Neon is ready to explode!

[bushpie]

If Dayne Beams is dropped, then I will drop myself, become an AFL member next year and just support the Pies from afar. Drop Beams? Drope Beams? The guy is 20 years old and just played in his first grand final, he is a potential superstar and you want to drop him for a guy who "may" be the difference on the day? How about playing the kid who HAS been the difference all year.
I will hate Mick Malthouse forever, even if we win if he drops Beams over Davis.

Not only do we have to think about the game, where Beams is clearly the better choice, and by the way, a better choice than Wellingham, Blair, Brown, Ball, MaCaffer, Dawes, Toovey, Goldsack amongst others, he is from the Gold Coast, showed loyalty to the club by resigning, but if we leave him out after his great efforts this year it would be enough to make him walk when his contract does expire, and he would have every right. A 21 year old star leaving because Mick Malthouse is obsessed with being proven right over Leon Davis.
I'm thinking Buckley wouldn't let that happen.

And also, any idiot spouting Goldsack to Goddard doesn't know football. Goldsack can't play as a forward or a midfielder and he certainly doesn't have the confidence nor smarts to be able to adapt on Grand Final day! Just because he is quick and a similar size doesn't mean he can play a run with role...ridiculous people. He is the perfect matchup if Goddard plays forward all day, but he won't. He didn't last time.
Medhurst and Goldsack in
Blair and Davis out

Fair and Balanced you call yourself. pffffffffft must be a WCE troll still seething over him leaving

 

[shanman]

Toughest call this week will be this one.

Goldsack can contribute to our structures more than davis, maybe even freeing up the most suited medium defender to roam forward if needed (maxi or harry??) Overall I have no doubt he can contribute more than Davis.

but

Davis can still conjour a goal out of nothing, out of our 22 on the field he was one of a handful who can do that. It is that sort of ability that can win finals.

on medhurst - no way. it would be unfair on him let alone the team. Not battle hardened leading up to the biggest game.. lockyer in a similar boat but I'd prefer his even contribution and profesionalism.

Drop Beams? true, not a good game. IMO earlier in the year and during last year he showed a few times that loosing was not something he was personally going to tolerate - he lifted accordingly and even swung games for us. He has that sort of Buckley demeanor about him at times.. I wouldn't be suprised if given a 2nd crack at a GF that natural competitor in him will come out more. Looking forward to his 2nd crack at it more than most.


If Goldsack played could that free daisy to play solely as a forward? Would that be a win for us?

 

[Collin Wood]

Leon needs to be dropped. He may be ready to explode, I doubt it though, but how many chances can we give him. He has had his chance and he has not been up to it. Dissapointing as i would prefer to have Leon in full flight and part of this weeks premiership team but we can't risk it IMO.

I would rather lose the game on Sunday without Leon in the team and everyone giving it a red hot crack rather then lose with Leon and see Leon fail again. You can just imagine the flack the club,MM, will cop because we lost by less then a kick and went in unchanged and Leon did SFA again.

Goldy deserves a run again, I still think he should have played and not Leon last week and just maybe we may not have had this dilema.

I know Leon kicked a goal which was crucial but if Goldsack was in the team and maybe just once hindered Goddard's influence on the game last weekend then maybe we wouldnt be pondering who to play this week.

I can think of at the very least 2 contested marks that Goddard took in the last qtr which really cost us an early premiership.

Anyway, we need to finish the job we started months/years ago and bring home the cup.

LIFT GUYS.....Time to bleed and put your heads down, numbers at the contest and don't be pressured into bombing it into the 50 as guys like Fisher, Gwilt, Goddard, Dawson and Gilbert will be there. Use Poise, look for the best option going back to move forward. Numbers with the ball carrier and use the best option. Work for each other and don't leave your mate.

Let's fckn bring this home this weekend and shut the rest of teh football community up.

THIS IS OUR YEAR!

Is Poise fit?

 

[rodderz]

Trouble is we have a few players that play a similar role, but are also in similar form. Form that is not real good, in the case of Davis, Lockyer, Medhurst. If one of them comes in, they need to be sure it's the one who will go hard or go home, they are all capable of kicking goals, but they havent played well for a while, they need one of them to be biting at the bit to get onto the ground on Saturday to play their part hard.

 

[PieBeast]

If it just came down to whoever bleeds for the Club the most Tarks would win hands down.

 

[Forgotten Legend]

Davis isn't a pocket forward. He is a confidence player who needs the touch of leather often in a midfield position to get his confidence up and float into the forward line on occasions and produce magic.

This year he's been placed into the forward line and has been told to become a defensive forward who's main purpose is to apply forward pressure. Davis isn't made for that role and as much as the coaches praise him for his forward pressure, he still lacks in many of the other criterias you need in a forward pocket.

Neon isn't ready to explode unless he plays in the midfield, which is obviously unavaliable with all the current talent we have their and include the fact his confidence on his personal game would have deteriorated over the course of this year and it gives ample reason for him to be dropped this week for Goldsack, Presti or Lockyer.

 

[Dale_Thomas]

Dropping Leon is the easy decision. Playing him in the replay would be a massive risk on MM's behalf. I'm not sure whether it would be the right one though.

Leon is clearly someone who struggles under the weight of expectation. He had it coming into the Grand Final and failed. Nothing has changed, if anything he has copped quite of stick this week, so there is probably even more pressure than last week.

With Tarks you know you will get someone who will give his all. He isn't the fastest or strongest but I give him more of a chance of getting a smother or a tackle than Leon. Medhurst looked shocking against the bombers so I don't think he is much of a chance.

 

[Sasuke]

For mine leaving out davis for Goldsack is the better choice. Blair seems more likely to get front and centre anyway. However, if we do choose to keep him, i would love to see him given a 5 minute burst in the middle in the 1st quarter. If he can pick up a quick 6 or 7 possies early on it might get the whole statless issue out of his head. One thing for sure, is that his delivery into the front 50 is generally class and we could have used him up field on saturday. For mine though, i believe having him there negates the work of sidebottom, blair and beams who are more consistent and add more value to our team.

There is also no advantage for our forward pressure system if we continuously allow the opposition to mark in our forward 50. I say gold sack in our forward 50 told to spoil pack marking contest as much as possible. One on ones we in, the pack marks st kilda destroyed us. on the ground i believe we have the advantage too.

 

[Cousin of Daicos]

I have a terrible feeling Mick is too stubborn to drop Davis. But in all honesty, if the alternative is Lockyer, I'd rather have Davis.

Lockyer puts in more effort, but so would a 6 year old, and there isn't much difference between the two.

Lockyer is short, slow and weak physically. Davis is taller than him, quicker than him and stronger than him, so at least when Davis WANTS to put in an effort something might happen (like the last qtr goal).

Even WHEN Lockyer tries, he does nothing.

 

[jerry springer]

Lockyer is short, slow and weak physically. Davis is taller than him, quicker than him and stronger than him, so at least when Davis WANTS to put in an effort something might happen (like the last qtr goal).

Even WHEN Lockyer tries, he does nothing.

geez you speak some verbal diarrhea sometimes.just utter shit

 

[Invigoration]

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/prince-of-tackles-becomes-a-pauper/story-e6frf9ox-1225931196794

Found this article pretty interesting. I don't even want to imagine how badly he scored in the Western Bulldog's match, he was poor in the GF but seemed to move a little better, but he appeared to have a wooden leg in the Doggies game.

I'd personally replace him with Medhurst, I think it needs to be a like for like because we already lack pace up front with Sidebottom, Beams, Cloke and Dawes making up the better part of our forward contingent.

 

[daics_35]

Id rather have Lockeyer over Davis as much as people say they are both crap. I have had enough of Davis, how many chances does he need before Mick decides he actually cant play big games. We need to bring in Goldsack because I feel we need another deffender and Goldsack is quick tall and he can stop player so id have him on Goddard. As for Davis again he has played in three grand finals and he hasnt had more then 8 touches in any of those games. NOT GOOD ENOUGH!

 

[Art Corvelay]

I'm simply not prepared to take the risk others are in the bigget game of the year. We get better dividends out of Goldsack.

Lockyer, Medhurst, hell anybody else will give about as much as Leon. They simply cannot step up from the VFL level of football they were playing into an AFL Grand Final.

Baker played no form of footy for 13 weeks and didn't look too bad out there. At least Tarks & Medders have been playing. I still want Medders in

 

[Nebula1971]

I have always backed Davis, even back when I joined BF in 2005. I was all for him to play last week as I had a feeling it was his time to light up the G on the grand stage and he failed. Yes his goal was pivotal, but we needed more than that.

Such a conundrum. If he is dropped and we lose, we will always wonder "could Leon have made the difference?" Conversely, if we play him and he stinks it up again and we lose by a very small margin, we will all be cursing him.

Verdict: You have had your chances Leon and it is with regret that I say, you should be omitted for the GF replay. We simply cannot afford another sub par final.

If you are however selected, I will back the decision makers. Good luck which ever way it pans out for you.

 

[Zahki]

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/a...becomes-a-pauper/story-e6frf9ox-1225931196794

Hah, you mean the 'defensive pressure' was nothing more than a flimsy excuse to keep him in the side in the vain hope he'd fire up and kick some magical goals? Say it ain't so!

 

[Sasuke]

For what its worth, watching the replay of the last quarter. His goal was an amazing goal and much better than what i thought when watching live. at that point we had wasted 4-5 inside 50 chances with bad kicks (blair, cloke) and poor marking attempts (didak). That goal, most people would say, would win you the match, on top, convert your chance, 14 points up in a low scoring game. We all know it didnt, but it was key, and perhaps we would have lost without him.

 

[mwalker]

Sadly Leon is not mentally up to it. Has the skills etc but when the pressure goes on he just can't perform. He is now 30 and is not going to change.

Like a few I watched Leon closely on the weekend and what bothers me the most is he seems to be relying completely on forward pressure. He is hitting the packs a few seconds late, thus giving him a great opportunity to apply pressure but never gets himself front and center or anywhere to get his hand on the pill first.

Gotta be time for Leon to go, we have plenty that will give us good forward pressure but also give us some kind of attacking option.

I believe he has it in his head as long as he is applying pressure and tackling all is going to be ok, cause he does not look like getting near it until the opposition has possession.

 

[Mickaman]

I think if they want a defensive forward on Goddard then put Maccaffer down there.

Goldy has never done anything in the forward line. If there was problems with a mid range defensive player I would be happy to put Goldy in but please not as a forward it won't work. I would much rather see Leon Beams or Blair playing.

I actually thought Blair was good he could have had 3 goals. 1 was not counted as Leroy got in the back of Farren Ray, and the poster of course.

 

[ant22]

the only way leon will get more than a handful of kicks is if the game breaks wide open and space opens up. dermie was spot on in his assesment of leon earlier in the year. If he does not have space to work in he cannot get near it. St kilda close down space better than anyone.

He has to go and goldsack needs to come in. I thought blair was ok. He only had it 10 times but seemed to me his pressure was much better than leons and when he got it he had some kind of an impact. Should have had 2 goals(if not for the debatable push in the back against L brown) I think he should stay.

 

[ant22]

For what its worth, watching the replay of the last quarter. His goal was an amazing goal and much better than what i thought when watching live. at that point we had wasted 4-5 inside 50 chances with bad kicks (blair, cloke) and poor marking attempts (didak). That goal, most people would say, would win you the match, on top, convert your chance, 14 points up in a low scoring game. We all know it didnt, but it was key, and perhaps we would have lost without him.

If goldsack player and went onto fisher the game would have been over at half time IMO. Hayes and Goodard where the best players on the ground but IMO Fisher was the most influencial

 

[Invigoration]

For what its worth, watching the replay of the last quarter. His goal was an amazing goal and much better than what i thought when watching live. at that point we had wasted 4-5 inside 50 chances with bad kicks (blair, cloke) and poor marking attempts (didak). That goal, most people would say, would win you the match, on top, convert your chance, 14 points up in a low scoring game. We all know it didnt, but it was key, and perhaps we would have lost without him.

Not sure if anyone has actually downloaded/has access to the replay, but look out for late in the second quarter when Dempster looks done for all money. Gets up from a contest hobbling and carrying his left ankle, seems like it's game over for him. After that he gets pushed out of the middle away from Didak and goes to a BP on Davis, he is clearly hampered.
I'm just making mention of it because I've looked it the goal a few times as well, the one thing that stood out to me the most was how easily Dempster fell away, it looks like his leg gives way when he tries to pivot.

Take nothing away from Davis, it was a bloody good goal, but the first thing I noticed looking at it on the screen was just how meekly Dempster contested.

I don't wanna turn this into a Leon bashing thing particularly, but did anyone pay attention to him after the game as well? The Collingwood guys were still in a huddle and he started leaving towards the sewerage change rooms before we had even broken. He was about 5 metres away before he turned around, sorta started dawdling back looking pretty despondent and then the huddle broke so he kept going down towards the normal changes rooms (I only really noticed because I thought it was weird that anyone was heading to those changerooms after I'd heard the MMM boys say they were not being used).
Obviously not a major thing, but it wasn't a great look seeing 21 guys still huddled and Leon walking away by himself.

 

[Yidaki]

Latest news in......Leon Davis has exploded into a puff of smoke, visibile from space.

 

[TheWoodsOf72]

Brad Dick would play better than leon even with his busted shoulder

Do you think he'll do it again next year. We don't need another Russling affair.