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Dan Butler.

Special mention to Rivers, I’m really liking the look of him, particularly his first game v Carlton and then again last night. All 3 of last year’s draftees are showing lots of promise.

Watched most of the game at work in real time and thought it was a bit "Meh" until the last QTR blowout. After looking at the replay after i got home, a few things stood out for me. 1: Oliver. Yes i already thought he played a good game, but i missed the amount of times he burst out of a pack at good speed and opened the game right up. The difference this part of his game makes to our team is massive, and a big change-up from the lightning 1m handball to the first static Dees jumper he sees in a contest. The last 2 games his improvement to our whole game style is off the charts. 2: Spargo. Didnt think i saw much of him during the game, but it was probably my own bias. Dont rate him highly but he played well today, and did far more good stuff than i recognised live. Hands in close still his best asset. The contest with Daw with 2 mins to go in the last QTR was one where many would have backed out. Courage shown was 1st class. Humble pie eaten. (But he needs to keep it up) 3: Weideman. His work-rate was huge. Lead after lead and never seemed to sulk if one wasnt honored. If he had the confidence of Brayshaw he would be a match-winner already. Developing beautifully since his recall. 4: Sparrow. Kid simply HAS to get more games. Perfect replacement for the Jones boy. Nuggety lad who isnt huge, but wont be easily knocked off the ball. Good vision and seemed to spread well. 5: Recruiting team. Genuinely believe they cleaned up in last years draft. Jackson will be an INSANE talent in a few years. Kosi is the next Eddie Betts... (well, maybe next in line after Charlie Cameron) and Rivers is showing plenty already. 6: Langdon. The amount of times he was there for the get-out play at half back was amazing. I knew he had a tank, but his run, run,run was incredible. Kicking needs work though. 7: Goodwin. Seemed much more assured during the post match presser. Only had 4 left leg-scratches which is a BIG improvement on recent efforts. Looking forward to the Breakout interview when he doesnt touch himself once. There will be no turning back once he manages that IMO. Anyone else see much during replay they missed live?

Hibbo has personally had a terrible year losing his brother and for him to come out and play to the high level he has in the past is an outstanding effort. He was terrible last year so good to see back at his best. Langdon is another that doesn't get enough kudos for mine. His running is incredible. Everything a wingman should be. His kicking isn't elite but it's also not as bad as some here make out. He was also very fumbly last night butoverall he has been a terrific recruit Lever is another that is climbing back into form. Well done. Darren Burgess might be the recruit of the year. I think we have won 7 final quarters and lost 2. That will give the team a great deal of confidence we can overun most teams I'd like to see the team perform well against the Pies and the Dogs to be completely convinced we have turned a corner - so many false dawns before. they look both mid-table teams so we have to be able to match and beat them. Big tests coming up.

Spargo?? Are you serious? He had 7 score involvements and barely wasted the ball. Did some actually watched tonights game?

Darren Burgess is the recruit of the year for mine. Won 7 last quarters and lost 2

There is a bit in this. I think we have drafted guys with talent and work ethic. And they are doing a good job. But I also think we are not relying on them to lift us up off the bottom of the ladder. They're not expected to be our saviours. We now have a group of seasoned players in the right age group that are expected to perform week in week out. They haven't been doing that consistently but its starting to look like they are getting their act together. That makes our recruits look a bit better i suspect.

Good pick up DJ. Only 36 hitouts for the game. Typically it is 60 to 80, rarely below 45. With 18 goals + 4 bounces to start each quarter means there were only 14 around the ground ball ups or throw-ins last night. My thoughts on the low numbers: minimum stoppages was part of Goodwin's strategy to neutralise Goldstein's ruck strength. Less chances to dominate. it was clever of Goodwin to give LJ just 69% game time whereas Goldie played 87%. Goldstein looked flushed and sweating on the bench whereas LJ looked as fresh as a daisy. He is a cool kid! Never looked flustered or daunted in any way. few stoppages was a good tactic to wear down a less fit opposition giving them less time to rest. I'm guessing these 3 things were deliberate pre-game strategies by Goodwin and I applaud him for that creativity. On unrelated game tactics I thought Langdon spent a lot of time 'sweeping' near op goals, maybe to allow someone else (Lever) to fill the hole in defence that Max normally would. If my reading of that is correct, again kudos to Goodwin. Overall, it was a good tactical game and a big coaching win for Goodwin. Comprehensively out-coached Shaw.

People are right to put things into perspective. the true test is yet to come but let me say this. I want to put things into another perspective. for so many years I've seen us capitulate to North and experience gut wrenching losses, sometimes when I thought we were definitely the best team but alas not on the scoreboard. We've had time when we had players down, critical umpiring decisions against us etc culminating in heart breaking losses.Time and time again. Yes North were men down tonight for the last quarter but we've had our fair share of bad luck against this side in close games culminating in a ridiculous run of losses. Tonight it went our way injury wise and we beat them emphatically. We deserve to celebrate the win. God knows we absolutely deserve it.

Hannan? Gee wiz what game were you watching? Took some good contested marks and really got us going his pressure was up. He stays without out doubt. I do wonder whether we need to rest Jacko at some stage. He's played 2 games in a row off 4 day break (doesn't seem to affect him) and eventually he'll need a breather. Did McDonald do enough tonight?

The big change I have noticed in Oliver, is that he is not getting rid of the ball the second he gets it, but taking players on, running, balancing and then disposing. He is getting back to his best, which is sensational footy, from one of the best, contested ball players in the game.

I'm one of the rare supporters of Ed Langdon. I think he's offered us so much speed and drive off the wing. I think he deserves a really high finish in the best and fairest however there's one thing I've noticed now that I think it's a pattern of behaviour. He fumbles the ball when he already has the ball in his hands. He did this last week when he was trying to side step an Adelaide opponent on the goal line to kick a goal only to drop the ball and he did it again today. It's like he forgets in his head that he's holding the ball and loses his grip on the ball. It's strange and is costing us.

Those umpires shd never ever umpire again

Watching again on 'First Crack' (I know I want to vomit at Tom but no 360) Club has missed a step in it's handling of this, the guilty plea was a mistake, 4 weeks is 'Dog Act' territory and it was clearly not. 1. Hamill was clearly still trying to kick when he could have turned his body to protect himself, he was careless to his own safety, this to me means ANB could argue for a reduction. 2. Hamill trying to kick is what upset his balance and caused his head to go to ground, i.e. ANB was not trying to put him head first into the turf, this makes it more of an accident. 3. Bloody oath the AFL will roll over for a name player doing the same thing. Lastly all the peeps potting ANB because he is not a gun player on our list; saying don't bother/doesn't matter, I seriously wonder if you know what team means? Looking after the team, makes a team strong, anything else is fake and BS. Get behind our man.

I agree that he'd make it for sure as a 6 footer. I think it will be interesting to see how he goes otherwise, because he's a real footballer. In his favour is that he is pretty strong for his height, has agilty and that the game has changed a little. He's an excellent decision maker, good defensively and a real 'gamer', who does a lot of little stuff that helps a team win. So the only real issue is about whether he can win enough of the footy to be worth a constant spot on the team. He's not lightning, but he's good in tight and has agility. He's a good fall of the ball crumber but I think his real value is as a forward half midfielder. He doesn't have the size to win one on one contests, but in that role you don't often have to. You need to push up and defend and then be a link in the chain going forward, as well as being a crumber and pressure player for the long ball. He has great attributes for that, especially in a tough, high pressure finals game where good decisions, toughness and 'doing the little things that it takes to win' are at a premium. He's not the player to bust it open, but rather the type that enables others. He has good endurance, a natural brain, is quite strong over the ball as well as making excellent decisions. I think he probably ends up playing the ANB role minus the ball-in-hand-liability.

With the vision being showed of the Crows player running 50 meters off the ball to belt Max right in front of the umpire, that bloke is lucky he got to umpire last night at all.

Agreed. It's impossible to see on the TV but our zone must be really good at present because you could see the frustration on the North players faces when they had the ball at half back. When they tried going very short to work into space we were able to win it back consistently. It will be interesting to see how we go against a much better side who can play this way like the Eagles if we are fortunate enough to get another crack at them.

The big thing I took out of last night is that our zone must have been excellent as there were a number of occasions when North players seemed in two minds with ball in hand even under little pressure. A few times they even had to take rushed, obviously improvised bounces due to not seeing the right option up field. We'll done Dees. Of course it also helped that they butchered the pill worse than any side I've seen all year.

Really dumbfounded by some of these calls that we play better without Gawn. Cockiness and the arrogance to think we are better off without our 2nd best player who's potentially on his way to his 4th All Australian. If Gawn is fit, he plays. Its pretty simple.

Clarries body language seems to have really changed since the start of the season. He really was jogging and walking at times and delivering the ball backwards. Both he and Trac just seem to be really enjoying themselves now. It's a real turn around and just a joy to watch. Another unmeasured KPI is watching our key players just grow in confidence and enthusiasm. Really hope it spreads throughout the team. Also, on Kossie Pickett, I reckon one other factor that is so impressive about him is his two way running. He covers a huge amount of ground with both defensive and offensive running. Yes he's going to incredibly exciting but his work rate is pretty bloody good too.

Very impressed with Langdon, his kicking a little iffy but they knew that when the traded for him. His running and involvement has been fantastic recently. Early signs but looks like Footy Department had a good year bringing in the Trades/Draftees

I have noticed in the last few games Oliver has waited after the the first tap on a ball up, going in hard and at pace for the second contest. There are lots of 2nd and 3rd contests after a ball up. This approach by Oliver has enabled him to use his pace to leave the contest and get a good possession opportunity.

For those who want Harmes as a tagger, which of Oliver, Petracca, Brayshaw (and then Viney) are you moving out to accomodate this? He’s too far down the pecking order to spend much time in the guts now. That’s why Goodwin is exploring alternative roles. I don’t mind the wing suggestion. But irrespective of position, he looks horribly out of form at present.

Occam’s Razor says they’re just crap umpires. There were a few where ridiculous calls went our way too, the non-free against Fritsch (I think) in the goal square from the Petracca goal is one example.

Wouldn’t it be great if he came of age with his first big bag against his grandfather’s old team with Eddie in the commentary box or the studio reminding us for the nth time about the family history?

Rivers is such a powerful player. The penetration in his kicking is good to watch.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaand bump. Kossie and Rivers were excellent tonight and did everything you could ask of two first year players. Its a fitting time to reflect on the Nth trade, though far from finished, its looking pretty good for the Dees. A futures trade requires a lot of guess work and I liked the trade then, and I like the trade now. (add in Jackson and 2019 draft of looking very solid)

Omac has to come back in. If Tomlinson stays in, it cannot be as defender. He is clueless down there. The first three goals were all on him. Losing Daw and gifting him a goal, free kick to Larkey and then out marked by Larkey Had to be moved of Larkey, a 22 year old in his 21st game, 10 minutes into the first quarter and one of lever or may was then forced to play deep on him for the rest of the game. That's tow games in arow he has been embarrassed by a kid. Just imagine the vitriol that would have rained down on Omac if that had been him.

29 Disposals 4 Marks 7 Score Involvements 8 Inside 50’s 1 Goal Welcome back Mr.Brayshaw

A clean sweep of the coaches votes again: 10 Christian Petracca (MELB) 8 Clayton Oliver (MELB) 6 Angus Brayshaw (MELB) 4 Jake Lever (MELB) 1 Sam Weideman (MELB) 1 Ed Langdon (MELB) What a midfield! Petracca a long way second to Neale on the leader board with a game in hand. But round 11 not over yet so he could be overtaken.

Go Saints. We would pull even on points with Geelong if they lose tonight and we beat the Pies. And Im sure we all wanna see Geelong miss the finals in general anyway.

Spargo didn't test at draft camp that year due to injury but prior to injury he did a 7.83 second agility test. The draft record is Stephen Hill with 7.77s, and 7.83s would have been 5th best of all time.

Old mate @Elegt has started drop Oliver and sack Taylor threads in consecutive weeks - he's having a worse trot than Adelaide.

Remember when we used to continually blow high picks on the likes of Watts, Scully, Gysberts, Toumpas, Morton, Gysberts, Blease, Strauss, Cook..... Well Taylor has got us Oliver, Petracca, Salem, Brayshaw, Weideman, Viney, LJ, Pickett, Rivers.....

We are the only team in the AFL this year that's had all our draftees from last year play together in the one game. Again, that's a huge tick for Jason Taylor.

This thread is aging well in the amusement stakes. I can't remember the last time the kids we've drafted have come into the team and shown as much promise as all 3 of these kids. Many bemoaned the pick swap trade to get Pickett but it's looking like a masterstroke. The only players on current form that look the goods drafted after him are Will Day and Georgiades but they weren't the type of player we needed. Rivers at 35 looks a steal, Jacko is looking like a freak talent and seemingly gaining confidence every game. Small sample size/early days I know but we look to have nailed it in the 2019 draft.

@Elegt started that thread. How about you and him head off to the PMs and go 15 rounds there and do us all a favour?

Pretty damn good. In the Ronald Dale mould at the moment.

He’s been great since returning to the side after the break I reckon. Has looked like the player he was when he first came to the club.

I think a lot of supporters had a rather optimistic view of Vanders disposal. It's never been great and he's had a couple of brain fades in the last couple of weeks with free kicks, but if he played this week with a fractured cheekbone snd eye socket no way does he get dropped next week. Goodwin loves him for a reason and he plays the tall defensive winger role that both Jones and Tomlinson don't do as well as Vanders. He crashes into packs and hurts the opposition, that's his role. Others can worry about score involvement AVB is there to worry the oppo.

I'd be dropping Vandenberg before Jones. Vandenberg has been terrible and gives away far too many crucial free kicks. Goodwin talks about being discipline and yet Vanders is not that. Jones had 6 involvements last week on the back of 6 again last week. Vandenberg only had 1 last week. Vandenberg had 55% disposal and 2 score involvements last night. He is cooked.

Lots to like, albeit against mediocre opposition, even if belting North is always satisfying, some comments... Fritsch and Weid, I believe in the Weid, I know a bag is coming, his one on one work has improved out of sight, and the hip he uses for body position is perfectly timed. With so much scrutiny now having an exciting FF who can body and not infringe is super exciting. And also while he wears his misses he is not a sulker and kept on presenting. Fritsch, God Damn, the week he kicks straight we will kick a cricket score. Out of petulance I didn't give votes but should have, loved the ariel work. Our contest was as good as it is rumored to be but I think that was also North being Merde, lets see us do that against the pies. Clarry Truck (the new Kouta) and Gus just looking like men against kids. But let's not forget, Viney has been huge this year, I feel like people fail to recognize that he has come back strongly from a potentially career ending foot injury. Don't people remember when Hodge was beating us off the park? Viney is that player for us. He will be there when we are playing the strong teams not the cellar dwellers. I prefer that Viney is 1st touch and Oliver is 2nd (others have mentioned this) He and Gus can take turns, we need both, in the same team on the same day. He never sooks, the man is a Viking. Truck is just wow, but then everyone knows this, I particularly liked his throwing the ball in the air to kick it and avoid a ball decision. I also like that the umps know that he is not tackled, until he stops moving continually demonstrating a core strength that is off the charts. Jackson, reminds me of a young Paul Salmon perhaps? Kid is going places. I like the call to mix it up with Gawn, if they both rotated through the forward half other coaches would lose their minds trying to cover the marking threats, (I would still want Gawn filling a hole down back when we are not 'on'). My hamstrings shriek with pain watching a 200cm kid bend over like a rover and smoothly recover the ball and feed it off, it is like he is defying a law of nature, a balletic baby giraffe. Pickett is learning his craft still, some raw moments to go with the speed. He is like a GT 40 Ford before they ironed out the wrinkles, (I just watched Ford vs Ferrari), just to put a good solid moz on him, Cyrill who? is what Bruce will be saying in a year if dementia doesn't get him first. Coaching: I liked Jackson in the ruck, with Tmac roaming CHF, I wouldn't mind seeing this developed as an alternate to the Gawn model, we need two speeds (approaches) other teams are showing they will body Gawn and impede him, fairly or often otherwise, being able to use Gawn's ariel strength elsewhere could make us more and not less dangerous. Sparrow has showed some touch. Spargo, glad he had a good game, many would've been cruel otherwise to him and the coach. Wearing Goldstein's bump was a serious moment. Rivers is a brave man flying for the mark, had my heart in mouth that he would get cleaned up. The future is so bright with our age profile. I am a Lever fan and on record backing him and today's game was very solid, but I am not gushing, I feel like more of his kicks 'float' and are slower through the air than they used to be. I feel better/more motivated teams will get to the fall of the ball and pressure the receiver. He needs to fix this post haste, he used to have flatter/faster disposal, I hope this game builds his confidence and that he will improve the execution. I had no problem with him leaving his man today, it went wrong but he was doing exactly what we want him to do. My biggest concern is AVB, again numerous turnovers, has big heart and obviously a hammer looking for a nail, but against good sides when we are desperate for momentum I do not want him touching the ball. Jones played his cameo role well today, please could this giant of the footballer club be spoken of respectfully by other posters. I am finding the criticism of Harmes a bit OTT, he seems like he is playing a role/following instructions, and he does seem to upset the opposition he might not win the ball/silky disposal but he does seem to disrupt opposition attacks and create the pressure that allow our midfield to win the ball back. I am going to watch the game again because I am not seeing Harmes the way others are. Also I think we are a brutal (in a good way) team, North is not the first game where we leave a significant body count, we are the New Orleans Saints of the AFL, only a matter time before the media notices this, that was why Port hurt so much, I want one of these devastating wins against a top 8 side, then I will believe.

I'm no fan of Carlton, but gee, the umpires stitched them up with the inconsistent calling of HTB. A Carlton player was wrapped up by Darling the same second he took possession of the ball with it held to his chest - HTB - West Coast goal. A Carlton player was slung around like a rag doll (shades of ANB) and thrown to the ground while the ball spilled out - play on. Carlton players want clarification on the rule. With so many clubs and fans confused and upset, something needs to be done about this shocking state of affairs.

I love modern umpiring. Last week Max had a serial pest charging into him repeatedly off the contest but that’s OK. Tonight Harmes takes a Mark with an opposition player coming front on at him. He throws a a clenched fist at the players thigh to let him know he didn’t appreciate the attention but wait that is a free kick! A north player runs back with the flight of the ball and gets collected, not high but that again is a free? I could go on about the tackles that start correctly but the player ducks their head so an arm goes over their head and that is a high tackle, then you get Kossie running onto a loose ball only to be obviously retarded right in front of the umpire but that is play on. I no longer know what the rules of the game are.

Yep I'm not worried about his kicking. The big question mark over him was his ability to stick marks and hit packs. He's doing that now and I'm confident the goals will come. He's already averaging 2 a game this year which is a handy return, if he pushes up to 3 or more a game that's Coleman Medal territory in this day and age.

Gawn and Viney are automatic inclusions if fit. IMO, Viney takes Jones' spot. That's a relatively like-for-like swap, although they'll want Viney in the middle more. Jones just isn't adding enough. It's sad, but it's reality. If Gawn's fit then TMac has to go. I didn't rate his performance anywhere near as highly as others on here. Yes, 7 tackles is a great figure, but he was tackling because he was dropping it, fumbling it and generally not being effective. Weideman is clearly our number 1 forward and on current form Jackson is better than TMac. We can't go in with three talls, nor should we, so unless Jackson needs a rest, TMac goes. If Lockhart's fit he deserves his spot back IMO, but Rivers doesn't deserve to be dropped. Harmes surely has to come under pressure here. So I'm thinking Gawn, Viney and Lockhart replace TMac, Jones and Harmes. TMac stays if Gawn isn't fit (and Gawn doesn't play if he's not fit enough. Last thing we can afford is to play Gawn too early and ruin the rest of the season). The alternative to Jones being dropped is vandenBerg IMO. Just makes way, way too many errors. His aggression is nice, but he's a liability with ball in hand right now, and I just don't think we can keep that in the side. I'm not sure OMac comes back this week or next given our opponents play mid/small forward lines. Tomlinson maybe gets a reprieve on that basis (able to be moved around the ground a bit).

I had never been a fan of Spargo, until this evening. I think he can stay in the side. He was much better than his rd1 form. Good on him.

The Pies don't run tall in their forward half and rely a lot on the quicks and mids. That's not Oscars go...so a no from me.

So impressed with Jackson. Playing in the ruck and knocking the ball to himself or handballing to a team mate. LJ at 18 years old, the things he does is similar to what Nic Nat does in the ruck. He is so mature for his age. He took it up to Goldstein like he has been around for ages. To me he is the pick of the crop. Congrats to the recruiters. A player for the future.

12 goals from 6 games. Only 5 players averaging more than 2 goals a game this year. Of those 5, only Kennedy and Dixon are talls. He’s having a GREAT season.