I am willing to put my money where my mouth is.

still kill us. We will play first 4 weeks without Judd and you can nAnyone on here who thinks we will make the 8 is dreaming. Better performance from the boys but kickouts and turnovers ot expect Waite to contribute massively when he hasn't played for 12 months. Same with Murphy. Players who don't do preseason struggle. So for the first month when we have winnable games we have: no Judd and below par murphy and Waite and we still have to find 80 goals (although I saw signs of 40 of them). I am willing to put my money where my mouth is.

Having a connection doesnt mean much - was sitting in front of a player sponsor+former player yesterday and listening in on the conversation whilst watching the match. Most comments were negative and some were just bewildering - including the following
- it was our best team out there minus murphy)
- wish we had gotten voss and that his ability during trade week to grab players as an assessment of his coaching abilities (which overlooks the fact that he is making a short term play whilt black/power etc are still there)
- that we should be playing our tall ruckmen in the forward line yesterday so that we could kick it long. If they didnt mark it, the crumbers could feed off them (hampson mentioned) - sort of overlooks kreuzer/hampson having spent a bit of time forward in the previous 2 matches)
- how things were so much better in the old days (20-30 yrs ago) etc

having a connection to the club doesnt mean you are a better judge. If anything, there is a greater risk of having your judgements clouded by the connection

Put him on a wing and let him use his HUGE motor to chug up and back to help out and then run the lines forward at full tilt. Let him off the leash and we will see the very best of him. Let him rest up forward from time to time. Who's going to catch him on a lead? His best football will be when he plays free and instinctive. It might not suit the modern game of accountability but every team needs the X factor man that is hard to match up on.

Regards Cazzesman

Went along.

Pretty tough conditions given the penetrating heat. We were stronger on paper with none of the Brisbane premier midfield making the trip. I thought we were the better team overall with our players working harder at the contest. Brown kept Brisbane in the game and ahead for most of the time such is his influence. Strange watching Fev in different colours. Did not look like as imposing and arrogant as when he played for the navy blue. Dont know how he will handle playing second fiddle to Brown given the size of his ego. Jamo played him tight and played him well. Very good match up for us.

Was looking forward to see some of the kids like Lucas, Davies Levi but it wasn't meant to be.

The highlights for me were
Betts prominent role in our forward line. Was in everthing, great decision making, seems to me he will play a big part in our forward line without Fev.

Robinson. His intensity and physicality is impressive. I only wish it could rub off on some of our senior players. Just love his self confidence and hope he is in the starting line up every game. Hopefully h

Walker has been a big loss for us. Covered a lot of territory and ran hard with the ball.Did not stop for four quarters. Disposal has improved (yes he muffed a few but this was more to do with the fact is prepared to take risks).

If we are going to be competitive we need him to run the lines. We need him at half back to give us another running option out of defence along with Russell, Bower and Armfield.

On the downside, the thing that kept the Lions in the game was our poor disposal. Not sure what emphasis we place on recruiting footballers with skills in recent years and the quality of our skills session at training but from my viewpoint, we will never be a serious finals contender without addressing this issue. For two weeks in a row I have seen kicks not reaching their intended target forcing a contest. Also not to be outdone, our hanpassing is even worse. Could not believe the amount of handballs that did not reach their intend target on the full or were aimed at the knees. Someone needs to be held accountable for the state of our skills in addition to Ratts.

Conundrum

Anyone on here who thinks we will make the 8 is dreaming. Better performance from the boys but kickouts and turnovers still kill us. We will play first 4 weeks without Judd and you can not expect Waite to contribute massively when he hasn't played for 12 months. Same with Murphy. Players who don't do preseason struggle. So for the first month when we have winnable games we have: no Judd and below par murphy and Waite and we still have to find 80 goals (although I saw signs of 40 of them). I am willing to put my money where my mouth is.

Well put it then... Carlton are paying $1.90 to Miss the Final 8. Not a bad investment if you got a couple of Thousands

Re: AW's disposal, I agree, thought it was good last night. It's staggering how someone could watch that game yesterday & interpret his kick targets at < 50%. Sometimes it makes you wonder whether some people just have an agenda to push.....

Re: your comments about bottom 6 - probably an opinion better off kept to yourself IMO...

It looks like some of our supporters and even some within might be in for a shock at the end of the year when we do play finals.

there's obviously lots of stuff i missed, but a few beers at the great northern, including a chat with princes park whistler, have dulled the memory a bit ...

As a Club, look forward to a bottom six placing,and imho no chance of any flag in the foreseeable future,the window closed shut the day they traded Fev.
And yep, I too can have an opinion,regardlees of how unsavoury that opinion maybe.

Sure you can...but if your boy has that opinion, I look forward to catching a few waves with him at Burleigh Heads next summer.

As a Club, look forward to a bottom six placing, and imho no chance of any flag in the foreseeable future

+1 for the Free Andrew Walker campaign.

Last year there was a lull in the standard of footy clubs.. this year its going to be much more competitive for a spot in the eight.

Personally , id be shocked if we have improved enough to make it.
I think some players would have improved... we lost Fevola.. the gameplan is still naive.. so we will go backwards.

And im not sure why some people believe they can have an opinion and DOA cant.....