Losing was disappointing because it was our success in the NAB cup last year that provided the opportunity for players like Jacobs, Garlett, Joseph and Robinson perform and to be selected for Rd 1!

Colorman, the young guys still get a game next week against a team in the same competition. Win or lose that we may get another practice game against last years premiers. Doesn't matter if the games called cup or challenge still just a practice game.

While I agree that getting games into kids is vital at the same time it's not essential to be in the NAB, as mentioned above.

Our previous pre-season premierships weren't really springboards to success were they?

I remember in Pagan's 2nd season we walloped Sydney by 100+ points in the NAB Cup equivalent and still finished stone cold motherless in the league.

The pre-season cup, in isolation, means jack-shit. What it does is highlight areas that still need work and straightening out. I expect the coaching and playing staff to do just that by round 1, and if they haven't, then might be the time it becomes "indefensible"...in my humble opinion.

In terms of getting games into young kids, they all get the chance, it's just those chances will come away from the spotlight, which may actually be a bit of a blessing.

let's get back on track here....

the issue is not win or lose... I personally could not care less about the fact that we have lost a Rd 1 Nab Cup game

what I do care about is the fact that we do not seem to have displayed any progress in terms of structure, gameplan, ball movement etc....

and yes it was a practise match....but the same rudderless ball movement....purposeless sideways chip,chip,chip and hit the boundary line that plagued us all last year and was constantly a feature in the pros and cons last year was still evident !

for those of you who expect us to flick a switch and suddenly unveil a new game plan come Rd 1 are dreaming !!!!

but if you refuse to draw conclusions or even inference from a practice match....fair enough !

see you after Rd 1.....tick, tock, tick, tock

(Ps. don't mistake that for the premiership clock...it is the time bomb currently sitting under the match committee table !!!!)

I will not judge Ratts until the end of the year irrespective of the result, however some need to realise that the NAB cup requires a different game plan than the season proper.

There are rules that interfere with normal games plans i.e having a bomb for 9 points rather than spotting up a player in a better position, extra player rotation where they don't get a good feel for the game, kicking backwards rules, play on from posters, different throw in etc.

The BEST thing for us is to get out of the NAB Crap and start playing under the proper season rules.

On another note, if the AFL wants the NAB cup to be taken somewhat seriously, then they need to scrap all the rule changes and let the teams play in the same manner as they would in the proper season. If they want to go a bit further they can even throw in an extra 5% points for the winner and 2% points for the runner up in the premiership season, I would bet that we would see a much more exciting pre season comp than the nine point crap!

I know that I will cop some crap for saying this, but I will say it anyway. This is not NFL or Soccer and the thing that makes this game so much better that those sports is the fact that coach's are teachers in our game, a strict game plan will fail as often as no game plan. What premiership teams all have in common is that they have a general pattern of play and have talented players that adopt to changes of what the team needs at given moments in the game. What defines a good coach from a poor one is how well each player learns their game and understands what is need from them and makes the correct decision.

Ratts is being expected to get all his players to get a high VCE score when he inherited a team that had not even passed grade 6. This is the legacy of the Pagan years, Ratts may still fail as a coach, but you cannot deny that there is improvement. This year I expect to win a final, even with Fev gone, if we don't then we have gone backwards with a maturing list which will suggest that there needs to be a change of coaching personnel.

Reading some of the hysterical rubbish on here has amused me no end, and I find it salient that none of the 'Armageddon' crew have commented on this gem from Club 29.

As much as I admire and respect the superlative football knowledge of the naysayers on TC, I'm reminded of the old line: "A little knowledge is dangerous".

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"The old believe everything, the middle-aged suspect everything, and the young know everything." Oscar Wilde

I'm wondering if we ever gave back the dog though.

Thought we hid it in Gundagai.

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STURDYISM!!