I am fully supportive of what we are doing and really supportive of Bolts as coach in the rebuild mode and objectively understand we have got probably the worst list BUT

The trouble with the preseason so far is that it has given the supporters little hope and I know we were last season building from the back and defensively but we must give supporters a reason for going either play young exciting players eschew white jones and Rowe and play better prospects than them or at least play an attacking brand of football which enables us to kick more goals

Perhaps these two goals are mutually exclusive where we are in our development and is not the way to build a good side going forward

Regrettably the next match in this comedy cup is more important than it should be because the last 2 performances by a fairly experienced team in the first one and a very inexperienced one in the second

The problem with watching plenty of comedy cup every other side including Brisbane has given their supporters hope in that they are competitive or play an attractive brand of footy
Heartbreaking to see Adelaide and Geelong in a fairly good standard game with Henderson and Tuohy starring
Jacobs doing well and even Menzel looking ok

GIVE US SOMETHING

if you want hope - change the culture

They are actually in the process of doing it. Started when bolts and SOS took over. How can you possibly complain when they are doing what you ask of them??

dont start me on my pet interest [fill in blank]

I think the club's secrecy and lack of welcome over summer has made it worse. We haven't been invited in to see and share in the excitement of the new draftees/recruits. We haven't been allowed the opportunity to be 'buoyed' by signs of growth or talent or excitement. And now that brutal 'reality' has set in, we're all feeling a little depressed about what lies ahead. It's going to be a hard couple of years when it comes to game time. When we're going to lose a lot of games. And there will probably be more smashings than we'd like.

So please, please ... open the doors. Give us the chance to see the 'green shoots' that I'm sure insiders are seeing. Because if you don't ... supporters will continue to drop off ... and supporter frustration will continue to rise ... and pressure will begin to mount on the new regime. And I don't think any of us want that.

I know how you feel.

I've watched the 2 JLT games and have not taken the result too serious and continue to believe we are on the right track. I've seen little green shoots albeit really tiny ones.

One remarkable kick from LeBois, the tenacity of Fisher, a really good mark by Charlie, Korchecks 3 centre square hit outs, Marchbank's run with the ball......but realistically there really hasn't been much TBH.

However, after thinking about the last 2 games I thought that after last year's NAB games we could all see some improvement with our team defense. We gave Hawks a run for their money and what seemed a taste of their own medicine and understandable faded out with fatigue. The commentators couldn't help but notice the improvement.

This year TBH I've seen no game plan, but I wasn't expecting much till the last game against Freo, but I did expect some evidence of natural improvement on last year.

Like you Rexy, I've seen what the other teams have offered their fans in terms of hope, and I can't help but think we're in a bit of trouble.

In the preseason we've heard that the new kids have really taken to the new game plan and understand it, as have the coaches in their 2nd year along with the 2nd year players. You'd think against that backdrop there would be something resembling improvement with our ball movement, team defence and a game plan.

Take a breath... I'll consider what Barker said about the balance between engaging the fans and keeping our game plan secret, and that we are ttally focussed on round 1 against Richmond, so I suppose nothing else counts. Maybe its true they are working on something special, despite looking small, slow, dysfunctional with no goal kicking options.

I'll buy the Barker line of thinking for now...just for the sake of hope, and because I have reason to believe in Bolton.

Lets see what we dish up next week.

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Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

I don't like what I've seen so far but I suppose you are right let’s wait and see what we dish up in round 1 before we all get in a puff

continually playing the great deflators every game will take its toll on the fans' interest in the team

EFA

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

Well,the one positive for me is we are building a backline.Not just any backline,but a good one.Weitering,Marchbank,and Plowman are good building blocks..........its just that non ball winning midfield that is driving me crazy.For the life of me i just cant see one young up and comer with get up and go.Great oppurtunity for a kid with G and D.For goodness sake,just do something one of you kids.

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All my dangerous friends

Cripps goes ok

How about we give some faith and/or patience?

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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

I'm not sure Donstuie anyone here come say I haven't got faith and the start of my post hopefully conveys that
However since 1995 there have been a number of false dawns and therefore I have faith but not blind faith

The backline and forward line has been refreshed with talent over the past 2 years. But they will still take a couple of seasons to be able to consistently perform. At least they are taking shape.

The midfield isn't competitive. Won't be consistently for a couple as years, we are building a team and that is next on the list. They've gone with building a spine first. Which they've done with our top end picks.

Might even get another forward this year, but over the next couple of years it will be midfield.

It's not like we have any extra advantages like GWS did. We've got to do it the long way, draft then wait for them to develop together into senior players.

That takes years, not months.

At least our drafting since SOS and bolts took over has us on the right track.

But it's going to be hard to watch for the next 2 years with only 3 contributors in the midfield while we wait for the others to be drafted then develop.

Yep,goes more than ok,goes fantastic.Needs a swarm of young kids wanting to wrest the mantle from him and take the responsability of sharing the load.................we need a heap of kids who can go in the guts and get a kick.If a couple put there hand up we will see real improvement.

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All my dangerous friends

this summaries it perfectly.

Watch Port Adelaide play.

The amount of coast to coast goals against us and very poor tackle count suggests we are not prepared and unfit or we are tapering into the season proper. It is not like we are premiers and should be a month everyone else. This is a reflection on Bolton, considering the on field values he demonstrated last year.

You can't simply turn on that competitiveness. We are heading towards a 100 point belting in round one

Sent from my OPPO R9m using Tapatalk

I think this thread sums up where I am up to. Last year we weren't good but we could all see there was a plan and some structure (as well as improved recruiting). I would have expected that the game plan would have been even slicker a year on.
Either we have gone seriously backwards in trying to follow a plan or we are holding back on implementing the real plan (I would have thought the benefit of practising the plan would outweigh surprising the competition for 1 quarter of football) or we now have a new plan because our team has progressed to a new level and we are effectively starting from scratch.
I really hope jlt 3 gives us something to get excited about.....

I've been really dissapointed so far with our 2 hitouts but I'm prepared to wait for JLT3 before having a melt down.

Im taking the family to the game. Please don't embarrass me Carlton.

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I support the Navy Blues whatever happens!