All this talk on the worth or otherwise of Kruse and Knockers got me thinking about Jacobs.

His stats for the game against Geelong: 19 disposals; 8 marks, 2 contested; 1 goal; 2 score assists; 26 hitouts, adv15%.

Okay, his hitouts to advantage stat isn't too impressive, although he still won more ruck contests than any other ruckman (next best McIntosh 19) but, oh to have a ruckman that can take 8 marks and gather 19 possessions. It's no good crying over spilt milk but, I never wanted him to go, at the time I would have rather lost Hammer or Knockers.

All this talk on the worth or otherwise of Kruse and Knockers got me thinking about Jacobs.

His stats for the game against Geelong: 19 disposals; 8 marks, 2 contested; 1 goal; 2 score assists; 26 hitouts, adv15%.

Okay, his hitouts to advantage stat isn't too impressive, although he still won more ruck contests than any other ruckman (next best McIntosh 19) but, oh to have a ruckman that can take 8 marks and gather 19 possessions. It's no good crying over spilt milk but, I never wanted him to go, at the time I would have rather lost Hammer or Knockers.

Robbo goes in at 100%

In my opinion (and at the end of the day it is all opinion as the coach has the final say) you can't get rid of one of the few players who has intensity in their attack on the ball and the opposition.

Give me a few dud disposals from Robbo over someone like McLean who shirks the issue, is one-speed, avoids tackles, and is more suited to soccer going by what he did on the weekend.

Robbo cost us the game - his disposal in the first half when the game was to be one was a constant momentum killer - no point going hard for the ball if you are going to give it right back to the opposition.

I think 3 changes...

Ins: Cripps, Holman, White,

Out: Walker, Robinson, Laidley

Robbo goes in at 100%

In my opinion (and at the end of the day it is all opinion as the coach has the final say) you can't get rid of one of the few players who has intensity in their attack on the ball and the opposition.

Give me a few dud disposals from Robbo over someone like McLean who shirks the issue, is one-speed, avoids tackles, and is more suited to soccer going by what he did on the weekend.

McLean has been playing football since 2004. This means it is his 11th year of football and he has never been elite. He is lucky he has lasted in the system this long. I hope he makes the most of this year for his sake.

We have to change our game plan , we have to try and copy cats,hawks style.I said the same thing last year. No more long bombs please. As for changes we need pace buckly bootsma, white is as slow as macca.

We have to change our game plan , we have to try and copy cats,hawks style.I said the same thing last year. No more long bombs please. As for changes we need pace buckly bootsma, white is as slow as macca.

We have to change our game plan , we have to try and copy cats,hawks style.I said the same thing last year. No more long bombs please. As for changes we need pace buckly bootsma, white is as slow as macca.

We have to change our game plan , we have to try and copy cats,hawks style.I said the same thing last year. No more long bombs please. As for changes we need pace buckly bootsma, white is as slow as macca.

My takeaway from watching Round1 was that the pre-season long bomb strategy was a ruse. Our forward entries were much better than say the North pre-season game. It was getting smashed in the middle for most of the game that ended up killing us. Im not going to throw stones at Waite and others - it was Kreuzer being a poor second ruck in the game that cost us.

I think if we are to win this game and many others this year, we really need to address our lack of midfield speed and run.

A midfield consisting of Murph, Gibbs, McLean, Curnow, Bell and Robinson lacks speed. Too many similar players in that midfield group. I think you can keep the first four mentioned but need to start getting more games into a Lucas type to add a bit of speed and run and carry. Don't get me wrong, I love Robbo and Bell's toughness around the stoppages but I'm getting sick of our low uncontested possession counts. We have no spread or easy possessions, all our ball is won around the packs and is never quality disposal. Not to mention, our forwards are not up to a high enough standard to benefit from long bombs into the forward line with no quick ball movement.

We need to persist with guys like Watson and Menzel and get game time into them ASAP. Our lack of talent in our young stocks is staggering but not surprising given our lack of early picks of late. So we either get game time into them to see if we can fast track them.

Another issue I have is our use of the sub. We nearly always use the wrong type of player as sub. Bell coming off on the weekend was fine but this is when you want a hard running, ball finding type player to come on and make use of leg speed to carve up on the tiring opposition players. Not a knock on Menzel, but he isn't a huge possession gatherer.

Let's not kid ourselves, our list isn't as bad as the media is making out but we do have genuine issues that need sorting. We need more midfield speed (draft players like Isaac Smith in future drafts if possible). We need Hendo up forward and another quality key defender. We need to either find a ruck who can play forward eg a Hale type or we ruck Kreuzer solo with a pinch hitter as backup. We need to embrace the draft and replenish our young talent.