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That does not look like the kid I saw and spoke to 2 years ago. He looks ripped now. It's hard to see where he fits in but the club has shown faith in him and he has backed himself in. Barring injury I can only see him coming in for T Mac and after just watching the Bang Bang Bang blitz again it's T Mac who punches the ball to Petracca and T Mac who bench presses the bloke so Sparrows goal goes through. He played a pivotal role.

There is only one way that Weid plays in the Senior Side. He has to smash the door down and play better than TMac or Benny Either way The MFC benefits Good Luck Sam…

Six for seven off four (21 deliveries). That means 15 dud deliveries. Definitely room for improvement. P.S. you know your cricket side’s good when a bloke takes six for seven but isn’t guaranteed a spot in the next Test. 😁 Not unlike when your footy team’s so good that a bloke who kicks six goals doesn’t end up with the Norm Smith. ❤️💙

To totally capitulate in the last quarter of the grand final when only 4 goals down was pathetic. I just wonder what it will do to their mindset going forward.

Didn't watch or listen to the radio calls of the 2nd or early part of the 3rd qtrs for a few weeks after the game. Just wanted the good parts. But I've found watching and listening to the whole game just makes the comeback better. Commentators were gearing up to hang the Norm Smith around Bont's neck and then get blown away by 10mins of power the football world won't soon forget. To be fair the whole last month of games was power football starting half way through rd23. A comeback for the ages against geelong taking top spot for the home and away. Comfortable win against respected Lions. Destroyed the cats in the prelim with Gawn on fire. And then after abit of to-and-fro, suddenly ripping the dogs hearts out on Grand Final day.

Without a doubt one of, if not the, greatest goals by a Demon. Ever. One thing I really loved about that goal was the set up. Jackson, famously taking centre bounces at a critical stage in the game, follows up and has time gather and look for an option - and sees Clarry running through the corridor. Jackson weights a perfect handball into space so Clarry doesn't have to break stride. Clarry never looked like missing - incredible given his struggles with accuracy all season. Everything worked with that goal. One of our young stars rucks and wins a follow-up possession, our clearance set up worked (inside mid, winning the contest and getting it out the front) and we get it to an A grade mid, who is running at speed in a dangerous position. And Clarry puts the Grand Final to bed. Awesome team goal.

no Fritta no Flag. Those goals were clutch.

Marks Stupid autocorrect A guy texts his neighbor... A guy sends a text to his next-door neighbor: "Bob, I'm sorry. I've been riddled with guilt and I have to confess: I have been helping myself to your wife when you're not around, probably more than you. I know it's no excuse but I don't get it at home. I can't live with the guilt any longer. I hope you'll accept my sincerest apology. It won't happen again." Feeling outrage and betrayed, Bob grabs his gun, goes into the bedroom, and without a word, shoots his wife. Moments later the guy gets a second text: "Really should use spell check! That should be "wifi. Technology ha....it will be the end of us.

If Essedon win those first 2 games, their arrogant and aggressive supporters will turn up thinking the flag is theirs. Watch your backs in the crowd. Jesus I detest Essedon supporters.

Come on Weids!! If he can take two steps up and clunk those marks in the contested he gets too along with kicking a higher % of shots on goal he can be a real asset and look to put pressure on Tmac and BBB for one of the tall fwd roles.

2 factors that play together. Population density and distance. Russia is a huge country but also has a massive population (144 million) versus Australia (25 million) land area is roughly 17m vs 7m square meters. A little under 2 1/2 times the land area and nearly 6 times the population. Also there is virtually no one in the central and east part of the country. You can tell from this post how bored I am. This footy season can’t come soon enough. Sorry 🤷‍♂️

I agree. Four goals is a fair ammount and we had all the momentum but we had the same after the first quarter and they fought back and turned the tables. Dogs just seemed to wilt in the last. It will scar them, no doubt about it and we will see how much in the first game next year.

What also needs to be remembered is only one forward out of six is the target of a forward entry, and key forwards get a higher percentage of these, otherwise defenders will be encouraged to zone off them. Then good teams also have goal kicking midfielders (great teams, rucks) - who bypass the forwards all together! So of course there are going to be games where he doesn't kick goals or looks quiet - that does not mean he is playing poorly or "hot and cold".

Only 77 days to go 😜

What can one say about a man who pulls stuff out of his arz and proclaims it as fact? I've never said opening will make the virus disappear. I have said I don't like the hysteria that many on here show, and that it's past time that all restrictions on movement and freedoms were lifted. I mean banning dancing and singing for Christ sake...... Don't make siht up please.

Perhaps the biggest change in our team has been our resilience. We have been down in quite a few games but fought our way back. Dees of old seemed to just fold and I dare so probably would have at 19 points down. But not this lot. It was the dogs who threw in the towel.

Part of the forward improvement from all players was the placement of Benny Brown at full forward and his competitiveness at marking and running around and leading. He made it much easier for all as he took the first defender. Fritta then got either the third or fourth defender depending upon whether Maxy or Dogga were resting or not. Maxy snd Dogga's total of goals scored improved also as the season progressed. What an inspired price of recruiting BBB was and he will be better in 2022 as he will be even fitter.

I posted this in the 'Link Round Up' thread, but felt it fitting that its posted here as well. Enjoy!

Sure, Boland took 6 for 5. But then he got carted. Gave up 2 more runs while not taking any more wickets. However, he's a Vic, so I hope he keeps his place and can pull his weight in the next Test.

Being the purist I am, I say… BRING BACK THE 5-DAY TESTS!

I had this idea all season that he was a hot-and-cold performer. The stats don’t support it. He had some poor games - who doesn’t? But he scored at least once in every game, and obviously set a few completely alight. I was also worried he might not perform in the highest pressure games. LOL The goal over the back in the third quarter illustrates his class. Firstly, he damn near marked it from way out of position but Gawn got in the way. Secondly, with the way he landed he could have been forgiven for falling over, but instead he hit ground at full pace and charged in to open goal. Probably the most crucial of the 6 because of the context of the game, and that it was from a contested ball. Great season, great grand final. Can’t wait to see him back it up next year.

Over the next five weeks, Demonland regular Deespicable will count down his version of our top 100 players since 1972. THERE'S always a fine line at the end of any list with a few tricky decisions on those who do and don’t make the cut. Firstly I had a general rule that you had to have played 50 games for us, although I did break it for three players, two of whom are in the 81-100 category – Mark ‘Whacko’ Jackson and Sean Charles. One of our most expensive recruits Kelvin Templeton played 34 games and kicked 99 goals for us and his eight-goal game in our win down at Kardinia Park on Anzac Day in 1983 has to rate among our best ever individual performances – but sorry Kel, not enough red and blue blood spilt for mine. Secondly I had to rule out a large number of highly serviceable stars who played their best footy in the 60s. Frank Davis was still captain in 1972, but by then was more a dour half-back flanker and the former No.6 never really rocked my boat as a kid. Ditto Barry Bourke. Thirdly, how do you draw a line between levels of serviceable players, which let’s face it, most of those in the 81-100 category are. I mean Simon Godfrey (105 games) had less kicking talent than most Demonlanders, yet he tagged with intent (just ask Shane Crawford). Paul Hopgood (113 games) and Darren Kowal (105) had genuine hops, but both never really cemented a spot in eras that weren’t exactly flushed with success, while Marcus Seecamp (89) always looked the part in defence, but never dominated. But I suspect my biggest omission is Peter Walsh (104 games), a gutsy redheaded defender who tied for 15th in the 2001 Brownlow with 11 votes. He came on the scene via the rookie list along with Daniel Ward and always put in and I reckon quite a few would want him, just as Port did in 2005 when he was traded and went on to play played finals for them. So re-instate him in my 81-100 list as you see fit, it’s just that all of these guys have solid cases too. 81 Graham Osborne 66-77 146 games One of my earliest memories was watching Ozzy fly off the backline, take a bounce and then lose the ball all in the blink of an eye. He was mega quick which gave him a huge advantage in those days, but unfortunately he couldn’t quite put it all together, although he did have a pretty good year in defence under Skilts in 1976 – even polling 18 votes in the Brownlow that year under the two-umpire voting system. Sadly he was injured early in 1977, so maybe he was the factor in why we didn’t kick on as expected that year. 82 Nathan Brown 98-07 146 games OK, he was a Collingwood six-footer (180cm), who often struggled to roost it more than 40m and he wasn’t exceptionally quick. But our Nathan Brown (as distinct from the Dogs forward) was a real livewire rebounder who’d run all day and put his body on the line off half-back. He had a few ripping battles with Stephen Milne and during his prime was one of the Reverend’s automatic selections. 83 Jake Melksham 16- 83 games Unlucky not to play for us in 2016, Melky had a tricky baptism when Goody initially tried to turn him into a defender. Eventually he found his way to our forward line where his booming delivery was hugely important in our 2018 campaign and his left-footer on the run from 50m in our finals win over the Hawks was huge. Tom Sparrow’s rise probably ultimately cost him his spot in our premiership team, but there was a time in 2018 when he was talked about as an AA such was his importance. 84 Peter Keenan 70-75, 81-82 131 games I’ll never forget trying to imitate Crackers hunched over stance like a warring buffalo at ammo level and finding myself victim to every kid’s attempted screamers. But as a ruckman he was a workhorse, who could take a pretty strong mark – he took 14 grabs one day against South Melbourne in 1975 and it was that prowess that saw him snaffled by Barrass at North in 1976 to solve his ruck woes. He played in their flag against the Pies in 1977 and was nice enough to return to us in 1981 with Barassi. He was often suspended but racked up 30 more games for us, albeit for just five more wins. 85 Mark Jackson 81-82 41 games 152 goals Amazingly whacko Jacko contributed 152 goals in only two seasons. Recruited from Richmond’s U19 – they already had Michael Roach and Brian Taylor on their books, few players have been more watchable or selfish as the Energizer. He was actually a pretty accurate kick and could even snap a goal across his body. But he preferred to just snap – whether it be at umpires, at opponents or even the club skipper. Those from 82 reckon he just had to go the day he belted Robbie Flower at training, apparently peed off that Tulip kept beating him to the ball. He was less successful at St Kilda but Geelong persisted with him for a while and the Neville Bruns/Leigh Matthews incident came about largely because of his stirring antics. But while he was never quick or clean with his marking, his combination with Gerard Healy in 1982 was amazingly prolific for us. 86 Steven Icke 82-87 78 games Sticky was recruited from North with Allen Jarrott, part of Ron Barassi’s plan to steal the smarts from his old side – he did also steal Mad Dog Brent Crosswell around then, although that seemed more about getting in someone who could beat him at chess. But Icke was very serviceable as a CHB who could go forward on occasions when things weren’t working. He didn’t take hangers, but he was a nice mark all the same. 87 Henry Coles 75-80 77 games, 106 goals For three years in the late seventies, Henry was our No.1 rover and a pretty handy one, being particularly dangerous when he rested in the pocket as rovers did before the interchange came in. He snagged 33 goals in 1978, including a memorable six in our win over the Cats and won a Vic guernsey that year. He gave up his No.13 when another Pie Wayne Gordon arrived at our club, a bad omen for him as he did his knee in Round 4 in 1979 in the No.3 top and never really recovered. A run in with Big Carl in 79 didn’t help either. 88 Brock McLean 04-09 94 games Taken at No.5 in the 2003 draft, Brocky was the son of Blues hitman Ricky and was as tough as they come. His flowing mullet (no Bailey Smith perm) made an immediate impression and he played in our losing elimination final side to Essendon in ‘04. By 2006 he was virtually best on ground for us when we downed the Saints in the first week of the finals and was again among our best the following week in our loss to Freo. In 2007 he injured his foot in Rd 1 and by the time he returned we were 0-8 and it was a whole new club. He lifted us to a huge QB victory that year but he, and we, were never the same, even stooping to tanking late in 2009. Disgruntled by that philosophy, he agreed to be traded to the Blues for pick 11. 89 Ricky Jackson 86-91 80 games, 131 goals Sported the No.45 like Matty Whelan and came to us in 1986 after a failed stint at Richmond who felt that at just 170cm he was too small to make it. But ‘tricky’ Ricky had explosive pace and loved taking on defenders and for six year did his Kozzie Pickett forward-pocket role with aplomb. He even won our goalkicking with 43 majors in 1988. He kicked five goals against Carlton in the preliminary final that year and made the Big V side in 1990. I still don’t know why we traded him to Footscray in 1991, but he badly broke his leg pre-season at the kennel and never played for them. 90 Darren Bennett 89-93 74 games 215 goals Discarded by West Coast who had Peter Sumich, the thumping right-footer arrived at the Dees a couple of years before Allen Jakovich. Given our battle to find gun forwards in the 70s, it’s hard to believe we had a plethora to choose from in John Northey’s era. He had a few knee issues, but boy could he kick a long goal and his foot extension matched that of Tayla Harris - which is why he went on to make more money in America as a professional punter than ‘Dollars' Lyon made from us. He kicked 87 goals in 1990 (only Fred Fanning and Norm Smith have kicked more) and nailed four in our breakthrough elimination final win against the Hawks that year. But it was his five goals after halftime in our amazing comeback win at Windy Hill in 1990 that was the stuff of legends. 91 Russel Richards 83-87 81 games How good was it watching the Rhino in full flight charging off half-back like Adonis. He almost won the 1985 Grand Final sprint. Sadly he was a bit like Sam Frost – unable to turn his excitement into a game-breaking play but for a while we all thought he was on his way to greatness. A couple of minor injuries and the growing star status of Sean Wight and Rod Grinter meant that he struggled to get games in 1987 and by the end of 88 he was sent off to Prahran. 92 Alex Neal-Bullen 15- 105 games After five years of being the Demonlanders whipping boy, ANB endured an even darker 2020 and was seemingly out the door. Goody, who had spotted his work rate early in 2016 and pushed Roosy to play him as a small forward, seemed to have sided with the critics and written him off. After eight weeks watching from the sidelines in COVID 1.0, he returned for the clash with Adelaide and the club failed to even lodge a complaint when he copped four weeks for a dangerous tackle on a young Crow - the same that Shaun Burgoyne and others did virtually weekly. At season's end he was offered up as trade bait. Thankfully there were no takers. Bet he’d have quite a few now after a year when he played every game and constantly provided link work, tackle pressure and the occasional goal in a premiership side. Here’s the thing - Nibbler has always been is our hardest worker at training - bar none. And that’s why it’s so nice that he got some reward for all those efforts. 93 Dom Tyson 14-18 94 games Dommy’s best years were pre-Clayton when he was our big-bodied midfielder alongside Jonesy, Viney and Bernie. In his first year under Roosy in 2014 he even snagged 16 goals and he was second in our B&F. He was clever at times by hand and would lean back and hammer a left foot to our non-existent forwards back then. But by 2018, Goody was worried about his lack of pace (he’d always had knee troubles) and sent him to the wing - the same one the club had offered Jack Grimes and Jack Trengove on their way out. He was useful in the 2018 finals but it wasn’t a surprise when he was offered up to North to lure Braydon Preuss. Some will say that we should never have given up pick No.2 in the 2013 draft for him, but without splitting that pick, we wouldn’t have attained Christian Salem. 94 Alistair Nicholson 97-06 110 games Big Nick was recruited as a ruckman from Claremont but was never quite tall enough to make it as Jimmy’s replacement and once we had Jeff White we didn’t need him in that role anyway. So Neale Daniher sent him down back and he played on all the resting ruckman including Steven Alessio in the 2000 Grand Final. I was always a bit dirty that he didn’t belt a few blokes that day, especially after Brad Green and Troy Simmonds had been felled, as he was built like a proverbial brick sh..house, but he’s probably too nice a bloke at the end of the day. He’s been pretty successful off field representing our cricketers in legal battles, before more recently looking after the coaches group. 95 Jack Trengove 10-17 86 games The victim of one of our most whacky decisions when Mark Neeld decided he didn’t like his senior squad on arrival at the club and upgraded the 20-year-old from country South Australia to the leadership in tandem with Jack Grimes. The pressure on the then 37-gamer must have been intense, especially given it was before we had a good support coaching network. Jack had a nice baulk and became so team-oriented under the weight of being skipper that it seemed to stifle the initial flair he’d shown in his first two seasons. He had good endurance (like his sister Jess) but was never blessed with pace so when he kept getting stress-related foot issues, any chance of him utilising his smarts on the wing were minimal. 96 Guy Rigoni 98-05 107 games A late-comer to the top level after having no luck at Hawthorn, Riggers was a hard-at-it Myrtleford mid who could thump a long bomb in the Neiter direction and was a regular in both 98 and 2000 when he played in the granny against Essendon. He had a night out against the Roos in 2000 in a one-point loss at the Docklands amassing 37 disposals, but back issues limited his career after that. 97 Sean Charles 92-97 46 games, 60 goals A favourite of mine and just about everybody’s in 1994. He was recruited from Tatura in 1992 and kicked five goals on debut as a 17-year-old but from then he was hit by a mix of injuries and complexities from his indigenous background. He had electric speed and Melbourne was so sure of his abilities that Balmey arranged for him to be helicoptered in to training Brian Peake style mid-season. He was a key part of the exciting forward mix alongside Schwarter and Lyon in 1994 and his five-goal game in our finals upset of Carlton that year was a career-high. Broke his arm badly pre-season next year and spent more time in the medical room than on the field. But along with Liam Jurrah, one of our most talented players ever - you just wonder what he could have been if Neville Jetta was around to guide him then. 98 Colin Garland 07-17 141 games I always felt that Col was a little unsure of his abilities and doubtless that came from beginning his career in an era when our assistant coaches and support network were not a patch on today. A Hobart boy, he was quick, had a pretty good leap and could kick a long goal, as he did in the Queen’s Birthday draw against the Pies in 2010. As a defender he never really became the star interceptor that he should have been. But until Frosty came on the scene, I always felt he was in our best 22. 99 Tony Elshaug 79-83 66 games 92 goals It’s amazing how many of our players back in the 70s and 80s won flags at other clubs and Tony was another being a clever forward pocket/rover in Essendon’s 1985 premiership side. At the Demons the Bentleigh boy progressed from our fourths and got a couple of senior games late in 1979. But his 1980 year was arguably the best of his career and he very nearly won our goalkicking with his 29 tally second only to Brent Crosswell’s 31. He was also pretty handy in the Grand Final sprint but I reckon after three years of Barassi and a win/loss record that Cale Morton would relate to, he realised a switch to Sheedy’s Bombers was the best way to actually use his pace on the footy field. 100 Anthony McDonald 97-02 104 games A bit like Guy Rigoni in that he didn’t actually play his first game until he was 24, having unsuccessfully tried out at Carlton and Hawthorn. He was a superstar at Old Xavs though, so we gave him a go and the left footer became a pretty handy midfielder who was among our most reliable players during the 98 and 2000 seasons. Along with older brother, Hawthorn No.1 pick Alex and our future captain Junior, the McDonalds became only the third set of three brothers to play 100 games behind the Morwoods and Danihers. No relation to Edenhope’s Tom and Oscar, these ones hailed from a nice farm just outside of Ballarat. Next week: 61-80

We should be aiming for 80k for that game

The early season fixture lends itself to some significant game day membership sign ups. Dogs, Essendon and GWS all in the marquee night time slots.

You’re right. But they might make LIVING WITH (as opposed to FIXING) Covid all the more bearable. May even make it enjoyable. BTW, your use of the word ‘gibberish’ in relation to any discussion about the Mighty Demons offends my sensibilities no end. 😭😝😉😐🤗

It's all come together and for us supporters, we obviously want it to continue I'm sure the club wants more success too but the club needs to maintain momentum with no slip-ups Injuries to our best players could happen and then everything changes if we get multiple injuries to our best players at the same time. Or, if we take our foot off the gas How is our overall fitness going to be with Selwyn Griffith as the new High Performance Manager? Nothing is guaranteed but if we're hungry for success and we get a decent run with injuries we can win 'at least' one more flag with this list But premierships are hard to win no matter how good a team might be, 58er ... the opposition are trying to win big too! So who is our biggest threat? Bulldogs? Tigers? Port? Brisbane? Surely not the Cats! A team from outside of that lot?

Previously, our forward line (as a collective) has been a weak point from an overall perspective (since 2006) As was our backline & midfield in many (or most) of the past 15 years. As a result, we didn't have any proper depth So now we are laden with talent all over and are continuing to add talent. We could end up with a nice problem to have in terms of excess of talent ... I've spoken to many who witnessed the Smith era and they've all said that we had an abundance of talent in those prosperous years The same argument has been forthcoming from those supporters of teams who have won multiple flags in a short space of time As for now, I'd say without doubt our biggest improvement as a club in the last 8-9 years or so has been talent identification and our ability to target certain recruits and acquire those recruits Recruitment with a real purpose The turnaround probably started in the 2012 off-season when we recruited Viney & Hogan (In the end, May was a swap for Hogan in an indirect way) After that, the acquirement of PJ & Roos and the rest is history Good coaching, a stable board and good administration on top of all that and the success follows But without real talent and lots of it, it's almost impossible to win big We've got an advantage now so we need to take advantage As for the fixture ... any team, any time, anywhere

Was going to say well shows how much he knows about current day footy, BUT NO, he just plain out and out hates Melbourne. On his Foxtel show he often comes out with condescending comments regarding our players and the club in general. Hard to like this man in his role on TV.

So correct Satan I made the same point on Page 2 of this post. Look how our goal scoring improved when BBB came in near the end of the season. Fritta Jacko and Gawny all scored more as more defenders were needed to mind these guys. Then you had the smalls plus mids at ground level!!

Reckon Balls will try to get glen in the past players group if hes not already . Funny enough I do remember the name , shame he cant special membership into top 100 players in last 50 years :)

Cool at night, but a lovely day today, gets a bit windy on occassion. I am getting to know the area, we have a house near Tower Hill. I spend two days a week cutting the weeds they grow so quick. Not too many Dee supporters but enough, the colours are being worn around town.

Yep, he went at a run rate of 200 that delivery. Not good enough.

Dunstall comments at about the 10 min mark of the third.....its difficult to see the Dees getting back into this.

Someone takes my parking spot - think of Trac turning and delivering The last lofat milk gone - recall TMac’s shepherd I get cut off and sigh - remember Oliver’s run and goal, or Kozzie spooking someone and Spargo’s goal or Jackson’s hand pass or Harmes’ gather and kick to Fritta … Life is good 🏆

I imagine England cricket will now try and get Peter Jackson to be CEO and Paul Roos to become coach.

Haven't watched a minute of cricket in years but have just gone online to find this guy has taken 6-7 and James Brayshaw is commentating. Wondering if it provided him with another opportunity to go bang...bang bang bang.

I don't really get the rationale for players having to sit out unless they are too unwell to play. Theres tens of thousands of cases a day, it's not like having players sit out or games postponed is going to stop the virus spreading. The cat is out of the bag, we have to learn to live with it now. Constant cancelling of sport/school and lockdowns shutting down businesses and putting lives on hold indefinitely is not the answer.

Because he doesn’t have the machismo, buffed physique and swagger of a typical AFL footballer he was constantly undersold because he doesn’t do the Jack Viney stuff. I always thought he was a pretty good player. His marking, leading, goal kicking and balance is elite. Just don’t expect him to do what he’s not built for. Now I have to go and watch his GF highlights again.

Fritz skippering a U boat? Another of out talented players to make huge progress in 2021, our Premiership year. Kudos not only to the individual but to all those who helped guide, develop and coach him to these great heights and engendered self belief.

I watched The Matrix for about 10 minutes before I thought to myself WTAF ??? and turned it off, so your analogy is somewhat lost on me.

Glenn is Scott's uncle. Grandfather played for sash trash Richmond.

Mystery solved …

Yep a great effort. But this England team would find a way to be dismissed by an armless person.

We might be getting to a position where the list runs so deep, that capable players just can’t get a game. Now being a premiership team, some of those players will want to be traded to get their opportunities. In the past they would be seen as freebies or NQR’s, whereas now they will be seen in a different light by the other clubs and become tradeable for draft picks, which when bundled in pick swaps, improves our draft hand. Then when JT gets to work, you hopefully pick up more young talent and the list keeps improving. That provides a sustained opportunity for more success, while our core group of champions are still at their best. Hopefully you replace some of them with more very good players, knowing that real champions are not always around or available. TBH and not getting carried away, it would not be stupid to say that this current team has a real chance to win a few more flags while it’s core is still playing well. Of course, luck with injuries is still hugely important and hard work has to be a given. We are now in a very good position to have continued success and as fans, we have a chance to reap a lot of enjoyment from our club after years of disappointment.

Wrecker - we need far more than three midfielders, and I have absolutely no doubt that Sparrow will join Harmes, ANB and JJ(and Dunstan) in playing his role in this classy midfield.

Reckon he gets marked hard by some because he's not the most physical player but he makes up for it with his skill and smarts. 9 out of 10 commentators would have rated Nauton above him before the GF, how did that turn out?

Dont forget 7 against Geelong in the prelim. He is desceptably smart and crafty and reads the ball better than anyone at the moment

Confession time. He drove me nuts. Naturally talented, great mark, great on the lead, cat like reflexes on the ground. I loved watching him play. But when he kicked for goal via a set shot it was basically "spread out boys, no-one knows where this is going!" It appears Chocco was able to reverse this in a single year and now he looks as clean and sharp with a set shot as some of the greats. I just love watching this bloke play and find my eyes following him more than any other forward. And his leading is a thing of beauty. He often appears as a forward of a bygone era. What a wonderful 2021. I reckon opposition coaches and mature backmen are going to make 2022 difficult for him by playing him close and being physical. I don't reckon it will work - he has bucket loads of footy smarts.