Positives

[Wigarus]

Exactly. We could have taken him and have a Martin / Connors situation at the moment. It was obviously just too much of a risk.

 

[yakka man]

Griffin's running play and kick was amazing! He was a seriously good pick up for pick 61. What about De Boer's spin, dash and left foot kick after the Ballaz chase?

 

[free at last]

We are still in finals contention, we'll need too improve markedly over the three games if we're going too have any chance of winning the derby or beating the crows.

Mayne loving life being the number two forward target.

Griffo getting a heap of games will surely help his decision to sign on.

Two weeks until our best midfielder(fyfe) returns.

 

[holy diver]

All the positives have been covered. I would just like to addbto the chorus of those saying we should re-sign Griff now. I absolutely agree. He may not jump around like nicnat but he plays an honest game for the most part. Freo need him.

 

[believe_it]

Griffin is looking more and more like Dean Cox . If I recall correctly Cox came to the fore only when Gardiner was out with a long term injury. At least I think it was an injury but might have been something else.

 

[Moo]

Poetry in motion

He's more like a haiku at the moment - I am looking for something with a few more stanzas

 

[Kickett Punches Read]

1. Pavlich being a forward. everyone knew it except for mark harvey it seems, he is just a wonderful player, who's aerobic capacity for a guy in that position is second to none.

2. Mayne. was a big critic of his last year, he dropped marks continuously and when he had shots at goal, he would more often than not miss. he has done a complete 180 degree turn on his career and looks fantastic.

3. Crowley. He is the best tagger in the legue imo. he did another number on the oppositions best player, keeping griffen to 13 touches and 1 goal. the goal he got was directly from another players turn over, so he was unlucky there. His skilss are never going to be hill-like but they do the job. Id be offering him another 2 year contract and with a nice pay-bump to reward his year. he deserves it
4. Sutcliffe. looked the part. I think his best piece of play was in the 3rd or 4th quarter where he had to run back with the flight... i think it was riccuito who you could here groaning in the background when he saw what was happening, it was a dangerous position to be in, but cam took it in his stride, run back with the flight, created a contest which allowed for a loose ball to go forward. it was courageous. His skills looked pretty solid throughout the day as well. did enough to play next week.

5. Mcphee. Was superb last night, his only glaring mistake was his kick that resulted in ryan griffen's goal.

6. ballantyne. Along with pavlich was the catalyst for our good second ahlf. heaps of pressure, didnt hit the scoreboard as well as he'd like but set up many other scoring chances with his pressure and run. He actually played like a player who seemed like he needed to re-earn some respect from his team mates

 

[malpaso]

- Crowley's job on Griffen
- Pavlich and his continued hot form in front of the sticks
- McPhee
- McPharlin across CHF was really good, if we are able to do that at times it poses a real threat. We might see this against the Demons with Clark out.
- Mzungu and Pearce in a return to some form
- Sutcliffe's debut

 

[strobe00]

Griffin's running play and kick was amazing! He was a seriously good pick up for pick 61. What about De Boer's spin, dash and left foot kick after the Ballaz chase?

Adelaide wouldn't have let him go for that if they'd been a*seholes. But they were good enough to let him go home (think his dad was crook?) for peanuts, as they liked the guy and wanted to make sure he got to go back to Perth.

We were lucky to get him that cheap... they wanted more, but didn't press the issue.

 

[dockshark]

3 key positives for mine:

1)Pavlich and Mayne working very well both collectively and individually.
2)Griff's work rate. Griff continues to work his butt off and results are starting to flow.
3)Another good showing from Crowley who is cementing himself as one of the leagues best taggers. People have mixed feelings about taggers but it is bloody important in todays football.

EDIT: Honourable mention to Balla for his efforts in the 3rd.

 

[strobe00]

3)Another good showing from Crowley who is cementing himself as one of the leagues best taggers. People have mixed feelings about taggers but it is bloody important in todays football.[/quote]

Crowley and Picken both proved that point today. Taggers are critical. Hill was virtually unsighted the whole game, and Griffen only popped up occasionally. Two game breakers effectively eliminated by two dogged, hard-working, and less talented (but very important) guys.

 

[PapaJ]

Griffin is looking more and more like Dean Cox . If I recall correctly Cox came to the fore only when Gardiner was out with a long term injury. At least I think it was an injury but might have been something else.

Wow, big call there. You're right about Cox really breaking out in Gardiner's injury absence. See where you're coming from. Don't think Griff will ever bee as good as Cox, but he has that mobility and confidence in his disposal. Not as tidy as Cox and not quite the tank either I think - but like your line of thinking.

Griff will re-sign, I'm confident of that, but I think we're going to have to pay him a reasonable amount. He's going to get some nice offers elsewhere I reckon.

 

[E Shed]

Just on Hill, I'm sure they jabbed him up at half time. He was hands on hips grimacing at every stoppage in the first and then he spent the second deep forward, wasn't even trying to get hold of the ball, looked cooked to me.
Then he came out in the 3rd and started charging around at stoppages at least trying to effect the play.

Just didn't seem to have it in his legs to burn off his man with pure running yesterday. The 2 runs he did make were pure class but not nearly enough output.

It's incomprehensible to me they can't manufacture some stoppage plays with blocks to get the ball in his hands more often when he's under a heavy tag like yesterday.

 

[BananaOnTheRun]

Wow, big call there. You're right about Cox really breaking out in Gardiner's injury absence. See where you're coming from. Don't think Griff will ever bee as good as Cox, but he has that mobility and confidence in his disposal. Not as tidy as Cox and not quite the tank either I think - but like your line of thinking.

Griff will re-sign, I'm confident of that, but I think we're going to have to pay him a reasonable amount. He's going to get some nice offers elsewhere I reckon.

it's going to be interesting to see if sandi's still a walk-in start if griff continues with his form, although fitness alone might determine that.

 

[tofushark]

Just on Hill, I'm sure they jabbed him up at half time. He was hands on hips grimacing at every stoppage in the first and then he spent the second deep forward, wasn't even trying to get hold of the ball, looked cooked to me.
Then he came out in the 3rd and started charging around at stoppages at least trying to effect the play.

Just didn't seem to have it in his legs to burn off his man with pure running yesterday. The 2 runs he did make were pure class but not nearly enough output.

It's incomprehensible to me they can't manufacture some stoppage plays with blocks to get the ball in his hands more often when he's under a heavy tag like yesterday.

In the presser Lyon talked about Hill playing through injury. It seemed as though he was talking about this game, but I assumed at the time it was his game against Richmond.

 

[Silent Alarm]

Yeah, I'd add Crowley too. The bloke has become A-grade in that role. His niggling is sublime and he's able to shut down anyone he plays on. He's mastered niggling and he can get opposition players riled up. What did Dwayne quote during the broadcast? "Never agitate a man who's having a poor game." Crowley does that.

 

[Freomaniac]

We won another game with out Sandilands

 

[FreoRicci]

Mayne and Pav are gelling quite well!

It was only last year that Mayne was crashing packs and spoiling the mark for Kepler/Fyfe/Pav...
Now he is timing his runs, leading well and dropping off when required. There was one point where Mayne yelled and pointed at someone else for spoiling Pavs attack on the ball, shows confidence he knows the game plan.

Sounds like Sumich has been hard at them and it's finally paying off!

Noticed this as well. Think it was Ballas or Broughton but they snuffed Pav's chance for a grab which resulted in a stoppage. Mayne let him know all about. Comes off as arrogant maybe but its something that is needed around the ground, letting each other know about it and not do it again.

 

[FreoRicci]

Haha! What?! The bloke kicked a goal when his side were cruising and the opposition had given up with heavy legs. It was a positive, but compared to the appalling game he played, it's not worthy of being regarded higher than Chris Mayne's performance.
For me:

1) Pavlich. The bloke is a champ. He's a king in the forward line, and he's been fantastic this season. Not only is he a consistent goal kicker, but he's a consister creator. Sometimes you just forget the footy ingenuity of the guy.
2) Big Griff. Tie this bloke down to another contract. Like some have said, the guy moves like a rover. Taking a few bounces, those clean hands, the confidence to have a kick... I rate him. He's very solid in the ruck, as well. He's better than Clarke and, in my opinion, more usable than Sandi. It's been highlighted how average Sandilands is in the ruck. And, Sandi isn't awfully useful anywhere else. The bloke dishes off handballs and doesn't have the confidence to take a kick. Griff's proved he has that competitive edge and that desire for the footy. I'm very impressed with the bloke, and I'll be frustrated if we move him on.
3) Mayne. Jesus. The guy doesn't miss much, does he? A strong outfield footballer and one of the AFL's best at set shots. This year, he's shown some real toughness and he's been in amongst the packs. He's still young-ish, so who knows what he's capable of...
4) Sutcliffe. By no means a standout performer. But making the step from colts footy to AFL is a massive one. The fitness of a first-year will be lower than the majority, so it's more about what he does with the ball, rather than how much he gets it. He didn't seem to butcher anything and he seemed pretty composed. Another decent footballer taken at a pretty tame pick.
5) DeBoer played another strong game. Did plenty of good things and some fantastic things. A few more years of development, and the guy will be a very good footballer.
A mention here for Grover as well. You just feel he might've played his last game for the Dockers. If his last involvement was a massive clash, well, it'll be poetic. He's given so much to the club in an unglamorous position. The bloke always tried his heart out and gave everything for the jumper. Not an awesome game, and he doesn't look good enough for AFL anymore. But it was nice to see him on the ground.

Based on the form of the pass month, Griff has made my call for him to be trade bait looking like an egg on face moment. Loving his work and even though he may get beaten in the ruck, does well to help stem the flow and gets in hard. His run out of the pack and was so confident that he took two bounces and, whilst running with pace, kicked beautifully to Pav leading towards goal. Sandi never does this.. Gem.
Btw on the Grover front.. thats very harsh me thinks. He looked more composed than Silvagni with the ball and went in hard for man with the ball regardless. The man has heart and experience. Not sure if anyone besides MDB or Mayne would had gone for a 50 50 play that he was injured for.

 

[holy diver]

How do we know if Sandi won't now keep injuring his toe or something else? Unfortunately the reality could be his big frame could start to break down more and more due to the wear and tear of AFL standard footy. Perhaps Griff is already transitioning to being our number one and most important ruckman at the club already. Priority re-signing.

 

[yakka man]

Agree, Griffin needs to be re-signed ASAP.

 

[332docker]

Pav has found his mojo as a forward!!!!!!!!!!

 

[13then7]

With Clarke playing inconsistent football we do need to secure Griff for a few more years.

 

[Seppo]

Memories was last seen: Saturday at 1:46 AM

 

[sansian]

Just quickly on the Darling issue, I know from a reasonably good source that most clubs had Darling stamped as 'not to be drafted under any circumstances'

I reckon The Wet Toast told him to go out and be a complete dick and get in the papers and not to worry, 'cos' they'll still pick him up. Everyone else got scared off