Not a chance.
Ratts singled him out in the press conference as one who had taken a big step forward last night.
Ratts has made it clear he wants tacles and follow ups and 1%ers more than goals.
Well Russell gave him exactly that last night.
I listened to the call on 3AW and had the impression that apart from his tackling and some early uncontested marks across half back, he had a howler. Cost us more than he gave us.

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

..and neglected to say that he did a good job on McLeod.

Happy to put Russell as a pro. Our first 2 goals of the game came as a direct result of his tackling. Again in the 3rd quarter he won a holding the ball (his goalkicking is obviously a con) and in the 4th there was another tap out of a pack in the centre which led to a Fev shot at goal. People need to realise that the next 40 games for this club are more about development. We are not a top 8 side this year, and possibly not next year. He is improving, slower than many people would like, but it's happening, and with 70 games under his belt I think he can be a very good AFL player.

Main pro for me was that despite the obvious clangers (Gibbs, Kreuzer, Russell, Chamberlain, Fev's kicking) and the fact we played a lot of the game 2 men down, we were still in it most of the way. Game was decided as much by our stuff ups as Adelaide's good play. We are more in control of our destiny than we have been for a few years.

Cons - really happy with the Bower is coming on, providing some really good rebound. People question his kicking but for me his handpassing is the worry, seems to miss more targets than he hits.

Pro:- We are developing a really good team.

Con:- We are going to have to watch them make mistakes and suffer defeats at the hands of well drilled and experienced sides as we develop.

McLeod had 8 more disposals, 5 less critical errors, and 1 more goal...i think he had more impact on the game tbh

the stats show that his disposal isnt up to AFL standards...einstein

he had the equal most critical errors on the ground

McLeod is also a champion of the game who's won 2 Norm Smith medals, 3 B&Fs, 5 x All Australian, and has played about 250+ more games than JR. You'd expect McLeod to have more impact than JR. Nobody is saying JR will ever be as good as McLeod. JR is still learning. He did OK yesterday mate and I think you just need to let it go.

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It's never as good as it looks and it's never as bad as it seems.

Not seeing much love either for Bentick's 20 touches (6 contested), 11 tackles and 0 clangers (in retrospect I should've given him votes).

Russell had 5 clangers, the most of anyone, and made 2-3 critical blues which cost us badly. God, I can only imagine how the knives would be out if it was Bentick with those stats. Praise is getting so badly misdirected it isn't funny.

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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

im just saying he didnt do a good job on mcleod...he played average yesterday...a little better than normal

Pros:
The kids are doing OK, despite some untimely errors.
We took it up to them until half time. Not having a bench was always going to cost us late in the game.
Cloke is turning out OK.
Clubs respect us and don't just chalk in a win like they used to do.
Cons:
I think the gameplan needs to be broken up a bit more. In the first half we had it, possessed it and moved it quickly with confidence.
In the second half we couldn't get it, over possessed it when we did manage to get i tand lacked confidence, The short game around the wings ALL the time then kick it to Fev is too easy to stop. We scored a great goal running straight down the middle in the third (I think) and need to do it more often to break up the pattern.
Fisher is a shadow of his former self.
We still need two ruckman.
No O'Hailpin. Love him or hate him, he gives us a verdsatile player off the bench. He could probably have stopped a few of the Tippet marks that Jamo couldn't. Jamo is going to be fantastic but gave away a lot of height last night. Setanta could probably also have filled in at CHF after Hartlett left us. Not at the same time of course.
Hartlett is a con. Poor bastard will probably never make it with his hammies the way they are.
Poor kicking for goal early. 8-4 at quarter time wouuld have been handy.
Shufagaus, anonymous [/i]argumentum ad hominum[i] is poor form. If you want to argue the toss ad nauseum with somebody, wait until you're 18 and then do it face to face at the pub. Take something to mop up the blood with. You'll need it.

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

Is McLeod a 4 year "veteran" too

sorry if i've offended or annoyed anybody in this forum with my views/opinion on russell.. i'll try keep my opinions to myself next time

PROS
Pressure was good throughout, even when they got on top late in the 3rd
Browne looks like a player
Russell was more pro-active than usual (shame about his kicking)
Fev and Judd being down didn't kill us (the lack of bench did)
Fev not being a tool even when not playing well (though his tool tendancies were threatening to surface)
I think we should win next week if we put the same effort in

CONS
Losing
Lack a good tap ruckman (while the Kruze develops, and it still isnt a good enough reaosn to bring Ackland in)
Thornton & Hartlett going down (quite possibly the difference between winning and losing as it stuffed our structire

No one is saying JR is a star, but the guy gets crucified every time he steps out on the park, and whilst yesterday wasn't a perfect performance, I reckon 9 tackles earns him a week off.

kk

Yes we lost yesterday and it sucks but we made that many errors yesterday, that would have been a 15 goal drubbing last year.

For the majority of the first 3 quarters we responded with a quick goal every time they took the lead, but when they went 2 goals up they got on a roll but the guys didn't give in and fought it out with 2 less guys on the bench.

Wow.......bagging Bower. May not be the best kick in the world, but he's been great for us this year, and getting better all the time. Browne FFS !!! was his first game and he did well, and will be a 10 year player for us

Bowser is about to overtake Waitey as my favorite player. He and Jammo are going to be solid in defense over the many years to come. How can we not be excited!!!

Jammo and Bower both impressed me (especially the former). They are still green obviously, but you can see they know what they are doing and will continue to improve.

Unlike Luke Livingston.