In: Lever, Viney, goal kicking practice

Out: Dunstan (didn't play badly), Smith (does plenty right but his mistake was a howler), goal kicking yips

2 hours ago, Colin B. Flaubert said:

Harsh on Dunstan as it can take time to establish oneself in the team. However, unless he gets high 20s or more in possessions, he is going out for Viney.

Same deal with Smith. He has improved out of sight this year, but Lever's ability to organize our back six and play the intercept role makes him indispensible. 

 

Appears to have some pretty poor  skills/smarts with his opponent often  getting the better of him for mine as soon as the ball hits the deck.

Up the ground he looks a tad better/more sure of himself occasionally spoiling or marking but a marginal improvment from a.pretty low base (so far).

Within cooee of goals he looks as nervous as a turkey just shy of Christmas

Edited April 24, 20222 yr by Demon Dynasty

Hard to change a winning side, particularly when you consider that the scoreboard flattered Richmond ( even 50/50 kicking sees 16 goals and a 50 point win)

I think Dunstan did enough to keep his spot, I'd give Harmes a rest didn't do enough for mine and has been a bit off for a couple of games.

Smith would have been a GF player if he wasn't injured late in the year and he has been better again when he's been in the side this year, stiff if he was dropped.

My call as controversial as it will sound :

Viney in for Harmes.

Lever in for Jordan.

Jordan the medi-sub so Bedford can get some game time in the twos.  Tmac stays at Casey, can't drop Weideman when he's averaging 2+ per game.  Brown will get another week to prove the Brown/Weideman combo works.

Smith has to play from behind. He gets so lost in the play if he can’t see his opponent and then run and jump to spoil or mark. 
He is too much of a liability down back. Reminds me of Frost. The agony and the ecstasy. 
Would probably be a regular at 17 other clubs. But at Melbourne if you’re not an A grade defender you’re gonna struggle to hold your spot. 
 

Hunt did a stellar job on Bolton who is a weapon. Could be important at stopping someone like Charlie Cameron who killed us in the semi final last year. If he can tidy up his ball use he might just stay. 

Agree with a lot of the sentiments in this thread Smith out please: looks far too shaky to play in our otherwise rock solid backline

Thought NEAL-BULLEN had lots of disposals but most were useless.

poor game by him.

maybe Dunstall for him next week.

24 minutes ago, Yarra Valley Demon said:

Hard to change a winning side, particularly when you consider that the scoreboard flattered Richmond ( even 50/50 kicking sees 16 goals and a 50 point win)

I think Dunstan did enough to keep his spot, I'd give Harmes a rest didn't do enough for mine and has been a bit off for a couple of games.

Smith would have been a GF player if he wasn't injured late in the year and he has been better again when he's been in the side this year, stiff if he was dropped.

My call as controversial as it will sound :

Viney in for Harmes.

Lever in for Jordan.

Jordan the medi-sub so Bedford can get some game time in the twos.  Tmac stays at Casey, can't drop Weideman when he's averaging 2+ per game.  Brown will get another week to prove the Brown/Weideman combo works.

As the famous line goes... "You can't be serious"   Harmes had an AF score of 65 last night..  for 69% of time on ground. In that scenario - time comparing  AF score to TOG he was one of our best. Jordan on the other hand had a 64 for 70% of TOG. The both of these guys are the Teams pressure players when it counts. Joel Smith as much as I like him had a 35AF score last night so just on last nights game alone I go for:-

IN: Viney, Lever

OUT: Smith, Dunstan

Med Sub: Dunstan. ( Because his experience and first time presence ( was great )

3 minutes ago, Sam ARBER said:

Thought NEAL-BULLEN had lots of disposals but most were useless.

poor game by him.

maybe Dunstall for him next week.

Didn’t know he was making a comeback, better clear the goal square. 

1 minute ago, Kick_It_To_Pickett said:

Didn’t know he was making a comeback, better clear the goal square. 

Neal-Bullen=  27 disposals and an 81 AF score. Think he was good.

Sorry Dunstan.

15 minutes ago, Sam ARBER said:

Thought NEAL-BULLEN had lots of disposals but most were useless.

poor game by him.

maybe Dunstall for him next week.

He was very good 

Copped a bit of the brunt of heavy pressure as the Tiges smashed our fwd movement with extra mem behind ball, and good tackling

But when we freed up, ANB got good ball, and found targets 

Agree with most here Dunstan and Smith out for Lever and Viney. Very stiff but if injuries and covid persist they will both be back in the team sooner rather than later.

Smith has to be dropped for that inexcusable decision. 

It wouldn’t matter if he had a 100 disposal game and all 99 other possessions were 60m lace out passes, AFL footballers simply cannot make those kinds of mistakes…………..ever.

Would like the points and goals to rotate positions next week

Edited April 24, 20222 yr by Demon Disciple

4 hours ago, WERRIDEE said:

Agree with most here Dunstan and Smith out for Lever and Viney. Very stiff but if injuries and covid persist they will both be back in the team sooner rather than later.

Smith, as much as he has improved gave away three Goals last night. That is unforgivable. One play, direct to a yellow striped guy in the Goal Square.

6 hours ago, BDA said:

In: Lever, Viney, goal kicking practice

Out: Dunstan (didn't play badly), Smith (does plenty right but his mistake was a howler), goal kicking yips

100% I back you on that

6 hours ago, David-Demon said:

Neal-Bullen=  27 disposals and an 81 AF score. Think he was good.

Don’t you dare ever mention AF score again - it is not a judgement on what he did with the footy - only that he got the footy.

He would be disappointed in himself and his execution. He would never be dropped as a leader of the team but god his standard is so much more than what he produced.

Dunstan was concussed so will probably miss regardless. I didn’t mind his performance and he’s a very good hand baller in tight. A good insider player.

They won’t drop him but ANB has played more average/poor games than good ones. How many times has he been done for holding the ball this year?

Selection is easy this week:

In - Lever, Viney

out - Dunstan, Smith

Goodwin in his presser mentioned Smith stepped up last night but I thought he was a bit of a liability and that handpass straight to Lynch was cringeworthy.

39 minutes ago, rpfc said:

Don’t you dare ever mention AF score again - it is not a judgement on what he did with the footy - only that he got the footy.

He would be disappointed in himself and his execution. He would never be dropped as a leader of the team but god his standard is so much more than what he produced.

AF scores are an AFL bench mark - each to his own with respect.

BEST  
Richmond: Vlastuin, Short, Graham, Prestia, Gibcus, Rioli
Melbourne: Oliver, Langdon, Neal-Bullen, Sparrow, Petracca, Weideman

From the Club Website.

Edited April 24, 20222 yr by David-Demon

7 hours ago, Jaded No More said:

Smith has to play from behind. He gets so lost in the play if he can’t see his opponent and then run and jump to spoil or mark. 
He is too much of a liability down back. Reminds me of Frost. The agony and the ecstasy. 
Would probably be a regular at 17 other clubs. But at Melbourne if you’re not an A grade defender you’re gonna struggle to hold your spot. 
 

Hunt did a stellar job on Bolton who is a weapon. Could be important at stopping someone like Charlie Cameron who killed us in the semi final last year. If he can tidy up his ball use he might just stay. 

This is the issue with Smith.

It stands out when the rest of the defence are top notch. and maybe that's his problem. 

How can he shine in the presence of May, Lever, Petty, Bowey, Salem, Hunt(usually),.......?

Edited April 24, 20222 yr by Demon17

7 hours ago, Jaded No More said:

Hunt did a stellar job on Bolton who is a weapon. Could be important at stopping someone like Charlie Cameron who killed us in the semi final last year. If he can tidy up his ball use he might just stay. 

Hunt has been less about the eye catching run and more about quietly doing his job on some quality small forwards this year. Whilst still weeks away I would suggest Rivers is the more likely casualty when Salo returns at this point. This assumes we choose to leave Gus back and JJ on a wing which is a fair chance I suggest. 

I'm just glad this is the selection committees problem and not mine. Lot of players in our VFL side who would get a game at just about any other club. When your chance comes you grab it or it's straight back. 

Can not remember a team where being a good player was not enough to get a game. 

7 hours ago, Sam ARBER said:

Thought NEAL-BULLEN had lots of disposals but most were useless.

poor game by him.

maybe Dunstall for him next week.

Fumbly night for him, but his pressure acts and score involvements were still high as well as his ability to cover the ground, and I would suggest they would be his KPIs, so no chance he comes out - let alone for someone still getting their tank up to an MFC standard.

1 hour ago, David-Demon said:

Smith, as much as he has improved gave away three Goals last night. That is unforgivable. One play, direct to a yellow striped guy in the Goal Square.

Agree. Some good spoils but his poor tackling and handballing to Lynch was inexcusable.  

7 hours ago, David-Demon said:

Neal-Bullen=  27 disposals and an 81 AF score. Think he was good.

Just watched the replay, I think ANB was average. Quite a few poor turnovers, a couple of really easy set shot misses and tried to take on the tackler and got caught HTB several times.

That said, his work ethic is massive and he is defensively important. He also got in good spots and won plenty of the ball. So would keep him in.

Lever for Smith is a no brainer, huge upgrade. Viney for Dunstan is also the most logical swap for team balance given Sparrow, Jordon and Harmes are all contributing.

Edited April 24, 20222 yr by Radar Detector

8 hours ago, Jaded No More said:

Smith has to play from behind. He gets so lost in the play if he can’t see his opponent and then run and jump to spoil or mark. 
He is too much of a liability down back. Reminds me of Frost. The agony and the ecstasy. 
Would probably be a regular at 17 other clubs. But at Melbourne if you’re not an A grade defender you’re gonna struggle to hold your spot. 

100%, Smith is the weakest link of our side. 

He cost the team at least two goals directly from his actions (one a direct handball, the other running off Reiwoldt whilst it was being kicked to him)
Whilst he is an absolute beast of an athlete, he just doesn't have the footy IQ. 
He is consistently in the wrong spots in defence and May has to direct him where to go all of the time. 
With Tomlinson, we don't have that problem, ever. 

OUT: Dunstan, Smith
IN: Viney, Lever