Round 8 - Blues vs Collingwood at Preston City Oval

[thebaldfacts]

Great goal under pressure from Witts. So mobile. Too quick for Watson.

Well done.

[magpiemike]

Phhhhhew! Would have been great to be there. Thanks again for your coverage MB. Much appreciated from the West.

[MOTR]

Can't wait to see the replay.

[swoop42]

Fantastic victory.

Suck it scum.

[Brenny]

What a great win!

Good stuff pies.

[MagpieBat]

YES!

YESYESYESYESYESYESYESYES, OHHHHHH, HAPPY DAYS!!!!

MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

[woodisgood]

Awesome win by the boys. With so many midfielders promoted to the ones thought we had no chance. Exceptional effort.

Also an exceptional effort by Magpie Bat keeping us in the loop.Well done Sir, greatly appreciated.

SOme questions for you MB once you have had time to calm down and think.

1.) Paine. has he shown enough for the ones? If not, what are the deficiencies?
2) Witts. Could he prelace an apparently ailing Lynch against Melb next week? I
3) Yagmoor...anything there worth keeping for another season?
4) Oxley...potential upgrade at midseason?
5) Gault...Are we sending him backwards trying to play in defece. Could he play forward in this team? Or is his time coming to an end?

[MagpieBat]

Just did what I did after the Geelong win a couple of weeks ago - I whipped out my mobile phone and played the song and belted it out at the top of my voice.

Didn't get to do that after last night, such a poor game it was...

GREAT STUFF, PIES!!!

[On the March]

Well called mb - hope the ticker is OK!

This side definitely on the improve. Well done to all.

[MagpieBat]

Awesome win by the boys. With so many midfielders promoted to the ones thought we had no chance. Exceptional effort.

Also an exceptional effort by Magpie Bat keeping us in the loop.Well done Sir, greatly appreciated.

SOme questions for you MB once you have had time to calm down and think.

1.) Paine. has he shown enough for the ones? If not, what are the deficiencies?
2) Witts. Could he prelace an apparently ailing Lynch against Melb next week? I
3) Yagmoor...anything there worth keeping for another season?
4) Oxley...potential upgrade at midseason?
5) Gault...Are we sending him backwards trying to play in defece. Could he play forward in this team? Or is his time coming to an end?

Thanks, mate, it was my pleasure, as always. What a GAME!!!

To answer your questions...

Paine - He's getting better, but I do think he has a few defensive issues to work on. The conditions didn't help, and he was getting 2-on-1ed a fair bit. Doesn't chase as hard as you would like. But his set-shot kicking was good today, probably his best so far this year (slotted a couple of difficult ones). I'd give him a run against Melbourne and maybe the Dogs, just to see if Cloke+Lynch+Witts can work...

Witts - It was a mongrel of a day for talls, yet Witts probably had his best game for us since coming down from NSW. Battled in the ruck, yet his 2nd efforts and skill off the muddy deck was just great. 3 goals for him, including THAT goal, presented reasonably well up forward. Still has a lot to learn yet, but he did well. I would play him as #1 ruck against Melbourne and punt Jolly back to the VFL.

Yagmoor - He certainly seems to have realised that he is on borrowed time and the creditors are coming to collect. Ball use very good in trying conditions. Given that the rookies who have been promoted this year have played well, there's a fair chance that most will get a senior contract at the end of the year, which may free up enough rookie spots to justify keeping Yagmoor on. A good game, needs to back it up, though.

Oxley - I like the look of this kid, definitely a real contender for the mid-year upgrade. Would give him a go next week, myself, for Daisy's spot. Ball use also very good, for the most part.

Gault - Hopeless as a backman. Goes to ground too often, doesn't make use of his height, gets caught in front. Should really be that 3rd forward/2nd ruck option, but we are so insistent on playing him down back. Will be on the chopping block come year's end if he continues to slide. Get him forward, damn it!

[MagpieBat]

Well called mb - hope the ticker is OK!

This side definitely on the improve. Well done to all.

Thanks mate!

The heart is always working overtime in a close one, but it breaks the 300bpm barrier when it's a close one against the Scum. HATE losing to this mob, but LOVE beating them.

Well done to all, indeed. Undermanned, stripped of all our playmakers, and we turn that on. Makes you proud and hopeful for the next generation, doesn't it?

[woodisgood]

Awesome win by the boys. With so many midfielders promoted to the ones thought we had no chance. Exceptional effort.

Also an exceptional effort by Magpie Bat keeping us in the loop.Well done Sir, greatly appreciated.

SOme questions for you MB once you have had time to calm down and think.

1.) Paine. has he shown enough for the ones? If not, what are the deficiencies?
2) Witts. Could he prelace an apparently ailing Lynch against Melb next week? I
3) Yagmoor...anything there worth keeping for another season?
4) Oxley...potential upgrade at midseason?
5) Gault...Are we sending him backwards trying to play in defece. Could he play forward in this team? Or is his time coming to an end?

Thanks, mate, it was my pleasure, as always. What a GAME!!!

To answer your questions...

Paine - He's getting better, but I do think he has a few defensive issues to work on. The conditions didn't help, and he was getting 2-on-1ed a fair bit. Doesn't chase as hard as you would like. But his set-shot kicking was good today, probably his best so far this year (slotted a couple of difficult ones). I'd give him a run against Melbourne and maybe the Dogs, just to see if Cloke+Lynch+Witts can work...

Witts - It was a mongrel of a day for talls, yet Witts probably had his best game for us since coming down from NSW. Battled in the ruck, yet his 2nd efforts and skill off the muddy deck was just great. 3 goals for him, including THAT goal, presented reasonably well up forward. Still has a lot to learn yet, but he did well. I would play him as #1 ruck against Melbourne and punt Jolly back to the VFL.

Yagmoor - He certainly seems to have realised that he is on borrowed time and the creditors are coming to collect. Ball use very good in trying conditions. Given that the rookies who have been promoted this year have played well, there's a fair chance that most will get a senior contract at the end of the year, which may free up enough rookie spots to justify keeping Yagmoor on. A good game, needs to back it up, though.

Oxley - I like the look of this kid, definitely a real contender for the mid-year upgrade. Would give him a go next week, myself, for Daisy's spot. Ball use also very good, for the most part.

Gault - Hopeless as a backman. Goes to ground too often, doesn't make use of his height, gets caught in front. Should really be that 3rd forward/2nd ruck option, but we are so insistent on playing him down back. Will be on the chopping block come year's end if he continues to slide. Get him forward, damn it!

Thanks for your input MB, that is sensational.

On Gault then, we appear to have been fixated on playing Richmond in that 3rd tall/relief ruck role, and it has confused me, beause Gault looked far closer to being able to do that based on last year. Now we have a project in Richmond who still appears ages away, and we are trashing Gault.

Is there anything you are seeing from Richmond that makes this make any sense, because Im lost.

[MagpieBat]

Thanks for your input MB, that is sensational.

On Gault then, we appear to have been fixated on playing Richmond in that 3rd tall/relief ruck role, and it has confused me, beause Gault looked far closer to being able to do that based on last year. Now we have a project in Richmond who still appears ages away, and we are trashing Gault.

Is there anything you are seeing from Richmond that makes this make any sense, because Im lost.

I can see the logic, because Richmond is doing reasonably well when given the "Leigh Brown duties".

The problem is, though, that Richmond is a non-factor when it comes to senior selection and is one to go missing during VFL games.

Where it gets tricky is the abundance of talls we still have at reserve grade level. Witts, Grundy, plus Hudson as the first emergency and playing coach. Then you've got Paine as the main forward, plus Richmond has to be accommodated as well. And Gault needs a spot too.

I think we should switch them around; Gault up forward, give Richmond the defensive lesson down back.

Personally, I feel as though picking up Richmond as a rookie was a bit of an indulgence on the football department's front, one that we could probably done without...

[MagpieBat]

Phhhhhew! Would have been great to be there. Thanks again for your coverage MB. Much appreciated from the West.

My pleasure, mate. Hopefully, my coverage was a decent substitute for you to enjoy.

And remember, set your recorder for 2:30am-ish on Wednesday morning, where you'll see the replay.

Or, catch it on iView in the next day or so...

[Collingwood Crackerjack]

Thanks again for a sterling effort MB.

Seems to me like Witt's is a quick learner, and was appreciably better for the run at AFL level in terms of playing with the intensity required. Bodes well for his future. Your thoughts?