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I find that very hard to believe after missing several months with stress fractures in his femur. In 2018 he played 10 games and that was only because Hogan got injured. He's not a high possession player, so the difference between his good and bad games is often just about a chance taken here or there as he gets a high proportion of his possessions from contested marks. Last year, for example, he had a decent year but only had more than 8 possessions in 3 games. In his career he has 13.6% of his possessions coming from contested marks, which is very high. This year it is 12.5% (close to average) and in 2020 it was 17.0%, so the difference between his good and bad games is just having those grabs stick or not .... and his low possession game makes that a low sample size. This year he has more contested possessions than uncontested, which implies that he's probably struggling more with running, which fits in with the stress fracture injury he had. Players that are based around contested marking take longer as they compete against directly against bigger bodies in the most difficult circumstances. That's why you see the best of them peaking and excelling as they approach (and exceed) 30 years of age. Weideman has had some poor games, but he's not miles off being OK, it just seems like that because of the way that he plays. After all, he's marked the ball inside 50 as many times as TMac since he's come into the team.

Looking forward to having 84,970 Dees fans and 30 GWS fans at the G next week.

Feel for Sam on a human level, obviously. However, he wanted to be an AFL footballer and naturally there's a whole lot of pressure that comes with that. Selection, form, commentary, acocial media, etc etc. Maybe he's not as well equipped as others when it comes to dealing with that pressure, but unfortunately for him, he has to work through it or fall to the wayside. Sam was brought into our club as a prodigiously talented key forward. He was given time to build his fitness after having ankle surgery on both ankles in his first year. He's built his body, he has the required fitness, (even after his broken pre season). This is completely between the ears now for Sam and nothing to do with being a project player. Hopefully he can address his mental demons and learn to relax into playing and if not, I fear for his future at the club. Whilst our game plan seems to suit a quicker, more agile and smaller forward setup, that doesn't excuse some of Sam's games over the past few weeks. There's no way he plays against Essendon and I hope for his sake he can become mentally stronger and when he gets that next opportunity, he won't look back.

There are a lot of assumptions being made about Weideman on here. The most straightforward (and likely) issue is that he missed a large chunk of time with a stress fracture in his leg, which robbed him of a lot of fitness and strength as he's had to spend time off his feet. Given that he's young and not yet established himself as a best 22 player, (and one without a mature forward's body) that has made it a difficult barrier for him to overcome. I think time playing VFL is better for him at the moment, but there's a lot of overreaction in this thread.

I said exactly this to a couple of mates and on fb and got laughed at... Max clunking marks as a deep FF, as well as rucking in the Fwd line gives his body a rest compared to the usual kms he does. Jackson appears in better form at centre bounces than Max. ie. we seem to win more centre clearances with LJ in the ruck at the moment. Bring Majak in as a 2nd ruck to use when Jacko needs a break... He's had basically 4-5 BOG's in the 2's in the ruck... There's certainly worse options to go with than this...

Viney confirmed to play this Saturday night by Goodwin.

If Gold Coast offered pick 3 for the Weid i would snap their hand off

Just for reference, Gawn at 23 years of age played 9 games in that season, averaging 10 disposals and 14 hitouts. IMO 23/24 is still 'young' for a key position player. Some come on quick, some don't.

Fair call. For the sake of argument, if we accept that he struggles psychologically - and there is enough evidence to suggest he does - then in a funny way that's a positive. Or perhaps not so much a positive but it creates an opportunity. By that I mean it is something he can work on, as opposed not being up to it talent wise (though of course players can improve in that regard too I guess). As Grapeviney notes earlier in this thread there are any number of elite athletes who struggle psychologically and have found a way to overcome it. I know it goes against current orthodoxy, and his lateral movement worries me as it is, but I reckon might be better bulking up through the legs and getting much stronger. And playing out of the square like Hawkins. I saw him in vfl match at the pies ground in I think his first season (i was standing next to his dad). He played out of the square as a true full forward. Looked a natural full forward, with good leading patterns and clean hands on the lead. His talent was evident. Up the ground he looks less natural and seems to struggle getting to the right spots. And struggles more one on one. Looks much more comfortable coming at the ball front on - both on the lead and in contested marking situations. I still have confidence he can make it. The best option might be to be told you are wanted at the club, you are part of the future. Build yourself up, play a good block of games at vfl , work on your psychological preparation (which if he gets it right will help with his intensity i reckon) and we'll go from there.

Tom Morris doing his utmost to drive up Weid's value... In an article about GC offering their 1st pick for established players Melbourne has the highest rated out of contract key position player on its books in Sam Weideman, while other lesser valued forwards such as Taylor Walker and Mason Cox are also without deals for 2022. Pick 3 would be too heftier price for the latter two, but the Demons rate Weideman supremely and would surely not lose him for any less.

So gassed to get 4 seats in the MCC Level 2! To be honest it’s a joke the Bombers play a home game at the MCG (and under normal circumstances would have made good coin from it) which isn’t their home ground / the game should be at Marvel, a ground I hate as much as Dimma. There is no team I loathe more than Essendon - especially their supporters so I’ll be sick if we lose this one! The good thing is when we lost to the Crows the response was beating 2nd and 3rd so hopefully we get the same kind of performance on Saturday!

Is this a joke? If they are only having 25,000 for health and safety reasons then why pack us all in. Sure they save dollars by not opening/staffing the top level but is this an exercise in saving money or saving lives?

Fair points. Agree a good block of time in the VFL is the go. But stripping away the emotive stuff and the supposition (mine for example re his head space), whilst, yes, he had a pretty serious injury to overcome, by all accounts he is as fit and strong as he has ever been at the moment. And he was in our best 22 in 2018 and 2020 and has played nearly 50 games, so it's not as if he is on an upward curve. Also, he is actually not that young given he is 24 in a few days and is in his 6th season History suggests that he he has his work cut out to make it. And there is no doubt people jumping on him and bagging him aint going to help in any way. So I for one will stop now commenting on him after this post. My last comment is I have faith he can make it and be an important part of our side and I would be happy for them to offer him a two year deal and back him in to do so.

Apparently the Fed Govt was offered in July last year priority access to whatever volume of Pfizer and Moderna they wanted. Thanks no thanks was the answer. Apparently partly as they wanted manufacturing capability here and there is a connection between the Libs and a high ranking employee at AstraZeneca. I find Ronni Salt on Twitter a good starting point . The US has ample excess. Look at RACF rollout. So, my mind will be firmly turned to this come election time. I don’t have a strong view on the Victorian government management as I don’t live in Victoria - my family who do (I’m an ex Victorian) do and most of them very much support him, thinking the beat up is mostly Murdoch driven, and one who is in the MFB who does not - he also blames DHHS for being poorly prepared particularly around the social housing lockdown in North Mel). I think some of this is very complicated and wouldn’t like to be a the position some premiers have been. I think the state premiers have done well in the main. there are some exceptions - Ruby Princess. For the RACF deaths in Vic I would tend to blame the system that hires casual workers who need to work across facilities to make ends meet and who aren’t adequately trained and prepared. Who manages the bulk of aged care and accreditation and is responsible for the for profit aspect and thus focus on wages. In my view the key issues have been RACF, vaccine procurement and rollout, and quarantine. I’ll let others make their own minds up- that’s just my view, and I know where the responsibility for these lie

I don't have Instagram or Twitter, my Facebook is locked down to friends/family only. I do visit Demonland and bigfooty but then I'm a fan not a player. Taking these measures is hardly disconnecting from the world.

How some of you actually rate Daw is beyond me

So far Sam is on track with Tom Hawkins who was dropped and on the block at age 23. It's the next 11 seasons that count. Given his current limited trade value, and his known ability, I'd say keep him and work on his self-belief.

If i can't get a ticket i'd love it if the MCC sell 25k tickets, leaving none for EFC members and therefore no revenue!

Bailey and Hay were members of the band “The Saints” Not sure about Milne although he played AFL for Saints

i don't know why we'd be chasing blokes who can't make their current side if we're chasing maynard then there's obviously some wiggle room in our salary cap, so i'd rather target: brayden maynard (filth) adam cerra (freo) karl amon (pear) ben king (gc17) izak rankine (gc17)

Reckon you might find that's not the case. There's a lot of education around the use of social media, but it's integral to their earning potential now. A quick look at a few of our own players and their brand ambassador roles will tell you that.

DL, surely you've realised it is pointless trying to apply logic to Vic Govt guidelines...

Ha - fair enough. I give Morrison about 5/10 for his handling of the pandemic. Loses marks for 1) pathetic vaccination rates 2) pathetic buckpassing on quarantine 3) pathetic handling of Aged Care facilities, where 80% of the deaths occurred 4) having to be dragged, kicking and screaming, into proper health measures, by the Premiers - 'I don't hold a hose, mate' is his war-cry.. But I do give him a bare pass because, for a conservative, he did generally follow the science - he could have been like Bojo or Trump - we were about the most successful country in the world. Actually, upon reflection, I'll mark him down a bit more because of his complete lack of leadership during Victoria's darkest days. When Andrews looked like a man torn apart by the weight of handling the crisis, Scomo did nothing but send in his attack dogs (Frydenberg and Hunt) So I'll take back my earlier comment and change my score. I'm giving him 4/10. Hang on! - the bas*&%d wanted to go to the rugby. Make that 3/10. Uh - jeez, the more I look at Morrison, the worse he gets. Okay, I surrender. You're right - He's hopeless. 2/10.

Got my MCC too. I was still waiting to hear back from someone if he could go, but come 3pm it was every man for himself and i am now going alone aha.

AFL Reserve available from Friday 9am and Club members from Friday 10am according to Ticketek website. And due to Government regulations, Level 4 seating will not be available for this match. For those wanting to attend I hope you get tickets.

Couldn’t agree more. Initially I was put off the idea of having AZ but I’ve since realised that the point is to be vaccinated ASAP regardless of which company makes it. I had my first dose of AZ earlier this month and have zero regret.

We are targeting Maynard and likely to get him. Its been a long campaign similar to that to secure Langdon.

"His arms reaching up like giant testicles" was my favourite of Jack's.

the problem with this argument is that in july 2020 there was no vaccines. there was only a few proto vaccines in early trials. no vaccines approved and no guarantee there would be tested and approved vaccines in any time frame whatsoever. there were even leading medical people saying publicly it could take many years. there were no certainties, just hopes and wishes. to now say that the government could have bet the house on pfizer and pre-ordered 40M doses enough for the whole country is disingenuous. pfizer and az weren't the only trial vaccines being developed/test but were probably just 2 of the more promising but you'd still need a crystal ball at that time to differentiate.. there we advantages/disadvantages in both (e.g. cost, refrigeration, local manufacture, availability time frame etc). The government decided on a two pronged approach. If at that time they had bet the house on just either one they would have been widely criticised. when vaccines started to become available australia had problems with supply for a number of reasons, among them that australia was in less desperate needs compared to most other countries i don't remember much criticism of the government in july 2020, in fact quite the opposite, so for some to now turn around and criticise that decision smacks of politicking and blame shifting.

Having Max bring his contested marking to the goal square instead of the wing, with Jackson and Daw rucking would be an upgrade on out current tall forward set up…

pinched from elsewhere "My wife and I had a wonderful time on the French Riverina." "He's loping around the wing like a giant tarantulop." "Bartlett's, he's older than he's ever been before." “The ball's in no-man's land and the loose man's come from everywhere." “Things aren't the same now there are five teams in the four." "An Essendon supporter is a Collingwood supporter who can read and write." "Bamblett made a great debut today and an even better one last week." "He's a good ordinary footballer." (about Carlton's Peter Bosustow) "A bit of bad luck for Bob." (on the death of former Carlton champ Bob Chitty) "I won't say anything in case I say something." “Diamond Creek was a long way away once."

Firstly, I might have missed it, but haven't seen anyone say "that is impossible to not have social media". Seems like you've moved the goal posts a fair bit there. From what I've seen; others have pointed out how, young people especially, use social media as their primary means of staying connected with one another. Secondly, why should he have to avoid something that is such a big part of connecting people his age just because others choose to act like douches on it though? That's great you use SMS, FaceTime etc, but not everyone wants to do that, and not everyone has relationships that operate in that way. Aside from that, there's how much social media is integrated with the career of a modern sportsperson. Business and social media are intertwined in an irreversible way, not having a social media presence can have a big affect on a sportsperson's career and earning potential. Long story short, what you're saying is 'Sorry Sam, I know you use social media to stay in touch with the lives of your friends and families, keep up to date with world news and that of your industry, make potential business connections and help build your career, personal brand and earning potential, but if you could just not do all that because we want to let trolls run free that would be great....'

We got 4 tickets in the MCC as well. Great stuff.

This was posted in the other trade targets thread 20 hours ago.

No joke Andy. Same message appears on the Rich v Saints game when you look for tickets.

Got my MCC seat, you beauty. Will need to make enough noise for two people given that the crowd will only be about half of what it would otherwise be.

I'm half getting a bunch of them, like McLeod and Robinson both winning B&Fs after being traded/delisted, but not sure how Ford fits. Hall and Dunn not playing finals at their first club... and also they have each punched the other at least once... but don't know how Silvagni fits. Hudson and Mitchell were both WW2 bombers... but Robertson... drawing a blank. Yep, I'm useless. Back to work. Sigh.

Generations who grew up as kids with social media have a far heavier reliance on it than older folk who lived a lot of their lives without it. Same way a bloke born in 1840 wouldn't have understood why electricity was so important to have.

That’s not a percentage though. That’s ridiculous! So, if a venue has a capacity of, say, 50,000 and they cap it at 25,000 then that’s 50% so why can’t they go 50% at the G? It’s so nonsensical.

So this week its 50% at venues but up to 25,000 only. Next week we return to 85% capacity. FOR GOODNESS SAKE WHAT SENSE DOES THIS MAKE? What makes it safer next week?

But they're only producing AZ, which nobody seems to want. (Mind you I do - I had my first dose - had the best nights sleep I've had in years)

The World is a worse place since the advent of 'social media' Its easy and liberating to disconnect.

It will be like trying to win Tattslotto 1 in a million chance.You would be better trying to buy a ticket watching two blind turtles mate

Should be able to manage a few in the coming weeks cheers PF

This is getting us ready for when we have to scramble for GF tickets

If we are the real deal and not just a first half of the season front runner we have to and should win this game albeit against a side who will bring in a youthful enthusiasm and a hunger to beat the top team that will be hard to quell. There are 3 other top eight clashes this week with Brizzy v Cats, West Coast v Dogs and Port v Suns. This is the time to put distance on rivals. This is what teams capable and committed to winning the top prize would do. If we win this week we are that much closer to sewing up a top 4 spot and well favored to finish top 2. Drop this one and we let others in. This is about understanding the competition and what victory means. We should have good plans to stop Essendon, shut them down, get the game on our terms and win at all cost. If we come out like against Collingwood I will be super disappointed. If we lose we are probably still too immature yet to win the flag.

Yeah, nah, they’re morons. If they were acting on the advice of epidemiologists and infectious diseases experts, then why are Covid restrictions, lockdowns etc. so vastly different from state to state? Are the epidemiologists giving conflicting advice? I very much doubt it. The point of difference is how that advice is interpreted, and then used in decision-making.

Bring in the Fish. Might be handy in the wet !