Round 9 - St Kilda vs Melbourne @ Etihad Stadium

[Kozivan]

I think that it may be premature to give up on season 2011, let alone 2012.
Dempster is as much part of our future as Riewoldt and Fisher are. Jurrah was kept pretty much impotent by Dempster (except in junk time in the last). A big win for Dempster and an essential component of our win. If you have a look at the work that Jones did all day negating Davey, then add to it his offensive work and structural work - he did a massive job. If you think the stats that we get tell it all then you are sadly mistaken.

There was a lot to like about what we did today. But let's not forget this was a depleted Melbourne team who were gallant in defeat. We are a long way off being back as a contender, but we are capable of playing ourselves into form. It would be nice if we have a little luck and win two of our next three matches.

In Faceook terms, "Like".

Chuck up the votes thread.. I'm excited to place them for once

 

[Kildonan]

Already done - stickied at the top of the board

 

[Defacto]

I think that it may be premature to give up on season 2011, let alone 2012.
Dempster is as much part of our future as Riewoldt and Fisher are. Jurrah was kept pretty much impotent by Dempster (except in junk time in the last). A big win for Dempster and an essential component of our win. If you have a look at the work that Jones did all day negating Davey, then add to it his offensive work and structural work - he did a massive job. If you think the stats that we get tell it all then you are sadly mistaken.

There was a lot to like about what we did today. But let's not forget this was a depleted Melbourne team who were gallant in defeat. We are a long way off being back as a contender, but we are capable of playing ourselves into form. It would be nice if we have a little luck and win two of our next three matches.

spot on!!!! the other thing we need to keep in my mind is that baker will more than likely retire at the end of the year. imho dempster is the best fit to take over bakers role.

 

[CHBench]

Watching the replay, obvious that we should've won by more. Just couldn't finish off a lot of good work that was done just with poor decisions or poor skills, made passages of play harder than they needed to be. Which is pretty much the story of our year so far. But certainly that aspect was better in comparison to previous weeks, but still not where you ideally want it to be. Good, but not great.

Liked Jacky Steven's stint on the ball, hard to say if he was the motivating factor that saw us actually win the hard ball count in the 4th that lead to our dominance, but did some brilliant work inside the centre. Definitley at his best when he's in the middle. Him and Armo will make a pretty dynamic combo in the years to come.

And i get my kicks when the weekly blowtorch is placed squarely on an opposition player after they've had a day out with Clinton Jones. Reminded us just how valuable he can be, towelled up Davey real good.

 

[LordJimmy]

Jones chased Davey into a fumble, which lead to a contest which we won and goaled out of in the first quarter. I was a big fan of that. He also was involved in a lot of play up the ground. To think he can have that sort of offensive output while completely removing one of their most damaging players from the game is really really impressive. Handy, handy player.

Jack Steven won three or four clearances clear-cut in the final quarter. He's one of those players were the switch goes on and all of a sudden no one can touch him. He's something special.

 

[Squizz]

The TOG percentages show Jack on 73% for his 27 possessions. Impressive.

Also, Polo was only 63% TOG for his 23.

 

[SamFisher25]

ok so back on the winners list thank god.

well how much bloody better do we look without gram? love the bloke but peake brings so much more run. love the that way peakey links up with gilbo these days.

and mini. well bloody hell i'm sorry but i'm done with this bloke. you're either a natural or you're a body. mini is niether unfortunately.

gilbo kicking it nicely last week and again yesterday. all he needed to do was watch gwilty for a while. if gwilty isn't the most accurate shell of a kick in the game then i'll give it away.

we've actually got one in sippo dont we haha pick 75 unbelievable. and we have curren on the rookie list, fair dinkum unbelievable! and crippsy - haha head over it son woohoo!

jack steven, zero awareness.
kosi, every team needs a hard man no matter what is all i can say.

gardi coming back soon. can't wait. bring on the pies!

 

[Plugger35]

Apparently Sandilands might be out for a few weeks with a foot/ankle injury so that might solve one problem for us next week.

There was talk that Kosi may have been concussed yesterday. I hope for his sake he was because god he was awful, even by his standards.

McEvoy should be back in next week you would think, maybe just a straight swap for Kosi.

Not sure if there needs to be many other changes but I would love to see Ledger get a run soon. No better place to debut than in his home state in front of his family and friends.

 

[Kozivan]

Doc says he should play, just needs a bit of strapping and pain relief.

OUT: Kosi, Winmar
IN: McEvoy, Smith.

If Winmar stays in i'm fine with that but I think he should be used as the sub and Cripps can get a full game.

 

[Tom12]

Cripps is playing well in his role at the moment. Not looking to change it yet, unless his fitness is up to it.

 

[LordJimmy]

I think his fitness is suspect. I'm happy to have him come on late in a game and kick a few at this stage. Should be doing wonders for his confidence.

Winmar has earned selection next week. The only change we should be looking at is Kosi for McEvoy.

 

[Fehring]

...And i get my kicks when the weekly blowtorch is placed squarely on an opposition player after they've had a day out with Clinton Jones. Reminded us just how valuable he can be, towelled up Davey real good.

People don't really think of taggers as being out of form because they don't use recognisable skills, but Clint has been out of form, and in some cases not helped by playing as a free-wheeling midfielder without a hard tag. Today he was asked to shut down Davey, and he did his best job this year. Reminded me of his "Boomer Harvey Game".

Good times.

On our running game, we look so much getter with Peake, Cripps, Steven, Joey and Faz (tho Faz had a quiet one) in the team. Peake has played some good games for us, not the least his QF and PF last year. We need to run and kick our way through the press, and we need these guys in the team to do it.

 

[Strahany]

If Sandilands is indeed out I wouldn't mind leaving the ruck set up as it is, giving McEvoy another week of rest before the Collingwood game - who should be without Jolly = Ruck Domination (hopefully ). If a change was to be made, I'd prefer Kosi out for Stanley and send Kosi back to the 2's.

I noticed that every goal Cripps has kicked so far (bar maybe 1) is from about 20 odd metres out and he kicks along the ground, end over end. I know for sure he did it yesterday and against Brisbane, and I think against Carlton(?).

Also, I can't help but laugh when I see Jacky Stevens run - it just looks so awkard.

 

[LordJimmy]

He kicked one from 40 on a set shot against Adelaide. The rest have been close in dribblers though.

 

[SaintsSeptember]

If Sandilands is indeed out I wouldn't mind leaving the ruck set up as it is, giving McEvoy another week of rest before the Collingwood game - who should be without Jolly = Ruck Domination (hopefully ). If a change was to be made, I'd prefer Kosi out for Stanley and send Kosi back to the 2's.

I noticed that every goal Cripps has kicked so far (bar maybe 1) is from about 20 odd metres out and he kicks along the ground, end over end. I know for sure he did it yesterday and against Brisbane, and I think against Carlton(?).

Also, I can't help but laugh when I see Jacky Stevens run - it just looks so awkard.

He looked like he was limping at the Auskick clinic today.

 

[thomas_m18]

Cripps has kicked 7 goals (2 v Adelaide, 1 v Carlton, 2 v Hawthorn, 2 v Melbourne) in 7 quarters of football (2 v Adelaide, 2 v Carlton, 2 v Hawthorn, 1 v Melbourne).

If he could maintain a goal a quarter conversion...

One can dream.

 

[CHBench]

Crippsy is 4th in our goalkicking. Not sure if that's good or bad.

 

[The Punter]

It's obvious we have found two keepers in Siposs and Cripps. One more out of that draft and we've done pretty well.

 

[Armitage2Riewoldt]

With what I'm hearing about Ledger I think we should do okay.

Can't forget Crocker either. The club obviously rated him a better player than Ledger so we should give him a chance. Haven't heard quite as much about Crock as Ledger though. (Although it's kind of a moot point with Siposs our last pick showing the most promise haha)

SammyFish, you seem to have mentioned Curren a couple times. Do you know the kid personally, or just really think he's something special? Which would be strange considering he was a rookie pick. But yeah, hopefully he turns out alright too

 

[LordJimmy]

I liked Crocker more than Ledger in the NAB cup. His foot skills are ridiculously sharp and his body would probably hold up in the AFL atmosphere better than Ledger's at this stage. I fully expect both of them to follow through and become good players for us, they are very talented.

 

[SamFisher25]

Punter, A2R: we got another one in curren believe me boys haha.

A2R. i'm not a personal friend of his but i saw him train with dandy. in two words while sippo is an honest workhorse and crippsy is cheeky curren is pure unadulterated muscle and grunt. think daniel rich.

 

[Squizz]

I liked Crocker more than Ledger in the NAB cup. His foot skills are ridiculously sharp and his body would probably hold up in the AFL atmosphere better than Ledger's at this stage. I fully expect both of them to follow through and become good players for us, they are very talented.

Crock is well behind Square (physically), but agree he is a super talent.

 

[Up Bush]

I think that it may be premature to give up on season 2011, let alone 2012.
Dempster is as much part of our future as Riewoldt and Fisher are. Jurrah was kept pretty much impotent by Dempster (except in junk time in the last).

Dempster in the midfield in the last to nullify Sylvia who had 12 possessions in the 3rd qtr. Kept him to 4 in the last. A lot of his work goes unnoticed.

 

[sammm]

I think that it may be premature to give up on season 2011, let alone 2012.
Dempster is as much part of our future as Riewoldt and Fisher are. Jurrah was kept pretty much impotent by Dempster (except in junk time in the last). A big win for Dempster and an essential component of our win. If you have a look at the work that Jones did all day negating Davey, then add to it his offensive work and structural work - he did a massive job. If you think the stats that we get tell it all then you are sadly mistaken.

There was a lot to like about what we did today. But let's not forget this was a depleted Melbourne team who were gallant in defeat. We are a long way off being back as a contender, but we are capable of playing ourselves into form. It would be nice if we have a little luck and win two of our next three matches.

people bag Dempster alot, but i feel he has not been too bad as a defensive type of palyer. I would put him ahead of baker, clarke, mcqualter etc.

 

[stkildathunda]

Crocker had his arm in a sling at the Sponsors Function so not sure whats going on there.