*** Release the NEGATIVITY ***

[mjp]

I don't want to tell anyone how to suck eggs, but we all know the game yesterday was:

1/. A pre-season game.
2/. A pre-season game played thousands of kms from home in unrealistic conditions.
3/. A pre-season game played thousands of kms from home in unrealistic conditions against a team that played its first game against opposition last week.
4/. A pre-season game played thousands of kms from home in unrealistic conditions against a team that played its first game against opposition last week...and the opposition they easily defeated last week also EASILY defeated another team (Hawthorn) yesterday who were ALSO having their first 'real' hit out.

I know we are all frustrated after a couple of disappointing seasons, but COME ON. I have just read the match-day thread about a game we quite honestly dominated and lost by a kick because of a combination of poor i50's and poor goal kicking. With THREE (3) - yep, THREE (3) - of our most likely goal-kickers in Dickson, Schache and 'The Fergus' not playing...

It's gonna be alright.

I agree it probably would have been helpful to move Richards back in JJ's absence - or have another runner behind the ball - but I don't think a lot of 'match day' coaching was going on. And yes, Easton Wood was disappointing but we haven't got to round 1 yet...he is the captain of the side and a lot better than he showed...

It's gonna be alright.

[comrade]

You’re right but I’m also pretty sure we were saying “it’s only the pre-season” the past 2 years when we were missing targets, kicking blindly inside 50 and missing goals from 20m out. If we’re foxing and have some sort of different game plan/style about to be unleashed that we decided not to display last night, I’ll happily eat my words of concern.

But what we saw last night was: no genuine ruck option, a very ‘unconventional’ forward set up (if we are relying on Shaq, Dickson and Ferg to transform us we’re in trouble) a bunch of poor ball users down back and a fairly one paced midfield. None of that changes at Marvel Stadium and it screams red flags IMO

[Greystache]

I think I read this last year after the first few outings also... we finished 13th.

[hujsh]

Prove us wrong Bulldogs

[AshMac]

Bit surprised by the negative sentiment in general tbh - lots of positives IMO.

Loved our ground work, and our core group of ‘senior players’ all look in top nick.

It also seems Bevo is a coach that simulates the season, whilst clearly experimenting in JLT games. Think he’ll go a tall fwd line next week and hopefully play English in ruck 80%.

[mjp]

...if we are relying on Shaq, Dickson and Ferg to transform us we’re in trouble...

Why? What is wrong with those three players? Why couldn't they transform us?

We are talking about a PROVEN medium size goal-scorer in Dickson, a number 2 overall draft pick who has played 40-games and showed a lot of positive signs during 2018 and a tall, hard leading young player with telescopic arms who is a tough match-up.

Of course I would have been happier had we come out and blitzed it last night, but for goodness sakes - consigning the team to 13th (or WORSE) on the basis of a single game and suggesting that 'nothing has changed' is just crazy talk.

There were some pretty positive things in last nights performance and despite our bunch of poor ball users and one paced midfield we genuinely dominated possession (and territory) throughout the game...the glass half empty approach is absolutely driving me insane. I know we are on here to discuss the game and 'tell it how you see it', but for goodness sake. I am seeing calls for Sweet to play in the ruck as if a kid off the rookie list who is 10000 miles off the pace is going to be the saviour? English is going to be alright. Trengrove is going to be alright. Witts getting every hit-out should not be a surprise - he is a bloody good tap ruckman. Gold Coast are being dismissed as opposition when they are actually pretty talented and their list is filled with high draft picks and more to the point, players who genuinely want to be there...Dew is a good coach. This time last year 'everyone' was saying North wouldn't win a game...as it turned out, they were pretty ok.

It's a pre-season game. The coach said he was using the game to look at a few things and get some conditioning into players...pretty sure those comments aren't reflective of a team that is at 100% full-strength.

And for those who read similar comments last year 'as well', good. Let me know how going into a season with a negative, hyper-critical supporter base helped the team last season? You reckon all the groans and 'bad vibes' that seemed present at so many games HELPED us play good footy? It wasn't until late in the year when all was lost and the pressure was off that things started rolling...

I know I am ranting now but why does everyone say 'it doesn't matter what happens in the pre-season' then dissect the performance as if it means something? This game is supposed to be fun for us as well as the players - hell, we are all supposed to be on the SAME SIDE - but sometimes you have to wonder. Hunter is our reigning B&F winner and is criticised mercilessly - it wasn't his greatest ever game but he ran pretty hard and had it 30+ times. Wood is the captain and his place in the team is questioned - after a single pre-season game played in FNQ that we lost by a GOAL. Can't we just look at the positives, suggest that those who battled will be 'better for the run' and look forward to the opportunities still to be given to those who stayed home?

[G-Mo77]

Prove us wrong Bulldogs

I think that's how I'll see it from here on. My expectations are as low as they could possibly be, bottom 4 IMO. The story seemed similar last night to what has been repeated over the past 2 seasons. If it wasn't so similar I'd wipe it off as a kick and giggle in the preseason.

We'll see how it goes.......

[comrade]

Why? What is wrong with those three players? Why couldn't they transform us?

We are talking about a PROVEN medium size goal-scorer in Dickson, a number 2 overall draft pick who has played 40-games and showed a lot of positive signs during 2018 and a tall, hard leading young player with telescopic arms who is a tough match-up.

There's nothing wrong with them, but relying on an increasingly injury prone Dickson and two completely unproven forwards in Schache and especially Fergus to fix our forward issues is overly optimistic in my opinion. None of them are going to be much use under the high ball inside 50 our team seems utterly dedicated to executing over and over.



Of course I would have been happier had we come out and blitzed it last night, but for goodness sakes - consigning the team to 13th (or WORSE) on the basis of a single game and suggesting that 'nothing has changed' is just crazy talk.

What has changed from the end of 2018 to now, based on what you have seen across the pre-season and last night, that suggests we're on the rise?

In 2015 and 2016, you could just tell we had a game plan and squad that would catch other teams unawares. We passed the eye test in those pre-season games and the results followed. I can't see why 2019 will buck the trend.

And I don't know if I buy into the idea of negative fans leading to negative results. The groans and criticism would be non-existent if we were playing well and showing forward progress.

[Mantis]

4/. A pre-season game played thousands of kms from home in unrealistic conditions against a team that played its first game against opposition last week...and the opposition they easily defeated last week also EASILY defeated another team (Hawthorn) yesterday who were ALSO having their first 'real' hit out.

I'm not sure if you caught much of the BL v Haw game, but the Haw team was pretty much unrecognisable and due to personnel issues had their best player in that team playing out of position.


I know we are all frustrated after a couple of disappointing seasons, but COME ON. I have just read the match-day thread about a game we quite honestly dominated and lost by a kick because of a combination of poor i50's and poor goal kicking. With THREE (3) - yep, THREE (3) - of our most likely goal-kickers in Dickson, Schache and 'The Fergus' not playing...

It's gonna be alright..

So were pinning our hopes on a 31yo who has played 17 games in 2 seasons & 2 kids who show promise, but are both still extremely raw? Will be interesting to see how we try and fit everyone in if those 3 are all to play in our best team.


I agree it probably would have been helpful to move Richards back in JJ's absence - or have another runner behind the ball - but I don't think a lot of 'match day' coaching was going on. And yes, Easton Wood was disappointing but we haven't got to round 1 yet...he is the captain of the side and a lot better than he showed...



But with JJ missing for a bit you would think it would be a priority to look at our options for a running defender who can help set up play.. it seemed from last night that it will be Duryea who is given first crack, but is that his go? I'm not sure.... we had Suckling playing as a hit up forward, and not doing much when he was probably more suited to heading down back. I guess we will find out against St.Kilda what our line of thinking is.




I know I am ranting now but why does everyone say 'it doesn't matter what happens in the pre-season' then dissect the performance as if it means something? This game is supposed to be fun for us as well as the players - hell, we are all supposed to be on the SAME SIDE - but sometimes you have to wonder. Hunter is our reigning B&F winner and is criticised mercilessly - it wasn't his greatest ever game but he ran pretty hard and had it 30+ times. Wood is the captain and his place in the team is questioned - after a single pre-season game played in FNQ that we lost by a GOAL. Can't we just look at the positives, suggest that those who battled will be 'better for the run' and look forward to the opportunities still to be given to those who stayed home?

Hunter always runs hard, he is absolutely elite at getting down back to create an option, but his ability to set-up further afield isn't where it needs to be... he just doesn't distribute the ball as well as we need him to and it is a cause for frustration. Our game style & personnel doesn't help the situation because due to limited distributors from defence we really need the likes of Hunter to get back to assist more than perhaps we should.

Anyway not sure anyone is hanging the team on one game, but the fact that we are all 'footy hungry' means that once the ball is bounced, regardless of being a pre-season game or not we are all watching, looking for improvement in game style, and generally the areas that have held us back over the past couple of years.. on that performance not much has, but we wait in hope that things will be better when we next hit the ground, lets hope they are.

[dogman]

I agree with you mjp it wasn't all doom and gloom.

Shaq, Dicko and Ferg are our most natural forwards but seems they are currently not in our best 24 players at the moment. All 3 played VFL yesterday and are not injured. Looks like Bevo rates English higher then the Shaq, Lloyd higher then Dicko and Suckers higher then Ferg in the forward line.

I don't believe English, Trengove and Shaq can all play in the same team, we will be far too slow, especially when we are playing 3 talls in defense who are also slow. Hopefully by years end, English can play 80% of the game in the ruck and the Shaq can provide a chop out. Trengove needs to provide more up forward if he is to remain in the team but hasn't shown much to get excited about over the last 12 months.

Seems like Lloyd offers more around the ground then Dicko but we are crying for some natural forwards that can finish off the good work.

[mjp]

I'm not sure if you caught much of the BL v Haw game, but the Haw team was pretty much unrecognisable and due to personnel issues had their best player in that team playing out of position.

Only saw bits of the first half (was at wedding). But Brisbane looked to have a similar list of names to last week when GC waxed them...half way through the first quarter last night it was 4 goals to zero - which means we won the rest of the game by 4 goals which I think would have been a result everyone was comfortable with.




So were pinning our hopes on a 31yo who has played 17 games in 2 seasons & 2 kids who show promise, but are both still extremely raw? Will be interesting to see how we try and fit everyone in if those 3 are all to play in our best team.

Well - this is where I get frustrated. All I have been reading on this site is about our depth and how much talent we have - and my lament (yep, I couldn't agree with myself any more here) has been that we have 'depth' because we have a whole heap of guys who basically haven't done a single, quantifiable thing...so under the Sockeye Salmon '20-game-rule' we all think 'the best' of them. The players I mentioned have shown - as they showed in the VFL yesterday - an ability to ACTUALLY KICK A GOAL. Believe it or not, that is a skill. Guys who kick goals in the under 8's, tend to kick goals in the AFL (and every level in between). Those who don't, don't. So that is why I am frustrated with the negativity about them...they WILL KICK GOALS. The Fergus came in last year and immediately started having shots on goal every game...he is a forward and a goal-kicker. So is Dickson.

Players who WONT kick goals as forwards? Pretty much everyone else! If I am frustrated with anything at the moment, it is the continued use of Trengrove as a forward...he has played more than 100 AFL games and never has he been a dangerous forward...it isn't going to start now.



But with JJ missing for a bit you would think it would be a priority to look at our options for a running defender who can help set up play.. it seemed from last night that it will be Duryea who is given first crack, but is that his go? I'm not sure.... we had Suckling playing as a hit up forward, and not doing much when he was probably more suited to heading down back. I guess we will find out against St.Kilda what our line of thinking is.

See, I just think that's harsh on Duryea...it's his first game with the club. Suckling has kicked goals as both a winger and half back and kicked one last night to go along with a few i50's. I don't think playing him as a forward is necessarily a bad idea...we are playing this 'get it over the back' style and who better than Suckling to be trying to enter the ball that way?



Hunter always runs hard, he is absolutely elite at getting down back to create an option, but his ability to set-up further afield isn't where it needs to be... he just doesn't distribute the ball as well as we need him to and it is a cause for frustration. Our game style & personnel doesn't help the situation because due to limited distributors from defence we really need the likes of Hunter to get back to assist more than perhaps we should.

See, I thought he played a solid game and was far from the biggest problem. I also think we are seriously under-rating the GC mids (led by Witts, Miller and Fiorini) who are going to be pretty good. Miller was Vic Metro captain and is a good leader and organiser...should Hunter be a better player? Probably - but I just think the criticism of him based on last night is over the top and he SHOULD have a few credits in the bank.



Anyway not sure anyone is hanging the team on one game, but the fact that we are all 'footy hungry' means that once the ball is bounced, regardless of being a pre-season game or not we are all watching, looking for improvement in game style, and generally the areas that have held us back over the past couple of years.. on that performance not much has, but we wait in hope that things will be better when we next hit the ground, lets hope they are.

I think you know I value your opinion mate but once upon a time the pre-season was a chance to look at the kids and get to recognise the mature age recruits who have converted to the tri-colour...turning the game in non-afl conditions into a referendum on our list, team structure and game-style (which reading the match day thread this morning is how it felt) just seems to be insane.

Yes - we will watch with interest this week against the Saints (who won yesterday) but when we do, we should remember that the game is about PREPARATION not points and that if you think the output of Bont, Macrae, Hunter, Morris and our other A-graders is at mid-season level in JLT round 2, you just need to relax and ENJOY watching the boys play footy.

[Ghost Dog]

Top 8 if we stay injury free.

[hujsh]

I know I am ranting now but why does everyone say 'it doesn't matter what happens in the pre-season' then dissect the performance as if it means something? This game is supposed to be fun for us as well as the players - hell, we are all supposed to be on the SAME SIDE - but sometimes you have to wonder. Hunter is our reigning B&F winner and is criticised mercilessly - it wasn't his greatest ever game but he ran pretty hard and had it 30+ times. Wood is the captain and his place in the team is questioned - after a single pre-season game played in FNQ that we lost by a GOAL. Can't we just look at the positives, suggest that those who battled will be 'better for the run' and look forward to the opportunities still to be given to those who stayed home?

To be fair the question is based on 2-3 years of form. Last night provided a few examples (kicking and defensive bodywork) that caused me to reflect on that period but was not the sole cause of the question.

[ledge]

We only played 4 extra players , Gold Coast played 8 and rotated them through the game.
I rather we play as close to the real rules than running 8 when you can’t in a real game.

[chef]

I guess the negativity is because we looked and played like we have over the last two seasons, not much to get excited about atm.

Hell show us we have learnt, changed, progressed, evolved etc whatever and I'll start getting excited.

[bornadog]

Great OP which I totally agree with.

I can't believe what I am reading about a practise match. Let's wait till the season proper and see how the team goes before we start the doom and gloom.

[GVGjr]

Is it negativity or just frustration? I'd say nearly all of us want us to win games to give the side some momentum

I look to Bevo's presser and saw a relaxed man who thinks a few things need to be fixed and I didn't see any level of despair
Now unless he's a better actor than coach it seems like he got out of the game roughly what he wanted albeit he would have wanted a win

It's early days and I'm looking to our game against the Saints on Sunday as a better indication of where we are.

[Raw Toast]

A couple of quick points from someone who avoided watching yesterday's game.

I think Dickson might be on a modified program - pretty sure I saw him running laps with Picken and someone else the other day when riding past Whitten Oval. Makes sense not to take him up to FNQ.

I'm not going to go back and look at them, but doesn't Beveridge always (or almost always) treat the first practice match as a chance to experiment?

My main pre-season hopes for the men's team is that we have no major injuries, and the players who came on towards the end of last season continue to play with some confidence.

[mjp]

Is it negativity or just frustration? I'd say nearly all of us want us to win games to give the side some momentum


I get that - I do. But what momentum do you get out of beating GC in a game in early much when they play 28 and we play 24 and it is hot and humid and who even cares.

I read comments about people getting excited when we start showing some improvement.

The season is long enough for all the angst and hand wringing in the world. How about we do it in reverse and get excited about the team and players until the excitement is beaten out of us.

Things have been a hell of a lot worse than this and only a week ago the consensus seemed to be we had too much talent to squeeze into 22 spots...now no-one is any good? I just don't get it.

I know I am repeatedly repeating myself but this AFL stuff is supposed to be my 'fun' footy and entertaining and something I look forward too...I got home from a wedding relatively late last night and watched the replay. We were OK. I read the match day thread today and it was like I watched a different game. Footy is hard. There are two teams out there. There are new team-mates, roles and rules to cope with. Most of the players are uncertain of their place in the 'pecking order' (particularly the newcomers).

It's bad enough that non 'dogs people think we are no good and 'got lucky' in 16 without all of us fuelling the fire.

[SonofScray]

I think the season is cooked already. About to commemorate 25 years of Terry Wheeler's sacking in R2 with the same for Bevo.

I'm not even sure if I am serious or not. It's a possibility, a ridiculous possibility.

[Dry Rot]

I think that the negativity comes from seeing many problems from the past two seasons seemingly unresolved in 2019.

[jeemak]

A couple of quick points from someone who avoided watching yesterday's game.

I think Dickson might be on a modified program - pretty sure I saw him running laps with Picken and someone else the other day when riding past Whitten Oval. Makes sense not to take him up to FNQ.

I'm not going to go back and look at them, but doesn't Beveridge always (or almost always) treat the first practice match as a chance to experiment?

My main pre-season hopes for the men's team is that we have no major injuries, and the players who came on towards the end of last season continue to play with some confidence.

2015

Game 1 - Beat Richmond by 22 pts. Richmond finished the season 5th
Game 2 - Lost to Melbourne by 7 pts. Melbourne finished the season 13th
Game 3 - Beat Collingwood by 61 pts. Collingwood finished the season 12th

2016

Game 1 - Beat GWS by 31 pts. GWS finished the season 4th
Game 2 - Lost to Melbourne by 12 pts. Melbourne finished the season 11th
Game 3 - Lost to Collingwood by 2 pts. Collingwood finished the season 12th

Not sure I have a point, other than to say our preseason form was patchy in 15/16 and we lost to some ordinary opposition in very ordinary games from memory. Much worse than last night.

As I said in last night's match day thread, GCS had played together against opposition already this year, we hadn't, and it shouldn't be underestimated how much that actually counts for. In addition they've had from some accounts a heavily loaded preseason and possibly find themselves at a different stage than us a few weeks out from the season.

In last night's team we had Will Hayes, Taylor Duryea, Sam Lloyd, Bailey Smith, Libba returning and Dahlhaus gone, and players playing out of position for the sake of a run (every team has the same issues with changing personnel at this time of year, and that's why only Bombers supporters go completely apeshit over decent preseason form - remember 2008?). Given the conditions which would have been extremely taxing and difficult for both teams we managed to clearly outnumber the opposition for disposals which is a great sign at this time of year, but simply weren't clean in our first run.

With respect to bombing the footy, it was pretty clear this was still an issue at times but we also had some excellent entries with excellent kicks over the course of the game (Jacko and Lloyd stand out here), and with a couple of better decisions should have had a few more. Naughton's marking was outstanding, and Wallis's ability to hit the scoreboard was once again excellent. I definitely think Dickson and Schache will be regular fixtures this year, while they didn't play I'm not reading anything at all into it, and if Bailey Williams had have started the game there's a fair chance we'd have seen much more influence from him as he seemed a touch flat when he hit the second half.

I get frustration, but I don't get the hand wringing and like MJP find the negativity a bit alarming.*


*My rights to whip hunter for doing the simple things poorly remain reserved. He is a fantastic player but he *!*!*!*!ing kills me. :)

[bornadog]

I think the season is cooked already. About to commemorate 25 years of Terry Wheeler's sacking in R2 with the same for Bevo.

I'm not even sure if I am serious or not. It's a possibility, a ridiculous possibility.

You are funny. :D

[GVGjr]

I get that - I do. But what momentum do you get out of beating GC in a game in early much when they play 28 and we play 24 and it is hot and humid and who even cares.

I read comments about people getting excited when we start showing some improvement.

The season is long enough for all the angst and hand wringing in the world. How about we do it in reverse and get excited about the team and players until the excitement is beaten out of us.

Things have been a hell of a lot worse than this and only a week ago the consensus seemed to be we had too much talent to squeeze into 22 spots...now no-one is any good? I just don't get it.

I know I am repeatedly repeating myself but this AFL stuff is supposed to be my 'fun' footy and entertaining and something I look forward too...I got home from a wedding relatively late last night and watched the replay. We were OK. I read the match day thread today and it was like I watched a different game. Footy is hard. There are two teams out there. There are new team-mates, roles and rules to cope with. Most of the players are uncertain of their place in the 'pecking order' (particularly the newcomers).

It's bad enough that non 'dogs people think we are no good and 'got lucky' in 16 without all of us fuelling the fire.

It all comes down to what we as a club get out of the game. We fielded a strong enough side to win the game, we got more of the ball and we went in a couple of players light on for rotations than the Suns did so there are some positives. It's not like we got our arse kicked and it was a close game for the last half.
Some of the youngsters performed well which is always good for what is a a youngish list plus Macrae and Hunter dominated possession so there are positives if you choose to look for it. On top of that Bevo looked relaxed not upset in the presser and seems to think there are a few things to fix which I take as a good thing.
Now why I think people get frustrated is that the skill level that was going to be a focus this summer let alone when Bevo first arrived was disappointing to me which is understandably frustrating even if it is a JLT game.
As for getting lucky in 16, some of the commentary by the club itself that indicates a slide after the GF was somewhat inevitable and we are rebuilding the club or list. To me that is not right. I get that we are trying to explain why we fell back so far and we are trying to do that in a manner that gives the wider AFL competition the impression that we have it under control but I think that it also explains why some think that is a possibility that we just had a great final month. I've never been comfortable about our slide because we were awesome in 15/16 and just so nonchalant about a shitty performance in 17.

We have a great draw, exciting youngsters and we have eventually turned over the distracted players so I think it's a good indication that we are back on track. Well that is my take on it.

Some people might be negative, some might also place too high of importance on a JLT game but signs of the club playing some good footy is why so many people turn on the telly or go to the games and I get why it might frustrate a few.

It's been a long and quiet summer and for a forum that was a chance to close because of a lack of participation just a few weeks back I can handle the mixed emotions after a close loss.

[Mofra]

Has everyone completely missed the fact we outran our opposition with a 4 player bench vs a team playing an extended bench?
We are still falling down in the F50 and I am a little mystified why Shache (especially) didn't play.

Pre-season I earmarked Schache as our most important forward and nothing has changed that view.
I view Wallis purely as a forward yet he started in the guts. We played much better when he moved forward (after giving GCS a 4 goal lead with Wallis as a mid).
Lloyd's delivery into the F50 is excellent, he will be very important for us.
I though Duryea was a significant upgrade on Roarke Smith.

There were some negatives but mostly that was the last kick in a stupidly humid climate. I'll admit I'm already worried about Hayes' delivery under pressure.

[Greystache]

2015

Game 1 - Beat Richmond by 22 pts. Richmond finished the season 5th
Game 2 - Lost to Melbourne by 7 pts. Melbourne finished the season 13th
Game 3 - Beat Collingwood by 61 pts. Collingwood finished the season 12th

2016

Game 1 - Beat GWS by 31 pts. GWS finished the season 4th
Game 2 - Lost to Melbourne by 12 pts. Melbourne finished the season 11th
Game 3 - Lost to Collingwood by 2 pts. Collingwood finished the season 12th

Not sure I have a point, other than to say our preseason form was patchy in 15/16 and we lost to some ordinary opposition in very ordinary games from memory. Much worse than last night.

In that period our pattern was to play a strong team week 1, the players that didn't get a game in week 2, then a full strength side in week 3. When we played a strong team we won easily and played some really impressive footy. The exception to this was the second Collingwood match where we belted them early on before resting many of the senior players in the second half and letting them come back, but we'd already shown how good our best was going to be in that game. The home and away seasons reflected exactly that of our best preseason style.

We didn't show anything like the low skilled, disorganised, ineffective style we played with on the weekend. Our past 2 seasons however have very much resembled what we saw on the weekend.

[Topdog]

I'd rather we didnt even play other AFL clubs in the pre season. It is meaningless to the season proper

[bornadog]

I'd rather we didnt even play other AFL clubs in the pre season. It is meaningless to the season proper

Did you see Lippa miss that target at training last week, season gone :D

[Eastdog]

Did you see Lippa miss that target at training last week, season gone :D

Hoping he has a good year. Heaps of potential in that forward line. Our most reliable kick up there right now would be Josh Schache. Good mark and kick at goal. Hopefully Tory Dickson can get on the scoreboard as well.

[Mantis]

Has everyone completely missed the fact we outran our opposition with a 4 player bench vs a team playing an extended bench?


We out-scored GC by 5 points in the last qtr with both teams having 6 scoring shots apiece.

And whilst we had a couple of players less and only played 4 on the bench in each qtr, GC were also managing the game time of their players.


There were some negatives but mostly that was the last kick in a stupidly humid climate. I'll admit I'm already worried about Hayes' delivery under pressure.

The last kick has been an issue for a long period regardless of the conditions... and agree on Hayes, just don't see what his POD is at present, was hoping it would be kicking, but that doesn't seem likely.

[Greystache]

Did you see Lippa miss that target at training last week, season gone :D

Nah nah it's all good, the club knows best :D

[hujsh]

The last kick has been an issue for a long period regardless of the conditions... and agree on Hayes, just don't see what his POD is at present, was hoping it would be kicking, but that doesn't seem likely.
Seems to very much provide what we already have. Looking like coverage at best.

[Flamethrower]

I'd rather we didnt even play other AFL clubs in the pre season. It is meaningless to the season proper

Absolutely agree. I heard a suggestion that each team only play one trial game be against a VFL, WAFL or SANFL team. The anticipation for round 1 would be huge.

[soupman]

Absolutely agree. I heard a suggestion that each team only play one trial game be against a VFL, WAFL or SANFL team. The anticipation for round 1 would be huge.

Shit practice though. You'd be better off playing an intraclub.

Imagine picking a close to full strength side as most sides do for the second week, and then just annihilating some poor VFL side. It would be purely match type fitness and offer no benefit to testing out the effectiveness of any strategy.

Besides the way things are going in two years there'll be no state league clubs to play against anyway.

[Go_Dogs]

All I can say is I'm glad I didn't watch last week...let's hope mjp can make a 'put a lid on it' post tomorrow night.

[mjp]

I could create that post NOW if you like...just as a general expression of confidence?

[Go_Dogs]

I could create that post NOW if you like...just as a general expression of confidence?

I keep looking at our midfield thinking, who the hell is going to stop them??!! Go for it I say!