+ve
1) 3 new guys all earned their spot vs others on the list - special mention to curnow
2) first half from Murphy
3) hammer taking some marks
4) betts was very good with second efforts
5) first half a) inside 50's 2) forward pressure

-ve's
1) little talking when flying for a mark ie often two up
2) too slow to react to waite concussion - personally i would have shifted yarran into the fwd line, kick it long to a resting ruckman - let yarran, garlett and betts do the rest.
3) 3rd qtr we were belted in contested possessions and clearances
4) need to re-think how we make the best of yarran off hbf ie i like the concept, but he is going to find it very tough to respond to tactics that will be applied with even greater intensity over the next 3 months

overall, we weren't good. need to settle and develop alternate plans

+
dominated first half
locked the ball in
we were headed and came back
we were very disorganised when Waite went off and got it sorted
we struggled with Riewoldt 1on1 and dropped Thornton back and he diddn;t score AT ALL
I'm more impressed wiith Ratten than i was pre game
I'm more confident than i was pre game of top 4

Missing tonight
Jammo
Bower
Maclean
Hendo
Kreuzer
Waite (2nd half)

If Ratten had kicked straight i'd give him 10/10 for tonight

_________________
"I'll tell you what I didn't do;
I never injected anyone."
AD 3/3/14

Pros;

Curnow....best debut since 1AW
Robbo
Knockers 1st half
JR
Fought back
Fwd pressure 1st half

Cons;

Couldn't sustain fwd pressure after half time...may take a while
Kicking for goal
Knockers and Hammer continually flying for the same mark.....we need to separate these two.
1AW trying to take mark of the year...needs to keep his feet
Those calling for Ratts head.... wait a few weeks will you

_________________
I see you watching me watching you.

Positives
1. A Win
2. Debut games significant
3. Hammer taking some marks
4. Eddie Betts showing leadership
5. Judd
6. 206's best game and hope for many more
Negatives
1. Woeful kicking
2. JW's concussion
3. Lack of plan B during the 3rd quarter
5. Lack of two way running in the 3d quarter when the midfielders had to get back to help out (will happily stand corrected on this from those at the game)
6. Hammer's kicking
7. Reliance on Chris Judd

_________________
"our electorate seeks less to be informed and more to be validated." Sad times.

Pro-The velvet sledge hammer deserves a punch in the face.

Con- The velvet sledge hammer will not be punched in the face.

_________________
"A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on". -Winston Churchill.

Cons:

Poor disposal and kicking at goal.



Pro:

Won despite kicking the ball like three legged goats.
Meeting Richmond first up who still couldn't get over the line despite uncanny accuracy.

_________________
"One of my favorite philosophical tenets is that people will agree with you only if they already agree with you. You do not change people's minds." - Frank Zappa

Pos:
Curnow debut
Warnocks ruck work
4 pts given we had no real spine
Betts limited chance but used most of them.
Gibbs efficiency
Clearances
Key players to return,will make mass difference


Neg:
No back up KPP
No real plan B
Gibbs contested footy
Set shots
Waites brain fade
Yarrans inability to get involved


Overall good effort given we had 80% of our spine out for majority of the game.

_________________
The climbing has alread began

A bizarre night at the MCG as we return for another year of Pros and Cons. The Blues comprehensively dominated all of the traditional KPI’s – I50’s, tackles, stoppages, possessions, clearances – but somehow one feels lucky to have escaped with the points.

PROS

1. Walker – was very worried about his pre-season form up forward, flying for species and not much else. Provided a good target tonight and presented well.

2. Curnow – can’t ask for much more from a debutant

3. The Rucks – dominated the hitouts and contributed up forward. Still have room to improve – Warnock embarrassingly got outmarked twice by shorter players, but overall a great game. Hammer’s kicking for goal lacked conviction and in the 3rd quarter he failed to present a forward option on way too many occasions. Their 2nd efforts are fantastic.

4. Mitch Robinson – starting to impose himself on games. If he could learn to ‘have time’ with the ball rather than just banging away, he can become a top notch player. It will take time.

5. Eddie Betts and Armfield both stood up at important times

CONS

1. The backline was a reminiscent of the days of Mick Martyn and Livo – How many times did 3 defenders go up for the pill and all miss the spoil. How many marks did Richmond take that were in the ‘unforgiveable’ category. At one stage it was 7 goals from 13 inside 50’s for Rich – we won’t win many more games with stats like that. Amateur hour on way too many occasions.

2. Thornton is playing like a guy who knows his time is up.

3. The 3rd quarter fade-out began with a loss of structure and momentum, but its continuation was due to an all-too-familiar pattern of heads dropping, players losing the heart to run and create, and relying on Number 5 to get the ball. It was a gutless display for 15 minutes reminiscent of our worst fadeouts. It feels like teams sense they can get a run on against us pretty easily, and that we know it. Mental toughness and leadership still lacking – what happened to NO PASSENGERS.

4. Carrots does his job but his disposal inside 50 hurt on too many occasions.

5. Way too much ball winning left to Chris Judd again. It would be nice for Gibbs and others to get a bit dirty and help out, despite the good job he does delivering the ball.

Some good, and some bad on a night where if we were less careless, we could’ve won by 10 goals.

4 points is 4 points, and the Blues are off for 2011 – I hope we enjoy the ride. It’s good to be back

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

+ve's
murphy, gibbs, judd - all did well (particularly murphy)
curnow - outstanding debut
duigan -caught out on agility a couple of times but did well overall - created a goal by breaking the lines
laidler - tidy start to his career at the blues
hampson - I can see it - the marks are starting to stick! - now he just needs to work on goal kicking. Should have kicked 3!
robinson - showed an ability to hunt the ball in the midfield that I hadnt seen before. Needs to tidy up some skills but very important tonight - hard as per usual but got a lot more of the ball than I though he was capable of
scotland - 200 games, age has not wearied him - was one of our most consistent players for the night
we were challenged and came back to win (whereas in previous years we might have lost a close game)


-ves
after an outstanding preseason yarran was extremely quiet - will definitely improve though
waite being 'concussed' - came at a bad time
goal kicking - missed some easy ones
lack of talk when flying for the mark - on a few occasions we had no crumbers at all

as an aside (neither positive or negative) - I doubt we will see thornton in the navy blue again

Pro:

We play Richmond twice this year.

Despite going close - really close - they are scheissen.

_________________
THEY LIKE TO SEND UP!!!!!!!!

Until each team plays each other the same number of times, the AFL, as a fair dinkum competition, cannot be taken seriously.

He (Mr Swann) said the honour and pride associated with the club's traditional navy blue jumper was priceless.

THIS

_________________
"I had to eat"

Did I miss something? What did he do?

_________________
Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life, son.

Pros
Warnock smashed it. Once he puts on some bulk watch ot.
Eddie Betts was more confident in front of goal.
Laidler was pretty good.
Curnow surprised me. What would have been the odds for him to kick the first goal for the Blues??
Murph and Gibbs good games.
Smashed them in ruck and clearances and i50s.

Cons
Shit kicking. Really shit kicking.
2-3 blokes flying up for a mark/spoil in defence. Talk to each other.
Hampson had a shocker.
Too reliant on C Judd 3 votes.
Yaz struggled a bit.
White and TBird struggled. Backline depth not good.
WE NEARLY LOST TO RICHMOND FFS.

CONS
Goalkicking. Shold have been 10 goals up at half time.
3rd quarter
Lack of KPDs
Forwardline structure after Waite went off
Carrots looked very underdone
Scotty's first 3 quarters
The umps

PROS
4 points gutsed out without Jamo/Bower/Hendo etc. etc.
The rucks.
Scotty's last quarter
Laidler's game in defence
Small forwards
Juddy's goal
Army's goal

Pros:

The midfield. Judd, Murph and Gibbs were terrific. Curnow was good first up. Robbo was terrific.
The big boys (Hammer and Warnock) were good and showed that there's still more improvement to come.
Duigan was very good.
Eddie and Garlett (now close to my favourite player).
Russell (almost certainly benefited from the hard tag on Yarran).
Armfield did a great job. Showed real mental strength to get the goal to put us back in front (when it looked others were choking).
One kick out from Laidler that almost made it to the centre circle. Looks to have a real weapon there.
Good effort to claw back and get the win.

Cons:
Missing Jamo, Bower, Hendo and Waite (for half a game).
I hate it when you butcher the ball in front of goal, and the opposition can't miss. Should've been a 10 goal win.
Carrazzo looked well short of a gallop.
Too many times was the ball directed to a forward 50 aerial contest where Eddy Betts was expected to take a pack mark.
Daniel Jackson attempt at the Angus Morefrees award. At least 3 times I saw him get the ball, then bend over and headbutt a Carlton player in the stomach, and gain the free. Special mention to Riewoldt for his arm waving at the umpires every time he failed to win the ball himself.

I wondered if that showed a lack of confidence from MC and teammates in the talls we had out there tonight? (Extra players being drawn to the aerial contest to lend a 'needed' hand.)

I hope they persist with it, and don't give up on it too quickly. Even though we obviously need more from Yarran, I think it freed up Russell a bit tonight. One simple thing that might help could be to get Yarran to take the kick outs (not that there were many of them tonight! ). That way he can not only benefit the team with his pinpoint kicking, but it also gets him into the game a little more.

Mitch still needs to stop throwing the ball at his boot and hope it works out, he is a bit better than last year but he needs to have a bit more situational awareness about whats going on!

Pros:

- The new recruits
- Betts and Garlett. Their chasing and tackling were fantastic.


Con:

-No Improvement at all. Besides Murphy, everyone looked the same as last year. Seems like a lot of our players have reached their maximum potential?

After watching the game...

Pros:
We won.
Lots of improvement based on this performance.
New recruits looked good.
Will be much more potent when Kruze returns.
Warnock.


Cons:
Structures still need lots of work.
FWD 50 entries still as disorganized as previous seasons-Let's hope Barker can come up with some effective strategies.
Judd had to turn it on to drag us over the line.
Poor kicking for goal.

_________________
"Truth, for the tyrants, is the most terrible and cruel of all bindings; it is like an incandescent iron falling across their chests. And it is even more agonizing than hot iron, for that only burns the flesh, while truth burns its way into the soul"     — Lauro Aguirre