N e 1 hear MM's presser after the game? Was listening on radio on way home and they were asking why Watto hasnt been getting a game.......I nearly drove off the road when MM said that Watto's form ALL YEAR has been very encouraging but Jamo and hendo were doing the job for him. His form encouraging
I cant take MM seriously any more after that. Cudo's to Watto for last nights effort. It wasnt awe inspiring but he did " a " job and passed. Hopefully he can keep it up and prove to everybody that he really does want to be a Blue.
If he gets asked the question a smart coach isn't going to talk him down. He is a whipping boy and often plays alot better than everyone thinks. He has his knocks, intensity, pace etc.., which I have seen, but hasn't let anyone down yet when he's played seniors. Remember he's just a 20yo KP player. Would be such a massive bonus to our entire structure if he made it.
Agree with this.
People criticize him like he's played 100 senior games. The only criterion for judging him now is potential. And IMO he has it. KPP that are ready to roll at his age are as rare as rocking horse s@#t. They take a while to come on.
There were many (on here and elsewhere) who thought for many years that Hawkins was a spud.
I don't get the negativity about last night's win. It was a good, solid win... one we had to and should have won. They threw everything at us and we had the answers. The twin talls up forward were both terrific. And when Eddie came on he showed some of his old dash.
Another big test is against a mob who like to beat us up... the Kangabies. Huge game.
Don't know if it's negativity Baggers - just nothing to get excited about. Saints have been a bogey team for us for ages. But they have also been on the slide now for 2-3 seasons, and are now officially garbage - their best players are past their use by date, and a few of them weren't even playing. Watters is a crap coach, they've won three games this year. This was desperation time for us. We simply had to win.
As for Norf, they are much better than the Saints, and will be a better test for us - I'm not confident at all.
I too wasnt convinced we would win until late....very late in the game!
Talking to some supporters at the ground, a lot of them said the same thing...." where is our flair?? we dont play with any flair anymore. Its stand here, run there stuff. Very rigid stuff and a real lack of taking a risk type football" They've got a point!!
Thought Hendo and Rowe were great last night. Worked well together and looked for each other when the other had the ball.
Kreuz seemed to get first hand to the ball at every contest but appeared to be tapping it to the white jumpers rather than the blue!!
There was a boundary throw in right beside our point post and Kruez got his hand to the ball and tapped it toward the goal square, 5 or so meters out....beautiful stuff it really was, but the problem was that the Aints players all ran there and all our blokes were out in the pocket wanting the tap to go back the other way!! I dont know who to be critical of here but it definataley is making Kruez look stupid!!
Is that where he's being instructed to hit the ball ???Is it lack of talk with our mids??? Are our mids the stupid one's maybe? Dont know the answer but for the amount of times Kreuz gets a free ride to the ball through good positioning, the team in no way shape or form seem to be reeping the benefits!!!!!!
We still seem to be getting mixed messages out there.......either that or we really do have some dumb footballers playing for us. It was a win. Effort, skill, physicality was still way down on our effort against the Hawks but at least we won.
Armfield needs a rest. Curnow is poo. Cachia ok. Touhy some nice things and all in all beat Milne. McInnes was solid/dependable, thought Betts was great and gave us impact imediately when he came on.
Was Carrots injured or just taken off by MM???
Judd is a superstar. They say he carried WC for all those years. I'm sorry if we broke you Juddy. You truelly are a gem. Was an honour to watch you ork last night.
Flair usually lasts as long as the confidence and composure is there to execute. Our flair existed only in those games where we could run free and look good that doesn't happen when the other side is serious with its pressure. We need players who can keep their composure and execute under extreme pressure, I'm not sure we have enough of them yet.
Flair? Forget flair.
Flair doesn't win you Grand Finals. If you listed teams based on flair, the reigning premiers would be 18th!
What we had last night was a well oiled machine. Didn't look pretty, but worked brilliantly, even if we had a few suspect parts in it.
We played well. We played 4 quarters. We were crucified early, we were attacked physically....we won.
Forget flair, i'll take that performance each and every week.
It's stating the obvious, but you need both good attack and good defense to play and win finals. Without turning this into word definition 101, I would say the Dawks and Cats play with plenty of flair, but have good defense to back it up. Swannies are more defense orientated, but are miles way from the "ugly football" slur of yesteryear. You can't win finals unless you post a decent score. The team under Ratts had plenty of flair, and little defense. MM needs to add defense without sacrificing attack - that is his challenge.
Heard that Sticks came out in the pre match and defended our list. Seriously, is he for real ? Confirms what a lot of us are thinking about him and his board!
Should he do a Collo and come out and say they are shizen? Even if he did believe that, what good could it possibly achieve?
He shouldn't comment at all. BT and Darcy mocked his comments after they were reported, so ridiculous are they.
Hang on a sec, don't we all mock the sht out of them for their stupid opinions? I'd be backing our pres any day over those two turkeys.
Agree - if I have to hear BT (aka Big Turdface) say Big Boy McEvoy again................
Every AFL list has its weak spots and can be improved. Having said that, our list as it stands currently is easily good enough to make top 8, and I would say with a bit of luck and what not, is also good enough to nudge the top 4, and in fact was almost top 4 recently. The list needs a couple of changes, not a major overhaul.
Where was Garlett tonight ?? Hardly saw him at all.
What did people think of the physical aggression in the first quarter ?? Thought it was a good sign but it didn't actually help us perform any better than what we normally do.
Garlett got more into the game as it progressed, did ok in the end.
As to the biffo, nobody cleaned up Milne. 'Nuff said.
Good to break some sort of a hoodoo against that rubbish club, but nothing to write home about. Saints have a few of their best 22 out - Kozi, Blake, Schneider etc.
Wow Carrazzo subbed? First time in his life he's been subbed off without injury.
Sounds like Milne is starting to tear us a new one.
Chris, Carrots was subbed - I don't think he's injured, maybe just a lack of of match fitness. Turdface Milne has kicked 2, so not super influential, but 2 is about 100 too many for him.
Both teams are crap - any of the teams in the top 8 would be penciling in a win against both. Actually, forget about a pencil - they can use indelible ink.
I read it in print this morning and wasn't online. Found it now in the subscription section of the small paper online.
HS 12/7/2013
WHILE no coach likes to lose, Carlton and Richmond's results would have especially stung their respective coaches last week.
After a defeat where nothing seemed to go right, the coach must be quick to collect his thoughts. The most dangerous period of the week - and, in fact, a coach's career - can be directly after a shock.
The walk from the coach's box to the changerooms is long and this time must be used to compose yourself and work through what you will say to the team.
Many thoughts are running through your head, including what the assistant coaches would have said during the game - mostly uncomplimentary - to the players.
However, I found the best course of action is to say nothing because there is often nothing positive to say.
All coaches know once you start to open your mouth it is hard to shut it and it is in these moments that relationships can be permanently broken. The other upside to saying nothing is it gives you breathing space to look at the game closely and have a much clearer picture of what went wrong.
Both coaches would be asking themselves if the result was an aberration or there were some worrying trends that need to be addressed.
Damien Hardwick could justify stamping the North Melbourne game "aberration", but not Mick Malthouse after the loss to Collingwood.
Carlton appears to have some serious problems. I had the Blues comfortably finishing in the eight and, if their best 22 was fit and available, as it has been for most of the year, pushing for top four.
Yet this week's discussion has centred on the Blues' list and its "many holes". How can a team that has had so many early draft picks claim to have a poor list?
Most of those players taken with early picks were rated extremely highly by all recruiters. Clearly the Blues have made some list management errors and, if they had traded some early picks, might have won a premiership by now. However, to blame their recruiting department is a cop-out. On the list of current problems recruiting is a long way down.
The game against the Magpies again exposed a number of areas that have become a worry for Mick. In the past four games, the Blues have punished just 16 per cent of opposition turnovers with a score, the second-lowest percentage of any team.
It would appear the Blues' down-the-line, conservative approach is stalling the team.
It is something Mick talked about earlier in the season and I'm sure it would have been a source of discussion this week among the coaching staff.
The Blues have trailed at three-quarter time on six occasions this season and have failed to finish in front in any of these games.
Is this a result of poor fitness or, again, because of the struggle the team is having with conservative ball use?
Carlton has the second-worst kicking efficiency in the defensive 50 this season, again, a worrying trend.
Mick must continue to work on the game plan and develop the list. There should be no talk of 2014 and trading until he can determine what this group can do.
I suspect the group is capable of much better than it has produced and that is the coach's test.
The Tigers, on the other hand, are competent in most areas - if not a standout - and that's why Damien would have looked at last week's game as something out of the ordinary.
Ironically, they had 73 tackles against North and this is their weakest area (54 average).
The Tigers have done a lot right this year and I will be looking closely to see how they bounce back today against Gold Coast, a team they have never beaten.
Thanks for that Goat.
Maybe I have my own way of reading that piece (and like most of these guys, Roos keeps it a bit ambiguous), but in the main, I read that as a swipe at Malthouse.
I don't think recruitment is the key issue, I'm more disappointed with development of some of our picks.
He makes a couple of obvious points but his credibility is pretty ordinary given his lack of ability to identify what a club needs to rebuild, develop etc.
Better read is Roos article in the picture paper. He says we could have traded early picks and may have won a premiership by now, but he goes on to say "to blame the recruiting dept is a cop-out. On the list of current problems recruiting is a long way down." He's basically saying that the over conservative game plan is stalling the team, and lists other issues that need addressing on field.
This new site is taking a little time to adjust to, and understand, but it is way faster. Be interesting if it doesn't exist, to have an info area that explains how everything works and what it means (Shout etc). For new people and idiots like me. Having said that I bet it already exists but I haven't found it yet.
Mantis, glad to see the return of the green stick, but not quite as green as I remember.
Look closer buddy. This is the revamped cyborg type new technology bug. I have another too which will surface from time to time. At BBB.
Thanks for the write up. I always worry pressing a button will send me to the darkest side of cyberspace. Maybe turn this site up side down and inside out.
Mantis, ha ha.
Darkest side of cyberspace ? That would be the buttons that take you to BomberBlitz, Saintsational, or Punt Road End.
This new site is taking a little time to adjust to, and understand, but it is way faster. Be interesting if it doesn't exist, to have an info area that explains how everything works and what it means (Shout etc). For new people and idiots like me. Having said that I bet it already exists but I haven't found it yet.
Mantis, glad to see the return of the green stick, but not quite as green as I remember.
