Gibbs, Murphy (who both had outsatanding years last year) yes, and also Jamison, particularly since his higher online profile, but he was injury prone last year anyway and hardly played compared to this year.

Simpson aboslutley no way has he gone backwards.

Garlett absolutely no way has he gone backwards.

Joseph yes he has. Hasn't missed a game since his debut and needs a spell.

Betts has had a fantastic year and is in the frame to possibly boot 50 goals.

Russell's first half of the year was exceptional and his output in the second half has been down but is still superior to last year. He was ordinary to begin with last year, had an okay run, got dropped came back and finished off the year well. Has played at a much higher level all year in 2010.

Bower and Waite have had injury concerns (Bower this year and Waite last year). Waite had done very well this year and has kicked 20 goals, whilst Bower has only played a handful of games.

Grigg has only just come back and in four games his last two have been very and quite good, both a level above what we've seen.

Kreuzer before injury was tracking at the same rate as last year.

Carrazzo missed the early part of last year but played a defensive forward role when he came back which he was actually very good at. Hasn't done it this year so yeah he isn't playing as well this year as a tagger.

Robinson is significantly better this year than he was last year and will be even better next year.

With no level of sarcasm whatsoever, I say in all sincerity that this is a balanced post. Obviously I respect that you need not my validation or approval, but I appreciate reading this input.

Joseph plied his trade admirably as a tagger - why is he in defense where he can get beaten one-on-one? It's ludicrous. I tell you why, it's because there's seemingly not enough room in the midfield and he's in the best 22 players we have on the list. How about picking for positions and if he's better as a tagger and there's only one role for that position in a week, assess who best suits it and pick that player. As a defender, there are better players.

Carrazzo played his best game against Hawthorn when we went down by a point as a defensive half-forward and consistently well as a hard in-and-under player in his B&F year. If the role is not required, nor is he.

Kreuzer for mine and I well bear the brunt of abuse, was injured due to his workload. He was tired and overworked and I guarantee one is more susceptible to serious injury when fatigued. I have no doubt in my blind negativity that had he been fresh his mind/body instinctively would have reacted better on landing or had he been more alert the split second decision may have produced a less catastrophic result.

+ 1

The biggest concern is that we have too many lazy, dumb footballers in our side. Judd aside we have no other gut busting players on our list (maybe Simmo) that are willing to run themselves to the ground and support their teamates.

Watch the good sides like Geelong and Collingwood to see how it should be done when running out of defence and making options for your team mates.

FFS.......

Agree with the running part. Even Judd jogs into defence. We need a fitness binge over summer.

Agree with the running part. Even Judd jogs into defence. We need a fitness binge over summer.

Verbs I respect your opinion but I will explain my view.

Players will reach their peak at about age 26-28 (ish) and thus the precceding years are all about ongoing development.

We agree Murph and Gibbs are miles down on 09, whatever the reason I think that 09 reflects their true ability and 2010 is a huge disappointment

Simpson is in our best 6 players but I can confidently say his year last year was superior to this year, he has had a couple of great games, 3 or 4 good games and the rest have been just ok or poor, that is not to say he doesnt give 100%, he unlike many of his mates never stops trying.

Robinson has not progressed he has played about 8 games of which 1 has been above par (the melborne game) he is constantly getting dropped which is a sign that he is not developing. He gives away silly frees to often which either shows a lack of insight or lack of appropriate coaching/discipline.

Betts has had an over-rated year, he has kicked a few bags but the games in b/w have been poor, Ratten plays him out of position as the lead up fwd rather than the crumber, when he crumbs he plays his best.

Russell, was our most improved player last year and was fantastic for the first 8 games and then the wheeels fell off, he is still taking many of the kick ins despite the fact he clearly is not suited for the role, he is being played to close to goal (defensive goal) and thus we have lost his run off the HB line. Last year overall was a superior year.

Waite is clearly frustrated and hence his silly indiscretions which lead to suspensions and free kicks, what ever the reason he is light years from his best footy. He is not a cHB or loose man in defensive, he has creativity and flare and should be up forward but Ratts is swithching him around leading to confusion and frustraion.

Bower - yes he was injured but he has had a poor season when he has played, is falling into bad habit of playing from behind again.

Joseph - has been disasterous all year, he has been horrible, in fact I would say he has not beaten an opponent all year. I agree he is a tagger but Ratts plays him too deep i defensive and he is being killed. Should have been rested 3 months ago.

Walker - Dont even get me started!!!!!!!! He played brilliantly against Cats but has been poor since, he needs to be played further up the ground because he turns it over too much by foot when on the HBflank.

Kreuzer - started the year brilliantly, the month before injury he was badly beaten by opposition and Sauce was rucking better, does not get enough of the ball around the ground. I love him as a player but once again I think ratts is stifiling his natural talent

Garlett - Too much of the ball in the wrong position, has had a few good games but even then only plays in patches.

Carrazzo - We all agree he has not taken the next step........is he a tagger???? - i dont think so. Is he in our best 22 - I dont think so anymore

Grigg - still way too lazy, doesnt chase and doesnt do the 1%ers

Hampson - a year down the track we are still none the wiser what his best position is.

Jammo has been beaten in almost every game unlke last year when he was fantastic

We may have won nearly as many games as last year but we have fewer contributors and have beaten predominantly bad sides (Tigers, Dees, Port, Crows, WCE, Lions) We have been smashed by the better sides.

Verbs I respect your opinion but I will explain my view.

Players will reach their peak at about age 26-28 (ish) and thus the precceding years are all about ongoing development.

We agree Murph and Gibbs are miles down on 09, whatever the reason I think that 09 reflects their true ability and 2010 is a huge disappointment

Simpson is in our best 6 players but I can confidently say his year last year was superior to this year, he has had a couple of great games, 3 or 4 good games and the rest have been just ok or poor, that is not to say he doesnt give 100%, he unlike many of his mates never stops trying. Has been significantly better this year. His best year ever in fact.

Robinson has not progressed he has played about 8 games of which 1 has been above par (the melborne game) he is constantly getting dropped which is a sign that he is not developing. He gives away silly frees to often which either shows a lack of insight or lack of appropriate coaching/discipline. He has well and truly improved this year compared to last. I don't know how to explain it to you if you seriously think he is going backwards.

Betts has had an over-rated year, he has kicked a few bags but the games in b/w have been poor, Ratten plays him out of position as the lead up fwd rather than the crumber, when he crumbs he plays his best. Seriously, this guy has been great since his very first game. Year upon year he has got better, and this year is his best so far. I am astounded you think he has gone backwards this year. Categorically wrong.

Russell, was our most improved player last year and was fantastic for the first 8 games and then the wheeels fell off, he is still taking many of the kick ins despite the fact he clearly is not suited for the role, he is being played to close to goal (defensive goal) and thus we have lost his run off the HB line. Last year overall was a superior year. Last year was not, overall compared to this year, better. So far 20q10 Russell is miles advanced on 2009 Russell. Many manytimes better.

Waite is clearly frustrated and hence his silly indiscretions which lead to suspensions and free kicks, what ever the reason he is light years from his best footy. He is not a cHB or loose man in defensive, he has creativity and flare and should be up forward but Ratts is swithching him around leading to confusion and frustraion. Indeed Waite has had a few suspension issues this year, but he is hardly tracking backwards as far as form goes. Has been as good, if not better this year with up until today 20 goals in only 10 games. If he did that every year that's a 40-50 goal season.

Bower - yes he was injured but he has had a poor season when he has played, is falling into bad habit of playing from behind again. Bower was awesome in his first two games but got injured after both. He's still very inexperienced, but when you think of him now compared to what he used to be, he isn't going backwards at all. Another 50 games and he will be one of our best defenders.

Joseph - has been disasterous all year, he has been horrible, in fact I would say he has not beaten an opponent all year. I agree he is a tagger but Ratts plays him too deep i defensive and he is being killed. Should have been rested 3 months ago. As I said, needs a break.

Walker - Dont even get me started!!!!!!!! He played brilliantly against Cats but has been poor since, he needs to be played further up the ground because he turns it over too much by foot when on the HBflank. Okay, well Walker I didn't address. Given injuries, has not gone backwards, in fact has gone forwards this year. Could do more though.

Kreuzer - started the year brilliantly, the month before injury he was badly beaten by opposition and Sauce was rucking better, does not get enough of the ball around the ground. I love him as a player but once again I think ratts is stifiling his natural talent No way has he gone backwards.

Garlett - Too much of the ball in the wrong position, has had a few good games but even then only plays in patches. Has not gone backwards. To suggest so is wrong, wrong, wrong. Has progressed beautifully in 2010 and will get even better in 2011.

Carrazzo - We all agree he has not taken the next step........is he a tagger???? - i dont think so. Is he in our best 22 - I dont think so anymore Yes, is struggling in 2010. Had a better role last year. Should play HFF or in the middle IMO

Grigg - still way too lazy, doesnt chase and doesnt do the 1%ers Had conducted himself superbly in the past two games

Hampson - a year down the track we are still none the wiser what his best position is. Ruck. Just because we lost a champion FF doesn't mean a ruckman will fill the void.

Jammo has been beaten in almost every game unlke last year when he was fantastic Has struggled. Thought he did okay today, but yeah, has struggled.

We may have won nearly as many games as last year but we have fewer contributors and have beaten predominantly bad sides (Tigers, Dees, Port, Crows, WCE, Lions) We have been smashed by the better sides.

sanderson [from cats] in ratten out.
we need some one with no club feelings in to make the HARD calls.
our second tier players may be traded/delisted don't care any more.
they include,
joseph, jamison, bower, carrazzo, scotland, fisher, russell, walker, johnson etc.
sam jacobs traded to hawks for jordan lisle, 196cm 19yo key forward.
maybe time to look at players like,
davies, casboult, kerr and dare.
would prefer to miss the finals than finish 8th and get done by 10 goals.

Noticed this too. Sloppy.