4 minutes ago, Jjrogan said:

I think this is a bit harsh on OD. Everyone does see the game different. Whilst Melksham body is not elite mobile, i see his point. He is still very decent in terms of changing direction off a step and then executing either side as last week showed. No way Jefferson can do that, but then not many players can.

Ill take the other side of JVR being quick. It might be our shocking game plan, but there's a reason he's found it hard to get separation and plays back shoulder a lot.

Fwiw im ok with the selections. . Hawks play small so we are going to try and beat them another way. Eventually we have to find out if our kpfs are any good at taking us to top 4 level. May as well start the learnings and yearnings now.

Well it’s going to be a cracking day and if we can block up the corridor and pressure the ball carrier we should have a solid advantage if they decide to kick long up the line. I don’t care how we win just beat these [censored].

3 hours ago, Adina88 said:

There's no way Melksham is a placeholder. His delivery into F50 this year has been elite. He's a valuable asset for his footy smarts alone. As long as he's fit, he's an automatic selection for me, every week. Jefferson also has a place, but it's not to replace Melksham (*this year).

By placeholder I meant he’s not the future. He’s there to shepherd the next generation through..

Otherwise agree, he’s been terrific.

a

17 hours ago, MrFreeze said:

Why pull out the stat sheet, he played as a key defender in a team that won by 100+

Clearly not relevant at all to this selection

So he’s playing as a defender in the AFL then? That would be even more relevant to selection then yeah?

All the more reason to validate we are not setting the kid up for success.

18 minutes ago, Jjrogan said:

I think this is a bit harsh on OD. Everyone does see the game different. Whilst Melksham body is not elite mobile, i see his point. He is still very decent in terms of changing direction off a step and then executing either side as last week showed. No way Jefferson can do that, but then not many players can.

Ill take the other side of JVR being quick. It might be our shocking game plan, but there's a reason he's found it hard to get separation and plays back shoulder a lot.

Fwiw im ok with the selections. . Hawks play small so we are going to try and beat them another way. Eventually we have to find out if our kpfs are any good at taking us to top 4 level. May as well start the learnings and yearnings now.

I take your point about melks ability to change direction off a step and execute either side, but OD argued that we were replacing 2 mobile forwards with two tall slow players.

There's no universe that Melksham is more mobile or faster than Jefferson.

Petty and JVR are more line ball, but JVR still has Petty covered for speed and mobility, particularly the latter.

Leaving that discussion aside I like the selections too.

Perfect day for footy - no wind, no rain, and an early arvo start means none of that late arvo/evening dew that can make the G tricky.

Great conditions for tall forwards, particularly someone like jeffo who has great hands on the lead.

There's an interesting subtext to Jefferson selection and Melksham's non selection.

I can't see jeffo playing any other position than lead out from goal square forward - which is the position fritter has played the last two weeks.

And with Sicily being such an important player for the hawks in terms of his intercepting we will need someone to play the defensive forward role.

Surely that player will be Fritter.

With Petty, and perhaps to a lesser extent, Melk to come back in to our best 22 this is a critical game for Jeffo and Fritter.

If Jeffo has a strong performance hes a chance of cementing his spot in the ones - in a position that is Fritters best role.

Fritter needs to do the job on Sicily and then he's possibly competing with Melk for a position.

Going to come down to can our tall forwards take a mark and the rest of the forwards put enough pressure on vs their rebound from the backline, which is very strong.

Forget Sicily I would lockdown on Battle who has been in red hot form.

33 minutes ago, binman said:

I take your point about melks ability to change direction off a step and execute either side, but OD argued that we were replacing 2 mobile forwards with two tall slow players.

There's no universe that Melksham is more mobile or faster than Jefferson.

Petty and JVR are more line ball, but JVR still has Petty covered for speed and mobility, particularly the latter.

Leaving that discussion aside I like the selections too.

Perfect day for footy - no wind, no rain, and an early arvo start means none of that late arvo/evening dew that can make the G tricky.

Great conditions for tall forwards, particularly someone like jeffo who has great hands on the lead.

There's an interesting subtext to Jefferson selection and Melksham's non selection.

I can't see jeffo playing any other position than lead out from goal square forward - which is the position fritter has played the last two weeks.

And with Sicily being such an important player for the hawks in terms of his intercepting we will need someone to play the defensive forward role.

Surely that player will be Fritter.

With Petty, and perhaps to a lesser extent, Melk to come back in to our best 22 this is a critical game for Jeffo and Fritter.

If Jeffo has a strong performance hes a chance of cementing his spot in the ones - in a position that is Fritters best role.

Fritter needs to do the job on Sicily and then he's possibly competing with Melk for a position.

couldnt have said it better

Compared to ther forwards his age, eg cadman Van rooyen is doing a lot better

1 hour ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

Add Mitch Lewis and Nash to the list of clear best 23 players missing.

So they have 7 players out that they'd love to have in a final.

We have Lever, Viney, Petty and Melksham missing from ours.

From a quantity point of view you'd say Hawthorn are more depleted, but it feels like our outs hurt more. Time will tell.

I suppose Hawthorn bat deeper than us.

Melksham is a huge out. He's our best ball user bringing the ball into 50. And by a long way.

Adams should have been brought in to cover Petty to keep Turner forward.

With Jeffo in i'm assuming we lose Turner who'll be covering for Petty down back?

While Turner will be fine in that position, not having him play mostly forward is a big win for the Hawks.

Edited May 9May 9 by Demon Dynasty

9 minutes ago, sisso said:

Forget Sicily I would lockdown on Battle who has been in red hot form.

100%.

Battle's an intercept marking king and had an absurd 33 possession/12 mark game last week. I would've like Melksham to have played a role on him as a defensive forward.

Sicily could get thrown forward at some stage.

Compared to ther forwards his age, eg cadman Van rooyen is doing a lot better

2 hours ago, old dee said:

It's time for a good game from Kolt. Another low contribution game tomorrow and he forfeits his spot.

He is in the team because of his work ethic and enthusiam. He doesnt get a lot of touches but hes always chasing and corraling

3 hours ago, binman said:

OD - do you actually watch us play?

Jeffo is not slow - in fact his acceleration off the mark and mobility are probably his standout strengths. Those attributes were certainly highlighted in his drafting notes.

I'd argue that a key reason jeffo has been selected this week is because he covers the ground so well.

And jvr is also pretty quick for a forward - and like jeffo good below his knees.

And what on earth are you talking about when you suggest we are taking out 3 mobile players?

Jefferson is a hell of a lot quicker and mobile than the player he is directly replacing - Jake Melksham - whose lack of mobility and leg speed is his biggest weakness

Ditto JVR over Petty, whose mobility is just ok.

Ironically the player you didn't reference, viney, IS being replaced by a less mobile player.

We've all got opinions. And we're all susceptible to confirmation bias.

But you are next level in terms of twisting reality to support your relentless negativity about the club you follow.

I am negative about a few players who imo will never take us to a GF.

47 minutes ago, clarrypetracca135 said:

Compared to ther forwards his age, eg cadman Van rooyen is doing a lot better

He is in the team because of his work ethic and enthusiam. He doesnt get a lot of touches but hes always chasing and corraling

That's all well and good but you to get the ball.

3 minutes ago, old dee said:

That's all well and good but you to get the ball. I will admit last week he was better than Sparrow and Spargo.

22 hours ago, Jaded No More said:

Turner will surely start down back. May is in less than peak fitness and I reckon Turner is a great matchup for Chol who is super athletic.

Could work out that way but who would T Mac and May take? Only really gunston left

I’d imagine either Turner fwd or playing loose as interceptor. T Mac on Chol

@Ghostwriter

No #22 & none of the others 2's either (2, 12, 32).

Two of them are in the showdown, so if there are going to be howlers, that's where it'll be.

#HappyDays

I'm gonna wake up at 520am to watch it live, don't let me down and ruin my Saturday boys.

Granted it's a few years ago and he's bound to have lost a few yards but in field play Milky has been quite speedy.

Just as a curiosity... ..a d just as an FYI for those comparing speediness of players..

12 minutes ago, DutchDemons said:

I'm gonna wake up at 520am to watch it live, don't let me down and ruin my Saturday boys.

Be sure to have plenty of Heinies handy ;)

1 hour ago, JTR said:

@Ghostwriter

No #22 & none of the others 2's either (2, 12, 32).

Two of them are in the showdown, so if there are going to be howlers, that's where it'll be.

#HappyDays

Just checked and we had Umpire 22 for four out of the last five games. Not sure how that's even allowed.

Granted, he wasn't too bad in the last couple, but I'm glad to see the back of him for at least a week.

1 hour ago, beelzebub said:

Granted it's a few years ago and he's bound to have lost a few yards but in field play Milky has been quite speedy.

Just as a curiosity... ..a d just as an FYI for those comparing speediness of players..

The defenders who run away from him must be all be gout gout level then.

1 hour ago, Bang Bang Bang said:

Just checked and we had Umpire 22 for four out of the last five games. Not sure how that's even allowed.

Granted, he wasn't too bad in the last couple, but I'm glad to see the back of him for at least a week.

This is my list of good umpires:

Put yours here:

(Only half joking)

I agree with old dee that Melksham is a faster footballer than Jeffo, in that he creates fast, attacking ball movement to our advantage. His foot speed may not be quicker (though he's by no means slow), but his ability to pressure opponents into mistakes (ie. turnovers) and his super vision and deft kicking IMO mean we are more likely to create play quickly, whether that's fast ball movement, bullet passes or splitting a pack for kozzie or chin to crumb onto.

Jeffo hasn't shown much of any of these things, however it's not apples with apples. He hasn't the experience yet and so far relies upon separation from the contest to do his best work, which is mark and a set shot on goal

I believe he'll come good. Needs game time and significant development. A less crowded forward line and better delivery i50 would help massively. Imagine him in a similar forward line to Collingwoods where there's plenty of space with Daicos, Sidey, Pendles, Houston, Quaynor and others feeding him. Not that they need him or I'm comparing Collingwood to us, moreso highlighting that our 4 year habit of long bombing i50 kills the craft of a KPF

And Kolt needs to put in a good game very soon. He shows flashes, but doesn't get involved enough for my liking. Yes, yes, like Jeffo, he only has a handful of games under his belt, but for all his speed and confidence, he doesn't do enough. Chutzpah will only get you so far. Had the chance to nail a few last week, none of which he looked confident kicking. A 25 possession game with 3 goals would do him the world of good. I wouldn't drop him, just that he needs a breakthrough game soon for his own development

Edited May 9May 9 by Stiff Arm

7 hours ago, binman said:

Petty and JVR are more line ball, but JVR still has Petty covered for speed and mobility, particularly the latter.

I respectfully say I’m staggered by your statement.

IMHO it’s been Van Rooyens LACK of mobility that has seen him glued to goal square and behind his opponent in all his five games this season.

He hasn’t seemed interested in offering a lead and the only mobility I’ve seen from him is when he jogs to the Centre to relieve Max in the ruck after a goal.

The other knock on him, IMO, is he the opposite of agile.

Petty, on the other hand, whilst not quick, does get mobile and certainly isn’t stationary close to goal.

Our most mobile tall forward, by the length of the Flemington straight, is Dan Turner.

1 hour ago, binman said:

The defenders who run away from him must be all be gout gout level then.

I had a touch of gout gout last month

Only slowed me down

7 hours ago, binman said:

.....

And with Sicily being such an important player for the hawks in terms of his intercepting we will need someone to play the defensive forward role.

Surely that player will be Fritter.

With Petty, and perhaps to a lesser extent, Melk to come back in to our best 22 this is a critical game for Jeffo and Fritter.

binman. IF we are relying on Fritter to be a defensive anything we are in deep deep trouble.

(Would just love to be proven wrong).