On 13/08/2023 at 05:07, Jaded No More said:

Not to mention Dunstan burning players in better positions and not dishing off. He and Harmes are not getting a game anytime soon. 
 

Tomlinson needs to play in defense and I guess Smith up forward for now. Sadly the Petty injury could just about be the thing that kills our shot at a flag this year. 

Tommo was very good today again at Casey and you could be right about Petty. 

I've stopped worrying about wins and losses at VFL level. The comp is a basket case.

Instead I look for skills, gameplan and form.

Today was a lousy example of all three against a less than remarkable opponent.

Saw some glimpses from Deakyn Smith. Jefferson was break even at best. Woewodin still needs to take that next step.

This whole season seems to be whimpering to a close on so many levels.

Hopefully it doesn't but....

On T Mac... he doesn't deserve it but who else and perhaps Hawthorn and then the Swans in what is hopefully a dead game for us he might just provide the key to September

really surprised by the positivity about tomlinson 

can't see him getting back into the afl side based on that performance, particularly as more good afl teams are going 'smaller' rather than 'taller'

dunstan, spargo, laurie, woey 2.0 the best of the afl-listed players

edit: although, in saying that, hawks do appear to have multiple 'bigs' that it might be handy to have tommo help play on alongside may

Edited August 13, 20231 yr by whatwhat say what

  On 13/08/2023 at 04:35, Diamond Tim said:

Making a call on what we've seen today in relation to our desperate AFL fwd line situation - Thommo CHF.

Hell why not. Petty worked. What other options are there? Tmac or Bbb on one leg or Schacke. It's not Grundy.

  On 13/08/2023 at 04:07, Diamond_Jim said:

Dunstan rarely hurts with his possessions at VFL level.

At AFL level he doesn't get enough

He can play 80% midfield and get 30 with ease, the issue what do you do with Viney, Oliver, Gus, Sparrow and Tracc if he does that.

Also if he is getting 30 at the coal face then Viney, Oliver and Gus aren’t unless they are handballing to each other in circles.

Even with Tracc playing predominantly forward we don’t need another full time mid.

The only move to create midfield opportunity is to send Gus to a wing or possibly half back 

  On 13/08/2023 at 05:17, DeeSpencer said:

He can play 80% midfield and get 30 with ease, the issue what do you do with Viney, Oliver, Gus, Sparrow and Tracc if he does that.

Also if he is getting 30 at the coal face then Viney, Oliver and Gus aren’t unless they are handballing to each other in circles.

Even with Tracc playing predominantly forward we don’t need another full time mid.

The only move to create midfield opportunity is to send Gus to a wing or possibly half back 

His ball use is horrible. 

Saw nothing in todays game that filled me with any form of confidence.

  On 13/08/2023 at 04:42, YesitwasaWin4theAges said:

He has no 2nd effort in him Thommo.

That may well be the case but we're badly short of a tall in the fwd half, time is not on our side with last night and today providing opportunity for the bigger players to show us their wares.Thommo may well not follow up but he competes  well in the air and reads the play very well. He's going to get to where the ball is and at least provide Kozzie,ANB,Chandler etc a crumbing chance.

  On 13/08/2023 at 05:18, dl4e said:

Saw nothing in todays game that filled me with any form of confidence.

Do you ever though?

Pretty dour performance. 

Schache and McDonald were non existent.

Tommo up forward? You know what, I'd be willing to give it a decent shot. Was drafted as a elite running CHF from his junior days.

His tank and work ethic could come handy in blowing up defenders and he's fit and ready to go. 

Big bodied player who could be a handy foil for JVR.

Don't know why we didn't try Tomlinson up front as we has a shortage of tall forward. Perhaps the Dees will give Grundy another go in the seniors.

Laurie deserves a run

  On 13/08/2023 at 07:31, Ugottobekidding said:

Laurie deserves a run

Rainman!

Tomlinson forward is fantasy. Has he trained there in the last 4 years? He goes back, Smith goes forward 

Was a hard watch.  Based on that Spargo maybe and Tomlinson if we want the extra tall back were the only listed Demons worthy of consideration.  I think we need more run against Hawthorn.

  On 13/08/2023 at 05:51, dazzledavey36 said:

Pretty dour performance. 

Schache and McDonald were non existent.

Tommo up forward? You know what, I'd be willing to give it a decent shot. Was drafted as a elite running CHF from his junior days.

His tank and work ethic could come handy in blowing up defenders and he's fit and ready to go. 

Big bodied player who could be a handy foil for JVR.

Tomlinson MUST come in as either a tall defender to play on one of their tall forwards, or as a defensive forward on James Sicily.  

  On 13/08/2023 at 03:17, Jaded No More said:

Schache has no mongrel. You can’t play a key position role at AFL if you don’t have the physical desperation. 
I think Grundy is a little bit the same. Too much of a nice guy. Needs a lot more agro!

Mongrel, as well as skill, is what sets JVR apart from all of the aforementioned 

  On 13/08/2023 at 03:39, Chook said:

McDonald tries a don't argue but isn't quite strong enough. I'd love to see him get out on a lead or in a marking contest. Unfortunately Casey's delivery is too poor for such luxuries.

Well I guess playing at Casey prepares a forward for MFC forward delivery standards. Bomb 💣 it long. 

  On 13/08/2023 at 04:12, Chook said:

I agree.

McDonald is definitely not working like he used to back in the day. Yes injuries are a part of it but he and Harmes have gone downhill a lot because of their workrate dropping like a stone.

FFS Tom hasn’t played for months.  Of course he won’t be like he was - at least not yet but I wouldn’t write him off so quickly. 

  On 13/08/2023 at 05:11, Diamond_Jim said:

I've stopped worrying about wins and losses at VFL level. The comp is a basket case.

Instead I look for skills, gameplan and form.

Today was a lousy example of all three against a less than remarkable opponent.

Saw some glimpses from Deakyn Smith. Jefferson was break even at best. Woewodin still needs to take that next step.

This whole season seems to be whimpering to a close on so many levels.

Hopefully it doesn't but....

On T Mac... he doesn't deserve it but who else and perhaps Hawthorn and then the Swans in what is hopefully a dead game for us he might just provide the key to September

Agree 100% re the shambles of an organisation (disorganisation would be a better term) the VFL has become.  Bring it back to Victoria, with ann even number,  and let the interstate teams suck it up in their local leagues.  

  On 13/08/2023 at 07:31, Ugottobekidding said:

Laurie deserves a run

NO !

  On 13/08/2023 at 05:51, dazzledavey36 said:

Pretty dour performance. 

Schache and McDonald were non existent.

Tommo up forward? You know what, I'd be willing to give it a decent shot. Was drafted as a elite running CHF from his junior days.

His tank and work ethic could come handy in blowing up defenders and he's fit and ready to go. 

Big bodied player who could be a handy foil for JVR.

Others have said that Tom started to look OK given his long layoff.  Will await the "experts' opinions" ie Demonland podcast tomorrow.

Tommo as a tall forward?   Might  have been worth a look earlier in the season, perhaps, but surely not on the eve of finals.

  On 13/08/2023 at 10:16, picket fence said:

NO !

You need to take your anti-laurie blinkers off Picket. 

Kid is developing nicely and is yet again in the bests with a 29 disposal 1 goal game. He is one of our better uses of the footy and was directly involved in multiple scoring chains along with Spargo.

He may not get a run with us because it's hard to see where he breaks into the team from a forward/mid rotation point of view. But he's better than you give him credit for and if he seeks a trade at the end of the year I'll have no doubt he will be best 22 for a lot of clubs.

Tomlinson up forward..

At this point anything is worth a shot but it is sort of like asking the Post Office to hold your mail and hoping the bank will pay your bills for you when you don't get them.

Edited August 13, 20231 yr by layzie

  On 13/08/2023 at 08:44, goodwindees said:

Tomlinson MUST come in as either a tall defender to play on one of their tall forwards, or as a defensive forward on James Sicily.  

Must. I agree.  JVR is too raw. We can’t expect him to carry the forward line. Schache is not the answer.  Tmcd and BBB will be in retirement at season end.  At least Tomlinson can mark the footy and I’d back him to kick at least at 50%.  

  On 13/08/2023 at 05:51, dazzledavey36 said:

Pretty dour performance. 

Schache and McDonald were non existent.

Tommo up forward? You know what, I'd be willing to give it a decent shot. Was drafted as a elite running CHF from his junior days.

His tank and work ethic could come handy in blowing up defenders and he's fit and ready to go. 

Big bodied player who could be a handy foil for JVR.

Tommo has been a man without a position for most of his AFL football life.

Played up forward a bit at GWS without much success, same in defence on the wing, in the ruck...

He's an almost footballer.

I'm not sure he would give us much as a forward but the cupboard is bare for KPF's...who knows

  On 13/08/2023 at 12:39, rjay said:

Tommo has been a man without a position for most of his AFL football life.

Played up forward a bit at GWS without much success, same in defence on the wing, in the ruck...

He's an almost footballer.

I'm not sure he would give us much as a forward but the cupboard is bare for KPF's...who knows

With respect to "almost footballer":

I think that's a bit harsh. He is doing ok for himself as a bloke who has played 175 games, and has a good shot at getting to 200 over the next couple of years.

(ranked 915 out of all AFL/VFL players ever for games played, out of about 13000 players ever)

 

I agree he has struggled with consistent positions though. A victim of his own versatility, and probably of changing game styles, list compositions and also his injury (the ACL).

Edited August 13, 20231 yr by deanox

  On 13/08/2023 at 13:27, deanox said:

He is doing ok for himself as a bloke who has played 175 games, and has a good shot at getting to 200 over the next couple of years.

(ranked 915 out of all AFL/VFL players ever for games played, out of about 13000 players ever)

I reckon he will struggle getting to 200 but has had a very long career without ever really nailing down a position.

Good size, neat skills, good tank...

...but consistency has been an issue.

Maybe being adaptable has gone against him, he hasn't been allowed to settle.

I'm not knocking him, the almost footballer is probably the wrong term.

I would have been happy with 1 AFL game, let alone 175...

Maybe he is worth a shot up forward...maybe we have other plans.