Deespicable

Just in case anyone thought our loss to West Coast was an aberration, we got confirmation that finals are beyond us this year and a reboot is required. The loss of Lever and Van Rooyen hurt, but it was more the lack of unity across the entire ground as kicks were missed and confidence level dropped to the Neeld era. It will be a huge task for Goody this week to restore our players faith in each other.

There is always a game where you realise your side and list is not quite good enough to win a flag and this was it for me. It was also a game where we all saw why we offered three first rounders (two last year, one this year) for Harley Reid which at the time I thought was exorbitant, but clearly was not given his match winning ability. Based on Goody's post-game quotes, it appears that even Goody is aware that his list has flaws and he will need to tinker with things to give us a better shot at it. Some of the tinkers will come at the mid-season draft where Tubby Taylor should get two shots at unearthing players who could add something - replacements for Brayshaw and Joel Smith. The others will be to his line-up for the Saints and while I reckon his conservative approach will see just three changes, he could make a statement and make up to five. Clearly we missed both Langdon's run and Rooey's competitiveness and they are montes to come back. And we will lose Lever. Ben Brown's mobility at 31 means he is also out. Jack Billings is tricky in that he is set to play his old side and will want to make a point. But I think we again saw when he again missed a set shot from close range that the mental side of his game has been ruined by being at the Saints for so long. Billings is a beautiful kick and has amazing vision, but sadly in front of goals he loses his mojo and he no longer has the line-breaking ability or the presence in tight. He was worth a try and for all those who think we got it wrong, please remember that Collingwood was also into him and could see the potential if he could overcome his mental gremlins. Blake Howes has taken a huge step forward this year and being a quick defender (yes he was a winger last year) with good height he has the tools to make it. He has also now had a good taste of it and shown that he is almost there. But he now needs to go back for a few weeks and dominate at VFL level and take the game on more. As a medium defender with a long kick, he has to provide instant rebound and so far he's shown us that he can play pretty tight, but he lacks the physicality and the attacking presence. Tom Sparrow is a goer. He works his butt off and he is genuinely a key member of our midfield grunt team. But he's just not impacting enough in the midfield transition and his link-up work lacks quality. It is time for a new role - some would say in the VFL, but I reckon he's so disciplined that a role down back beckons. A few of questioned McAdam, but he's only played one game and deserves another shot at it. Complicating things is that Sestan, who can play the similar goal square lead-up role is ready to debut. Sestan's debut will have to wait but at least we have another option. Chandler is another who needs a rethink. He's too small and not quite quick enough to be an explosive small forward against the good sides, but like Sparrow, he has an incredible attitude and his work ethic is top notch. He is also clever and has good vision and he can kick it a long way for a little bloke - to me he's ideal for our left-side wing. I's time to try Bowey in a new role - to me he deserves a shot in our midfield or as a small forward, because if he gets it around the 50m mark he can go bang or is clever with his dink kicks. As a defender he's just not quite providing the drive we need and we want the ball in his hands because he can use it. Finally the Petty situation is also tricky because aside from the Cats game, the switch forward has been a flop. Yet he's the one player who can mark it when he goes the big fly. With Lever out, he's ideal to have a week off forward duties and play the sweeper/intercept role on Owens. Tommo deserves a game but I don't see T.Mac being capable of keeping up with Owens, so he has to play on Caminiti with Maysie on Max King. Finally there are many who say Windsor needs a break this week and they might be right. But if he plays he will be able to play on Darcy Wilson and that is an ideal match-up for both of them. As to who comes in aside from JVR and Ed, we do need to see what Fullarton can do. Sure he may not make it, but we recruited him as back-up and he deserves a shot at it. And if he can't win it, then sub him off and flip Petty forward. The other player that is an obvious sub is Tholstrop. In terms of Saints, Ross loves tagging and will have a plan for Trac, but I'd start him forward each quarter and give him a run on the ball midway through each quarter. Apologies to Moniz-Wakefield and Sestan but I'm sure they've been told they are close. So after all that: Out: Lever (conc), Howes, B.Brown, Billings In: JVR, Langdon, Fullarton, Tholstrop. B: McVee May T.Mac HB: Sparrow Petty Salem C: Windsor ANB Chandler HF: Bowey JVR Langdon F: Pickett Petracca Fritsch Ru: Gawn Oliver Viney Int: Rivers (def), Fullarton (fwd), Woewodin (wing/def), McAdam (fwd) Tholstrop (sub)

While I like the fact that you have spotted the key changes, please don't try and make out that Goody is a clever coach. We are now in an era where the coaches train players in their three parts of the ground and generally are way to scared to rock the boat and switch them. In the old days when players actually had a direct opponent and not a zone area to man, coaches would swing players who were getting beaten around all the time - the Rev was a master of it, while further back Barass made his reputation on it. Not for the first time this year Petty was getting beaten, as was Turner - both defenders by trait. Weitering is a great player, so Petty was always going to be up against it, McGovern had Fritters measure, even Cincotta was chasing down Kozzie. Down back T.Mac had made two massive howlers and was coming off a five-day break and is 31. At what point did the coach think, hey I'll send Turner or Petty back and bring T-Mac forward or if that doesn't work, take T.Mac off early so we had more run. That is not a slight on T-Mac, he's been pretty handy this year, but he's 31 and coming off a game where he had to run everywhere to keep up with Cameron and that's they type of scenario when five days can be a factor. You are allowed to switch players or sub them off - have a look at what Freo did last week - they played Fyfe as the sub so that he could play a full game tonight because there was just a five-day break. That's smart management. Goody has never understood that stuff. True, Goody figured that given Trac couldn't get it in the midfield he'd send him forward - that in itself is a huge lightbulb moment for Goody. And after kicking our first two and getting the momentum back, what did Goody do - he watched as Trac was taken off right in front of him because of rotations - don't worry about the fact that we were finally on a roll and our forwards were gaining confidence having Trac around. Goody allowed the same thing to happen in the third term. It was only in the last term when blind freddie could see that Trac was the factor that he left him on the entire quarter as full forward. Using ANB as a Walsh tag was also in the captain obvious category. ANB has always been our fittest runner and is the only player with the tank that could go with him. Yes it required a restructure and yes I should give more credit to Goody for allowing it to happen. But don't tell me it was revolutionary. What should happen now is that Goody should start thinking are there any other gun midfielders who we can use ANB on to quell - most likely after halftime when tiredness creeps in for most - Lachie Neale rd 16 is one I'd have in mind for ANB. There's no need for it to happen every week - just use it was a weapon when needed to break up our predictability. What I do give Goody credit for is that he seems to have the players' support - I think in his desperation to cover up any of his own misdemeanours, we the public don't really get to see the confident supportive character that I suspect he is behind the scenes.

6 Petracca- what a game as our full forward - kicked five and set up at least four others - plus was sent to the bench every time he kicked a goal in first three quarters - that way Goody made sure we didn’t get a run on. 5 ANB - what a super job after half time shutting down Walsh. 4 May - with Lever beaten early and T-Mac making howlers - Maysie was our best defender. 3 Viney - with Olly well beaten by Cripps and co and Gawny negated, it was up to our G&D man to spark us up in the middle. 2 Langdon - I really loved his run all night - made a mockery of Hollands early and then played half forward with ANB tagging. 1 Sparrow - would have been in our best three if he lowered his eyes a few times. honorable mention to Rooey who was almost in our best six.

I just hope the match panel learn from what happened when we went with virtually the same 22 in games against Port and Adelaide with a five-day break followed by an embarrassing loss to Brissy. The Cats and Blues games with five days between them should be viewed together and plans made to overcome the fatigue that such a schedule entails. To me that means having Fullarton playing at least one of the two games with the hope that Gawny can have a bit of a rest in one. That also means clever use of the sub in both games to ensure at least one prime mover (Trac, Olly and Viney) isn't too sore from backing up. The thing is the Cats are a physical, intense team, but apart from Holmes they aren't especially quick, so we need tough bodies for this one. Then against the Blues we will need more pace because they have outside runners like Hollands boys, Cottrell, Saad (if fit) plus quick small forwards - Owies, Fantasia. There were only two players who on form come out of the game against Tigers - Petty and Woey. Chandler had a howler, but has been great for five weeks, Howes and Billings both looked more comfortable but are still on my watch list, Sparrow was poor but is well-suited to take on the Cats where his bodywork on Danger and Bruhn will be key or if we decide to use him in a negating role on Miers. Some will say Hore should replace Joey, but we need run from down back and while Bowey is getting close, I suspect he will need one more week - he's an ideal inclusion for the Blues game I reckon if fit by then. To me, I'd be thinking about match-ups v the Cats - McVee on Stengel, May on Hawkins, T-Mac further up field on Cameron, Lever on O.Henry, Howes on Close and Rivers on the spare and then the decision on who to play on Miers is crucial. He's their most dangerous player at the moment and must be tagged/played tight - part of me says send Sparrow back, part of me says select Hunter for the job because as we saw last year, he's mega disciplined and hard and smart. He's not mega quick, but neither is Miers, so he won't get exposed for pace, like whoever plays on Holmes or Close will. If Sparrow is chosen for the job on Miers, then I'd take the risk and name McAdam as the sub. So I'd go: Out: Petty, Woey In: Fullarton, Hunter If he's not the sub, then I'd also have plans to just play McAdam for half or three quarters of the VFL game on Saturday, so that he comes straight in the following week with Bowey.

Petty was rushed back from injury, was still in trial mode as a forward and is now totally devoid of confidence - both with his kicking and his play and he's never been a quick mover of the ball in transition. His only contribution in five games now has been going back against Port when we lost May and Lever and making a couple of nice spoils and marks. But both May and Lever are healthy again and in great form and T-Mac has adequately filled his spot down back. We've now had five weeks of trying to run Petty into form as a forward and it's not working - he needs to find confidence at a lower level - games against De Koning and Weitering aren't going to be the answer. By dropping him, nobody is saying he can't play - what it is saying is that he needs to have the pressure taken off him, get a few easy marks down back at VFL level before a recall when one of our tall defenders is injured or T-Mac loses his way. You only had to look at his last couple of plays in the game against Richmond to see where his head is at presently.

6 Gawn - will be interesting to see if Goody snubs him again in coaches' votes 5 Lever - superb marking and spoiling and I don't remember more than one clanger kick. 4 Turner - some times things just fall your way and he now shapes as our Joel Smith surprise packet from late last year - note: I am talking about Joe's impact on forward line. 3 May - dropped a couple of marks but gees his kicking is a work of power art. 2 Pickett - the spark up forward all night with his pressure 1 Rivers - another really good game and he's starting to hold his intercept marks.

Yep, after staying so loyal to the boys in Adelaide and overlooking any five-day break tiredness, I reckon we now face a few tricky decisions. Firstly we need to find a small defender to replace Salem and the loss of Bowey also hurts that area. The obvious move, to me, is to send Ed back and bring in Hunter to the left-side wing. Ed is a good match up for Baker or Bolton or M.Rioli with McVee getting one as well. Kozzie comes in up forward and that means Kolt goes out, but hopefully he is retained as the sub - an ideal role for him I suspect at this stage of his development. The other must-play is Bailey Laurie - you don't lay 20 tackles and get ignored - to not play him this week is to say, extraordinary effort means nothing. Yes, I like many of you, have doubts about Bill - whether he has enough speed to make the big time, but he deserves to play against one of the weaker sides and he deserves to play in the middle so everyone can assess his worth. He's 22, he's fit and if he is going to make it, it is now. Given Oliver's surgery, it is the ideal time to play Bill in the guts instead of him. Then there's the issue of the forward line and getting the guy we recruited as a Gawn helper a game. Fullarton may not have kicked straight but he apparently dd enough to warrant coming in. And as with Laurie, a game against a weaker opponent is ideal to see how a player fits in. So he must play and the question is which of our big forwards come out and clearly all three of them were quite putrid for three quarters against the Lions, so it's a tricky task dropping one and not the other - but it must be done as this is the week to find out if Fullarton can provide a spark and ruck back-up. So for me it's: Out: Salem, Oliver and one of the three bigs. In: Laurie, Hunter, Fullarton And there should be close watched on the following: Blake Howes - his form has slipped a bit since rd 1 and I suspect he's quite tense pre-game as his first quarters recently have all be howlers. It's a big ask to become a regular in a top-tier side, but he does seem to have both the skills with his long kicking and the speed and with his height can play on mid-sized players - Dusty this week? But he has to have the confidence to say I can cope at this level, just as McVee had to last week. Jack Billings - we all saw how good he can be against Hawthorn, but since then he seems to lack confidence in his abilities - a legacy of all those bad Sainter years I reckon. It didn't help last week when Jack Viney ignored him on a really good lead, but he has to rise above it and back himself in and kick cleanly when he has shots on goal. We wanted him back in 2013 and he brings a lot of the qualities we need with his running power and skill. he also is not a bad tackler, even if if Ross didn't think so. But he has to believe in himself more or his career is all over. Woey: He's been on the fringe for over a year now and he's yet to really show he belongs. A spot in our back seven has become available and now's the time for him to grab it. He's a lovely kick and he does have smarts - he's now got to translate them all to an AFL game.

6 Gawn - our only clear winner. 5 Rivers - a very good first half 4 Chandler - the only player up forward that looked dangerous. 3 T.Mac / solid game down back mainly on Gardiner. Should have been sent forward and swapped with Petty at halftime but the coach was also in bye mode. 2 Langdon - ran hard all night. 1 Viney - beaten badly in the first half like all our midfielders but came out after half time and provided a gutsy spark.

Hard to believe that there are a few bloggers who think we have this game in bag. The Crows will be so fired up for us it ain’t funny. If we win this we are in great shape, but psychology this week is all in Adelaide’s favour, irregardless of how much better a side we are than them. Hopefully we rest a couple of those with knocks given it is just a five-day break. Hard to see Chandler playing and even though I agree with those who say May shouldn’t play, I am sure Goody will rush him back. Billings spot also in question. Hopefully Kolt plays but I reckon they will bring in Laurie for Chandler, May for Hore and Woey for Billings with Kolt possibly the sub.

Suggest you go back and watch the replay. Petty went forward after half time and then was sent back again in final term where he played a very good quarter. It was the first time under Goodwin that I have seen a player moved twice and just shows the value of having flexible players who can play at both ends.

Agree we will not have a hard tag as Sparrow, Viney and ANB (when in there) are all highly disciplined and will play close to Butters and Rozee and the hyphen if he plays. But a hard tag will go on Oliver by Drew. As to our lineup, I just hope Goody and his team finally realise that backing up five days requires fresh legs to win, unless you face a team on a similar five-day break. So even though I don't expect them to play this one, both Fullarton and Kolt should be inclusions for the Adelaide game with our ageing warriors Ben Brown and T-Mac rested along with any other players that pull up sore. But given it has taken more than two years for Goody to realise that picking the smallest side in competition history is a no-no, then I don't hold out much hope for a clever overall plan for two games in five days

Yep Hawks were almost as dirty as the Lethal days. But we coped well and one of the reasons that I hope everyone is aware of is that we have gone back to picking a tall side - the same combination that took us to the 2021 flag in fact. And surprise, surprise our small forwards look even more lethal - probably because there isn't 10 of them queuing up for a spill that never comes. And we looked like a senior side - unlike the junior-sized rabble we threw out on to the field last finals and in round zero against the Swans. This is not to say that Spargo and Bowey and Laurie aren't good players - it's just that when the balance is all askew, you end up creating problems that you can't overcome. But don't get too excited - the Power will be a huge task next week - they have a gun midfield like ours and plenty of bigs to quell.

Let's hope Goody doesn't go back to fielding a side full of smalls - the balance of bigs and littles was just so much better than against Sydney, not to mention that we have a better balance of quicks and slows this year with Windsor complimenting Kozzie, Langdon etc. This week the Hawks are likely to have Lewis, Chol and either Gunston or Kossy, which means we can again go big down back. Personally I don't see how anyone could drop Brown after his game, but if they are desperate to play him, then happy for him to be the sub.

Wow, I cannot believe Tommo is out. He was one of our best against Sydney and I just checked to see if the Dogs were going small like us, but no they've picked Naughton (May), Ugle-Hagn (Lever) and Lobb (Hore). Of course it's possible that T-Mac will come in and play down back on Lobb, but like many here, the shock is how Tomlinson gets the chop after Amartey and McDonald virtually diodn't touch it and only Mclean took a few marks - one was clearly Gawn's fault, another was on May and yes I think one was on Tommo. This is not to say that Tommo is a must play team member, it's just that T-Mac isn't either anymore and I can only presume that T-Mac will be in the final and play on Lobb. Of course, it's possibe that Goody will go even smaller than last week - leaving out T-Mac, BBB and Fullarton from the extended squad. That may sound fanciful to some of you, but given the obsession that Goody has with smalls, he might just even smaller.

Goodwin - small minded belligerence

6 Viney - into it from word go 5 May - always in correct position 4 Tomlinson - one of his best games ever - Amartey and McLean quiet, except latter had hot period on Gawn in Thursday term 3 Salem - quick thinking all night 2 Fritter - gets this for the quality of his third term but he only had six posies. 1 Oliver - as with Trac, fumbly early but kept at it all night. Kicking let him down a fair bit.

Agree with all you said except there has been no quick ball movement. Just boring short stuff with a couple of panicle dumps.

By the way Schache has presented well and covered heaps of ground. Dropped a pretty easy one in second term but otherwise has been quite serviceable.

Yep. That’s because we decided to bring back Spargo. Size doesn’t matter, says Goody!

Swans doing plenty of short chip kicks which is safe but boring. we are wasting chances like last year and noticeably fell away for five minutes whenp Gawny was off. viney best, Windsor impressive as is Bowey and Tomlinson but Spargo short of a gallop which is not surprising given he was rushe back into a side that was already the smallest in the league. Go figure. cooler wind coming through now so slippery skill induced errors may be less in second half.

Highly unlikely to be any changes, other than Kozzie, from the side that defeated Carlton. The Swans are likely to go big, so we have to make sure we are tall enough though, especially as the SCG is a short ground, suited to bigs. Unless we have banned Oliver, then he has to play and with Kozzie out, there's a spot for him. The big issue is the sub. Normally we go small and a player like Tholstrup would be ideal, except that in our case we have to have a back up big because if we lose one of our bigs, we are then in danger of being smashed in the air - Sydney will have Grundy, Ladhams, McDonald, Amartey and possibly even McLean. Personally I'd have Fullarton, so that he can cover the rucks, but I am not sure how well he went in reserves - if he struggled then it lends itself to T-Mac being sub. That means: B: McVee May Tomlinson HB: Rivers Lever Bowey C: Langdon Salem Windsor HF: ANB Schache Billings F: Chandler JVR Fritsch Ru: Gawn Petracca Viney Int: Sparrow, Oliver, Howes (def) Laurie (fwd) Sub: Fullarton Emerg: K.Brown, T.Mac, Tholstrup

Well quite a surprise - who would have thought we'd be well on top. The Blues kicked with a slight breeze that term and made inroads early, but once Caleb Windsor burst forward and displayed his outside pace and kicked truly from 45m, we totally dominated. Windsor will play rd 1, but there was plenty of other things to like. Salem showed he can fill Gus's smarts role in the middle, Sparrow lockdown role on Cripps gives us the hard-edge we gave up when we stopped playing Harmes as a tagger, Kozzie mega dangerous in middle and up forward, JVR super up forward, spanking Kemp, although if Weitering was there it might be different, Fritter all class, except he's got the yips with his set shots, ANB lively cutting inboard, Viney diving on everything and everybody, Trac in vintage Dusty-class form and even helping up his opponents up again and Rivers and Bowey providing drive and precision off half-back. But there was one player who took his game into another universe - big Max. What a leadership game, given the chaos the club has been under. And unlike against Richmond, he's been getting to the front of every throw-in and as a result unstoppable. Admittedly Pittonet doesn't have the speed of Ryan, but Max must be about 125SC points in the first half.

Not a good night for Werridee. His two most hated players - Tomlinson and Schache - both prominent early. And on top of that Howes had an exceptional first term. Oh dear, I feel another team coming!

Assuming we are only allowed 23 for this game, then I reckon we have to name Verrall as the sub, because we need to rest Gawny and fellow older statesman May in these practice games and so we have to have a big player as back-up - I get that the pacey, small guy is the preferred option as sub in real matches, but in our case we have to think a little bit carefully with our senior members at this practice stage of season. I also think we need to pick a team that will cope with the short SCG ground the following week and that means we can't throw Schache out and go even smaller than we are at the moment - and I have said many times previously here, we are the smallest side in the comp already. And I am hoping that the loss of Petty, Fullarton, B.Brown and T-Mac through injury means we at least trial out the only potentially other damaging tall forward on our list to accompany JVR. If you think about it, which of our defenders could play the key forward role well - Lever (not quite quick enough), Tomlinson (lack necessary pace and mobility), Adams (getting better but needs to be trialled as defender first\, Hore (a tad too small to be a forward), Rivers (ditto). Ahh yes, who is that other bug guy - his name is Steven May and he's the only player on our list, outside of Petty, that ticks enough boxes. Happy if we just use him there for a quarter, but we need the variety and toughness and long-kicking goals from 55m out that he would bring to our forward mix. Realise that May is our best option for Charlie as well, but reckon we have to try something radical other than just sending Trac up forward. Selectors have a tricky option for Carlton also of deciding whether to bring back Olly into seniors or whether he has to tick a few more boxes in the magoos. I've named him, but realise there's probably more club factors that will determine his team situation. B: McVee Tomlinson Hore HB: Rivers Lever Bowey C: Langdon Oliver Windsor HF: ANB JVR Billings F: Pickett May Fritsch Ru: Gawn Petracca Viney Int: Salem, Schache, Sparrow, Laurie Sub: Verrall If Oliver not allowed yet, then K.Brown to play Changes from Tigers match; Out: Howes, Chandler, K.Brown (yes he played well) In: Salem, Hore, Oliver Both Schache and Tomlinson have been kept because we need height and especially when we play Sydney at SCG.