Bombertalk

for a senion player, he was junk on the weekend.

Has generally only played half decent games when Lucas has been in the team. Thats because the best two defenders are then on lloyd n lucas and not him.

useless.

have a look at our record this year with and without scotty lucas.

heck, I am not a huge stats guy, but I reckon it would tell a pretty damning story...inside 50s would still be similar without lucas....
we just have lemons like mcphee charading as a key forward, who can't handle the heat and step up when required.

For one, I cannot wait until we see more of Neagle, Gumbleton, perhaps even young cale hooker play up front.

Of course clanger mcphee will get a whooole host of fans here, who pour over the stats to know end, highlighting how he is team leading in this and that.

Sunday I saw a bloke who half the time couldn't hit the broadside of a barn door and went missing when we needed him, time and time again.

massive disappointment from a bloke who is regarded I think as a pretty good clubman and well liked senior player.

not good enough.

A bit harsh i reckon. He didnt have a great game but you cant get on his back every time he does, and especially when he was not the only one out there that didnt play well.

Don't mind you pasting him for a bad game, providing you get behind him when he plays well.

You have an illogical dislike of McPhee which makes me immediately think everything you write about him is rubbish. Sorry.

He does make a few mistakes here and there but you always get 110% from Adam and that's all that we can possibly ask for as supporters.

Get a new record Tom...as I said in your Lucas thread, if the players upfield had delivered the ball to our forwards when they offered, we would have been in better shape. McPhee ran his guts out yesterday and yet the midfielders kept carrying the ball rather than passing to leading forwards like McPhee.

swoodley wrote:Get a new record Tom...as I said in your Lucas thread, if the players upfield had delivered the ball to our forwards when they offered, we would have been in better shape. McPhee ran his guts out yesterday and yet the midfielders kept carrying the ball rather than passing to leading forwards like McPhee.

I think it is a symptom of our strategy to run and handball - that seems to be the first thought through half-back and the midfield - rather than to kick to leading forwards.

I'm afraid some of us supporters just can't let go of predetermined bias and hatred of certain players. They always look to them for blame when things go awry. Who do you blame when McKinley gets 7 goals? That's right, McPhee. It doesn't matter that our ruck division (lead by Hille) and onballers were trounced. It doesn't matter that Hocking and Magin made no contribution to our cause - they are exempt from the final analysis. But McPhee is to blame for that.

swoodley wrote:Get a new record Tom...as I said in your Lucas thread, if the players upfield had delivered the ball to our forwards when they offered, we would have been in better shape. McPhee ran his guts out yesterday and yet the midfielders kept carrying the ball rather than passing to leading forwards like McPhee.

I saw smokey take some pretty poor options. went missing yesterday when we really needed him.

Thats what annoys me the most as him as a player.


You look at our season as a whole and it paints a remarkable picture of our ability to function with/without Scotty in the forward line. Blaming the midfield delivery is tough, if the forwards aren't in space, aint running to leads. i would say a little from column a a little from column b so to speak.

West Coast were damn good tho. Their midfield really stood up. v disappointing our effort, the eagles are the one team in the comp with a similar run with injuries to us...

Eagles fans must be pretty happy with their teams performance sunday.

We did well to get back in it, so that is a plus

Heard him being interviewed last week after he'd played a pretty good game against the Dees (and in a Lucasless forward line too I might add)

He made an interesting comment, almost as an aside I thought. He said something like "Yeah I went alright today, sometimes you can get caught a bit "in between" (at CHF)"

Having played a bit of footy in that possy myself I think I know what he's talking about and I think that is what is happening on days like yesterday when the midfield are not firing and making poor decisions e.g carrying the ball too far, missing targets etc. You can be made to look very ordinary indeed when you are leading up (as you should be) and find the ball sailing over your head or hitting your opponent on the t*t instead of yours.

Cut him a bit of slack I reckon. Have never been a great fan of his but IMO he's done ok this season and is one that can carry his head high at seasons end.

Mc Phee's problem is expectations. We all thought he was going to be an elite player. He hasn't got there. He is a good player, a valuable player, but he is not the superstar he looked like he might bcome.

tom9779 wrote:

swoodley wrote:Get a new record Tom...as I said in your Lucas thread, if the players upfield had delivered the ball to our forwards when they offered, we would have been in better shape. McPhee ran his guts out yesterday and yet the midfielders kept carrying the ball rather than passing to leading forwards like McPhee.

I saw smokey take some pretty poor options. went missing yesterday when we really needed him.

Thats what annoys me the most as him as a player.


You look at our season as a whole and it paints a remarkable picture of our ability to function with/without Scotty in the forward line. Blaming the midfield delivery is tough, if the forwards aren't in space, aint running to leads. i would say a little from column a a little from column b so to speak.

West Coast were damn good tho. Their midfield really stood up. v disappointing our effort, the eagles are the one team in the comp with a similar run with injuries to us...

Eagles fans must be pretty happy with their teams performance sunday.

We did well to get back in it, so that is a plus

The point I was trying to make Tom is that the forwards WERE LEADING into space and yet for some reason, the midfield weren't kicking the ball to them. The difference in the first half (especially the first quarter) was that the Eagles midfielders were honouring the leads of their forwards and kicking it to them giving them good one on one contests that they won on most occasions.

I really dont see how one player can get singled out for a lambasting when the entire team was not at all switched on early, we collectively made bad decisions and unfortunately this caused us to fall just short. McPhee has had a pretty good year all in all. He occasionally has a monumental brain fade but it seems to me he is still a very good contributor.

He is playing the hardest possie on the ground, I will give him that. CHF aint easy.

I would have preferred he was moved back into the backline early on when we were struggling.

Maybe a switch with Ryder.

Are you bagging McPhee here or our teams inability to to play good footy without Lucas in the team?

Maybe you should title it

"My Hatred for McPhee no matter what he does and my disappointment in our forward lines ability to stand up when Lucas is not there"

Let me preface this by saying my feelings towards McPhee are rather ambivalent. I don't dislike him, nor is he a favourite. And I respect your right, Tom, to criticise players you don't think are cutting the mustard (never understood that phrase...). Having said that, here's my two cents;

McPhee set the bar unbelievably high in his first season at Windy Hill. Winning the Crichton and earning AA selection as a hard-running rebounding defender has many Bomber fans beleiving we were witnessing the first chapter of a new Bomber legend. It was always going to be terribly difficult to live up to that kind of billing.

McPhee is a tall flanker, not a key position player. Sure, he can 'pinch-hit' as a KPP, whether forward or back, but when he has to play that role on a more permanent basis (like this year when Lucas joined Neagle and Gumby on the IL) is when he tends to struggle. So I tend to think that his struggles stem more from playing in a position he not necessarily suited, rather than because he has drawn a 'better' defender. Keep in mind that this is his first season a permanent forward. Not only has he had to adapt to a new role, he's also had to fill the shoes of arguably the team's most important player. Not the easiest task in the world.

In spite of this, McPhee is still top 10 in many statistical categories; marks, disposals, 6th for goals and 7th for tackles. Whilst I agree statistics these days can be misleading, these numbers are not to be sneezed at. Yes he is prone to the occassional brain fart or clanger (and they are extremely frustrating I agree), but his positives are far more important to the success of this team than his occasional stuff up IMO.

bomberdonnie wrote:Are you bagging McPhee here or our teams inability to to play good footy without Lucas in the team?

Maybe you should title it

"My Hatred for McPhee no matter what he does and my disappointment in our forward lines ability to stand up when Lucas is not there"

haha perhaps.

i do cheer when he is setting it alight. usually he is a fair weather player tho. with his size, strength and experience, i think he should be a game breaker/game turner.

we need him when the chips are down.

Tom,

I haven't seen Sunday's game (and glad for it by all accounts...), however, McPhee is not a KPP and no matter how much he tries to stand up and deliver, he never will be.

McPhee in our forward line is a third tall that should get the third or fourth best opposition defender. Against them, he generally plays well. As soon as all our other KPP's are out injured and he has to play as KPP, he gets caned.

Therefore, given that he is not a KPP, never will be KPP and should never play KPP and I haven't seen the game, I am prepared to cut him some slack. Sure, he may have played a poor game, but in a loss, you can point to any number of occassions where players stuff up and singling out one person (yes even Laycock) is a fruitless exercise in futility and drags one down the level of Ninthmond/Filth supporters...

Crazyman wrote:Tom,

I haven't seen Sunday's game (and glad for it by all accounts...), however, McPhee is not a KPP and no matter how much he tries to stand up and deliver, he never will be.

McPhee in our forward line is a third tall that should get the third or fourth best opposition defender. Against them, he generally plays well. As soon as all our other KPP's are out injured and he has to play as KPP, he gets caned.

Therefore, given that he is not a KPP, never will be KPP and should never play KPP and I haven't seen the game, I am prepared to cut him some slack. Sure, he may have played a poor game, but in a loss, you can point to any number of occassions where players stuff up and singling out one person (yes even Laycock) is a fruitless exercise in futility and drags one down the level of Ninthmond/Filth supporters...

McPhee in our forward line is a third tall that should get the third or fourth best opposition defender. Against them, he generally plays well. As soon as all our other KPP's are out injured and he has to play as KPP, he gets caned.

spot on.

Rather than single out one game, I reckon McPhee has had a great year overall. He is a great mark, his decision making processes have improved, he's quick and he is hard to match up.

Maybe the bar was set too high from his initial years, but he is a valuable player and one of the first picks for any given week.

Whereas I can understand the frustration with some of our players, I cannot understand how Smokey gets lumped into the argument.

You can never question a player's ability... that is the fault of the coach and the selectors.

You can only question their endeavour.

McPhee tries his heart out to get the team over the line. Tom3409731487349287568925... you're a dickhead.

rockhole wrote:Rather than single out one game, I reckon McPhee has had a great year overall. He is a great mark, his decision making processes have improved, he's quick and he is hard to match up.

Maybe the bar was set too high from his initial years, but he is a valuable player and one of the first picks for any given week.

Whereas I can understand the frustration with some of our players, I cannot understand how Smokey gets lumped into the argument.

what really shits me about him, is that he seems to only play well when we are winning.

(or do i need a memory refresher?) have a look at his stats. didnt give a hellava lot when we were losing week in week out this year... his best games are nearly always in a winning side.

http://www.bombersfc.com.au/TheClub/Pla ... 3&typeid=2