropped.
- Whatever we paid for Carlisle was unders. Without him last night we are 10 goals down at half time.
- Roo is one of the best players i have seen wear the jumper but i think time is up . He still has the desire and ability to influence games every so often but he is a Champion and should go out with a little left in the tank rather than running on empty. Ultimately he has earned the privilege to make the call i just think it should be done soon.
- Joey was great last week but is he off half back stifling the development of Rice, White, Webster, Savage, etc? While he is probably better than them at the moment we aren't winning a premiership this year . Tough call does he go or can he be a Matthew Boyd type?
- We lack a class on baller. We have no silk. Ross is a hard worker and probably a B+ mid. Steven covers ground well but foot skills can let him down, Newness and Billings are almost there but again not as good with disposal as should be. We have no Winmar, Dal Santo, etc. Class users who will hit targets lace out consistently. Whatever it takes to get Kelly or Martin or Whitfield must be done.

All we want to see is effort and improvement which overall I have seen this year , the next step though is the hardest and perhaps we need a small step back to go forward?

Cant see us beating Syd, Port away
50/50 - WC here, Melbourne and Richmond
Win North.

Great post. Agree 100% with everything. We must get games into White and others. We have to bite the bullet on Joey, although as you say, he probably has earnt another year. The problem is that we aren't ready to be a contender, and that would be the only reason that you'd want him to play on.

[mr six o'clock]

Hickey was never going to be a match winner on Friday.
He's missed allot of footy through injury and playing limited time in the VFL.
He should have played at least a half for sandy last Sunday.
When you don't play you lose touch
I wonder how long the boys spend on goal kicking practice

[thejiggingsaint]

I'm sure Tom wasn't happy with his own performance. No sense in heaping more crap on him. I'm sure that he'll come good again.

[older saint]

I'm sure Tom wasn't happy with his own performance. No sense in heaping more crap on him. I'm sure that he'll come good again.

I am sure he wasn't as anyone with competitive bone in their body would be. I would also hope footballers wouldn't be silly enough to waste time reading crap like this from never were let alone want to be footballer, who are armchair experts like myself.

[thejiggingsaint]

Spoken like an (armchair?) expert older Saint!