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Hate this sort of rubbish, King didn't play a senior game until round 9 last year. So was not ready to go, then in his first 2 games had a grand total of 10 possessions,1 mark, 1 tackle and 0 goals. He kept his sport purely because Gold Coast had no-one else, since then he's come on a little but he's no star at the moment (certainly has potential to be). Don't see any need to pot Jackson because he's a young kid who hasn't set the world on fire 5 rounds into the season, when you're comparison player hadn't even played a game by the same stage.

Pickett directly created 3 great goals against GC: The chip pass from outside 50 to Harmes. We've tried that at least a dozen times and failed every other time so badly I wince. But Kosi has the vision and skills to execute it perfectly. The tap to Fritsch when surrounded by 4 GC defenders was pure Cyril - that's what he built his entire reputation on. The pass to Bennell at the end was all class - vision and execution again.

I hate these types of articles. The May trade - End of 2018, Weideman had just had a 24 possession, 7 mark, 3 goal game in an elimination final win against the cats. He had arrived. Hogan was injured and Tom McDonald had just had a 53 goal season. It was widely accepted that another key back was the missing piece in our premiership puzzle, so we went out and got one under the belief that our premiership window was open. At the time I was stoked with the decision. Hogan was going anyway, and our time was supposed to be now, so the skinny prodigy King wasn't seen as the best option. The Pick Swap with North - Once we win a few games and get closer to the top of the table, and Pickett starts getting 3 goal 10 tackle games, everyone will say what a brilliant trade it was. AFL media love to sensationalise stories that haven't run their course yet. Look at them ripping into Clarkson at the moment, the greatest coach of the modern era. I will revisit this at years' end but for now we are 1 game out of the 8 with plenty to of season (hopefully) left to go. i think it's a nothing story.

I haven't read the whole thread, but gee Demonland has a fickle attitude. When May was recruited, he was the best thing since sliced bread. Injured for a season and arguably not in the best form and all of a sudden he's a dud trade. To be fair, I wasn't a fan of loosing Hogan, but in the circumstances, the Hogan/May deals looked like a pragmatic overall solution. Something we do need to ask ourselves is if we didn't have May right now, what would our back six look like? I'm guessing most on here would be far less comfortable with Frost than May down back. James Frawley is arguably a player with significant deficiencies when it comes to his kicking, yet was identified, targeted and recruited by Hawthorn as an important missing piece of their premiership team in subsequent years. Similarly I saw a stat that Jake Lever still has one of the best in the league intercept and one on one win rates of any in the league over the past two years. Think we really need a longer term lense when evaluating the value of trades and shouldn't confuse individual or team form with inherent capability/potential. Calling a trade deal a bust after 5 or 6 games as ridiculous. The same thinking would see Jordan Gysberts as a future Brownlow medalist and draft steal.

Excited to see Jackson again...he's a smart footballer and even if he isn't getting much footy will always bring something.

what p....ed me off was the frequent throwing the ball with the two handed shovel handball it's become so prevalent now in our game. umpires are too scared to call it out because they are scared a slomo replay might show a teensy facsimile of a quick handball need to tighten up the rules/interpretation on shovel handballs or just allow throwing the ball (joking)

And you know what all three of those goals show us? That the kid is a team player first. He has the smarts and maturity to see more than just what is right in front of him. He has the ability to execute well under pressure and make the right decisions. Once he starts hitting the scoreboard with consistency, which will come eventually as we need to remember he is only 18, he will be a threat to every opposition defence week in, week out.

Got big hopes for Jacko, but this seems a big call based on the 1 mark he's taken at AFL level.

The tale of two lists: Average Attributes Hawthorn Attribute Melbourne 187.2cm Height 187.4cm 85.6kg Weight 87.2kg 27yr 0mth Age 25yr 5mth 128.0 Games 83.1 Total Players By Games Hawthorn Games Melbourne 6 Less than 50 6 5 50 to 99 10 1 100 to 149 4 10 150 or more 2 Hawthorn need to win the flag this year or next. We've got a 5+ year window open. Only Geelong older than Hawthorn: Average Attributes Geelong Attribute Collingwood 188.2cm Height 187.0cm 88.7kg Weight 86.3kg 27yr 3mth Age 25yr 10mth 135.4 Games 104.5 Total Players By Games Geelong Games Collingwood 6 Less than 50 8 5 50 to 99 3 1 100 to 149 6 10 150 or more 5

In - Jackson Out - T Mac (inj)

I'm looking forward to the predictable reprint of this article at the end of the year when the media is drooling over Pickett and North is chastised by the media for 'giving him away'. The football media is just terrible.

Another thing that needs to be brought up in this discussion (the one about the North pick swap, not the one's having a shot and May or Jackson) is the lack of similar players like Pickett year draft, at least at the top end. Cal Twomey wrote an article yesterday on the AFL site https://www.afl.com.au/news/465404/tall-athletic-and-versatile-25-of-the-best-draft-prospects which discussed 25 of the top prospects. There's only one small forward and he's tied to Sydney. So one question needs to be, have we paid slightly overs for a player type we desperately needed who wasn't go to be available the year after? And if so, does that matter? I think that if we had of kept our first round pick this year and due to the academy & F/S we ended up with a lack of true choice, then we could end up reaching even further? The argument might be to take the best available, but what if the next few best available are inside mids? I think the recruiters have to be praised for taking a risk.

We would not have taken King for the very reason we used pick #6 for May: we thought we had our tall forwards in Weideman and TMac. Judging from other threads the person we wanted in that draft was Butters taken at pick 12 by Port. So King vs May isn't a remotely credible discussion.

Umpiring last night was amongst some of the worst I've seen. Pies had a dream run and even got paid marks when dropping the ball! There definitely needs to be a pull back on all the rule changes. We no longer have rules, just interpretations. It's making sport unwatchable, un-umpirable, and impossible to explain to new prospective fans and markets.

You mean Ben King at GC? Who debuted in R9 and had 1 kick, 4 handballs and 0 marks, 0 tackles and 1 Clanger? Edit: SNAP with R&B Realist

Yep and then 3 grabs to Hawkins on a flank not long after....not paid. One of the most biased games of umpiring i've witnessed. Couldn't agree more re: the commentary team Rjay. How the hell Chanel 7 ever got the coverage back is beyond me. Certainly don't deserve it and never earned it at any point in the last 20 years or so. They have no idea, offer no added value and very rarely cover any nuances of the game or players. The inane platitudes and focus of Bruce on mostly the stars (in his eyes) drives me up the wall. Zero criticism at any stage of any officials and their decision making. Anything controversial (throws, obvious pushes in the back gone uncalled and holding the ball getting a free run tonight vs tight interpretation last week for example) mostly never gets a mention. In future i am going to turn those idiots off and just watch the game in blissful silence.

Forgot how much i hate Essendrug Absolute Hatred

You’ve seen his leap. The potential is enormous but I completely understand your call on a sample of one game and one mark. FMD.

Same. Was gutted that day and lost a few bets with friends as a result. The Collingwood game in 2018 was similar, though less offensive on the scoreboard in the end. We were in good form and on a winning streak, but their midfield absolute ripped us apart that day. DeGoey started the game in the midfield and had a massive impact with 12 inside 50s, 10 of those leading to scores. We had a good run later in 2018, but we still got embarrassed by the Pies and it hurt. I think some supporters may have glorified 2018 a bit over the years. We couldn't beat a top 8 team right until the end of the year and spent most of the year beating up on bottom teams. Had we been more competitive against top teams, we likely would've finished top 2 on the ladder and had an easier run in finals. It was still a good year, but not as good as some tend to remember it.

To be fair Lord travis, it really was just the reverse of what happens at Kardinia Park every single match. I won't be crying a river for Duckwood and pals who have made an artform of playing for frees....and getting them. Duckwood being injured probably cost them 4 - 5 frees. Fantastic.

Yeah, Hogan took forever to develop.... And I love how you're quick to knock Jackson for having done nothing of significance and made some link to us not developing talls. The bloke's been on the list for all of 6 games.

Good to see Cats lose last night! (I will conveniently ignore it was the Pies that beat them). Scott is a very smart coach but their game plan is tailored to Kardinia Park so they don't get all those 'easy' Home game wins vs lowly teams which usually guarantees them finals. And their wins so far are lacklustre, except Lions. LOL, Cats will be on the receiving end of boos at the parochial and hostile 'Boo Stadium' for the next two weeks. Some of their own medicine! Would be very happy if they don't make finals. Scowls will replace the smug smirks!

Cody Weightman. Amazing mark and goal from a first-gamer.

We've gone from last in the league for points conceded from defensive half turnovers last year to 4th this year. May is a big part of that. Can't see this happening unless it's a late in-game change as a desperation tactic.

We won 20 quarters in a row and were the most potent team in the league! Seems another lifetime now

That was the year Geelong beat us three points in round 1 with Max's missed set shot and then by 2 points in round 18 with Thuoy's set shot after the siren. Weird looking back on some of the scores from that year. Gees we could score back then. Have a look at this patch. But anyway I've gone off topic. Bored waiting for the teams to be announced.

Thanks Fork em. And i don't mean that sarcastically. I promise That video clip is literally one of the funniest things i have seen. Watching it i thought this simply has to be a parody. A brilliant one at that. One made even more funny by the fact the fellas name is Tom Macdonald. It is just so pitch perfect the way nails every grievance of disenfranchised white men/babies fearing a future that does not involve them holding all the cards and being in power. Men, who, without irony, see themselves as the real victims, victims that struggle to have a voice in this time of woke, cancel culture gone mad (which reminds me of the irony of Fox news, the most watched news outlet on the planet, railing against so called mainstream media). As i say it simply has to be a parody, I did quick google search and he he names of some of his other tracks include; “Straight White Male” “Everybody Hates Me” and "Coronavirus" - that of course pushes conspiracy theories. You couldn't make this stuff up. Fantastic. Well played Fork em and big props to the comedic genius of Tom Macdonald.

When they wanted to get rid of deliberate out of bounds, WHAM, they clamped down overnight with zero tolerance. Anything slightly resembling deliberate was a free. Problem solved. (Arguable that it was ever that much of a problem.) They should do it with throwing, or "slick handball". Anything which is not clearly a punch from a stationary hand gets called a throw. Yes, some legit handballs will get called, just as some innocent over the boundaries got called deliberate, but the players would adjust within a round. The lack of direction & support given the umpires has caused this mess. They don't know if they're Arthur or Martha. They don't even know what game they're officiating.

Its all about reducing stoppages. Which is not the job of the umpires. Drives me nuts. Same with ignoring players being pushed in the back and driving them into the ground. Which us made worse when they then get pinged for holding! Just pay the free kicks. And at stoppages just throw the ball straight up.

I would put Harmes on Smith & take him out of the game...he is too damaging by foot to have Langdon go head to head with him. Let Langdon go head to head with Scully.

I punt on footy with mate. And we do ok as a rule. But he has banned bets on the dees because i always think we will win. And we don't. With that caution from a punting perspective i reckon the dees are terrific value this weekend. I'm amazed hawks are favorites. They are rubbish. Sure Clarkson is great coach and no doubt will have a good plan to beat us but as you say they simply don't have the cattle. They are a slow so find it hard to cover and spread. They have few weapons up forward and with poppy having slowed done and not in great form can't really exploit the issue we have containing small forwards (and perhaps this will save Jetts this week from the chop - he'll thrash poppy). With Ceglar (i am assuming he is out) and Patton out we have an advantage with our three bigs and that advantage will allow Lever and in particular May to play higher and be more aggressive and damaging. Ceglar out also means Maxy will be more dominant and give us a big edge at stoppages (which we'll have even if Ceglar plays). As george on the outer noted on the demonland podcast Smith is key for them as he generates a lot of their attack and i assume leads their metres gained. We could opt to have a player run with him, but i think that is unlikely. More likely is goody having Langdon go head to head with him and exploit Smiths lack of two way running. I agree that the smaller ground suits us - the evidence is compelling on that front. And conversely does not help the hawks as they can't stretch opposition with their kicking they way they like to. But the smaller ground also negates the impact of Smith a bit because he has less space to run into and his kicks inside 50 are less damaging because it is more crowded - which in turn should help Lever take intercept marks). The other player who is key for them is Sicily and it will be interesting to see if they put a defensive forward on him whose role is to take him away from the corridor to negate his intercept marking. But most of all they have too many poor kicks these days to execute Clarkson's preferred game plan - the tedious kick and mark routine. If opposition teams apply enough pressure and run hard both ways it will break down eventually. It is a game plan that has a weakness in so far as it relies on denying the opposition the ball and therefore the chance to score. Which is all well and good - until the opposition do score and get say a three goal break as chipping it around your own back line might stop opposition scoring does nothing to help your own team score. A good example was the game last night with the cats caught between two games plans and struggling to bridge the 3 goal margin established at quarter time - something they were able to do against the lions the week before (who got 3 goals up half way through the second) but couldn't against the pies tighter, more defensive game plan. On the Hawk's game plan i won't be surprised if they look to attack from the get go to catch us off guard. Prior to their game against the Cats i heard an interview with Clarkson and he was banging on about it being a dour, low scoring game with both teams employing a similar chip and gold model. They then came out and went all out attack, jumped the Cats kicking 6 odd goals. Interestingly it was on the small, narrow Kardina park - a ground with similar dimensions to Giants stadium. Back to punting. For the reasons noted I won't be backing us but i suggest others do. Take the dees line bet (+3.5) and also back us to win over 24.5. Sit back and count the cash.

I still can't believe what transpired in our game against them, i don't think I've ever been so frustrated in a losing outcome. It's been stated before but they were their for the taking against us, i just hope we are switched on and have a mechanism in place to combat it the next time it arises. Lions are flat track bullies.

Apologies for piggy-backing on your excellent contribution - I'll just toss in a micro-example that I've kept for myself as a kind of touchstone. Amongst the general mess of abuse I (we all?) cop at random times in life, I have actually been quite viciously and even menacingly racially abused on a train. Thing is - it was by an obviously crazy person and I could walk away in full confidence that it was a freak occurance and that if things had spiraled out of control I would have all manner of institutions backing me up and could realistically assume the sympathy and assistance of the next person I meet the moment I'm clear of the scene. And in that thought lies the difference. The clarification for me was about having the humility to recognise that even though that was seriously alarming and unpleasant, the depth of it is nothing like what people have to navigate when they can't be confident of that institutional and social support. I'm of the 'unlikely to eliminate racism in my lifetime' perspective, but I see the goal of reconciliation (as the most pressing example) as being to reach the point where the experience of racism for Indigenous Australians is much the same as mine. "That was a crazy person, and that was upsetting, but I don't really have to think about it any more now that the moment is over."

The R factor is a little illusory but in simple terms it's a measure of infection progression. If Victoria had a R factor of 1.5 we would be in big trouble in a short while. At an R rate of 1.1 a thousand cases becomes 25000 cases in 60 days https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/05/covid-19-what-is-the-r-number/ By lockdowns you depress the R rate simply by limiting the exposure each infected person has to others. Without lockdowns the R rate of this virus is estimated to be between 2-2.5 and by some as high as 6.(enormous numbers) BTW measles has a R rate much higher than this virus but vaccines prevent infection. Stay safe all.

Don't mind that selection at all. Gutsy. Will be interesting to see if he plays up the ground like tmac was, with weed deep. I assume he will as he is not a FF. One option that it gives us is giving jackson an extended stretch in the ruck and putting maxy forward. Maxy is marking it so well at the moment and he would really stretch their backline (any back line really). Just has to hand the shot at goal off!

They bang on about how Weideman takes/gets to the ball at the highest point but I just don’t see that enough to consider it an attribute. Jackson on the other hand... gets his timing right he can pluck them like the King twins. Looking forward to the Jacko/Gawn combo against McEvoy this weekend. A can of whoop-[censored] could be in the offing.

Did he? Or was he just invited to train with them as a junior? As I recall, it was the latter (I'm not sure he even took up the offer). EDIT: it appears he went to Old Trafford, but nothing came of it; from WIKI: "After spending a month at Old Trafford, the 15-year-old Green trained with Walsall, a lower division English club, and was offered a contract but turned it down, choosing to finish his schooling in Tasmania."

This... but not this... and this. I'm keen on Weideman playing as a full-time KPF, not a part-time forward who goes on to the ball occasionally. While I agree that he's been serviceable in the ruck role, I'd rather he became the key to our forward line. Except in 1987 and 1988.

It's quite revolting to even see Mcguire on the TV now. Such a culture of denial and cover up at all costs. The quality of commentary matched with interpritative dance by the umps is making the game really hard to watch. I don't even blame the umps, it's the commentators and AFL that drive "this week's focus will be on....." crap. Roy and HG don't call Gil the murderer for nothin.

but they spend a good 45 seconds checking which of the two ruckmen are competing, making sure that the space is there for them to back out of the contest...

Not sure how you can say Brown is in form, there was no information from the scratch matches to say that, yes he kicked a few goals, but from some of the vision that was him just getting out the back, and his 1 game for us in the seniors was very ordinary. I didn't mind the way Jackson played against the Blues, he presented well, while he didn't mark many he moved well, I'd be using him in the role TMac did, up the ground and have Weid stay forward, while Smith I think, if he moved forward, needs to stay closer to the goals.

Well, this thread has certainly been enlightening on a bunch of fellow Demonlanders. Geez we have such a long way to go.

I heard a whisper last night that we're Maroochydore bound. Reckon that would be a good outcome rather than being jammed into the Gold Coast with a heap of other teams

Probably not well but not for the reason you allude. He is in deep water over his flippant 'hiccup' reference to De Goey's sexual assault charge. Grovellingly apologetic this morning and rightly so.

It's early days but I'm prepared to bet that the difference between Young and Rivers will be far smaller than the difference between Jackson and any player available at or after the Rivers pick.

I'd like to see Jones in there somehow. Still think he has a bit to give.

He'd be tall forward providing ruck backup. Essentially Weidemans role if Weid leaves or doesn't perform. As I said, I don't think he's the right player and would only take him if he cost us bugger all. Ideally, we go get a strong performing tall forward who actually kicks goals. Throw the kitchen sink at a Jeremy Cameron type. We should always have two tall forward targets. We'll finally have that structure this week for the first time this year and I'd wager we'll perform better as a result.

Surely to goodness they won't make more than the one forced change to a winnning side? And I can't see Smith playing back any time soon.

If Tomlinson plays that lead up target I want to see him be aggressive in the contest Not sure I see Jackson being that lead up target and I don't want Weed to be either So Tomlinson playing Tmacs role and Weed deep? Sounds good, but bizarre not to even have Brown in

Hawks have named Ceglar in their starting 22 but "AFL.com.au understands Ceglar – who has led the ruck for the Hawks this season – broke his toe early in last week's loss to Collingwood and will miss at least one week". Ceglar's broken toe. Clarkson playing mind games! Either Ceglar's injury report was a furphy or a late change coming up! We should thrash their team. They are old or have players with recent injury issues. They played short kick/mark, ring-a-ring-a-rosey in their back 50 last week like Cats vs us. But unlike Geelong they didn't try to attack because they can't run/chase. Too slow! And do they have any recognised forwards other than Gunston? Big question is will they come out all guns blazing after the blowtorch they received this week? If we show last weeks composure and move the ball quickly we will win. We have a much better team.