You're not exactly resting forward if you have to take over the key forward role when you go down there. Kreuzer is not that good forward, seen that many times, and Warnock is hopeless there, purely a ruck. I'm happy for both to rest in a FP, but definitely not FF. Hence the only way I'd drop Casboult for Warnock would be if Waite is fit and comes in as well.

I would be tempted to swap Curnow for Brock. I think he is still improving and worth persevering. Will get to more contests than Brock and is tenacious. I know his disposal isn't there yet but I am hopeful he will improve (like robbo has)

Good news from that is Waite's only 1-2 weeks away

Gibbs said today that he could be back this week.

For me

In: hampson, scotland, buckley
out: rowe, touhy, bootsma

I think Rowe did enough to hold his place, i would drop Casboult after 2 poor games.

in: duigan, white, curnow, scotland, warnock?
DEFINITE OUTS: BOOTSMA, DAVIES, TOUHY, LUCAS, casboult?

I rate casboult and think think we should persist with him in the team - think he will start looking a lot better as we work out kinks in our game plan - but agree that rowe did enough to retain his spot. I also dont like the idea of bringing players in and out of a team for 1 week bursts.

Imo, caboult/rowe offer different things though so it depends how the MC view them. For me, its currently hammer/rowe for the one spot and casboult/waite for the other (unless casboult really steps up before waite is ready)

Scotland will be a welcome addition to the side this week. He should help organise our back line which looked lacking in leadership late in the game yesterday. Inexperience cost us a few goals here and there, but we stretched one of the elite teams in a finals type atmosphere. I'm not as pissed off as some about our performance yesterday and I wouldn't make wholesale changes this week.

Bootsma and Davies are the 2 that stood out as weak links yesterday IMO. I suspect one of them will make way for Scotland. I would persist with Bootsma because, unlike Davies, I can see a future for him. Obviously it depends how he's travelling mentally and physically after the last 2 weeks. Perhaps the best thing for him would be to let him go back to the VFL and regain some confidence there? Personally, I'd be more inclined to persist with him and try to give his confidence a boost that way. He could be a candidate for the Sub spot - he's shown at VFL level that, although he's primarily a defender, he can play HF/Wing if required, so he could be a decent 'swing man' option as Sub?

They will look at Buckley, but I'm not sure he is what we need at the moment because he's not a genuine midfielder yet and isn't a defender. He wants to play Garlett's role and Garlett is coming off possibly his best career game. If Buckley plays, it will be as a Sub and he'll play as a small forward when he comes on. So ideally he would come on late in the game for Yarran (who appeared to run out of petrol tickets in the last quarter yesterday), but if we cop an injury to another player early in the game I'd be worried about Buckley's lack of fitness to see out the game (particularly if the player is a mid) and the effect on our rotations. I also think we have enough light bodies in the side at the moment. He'll get a taste at some stage in the not too distant future, but I tend to think it won't be this week against a hardened Cats outfit (who I really rate).

I doubt very much Hammer will be available this week, so it's probably a choice between Warnock & Casboult (I thought Rowe looked promosing). Although Casboult had another quiet game, I think we'll persist with the current structure. I think we can only play Kreuzer and Warnock in the same team if one or both of them gets better as a forward. We just can't play 2 ruckmen who can't really play anywhere else (and despite what many people say, Kreuzer has never been very effective when used as a forward for long periods).

Tuohy, McLean, Armfield & Laidler didn't have great games, but their prospective replacements - Duigan, Curnow, AJ & White - don't really fill me with excitement. McLean in particular needs a good game pretty bloody soon. It wouldn't shock me if he gets dropped as soon as this week for Curnow actually. Walker was disappointing after quarter time after being one of our better players for the 5 quarters prior. Perhaps he was effected by the head clash, but I wouldn't be surprised if the video review of his 2nd half yesterday gets ugly...

Hopefully Ellard will return via the VFL this week because his tackling, endurance and goal sense will be welcome in the coming weeks. And as others have mentioned, McInness is a player that would be useful to have available right now.

So for me this week it's-

In: Scotland
Out: Davies

And fingers crossed that Laidler 'is better for the run' and that Walker has a blinder...

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It's never as good as it looks and it's never as bad as it seems.

Using our 1st Round pick on him is looking like another wasted 1st round draft pick. Into his 3rd season and barely hanging on at the Northern Blues.
McCarthy looks like a disaster too. Into his 3rd season and still looks miles away from AFL standard.
Mitchell I ll save my judgement for now as he's spent the best part of his 2 years at the Club out injured and only since mid last year started to put some Reserves games together.
I ll cut Boots some slack for now, but he's miles off AFL level right now, and the first 2 rounds have proven that.

Its been said a million times, but Wayne Hughes has done some serious damage to this club, and it took the dopes running the club way too long to realise this and demote him!

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James Hird and Essendon* FC - #FOREVERDRUGCHEATS

If we keep playing Bootsma in defence we are doomed, I repeat he should not be playing, not ready YET, we are 0/2, pressure is on, you need to play your best if available. At the moment our defence are providing no drive forward since Yarran is playing forward,
Scotland is available, hopefully he can.

papa don't preach

Lucas was one of our better players outside of his tackling.

Definite with a question mark

_________________
"I had to eat"

I'll go for Motlop

Smedts - BOG

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Cheats never prosper (except in the AFL)

I think you have hit the nail on the head, our recuiting and trading has been poor for several years.
We simply dont have a good group of young good kids coming through. The draft of 2010 saw us pick 3 KKP's and you have to wonder if any of Watson, Mitchell or McCarthy will be at the club in a few years from now. Everyone scratched their heads at the Bootsma selection and i also think that our recruiting has set us back years. Could be wrong and time will tell i guess.
We havent had a NRS nomination for a few years and its difficult to see where our improvement will come from.

I can't believe our recruiting has been so bad, but our player development is woeful.

Is Stephen Wells from Geelong such a recruiting genius or are Geelong (and Collingwood for that matter) able to develop pick 30+ selections better than everyone else.

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"Hence you will not say that Greeks fight like heroes but that heroes fight like Greeks"?

Winston Churchill

Lets hope last years dfaft can produce.

We need an upset.

I agree with all of that.

But my ins outs are:

In: Scotland, Buckley
Out: Bootsma, Davies

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They coud'nt.....could they?

I think our development of players has been found wanting. Must remember we were never really ones for developing, we just used to buy what we needed. Does not matter whether you are an early draft pick or a rookie continued development is crucial. I believe we have failed somewhat in this area over recent years.