Deespicable

It was nice to see us going big against Brisbane, who play 6 talls Andrews, Gallop, Zakostelsky (who filled in for Fort), Draper, Allen, Morris on top of Lester and Lohmann who play tall anyway. We went with 8 bigs - Gawn, Heath, Petty, Lever, Turner, Mihocek, van Rooyen, Jefferson plus Fritsch and Howes who can play on bigs and it meant that Jeffo had a couple of nice runs at it without being bumped off it straight away, although both Broad and Vlastuin will make sure he doesn't get any cleans runs and jumps this week. Richmond went 7 bigs last week - Balta, Gray, Miller, Faull, LeFau, Fawcett, Ryan plus Vlastuin, Broad and Campbell who can play big if necessary. We will lose Petty but can afford to lose one of our bigs, so a replacement could be any of Lindsay, Jiath or Bowey (he looked great at training last week) if fit with Moniz-Wakefield also a consideration if none come up. If we want to stay tall, then it is definitely a suitable game for Adams to gain experience. Being a night game and Gawn's fitness dominance, I suspect there will be little value in having Heath, so a second change could happen. And a third change could be leaving out Laurie with Henderson's big VFL game rewarded. But I am happy with just the one switch or whatever Kingy wants. How can you not be happy with anything we do at the moment. Who would have thought that we would play Tholstrup as our proxy full-back doing kick-ins and it worked a treat and most of the time he played on and nullified Zac Bailey. It was great stuff. Or that Ed would become a running half-back to utilise his discipline and smarts. Even greater stuff!

Trac may be missing his chance to catch up with the boys but Gold Coast has been awesome thus far with their pace off the back and their power through the middle on top of the King and Read show. Thankfully Humphreys is also out so that will help us stay in the contest. I reckon the Suns might bring in a third tall - Walter or Jamarra - to help cover the loss of goalscoring power that Trac and Humphreys provide. Either way I know everyone is more interested in our side and I have three players in the gun. 1) Firstly Latrelle - he's now played three games and scored one goal and dropped almost as many marks as he's had disposals. He can run, we all know that, but he is so far off the pace of AFL level it's not funny. I watched him train a bit pre-season and he's freakish, but he needs to be freakish in the weightroom and he needs to work even harder on his ability to stick marks. I don't want to see him in the side again until he's dominating at VFL level. Kingy has to be very careful how he words it so that it doesn't impact Kozzie, but he needs to be told sympathetically. Good news: If Kingy is worried about losing run, then Moniz is the obvious addition, albeit down back with Lindsay moving up to the wing and Langford being sent to high half-forward. 2) Secondly Jiath - yep I know he's injured anyway but some of his ball movement in the first half had Carlton and Hawthorn fans cheering more than we were cringeing. I'm sure I'm not alone in seeing it and I know I'm not alone in saying it but the excitement of his early standout training sessions has subsided. He may be too flawed now to make it even after a lengthy stint in the VFL, but if he works on his gameplan maybe he will be ready to impact for us. Good news: We drafted an absolute gun in Xavier Taylor who can play a similar role, albeit with more polish and more ability to intercept. We are now three games into the season and this guy has to play. Just has to. 3) Thirdly Petty - does anyone have stats of the number of stupid free kicks this guy gives away each week or the number of times he slows ball movement down trying to play safe. I loved his effort in the ruck in Rd 1 and I think we all got excited by his 2021 year when he spoiled like his life depended on it, but which senior player is underperforming and has been almost every week. Sure Goody mucked him up by sending him forward but unfortunately he's yet to really become the reliable senior defender that we need and it's time to move him on. The other issue for the Gold Coast game is that he doesn't have enough pace for King or Walter on the lead and we are already playing two slowish talls in T-Mac and Lever. If one of them was injured or out then I'm happy for him to play, but T-Mac saved us time and time again against the Blues and deserves to stay in. Good news: We have a player in Jed Adams who is the fastest player in the side and showed how that benefits in his only game on Naughton last year. Sure Adams has taken time to develop, he's a laconic WA country boy after all, but he deserves his chance. He will make mistakes, but don't serve up that argument when comparing him to Petty. His time is now. I also would like to see Max Heath play, especially given his solid pre-season. But I accept that unless the Suns bring back Moyle, I can't see that happening this week. Playing him would stretch their three tall defenders - Collins, Andrew and Ballard - but so far this year we've been keen on a smaller forward set up and Paddy Cross needs another week. And I haven't forgotten Rivers. He just needs a week in VFL to harness and harden up his midfield game. Sparrow showed what he could do in that area and along with Steele and Tholstrop, we have some real grunt to go with the pace of Kozzie and Windsor. It's up to Trent to get down and dirty, racking up huge numbers in both tackles and disposals. He's certainly good enough, he just needs to add a bit more of the tough streak to his game.

What a difference a half makes and it was certainly a day when our senior players - who now include Chandler and Sparrow - stood up and were carried along by the Kozzie second-half show. 6 Kozzie 5 Gawn 4 Steele - he played four quarters and his efforts to quell Cripps when the Tholstrop tag failed was amazing. 3 Lever - had a great match up exploiting Kemp's lack of marking power, but also rebounded with (dare I say it) dash. 2 Chandler - he's a real goer now and his second quarter when chips were still down was huge. 1 Sparrow - back in the guts for a lot of it with Rivers out and showed his workrate in there.

I may have a slightly different view to most of you but I am a little surprised that everyone is saying T-Mac replaces Turner this week. Given that our emphasis under Kingy is speed of ball movement and on top of that the slight tweaks to rules (quick ball ups, out of bounds etc) have increased speed throughout the AFL game as a whole, I am a little surprised that Jed Adams isn't one of our three tall backmen, especially now that we have lost Turner's pace. Adams played well last week in VFL (I am reliably told) and is the quickest guy over 100m at the club. Kozzie would easily beat him over 20m though. King has already shown his liking to prioritise playing the fittest players at our club and that's partly why our best 2km men Kolt and Sharpy are in the side and they have rewarded him by being two of our best players both weeks. But adding T-Mac alongside Lever and Petty does not imbue our defence with the pace needed to play at such a breakneck level of 2026. I am very happy for T-Mac to come back in because he provides versatility and has a little more height to play on Hudson O'Keefe or McKay. But it should be at the expense of either Lever or Petty. Adams should replace Turner. And clearly our other defenders should be on notice because Xavier Taylor must play in the very near future because he is our future. Finally I'd also say that as much as I enjoyed the spark that Latrelle provided against St Kilda, his game against Freo was not up to standard and he should be given a firm reminder over the next two weeks by watching Sunday from the stands and the following week by playing in the VFL. While Laurie deserves his spot, I'd say it's hard not to bring in the lively and somewhat manic pace of Moniz-Wakefield. I'd even say there is a case to drop Sparrow for Laurie, but I can't see that happening. My changes: In: Adams, Moniz-Wakefield, T-Mac, Laurie. Out: Turner (injured), Lever, Latrelle P, Sparrow. Expected changes: In: T-Mac, Moniz-Wakefield. Out: Turner, Latrelle P

I am probably in the no change basket, unless there's an injury given it was such a team effort, although I agree both Melky and Moose would be unlucky to miss and I certainly am keen to see Xavier Taylor get a game ASAP. Ultimately only Lever played poorly and he's been one of our better players all pre-season, so you don't change your defensive structure after one bad game and he is critical to our defensive setup. Good to see King rewarding and being rewarded by our two fittest players - Sharp and Kolt - and I'm keen to see if Tholstrop goes to Serong or just plays wing/half back this week. Sparrow should also be better this week as he was the one that lost most of his midfield role to allow Kolt to keep manning NAS when he went into the centre square. If Darcy plays, I am not against a hard call on Sparrow for Heath, but I don't reckon it will happen.

Wow, I have 30 players still in the mix for Rd 1 after our game yesterday. From the squad of 26 that played v North, add Culley, Melky and Petty if fit and Gawn. Ironically our two worst performers yesterday were our two best the week before. While Windsor is still a cert for Rd 1, Jeffo probably played himself out of the side, especially with Luka and Moose so good. And while Luka showed he is highly capable in the ruck, can we go with him against the Saints who have jumping jack TDK and Marshall. Would Moose be better as back-up given his extra height and ruck prowess and the fact that it's his old side? A good showing against the Tiges by any of those three will tip the balance their way I reckon. But it's great situation to be in and so nice that DLers are all up and about now.

Based on what I saw, here's my stab at our team as it stands, minus all the injured players - I included Mihocek in the injured, but he did do most of the match sim today. This is my fourth pre-season session this year I've attended and my standouts have been - Kossie, Culley, Roo, Windsor and Salem (missing today of course) - but remember these 14 or 15-man style games suit running players who like space. Defenders (7) - We have lost quite a few of our small brigade and contrary to articles, Moniz-Wakefield would be a long shot to make it in time for Rd 1 as he is still in a graduated rehab phase. Smalls/Mids - Lindsay (may even do kick-ins if Salem is out for a while), CJ, Taylor and Howes Talls - Lever, Adams (based on desire to blood him and he does bring closing speed, but T-Mac has looked better and May is clearly better but out of favour), Turner Midfielders (9 includes ruck) - Based on today Heath gets in, but obviously Gawny is expected to be raring to go well before then. 1st rotation - Pickett (licence), Rivers, Steele; 2nd rotation - Windsor (licence), Sparrow, Langford* (also some wing duties). Wings: Culley, Langdon, Ruck: Heath (Gawn when fit) Forwards (7) - Roo, Fritsch and Chandler would be first picked and from then it's a bit of a lottery, but I'd expect the excitement of Latrelle will see him named for Rd 1. Personally I'd play May up forward, but that seems unlikely based on the training I've seen. Mihocek would play Rd 1 if fit as well. Smalls: Chandler, Latrelle. Mids: Fritsch, Tholstrup (just, although Mentha was busy today, but mega fumbly). Talls: JVR (playing lead-up high), Johnson (back up ruck), Jefferson (certainly not my choice, but it seems likely he will be trialled again more from the goalsquare). Left out based on today, but you'd think will be ready by Rd 1: Gawn, Mihocek, Salem, Petty Left out but unlikely to be ready by Rd 1: Viney, Melksham, Bowey, AMW. It's still a very decent side, even with our injuries, and the difference from recent years is that it is a very quick unit. Our issue will be our toughness in the contest, but we will play at breakneck speed. PS: Bet you I forgot someone!

Wow, these videos/songs are fantastic. The words are just so good and so appropriate and rhythmically clever. Who is the singer - is that you Six6Six? If so outstanding, so inspirational. Even if it is AI it's unbelievably good and the pics are memorable. At least one of these videos should be shown at our club B&F. Can't wait for your next instalments.

What a difference three months make? It was hard not to be impressed by the new faces and the speed of the new-look squad. Gone are the distractions - sorry Trac and Olly - and in is pace. Sure we only had about 20min of match sim but you couldn't but help notice that slow, precise build-ups are out, replaced by manic speed of ball movement. Almost everyone who has commented has noticed CJ's run and I am trying to remember a bigger early-season influencer or wow factor - he already shapes as the recruit of the year. He didn't just run and carry and kick long drop punts down the wing to Windsor - he also laid a couple of crunching tackles - one on Langford was a clear free kick to our second-year player. When coupled with Kozzie's constant pressure and elite kicking, it's hard not to see why there's a sense of excitement. It was also hard not to like Brody Mihocek's lead up work, Turner's intercepting, Gawny and May's presence and the extra competitiveness of Sparrow, Culley and Laurie in the midfield. As someone said earlier, Xavier Taylor may not be a Rd 1 lock just yet, but he did show a willingness to take the game on - even after he was caught taking a little too long to dispose of the ball on a couple of occasions. All in all there must be 30 players at least in the mix for Rd 1 based on what I saw and that doesn't include Viney (rehab) and Adams (absent) who I'd expect to be ready post-X-mas. And I imagine there's another thread for it, but guessing the Rd 1 team of 23 correctly would pay about 5000-1 at this stage. Please note: this is not a queue for more Werridee stabs at his best 23, god help us!

I actually reckon our depth now is better than last year. Defenders (7) - Adams, May, Lever, Turner, Jiath, Salem, Bowey Wings (3) - Langdon, Lindsay, Culley (also fwd) Mids (6) - Pickett (also fwd), Rivers, Steele, Viney, Langford (also fwd), Windsor Rucks (2) - Gawn, Petty (also fwd) Forwards (5) - Mihocek, JVR, Chandler, Sparrow, Fritsch Emerg: Tholstrop, Melksham, Heath Fringe: T.Mac, Sharp, Laurie, Moniz-Wakefield

As someone who has for some time been critical of the role played by Tim Lamb in the post 2021 period, I have to backtrack and say that in the past two weeks Lamb has achieved one of the greatest back-from-the-dead performances by a list manager in recent history and all credit to him. This is the same guy who has made one mistake after another since 2021 - almost single-handedly bringing down the club whether it be a litany of terrible recruits from other clubs, the missed trade chances for draft deals (read Petty or the last two year's amazing deals to Gold Coast and Essendon for access to picks that saw us secure Tholstrop and Lindsay) or the incompetent decision to sign Oliver to a seven-year contract extension on massive money in 2022, a deal where he appeared to have no awareness or ignored significant off-field issues that already had surfaced with Clayton. Even this year I was gobsmacked at his decision to sign Kossie for nine years, when a five-year deal on more money would have made more sense in my view. However in the past three weeks he has been dealt with some tricky cards and while time, the new coach and luck with injuries will tell the full future story, I cannot but feel he has just made amends in the best and biggest possible way. Sure we all loved Trac, but he clearly has not been happy with his lot at Melbourne since his life-threatening injury and the deal with Gold Coast is a cracker with us clear winners, although the Suns achieved two second-round picks that help their academy kid points cause. Don't forget, John Ralph was originally saying pick seven was all that we would get for Trac. Sure Olly has been a superstar and a Goody favourite at the club since he arrived in 2015. His effort to win four best and fairests including the premiership year just shows what an inspired draft choice he became before his sad demise in the past two and a half years. On the surface we have all heard the positive spin-doctoring on him from Gawny and others on how Clayton had become a better person this year, but clearly that view was something of a smokescreen. King came in and effectively said he didn't want the unnecessary distraction and Lamb has had to make the best of the situation, fully knowing that once the "we're happy for him to look elsewhere," mandate went up, he was a lost cause as a trade bait scenario. What was most pleasing was that for the first time in Lamb's reign, he stayed abreast of what was going on at other clubs. I suspect he made several calls to Kingy in the past week, checking to see if our new coach valued and rated Jiath and Steele. While nabbing Steele from the Saints for virtually nothing was no biggie given like Oliver, his club had expressed a desire to lose him, the acquisition of Jiath for pick 41 was mega impressive. The Hawks would doubtless have asked Lamb for our pick 24 or 28 to help their Merrett chances and some would say that Jiath was worthy of that sort of pick. But Lamb stood his ground on those two picks and as a result we have a first-rounder for next year from the Suns. Even more pleasing was that Lamb only gave Jiath a three-year deal rather than getting caught up in a five-year push from his manager. Earlier in the draft he had also addressed pressing list issues by recruiting a gutsy key forward in Mihocek, albeit one who is getting slower these days, and again he got the deal done without losing any significant draft collateral. Those with long memories will recall the Craig Turley at 30 first-round deal and based on Lamb's past indiscretions I had a real fear that he'd offer something overs. And he didn't fall for the uncontracted player loophole, which would have meant our pick 41 for Spargo was diluted. He also addressed our future ruck stocks by securing Max Heath, again for virtually nothing. Heath has some great highlights from Sandringham and whilst he may well still fail to shape up to the AFL level, he is well-worth a stab - after all that's what we've been doing for over a decade now, I think we have now had 10 ruck stabs and all have been failures. Jackson and Grundy are not in that league - there was no punt involved in assessing their ability. I suspect Heath impressed Tom Campbell enough at Sandy in his time there and he would have provided a bit of intel on him. Regardless though, it solves the ruck back-up problem for a couple of years. It's now over to Jason Taylor to see if he can snare a couple of classy kids with picks 7 and 8 and another handy one at 37 before adding White and Sinnema as rookies. But I reckon Tim Lamb would have enjoyed a well-earned sleep last night. It was a phenomenal effort from him and one that I'm happy to admit, in Mark Neeld style, that I didn't see coming.

I think his pace would be a great asset and I assume Kingy likes him and has given Lamb a tick of approval. Hopefully Lamb doesn't offer him a five-year contract. As to the trade pick, I would have thought somewhere near our picks 28 and 41 is about right.

Would be great if we could keep pick 23 and offer the Suns our two other second rounders in return.

To me the Trac deal is a watershed moment for Tim Lamb - although it can be argued he's already been on the losing end of enough watershed moments. If Lamb manages to facilitate the trade of Trac for Bailey Humphrey he gets a big tick. If he can't get Humphrey, then getting Gold Coast's pick 6 and 7 (via St Kilda and Sam Flanders) is also a big tick as it will give JT another two high picks to formalise a very impressive bunch of under 24s. Quite likely he would have to send our three second rounders back to GC as part of that trade, giving them the points they need for the Academy kids. But ultimately the above two scenarios are the only ones which would give Lamb any credibility, no matter what type of spin he tries to put on it post trade.

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.