Staff and Chaff gone; Gas and Kellaway may follow

[letsgetiton!]

The thinking might be that Chubba is no KPP anyway and that Joel, Paddy and maybe one or two young guys can play his role yet have more precise foot skills rebounding out of defence.

If we do offload one or both of Gas and Chubba you'd reckon we'll be pretty active come trade week.

spot on

and btw, wasnt terry meant to use schulz as a chb, i bet next yr jay will play down back and cleve or limbo will take a place up fwd

[WilliamPowell]

we can make finals next yr without chubba, we have not suffered in defence since he has been out with a hammy, sure we may have earlier this year but the kids are showing they are developing fast and good

we dont need these players in their over the hill yrs unless they are as vital as richo

Sorry X, I don't share your confidence. In the last 3 weeks we've beaten 3 bottom teams - wins I know but not the greatest opposition. Go back to when we played the Saints and how we got belted and that was in part because we had no one experienced or strong enough to take on the likes of Reiwoldt or especially Gehrig - there was Joel B on a gorilla. I just worry if we get rid of these 2 how we will compete with a baby backline.

BTW I don't think Chubba will be going anywhere.

[letsgetiton!]

we can make finals next yr without chubba, we have not suffered in defence since he has been out with a hammy, sure we may have earlier this year but the kids are showing they are developing fast and good

we dont need these players in their over the hill yrs unless they are as vital as richo

Sorry X, I don't share your confidence. In the last 3 weeks we've beaten 3 bottom teams - wins I know but not the greatest opposition. Go back to when we played the Saints and how we got belted and that was in part because we had no one experienced or strong enough to take on the likes of Reiwoldt or especially Gehrig - there was Joel B on a gorilla. I just worry if we get rid of these 2 how we will compete with a baby backline.

BTW I don't think Chubba will be going anywhere.

3 bottom teams yes, 3 bottom fwd lines no.

fev, lucas, and bradshaw are all in form and capable of killing or defence

but our defence did quite well against these power fwds

[mightytiges]

I don't see us playing finals next year unless we get a lucky break (excuse the pun) as far as injuries go and our young blokes step up to another level again. Most likely Newman, Cogs and Thursty will need another year to get back near their best just as Browny found out this year.

We are still closer to the bottom 4 than the top 4. Of the top 8 sides we only bet Adelaide with extreme tactics and a overrated Collingwood who are only playing finals thanks to their soft draw. Finals in 2008-9 for mine  .

and btw, wasnt terry meant to use schulz as a chb, i bet next yr jay will play down back and cleve or limbo will take a place up fwd

Sarge is a natural forward. He just needs to follow Richo's lead and work on becoming superfit so he can lead and re-lead all day. Once again he kicked an early goal or two then didn't do much else.

[WilliamPowell]

3 bottom teams yes, 3 bottom fwd lines no.

fev, lucas, and bradshaw are all in form and capable of killing or defence

but our defence did quite well against these power fwds

Fair point X, but there is a bit of a difference IMO - the ones you mention are the only decent big forwards in those teams so you only have to cover one. Against the better sides you usually have to cover multiple fwds. Look at Sydney you have Hall and O'Keefe, Saints you've got Gehrig, Kosi (if he keeps his eyes on the ball ), Hamill and even Reiwoldt

[mightytiges]

3 bottom teams yes, 3 bottom fwd lines no.

fev, lucas, and bradshaw are all in form and capable of killing or defence

but our defence did quite well against these power fwds

True X but forwards need decent supply from the midfield and other teammates up forward dragging defenders with tem so the main forward isn't double and tripled teamed every week as Richo has found out the hard way all his career. The Dons and Lions midfields are getting old and too slow for modern footy and lack depth while Carlton's is non-existent after Kouta, Scotland and Stevens with Murphy out injured. Hird was brilliant on Saturday night but the bad news for the bombers is he'll be gone in 12 months time. 

[letsgetiton!]

i see ur point wp, but terry has a 5 yr plan, keeping these blokes will extend it to a 6,7,8 ...yr plan


we need to get some of these young defenders in the team to get some mileage and 50 games into them, and if they get flogged like zac dawson or bradley , who cares m, they will learn from it

[WilliamPowell]

i see ur point wp, but terry has a 5 yr plan, keeping these blokes will extend it to a 6,7,8 ...yr plan


we need to get some of these young defenders in the team to get some mileage and 50 games into them, and if they get flogged like zac dawson or bradley , who cares m, they will learn from it

That's true but who are these young defenders?

Agree there is Schulz and there is Thursfield but I have a question mark over Thursfield because of his knee - I don't think we can expect him to come back and be a star, it's gonna take time.

Who are the others?

McGuane - question mark on him as defender especially considering the last 4 games at Coburg he's been swung around to the FWD line

I just think we need to be careful thats all

[letsgetiton!]

3 bottom teams yes, 3 bottom fwd lines no.

fev, lucas, and bradshaw are all in form and capable of killing or defence

but our defence did quite well against these power fwds

True X but forwards need decent supply from the midfield and other teammates up forward dragging defenders with tem so the main forward isn't double and tripled teamed every week as Richo has found out the hard way all his career. The Dons and Lions midfields are getting old and too slow for modern footy and lack depth while Carlton's is non-existent after Kouta, Scotland and Stevens with Murphy out injured. Hird was brilliant on Saturday night but the bad news for the bombers is he'll be gone in 12 months time. 

that slow dons midfield beat us hands down, richo was the only reason why we won, our defence did well considering how many clearances they got and how many times they went inside 50

[letsgetiton!]

i see ur point wp, but terry has a 5 yr plan, keeping these blokes will extend it to a 6,7,8 ...yr plan


we need to get some of these young defenders in the team to get some mileage and 50 games into them, and if they get flogged like zac dawson or bradley , who cares m, they will learn from it

That's true but who are these young defenders?

Agree there is Schulz and there is Thursfield but I have a question mark over Thursfield because of his knee - I don't think we can expect him to come back and be a star, it's gonna take time.

Who are the others?

McGuane - question mark on him as defender especially considering the last 4 games at Coburg he's been swung around to the FWD line

I just think we need to be careful thats all

maybe terry and co have trades in line to fill defensive posts

[WilliamPowell]

maybe terry and co have trades in line to fill defensive posts

Probably

As long as it isn't Polak 

[mightytiges]

i see ur point wp, but terry has a 5 yr plan, keeping these blokes will extend it to a 6,7,8 ...yr plan


we need to get some of these young defenders in the team to get some mileage and 50 games into them, and if they get flogged like zac dawson or bradley , who cares m, they will learn from it

Bradley on Richo was okay as Bradley is of a similar size to the big fella and there was no one else for the bombers who could have stopped the Richo man beit McPhee or Solomon. Richo was just too strong, too fit and too good. On the other hand Dawson on Rocca was lamb to the slaughter stuff given the size difference and Clarkson could have put Croad or Roughead at FB. You've got to give a kid some bit of  chance of succeeding and believing in himself.

[letsgetiton!]

maybe terry and co have trades in line to fill defensive posts

Probably

As long as it isn't Polak 

me 2,  polak as i understand believes and thinks he cab only play fwd, from what i understand he does not want to play in defence

[WilliamPowell]

And I just wanna say it is pathetic that Staff and Chaff had their press conference at 2.30pm today - it's been on the 4.00pm news and  after more than 2 hours there is still nothing on the RFC website  

No wonder people think the official sites are a joke

[mightytiges]

3 bottom teams yes, 3 bottom fwd lines no.

fev, lucas, and bradshaw are all in form and capable of killing or defence

but our defence did quite well against these power fwds

True X but forwards need decent supply from the midfield and other teammates up forward dragging defenders with tem so the main forward isn't double and tripled teamed every week as Richo has found out the hard way all his career. The Dons and Lions midfields are getting old and too slow for modern footy and lack depth while Carlton's is non-existent after Kouta, Scotland and Stevens with Murphy out injured. Hird was brilliant on Saturday night but the bad news for the bombers is he'll be gone in 12 months time. 

that slow dons midfield beat us hands down, richo was the only reason why we won, our defence did well considering how many clearances they got and how many times they went inside 50

True X but they did have 33 scoring shots and 4 more than us so our defence didn't do too well. Just lucky they kicked poorly. Over the whole season the bombers midfield has been found out for lack of pace. Suspension and injury probably meant they actually were a bit quicker against us with youngsters instead of the likes of oldies Jason Johnson and Camporeale.