Scotland does appear on his last legs. Would you give him another year to help the kids out? I probably would. I think there are 6 or 7 you would delist before him.

2010 is the year where the cracks have appeared under the surface. I have doubts this group are premierhsip material

Grigg, Armfield, Ellard. Mclean, Hadley- can not kick
If we are relying on Ellard, Joseph to push us into the top 4 I think we will be waiting a long time
Warnock & Jacobs- Not strong enough. Warnock is not hard enough in a marking contest
Jamison- not the same player he was two years ago
Yarran- Needs a massive year next year. Lacks intensity and is no better than Garlett. Certainly has not justified pick 6
Waite has 2-3 years left in his body we need a replacement
Scotland 1 year left.
Gibbs- a number 1 draft pick playing on a half back flank?
Murphy-a good outside player
Judd- He is not going to get better and we are going to have to start planning for a time when he can not play for 100 minutes as an in and under midfielder


Stripping it back to basics- 2 mids 2 key backman 1 key forward a couple of flankers who can kick, a tackling coach, a better game day strategist, two good assistants and a dynamic board ,short of a good side.

I couldn't agree more Michael Jezz.

I am nowhere near as bullish about this groups chances of a shot at a premiership compared to others. I think there are way too many deficiencies on our list to be anywhere near that group of teams

The fact that we can consider or think we can rely on players such as Ellard, Joseph or Carrazzo to help make us contenders is a sad reflection of current circumstances.

We are still 1 or 2 class midfielders short - Grigg is probably unfairly criticised as he has shown plenty since his return to the seniors but players like Carrazzo or Ellard should not be considered as potential members of an elite midfield group - really we have Judd and Murphy. Potentially Gibbs but we are doing our best to turn him into an average HBF!

We dont have any proper KP defenders. Jamo and Bower are still undersized and not good enough one-on-one. T-bird seems to half out the door. Austin is quickly turning into another Hartlett. White is promising but will only ever be a 3rd tall. Waite should remain up forward otherwise we are well and truly flower!!!

Forwardline is ok although we still aren't clever enough with our use through the middle to make the most of it. Lachie and Waite need to be mainstays and hopefully we can get another tall like Hammer to step in at times although Shaun's development seems to have hit some sort of ceiling and he is not showing enough presently to suggest he can give us this service. I am a believer of Shaun's and think he has the attributes. Although attributes doesn't always equate to success...

We have a long way to go IMO. I hope we can achieve some trade redemption after our incompetent performance last year (i.e McLean) and land an experienced and talented recruit for the middle or defence with the amounts of TPP cash at our disposal. You have a lot to make up for Swanny for the McLean deal - show us your worth

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C'mon Blueboys!

What I will say is that there is still some untried young talent on our list that can sometimes pop up and make a big difference to a teams performance. It can sometimes only take one or two.

Maybe a Cachia after another strong pre-season can step up and play a role through the middle. Touhy as well after a strong development year with the Ants. He is a very exciting prospect IMO. And of course we have Lucas to come into the side next year (although I hope these hamstring problems are not indicative of any long term issues)

We can only hope

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C'mon Blueboys!

Absolutely,
and congratulations on getting through the 'will we win a p'ship in next 5 years thread ' without falling in to a deep depression.

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That’s not a political statement — it’s a harsh reality, and we must act,” she said. “He is a clear and present danger to the things that keep us strong and free. I support impeachment.”

I only skimmed, think that is the best thing on topics like that

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GO BLUE BOYS!!

If we win this week we are a better side than last year.

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I hope Essendon* folds.

I think I might just shoot myself now and be done with it

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

Agree 100% with this post and the other two posts above it!!

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When you're a Jet you're a Jet all the way!

I think we are far better placed now than last year despite the doom and gloom

Warnock will be a ripper - two more years of development - oh I know we should be winning flags now but in the real world things do take time.

Hendo is a beauty at 20 - wait until he's 22/23

Lucas seems a great get

I really liked White and Davies has shown a bit.

that's 5 more pieces of the puzzle.

a possible next years team

Jammo White Davies
JR Bower Lucas
Army Gibbs Simmo
Garlett Kruise Hendo
Betts Waite Murph

Warnock Judd AJ

Interchange from
Robbo, Yazz, Tex, Carrots Maclean Scotland Houla and others and the kids....
Plus Austin and other talls to develop
I feel we are getting closer.

We are not that far away as some games have shown

I would expect a top 4 or thereabouts next year if we have a fair run with injuries, particularly if we improve the coaching staff. I'd like to see Lappin and Teague go but I recognise that in reality I wouldn't have a clue about their talents or lack of.

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This type of slight is alien in the more cultured part of the world - Walsh. Its up there with mad dogs, Englishmen and the midday sun!

I think we need to wait until the season is over before we analyse such things.
We might beat Sydney, Western Bulldogs and play Geelong in the preliminary final.

more stats

2009
For 2270 (avg 103 pg) Against 2055 (avg 93 pg)
2010
For 2143 (avg 97 pg) Against 1983 (avg 90 pg)

We improved defensively by 1/2 go al but lost offensively by a goal. We are ranked 5th offensively and 7th defensively. But more telling is that break into the top 4 defensively we need to reduce the number down to 1734 (bulldogs) which is avg 79 pg almost 2 goals less. Where as offensively we are on par with 3 and 4 rankings

My take:
We have demonstrated a capacity to put teams to the sword when on top but defensively we are long way back. Against Freo I would have loved us to apply a choke to the Dockers to slow them down .. our zone looked a mess and they got a run on we could not manage. Recruitment of a strong defensive assistant coach should be a priority - Adelaide, Swans or St Kilda assistants would be ideal.
Agree with everyone else we are definetly sort a kp backman. This is not so easy to address. Yes I would take Tarrant if available and medically sound. In parallel recruit as a priority a kp backman to develop.
Midfield needs to get better at defending. Some of that is positioning and tactics however not sure we have the right mix of mids - we are lacking tough mids that other teams have. Brock was the attempt to address but recruit has not worked (...yet?). I would try again if quality available.

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The glass is neither half full nor half empty. Rather the glass is twice as big than required.

i really like your post.
I hope we will give Brock another year, and that he will really shine after a full pre-season, and hopefully, an injury free run.

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That’s not a political statement — it’s a harsh reality, and we must act,” she said. “He is a clear and present danger to the things that keep us strong and free. I support impeachment.”

You do know that Murphy is number two for contested possesions?? Behind Juddy of coarse, hardly just an outside player.....

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Circumstance has no value. It is how one relates to a situation that has value. All true meaning resides in the personal relationship to a phenomenon, what it means to you.

At least we'll win flag 17 before Essendon* does!

I remember at the beginning of the season the focus was going to be on our defensive game....I don't believe we have improved very much at all in this area this season....

The major areas of improvement have come from individual players such as Warnock Garlett and Hendo whilst others have gone backwards....it's as a team where the improvement has been minimal and until we improve collectively then we are only a blimp on the radar....

Sunday the heat goes up a few notches as finals matches differ greatly from home and away games....I'd like to see our defensive game come to the fore....and step up to the level required to win a final....

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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

I agree, the defensive aspects of our game havent improved as much as id hoped. Points against are down in 2010 compared to 2009 so we have improved a little. We also had some changes to personel during the season that left us with a younger inexperienced team than we would have thought at the start of the season.

With the changes we made to the playing list this year i am pretty happy that we have close to equalled last year (so far). WIth fev and stevens gone and the phasing out of thornton and possibly houla we have lost a lot of experience. That experience may have got us a couple more wins but in the big picture with them in the team we were never going to go forward.

I agree, there are signs of potential in our forward line, but our back line has hit a dead end. Mind you, White was looking promising and has been out pretty much all season, so he is still to return...
People go on and on and on about us still needing a 'key position, tall marking forward', but what is the point in having them when we can't even get it out of our back line and then through the middle so it can be delivered to those 'tall marking forwards'!?
I want to see us recruit a tough nut, tall full back... we get that and I believe you will see Jammo and Bower step it up big time, then you add White. I want to see Gibbs out of the back line and back in the middle. BUT I don't see that happening if both Walker and Thornton are dropped next season.

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GO BLUE BOYS!!