Herald Scum Reporting

[Johnno75]

Not one of these so called experts have tipped us to make the finals, I can't wait for our boys to prove each and every one if them wrong.

There is some substance to Kings comments based on last year but then I would argue that we weren't an elite kicking team back in 2010-11 (certainly better than know) it was more about our forward pressure and being the best stoppage and clearance team. We showed what we were capable of early last year when all these indicators were up.

I don't know why King has said we have done nothing to improve our kicking at this point of the season unless he has been to all our preseason training sessions.

[swoop42]

Some in the media have implied we missed out on Clark because we took to long with our medical assessment and in turn committing to him.

This is not surprising given our run of injuries over the last couple of years which would have made us naturally gun shy but annoyingly this type of cautious mindset is also why we probably haven't landed ourselves a genuine big fish since Buckley and why Geelong would be leading the race for Dangerfield.

To often we don't seem aggressive enough in our pursuit of players that could improve our list and it's almost like we think that the opportunity to play for Collingwood will do the work for us in terms of negotiations and we can pay unders for them or sit on our thumbs and take to long.

Sorry Pies but if we want Dangerfield we need to be aggressive in our dealings and be prepared to pay the big bucks.

As for Clark only time will tell if we have stuffed it up or our approach was the wise one.

Remember a lot of people wanted Dayle Garlett and that didn't end well for him or the Hawks.

[droversdog65]

Due dilligence swoop.

A lot of people here were very upset with our efforts regarding some senior recruits in the FA arena plus we had Shazza who was recruited under the same type of injury cloud that Clark was under.

You can push the envelope so far and no further, Clark has had one great game in a no pressure situation with a third rate defender, lots of water to flow under the bridge before we see who comes out smelling like roses on this one.

[Darkstranger]

John Ralph is borderline scumbag that looks for the easy headline..who else would write something about a team not picking up a guy who is one step from the looney house.

[Piesnchess]

Reckon the media lads should turn the heat on the dons and pretty boy, they have been woeful pre season, I reckon bottom four beckons for this mob, they should have stuck with Bomber as coach, damn idiots, we will smash em on Anzac day now. !

[jackcass]

[stui magpie]

Collingwood sells papers, gets clicks etc.

At this time of year everyone is equal and everything is just guess work. Lets just roll with it and see what happens.

[swoop42]

[Piethagoras' Theorem]

[E]

[John Wren]

^ that's how i read it.

[Culprit]

Collingwood sells, people want to read how bad we will be and supporters want to read how good we will be. The Captain Obvious writers are stating nothing new. Anyone can be a journo these days and with cutbacks most of our news is coming out of NSW or NZ so how *ucked is that?

Journo's state the obvious:

On last years form I can't see us making the finals;
A lot has to go right for Collingwood to go up the ladder and make finals;
Will Reid play out the year?; and
Will Cloke kick bags of goals?.
And the list rolls on.

We haven't played for four points yet so there is no form. Practice matches mean zip it's glorified circle work. This year will be an interesting one, we are rebuilding but have some quality. If the youngsters step up we will be competitive and whether that is enough to make the eight is the question I ask.

Don't buy the paper, don't click on the news. Nicks has far better updates thanks to people like John Wren who put in their time as does the clubs site. This crystal ball crap the journos offer up is just that, crap.

My Rant.

[Piesnchess]

Under the radar, you little ripper !!

[ThePieMind]

I am NOT a believer that manic fitness like PA is the priority, as Buck seems to believe given the manic emphasis here, at the expense of skill development such as kicking.

Hawks gameplan proves that accurating kicking is more damaging than fitness.
We should be doing a little of both - PA fitness levels with Good kicking is the goal.
And in the short term would rather a focus on Good kicking BEFORE peak fitness, because in the modern game turnovers kill you, regardless of how fit you are.

Imagine what accurate kicking into our forward line would do to our competitiveness - Cloke will be an old man by the time our kicking improves - but geez he'll be a fit old man.