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I was responding to the comment: ' It shows up our excuses...and lack of depth.' I heartily agree with the rest of your post. GWS have really dug deep to get to the prelim. I like GWS and hope they go on to win the flag. Not least because i backed them at 26-1 prior to the dogs game. Their injury list is actually not too bad now and with Cognilio a chance to come back they are not too far of their best team (Ward, Delidio and Patton are the other best 22 out injured). Tough game to back of from but they have the class to roll the Pies and if they do they will have their chance at a GF. On Tomlinson i have little doubt we have more in the pipe line. He will add to our depth but as you suggest is not the answer to our ills. What he will do - as shown last night - is provide a viable option to give Maxy a chop out. Did ok when giving Mummy a chop out i thought. The clincher for me is we don't have to give up any players or picks for him. Only salary cap space.

Having barely missed a game for a the last four years in a team that has made finals in each of those years. The same people who think we shouldn't get him based on one game probably salivate over highlight videos of prospective draft picks.

Did anyone notice how much time he spent thrown in as the backup ruckman against Oscar McInerny? Tomlinson is a great utility and plugs gaps for them. It’s not always about purely individual performance, it’s what his presence allows the side to do.

Not how I feel but sums up the train wreck that is our season

I wouldn't say i was a Lever doubter but its fair to say nor was i completely sold on him. But i could not have been more impressed with his attitude and approach in the last two games of the season, particularly in the horror game against the swans.. You learn a lot about people in adversity and when things are not going well. And Lever raised his intensity and will to compete and provided a clear example to others. That is leadership. He makes a terrific point about the best defenses playing together regularly. Its absolutely critical and a huge reason why the Tiger's back half is so effective.

length of contract is what will secure him at the dees pies' salary cap is bursting at the seams, from all reports, with some pretty big players in grundy (who could easily command $1.3+ a season if adelaide are serious about getting him back) and de goey (who ain't exactly going to be lowballed either) due for negotiation next year elliott wants a three year deal minimum, and pies have offered two on pretty low contract if jake niall is reporting that he's interested in a move in order to get greater security, then we're on like donkey kong

The two JLTs.. The Season... Most Seasons...

They should have great depth with all the players they've been gifted.

Well when you've got OMAC, JKH, Stretch, Spargo and the Wagner's getting several games a year, it really isn't that high a bar to clear. Agree he isn't going to be a world-beater, but he will help improve our bottom 6, and that shouldn't be underestimated.

I read the match report of Brisvegas v GWS in The Age. Stef Martin was not listed in the best players (about 8 of them). WTF? He was just about BOG.

Team riddled with injury playing in a prelim final...

And then me from rounds 18-23

Lunchtime tomorrow that is...

Streaming down the middle of the ground, team mate 20m in the clear inside 50, the kick and.....

We’ve got a few vacancies - let’s get both of them.

You ended your post with: "why wouldn't Elliott think the same?" You were arguing against the notion that he wouldn't be interested in coming. And within that, also stating to your mind why we are not a rabble. Let's just disagree. As I've said many many times already. If pre-season and in season injuries were the main factor as to why we finished 17th on the ladder this year, it seems awful strange that Jennings, McCartney, Rawlings and Viney have all departed. And there still may be more to go yet. Apparently it's all coincidence though and I'm a conspiracy theorist for thinking it's 'odd'.

No way. 31 this year. The end comes quickly, he's already way past his best.

Anyone but Geelong. That smug [censored] Dangerfield holding up the cup will just about do it for me. Thank god I'm leaving the country on GF eve. I'll be getting drunk on $2 cocktails in Thailand instead of watching the game.

If ever in London the Lords museum is well worth a visit. Outside the museum is a small lawn section with a bronze statue of Mr Lord pulling the pitch roller. Makes a great photo. Very disappointed by the Lords Tavern.

Chamberlain and Ryan shouldn't be allowed anywhere near a finals match again. As Richo commented during the match "Ray should stop providing commentary to the players and umpire the match" ( He will probably get a letter from the AFL this week for being truthful)

We will be chasing down a bout 400. I would tell warner to go out and have a bash. You just never know if we get a fast start. Dreaming.?

Back to irrelevance.

Agree completely. Below average career stats in every facet except marking. Has never got a Brownlow vote in his career. Despite having a relatively injury free career, unlike most of his well credentialed teammates, has only 1 top ten club b & f (7th last year) in over 130 games. Not sure what his best position is. Maybe front row in the team photo because he looks like he should be able to play.

Think I posted this after round 2

There's some amazing nonsense on this thread. Let's assume bringing him in doesn't kill our salary cap space (which, given he's almost a direct swap for Lewis and Garlett, it couldn't possibly). Is he better than any of ANB, either of the Wagners, JKH, Lockhart, Dunkley or some of the other fringe players regularly getting games with us? Of course he is. It's an utter no-brainer. If he's a walk up start at GWS, he sure as he is a walk up start for us.

That actually might spark them? If we could break Englands record run chase to win, in the same series.....how good would that be? Especially since we havent exactly got the most formidable batting line up of all time. If the Ashes were there for the taking, id almost back us. Warner might be the key.....if he could get to 60 or 70, then ..perhaps game on. Our highest score so far is 8/497 in the last game and 7/487 in the first test, so its not completely beyond the realms of possibility. The wicket is looking pretty good.

As good as Hodgey has been for the Lions, and he's been great as a leader, the Hawks got James Worpell out of the picks they traded for him. Not bad.

Have a look at their injury list during the season, with us they had one of the highest levels of games missed, and to key players. It's a testament to them that they are through to the Prelim & are now getting their team back on the ground. They could even win it. It shows up our excuses...and lack of depth.

Harlem was 66-1 when it won the Australian cup but then won the same race again earlier this year at 30-1 They went around quick too in today's Makybe Diva Stakes (01:33.97 for the mile) Quite a good field too. Anyway, close on half a million to the connections and Gatting has now won nearly 2 million. Maybe the Perth form is better than we regard it as. Another WA Mare Arcadia Queen did it easy today although the field in the 'Theo Marks' wasn't strong. Again, another slick time (01:14.96 for the 1300m) I thought we might have seen the W.A galloper Galaxy Star over here as well as that horse has beaten Gatting twice recently. Retired now and is heading for a visit with 'Justify' in the USA. They are racing for a lot of money in the Spring carnival these days (NSW racing has made a quantum leap more recently) so Bob Peters and co are now bringing their better horses here. 'Enticing Star' should be stepping out soon (most likely in Sydney)

GWS must win this year. As the AFL. (love child) investment vehicle , it is important that they provide a positive example (return) as inspiration for the invasion into NSW. So it is important that eye get this out of the way before Melbourne is allowed to begin their reign of superiority built on years of failure. GO GWS THEN GO DEES

Ugh so the premier will come from collingwood, giants, tigs or cats. I might just build a bunker somewhere and come back out half way through October. This is the worst possible outcome. I do not want any of them to win. But watching brisbane dominate in that final quarter was like watching melbourne. Had the ball but could not convert. What was with the players kicking to the boundary, why did the forwards all lead to the boundary. Chris Fagan would be very frustrated.

Hasnt played in 2 weeks. Wouldnt judge him on one performance. Played 20 games this year ina stacked team, would think that says enough regardless of tonight.

Me from rounds 2-17

I'm not his biggest fan, but the Omac potting is getting tedious.

Good post. I reckon we've tried to make the best out of an ordinary situation with Frost. We traded him in at a time when we would have preferred not to pay as much for a player of his lack of quality, but given our list at the time, we had to overpay. Since he's been on the list, we've developed him as best as we could and tried him everywhere, until we realised it was back or bust. The problem with Frost for the last 3-4 years is that it's been clear that the MFC has wanted to play a zone defence, hence the acquisitions of Lever and May. They trialled Omac and Frost in the role May was supposed to play, to very mixed results. They even trialled Dunn in that zone at the back end of 2016. None were sufficient, hence we went after Lever and May. At the back end of 2018, Frost's pace enabled him to cover a player like Hawkins, but ultimately, we went after May because we'd prefer to play May, Lever and a third tall defender. That third tall role has fallen to an undersized and I suspect, slowing down, Michael Hibberd. This is why I'd be happy to keep Frost as depth for that third tall position until a better replacement comes along. Frost is also able to play small, which is handy. I just wouldn't pay the world to make him stay. Furthermore, anyone banging on about Lever not being a KPP, simply doesn't understand how modern footy works. Lever was a gun in Adelaide's incredibly strong zone defence in 2017, with Talia as the lock-down player (May in our current set up) and Hartigan as the third defender. The difference between that Adelaide set up and ours now is that Talia, Lever and Hartigan were all solid kickers. This may have been why we were going after Keath, to play as a more reliable third defender role in a zone system lead by May and Lever. Hibberd doesn't have the size of Keath and therefore could be isolated against a third tall. Keath is closer to the Hartigan type (although taller). It would also release Hibberd to play a kicking / rebounding defender role, which is what saw him earn AA honours in 2017. We all know Frost's pace can work well in the high press system, because he can provide cover for us out back. Where Frost falls down in the zone system though, is when our team isn't pressing high or the opposition team is controlling play. He gets lost in these situations with his lack of footy IQ. I think it's relatively clear we've wanted to play the following set up for a while now: Jetta (lock down on a small) -- May -- third tall defender (Frost at the moment) Hibberd -- Lever -- a kicker / set up player / quarterback (Salem at the moment - Laird at Adelaide) Given who we seem to be targeting, we'd prefer to get a more reliable defender in to that third tall role (hence Hore) and keep Salem and Hibberd as quarterbacks. Frost should be depth, but could be very handy depth if we are hit by injuries again. My concern is that one player shouldn't make us play in a different way. As Clarkson, Simpson, Buckley and even Lyon have shown in recent years, system should win out and direct the way a team plays, rather than a single player.

Well I'll tell you why he might choose us. If we are the rabble you think we are why did Burgess and Richardson come to us when they had plenty of alternatives? Why would Langdon and Tomlinson even consider us (and appear very likely to join) given they appear to have a lot of alternatives? Why haven't a raft of players requested trades if we are such a rabble? I think it's because, like me, they don't think we are a rabble and they actually think we have a very bright future. Rather than slashing their wrists and going all hang dog about this season we've just had they may have asked themselves what happened for a club that finish in a PF in 2018 to fall to 17th in 2019. And strangely it happened without us losing a meaningful player(s). They probably thought that a good club one year, without any change of personnel on or off the field wouldn't have had the 2019 year they did without good reason. And here are some reasons (which I've posted elsewhere) they may have considered: These players were in discussions for our best 22 this season:- B: Jetta May Lever HB: Salem OMac Hibberd ? Harmes Oliver Fritsch HF: Petracca Weid ANB F: Melksham TMac Spargo R: Gawn Brayshaw Viney I: Kolo, Jones, AVB, J Smith Others: Hannan, Preuss, Lewis, Stretch, Frost, Hore That's 28 players that I would have expected to form the basis of the team for the season. You can take off and add some of your own but it won't change the arguments below. These players had significantly interrupted Preseasons (17): Jones, Harmes, Oliver, Petracca, Brayshaw, Viney Jetta, May, Lever, Hibberd, Melksham, TMac, Kolo, Hannan, Hore, OMac and Stretch These players had Injury ruined seasons after a good PS (3): Weideman, AVB, JSmith, These players had a full PS and good run at the season (8): Salem, Fritsch, ANB, Spargo, Gawn, Preuss, Frost, Lewis I'm working from memory so you can correct me on some of the details but the facts are compelling. 17 or our best 28 players had significantly interrupted PS's and three others had significantly disrupted seasons. Of the 8 players who had a good go at it only Salem, Fritsch, Gawn and Frost were definite best 22 for me and some will add Lewis. That's 4 players and not one midfielder. Now fitness aside, is it any wonder connection from backs to forwards through the midfield was awful. Why? Because they didn't practice over the PS. Is it any wonder our skill level was awful. Why? Because most of our best 22 didn't do a lot of ball work over the preseason and we had a whole lot of NQR players in the team, many who didn't practice over the preseason. So Steve I'm guessing that anyone looking at joining our Club recognizes there are very good reasons for why we were awful this year and they expect us to rebound quickly. I do and Richardson, Burgess and a couple of handy players clearly do. They wouldn't join us if they thought we were a rabble. Why wouldn't Elliott think the same?

Such an important player for the club and make no mistake, could comfortably become captain one day. I bloody well hope so !!!!!!