Paul Roos gone so break rule 1

[aardvark]

White was ok last week but like Bradshaw he will never be, not in any ones wildest dreams.........

[Tooth Fairy]

The way I see it too. I suspect there may be some rethinking the role Jesse plays.

Totally agree with this. White should have played and ROK OUT!!!!. @@@@ing selfish! Smith to play ROK's role, Moore out and Bevan to take Johnson. Would have made Johnno accountable. But all hindsight. Not really I always felt this

Wrong quote but Jesse should have played as well. IN THE FORWARD LINE

[Tooth Fairy]

White was ok last week but Bradshaw he will never be, not in any ones wildest dreams.........

Yeah mate he was @@@@ tonight

[SimonH]

I certainly wasn't saying he's a hack. I think he's been a great player and has been good to have in the team. But in finals you have to play out the game and too many of our players couldn't. So we lost. There will be a lot of kids that are discovering the heartache of a finals loss tonight so I'm just suggesting that we need to move forward, as baz' mate would say.

Those suggesting he'll be right for the break - he's had his break. He's not like Magic who can be nursed to semi-health. We saw him play as well tonight as he'll ever play.

With enormous respect and due deference to the fact that emotions are high straight after a narrow loss to end the year, that's just absolute rubbish. What player ever plays at their absolute best, in their first game back in senior footy for 15 weeks? If he had kicked the 6 he should have kicked if he was hitting his kicks properly, you would still be suggesting he retire? And on what possible basis would you conclude that he will never kick reliably for goal again?

Yeah, I can imagine the conversation that Horse had with him before the game: "Look Braddy, you've tried hard and done pretty well when you've been out there this year, and you've been out of senior footy well over 3 months. But the selection committee has deemed that however you play tonight will be the peak of the rest of your career; so if you don't dominate, that's career over".

[Peace]

sorry but this thread is horrible.

he played a fantastic game until he had to think about kicking a goal. he is going to be an invaluable part of our forward line development for the next couple of years.

[Matty10]

I wasn't at the game but the MMM coverage said after the end that Braddy looked like a horse with broken leg.

Was that MMM with Lyon and Brayshaw etc, or the Sydney MMM team? He probably went better than I expected him to go - and I wouldn't have used that analogy (or something similar) to describe Bradshaw - but to be honest it is all a bit of a blur at the moment.

Recriminations after a game are always a bit loaded with emotion, so we probably shouldn't even be having these discussions at the moment. However, if I was creating a list of things that I wanted certain individuals to focus on over the summer it would mostly be about defensive work.

We have been rebounding well all year from half-back, but overhead, or during heavy body pressure, we have been quite poor. If you were evaluating the seasons of Grundy and Malcheski you would give both a big tick (particularly, in Grundy's case, with the absence of Bolton and LRT), but they still have their limitations at the moment. If as a team we were trying to emulate the efforts of the best team of the last four years in Geelong (which we should be) then both these players need to improve.

Too often this year Eski has not gone hard enough at the contest as I saw it unfold (he pulled out, or waited back, not put his head over the ball in critical situations, or not been prepared to take the hit in order to achieve the best outcome for the team). That is harsh criticism, particularly for someone up for AA selection, and also because what he does do in terms of run and carry has been outstanding. But his weaknesses, make us a weaker team, and if we want to be a great team he needs to improve.

Grundy has been out-bodied too easily on more than the odd occasion (and I am not at all referring to his dropped marks tonight - he had a shocker, but I have moved on). He has improved this year, no doubt, but he will need to again if we are going to improve as a team. He just does not kill as many contests as he should for a key defender. He is athletic, but does not seem to use his athleticism to his advantage in one-on-one situations (he also needs to be a bit meaner / determined - maybe that is just his style). I want he and LRT to spend some more time in the gym over the summer.

I would also like McVeigh to be given a tape of his numerous missed tackles and half-arsed attempts at chasing - he should be embarrassed by them. But again he is a good footballer who wins his own ball, is highly skilled, and works well at filling space defensively etc, when we don't have the ball. But if we want to improve, that is where his focus should be.

[Glenn]

Bradshaw presented well and gave more options up front than Jesse, yes he had one noticeable stuff up but still looked and did more than Jesse has shown in the past few games.

[Nico]

That was said (quite rightly) about MOL's knee, and he had an amazing renaissance in his final 2 seasons. We're not in any position to make expert medical calls; we can only judge on what we see on the park. Any FF who's able to break away from a class opponent like Lake enough to take 9 marks, is moving alright. It would be an exceedingly long bow to draw to claim that his poor hitting of his drop punts, was anything to do with his knee.

He would have taken more marks if they went more direct in the second half. Kevin Bartlett said he started to miss because he was bending his knee when kicking, a sure sign of a dodgy knee.

[Melbournehammer]

Bradshaw presented well and gave more options up front than Jesse, yes he had one noticeable stuff up but still looked and did more than Jesse has shown in the past few games.

i agree his hands were very very good in contested mark situations. his kicking was disappointing but idont think jesse would have taken those marks.

and eski goes to ground very easily or perhaps too often

[intranced]

sorry but this thread is horrible.

he played a fantastic game until he had to think about kicking a goal. he is going to be an invaluable part of our forward line development for the next couple of years.

Bradshaw presented well and gave more options up front than Jesse, yes he had one noticeable stuff up but still looked and did more than Jesse has shown in the past few games.

Yep can agree with these two posts. I'm sorry but a key position forward is brought into a team to do two things - take marks and kick goals. Yes, Jesse does spoil and create opportunities around the contests but his hands are awful for a full forward. I won't be surprised to see Jesse possibly be developed as a key fullback however, seeing as C.Bolton doesn't have much longer left in him and will be the immediate fix to fit both Bradshaw and him in the side with Ted Richards being the casualty.

[gazza]

it is interesting to consider how unlucky were white and bevan and what they might have contributed,but can you imagine how much we would have to talk about if lrt,c bolton,seaby and bird were healthy.how many "unlucky players" would there have been?
anyone here want to volunteer as a selector and have the job of telling those who miss out?

[Hartijon]

We lost mainly because of not doing the basic skills of AFL. Reg's dropped marks hurt us badly, Bradshaw's misses from 'Gettable distance and position", our slow short movement when the game was there to be won,our zoning was inefective. Other factors was selection of injured players (ROK) and rolling the dice with Bradshaw. I still maintain that the team that beat Carlton would have beaten the Dogs. However, I do not blame the selectors at all.They had a difficult task. Bradshaw was good but underdone with his kicking and had he kicked straighter we would all be smiling now and saying what a great choice he was. He is in our best 22, he played well apart from his kicking,we rolled the dice and it didn't come up a 6! That's life! Loved the games of Shaw, Jetta, Jack(early) and Kennedy.Thought Goodsey should have done more.Shame Reg who I rate was thrashed by barry Hall and made clangers when it mattered but that was his worst game for the year.He has been great up to this match.

[Primmy]

I have always said that Jesse is a defensive forward, and he would have protected some of our slighter players, you know, the ones with the straight kick. I am not against Bradshaw, but the mob were used to the way Jesse played; however, that was then.

Next year is going to be fascinating. We will have so many senior players that canNOT fit onto the field. They are going to have to recruit kids this time, and build up the stable. There isn't enough room for more seniors, unless someone retires early (Peb? Jude? oh dear).

[Q...]

had he kicked straighter braddy would have had 4 or 5
i just think we need to play both white and bradshaw in the same team

This

[mcs]

If Braddy had of kicked striaght we would of been lauding him for kicking 4 or 5 and probably being the matchwinner. He did well I thought considering how much footy he has missed. No excuses for those couple of very easy shots he missed though, especially when we desperately needed a goal or two to steady the ship.