We really need one or two elite long kicks who aren't defensive liabilities to help out here (where to find one though). Some of our kids may grow into it.

The best plans in the world are useless if you don't have the skills to implement them. As our players become more confident they will get better at making the right decisions and executing, winning the 50/50 contests which will make the kick-ins look better and actually taking the responsibility of leading for the ball. Fingers crossed anyway

Pros
Great games by Bower, Grigg, Jamison,Betts, Gibbs, Simpson, and Joseph
Our tackling
Fought back from 5 goals down
Showed we can match it with the best
Have a depleted back line,( Thornton, Waite and Walker would have made the difference)


Cons
Giving a 5 goal start
Umpires!!!!!!!!!!!
Armfield shocking disposal
Judds nose
Joseph will probably get beaten by Ward (WB) for the rising star nomination
Losing another close game

Actually Brown will never be Riewoldt and Riewoldt will never be Brown...
Love the way Setanta is now developing fast with a monkey or two off his back. He will develop into Setanta Mark II.
He could end up being a hard working CHF with some of the traits of Mooney / Spalding / Maclure. Sure there's a long way to go and it will be some journey for him.

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Bawditawaba

-Murphy has to now be considered/cemented as top 3 at our club along with juddles and fevalenko.. ..is continueing to build upon last season, 16 goals now marks him as a very dangerous mid, and he's racking up a fair few assists too.. ..and his defensive side has also developed, 10 tackles against a strong intense saints midfield, with Juddles suffering a broken nose proves that Murphy's definately taken another step.. ..consistent all year, he's not just turned the corner but he's staked his claim and is there to stay.. ..good footy pedigree..

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..if you can't be good, be good at it..

Rhys O`Keefe to take the kick-ins next year.

Was very happy with the teams perfomance despite the loss. The result of that game was the flip of a coin really, we had our chances St Kilda had theirs and they took them. The Pros and Cons of individuals have already been covered so I'll just chime in with a few generalities.

Pros
- Physicality. Was fantastic to see two or three St Kilda players go off the ground with what looked like slight concussions after fair but tough clashes with Blues players. That was a great sign early on and I reckon it sent a message through our team, through the saints and took the edge of the Saints players who were roughed up.
- Benching. Great to see Ratten have the guts to send a message to Murphy, Stevens and Gibbs at the start of the second quarter with the main way to get into a players head, leaving them of the ground at the start of a quarter. That is a big kick in the guts and helped our cause.
- Development. Our young blokes with a future are developing fantastically well as players. This gives me enormous confidence about our future.

Cons
- Kicking for goal. Surely players know when they are on their distance at goal. If they know they are on their distance and are going for the goal surely they know to aim for the right goal post (for right footers). I think there were two of these last night. No-one is expecting all of these to be kicked but please please show us you are aiming for the right goalpost. I'd be happier if they missed to the right, at least then it might indicate they have thought through the situation.

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Yes.
How long has it been since we've been the physical aggressor??
Good to see!

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There's so much I could say...

Wasn't listening to the radio but I have heard a few of the 'experts' giving him a wrap over the course of the year. Garlett has that cat-like ability to do stuff that only indigenous players have, and even only a select few of them, like the Krakeurs (sp). It is hard to describe but I am sure we all know it when we see it.

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

Pros:

Simply pulsating game of footy. Wonderful intensity. Fantastic crowd support.
Great willingness to keep working, even when the gap was significant.
Bower, Jamison and Browne in defence.
Santy.
More aggression from Stevo.
Murph's ability to hurt the opposition on the scoreboard, even when being smothered by a really good tagger.
Great to see Grigg return to some of his preseason form.

Cons:

The umpires were simply horrible. The less frees paid, the bigger advantage that can be won or lost when they are. The stats may not show it, but the Saints got a very, very good run with the umps. A lot of their goals were the direct result of frees. A lot of our frees actually seemed to be to our disadvantage (calling the ball back when we had it running forward).
Our kicking for goal was good. There's was simply incredible. Will Riewoldt ever kick that well again?
I loved our ability to create goals from nothing, but not a lot of our goals came from standard forward strategy. We're not going to kick a score consistently, if we can't create more set shots in our forward line.

Yes. Next time he plays us.

I'm sick of being the team that players suddenly run into form against

He has also done it before. In 2006 he kicked 9.3 against us at the G

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Cheats never prosper (except in the AFL)

In 2006, I reckon I could have kicked 9.3 against Carlton.

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And so while others miserably pledge themselves to the pursuit of ambition and brief power, I will be stretched out in the shade, singing.