I suspect they've been playing lots of "hot potato" at training....

It's all about getting it right for the season. It's going to take time - hence Ratten's call for patience a few weeks ago.

BO, are you planning on making any football related post in the next 2 years that doesn't have Wayne Hughes or Tanking as its general theme?

Don't get me wrong, the midfield is the most important part of the modern game. In a fast paced, running oriented game that AFL has become, the midfield is essential. But you still need your bookeneds. Both Hawthorn and Carlton have young, promising, excellent midfields. Ours will improve greatly when Judd is back. However the difference in my opinion (and this is not not really based on last night, but on previous contests between the sides and Hawthorn last year) is key position players.

Hawthorn have Roughead, Franklin and Thorp who are all top notch.

We have Fevola who is awesome on his day, Kreuzer will be a gun.

I think both sides can potentially win premierships in the next five years.

But if we want to get a leg up over Hawthorn, we need two more gun key position players. We can get those two in Natinui and Hurley. I know it's tough to stomach, but that's the reality. If we get those two players at the end of the year we can win two, three or four premierships in the next decade. If we don't get those we can still win a premiership, but it is going to be alot harder and probably won't be followed up by another one or two or three.

Lol I dont think she was talking about game style, thinking she was asking whats the difference in experience in terms of games played between the 07 and 08 side!

Hopefully it was crystal clear to our coaching staff that the intended game plan simply cannot work if the players won't run hard, both when we have possession, and even more importantly, when we don't. Far too many stationary players last night, and we were forced into the frustrating merry-go-round of backwards and lateral handball due to a distinct lack of options.

BO, great, we'll have circa 6 No 1 or 2 draft picks (insert Judd for JK) on our list with the addition of your boys.

Tell me, how does this salary cap thinggy work? Suggest you have a calculator ready before you answer.

You've been warned about dragging every thread back to tanking or Hughes bashing BO.
Why then do you continue to do it?

I think most people, (me included) have had enough.

Well Tyrant was the one that started the Pfeiffer thread, which he specifically labelled "A wayne hughes thread". Not me, so i think it's fair enough to discuss it there. And I think last night highlights just how badly we need Natinui and Hurley. They will make an enormous difference to our side.

Salary cap works fine. Players are prepared to sacrifice to be in a premiershpi team. Rarely anyone leaves clubs for money these days. Judd left because he wanted to move interstate (contrary to what you read on Bigfooty). The only two of note that truly left for money were Messrs Hamill and Brown.

I guarantee you Gibbs, Murphy, Kreuzer, 1AW will all be happy to play for less if it means playing in a premiership. For all the fun we make of Stkilda, they have managed to keep their young stars together despite the huge portion of the salary cap taken by Hamill. We were making a huge play for Dal Santo and offered him alot more than he was on at the Saints but he didn't bite. The saints young players will play in a premiership this year. Our boys can play in three or four if we get Natinui and Hurley.

Breaching the TPP rules for the third time after you lodge your player contracts past the stipulated date helps.

Good post BV. What`s worrying me is our forward line.I realise we had a few out but its still the kick it to Fev option most times.Really hoping Hartlett can stay on the field and give us a target at CHF. Also no crummers at all.Nearly every other club has a good small forward. This has been a problem for some time now.
The encouraging thing from last night was the fight back in the third qrt.We cant let sides such as Haw,Geelong StKilda belt us into submission every time we play them.We need our line in the sand games against these teams.