First of all, well done Liam Jones! I never thought I would see Liam kick the winning goal but he did and his effort in the last quarter was telling.
Secondly, Marc Murphy's effort to run to Jones after the siren and congratulate him shows why he is our rightful captain. His leadership throughout the game was exceptional but acknowledging Jones's efforts like that could well get the latter's career back on track. The wankers who criticise Murph should crawl back into their burrows.
Finally, wasn't it great to see Bolton celebrating the win with the players?
You can question my thoughts on Mick You can question my thoughts on players
But I am at the worst ground in Australia, hoping to see the green sprouts. I have seen us get belted by 120 points and heartache losing by 3 in a semi here.
You cannot question my support for this club and we should all be in this together!
Go blues!
Have a great day Shadesy!
I'm looking forward to reading about your observations of our green sprouts.
Yep was there today. 1 KJ goal was Joe the goose, the other 2 from marks. Once the contest was over, so was he. Jammo struggled. Was out positioned and out marked by VFL players. Those who want to promote Silvagni need to go and watch a game. He's going to be very good but at the moment he gives 100% chases, tackles and smothers with intent, but struggles in the contest to win the ball and match it with the big bodies. He just needs time.
It's a good thing sides aren't selected on the basis of highlight packages!
Thanks for your observations. It seems that we won't be seeing KJ, Jack or Jamo in the firsts in the near future.
Just on that, is it possible that they are doing this by instruction? God forbid but you have to ask the question. Why isn't Bolton ripping into Gibbs and Murphy telling them to win their own ball? He called Murph a tough in and under player just two days ago but if he was that, surely he'd have a few more clearances? Just doesn't make sense.
Can anyone be forked pulling out both Murphy and Jibbs clearance averages in comparison to last year's?
Bolton made a comment about the players having to learn not to rely on Murphy, Gibbs and Kreuzer. I wouldn't put it past him to have changed their roles in order to challenge other players, particularly as it is a long term process for Bolton and wins and losses are not all that important this season - although there's no doubt he'll take a win if it's on offer.
It's clear that Kreuzer's role has changed and I'll be watching the other two more closely today.
As discussed in an earlier thread, there's a lot of absorbing footy being played by the Bluebaggers even if it's not getting us the four points.
The preview of the game on the Freo website is quite different to some of the discussion we've had:
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The clash pits the league’s second most experienced side against the competition's third least, with Freo holding an advantage of 22 games per player over the Blues.
Freo’s disposal efficiency of 71 percent is below what they’d be aiming for and, when compared with Carlton’s 75 per cent.
The upside to these numbers is that Fremantle is just under the league average of 74 percent.
Despite fielding a very raw forward line, the Blues are averaging 11 marks inside 50 so far in 2016 – only one behind the league average of 12.
Levi Casboult is averaging two-and-a-half marks inside 50 – equal with the likes of Nick Riewoldt, Kurt Tippett and Drew Petrie – and presents a real challenge for Freo’s defence.
Zac Dawson has started the year well, averaging 10 spoils and smothers each time he’s taken the field, and will link up with Michael Johnson and Alex Pearce to subdue the Blues attacking forays.
Jon Griffin and Zac Clarke will be battling against the Carlton ruck pair Matthew Kreuzer and Andrew Phillips, who have been averaging 40 hitouts between them in the first four rounds.
Their tandem rucking has helped the clearance work of Patrick Cripps, with the rising midfield star working his way to the top of the clearance and contested possession lists.
yes it is - when I receive an email from carlton today giving me a free ticket to give to a friend for the carlton v essendon rd 6, you know that carlton is INSOLVENT
I would have thought that indicates that we are adopting innovative marketing strategies.
Buckley gets a game at carlton solely because his name is buckley....he has no tricks. .he kicks before he thinks. .and is all bluster. .
That is a silly comment. Buckley gets a game because he has a crack and he's in our best 22. That may help to explain our position on the ladder but Buckley's name would carry no weight with our match committee.
The process at the moment is education...when we get all the pieces to the puzzle ie required players to fill or the gaps we can work on the method/game plan. I wouldnt be bothered over complicating things at the moment, some of our players are struggling with the basics..if we had 40 Weiterings/Cripps on the list then we could skip process 101 and move to 301 but thats dreamimg...
I think Bolton himself admitted in a post match presser a week or two go all he can do is educate this season and look to cut and draft more players at season end...he knows he need another big cull to get the list in shape..
I don't think Bolton has said anything about the list other than positive comments. Unlike previous coaches, he is very supportive of the playing group in his public comments. Of course, what he thinks privately may well be a different matter.
I think that he is pretty realistic about how long it will take before the gameplan is second nature and we develop the 'polish and execution' to carry it off.
VAGUELY like a functional forward line. More vague than anything else, but with our tall forwards actually kicking goals it cant be TOO bad. That said, we need more from the small and mid forwards and more scoring from the midfielders (like the good teams actually do). But it appeared to work better than the forward line in seniors has been (not an impossible task by any means).
Foster ended up in defence, but that was because he didn't fit into the forward half and Jamo didn't play. If Jamo actually plays, then Foster at CHB is superfluous. Of the defenders, White was the most impressive. If he gets promoted, there still isn't really a spot for Foster. He hasn't shown the ability to read the ball to take on a mid sized forward.
Fraser seems to think he's a defender Crash:
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Foster continues to work hard on areas of his game as a defender and he had a couple of impressive one-on-one contests: now it’s about finding consistency
A reasonable conjecture, as we have NOT played all of our emergencies in the VFL once yet. One or 2 to go West would be almost certain, possibly all 3. However, there will be a few guys back; Silvagni, most probably Walker, also a good chance of Everitt getting up. Wood was NOT mentioned in dispatches as being injured, so must also be highly probable to play. On the other hand, Foster may well end up in the Development game, as his numbers have not been great and we now have something vaguely like a functional forward line in the VFL.
I never thought this would happen but Jones has to be a chance to come in for the Dockers game.
Fraser was full of praise:
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Stats: 14 disposals, 9 marks (5 contested, 4 inside 50), 3 inside 50s, 5 goals From the coach: Another strong performance from Liam: he provided a real focal point forward of ball. He continues to provide repeat efforts and is showing good leadership.
And Bolton says he's a chance:
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Bolton said the Blues would consider recalling tall forward Liam Jones for the Freo clash. The former Bulldog sits on top of the VFL goalkicking ladder with eight goals after two rounds, including five last weekend against Geelong.
Just going on Fraser's assessments, White would be pressing for selection and, while he's probably due for another run in the NBs, Armfield's "effort and energy . . . ability to apply pressure . . . and his leadership and spirit . . ." wouldn't go astray.
Everitt is apparently over his calf injury and is in selection contention too (I imagine much to the dismay of some supporters).
It will be interesting if Jones does come in. I can't really see any of Casboult, Phillips and Kreuzer going out and Charlie Curnow has done enough to keep his spot. Perhaps he'll be 'rested'.
