BigFooty - Blogs

"Best Before 2012" or past their "Use By" Date?

jjami15 — Wed, 16 May 2012 00:22:03 GMT

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Red Den

His last two weeks have been lamentable and for big periods last year he displayed the same traits, surely that is obvious?

How can someone who surely must be considered experienced, continue to make the same stupid and amateurish mistakes year after year and not learn?

Trade bait for mini draft for Jesse Hogan!

AFL Round 7 - Collingwood vs Brisbane - Matchday Discussion

sa5290 — Sat, 12 May 2012 12:04:00 GMT

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cory

Lol copycat haha

Our fwd entry's the worst in the comp

Gameday Thread - Essendon v West Coast

eaglesnutcase — Sat, 12 May 2012 11:53:22 GMT

ok brennan can stay

Catastrophic Cats Caught Catnapping

moondog21 — Sat, 12 May 2012 09:24:30 GMT

"Without Matthew Scarlett and Jimmy Bartel and a lacklustre performance from big guns Steve Johnson, Tom Hawkins, James Podsiadly and Paul Chapman Geelong were embarassingly exposed by a better, more committed Adelaide. Johnson missed chances he should have eaten, so did Chapman... and Shannon Byrnes missed a set shot from inside the goal square bang in front. Some easy free kicks that the Cats gave away bordered on the unforgivable as did some sloppy defending at crucial moments. Young Guthrie, who had the opportunity to tap the ball over the line when under pressure will rue his decision to handball on to the foot of a grateful Crows forward resulting in a goal from nothing. The sooner Chris Scott sits his players down for the match review the better, then Geelong can put this insipid performance to bed and look forward to next week. Maybe it's the perfect time for Matty Scarlett to summon his team mates to one of those famous soul searching sessions at the 'Scarlo Mansion' the way he did in 2007 after a similar embarassing effort against the Kangaroos. It is thought that that meeting early in the 2007 season was the catalyst for Geelong's amazing run of victories which preluded its historic premiership.
Certainly there were positives to be gained from the defeat, there always is. Harry Taylor picked himself up after a difficult start to be amongst the best.... maybe it was the knock to the head that woke him up. Joel Selwood lead by example in the midfield, Billy Smedts showed some real good signs and Mitch Duncan is getting better and better. And the Cats, to their credit, did stick to the task and actually won the second half. 50 points is a fair hammering but It could have been a whole lot worse. Critical injuries to Gillies and Christensen didn't help matters.
So Scarlo.. get cracking, pull your finger out mate. Get out the home brew, stock up on the party pies and shrimps and get the boys over for one of your season defining, hard talking, eye-to-eye, head banging sessions. There is no better time for constructive and honest self appraisal".

2012 SEQAFL Division 3 Thread

kp #4 — Sat, 12 May 2012 07:30:29 GMT

Quote:

Originally Posted by TTebow

So how did the surfers boys go against calamvale? And beenleighs new coach?

The surfers boys went really well and are hanging around. Beenleigh won by 99
Great bunch of blokes calamvale are.

Has The Slide Begun At Geelong?

CF — Sat, 12 May 2012 06:43:30 GMT

It is not rocket science to see that overall in 2012 Geelong are not playing like the team of 2011. With exception only of the match against Hawthorn I have felt the Cats have lacked hardness, passion, and drive so far this season.

I know Geelong have had some crucial retirements to their structure but the change in the team seems obvious. They seem to be either in the midst of a Premiership Hangover or the long awaited slide has begun.

Add to this that other teams have improved and all the teams pretty much know our gameplan and players as well as what we do. They have been studying this team for several years now trying to work out their secret of success.

But there was always going to be a time when the mighty Cats would drop back to the field a little as their Champions get older and some retire. There are some great young lads coming up but that doesn't mean they will turn into Bartels, Johnsons, Scarletts.

Sometimes you just have to acknowledge that some players are just freaks and Geelong has been lucky to get a good few of them to a solid team of workers. This added x-factor has given Geelong a golden era of Premiership success.

As a supporter I feel almost like apathetic about having success again this year. I am satiated with three premierships in 5 years. One has to wonder what effect that has on the players too.

Last year they has something to prove because everyone wrote them off after the 2010 Prelim Final. They came out breathing fire and played like men possessed.

This year they look flat, lifeless, and half hearted at times. I know that the coaches would be totally revving them up behind the scenes for this and I am sure the players themselves agree.

So I will wait and see how the rest of the year goes as to whether the Cats can lift themselves as time goes on. I hope they can win enough games to make the finals this year.

A long winter ahead for Cats fans as we watch our team begin the inevitable slide.

Spud's SuperCoach Preview (Round 7)

Spudregus_87 — Fri, 11 May 2012 09:31:19 GMT

TWITTER: --- @jamiedmurphy

Friday, May 11
Melbourne v Hawthorn (MCG) @ 7:50pm

Saturday, May 12
Adelaide v Geelong (AAMI) @ 12:45pm
Greater Western Sydney v Gold Coast (Manuka) @ 1:40pm
Richmond v Sydney (MCG) @ 4:40pm
Essendon v West Coast (Etihad) @ 7:40pm

Sunday, May 13
Kangaroos vs Western Bulldogs (Etihad) @ 1:10pm
Fremantle v Port Adelaide (Patterson) @ 2:40pm

Monday, May 14
St Kilda v Carlton (Etihad) @ 7:40pm

Teams

All the team news as it comes in: http://www.afl.com.au/teams/tabid/16469/default.aspx

Key INs & OUTs

INs: Selwood (GEEL), Cameron, Folau, Phillips, Townsend, Treloar, Cornes (GWS), Ablett (GCS), Raines, Zorko (BRIS), Didak (COLL), Goldstein (KANG), Dickson (WBD), Sandilands (FREM), Ebert (PORT), Wilkes (STK)*, Waite, Judd (CARL). [Wilkes named on an extended bench].

OUTs: Hodge, Bouman (HAW), Hampton, Hombsch, McDonald (GWS), Bock (GCS), Goodes (SYD), Adcock (BRIS) & Pfeiffer (PORT)

Captain's Corner

Here are my top three nominations for this week:

Lance Franklin (HAW) vs Melbourne
2012 Ave: 106.83
Ave vs MELB: 118 since R1, 2008 (Six matches).
Coming off a 131 SC point outing against St Kilda - a game which saw him notch up 18 disposals, seven marks and eleven scoring shots (5.6) - there are multiple reasons you should back Buddy to register big back-to-back SC tons this week. While in form - averaging 19 disposals & seven shots on goal per game in 2012 - Franklin's last six games against the Demons, have seen him average 18 possessions, seven marks and four goals. Whack the 'C' on Buddy with relative confidence of another big score this week :thumbsu:

Gary Ablett vs Greater Western Sydney
2012 Ave: 149
Ave vs GWS: N/A
His exemplary fantasy scoring record aside, I'm still finding it a bit hard to back Ablett as a strong captaincy candidate, given the lingering doubts regarding his health (despite being named on the ball against GWS). Having said that, the Gold Coast medicos have given their skipper the all-clear, while GWS are missing their best tagger and a mature body in McDonald. So if Ablett's anywhere near 100% (heck, even 85%) we could see another SC double-ton from the little genius. If you're planning on giving him the captaincy, ensure you nominate a solid VC option (i.e. Franklin, Watson, Swan, etc) just in case he doesn't front up. Also be wary of substitute concerns.

Jobe Watson vs West Coast
2012 Ave: 120
Ave vs WCE: 105 since R1, 2010 (Four matches).
Watson has had a hot-and-cold record against the Eagles of late, scoring 148, 83, 124 & 66 in his four most recent outings against them. Not sure you can take anything from the fact that the two larger scores in that group have occurred during the Bombers' earlier fixtures in the last two seasons (148 in R7, 2011 and 124 in R4, 2010). What I feel will play in his favour this week, is the warranted attention Brent Stanton should receive, given his dynamic start to 2012. Scott Selwood will be giving the tagging duties, and I believe Stanton's form is too hot to ignore; opening the door for a big Watson score.

TRADE CENTRE

Adam Goodes - $552,700 (SYD, MID/FWD)
Set to miss six weeks with a quad injury, the loss of Goodes is set to leave a gaping hole in SuperCoach forward lines if left unattended. If you're a Goodes'-owner a trade out is the recommended action this week. There are a number of strong replacement candidates, most with DPP capabilities. Dane Beams is priced at $511,700 and has seemingly filled the void left by Luke Ball's injury, averaging 31 disposals and 114 SC over the last four weeks. His Magpie team mate in Steele Sidebottom ($513,800) also seems to have benefitted from Ball's forced absence, averaging 112 over the last five rounds. Other solid replacements include Jarryd Roughead ($520,300), or a couple of cheaper options in David Zaharakis ($448, 200, Ave: 93) & Clancee Pearce ($448,600, Ave: 88).

Sam Fisher - $463,900 (STK, DEF)
Was surprisingly named to play on Thursday evening, despite clearly suffering a hamstring injury last week. That mistake has been corrected, meaning Fisher owners will need to source out replacement options. Heath Scotland ($543,700 Ave: 101), Heath Shaw ($508,100 Ave: 96) and Grant Birchall ($477,000 Ave: 88) are the three clear standouts in my opinion.

ROOKIE WATCH

Two names on the radar this week, Kyal Horsley ($128,700 Ave: 92.5) and Taylor Adams ($136,600 Ave: 85) If you haven't got them, get them in. If you need to replace Goodes or Fisher, I believe Horsley is the preferred option, if you can only bring in one of them.

VIDEO OF THE WEEK

With a bit of heat coming down on the supposed 'boys club' mentality of Triple M and The Footy Show (again), I thought it'd be nice to be reminded of why their so popular:

How To: Embed a YouTube video.

As usual, any feedback is welcome, preferably via this thread, or twitter (@jamiedmurphy)

Round 7

saint jack — Wed, 09 May 2012 02:40:03 GMT

Last week was a disappointing game for the Saints. While able to stay with the Hawks for three quarters we were blown apart in the last quarter. Surprisingly this was not because we were losing the clearances, despite having lost Ben MacEvoy before the game; but because of a weakened defense with Fisher being injured just before half time. Certainly Buddy and Cyril had a field day.

There were positives that the Saints could take out of the game. The fact that Sippos and Saad were played and contributed positively is a huge positive that backs up the input of all of the youngsters used so far this season. Kosi contributed five goals and dominated the forward area and hopefully will return to being a foil for Riewoldt, drawing defenders to himself. Stevens, Stanley and Simpkins continue to impress. The ever reliable Jason Blake contested manfully in the ruck, which is reassuring with MacEvoy being unavailable for the next six weeks.In fact it was the Saints "stars" who failed to ignite and yet we were in the game until the last quarter.

Covering Fisher is a big ask, yet there are many players in the reserves who are knocking on the door. Farren Ray has been starring all year. My favourite player James Gwilt is starting to find his feet after a long lay off and has now played two games. Gwilt would be the ideal replacement for Fisher, but I think that this may be a week to soon for the big man (this blog being written before selection).

At 3 and 3 round 7 is an important one on many levels. Obviously it would be nice to to be up in the games count, but also because we come up against a team that many consider a top four team. Personally I don't think Carlton are travelling as well as others; although I don't underestimate them. It is going to demand a huge game from our midfielders to get our game going and to blanket their stars. One player in our midfield that needs to put in this week is "Joey" Montagna who seems to be missing. Dal Santo had a down game last week and needs to show that he can shake a tag.

We will rely on Jason Blake again, but he will face a much bigger task than he did against Hawthorn. He will need support from Stanley and Kosi. However our backline will be where we win or lose the game; Shutting the Blues out and rebounding to set up our running players.

Carlton will go into the game as heavy favourites, but I think this is a winnable game for us. That may just be the masochistic nature of being a Saints supporter coming to the fore, We will find out.

Go Saints.:thumbsu:

Cats in slow moving traffic

moondog21 — Sun, 06 May 2012 17:15:56 GMT

"You can sometimes learn a lot from body language expressed in a pre game warm up and so it was with the Demons on Saturday. Some of the Melbourne players were standing around watching Jimmy Bartel and company go through their midfield group warm up and seemed in awe of it all, and that was the way the game panned out with Melbourne never thinking it could possibly win. It seemed they were content to improve on last years result and saw positives from doing that, but someone should remind the players that they lost that encounter by near 200 points. Geelong has been accused at times of never getting out of first gear but against the hapless Demons the Cats hardly needed a gear at all, they were almost like being stranded in peak hour traffic..... knowing that however slow they travel they would eventually reach their destination. Even when within fourteen points the Dees couldn't envisgage an unlikely win. Paul Chapman and Steve Johnson looked like they were enjoying every minute of it, and even Tom Hawkins saw an opportunity to try an outrageous soccer style overhead scissor kick... just for laughs. If the Cats had been less laconic the result might well have been closer to last years 'Dee-moralising' and 'Dee-structive' 'Dee-bacle'. Still, four points is four points, even if some players did walk off the ground with sleep creases on their faces. According to Andrew Mackie, Stevie J counts every one of his stats and was busy telling everyone who would listen that he had achieved a personal best in possessions. A little tongue in cheek from Mac maybe but on an afternoon like that you could almost believe that Stevie would have had ample time to count everyone of his magical touches......whilst relaxing in the slow moving traffic that eventualy reached its destination of four premiership points without too much petrol being used".

Midfield Group

pstew2dstew — Sun, 06 May 2012 11:51:03 GMT

Quote:

Originally Posted by Forzaport

We should be able to make a decent midfield out of the players we have.

How long do we persist though?

I know I come off harsh on boak but I just want to rebuild our mids from scratch if that mean trading boak and hartlett for decent picks or trades I am all for it while they both still have value

You�ve Changed, Essendon � and it Terrifies Me.

mick7 — Sun, 06 May 2012 11:37:39 GMT

The start of each football season brings for each of us a set of expectations � thoughts and feelings we subconsciously know to be true; and that these truths go a long way to shaping our emotions for the year ahead.
It goes further than this, of course. Some football truths have become annual traditions, comforting signifiers that all is right in the football world. Nothing is more exciting, for example, than the annual festivities associated with the Carlton/Richmond �mockbuster� that opens the season, as Richmond supporters build up their expectations to levels usually associated with teenage girls at a �One Direction� appearance, only to have their hearts ripped open on a national stage.

Essendon, on the other hand, from the club right through to their supporters, were happy to pretend that all was just as it should be, that the club was always right and that good times were just around the corner � and to a certain extent, it wasn�t their fault. We�d had a single coach for two decades, had won premierships at regular intervals throughout that entire time and it wasn�t like their best player was on the level of David Teague � they still had Lloydy, and Hirdy, and Fletch, and Sheeds was still coaching, so it was easy to understand why they felt they were just weeks away from turning it all around. There was further reason to mock their lack of self-awareness � that �rebuilding� team included such notable young stars as Jay Neagle, Jason Laycock, Kepler Bradley, as well as a lively type in his first year for the Bombers, Mal Michael. Their best players were still Fletcher, Hird, Lucas and Lloyd, the bulk of the rest (Hille, Lovett, Welsh, etc) had already hit their peak years (usually 24-28 for footballers) and weren�t getting much better - but the Bombers were still only good enough for 12th. Essendon were terrible � the rest of the football world knew it, but Essendon were in denial.

Incredibly, the Bombers managed to get worse in the years that followed. They appointed Matthew Knights as coach because he convinced them he could win straight away. He introduced an ingenious attacking game plan that was bollocks. Essendon won less games in 2008 than the year before, finished in the same position on the ladder and alienated their last remaining star players in Lloyd and Lucas. The Bombers made the finals in 2009 primarily because the other contenders fell apart, and then promptly crashed back to 14th in 2010. To outsiders, it looked like the Bombers were headed the way of Richmond � a proud club, spoilt by success, whose expectations had been warped to the point where they were completely unprepared for the process of building to a premiership in the modern era. Either they over-rated the wrong players (Neagle, Lovett, Bolton), gave up on them too quickly (as with Kepler Bradley), or criminally under-rated the right ones (and you can draw clear parallels between the incessant criticism that Jobe Watson and Brent Stanton have copped from Essendon supporters and the way that Richmond persecuted Wayne Campbell and Matthew Richardson in their early days). The Richmond comparisons looked even more solid when they appointed a club legend, James Hird, to follow Knights as coach (echoing Richmond�s appointment of Kevin Bartlett in 1988, which led to a disastrous 3 years, Bartlett�s eventual sacking and ultimately a bitter dispute between club and player which continues today). Even in 2011, it looked like more of the same � while Essendon made the finals, it was once again as the �best of a bad bunch� with just 10 wins and it paved the way for a satisfying demolition (by Carlton!) in the elimination final. The football �truth�, entering 2012 was that Essendon (both the club and its supporters) would remain in its state of ongoing delusion, leading to a spectacular collapse, the possible departure of Hird and an off-season where they once again randomly deported a couple of scapegoats to Fremantle (rumour has it that Freo were keeping a locker free for Paddy Ryder right in between Adam McPhee and Kepler Bradley, just in case).

But then, it didn�t quite happen. The Bombers won in round 1, against a sneakily good Kangaroos team. They backed it up against Port the following week. None of this changed the script, of course � we�ve seen plenty of false dawns amongst mid-table teams in the past. But something wasn�t right. Essendon�s coaches, players and supporters seemed different� almost� realistic? Rather than inflating their chances or nit-picking Stanton�s brilliant form, they were simply focused on the next game. They survived the Gold Coast in the face of an Ablett onslaught in what was a drastically under-rated win � Essendon have a hideous record interstate to start with, it was a stinking hot day, and Ablett played as well as any player could, and they still won the match. Still, despite the 3-0 start, they faced Carlton in round 4 with an air that could only be described as cautious optimism. As the week progressed, the nagging feeling in my stomach grew larger and larger. Hird seemed quietly confident, saying and doing all the right things. Every Essendon supporter on the planet was under-rating their chances, and the bookies had the Bombers as 8-1 underdogs in a game between two teams with the same win-loss record. Clearly something wasn�t quite right. Then the game started, and football as we knew it was turned on its head.

The scoreboard from last week shows that Essendon won by 5 goals, but that doesn�t really tell the full story. You can try to pretend that Carlton just had a bad day (which they did), that injuries crippled Carlton�s structure (which they did), and that blockbuster games often bring about surprise results (which is also true). None of that changes the real �truth� that was exposed on the day. Quite simply, the Bombers are a different team. It starts with the coach, and Hird has proven himself to be very, very good. Essendon are well drilled � against Carlton they executed a unique gameplan (ignoring the ball-winners in contested situations and attacking instead at the outside of packs to shut down Carlton�s running midfielders) to perfection, but they are also motivated and consistent. Hird has developed his players too � teaching them to improve, while hardening their talents and putting them in situations where they can succeed. Watson and Stanton have developed into elite midfielders; not quite on the same level of freakish ability as Swan/Pendlebury, Judd/Murphy or Selwood/Bartel, but in some ways more dangerous because they play with the intensity, effort and application of role players. The contrast between Stanton�s incessant, understated running and the lairy confidence of Marc Murphy was on full display last Saturday � one player grinding out possessions like his career was in the balance, the other prancing around like it was the duty of everyone around to admire his greatness as a forward-running, occasionally dangerous midfielder. Essendon have depth in the midfield, too � Hocking and Lonergan are both in fantastic form, they have damaging players on the wings and flanks in Zaharakis, Davey and Jetta, and the younger midfielders (Melksham, Hibberd) who provide relief know their role and play it well.

While Hurley gets the accolades up forward (and might one day even live up to them), the real star is Stuart Crameri � who incidentally is basically the same height and weight as Brendan Fevola was at the same stage of his career (191cm and 95kgs for Fevola, 190cm and 95kgs for Crameri). Crameri doesn�t have Fevola�s unpredictable nature (an asset for a key forward). but he does have the same pace on the lead, ability to create when the ball hits the ground, he carries the same awkward �too strong for a small defender but too quick for a full-back� body type as Fevola, and like Fev early on, he wastes a lot of chances (both dropped marks and shots on goal). The Crameri/Fevola comparison might be a bit premature, but as he is legitimately terrifying to non-bombers supporters (Carlton�s injury-plagued backline contained no-one even remotely capable of going with him last week). While he might be inconsistent at this point, he probably should have had 8 goals against the Blues and the simple fact is that there are only a handful of players in the league capable of doing that regularly. Crameri did it without breaking a sweat, in a big game, against top 4 opposition.

So right now, Essendon, are legitimately good, and it might be the first time in a decade we can say that. But this apparent transformation goes further, into the mentality the club, its supporters and its players carry around with them. This was most apparent in the loss on ANZAC day. Just as with the Carlton game, it wasn�t the result that mattered. What mattered is that to a neutral observer, Essendon looked like they belonged on the ground with Collingwood � in terms of talent, motivation, game-plan and self-belief. After the Carlton demolition, supporters were only mildly confident, offering minor condolences and talking down their chances on ANZAC day (but in a far more reasoned, realistic manner than the past). And yet, looking at the Bombers schedule up to the half-way point of the year (Bris, WCE, Rich, @GWS, Melb, Syd) they should be at least 8-3 at that point, with a realistic chance of getting to 10-1. It gets harder in the second half of the year, but are sitting 10-1 or 9-2 they can lock up a top four spot, rest players and focus on getting battle-tested for the finals. It might be a minor blasphemy, but unless they suffer another 10-12 soft-tissue injuries between now and September (only a minor possibility at this point), Essendon look like legitimate premiership contenders � not in the future, but right now. :thumbsu:

2012 Draft Discussion

jjami15 — Sun, 06 May 2012 10:05:51 GMT

Quote:

Originally Posted by lionshine

Ok thanks dlanod.

Interesting to hear about speed and ball usage as being something that is needed as I certainly do agree. Well to be honest, a lot of everything. The spine is critical and will be interesting how Justin Clarke and Sam Michael are tracking at the moment. In a perfect world they become very good players. For mind I think KPF with the first pick if Shaw is there and that is if he warrants a pick that high, have to remember that Buddy and Hurley were taken picks around that mark. If he's gone then definitely the best mid. Don't know if there will be a top KPF left at the two picks in he twenties. It is a mids draft and those three picks could go along way to help building our middle but they definitely have to have top speed and skills. I think what has really been highlighted is that we are deficient in so many areas.

Rnd 6, Hawthorn vs St Kilda

Glacier — Sun, 06 May 2012 01:19:45 GMT

Quote:

Originally Posted by realhawk

I have been critical of some of our players not being hard enough, but last night I thought for the first time Shane Savage really put his head over the ball and worked hard in the packs rather than just being an outside player, he must have got a real bake during the week, but he responded well and should now be a regular in the side now that he has toughened up, well done Sav, you proved me wrong, now for Bruest to do the same.

Bruest got the shit knocked out of him a couple of weeks back when he didn't flinch and kept his eye on the ball
Short memory ?

OUT: J Selwood

Geelong Dynasty — Sat, 05 May 2012 03:23:05 GMT

Quote:

Originally Posted by Syrus

The fear is creeping into the Handbaggers and they are pulling out like flies.

Dude get your analogies in order, "pulling out like flies":confused:
FFS you amateur

Round 6.

saint jack — Thu, 03 May 2012 15:12:07 GMT

Well last week against Melbourne was a lot closer than I expected. I would have to say all credit to the Dees who came to play. It was an ugly game dictated by the weather and it took the Saints a full half to adjust to playing in the wet.

Two big highlights from a Saintly Perspective were Milney's 500th career goal and Lenny's contender for goal of the year. Both are champions and both are humble.

Round 6 sees us up against the Hawks. A vital game for both teams. It seems most pundits have written off the saints. This seems to be based on the fact that the Hawks are premiership contenders. This is a view that I don't buy into. I see the Hawks in disarray, playing a brand of football that is so 2011.

Having said that the Saints are not the powerhouse that they have been in recent years. We are however underrated. Our youngsters are really showing their stuff and Beau Wilkes showed enough to tantalise us last week. He took some solid grabs and kicked well in the wet.

According to the weather forecast we should not expect rain this week, but I wouldn't bet on it. I think we will certainly be "up" for the game and we'll have to wait and see which "Hawks" show up. I'm tipping an upset ( a win for us). Go Saints.:D