yep again from me! Armfield has been great seeing as he was the steak knives in the Judd trade.

This is the first loss in quite a while I haven't been insanely pissed off about so that is a plus

FYI, Podsiadly wasn't playing at Launceston or Kyneton or Upper Kumukna West. He was playing in the VFL, Australia's premier competition under the AFL. And he wasn't a bit player. He was captain of Geelong in 2009 and captain of Werribee in 2007-2008.

He's won the Frosty Miller medal and been runner-up a few times. He won the Liston in 2008 and was leading in 2009 with 3 games to go when he got injured and missed the last 3 games.

He's been under the noses of every AFL club for the past 8 years, and if you want a sense of how come Geelong has been that good, here it is. The whole club from the administration to the fitness staff to the footy department to the coaches to the players are great decision makers. And to (mis)quote a former poster, the fish has a wonderful aroma from the head. Costa is a beauty!!!!

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After Monday and Tuesday, even the calendar says W T F .........
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The game was played and won in the middle. I expected our rucks to dominate. Disappointed with their effectiveness. Similar hit outs and hit outs to advantage against a part time ruckman and arguably the worst ruck in the competition. We needed first use of the ball to have any chance. Never seen so many of our hit outs sharked by their on ballers. 61 forward 50 entries to 49 was the difference in the end. They got the ball up there forward line quickly giving their forwards every opportunity to score.

We have been down on form in our backline yet Ratts still persists with playing first year players instead of giving Austin game time. The last few weeks would have given us the opportunity to assess Austin's value to the team as a KPP defender.

Our defenders were under seige. Walker has lost all confidence. Can't lay a tackle, poor decision making and has below par finishing skills. Was surprisingly much more effective when swung into the middle. Provided strong contest and led to the ball something we lacked. Must be played in the middle because we look slow otherwise. Was surprised Eddie was not tried in the middle given his lack of impact as a forward.

What continues to disappoint me is the safety first approach of some of our players. There were plenty of instances where we had free players in the middle but our first instinctive play was to kick the ball to contest along the wing. We did not play to our strength and use our superior pace via the corridor with the exception of the third quarter.

Hampson Austin and Yarran are a must for next week for Hadley Davies and Jacobs.

The opportunities missed in the 1st 5 or so minutes in the last quarter is what cost us.
After last nights game, I don't think we are afraid of facing Geelong in the finals and that to me is a real positive.

Positives:
Henderson & Waite up forward working together.
Hampson, McLean, Thornton (?) & Joseph still to come into the team.
Endevour, run and belief.

Negativies:
Betts - time to stop being the next Fev and try to work within the team!
Walker - get him out of defence Ratts. Let him run further up the ground.
Missed Hampson resting forward.
Tackling....still.

Austin not named for the Bullants this weekend. That`s his trouble, he can`t stay on the park.

For those that haven't been reading the Geelong thread in TalkingAFL...

[youtube]zvxCm6Gu4so[/youtube]

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He was dry retching before the game.

Probably just nerves though.


SANFL >> VFL

Here's the last match they played against each other.

SANFL smashes VFL side


In the 5 matches they've played against each other, the SANFL has won 4, the VFL has won 1.

Edit: fixed link

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I AM DISENFRANCHISED

Bower is down on fitness, has been out of form since his return and is being forced to play closer to goal than he likes because Thornton is in someone's dog house. Only selecting the 2 taller defenders and relying on Gibbs, Walker or Davies to take a tall forward is a big risk whenever the opposition decides to shift a ruckman forward.

Also, Walker has dominated the centre clearances since being dropped but the MC again chose to play him in defence; again possibly due to Thornton's absence. Play Walks in the midfield rotation and bring back T-Bird FFS.

As much as I like Sauce, we clearly missed the versatility that Hampson provides to the forward line - can't blame the MC for that one though.

Betts has been down on form for weeks and rarely looks like catching anyone he chases these days. He used to catch up like Garlett is doing at present so he is either carrying an injury or has decided to leave the chasing to little Jeff. If it is the latter, he needs a kick up the jacksie because he has been more passenger than contributor for a few rounds.

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Hey Rocky; there are too many rabbits ... in China.

Right now I'd have TBird in for Bower, and that is saying a lot

Walks on ball is an interesting call - last I recal of him playing on balll, Walks got 30 odd touches but turned a lot of them over??

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Oh, I got it. So Launceston or Kyneton or Upper Kumukna West are SANFL standard are they? Of all the points I was making, you held up that one???????

OK, let me rephrase: He was playing in the VFL, one of Australia's premier competitions under the AFL.

_________________
Never argue with idiots. They drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience!!!

After Monday and Tuesday, even the calendar says W T F .........
Visit http://fromthemoshpit.com/

I don't give a flying @#$%&! about jPod or where he was playing.

I didn't make any comment about him at all, and only included your first sentence to provide context to your second.

My intention was to correct your (and others) misconception about the standing of the VFL.

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I AM DISENFRANCHISED

The VFL also has around 120 AFL listed players running around every week who dont play the "interleague" games. IMO, the standard of an "average" VFL game would be substantially superior to an average SANFL game.

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Looking forward to seeing our potential realised.

Possibly. Just saying I read it. Not saying he will come.

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Let slip the Blues of war (with apologies to William Shakespeare) (and Sir Francis Bacon, just in case)

If you want to take me literally, that's fine. But if you want to take me literally, Upper Kumbukna West is a made up place. Daryl Somers gets the credit.
There are players out there, just the same.

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Let slip the Blues of war (with apologies to William Shakespeare) (and Sir Francis Bacon, just in case)

True, but many of those players aren't better players than those in the SANFL (yet); they're kids with the potential to become better players.


Personally I don't think that it is.

The SANFL reminds me of the AFL of the 90's. The VFL strikes me as teams who try to play like the current AFL, but have neither the skill, or physical attributes to do so.

Perhaps if they got back to playing good old fashioned proper footy the standard would improve. I realise that's not an option since the AFL clubs need to train their players to play a certain way.

I'd really like to see a national reserves competition.

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I AM DISENFRANCHISED

Really pleased with the effort of the team.

Simmo is a star, week in week out.
Waite, Hendo, Army, Russell, Gibbs and Murphy were very very good.
The above kept the team fabric together.
The rest well not bad for most but...

Jamo and Bower cannot match up with BIG forwards like Hawkins and Mooney....and their counterparts in the other teams.
Even Podsy is too good for these 2 backmen. Dunno about Jamo. He's confusing everyone. Was hoping he turned the corner last week.
We really need at least one big bodied KP to recruit (even if Austin comes up), and in the meantime TBird should take up the customary 3rd tall position whilst White is injured.
Bower was in sensational form in the preseason...what's happened to him?; he's half the man he was.

WTF is wrong with Walker? 50 possessions in the VFL and @#$%&! all of anything in the seniors. Hey Ratts, he's a midfielder FFS.
WTF is wrong with Betts? The guy believes all the headlines. He needs to be dropped to give his ego a lesson on life.
He's seriously out of form...can't get near it. He doesn't try hard enough imo.

Will Grigg ever get his kicking to AFL standard? If not, trade him.
...and Hadley...in no mans land last night.

Judd's kicking in 2010 has been average, and against Geelong it was terrible...Grigg like. WTF?

With Freo and the finals around the corner Ratts will have to be a bit more pragmatic with his selections.
Surely TBird is ready to follow instructions. We're playing for a home final next weekend in the west. TBird >>>Davies (and maybe Bower & Jamo too atm)

Lastly, Ratts is a prick for not selecting Fisher to play his 100th, because picking Fish to play on the big Subiaco oval against a team that rested half their side is stupid. I hope I'm wrong, and I hope Fish plays his 100th in the Navy Blue.

Still, pretty proud of the Blues' 1st and 3rd quarter. The class difference between the 2 teams was obvious.

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Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

Love 1AW.....so want him to succeed.
However his inability to stick a tackle could be because his shoulders are stuffed.
He definately doesn't lack the courage required...perhaps his body is not up to it.

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I see you watching me watching you.

Judd's kicking in 2010 has been average due to the fact that he has spent the whole of the preseason trying to get his burst of speed back he paid little attention to his kicking. Against geelong and in the previous month or so, he has been averaging 78 % game time, the lowest of any of our known midfielders - scotland, murphy, simpson etc... Ablett is averaging 93 % game time. why is this? carrying an injury perhaps?

I've been wondering about that too.

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I reckon his job is harder than Ablett's.
The expectations of Judd as captain are greater also.
The support Judd receives form his fellow midfielders is miniscule compared with the Geelong midfield brigade.
The level of help and protection Ablett receives from his team mates is far greater than what Judd receives.

Judd carried WCE on his shoulders for 5 years and ever since he's been doing it for Carlton.

There is definetely something wrong with Judd imo. His kicking was atrocious against Geelong and not that good throughout the year.
Lucky 2010 is not our premiership year.

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Everyone looks good in Navy Blue