I wouldn't exactly have Obrien and Marchy in the best 22 and I think we better get used to Curnow McGovern and McKay spending long stints on the sidelines.
Not throwing in the towel just yet but yesterday was Shiite.
Effort was there but not much else.

We for years don't do the simple things right which is frustrating.
The number of times you see 2 to 3 Blues players applying a tackle for the ball to spill to the 2 loose Freo players at the same contest .
They get the overlap and away they go into open space and they looked more skilled.
We need to learn to apply pressure to the bloke who is about to get it not necessarily the bloke who has it.
Well we don't need 3 players doing it.
One is enough.

Hope to see a vast improvement next week .



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If you allow the Government to change the Laws in an emergency
They will create an Emergency to change the Laws

What does concern me is that they are professional players who are allegedly full time practising and working on their game. How it can be accepted that players "prepare" themselves and play like that? Practice match is just that, practice but you play like you practice. Good practice makes a difference. That is why yesterday was so disappointing from a skill and endeavour perspective.

So no excuses then

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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

Fisher 4 score involvements, Cerra 3.
Fisher 27 possessions, 4 Clearances. Cerra 19 and 2.
Brayshaw, 3 score involvements, 19 possessions.
Sturt 9 possessions. 0 clearances. 0 tackles.
Fisher more metres gained than all of them.

With zero assistance and roving to a losing ruck, Fisher was a better contributor than all of them.

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Looking forward to seeing our potential realised.

Only a half, and at half pace.

Often individuals you can look more into than overall team performances in these games, as obviously winning isn't the be all and end all.

Thats where it still remains worrying as I didn't see anything better from Dow, Setterfield, Cuningham, JSOS, Kennedy, Lang or Newnes.

Admittedly the last 4 I saw as so better than fringe players, and all things being equal of JSOS, Kennedy, Lang and Newnes no more than 1 should play Round 1, if any.

The first 3 are the concerning ones, Dow doesn't look any better than he did last year, still too small and doesn't get involved enough.

Setterfield was terrible, and see him as no more than a solid foot soldier at this point, at best.

Cuningham now in his 5th season has only shown glimpses, and there comes a point when you stop hoping or expecting anything better than what we have seen.

We will see how things go obviously over the course of the season, but no one has a 100% hit rate with nailing young players in the draft and we probably just need to keep bringing more and more in.

Likely R1 team assuming no more injuries

B: Plowman Jones Simpson
HB Newman Weitering Docherty
W SPS Walsh Murphy
HF Martin Casboult Fisher
F Betts McKay McGovern
Foll Kreuzer Cripps E Curnow
Int Gibbons Setterfield Marchbank Cuningham
Emerg Dow JSOS Williamson

Could throw a blanket over the interchange and emergencies really, depends who plays well V Brisbane and what kind of balance we want. Others in the mix could be Stocker, Philp and LOB.

Gone from thinking we had to fit 28-30 into 22, now worrying we have to play some of them in a best 22.

Makes moving on Daisy seem even more weird considering we aren't blessed with quality.

Just like the rest of them, then...
Thanks

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

I think that's pretty right, although I am in the camp that thinks Marchbank, Newman and Plowman all in the one team is a bit tall. As you pointed out, pick any four from the bench and emergencies.

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

Great commentating "great ball movement - it's quick, it's fast, it's rapid...."

#thesauruswasonsale

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Never argue with idiots. They drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience!!!

After Monday and Tuesday, even the calendar says W T F .........
Visit http://fromthemoshpit.com/

Was Rex commentating from the grave?

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

The entire team looked like they had heavy legs to me, even Ed Curnow looked stuffed. I assumed pretty early in the game that Russell still has the team doing pre-season loads rather than being fresh for matches. Hope I’m right.

Ditto

I miss the days when we used to win pre-season premierships.
We were so much better then.

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"One of my favorite philosophical tenets is that people will agree with you only if they already agree with you. You do not change people's minds." - Frank Zappa

Just finished watching the game.
It is bloody too hot at the beach this morning.
Nice to kick back in aircon to watch my Blue boys try a few things.
I knew the result so I just looked for the positive signs in comfort.

It was always going to be tough with 10 of our best missing and Martin and Kreuzer playing only half a game.
Furthermore, Ed playing half forward and looked spent, even in the first quarter.
And a decimated forwardline with Harry, Charlie,Gov, Betts missing from our best line up there.

Add the fact we are in a plane on the longest haul in the country playing on the opposition's home ground (well for those who played for Peel thunder)

Something just wasn't right with our pace and intensity from the get go. Training loads perhaps?

Our team did not go in hard as they did in preseason match simulations and last week's hit out.
I'm sure everyone noticed that. There were no hard hits dished out by Blue boys. The boys did not give 100% at the contest, and the thoughtless bombing it to Lobb was strange.
When we ran the ball forward, so often there was nothing ahead, hence bombing it to Levi in a 2 v 1 contest.

Kicking and handball were a bit off all day. You can't execute a game plan with that sort of disposal. It was an 'off' day.

Last praccy game vs Pies we seemed to hold our structures well, but that was with Cripps, Murphy and Ed in the engine room.

I loved Walsh and Fisher's game immensely. Fish and Walsh will be even more dangerous with Cripps, Murph and Ed as the primary mids.

Some of the things Dow did showed improvement and it seems obvious he has been told to take on the opposition, when at times he should have looked to give it off or double back as Walsh does. Just gors to show how mature Walsh is, let alone his game sense. I liked Dow, despite hoping for more.

Thought Jack started the game well and didn't allow the opposition win the ball when he wasn't around. His kicking wasn't measured. I guess he didnt show poise, like most of the team. Maybe this is why Setterfield's kicking was ordinary too. I thought Setters did nothing to impose that big frame on the contest which was disappointing. He played an outside role when I would have thought he would be playing inside mid with Cripps out, after the preseason he's had.

Gibbo knows where to run and find ball. That's his game. Played like a best 22 player moreso than others but lets not forget he is also playing for a spot in the 22.

Weiters was great, despite his kicking being a bit off. Jones OK.
Docherty still has his pace, thank god, and needed this game to dust the cobwebs.

Simmo is so daring, takes the hits and fronts up every week for the next game. Durable? Elasticman? Just dudts himself off and gets to the next contest.
No doubt there's chemistry and a bond between Doc and Simmo. I can't see Simmo giving anyone his spot in the backline in 2020. He is going to take the opportunity to gel with Doc with both hands.

Cunners looks good too...at times. I did expect more from him but he does little 1 %ers which may go unnoticed. He looked more dangerous when he played forward.

TDK just reminded me of Brisbane's Hipwood: the way he runs and jumps and turns on his kicking leg...TDK will develop into a very good footballer. I'm sure with Betts and martin at his feet he will bring the ball down every contest when he doesn't mark, but for now its Levi who is the target with Harry Charlie and Gov out...der. I don't like it when he's the only man in the forwardline because if he doesn't mark the long bomb, then the 2nd Freo defender who was always loitering in the vicinit will run it out of our forwardlne without any pressure. That's where opponents strat most of their play.

Betts, Martin, Jsos and Gov will provide better pressure and lock it in moreso than what was displayed in this game. I have no doubt.

A lot of silly stuff when we had 2 or 3 v 1 in our favour...that's something they will highlight today and work on for the next game....they need to. But then again it may have been a case of the 'bounce of the ball' going FREO'S way all day, including umpire decisions. Not the reason we lost, but it certainly contributed to the end score line looking so uneven.

I didn't think Freo were a 5 goal better team let alone 47 points. Boys didn't fight it out, and I'm not worrying about that too much given there was no percentage or points to save or play for.

Despite Newmans high finish in the BnF he still plays the same defensive game. Not great one on one, gets a bit lost hits the ground too much, but is great when he's receiving the ball on his own. Newnes didn't show much. If only he dished out a heavy hit with that mature frame to give us something to admire, but not much on that front.

Philp looks a likely type. Maybe not this year, but another preseason and look out.

Polson was a surprise packet, but can't see him pushing ahead of Williamson or Newman, let alone Simmo and doc.

We have plenty of dangerous players that will star this year, like Walsh, Fisher, Martin did yesterday, along with Weiters, Jones, Ed, Levi, Kreuzer, Doc and Simmo who we can count on, and the addition to yesterday's team of Cripps, Murphy, Betts, Harry, Charlie, Gov, SPS, Marchbank, and maybe LOB if he's favoured by MC....geez that's a lot of class and talent missing yesterday...I am expecting a very competitive team in 2020.

When one team comes to play hard footy and the other doesn't, regardless where its played, its going to be a bit one sided on the highlights reel, and it was.
Against that back drop, we did alright till the last quarter considering our horrible execution by hand and foot, and the 8-9 players missing from our best team yesterday.

Cunners Setters Dow and Jack can and will play much better than they did.

Jury is still out for me (and I have doubts) with Newnes, Newman and Kennedy, and you can put the ruler through Lang and Moore for the seniors.

I look forward to the game next week against 2019 top 4 team Brizzy who are in good form and no injuries. They will test us...bottom 4 in 2019, with Harry and Charlie missing, possibly Go and Marchy too.

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Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

Diabolical post.

A whole preseason to train on some new material, and still dropping long bombs on SOS.

Positives
No need to read posts, the content is the same even if the words are rearranged

Negatives
There will be no end, the same thing will continue to be posted over and over and over again.

It may be correct, you have clearly have already made up your mind and opinion, but it doesn't get any more interesting with each time you post it. Of course, you're free to continue but its pretty boring stuff at this point. Any other thoughts however, could be interesting. But "SOS sucks" isn't.

Looks like someone has wasted the last three months, possibly as much as Carlton's skills coach.

Names?

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Looking forward to seeing our potential realised.

Not sure what the point of your post is, other than to play the man.

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"Hence you will not say that Greeks fight like heroes but that heroes fight like Greeks"?

Winston Churchill

Am I not allowed to point out if a poster only keeps posting the same thing over and over? Gets pretty old in my opinion.

It’s 2020. It’s a practice match. Fisher was actually quite good. SOS has been gone for what, 3 months. And again it’s all about SOS.

In any case, the poster can just ignore it and continue to keep posting the same point. No problem, I’ll just scroll past as I already know what it says. Just don’t see the value. It’s boring in my opinion.

Or maybe they can take on board that we already know they’re glad SOS is gone, and contribute something more meaningful than “thank god SOS is gone”.

And I’ll apologise if the poster feels like I played the man.

If you read instead of just assume, he didn’t pot Fisher, SPS or Dow.

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"Hence you will not say that Greeks fight like heroes but that heroes fight like Greeks"?

Winston Churchill