On last week's form, Rowe was unlucky. Excited to see the future in Charlie Curnow.

Byrne and Rowe have every right to be savage at White IMO.

Curnow is a different prospect because we're looking for new options up forward.


Or Ratten.

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

On the weight of that evidence - four senior coaches continually selecting him - you'd have to say they're right and we're wrong, yeah? Especially if we're also saying that Barker and Bolton are modern coaches. Surely we just have it wrong.

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"In better news for Blues fans, Jarrad Waite was not named on the club's injury list."

I'd suggest they like his decision making and the ever so slight edge of his versatility, yet Rowe has been decent whenever swung forward.

He's also quite strong in 1v1s for his size, which means on an opponent like Towers he won't get beaten too often. It's his best possible match up, but it leaves us struggling with White the support for Jamison playing on Buddy, rather than Weitering.

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

I batted for Collins for a while before the draft myself actually.

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Essendon-Only team to have ever been found guilty of salary cap breaches in a premiership year!

I don't expect JGM to play at all this year and even when he plays, not at FB from game 1. One of Rowe and Jamison won't be here next year. As for Jaksch, White and Plowman, they don't have the strength to play at FB (Jaksch is the biggest of them). So why do you mention those 3 names?

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Essendon-Only team to have ever been found guilty of salary cap breaches in a premiership year!

Charlie

Off hand Luke Parker pick 41 national draft

Lewis Jetta
Luke Parker, Alex Johnson
Shane Biggs
Dean Towers, Jake Lloyd, Dane Rampe, Brandon Jack
Zak Jones, George Hewett
James Rose
Tom Papley

Haven't included their academy or F/S picks or free agency

But you're right, it's all luck!!!

It will be interesting to see what lessons were learnt from last weeks game.
From memory, our first 5 marks inside 50 were from players lowering their vision and hitting up short targets instead of blasting away. That needs to be our preferred option going forward. Too often we blasted away when the leading option was on. Unfortunately, its our seasoned players who too often make that mistake. A result of having antiquated coaching methods drummed into them. Even our leading patterns need to be re-addressed. Forget the defensive option of leading into the pockets. Sometimes it takes courage to lead up the corridor, even though its more costly if the ball is turned over.
It will be interesting to see how the coaches assess our forward structure and what methods are put in place to improve our scoring capability. Hopefully a comprehensive review of the game will see a change of ball movement going inside 50.

I'm also looking forward to seeing Murphy second game up. He showed last week what an accomplished footballer he is when he is able to play the game. His skills are good, his courage is good, his endurance is great but his decision making is elite. Now he has a coach who creates an environment where players can create and use their football intelligence, Murphy will once again show why he is an elite player of the competition. Some of his creativity last week was above the other players on the ground.

Another game into our press should see improvement as well. Against the Swans in the NAB Challenge we leaked goals out the back but its important we don't change our structure. Its the implementation of our press that let us down, not the structure itself. It was our turnovers and lack of discipline that saw the ball go down the other end. A couple of soft frees, a couple of disgraceful umpiring decisions and players not reacting quick enough to push up. It takes time.
As long as we're seeing incremental improvement, I'll be happy. Bring in Byrne and I'll be even happier.

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Looking forward to seeing our potential realised.

Pick 14, mature age recruit, traded for a rookie elevated ruckman from West Coast


Parker was a great pick, Johnson hasn't played for 3 years


Odd choice given he's now at the Dogs? Former mature age rookie pick.


Pick 22, pay that, mature age pick, someone's brother who might as well have been a cat B rookie himself.



Pick 15, Hewett was a second round selection who slid a little. I liked him pre-draft and hoped we would pick him up in the PSD this off-season past.

Why? Because he hadn't played a game in his first two seasons.


Second round pick in what looks like a strong draft; I liked Rose as well pre-draft and figured he'd go slightly earlier.


You're calling it after one game? Mature age recruit as well FYI.

The only one you'd move heaven and earth for is Parker; plenty of solid citizens and some inspired picks in there, but the general theme of that list is 'role player'.

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

You questioned the Swans recruiting, "How is that good recruitment?"

How does it compare with our recruitment during the same period?

How many of the players listed above would get a game with us now (or in the future)?

And remember, the list above doesn't include their f/s and academy selections!!!

I'm aware he's been injured, I'm just saying maybe that was always the risk with him?

I reckon outside of free hits and bidding processes that ultimately deliver academy and father-son talent at a discount, they've had about as much luck as any other club that's been half-decent.

We're not the gold standard, but the Swans are definitely overhyped, because they've tied a lot to Buddy's fitness this season.

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

Rowe has not got a match up this week.
Who would he play on as swans only have mobile talls?

Not to mention the COLA that allowed them to get Tippett and Franklin.
Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't the Jack boys a result of Sydney having dibs on local boys as well?
Not that it matters. We have to play their 22 with the best 22 we can put on the park.

I think White is underrated. He might not be pretty but I think he might see a bit of midfield time this week. Sydney have hard at it mids nd we will need a bit of hard at it in return. White is this decade's version of Simon Wiggins. Hard and versatile but on the fringes of selection. Wiggo used to play a few games in a row then get injured or reported and then have to play long stretches in the twos to get his place back but I don't recall his being dropped on form too often. I reckon if White plays his role every week he will stay in but if he gets injured or reported, he will be replaced by (say) Byrne and may have to play a lot of NB games if he is to win his spot back.

Back to the game:

Hanaberry and Franklin are the keys to this game. Hanaberry is a superstar in the making and Curnow should go to him. Franklin is a mystery bag. If he gets near it and has his accurate boots on, nobody can stop him. Rowe usually gets him with Jamo backing up. I reckon they'll give Weitering a few crack at him. If you're going to learn how to play back, you might as well have a good teacher. Weitering joins the club at a time when there is a raft of exciting tall forwards in the game. Bit like Southby and SOS with tough gigs every week. We will see some classic match ups in the coming decade. Kernahan and Langford. Knights and Van der Haar. Weitering and Hogan/Daniher/Moore..

I am looking forward to this game. I don't think we can win it but I want to see if we play 4 quarters and if we learned anything from the game a couple of weeks ago. That will tell us a bit about Bolts as well. Rowe out isn't just about Rowe. It's about having a match up for him as someone mentioned earlier. It's about Bolts trying something different against his first-ever repeat contest.

A good show against Sydney and we will make Collingwood sit up and take notice. We shouls have beaten Richmond and Richmond should have beaten Collingwood. Let the fun begin.

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

Kieran was a Cat B rookie after playing rugby, Brandon was Swans or bust I assume.

Not that many of the names offered there had really broken into the senior ranks before round 1.

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

Thanks.

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

yeah, but they'd break into ours.

Stop Buddy and Parker and you can beat the swans. White will take Buddy and Touhy will take Parker. I cant see these players winning these contests.

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It is not as bad as you are lead to believe.......it is %$#^& worse!!!

Great write up BV. The only thing I would disagree with, is your last sentence. Not sure who Byrne is going to replace just yet, so he can wait for now and hopefully keep pushing. Couldn't possible agree more with your other views though.