Why is it that Whitnall is ALWAYS the fall guy for these type of threads. It really p*sses me off. I understand & agree with a lot of the views & opinions posted, but more often that not, it ends up at the feet of Lance.

IMO there are 2 other highly paid & high profile players that need to take some responsibility, but more often than not, dodge the bullets.

Whitnall is the fall guy because he just does not perform up to the standards we require and he pay check demands. Yes Whitnall played OK when moved to defence, but what benefit is that to our plight? We need him to kick goals, that is what he payed to do.

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Mjonc signing off at 8888

Agreed. BUT...........he's not the only one whose performance is lacking & there are others around the same pay scale who bludge & take the soft option.

His goal output is not what is expected, but with 2 & 3 defenders hanging off him, what is he suppose to do? Body positioning & nous has contributed to a couple of Betts goals already this year, but that tends to go unnoticed.

sumo, the problem with Lance.. no i shall re phrase that.. another problem with LAnce as well as he cant get into games.. kick goals.. take contested marks... cant lead the guys around him.. is his body IS NOT his temple.
They gauge it at the club this way.. if Lance is over 100kg he is as useless as tits on a bull.. if he is under 100 kgs he starts getting involved and looks more vibrant... so why cant he keep his body in check???
Surely a guy on that much money who isnt doingt he extras can see the Gloria Marshall commercials (I bet verbs will just come in now and inform me Gloria MArshall is not around anymore) pick up the phone and say to the girl on the other side... HELP!!!!!... send me that stuff i have to weight each day... cos me and my mrs cant cook.. my coaches AND teamates think im fat.. im the butt off thousands of jokes and i want to be a long term career footballer......
Thats being PROACTIVE!!!!.... hes an obvious target cos he has taken big money on the promise of being Sticks replacement but he doesnt do the work when he knows his body is more suited to darts and a larger.

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How did this thread turn into a Whtinall trashing epic.

It started off being about what we'd say if we'd win the next two games - which is as likely as ANgelina Jolie coming up to me at the final siren of the Melbourne game and asking if she can f**k me. Not realistic.

Synbad, I agree with everyhting you say about how we're going sideways, and that Pagan turns shit into jam t make us look respectable when we're not. But I don;t agree with your Lance view.

What can he do? John Coleman or even our beloved Sticks wouldn't succeed as a forward if they had DUDS like Johnson, Bannister, Sporn and WIggins (the plaudits he receives on this site are bewildering)
delivering the ball to them - plus a few others I haven't mentioned that can't hit a target.

OK, you say - so the delivery on the lead's not great - well, why not take a PACK mark. Well, quite simply, we lack forward options, which means that since the Wizzer every team has zoned a man back and when we bomb one to LAnce he's against 2 or 3 opponenets - no chance.

In modern football forwards are DEPENDENT on what goes on upfield. As Essendon* has become shit so has Lloyd (and we dont like to admit it but he's a gun - even if he dives).

Lay off Lance and get stuck into the reserves standard shitkickers - we have plenty of them.

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They will know that they've been playing against the famous old dark blues

I defended Whitnall as I'm sick of him always being the fall guy. This year he has lost weight & busts his arse every week against 2 or 3 opponents, but guys on similar pay packets get away with a lot more.

1) Campo
Undisciplened down high skier who gets plenty of stats sneaking past for the soft hand ball off guys who have earned the kick. Think he's out of contract at the end of the year. If so, offer him $200Kpa. If he doesn't like it, send him back to Adelaide. I'd take McDermott or McGuiness for him at the moment

2) Stevens
If he wants to be unaccountable & get the easy kick, play him on the wing. There's no point playing him in the middle & getting 30 soft possies when his opponent gets 38 hard ones that hurt!! Starting to miss targets & drop easy marks (Hawthorn)

Point is..........why do Sporn, Wiggins, Bannister etc get outed for critiscim - EASY TARGETS? Why does Whitnall take the fall for the high profile players - EASY TARGET?

If we played smarter & hit targets, Whitnall would kick 70.

Whitnall cops it because he is a professional footballer who has been paid in excess of $1.5M in the past 4 years and has given Jack Schizenhausen in return.

And the other 2 you refer to (Campo being one) are the same as Whitnall.

They should be setting the tone for the new kids but are sadly lacking in discipline, desperation and team-work.

We help pay these guys and I was disgusted with their efforts on Saturday. Absolutely no accountability whatsoever from our top dollar earners (where was Stevens' defensive side? 25 possessions might sound good, but how many came from an easy kick in followed by a handball receive!). Nobody is above criticism at all for a showing like that and in reality - if we are all fair dinkum - was a result that was coming due to similar performances over the preceeding 2 matches.