I shouldn't have written so much - You've summed up my thoughts in one sentence.

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

Pros
- Hammer showed a fair bit
- I thought Grigg was OK

Con
- pretty much everything else


I've previously been a supporter of Ratten (and critical of the negative nellies on this site) - however after the last 5 matches I'm thinking maybe we don't have the right man leading us.
Look at North Melbourne's list - they are now have the same number of wins as we do.
NOT GOOD ENOUGH!

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There is no footy god

But we haven't got Fev...

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"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

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I would like to thank Collingwood for helping me keep faith in my old man. He always told me that 'People are thick'.

THIS. THIS TIMES A MILLION.

Just do not understand how we can lose so badly - REPEATEDLY - when we have so much of the ball! Sometimes more than our opponents! ARGH!

simonverbeek has summed things up nicely, but here are my thoughts.

Pros
- Garlett, Yaz, Hammer all made an effort. Pretty sad when you have second year players being the only ones to pull their fingers out.
- Waite. One of the few players to show that he gives a shit, even if he's doing dumb things from anger.
- Judd got well held but still nearly killed himself for us.
- Um...

Cons
- The fact that my "pros" are that players "made an effort" and not "showed great leadership" "played with heart and guts".
- Gibbs. Drop him. Haven't been impressed all season and still wasn't today. Poor disposal, won't put his body on the line. Don't care if he is carrying an injury - don't play him if not fit.
- Carrazzo. Drop him. Sick and tired of his shocking turnovers. In tennis you'd call them unforced errors.
- Lost the game in the first quarter again
- First four inside 50s were all turnovers and all absolute clangers.

Pros
The big Hammer is growing in confidence. If only he had kicked those other two..
Armfield - tried his guts out, ran and persisted.
Another game into Bower
Garlett and Yarran will be players
Christopher Judd
Simmo and Walks give a shit!

Cons
How can players lose confidence so completely?
Serious deficiencies in the coaching box and off field support. Our club needs to get the collective head out of the sand (or from some where else) and do something constructive. Sadly I can't see it changing with the current leadership at the club. Putting it simply, there is a lack of professionalism off field in relation to the football department.
Too many dumb footballers (or is that poor coaches who cannot get a message across) - we have too few sharp (footy smart) players. We need a Mitchell or Hodge just for their smarts. Jarrod Waite - no idea!
Poor disposal coming from lack of confidence in the players around them and knowing what to do in certain situations. Don't they practice that during the week?
Carrazzo - have normally liked his endeavour and 1%'ers but he was dreadful today, his disposal has not improved. A leader? Dreamin'!
Murphy and Gibbs are not mentally tough enough (or is it poor coaching/teaching?). I'd love to know their respective fathers' opinions on this.
Lucas' hammy - tough on the lad. Should not play again this year, get it right and bring on 2011.
I'll front up next week and probably see a similar performance as the powers that be seems to be unable to address the rapid slide into mediocrity.

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

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"I had to eat"

Pro
Grigg had a go
Waite didnt get reported (yet)
Garlett's mark (and then missed an easy goal )
Hampson' marking in the second half

Cons
we are most pathetic, insipid , weak bunch of undercheivers going around.
No heart
Lucas' injury

Con:

The amount of easy goals teams are getting against us

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#DonTheStash

Expected effort is a pro now?

Anyone that finds a pro out of today is delusional. Unless we consider that Ratten is closer to the end of his coaching career than he was this morning.

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"I had to eat"

Pros:

Were competitive in the second half. Overall I think they're trying hard, they just look absolutely confused about what they're trying to do. Clearly something is awry in the land of Denmark ...
Judd.
Hampson.
Grigg.
Yarran's first half. Garlett and Walker's second half.
Waite's aggression. I too wish he wouldn't get reported. But at least he plays with the anger and aggression very few others in our team do. (When Hawks won the flag playing unsociable footy, they had a stack of suspensions.)

Cons:

Not playing like they hate the coach. More like they've lost confidence or are confused about what the coach wants. Looks very, very bad for Ratts.
Can we please, please, please learn to play the defensive footy we were promised in preseason. Every time there was a stoppage in our half of the ground, the numbers would flow into our forward line. It's no wonder we found it hard to find targets. And yet every time there was a stoppage in the other half of the ground, we had no one on the defensive side of the stoppage, and very few numbers back in their forward 50. Every other side seems to have worked out how to make opposition scoring difficult. Not sure why we haven't yet.
Not sure why the MC allowed Joseph and Armfield to play at fullback all game. While Bower seems to play as a decoy backman on one of their low profile small forwards. With Walker following Goodes around in the 2nd half, we only had 2 tall defenders, and they were rarely in the key position posts.
Way too often our small forwards are having to contest for aerial balls down forward, and our talls spend most of their time chasing out their rebounding small defenders. Clearly something very wrong with our set ups.
Lots of really bad ball handling errors.
Soft free kick goals to the opposition early in the game.
And that surface is diaoblical.

Crows: From Adelaide

Poms: From England

Pros:

* Grigger was good
* Yazz = onfield leader? Tried to show teammates the way. At least he had a go. One of the few players in form
* Hammer showed what he could do and what he couldn't do, liked his endeavour
* the foul mouthed idiot in our row left before half time

Cons:

* what a waste of a Sunday afternoon, wish they'd told me beforehand that they weren't going to have a go today ... I wouldn't have gone
* Carazzo and Murph ... wow, that was pathetic
* Lucas

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"It was like calling your ex girlfriend after a night on the booze, just a really bad decision".

Con:

Going to watch Carlton play & hope they win but already know they are [REDACTED] 10 minutes into the 1st Qtr

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Cheats never prosper (except in the AFL)

Pros : Judd

PRO : Hammer

CONS : All else

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It's a small world, but I wouldn't want to paint it

Con: Pretty much everything between minute 1 and the final siren.

The umpiring inconsistencies.

Pro: Spent way more time with BabyK than I otherwise would on a weekend.

Got a new computer today.

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And so while others miserably pledge themselves to the pursuit of ambition and brief power, I will be stretched out in the shade, singing.

Con: didn't have the radio to block out the two ladies "KICK IT!!!" chants. This time they had anger behind it.

Pro: after one of her kick its one of the ladies said, "oh, don't just kick it anywhere." that was probably the most entertaining thing of the day.

Were you on level 1 to the right of the cheer squad ?

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"IF YOU FAIL TO PREPARE, YOU'RE PREPARED TO FAIL" - Mark Spitz

The only good thing you could take out of this game was Hammer started to look like a footballer

Cant kick though and is suspect mark

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