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.

Wow, that's a big call on Lever and Windsor, especially given Rivers was the most likely out after being subbed out against Port. Sounds like Rivers will be sent back to defence in place of Windsor. I assume T.Mac is back in for Lever and Jeffo in for JVR with Tholstrup in as likely sub - Lindsay back starting. I especially liked hearing that Goody intimated that Viney may play forward - been calling for that for some time as he actually is a very accurate shot at goal - he just can't hit up targets with ease.

Our problem this year is that we have very little draft capital for trades and our position on the ladder makes us well down the pecking order when it comes to a player's club of choice. Having said that, our best hope at luring a player is still Luke Jackson, assuming he is insistent that he wants to head back to Victoria and be traded to us and he would largely solve our bigs issues and give us a Gawny understudy again. But against that Freo would have to be willing to accept our 2026 1st rounder, our 2025 second rounder (currently pick 22) and presumably a decent player - we have four WA options on this and all are potentially very good players for us - McVee, JVR, Rivers and Tholstrup. All would be missed, but if you are talking securing Jackson then almost anything should be on the table. But it seems highly unlikely Jacko will move. So our next hope for a big will come down to whether we get Kalani White to choose us ahead of the Suns. The fact that they have four very good Academy picks ahead of him helps our chances and being under the tutelage of Gawny and TC also helps the allure, but he may still choose his mates ahead of us. Hopefully not and also hopefully a rival bid comes after our pick 22, which will end up being about pick 35 on current academy/father son expectations. But regardless, Kalani is unlikely to impact any improvement we make in 2026 (he's just a kid after all) - that improvement will come from Langford and Lindsay and Windsor growing into their roles. Trac and Oliver will again be talked up as potential trades, but I doubt either will leave - they are on too big a salary for most teams and their disposal this year has meant clubs will have misgivings about them anyway. Of our current list, there are a heap of players still up for contract renewal and to be honest McVee is the only one we need to sign up now - the rest can wait until the last couple of weeks of the year or post season even. This is what I'd do with them. Billings - he was a bit stiff not to play Rd 1 and he has worked hard all year in the VFL, but he's 30 and his papers have been marked and to be honest now's his chance to enter the corporate world. TC - He's 33, but I'd defintely ask him to go another year. He's great for our VFL side, works hard at training and from all reports is a super bloke. Fullarton - as with Billings his papers are now stamped. Been surprised he wasn't tried as a key defender at VFL level and his body is quite ripped now, but as he showed against Richmond in Rd 7, he's just not physical enough for AFL. T-Mac - he's soon to turn 33 and now one of our greats when it comes to games played. Goody prefers other talls to him, so as much as he adds to our gp dynamic, it's time to retire. If Lever bows to his chronic knee injury at season end or Petty heads back to SA, then I'd review that decision, but only then. McVee - as stated above he's a must-sign. The only way he's expendable is if he's a necessity in a Jackson trade. Melksham - he turns 34 in a couple of months, so age is against him. He is still in incredible shape and looks like a Marvel Superhero so I'd be inclined to ask him to go on for one more season. Unlike his teammates, he usually produces kicking smarts and he's a certain coach-in-waiting. Spargo - after three injury-reduced years it's hard to feel confident about re-signing him. But he's only 25 and he's one of the few players that can hit a target, so if he agrees i'd sign him on for just one more, with his body determining whether he gets two more. Woewodin - Taj is still only 22, but it just feels that he hasn't really come on this season. He's got nice skills but he's not mega-quick which makes it really hard to make it. He'd have to finish the year on a high for us to keep him. Kynan Brown - Really like his attitude and his effort. Very happy if we added him to our list on a two-year deal. Even happier if the coach gave him a go in the big time. Jai Culley - Looked good pre-season and he's done well in VFL. Probably needs one more year as a rookie before making a firm decision. Jack Henderson - I feel sorry that Goody rushed him in for Rd 1 because I don't think it gave him a chance to settle into his role. But after five games, it was clear that he's got class but not quite enough pace or body strength to be a factor. Marty Hore - a great bloke and lovely left-footer but it's time to let him go. Luka Kentfield - He's made some progress this year and is now massive upper body. I'm not sure that he has enough footy smarts, but I'd certainly give him another year to be definitive. Ollie Sestan - He needs a game or two in the AFL before season's end, otherwise it's a really hard call for any list manager. Given I already have six list departures, I'd try and sign him up for one more. Will Verrall - He's improved this year and his intensity is now AFL standard I reckon, but he's probably never going to be quite tall enough to make it. If we get Jackson, then he's a delist. But most likely he gets another year and works with Kalani. AMW - Clearly Andy showed enough last year and pre-season before injury to warrant an upgrade and most likely a two-year deal. Mentha Jnr - he's shown enough to get another year as a category B rookie. Others already contracted: Jed Adams - as with Jeffo, he's starting to become a very good VFL player. But please Mr List manager, there is absolutely no need to sign him or Jeffo up beyond 2026 just yet. Wait until early next year to panic. Bailey Laurie - he's a star at VFL level, but barely gets a run from Goody. Ultimately he may be just a tad slow to make it, but it would be nice for him to get a decent chance - in the midfield and not as a sub. Otherwise I'd see if anyone wants him for a third-round pick. Shane McAdam - Injury cruelled his year, but he's 31 next year and appears a bust for us. If we like a player pre-season or need a list spot, then I'd pay him out.

Sounds like a very good line for our run-through banner. Or alternatively all DLers could produce flags with those words as emblems to hold up after each stupid long kick! That would get the point across to every player!

The biggest change has to come from the players via Goody and that is instituting some sort of fun internal penalty for dump kicks/bombs into the forward line - maybe a prize for the worst one each game. They also need to have a prize for the best conversion and the worst shot at goal each week - it has to be a fun sort of prize, but one the whole group enjoys and helps take the pressure off. To see wave after wave of wasted scoring chances must frustrate Goody way more than us Demonlanders and I can now see why he is so keen on playing Spargo at the drop of a hat because even though he barely gets it, the four or five times he does are big chances for teammates if they have the mindset to keep leading. In terms of changes for Gold Coast, I would expect McVee to come out via suspension and I think we already saw that Goody has lost patience with Trent Rivers when he was subbed out. Sadly he has become more and more like Brent Grgic with every game, rather than like a Corey Enright. I still have faith in him, but it now must be via an extended VFL break and he either plays back or on a wing - he does not have the disposal in-and-under smarts to make it as an inside midfielder. I'd also query Lever's fitness, although a week off may help - but when you have T-Mac as a slightly taller, yet similar back-up I'd rather we play him, especially given King and Walter and Read (if he plays) are genuinely tall. I also suspect one of Petty, Melky and JVR to make way for Jefferson, whom I have major reservations about, but accept that he is starting to show signs of being AFL ready for Casey. AJ is also in the mix. The two likely ins are Tholstrup and Jeffo with a tricky decision on whether Sharp replaces Rivers or Laurie gets genuine game time. I'd go with the latter as we need to know whether to sign him up for next season or not. Out: McVee (susp), Rivers, one of Petty, Melky or JVR, Lever (if not running well enough) In: Tholstrup (sub), Laurie, Jefferson and T-Mac (if Lever out)

6 Gawn - a clear winner again, although his kicking for goal is frustrating.I don'tget why he doesn't aim right and allow for his pull. 5 Turner -beaten a couple of times on the lead by Georgiades early, he looked dangerous and mobile as a forward. 4 Pickett - brilliant first half but glute injury made life trickier for him after the break. Teammates blocking his run didn't help as well. 3 Bowey - once again clever and quick with his clearances, although he did have one howler from a kick-in. 2 Fritsch - should have kicked five but fumbled a few times when a goal awaited, but kept presenting. Based on that form maybe he's ready to go back to being our third tall up forward. 1 Howes - did a pretty good job on Rioli for much of the game. Signs that he may almost be AFL standard now. Just needs confidence.

Is anyone with me that now is the time to switch Petty and Turner around.

Just thought everyone had a real dip in defeat yesterday and it's very hard to make changes. Against that is the fact that we will be coming off a six-day break so a few boys will be a little sore I reckon. The one compulsory change is that Viney comes in if deemed fit and I suspect that means one of Lindsay or Tholstrup should get a rest with a view that they come straight back in after the bye. Then we have to have a really close look at our ageing group to make sure that they are all fully recovered and the one player who seems to be struggling the most as he regains fitness is Lever. With T-Mac coming off an 8-day break, it should be a straight swap if Jake's remotely sore. That way Jake can get a couple of solid weeks preparing his knee for the run home. The Power are still playing fairly small by their usual standards - Visentini in the ruck with Georgiades and Finlayson (he'll probably be dropped), Aliir, Ratugolea and Zerk-Thatcher their talls. They may add Sweet to try and combat Gawny or Lord to extend our defence. But our hardest job will be deciding who to use on negating Butters - I imagine Jack will get the job if fit, if not it will be tempting to go Ed again. Trac will be tagged again by Drew, but just has to stick at it. If we play like we did on Monday we will win, but it's hard backing up from your grand final. As to JVR, he deserved his spot on Monday after a couple of solid weeks in VFL and like Petty he found the going tough against Moore and Howe, who are elite. But if you seriously think Jefferson is ready for that kind of mauling-style defence, then you have not been at training.

Having been away for six weeks, I am really keen to head to the 'G and see first-hand where the boys are at. My one fear is that we bring back Jeffo for AJ - it's been really pleasing reading that Jeffo's starting to become a factor at VFL level but until he is laying tackles then he's not worth promoting again as he will be easy fodder for Moore and co. I am comfortable with returning Roo as his body will cope with the buffeting and he's had two solid weeks marking and leading up and getting his confidence back. But my left field choice is selecting Tom Campbell, especially if the Pies go with Mason Cox, which they may well do to make life hard for big Maxy. If Campbell doesn't play this week, he certainly should be in the side to play Port because you can guarantee they will target our skipper and it will be a short break that week. I also hope we have a long hard look at the wings this week. Sidey and Josh Daicos (if they both play there) are hugely influential and it worries me thinking that we will go with Langford and Lindsay on them, given their youth and the big occasion. It would be nice to think that we would come up with a bit of a shock move to counter them - maybe a hard tag from Bowey or Salem on Sidey, leaving the youngsters to tag team on Josh Daicos, but I know Goody doesn't usually do shock stuff - although he did put ANB on Nick Daicos last year. If Viney's fit, then Laurie is the unfortunate omission, although it sounds like Jack's hand will take at least another week to mend.

Given what happened last time we played them, we have to make sure we don't underestimate what they can do. Thankfully Yeo is still likely to be out so stopping Harley and Elijah Hewett will be key along with nullifying Liam Baker's infuence. I thought Goody made some clever moves late against the Tigers, resting Gawn and May to preserve them along with making sure Lindsay, Langford and Kolt weren't in danger of burnout. In so doing, it should have highlighted the need to have at least one more tall in our line up - sure we got away with against Fremantle when we lost Turner and we got away with it against Richmond because we had such a healthy lead and we might get away with it against the Eagles, but it's certainly not the right way of doing things when we come up against the good sides in the next few weeks. And it's not fair on Gawny to expect him to have to be everywhere and keep presenting. The Eagles have two rucks and Flynn will definitely try and maul him and Jack Williams has a huge leap and looks promising. They also have a dangerous forward in Waterman and Gov is still a gun, albeit an old one. And Harry Edwards adds to their wealth of height, even if they lack a bit of talent. So it's time Goodwin looked after Gawny and if the big fella tells him that playing two rucks doesn't work, then he just has to ask himself what's his midfield going to look like without an injured Gawny. And what's mega frustrating is that Tom Campbell was so impressive all pre-season and it counted for nothing because we keep fearing another another Gawndy scenario. But the problem with Gawndy was that Gawn came first and played ruck when Grundy can only play one position and it ain't forward. What we need to do is start TC and then sub him out at three quarter time. Thankfully now we have all seen Fullarton and Jefferson (first two weeks) in action so that we don't have to ever play them again until they have muscled up. It's not a crime if they can't - some guys just don't have the bodies and physicality to make the AFL. I think we all have now seen enough of Harry Sharp that we can say that his light frame also doesn't allow him to break tackles or stick them well enough. He's a great runner and maybe there will be a game or two in weeks to come where he can tag someone, but as a small forward/wingman he's limited. It's time for Goody to move on this one. In: Turner if fit (JVR if not), TC, Melksham Out: Fullarton, Sharp and one of the teenagers (rested and told they will play against Hawthorn a week later). B: Bowey May T.Mac HB: Rivers Turner Salem C: Windsor Viney Lindsay/Langford HF: Chandler Langdon Fritsch F: Spargo Petty Gawn Ru: Campbell Petracca Pickett Int: McVee, Sparrow, Tholstrup, Oliver, Melksham (sub)

6 Gawn - marked cleanly all night and as soon as he sat down late, we conceded four goals. Good to see Fullarton play in the ruck and clearly that's not going to work because he doesn't have the body strength to play there. 5 Trac - stupidly bombed it long a few times, but our most dangerous player all night. 4 Bowey - another clever game from the little master. Definitely a SC special and aside from Gawn, our only player in AA contention at this point. 3 Sparrow - sure Viney laid more tackles than him, but I thought his were more important and he had 16 touches and a goal. Viney had 19 touches and his 10 kicks were all long and intercepted. 2 Rivers - with 28 touches and 12 marks, he provided lots of run from down back. But you have to wonder if he and Salem realise that the high-risk play through the middle also comes with the highest reward. Because I can't remember them once taking the game on in that regard. 1 Salem - a couple of late howlers, but he clocked up the stats down back with what I suspect was a career-high 34 disposals and 13 marks. As with Rivers made sure that 95 per cent of the time we went down the wings.