Pros:

- Murphy did what Judd would do - took the game on and turned it on its ear. That's the sign of a true champion, and Murphy is not far off it. The only other player who was able to do that last night was J. Brown. Murphy is moving into good company.

- Scotland - looks happier in the midfield.

- Matched a team expected by many to challenge for top 4, and outplayed them in many areas. Good signs there.

- Jamison. Although to be fair, Fevola didn't have a huge number of opportunities (given Brown's dominance further afield), Jamison beat him fairly comfortably. Becoming one of the most reliable full backs in the comp.

- Kreuzer. He really is going to be something.

Cons:

- Missed opportunity

- Kicking for goal

- Disposal. Too many turnovers. More and more, turnovers are going to cost games. Hawthorn had a policy of not recruiting anyone who couldn't kick, and it arguably contributed hugely to them winning a flag. We have too many players who currently are unreliable with their disposal. Need to keep working on this.

- General forward line functioning. When Bris went forward, they were much more efficient and looked much more likely to score than we did when we went forward. We all know that our forward line is a work in progress, it may be another 2-3 years before Henderson can start taking the game by the scruff of the neck. And as admirable as Setanta is (and 7 goals from 2 games is a great start), he needs to become more reliable. Hopefully if he can keep kicking 3's and 4's it will give him the confidence he needs to relax and play.

- Our back 6 is developing nicely, but there is no depth to cover injuries. Need to get Austin back on the park for the 'Ants, and some competition for that last running defender's spot (Anderson, Armfield, Brown etc. Someone needs to own it, and the others need to be playing well and putting huge pressure on for him to keep his spot).

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Mens sana in corpore sano.

Bring back the laurel wreath logo!!!

PRO
Let's face it we were in it until Eddie missed the shot in goal square last night
You would think that there would not be many games that with all those chances Eddie and Yarran don't hit scoreboard .
It was a testament to the games of Setant and Hendo that we got so close and also testament to a developing multi prong forward
I reckon we could also do with Gartlett in the mix too
Plenty of room in improvement in young forwards Yarran Robinson Hendo

Pros:
Kruise
Simpson
Russell
Murphy
Scotland
Houlihan

Con's:
Our kicking forward of the center is horrible. Kick and hope!
Not sure if Robinson will make it

Cons:-

- Headcutter on the first page said it best when he spoke of Hendersons second efforts. He looks lazy at times and gives in easy! Not knocking the kid cause, well - he's a kid. And a kid who's kicked 5 goals in two games for us and is coming along nicely - but I hope we address this soon before it becomes habit.

- Anderson, looked terrible. Out of his league.

- Warnock. I thought he looked like a complete spud to be honest with you. Terrible mark, terrible kick and only so-so in the ruck. I'd much rather Jacobs.

- Skills. WOEFUL. Did Richmond's crapola rub off on us the other day or something????

- That decision to not pay "Rushed Behind" in the first qtr! Bloody hell - they bring in a rule and then never pay it. FFS!

- Seeing Fev in that stupid paddle pop lions jumper. I don't know what's more painful! (god that jumper is a disgrace!)

- Inaccuracy. You are never gonna win when your kicking 16 behinds in a close game.

Pros:-

- Setanta. Like i said last week, he'll spray some and make some silly mistakes, but he'll go in and give 110% each and every time! 7 goals from 2 games so far this year - loving the big irishman up forward. Hell, he should be in the team just on his celebrations alone! haha! Anybody got a youtube clip of him after he's first goal???
(I had to laugh after he took that screamer though! I knew he'd stuff it up somehow! haha! But I still love the guy!)

- Murphy. Best midfielder on the ground that night, and that's a HUGE compliment considering the likes of Black & Power!

- We almost had it........... and we were without Judd, who would have made the difference on his own, and Bower, who is FAR MORE IMPORTANT than most would think!

- Kreuzer. Love everything about this kid. He does stuff that a ruckman cannot or should not do. Honestly think he'll be our best out of the #1 picks.


*EDIT*
- Forgot to put down Jamo as a Pro. He beat Fevola, plain and simple!

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"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit"
- Aristotle

Henderson and Warnock haven't had a full pre-season, yet Lachie is accountable and chases hard for a big man.

What did Leuenberger do last night if Warnock was so poor?

I thought Warnock beat their former top four pick in the ruck.

The humidity was 80% last night, so maybe you shouldn't expect them to run like Kreuzer who is a freak.

Like Murphy who is killing it without a pre-season.

Cazzeman we lost because we turned it over at critical stages and the selectors made a dumb call bringing in Armfield instead of White. OUr backline was way to light. White would have handled Staker alright.

Personal attacks doesnt aid your flimsy counter arguments either.

White should have replaced Bower

And most teams clog up the space around Brown. Anderson was the only one to really support TBird.
Not good enough

Keogh, You talk about it like it is fact that White should have come in for Bower. The guy hasn't played a game yet. Surely only a 20% chance that move would have paid off.
We crowded Brown and pushed him wide. He was just too good. His kicking for goal was amazing. In the past his with those chances he would have scored 5 goals 3 or 4 4.
Calling White not being picked "dumb" is pushing it a bit in my opinion.

Not sure if Robinson will make it?
you joking or what? hes probably the only player in the team whos is genuinely hard at it every time he plays. Wish we had more players of his ilk in this side...

Warnock dropped marks that he should have taken easily and his disposal wasnt much to talk about.

Pre-season or no pre-season, Henderson has shown great skill and is a great mark.......... but i think he can get a little bit lazy. Other than that, he's a 20 year old kid who looks like a good CHF prospect.

Regarding Warncok & Jacobs? I reckon Jacobs is a better prospect at the moment. Feel free to disagree, that's what this forum is for!

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"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit"
- Aristotle

Why was the backline way to light when we missed so many shots on goal and they scored so many goals from our direct turnovers. What has that got to do about whether White or Armfield played. Armfield kept Banfield quiet. If I had your crystal ball I might see White playing on Staker and Banfield kicking 5 because we had no-one to match his speed. I have watched the 1st half and we have had more than enough of the ball to be well infront at 1/2 time.

What actually was flimsy about my arguments? Every team is predictable for the most part in the way they play. Tell me a team that isn't.

Regards Cazzesman

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Ricky Gervais - “Everyone has the right to hold whatever beliefs they want. And everyone else has the right to find those beliefs f***ing ridiculous.”

White should have played.
We were too short down back. Simple as that
Fevola and Brown
Its a no brainer that Armfield should not have been Bower's replacement.
White is
21
98kg 190cm
Aggressive
peformed better than Armfield in the preseason
would have played on Staker who couldnt get a game for the Wet Toast

but because he hasnt played a game we dont select him
Another conservative DUMB decision.

Armfield didn't exactly keep Banfield quiet Caz

For a kid who only had the ball a dozen times he used it very well

Banfield beat Armfield last night

_________________
If you allow the Government to change the Laws in an emergency
They will create an Emergency to change the Laws

Thornton had very little support. Bower would have supported Thornton. Armfield is too small. White could have taken Staker and supported Thornton . Walker could have gone to Banfield. Wouldnt say Banfield was quiet.
The Lions did score many goals from turnovers I agree. This has nothing to do with whether Whte or Armfield should have played. I just wanted another big body in defence.

And yep clubs are predictable in how they play. They look for Brown on the lead often so why wasnt the space in front of him clogged up.

agree. 2 goals and 2 goal assists back that up.

we didn't need white or Bower - we should have used Waite as the third tall down back and he should have drifted 20- 30 metres in front of Brown all night -His impact up forward wasn't worth keeping him there - Mind you we did manage to keep Brown wide but he was kicking them out of his arse

_________________
If you allow the Government to change the Laws in an emergency
They will create an Emergency to change the Laws

Disagree. We need Waite up forward to free up Hendo and Setanta.

He's a rookie and hasn't yet been elevated to the senior list.

Banfield's 2 goals were not kicked against Armfield.
I just watched the replay. Have a look for yourself, and then go and apologise to Army's family.

Armfield's pace saved 4 goals in the first half.
Lets stop the Armfield bashing. I thought that finished in the 2nd half of the 2009 season.
His value to the team was proven in 2009, and once again last night.

We need his pace. That is a no brainer.
He had a good game last night.
Some of you obviously didn't pay enough attention to the actual content in the game.

We lost the game because of bad disposal......turnovers cost us 80 points.
That has nothing to do with Armfield, Thornton, Bower, White or Banfield.

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Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

do you even watch brown play last night? brown in that form, no-one could stop him, he was kicking goals from the 50m line on the bounday ffs, and not just once.

leave it out, bower may have made a difference and even then, brown in the form i dont think it would have made a huge difference, but to suggest a player, who has never played a game would have been the difference is just stupid.

and just on armfield. he looks like he has really benefited from the new set up. looked very fit and strong last night.

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Got to love the stare Down by Setanta on Llyod

I agree his aggression is fantastic and just what we need. But he needs to know his limitations and I worry a little about his lack of awareness - he just keeps taking players on when he shouldn't, or doesn't seem aware of the presence of opposition players in his vicinity. Hopefully this comes with experience, it takes a while to adjust to the speed of AFL.