Deespicable

To me, today was yet another example that the same board review team that decided Goody had to go, has hopefully made the similar move to delist Tim Lamb. Being list manager is a tough gig, but I can only sincerely hope that he realises now that he is not quite cut out for it and it's time to let someone else have a go. Effectively he has taken large steps towards destroying what many felt after 2021 was the best young list in the comp and included a great group of core veterans. Sure he would argue that he couldn't do anything about losing Jackson and ANB along with Angus and it's the coaches fault that Grundy barely got a go as a ruckman in 2023. But his trade initiatives have been abysmal - Schache, Hunter, Fullarton, Billings and Hoire on top of this year's Sharp addition. Then there's his inability to kick back on player agents - significantly the lengthy deals for both Oliver and Kozzie are fraught with danger - why a significant carrot wasn't offered for a shorter term is beyond me. This year the new coach, presumably Buckley, may want to trade a couple of our players on top of McVee, but does anyone feel Lamb has a good grasp on the trade market and a player's ability. By contrast Jason Taylor has been pretty much bang on, although I really wish he had taken one of Caddy or Tauru to help solved our marking crisis - outside of Gawny that is.

6 Gawny - will win his third best and fairest and his eighth AA. Meek tried to maul him, but there is a thing called class. 5 Salem - yep I know he wasn't a linebreaker (never has been) but he's always smart and clever and he went at 83% disposal efficiency. And whilst McVee was mainly on the Wizard, he only played on Moore part of the time. 4 Trac - our only offensive weapon, mainly because we didn't use Kozzie, he looked dangerous at times and seems to have gone back to embracing a more forward/mid hybrid role after four years largely in the guts. Almost took a lovely hanger as well. 3 Petty - I normally don't give him a vote, but this was the first time I thought he looked like a forward and he even moved the ball forward quickly a couple of times. Did well in the air on Barrass and Sicily and contested all game. Sent back late in game to cover May. 2 Sparrow - thought he was our best player to half time with Gawny and like Viney he worked his butt off and tackled like a madman. He also went at 78%, Viney went at 68%, Olly 61% - so those of you knocking him today had your blinkers on. 1 Rivers - Ed was our running man early, but as the game wore on Trent got more involved, even had a couple of bounces. With no Windsor and Kozzie ignored, his dash, along with Ed's, was crucial.

Wow Turner is having an absolute mare - it's almost like he totally lost confidence after his turnover across goal last week. Hope he can get his mojo back before end of season as he's had a good year up until now. May had to be moved off Turner and is probably having the worst 250th gamne in history. I have been impressed with Sparrow, Langdon and Salem - all working hard and being smart - while Gawn and Trac have been our only two winners. There would be three but unfortunately the players don't get that the game plan works better when you use Kossie. It's also noticeable how little our guys block or shepherd to help teammates - we used to do that in 2021 - but now that's not in our make-up. The Hawks are doing it heaps though.

First three inside 50s all turnovers. Oliver bombs long to Sicily. Petracca misqueues unir minimal pressure. Viney panics and swings short prayer ball to Hardwick. Then amazingly Sparrow spots up a short kick to Petty - GOAL.

Given we almost always do the dirty on our VFL side at this time of year, it would be nice if we actually tried to help them (within reason) to get into the eight and play finals. There are three players who missed last week and are available - May, Sharp (our 24th man) and Lindsay. And we should only lose one, Windsor, to injury. That should mean we are much stronger than normal when our VFL side meets Box Hill on Sunday - the day after our senior side clashes. It would also be nice if we help our chances the following week by blooding a couple of VFL regulars at the higher level - namely Kentfield and Brown - just as we have so successfully done with Culley. Having an AFL game under his belt now will really help Adams' progress as it did with Jeffo, but clearly they are still a long way off AFL standard and that's why May has to come in for Adams and the list manager needs to hold off any contract extension talks on Jeffo and Adams until next year. The VFL finals should be a great audition for Jeffo and Adams to see if they are getting close to ready. So I'd go with the following: Out: Windsor (inj), Adams, Sparrow In: Kentfield, May, Brown Make Melky the sub as he is clearly tiring, but his smarts in the final term are incredibly useful. Play Lindsay, Sharp, Sparrow and Adams in the VFL to insure Casey has the perfect mix of grunt and run to beat Box Hill. PS: To the send Rivers to the midfield again lobby. You are aware how bad he was in that role at the start of this year and that it's only been in the last month that he's got his mojo back - and that's been playing exclusively as a defender.

6 T.Mac - thought he was superb all game on Sam Darcy. 5 Gawny - hard to believe TV commentators were rating English so highly formuch of the game. 4 Rivers - I am really liking the way he has been running out of defence recently. Much better mix of long and short balls. 3 Olly - yep, he was good and worked his butt off. At this rate everyone will want to keep him next season, including Bucks. 2 Bowey - gees he's a determined little guy. Should finish third in our B&F. 1 Turner - brilliant early, although lost his way a bit after that cross-field howler.

6 Gawn - how good was his marking today. Just shows when he gets a clear less impeded run at it he has amazing timing and judgment. 5 Viney - stats show he had 13 clearances. He mauled their second tier midfielders plus Kelly. 4 Pickett - sure he didn't kick any, but just so clean under pressure and how about that low-burning pass to Fritter. 3 Trac - dangerous all game, playing mainly as a forward. With Windsor in the middle and Langford next year, maybe that his role next year if he stays. 2 Fritsch - as with last week, enjoyed the step back in opponent ability and he's had a very good month. 1 Oliver - lifted after a quiet start and was our other hard man in the middle.

Jeffo has now been given a pretty good crack at AFL level with seven games this year. He has shown a handful of good glimpses - last week he took a couple of nice marks, kicked a low flat set shot goal from about 45m and made a nice smother. And he has shown he has enough pace on a lead to get free of most opponents. But ultimately he has been a complete liability in every game he's played and some of his kicking and handball howlers have made a mockery of the entire team. I have no problem with us trying to speed up his development especially in a dud year like this one, but the same leniency should be shown to some of our other draft stabs to see if a game or two at AFL level helps or speeds up their progress. Right now another speculative draft choice in Luka Kentfield has shown signs that he is getting closer to AFL level - like Jeffo he's realistically still a mile away, but our desperation to find tall options means that we need to try him out with 2026 in mind. And it's pointless playing him alongside Jeffo because then you have two weak links in the same forward line which is easy fodder for any team and soul destroying for our midfielders when the ball comes back from attacks with interest. So if we are looking longterm as we should be, then send Jeffo back for a couple of weeks and play Luka then switch again for the last couple of AFL games.

Most of us seem to agree with our best six - the exception being those whose anger with Salem's insipid safe little kicks missed the fact that Saylo had his best game of the season with several face-saving defensive plays on top of a couple of ripper passes through traffic - including one that hit JVR and another to Fritter - both goals. I agree he's been frustrating this year with his at times innocuous safe disposal when we need more for him, but he had a ripper. 6 Pickett - quiet in the second term, he was electric the rest of the time and ironically we now have two likely AA players this year in a side that is going to finish bottom five. 5 Salem - yep this was his night. Played tight, intercepted when needed and cleaned up and saved us all night - stats say he amassed 475m gained and he went at 80%. 4 Fritter - with Melky drawing the Weitering card, we needed a spark up forward and other than Kossy, he was it. Clever and at times courageous (yes I said it) and even team-oriented (yes I said that too), he has returned to his 2021 form in the past three weeks. Would be nice to know how/why that has happened - is it fatherhood? 3 Gawn - Not a dominant night as Pittonet entire role was to nullify him. But gees he worked hard even attempting a huge smother late (didn't come off, but I saw it). Along with Kozzie, he was our one winning presence all night. Question: Why doesn't our coach go into bat for him like the Pies do for Daicos about how he is constantly being impeded at marking contests. 2 Rivers - Third really good game in a row by Trent and the key to his return to form is clear - he is playing as a pure defender. Yes it was good that he was tried out as a midfielder but he is way better suited to peeling off and intercepting and he seems to have a bit more awareness that he can mix up his long bombs with short kicks now. 1 Oliver - I actually had him as one of our worst up until three quarter-time, but he came out of the final huddle and played with a gay abandon that I haven't seen since 2021. He attempted a couple of hangers, he ran like a wild banchee, had a bounce and did everyone see that short kick inboards he made. He played on Cripper all night who was good but not dominant like he can be.

After two big wins, there's a lot of players in contention this week, including Howes, Spargo, Billings, Culley, Sharp and our 24th player from last week Tom Campbell - the Blues do play two rucks in Pittonet and TDK after all. On top of that list we also have Petty and May to consider, if they are fit. The definite outs IMO are Sparrow and Lever - the latter of whom is clearly not fit and hasn't been all season after persistent knee issues restricted his pre-season. I also think sending Lindsay back to dominate at VFL level for a week isn't a bad thing, while you can certainly make a case for Tholstrop to be omitted, who I think will be a player but is still yet to really impose on a game. I am not sure why people want Rivers going back into to the middle - he's come off his two best games this season and both were from down back. He's even starting to mix up his kicks with several clever short dinks - so my previous comment that he was looking more and more like Brent Grgic 2.0 may be a tad rude. I've been critcial of Jeffo in the past and he's certainly a long way from being an AFL standard player, but he does lead up and is showing signs with his pace for a big bloke that he may still make it and against a weaker cdefensive unit like North helped his confidence. Another game or two this season won't hurt - although I'm actually quite excited to see if he can now dominate a VFL game. So basically I'd go with four out - Sparrow (conc), Lever (knee), Tholstrup and Lindsay. My four ins are May (if fit), Spargo, Howes and Culley. I'd play Petty at Casey for a week - and I'd give some consideration to playing Tom Campbell given the two rucks for the Blues, but I am not sure who comes out if we go that way. And with Howes back, I'd start McVee on the right-side wing.

The push to play kids grows as we now know finals won't be happening this year, but against that is the fact that all clubs and coaches go into games wanting to win - the Kruzer Cup excepted. With Petty and Howes out, I am hoping the Dees make a couple of tactical adjustments in order to have a chance of winning. Firstly one of the Crows strengths (and they have many at the moment) is that they have three strong tall forwards - Thilthorpe (who is a very decent back-up second ruck as well), Walker and Fogarty. To again go into a game with only two tall defenders and no back up talls is lunacy. So Lever (assuming he moved better) has to come back but T.Mac may well be a better option for Tex because of his extra height. Turner has to play on Fogarty, who is the more mobile, while May gets Thilthorpe and switches to Fogarty when Thilthorp's rucking. Secondly our own tall forward set-up has to change a bit because without Petty we lose our lead-up forward to contest the down the line work. JVR has been tried, but is still not dominating VFL games, so it would be nice if he was played down back in the VFL to get form and confidence back. We seem committed to trying Jeffo and I must admit the access to higher-level games has seen him improve marginally - so it's worth giving him another game or two before the season is out, even if he's well below AFL standard. But Jeffo body-shape means he is more a lead-up player, he's not a realistic down-the-liner option, so someone has to play that role with Melky. We could throw Turner forward but it's a little unfair to expect him to battle all the Crows big bods, so it would be nice if we thought laterally and brought in Tom Campbell to share the down the line man work with Gawny - to be honest Gawny is the only player on our team that has looked like taking a pack mark up forward all season, but Campbell is also big enough to not be pushed off an aerial contest so easily. And the advantage off having TC is that when we rest Gawny, there's no mismatch with Thilthorpe. And the following week we need TC again to take on the best push-and-shove tap man in the game in Xerri (Grundy is close), allowing Gawny a bit more rest time so that he can expose him around the ground. I don't really see any other changes this week although Billings and Laurie both deserve games (and not one's as subs). Culley is getting close but it would be nice if he had a 30-plus possession VFL game.

On one hand, you can make a case that Goody and his match committee are not up to it. The decision to go super small backfired spectacularly when Petty went off along with our third tall defender - Howes. The decision to take Viney out of the middle in the first quarter and play him forward meant we were completely mauled by Rowell and Miller. The lack of spirit early coming off a bye was a worry, did players abuse their licence during their break? Then on the other hand you have to give Goody plaudits for: Sending Viney back into the middle which saw us return to winning the majority of the clearances that Rowell didn't get. Instructing the players to chip and go sideways whenever they could, before breaking through the middle to given Melky and Fritter a chance to lead into space. The argument though is whether our smarts with the ball came about because it dawned on the players that with only Melky and Jeff as tall targets, it was a mega dumb ball to bomb it long. Sending Rivers down back, which meant we had all the hard nuts in the middle and fewer [censored]-ups. Let's see how Goody and the match committee go next week.

6 Melky - 5.6 and a nice assist for a Kossie goal. He's getting better at 34, but it really just shows that if you use your body well and mix it up by leading you can be influential. Amazing last term by him given he started cramping in third term. And he's just 188cm tall. 5 Kozzie - a magical game again by Koz. Played pretty much the whole third term as our full-forward and then went back to being allowed to run in the last and he was the wiz through the middle. 4 Viney - we missed him in the middle in the first term, so Goody sent him back in there and his grunt and contest work turned the game back our way, although like everyone he struggled to stop Rowell. 3 Trac - he was lively and passionate, he just kept butchering the ball. If he'd hit targets he was our best by a street. 2 Salem - clever with his disposal, our enforced chip game because of no tall suited him to a tee. 1 Bowser - hit targets most of the time and went forward more than any other player. Geez he's having a good year. Should finish top three in our B&F. Apologies to Rivers who had a better game down back and even hit a target - Fritter on the lead was a beauty. But he still needs more intensity and smarts.

Yes it is a big call to only play the four medium height talls (May 193, Turner 194, Petty 197 and Jeffo 195)plus Gawny against a side that has Mac Andrew (202cm), Collins (194cm), Walter (195cm), Ben King (202cm) and Ethan Read (202cm) plus Joel Jeffrey who is 192cm. Clearly we are worried about their pace, which makes the dropping of Windsor for this game a little bit surprising. But if it rains as it is now forecast, the extra smalls could be beneficial. But personally if you are going to go small, why not have a back-up big as sub (which I know is against the norm). That way if you lose a May or Turner or Petty, you are not annihilated in the air.

Jack is actually a very good mark for his size, but that is not his role nor is it the expectation and if he plays up forward his primary roles will be to crumb and tackle - both of which he's very good at. He also gives the forward six some aggression which will be necessary given we've gone with Jefferson along with Fritter. And whilst he may struggle to catch Rioli, Powell or Noble, if he does snare them it is highly unlikely they will break the tackle. I expect he will play the Nibbler role and his move up forward (if it happens) allows Trac, Kossie and Ed to spend more time in the middle. Ultimately though, it could all be a ruse and he may end up tagging Rowell! But given Rowell ran free so easily from Viney and Oliver in Rd 3, then I expect Langdon to be given that task.