Cripps is taller at 1.94 but Kennedy is two axe handles wide across the shoulders. He's had years of weight training and has clearly made the most of it. I don't think anyone on our list has a physique like Kennedy.
Now, if they replaced Newman, Brayshaw and Brownless, changed the format, and brought back Trevor Marmalade I might even think about watching the show.
Kennedy is a monster in comparison to Cripps. However, looks can be deceiving and I suspect Cripps has similar strength.
Curnow ran with Kennedy in the NAB game and shut him down quite well. At stoppages Kennedy was going to Cripps and Curnow would pick up another Swan. Once Cripps got the clearance, Curnow would pick up Kennedy again.
It's a big test for Bolton and the list this week. Sydney are in red hot form and have been able to get a look at how we are likely to set up for most of this season excluding injuries.
Sydney have the numbers to counter Gibbs and Murphy in the midfield, it will be interesting to see what Bolton does when these players get sat on by an opposition. Also what Bolton does to deal with the likes of Franklin and Tippett.
I thought that we had quite an edge over Sydney's midfield in the NAB game. Both were below full strength but I don't think that's the part of the game that will be giving Bolton headaches. A lot will depend on whether we can lock the ball inside forward 50.
Too soon for Levi to get dropped IMO. I think BB will persevere with him for 2 - 3 games to see if he can come good, and hopefully provide him with some assistance to practice his goal kicking in the meantime. We have to really find out for sure about him and there aren't too many other similar alternatives atm.
My tip would be one change only, Daisy in, probably for Buckley.
I really don't think Levi's goal kicking is all that important to Bolton. It's whether he plays his role in the team that will determine whether he gets a game or not. Kicking a few goals will help though.
I was thinking Daisy for Buckley but I'm not so sure now. Daisy won't provide the defensive pressure in the forward 50 that Buckley did. I think that Daisy will come in, but I'm not sure who will go out.
If gorringe comes in it will be at someone else's expense.
Can't afford to drop Casboult. At worst he'll get the number one defender and at best he will get the second best defender.
Exactly!
Gorringe will have to do more than kick 3 goals in a VFL practice match before he takes anyone's spot. He has been groomed for a third tall role but I can't see him displacing Everitt and he's well behind Phillips as second ruck.
Not that I think great players can't go on to be great coaches at the same club. We'll never know how successful Ratten could have been with us but, despite the bleating from the Malthouse apologists, he dragged us from the bottom into the finals.
I think that one of the key factors is ensuring that the coach, whether he is a club great or not, has done an apprenticeship, preferably with a successful team, and has coached in his/her own right. I reckon Ratten would be a much better coach now than when he got the job with us.
The 'can't be a coach at your old club' mantra is a little like the 'can't be an AFL coach if you haven't played at AFL level' furphy.
It was interesting listening to the ABC today. Of course a lot of the talk was about Fremantle, the Bulldogs, the Swans and Collingwood but one of the commentators kept referring back to our game. He was making the point that, if a couple of relatively easy goals had been scored, the conversation would have been all about the wooden spooners defeating a top four contender. Yes, our 22 was strengthened by a couple of new blokes and the return of Gibbs, but the turnaround is really down to Bolton. How good is it to have a coach who actually knows what he is doing?
Even if we match them in other areas of the ground we do not have a forward line capable of kicking a winning score. The best we can hope for is a four quarter effort, but it's going to be a frustrating year if that's our best hope.
Our losing score against Richmond was higher than the scores managed by four of the teams that played on Saturday.
We need to be scoring around 100 points in each game, and we should have managed that on Thursday. I don't think that Bolton is concerned about who kicks the goals, it's more about how we score. If we can lock the ball inside the forward 50, as we did against Richmond, the goals will come.
Undermanned? They were only without Deliedo, Maric and Grigg. They would've only have triuly missed Deliedio of that lot.
Everything has to be taken in context. We were expected to be no good and pumped with our list and very nearly won. If we were a gun side and lost then a D or E, as a cellar dweller nearly beating a top 5 side, worth a B-. That's my best possible score for a loss.
I really don't care what rating you give the team. I happen to believe that losing is unacceptable and, while I may go to a C for a hard fought loss, that's my limit.
What's a 10 goal win worth, A++++++? How about about a 20 goal win in a grand final?
We could debate this ad nauseum, not to mention folk who refuse to give Gibbs votes, but that's not the purpose of this thread. We all have our own way of voting and rating teams, it's subjective, and there's no right or wrong way and nothing to gain by arguing about it.
I have been reading your posts for many years - I thought it was unlikely you would have misconstrued my message, but I just wanted to be sure.
I think whilst there are no other alternatives, both Cas and Everitt have a place in the team. As I stated earlier, if you play them to their strengths, they both can make valuable contributions.
I'm sure Bolton will be pondering how to achieve that and will fine tune our structure until they do so more consistently.
Casboult missed two easy goals but he did a lot of good work. Seven marks, most of them contested or the result of his own efforts, is a good return for a key forward. He was playing on one of the best defenders running around, and managed to crunch him in one contest.
Everitt is not every supporters' ideal footballer but I'd have him in the team as long as he continues to kick goals.
