The fact is (as has already been mentioned) that many of our boys have been carrying injuries for weeks or are running around battling soreness. Our brand of hard footy's taken its toll, none of our boys have had much of a break and it's starting to show. Judd, Gibbs, Murph, Yarran, Scotland and Waite have all been battling injuries and soreness for weeks. We lost Carrazzo and Waite today, Yarran was a rumoured question mark, Scotland can't be far off...who will we lose next week? Fact is our main men are dead on their feet, today showed a team too sore to contest to the level they have maintained throughout the season. Yes we got outcoached a little also, but ultimately we didn't have the troops with enough firepower to win the war. Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be any way of resting any - every game is a 'must win,' we don't have the solid depth to replace key players like the Cats and Pies can, and our gameplan doesn't hold up with key outs the way the Hawks seem to manage.

I'm worried that next week we'll lose to the Pies but more importantly, one or more of our main men will succumb to niggling injuries and go out for the season. I'm not being a doomsayer, just a realist. Judd, Murph, Gibbsy an Scotland in particular all need a rest badly. Scary if one or more of those boys goes down...

I hate the thought of even saying it, but my first thought was Freo last year. Our stars need a break. Collingwood was always gonna be a 50/50 or less, given that there's more chance of losing than winning it might be the closest thing to a dead game we get for the next 7 weeks til a bye. Yes 90,000+ at the G, rivalry and all the expectation, but is it worth losing one or more of our key 22 for weeks or the rest of the season, so that then our season really IS over? Add a loss onto that and it'd be even more crushing. Might be an idea to swallow our pride and look at the big picture. Next week is only one game.

Going on the 'dead game' theory, if Thornton isn't kept forward or Setanta isn't thrown into the mix, I'd throw Levi Casboult into the forward line, give him a crack. Big boy might surprise a few. Collingwood have thrown in Keefe on debut for Dawes, I don't see any reason why not. Throw Watson back in the mix defensively and bring back Tuohy of course. We need to give some of our seconds game time or this 'depth' we think we have is an illusion, especially come finals time with half of our best 22 running on fumes at the moment...

Apart from a few people who swing from ecstatic when we win to suicidal on the back of a loss, the reaction to this loss has been quite reasonable. Most posters in the 'Talking Players' forum haven't mentioned delistings or wholesale changes. Of course that may change but on the whole, it has been pretty measured.

Nobody likes to lose, especially a game we all thought was going to be a win. We are still pretty well positioned. WCE have to play StK and the Dogs yet and those games are going to help us out whoever wins.

There are others that are important to the makeup of the eight. Some of them, we play in. Others are beyond our control but will affect the points tally of the teams immediately below us and on the fringe of the eight.

We just have to hang in until we get something like our best 22 back on the park.

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

If it's true that we go in each week with all these niggles and soreness, then FFS rest a couple of players each week. Having these guys out for a week is a damn sight better than losing them for a month or two, which seems to happen way too often at this club.

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WADA medical director Dr Alan Vernec describes Essendon* FC drug case as biggest scandal in team sport the world of sport has seen. #WC2WB

#GUILTY

Then watch the ferals go stupid when player X or Y is played and isn't AFL ready - damned if you do and damned if you don't.

But there were AFL ready fit players available (Thouy, Armfield, Austin) yet we still went in with players under injury clouds.

Worst performance of the season
Some players should have been rested last week. We payed a huge price today.
Playing Waite was a huge risk and we lost
We were creamed in the last 40 minutes
Embarrasing tosay the least and we havent learnt from our mistakes from last year in regards to our forward line set up when it doesnt work. Where is planB. Non existent.

These guys shouldnt be on our list let alone get a game
Thornton. can take an overhead mark and thats that. Not up to it
Houlihan Gets 22 possesions. Big flower deal. Plays the way he has always played. With little or no intensity particularlywhen the game gets hot. The best tackle he has layed was on Walker in his undies. He is too slow and his kicking is overrated.
joseph Like the fact that he tries his guts out but his disposal and backline play is terrible. Why not tag him on Ward where he plays better. Despite this he isnt up to AFL standard
credit to our stars Murphy Judd They kept us in it. Robbo may have [REDACTED] up but at least he tried something

Gibbs for a number one pick disappoints. In a game like yesterday he didnt step up to the plate. Like Houlihan he lacks the ability to up the anty when we need it. He doesnt put his body in fully and he craps himself when under real pressure.
he is a good run with player but as I said before is that what you want to get from a number one drasft pick. I know 30 odd possessions but Bryce Gibbs for mine is disappointing. Stats and dream team points only tell half the story.

Fact is our effort in the last 40 minutes was insipid. I knew we were in trouble in the first 5 minutes. You dont get that from a top 4 side.Since the Swans game we have gone backwards. Jamo and Waite going down doesnt help but the but thats when you lift it up a notch. Playin players in the wrong positions. Having the players who just rest on their laurels wont achieve an improvement that compensates for the losses.

We basically were caught with our pants down by going into the game with unfit players and when the heat was on we tumbeld like a house of cards.
Our selections for the game were dubious to say the least. With carrots out surely McLean should have played since his form was so good.With the possibility of Waite going down and our spine weakened further surely we should have picked Austin or Watson because of their size particularly when the doggies really only have Hall as a physical presence.
Warnock is as soft as warm butter.
Seriously Hudson is just a player but he slaughtered Warnock at the clearences when it really matterd. Hampson is a better prospect. Even Sam Jacobs. You want your number one ruckman to impose himself on the game. Warnock for mine is a major disappointment. And because of this kreuzer didnt play up forward much at all when we were crying out for a marking target.

Overall it was amateu hour yesterday. The same old negatives from last year keep propping up for me

And lastly the dropping of Tuohy was the worst selection blunder of the year. He was ahead of 2 or 3 players who played yesterday

I dont like Gibbs playing as an inside mid. Having him just slam the ball on his boot out of packs is just a waste. Get him back to half back where he has time to use his skills. There are plenty of players on our list that move the ball blindly forward from packs on our list.

It's obvious...

Thornton + Hoola + Bower in same team = TANKING!!

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"...that's the thing about opinion - you don't have to know anything to have one..." Andre Agassi commenting on Pat Cash 2004
"...the less you know - the more you believe..." - Bono 2006

Staggering that Waite and Walker would play given the issues with both - groin and food poisoning. Just staggering.

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"I had to eat"

Maybe Walker insisted he would be fine or didn't let on how bad it was.

Waite is more staggering when you see that he barely trained all week and the doctors still cleared him.

Is Yarran in the sore lot? His disposal was way off yesterday and he didn't look so quick.

Walks was vomiting all week and before the game with food poisoning......unbelievable.

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No ones listening till you make a mistake.

He was sick all week? In that case the MC should have either not selected him or listed more appropriate emergencies.

LETS HIT THE FILTH ON THE REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEBOUND BLUE

What I witnessed yesterday was nothing short of pathetic.

We we're outplayed, outclassed and out-coached. Plain and Simple.

In fact, if you watch a replay of the West Coast game and then watch the Bulldogs game - it is pretty much a mirror image. It looks as if we have been found out in the way we play and when they take the game to us with that similar "pressing" style that we do to teams, we are lost.

It will now be Rattens challenge to fix this.

Yesterday we played WAY TO WIDE and the bulldogs punished us through the corridor in return.

Our decision to play Waite was silly. I know we needed him......... but look where's it's put us. Dumb idea.
The Etihad surface is responsible for Jammo, then Hammo,....... and now Waite. I'd be resting Kreuzer the next time we play at etihad cause i don't want to risk him.


Yazz was lazy and stupid yesterday, as was Russell.
Some silly mistakes from people who are usually better than that were cause by the bulldogs pressure.

I think only Scotland can hold his head high - he was quite good yesterday.

I've lost all confidence in a top 4 spot and sadly, I don't believe we deserve it. Hawthorn & West coast are more deserving than us. We are, as Robbo said last week, Flat Track Bullies.

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

As far as I know, that's wrong. Waite wasn't training all week; Walker had food poisoning.

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29 different attributes,
And only 7 that you like;
20 ways to see the world,
Or 20 ways to start a fight.

I am watching a replay of the game right now. We are up 27 pts and running all over them, so hard to believe we lose from here. the 2 50m penalties that the Bulldogs supporters were howling about were there, even the commentators said so.

kezza - the first 50 wasn't there and not in the spirit of the game. The 2nd was almost there if you were going to get technical. But if the 2nd WAS there, there's some problems with our game.

I posted on the match thread that I thought we were lucky to be that far in front. We weren't playing all that well.

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end of message

BLOW THE SIREN FOR flowers SAKE!!!!!!

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Looking forward to seeing our potential realised.

The dogs new they had to stop those little lead up marks we take around 60m out and them play on quick from. That is why they tried to put pressure on those two marks. Both times they crossed the line and umps were red hot on it. The second one Bob Murphy tried to cut off a free disposal that was earnt by taking a mark. He went over the mark to do so.

We still had the ball and if they had not of crossed the mark we were in good position to set up a scoring opportunity.

We were a little lucky. Not so when Hall had hands in the back right in front of the ump that gifted them a shot at goal.

We got shat on for 2 1/2 quarters though. The dogs did their homework and played out of their skins.

Just on the relay the "mark" to Ward in the 3rd quarter. If i could see he didnt hold it from the 3rd level why cant an umpire who is 5 metres away see it wasnt a mark?