Deespicable

Look as much as we are all hurting by that display, we clearly could not cope with the short break. The question that begs is why didn't the coaches see that coming and Burgo must share that blame bigtime. Bloody stubborn stupidity is what I'd say and Goody's loyalty to his favourites backfired when he opted to not bring in fresh legs. But what's more worrying is that I feel we have an exceptional list and I suspect a lot of you feel that way as well, and quite a few commentators do too. But we are underperforming chronically with a terrible panic gameplan, despite having what many feel is the best central midfield in the game. To me the blame gets back to one person and no matter how good he is as a bloke and no matter how much the players like him, he now has to be moved on. It's quite sad really because he had some good ideas - don't forget he was the first man to have an extra two run off the back through the middle before they changed to the 6-6-6 rule. Goody is also the only man to coach the Dees into the finals since 2006.

6 - Oscar - You knew from the first play when he ducked back behind his man to allow Georgiades space to run forward that this was his night. The comical stuff from the slowest player in the league continued when he avoided making a play just outside the goalsquare in the third term. 5 Pickett - Goody loves this guy and it's not hard to see why. Two goals in six games since the break - the same as Cody Weightman - except that's right, Cody was rested. Why. Perhaps Goody could ask Bevo why it's best to temper your excitement with a new toy. 4 Jackson - Action Jackson was everywhere and nowhere. Another kid who needed a break. But no we'll play him against the top side for his development. 3 Oliver - A week off via the tribunal will deprive all of us his exquisite kicking skills and also his favourite game of setting up a mate with a 2m handball. Best thing for him at moment is to sit up in the coaches box and see how a game flows. 2 Brayshaw - The world's best wingman with amazing leg-speed. No wonder the coach won't play him in the middle. 1 Hannan - Another who needed a break after a fumbly game against Brissy, but go figure. Let's play him again. While these guys were all eye-catching, the blame falls way more on the coach for not having read the signs that a four-day break might actually require some changes with fresh players.

Does anyone else find it amazing that we went with the four smallest forwards on our list in Rd 1 against a tall Eagles side, reverted to a one-pronged tall attack against Richmond (Rd 5, game four I think) and now we are going with three talls up forward for a night game. Does that sound like Goody has clarity about what structure to go with to you? Thankfully the weather forecast for Brissy is great for tonight so our bigs should be able to hold on to their marks, unlike last week when the greasy conditions spelt disaster for them.

It's a big game as Port will be fired up after their bad loss yesterday. I'm sure Goody won't make changes but he really should do the right thing by the older blokes and give both developmental players Jackson and Pickett a week off. They are exciting and I love watching them, but they are kids and Power will be a very physical game like the Lions. Pickett's net return the past few weeks has been really low, even though we all love him. Jetta will need a week off and has just four days and if anyone else is sore they should be rested. There are five guys waiting and deserving to come in - ANB, Rivers, T.Mac, Tomlinson and J.Smith.

6 Viney - kept fighting and chasing all night and almost got us across line late. 5 May - Huge factor on Hipwood who killed us last time. 4 Gawn - scragged and maimed but kept trying his darndest 3 Oliver - A couple of woeful early kicks but his workrate was amazing 2 Lockhart - Clean when others weren't. Intercepted courageously. What a game 1 Lever - Smart all night, even though he was less prominent than May.

Both RJay and AF are quick to point out that Oliver is a great handballer, RJay uses the word 'sublime' and AF says his handballing is 'incredibly damaging,' but I disagree entirely. A sublime handball is like the one Bennell did under pressure to Hannan last week and is going backwards to Smith as Oliver did three weeks ago incredibly damaging to anyone but our side? And what has been happening is that way too often is the panic handball he has used to Gawn or to Viney to avoid the tackle. He still did it twice last week, but there were so many more positives to his game. Oliver is a great exponent of the quick give, which often can break up the swarming numbers around the ball and give a teammate a chance to go forward. And Oliver certainly is not a woos. He goes hard at it. But what has infuriated me is that for the past four years no one seemed to take him to task for taking the safer, easier sideways or backwards release option to a player in no better position than he was. That was until the media two weeks ago turned on our club (we were 1-3 after all) and looked at our stuttering game plan. I can guarantee you that Goody and Ben Mathews sat down with Oliver after the Tigers game and went over where he was going wrong. It is only two weeks since his nadir, but already you can see him trying to look forward with his options. He's still a bit panicky, but I suspect that eventually he will become the genuine linebreaking A grader that we have all been waiting for. I've only met him once a few years back, but I suspect he still doubts his abilities a bit. He said to me back then that he was too slow, yet even back then I reckon he was among our top five players for speed. He is genuinely quick, not like Jayden Hunt, but more like Chris Judd. Yet up until the past two weeks he wasn't willing to use possibly his biggest asset because the safer, easier option was to give it off. I also reckon he is a good kick, even though he has made mention of his own poor kicking in interviews recently. As we saw in the Yarra comp, he can nail a torp and a drop punt. He still leans back a bit and his ball drop is sometimes from too high in his rush, but as with Trac, the more times he tries to make that long or clever play, the more he'll find his target. And he has great peripheral vision, so he will find his target more often than not once he has the confidence to use his foot skills. It is very unusual that a player who has won two best-and-fairests is being talked about as flawed, but I reckon in the past two weeks he's finally taking on the game (his only real flaw anyway) and whilst we may not see him at his best for a month or two yet as he adjusts to this new role, the base is now being laid. And with Trac more likely to be tagged than him, he will probably enjoy the extra freedom. As with our side, we are seeing a growth in Oliver taking place at the moment that will guarantee we are a formidable side in years to come.

As with all things this year, adapting to the latest requirements requires some thought. After Sunday, our Dees, like most other sides, face a tricky prospect with four games in 21 days Five-day break for Port (Thurs July 30), six-day break for Crows (Wed Aug 5), four-day break for North (Sun Aug 9) and six-day break for Pies (Sat Aug 15). To me, it is the ideal chance to use our depth, which I suspect is as good as almost any other side and adopt a rotational policy that helps most players avoid injury and tightness, although clearly the shorter games already have reduced the worry of backing-up quickly. We all know that no matter how much clubs tell us otherwise, they will not rest stars, unless they are injured - so there is no chance that Gawn and Trac are going to miss and in terms of importance an argument could also be made that May and Viney are critical in the roles they play and as leadership role models. That leaves 18 players who could be rotated six per week over the taxing period with the six most-likely back-ups coming into play (Jones, Smith, Rivers, ANB and Tomlinson, T.Mac). Assuming T.Mac replaces the injured VDB this week, how it could work is like this: v Port (rested O.Mac Jetta, Brayshaw, Melksham, Jackson, VDB (inj)) v Adel (rested Lever, Bennell, Oliver, Harmes, Weid, Salem) v North (rested Langdon, Hibberd, Lockhart, T.Mac, Fritsch, Pickett) v Pies (Jones, Smith, Rivers, ANB, Tomlinson and Hannan) While the above is a methodical approach, my guess is we will adopt more of an unplanned approach as all clubs tend to do. The big game v Port will mean there will hardly be a change, the extra couple of days before the Crows will mean all players put their hand up to play, and assuming we win that one, all players will be on a high and won't want to be rested for the North game. Then can you imagine any player claiming they are sore when a clash against the Pies is coming up. So as always, I suspect it will come down to genuine injuries or a poor showing to warrant change. But I'd thought I'd throw my model (above) out there for feedback anyway.

I still think that even though he's away from the Victorian hub, the message that he's now the coach under the most pressure in the AFL will reach Goody and he will be forced to take action and make a stand on unacceptable efforts and brainfades. So this is the week where Oliver and Melksham, two men that were integral in our rise up the ladder in 2018, will be made accountable and forced to watch on for a week. Jones and Brown take their spots. Tom Mac could also join them, but I suspect he will get another week. Hunt and Rivers will also go with Bennell and ANB back in the side. Tomlinson will start down back allowing Harley the wing. Jetta is likely to replace Smith (leaving Lever as the third tall). Then it's whether Goody wants to infuriate us all by recalling Oscar and Spargo as well. Ultimately pace will go out and smarter build up from the back will be what Goody will try and achieve. Out: Oliver, Melksham, Hunt, Rivers and J.Smith In: Jones, Brown, ANB, Bennell and Jetta

To me his lack of confidence going forward is now causing our whole side to second-guess themselves - the obvious doesn't happen because he turns sideways and backwards, even when he has room forward. It is quite depressing because we all know that when Olly arrived at the club he was the breath of fresh air that took us all the way to the 2018 finals but now his mix of self-preservation and fear of making mistakes is really hurting the team. I also noticed a tendency today where players kept looking for their mates - Tomlinson's gives to Langdon, Brayshaw's love-fest with Trac and Salem.

I am not sure about others, but apart from the dysfunctional lack of confidence going forward, the greatest disappointment to me was Olly. He is my favourite player, but his game today just encapsulates our problems. He has no idea what he is doing going forward and he panics and goes sideways and backwards and puts other under pressure and his lack of confidence taking the game on is just mind-boggling. We all delighted in his early years with his courage and quick-gives and we all thought that once the club forced him into wanting to kick and take the game on that he would become a superstar - but alas on his effort today - his two B&Fs will be his only awards. Goody was a tremendous worker, albeit a somewhat dour player, but he knew what to do. I don't understand why he hasn't explained to Olly the road forward with his game. The result is that the whole side is at the crossroads. It really is quite depressing.

Just watched the Cats game again and overall we played so well against a team of experienced old stagers. Almost everyone had their moments, so every omission is a big call, but clearly Bennell has to come in and to me we have to try a slightly different forward set-up so one of Weid, Jackson or Brown has to play as well. Seeing it again, Fritter had about five plays where he was in the box seat and each time Kolodashnij or Blicavs managed to save the day. Fritter was our standout player all pre-season so it would be a big call to drop him, but ultimately he may not have enough body strength as the key forward and will probably struggle against Grimes and Vlastuin who will be nudging him under almost every play. Weid or Brown may be better options in this area.

Given the lack of real games for our reserves side and the fact that we have a bit of a changing of the guard taking place, we need to keep turning the roster over. Vanders needs to go back for a week, partly because Jonesy is an SCG specialist. Melky likewise needs a week off, his spot should go to Bennell if fit and ANB if not. We have to play a second tall at the SCG, it is suicide not to, so either Weid or Jackson or Brown must play. Harmes's workrate is better suited to defence and a Heeney match up, so we can leave out a defender - Salem (if glandula impacted his game) or Rivers if not.

When you look at the number of times Blicavs got back and pressured and won the one-on-one battles, then you may realise that May's game was fairly ordinary again. Big Sav and TomaHawk were both dangerous all game. Hibberd and Smith were our best defenders, strange as it may seem.

6 Hibberd - brilliant first half, although a couple of late errors with dispsoals. But great comeback game and proof that this is the year to keep swinging changes. 5 Gawn - tried his darndest and how good was his scoop up down back in 2nd term I think. 4 Viney - attacked the game full on and was penetrating with his run and kicking. 3 Petracca - dangerous all game, but forced to go forward when T.Mac got injured. 2 Oliver - worked hard, but couldn't get free and do any damage. 1 Hannan - a couple of nice grabs, couple of great pressure tackles. Nice to see him back.

Wow what an incredibly hard job for the selectors this week. At least six very worthy players have put their hand up for a return - AVB, Weid, Lockhart, Pickett, Lockhart and Hannan. Two more - Hibberd and Brown - are playing their old side and our 23rd player Corey Wagner should be in the mix again as well. Against that we won, we also won with a largely experimental side (Rivers, Smith, Jackson, Bennell) and five of our most senior men had games that weren't their best. Further to that our experiment with pace seemed to have instant impact early, yet by the end we looked slow again. On top of all that we have newbies like Tomlinson and Langdon from last year trying to feel comfortable with our system. Wow, what a tricky situation. And it was everyone's first game in 82 days. And we won. Personally given all the above I'd just go NO CHANGE, unless there are injuries and the reason is as follows: Pickett could replace ANB yet ANB was in our best six on the day - is that fair on ANB? AVB could replace Jones - is that fair on Jonesy and also given that wet conditions are forecast that will suit Jonesy? Weid or Brown could replace Jackson or T.Mac - Is that fair on a kid who is learning his way and one who provides pace or on our only forward who kicks bags of goals and draws the best opponent in T.Mac? Hannan could replace Hunt or Melky - some would say Hunt was our best forward against the Blues, and Melky has been our most reliable forward for two years. Hibberd could replace Smith - is that fair on Smith who has barely played for four years and who adds pace - as seen by a couple of his closing speed spoils? Lockhart could replace Jetta - is that fair on Jetta who had to cope with a regular mismatch on McKay and is so good at switching on different players down back? Ultimately, our opponents are a fast side, and the shorter games just seem to expose players who are slow, so any change that sees us lose speed this week would seem a strange choice.

Unlike Poita and Werridee who seem to have found a love for Oscar that belies his 75 games, I love this selected side, specially conceived for the fast track Marvel Stadium. A few extra points: Those worried about the size of our forward line just need to think back to the Eagles game when we had Spargo, ANB, Bedford plus Pickett and then had Brown as our second tall up forward. We are bigger and having an extra wingman in Bennell means we can throw Tomlinson forward if Jacko is struggling to do his main role - which is to bring the ball to ground when players are forced to do long down the line. Jacko's speed once it's on the ground mean he can assist with our now electric side in applying pressure. Jacko's ruck ability also permits Goody to rest Gawny up forward as a tall marking option if needed. Fritsch will play largely out of the goal square and was clearly our big improver in the off-season - not sure how he went in the COVID break - but he now looks big enough to cope with the bashing he will cop from Jones, assuming the latter goes to him. His kicking means that he only needs it a handful of times to make an impact. Smith is also bigger and stronger than in 2019 and is way more suited to the key defensive role than the running defender one that Rivers will play in his early days. Like others, I am a little worried about his disposal, but that's more to do with his lack of career game time. He needs a string of matches to really develop the confidence to make the key plays, but he has the tools to be a great third tall. Whether he now gets a lucky injury run will determine if he kicks on to the next level. Those who keep saying Lever is an intercept defender, need to remember that yes he was at Adelaide as a youngster and he did that role incredibly well in their GF year. But he is now a grown man and he can cope with a genuine big and he still will be able to peel off occasionally to assist others. Two more things about going forward with this side: 1) At Marvel we will get away with speed and class, but as we saw last night with Tiges and Pies, we will need more grunt and physicality at the MCG during the winter period - hence VDB's return is crucial and Hibberd should be brought back next week for the Dons as well. We will need bigger bodies. 2) This year the finals are being played in October when grounds will be harder and temperatures will be warmer - pace, skill and grunt will be king. This quicker (and bigger) side has a much bigger chance of doing damage then, assuming we can get there. And October's dryer conditions should mean that sides consider going back to playing three talls - so Weid should not feel his season and career at Melbourne is over. He may yet play a big part down the track. Finally, the youth of this side means that Trac, Angus, Salem and Olly all need to take more responsibility in standing up and flying the flag when necessary. Their days as promising kids are over.

Wow, three more debutants for us after five in Rd 1 - Goody certainly gets excited by new talent. I hope everyone realises we are witnessing some major changes from our Rd 1 thinking and a fundamental switch in his planning. Firstly we played five small forwards in Rd 1 (I include Melky in this contingent even though he is just over 6 foot). Three of them - ANB, Spargo and Bedford - have been sent back to the twos. Our forward group will include Jonesy, but clearly we are going bigger and I for one am rapt that Goody seems to have realised that the Richmond small model of 2017 was done a bit by necessity and thrown out the door by them in 2019. This is not to say that I am against smalls, but five little guys in our forward half tested most of us who like to think we know footy (even if we don't) and certainly provided easy aerial pickings for the Eagles. Instead Goody has gone with Jackson who is quicker than any of the above trio, although not as explosive as Kossie. He also stands 201cm which means he can be the outlet down the line - although from what I saw of him in the old Gosch's Paddock days, he is not a smooth mark ... yet. He is however a smooth mover and well worth developing. Some of you have queried why we aren't playing a third tall like the Weid and I suspect you can blame Harley and Tomlinson for that. Harley's inclusion means we have another quality outside mid to go with Langdon and Tomlinson and Tomlinson's size means he can be switched forward as well if required - albeit a change of the plan to use him on the wing. Weid will get another chance - just not this week. Secondly, our clear lack of pace, a problem even during Neeld and Roosy's days, officially ends on Saturday. Rivers is quick and a beautiful kick. I remember when he arrived at Gosch's Paddock on his first day. He looked really good, but got an early lesson in a six-on-six drill when he did not use his body fully to protect the ball. Olly came in hard and bumped him out with ease - prpbably giving him a bit of a corkie at the same time. But Rivers just looked like he was taking note and hopefully he now has the beef to ensure he is not pushed aside. Rivers is also very good intercepting in the air and his inclusion may mean that Joel Smith has been overlooked, which would surprise me but ultimately may not be such a bad thing. A game in the reserves may help Smithy. And if Smith is selected as well, then welcome to the fastest backline we have had in my time watching - Rhino Richards would approve. Gone from recent days are our backline slowies (albeit very smart players) such as Jordy Lewis, Bernie Vince, Lynden Dunn, Tom Mac. Gone also are quicks who aren't precise kicks such as Frosty and Jayden. And barring Lever's injury being worse than first thought, gone also is Oscar, Goody's No.1 experiment. I remember the game at Marvel when Goody was Roosy's understudy and we lost to St Kilda and Dunny (then vice-captain) was blamed for being caught over the back. From that moment on Goody has pushed forward Oscar and the rest of us have queried it. He has now played 75 games, that's only two short of Neale Daniher's infamous project player Brent Grgic before he was delisted and picked up by the Cats. Oscar has great skills is a good spoiler and is a safe mark, but we all know that he is slower than Lynden Dunn and that's after he's had two knee operations. Last year Goody had few options but to play him because of the injuries, but now he has a virtual full list. He has two genuine tall defensive stars in May and Lever and he has plenty of capable kicks. And he has pace at his fingertips. I am also a big VDB fan, but given Harley has been included, it's probably best to wait another week for VDB's return against Essendon. Happy Days and Dees!

OK clearly the coach is keen on having small forwards, but I just hope that he realises that in hindsight, he took it a step too far with five small forwards against West Coast and that he can play Jackson as a mobile tall, who has the speed to pressure like Spargo or Bedford anyway and one who can also provide a down the line outlet we so sadly missed in Rd 1. Not to mention he can give Gawny a chop out if needed and means that if we lose a tall through injury, it is not game over. Clearly with shorter games, the pace will be intensified this season and as a result playing three tall backs as we did against WC and most sides is not a realistic option. Many of you have commented that Lever is better as the peel off intercept man, but I'm afraid as he's got older (and stronger) he is now better suited to play on a big. Hence if you are setting up a defence it is May and Lever as talls backed by a quick intercept tall which is Smith at this stage, but already there are promising signs that Rivers will be ready for that role as well soon. O.Mac should only be in the side when one of May or Lever is out injured. So with the above logic in mind, here's my 22 with the back-ups waiting in the wings in brackets. I have ruled out Bennell and VDB, but clearly they will come into the equation soon. I just hope they wait maybe until Rd 3 or 4 and don't rush them. Defenders (7): May, Lever, Smith, Hibberd, Salem, Jetta, Harmes - Emerg: Lockhart (very, very stiff), Rivers and O.Mac Mids (8): Gawn, Viney, Oliver, Brayshaw, Petracca, Tomlinson, Langdon, Jones - Emerg: Dunkley, Sparrow and Preuss Fwds (7): Fritsch, T.Mac, Melky, Jackson, Pickett, ANB, Weid - Emerg: Bedford, Hannan, Spargo, Petty, Brown

Ultimately there were seven key players who were missing from the side yesterday that, if fit, all need to come on when we play next. Vanders (grunt and midfield depth), Joel Smith (our third tall defender), Jones (experience and smarts up forward or across midfield), Jackson (pace and height up forward and a decent cutout for Gawny, albeit a green one), Salem (skill and precision from down back), Hannan (a genuine tall small forward who has pace and can mark and can kick long goals) and one of Petty or Weid (the missing third tall marking forward yesterday).

Given my frustration at our decision to select four small forwards and exclude any decent back-up for Gawny, I was actually pleasantly surprised with some of the ball movement for much of the game. Lockhart's evasiveness and combativeness was excellent and he's a delightful kick on most occasions. Angus was moving beautifully again - his enforced extra running training because of his injury last month seemed to have helped him immeasurably. Trac was a real Dusty-type presence everytime he went for it and they spent most of the game trying to negate his influence. Langdon was everywhere, although his disposal let him down a bit as we expected from earlier showings. Tomlinson looks a real brute of a wingman and gives us a tall cutout down the line. Kozzie was a real livewire and may yet guarantee Tubby Taylor his job for next few years. Gawn got better as game went on and thought his last quarter was really good - imagine if he'd had support early. Viney was unbelievable. In everything and so assertive and so fit compared to recent years. Ollie was good but still wanted to play safe and turn sideways, even when options presented to go forward. At some point hopefully he will realise that he is one of the three quickest players at the club and with his height and strength, he can do exactly what Trac is now doing and take the game on. May and Lever looked superb in the air, while T.Mac and Brown kept presenting. But here's the rub. What kind of nickempoof (wrong spelling) would play four smalls up front against a defence that includes Gov and Barrass and Sheppard who pick off almost very kick down the line, not to mention the fact that our your ruckman was coming back from injury. I get it that our coaching staff felt that by providing defensive pace we could have forced errors, but can someone tell me who wins the pace race between Jackson and Spargo or Jackson and Bedford - a rhetorical question. Once we got behind early, West Coast was able to zone off and force us either to go sideways or take the long-kick down the line. And if you go down the line you need at least two talls up forward - not four small ones. I'm sure Goody wanted us to play on and take the game on but you still need tall players to present when the options dry up. Goody now has at least 10 weeks to think his gameplan over again. Yes he is running out of chances, but he is not a complete dill and I am sure he will have realised his selection gamble backfired and he needs to reassess his team balance.

Ok, here's a COVID-19 thought for us all. Let's say the AFL eventually has to bow to govt/medico pressure and cancels the season after just one or two ghost rounds - fanciful I know, but some experts say the virus may impact for six months. What does that mean for us when it comes to the 2020 draft day in November. If there are no games (or just a couple), how do you determine draft order. Surely you have to revert back to the order from 2019 and that means we have picks 2 and 20 - but no we haven't, we traded them away to North and Fremantle on the assumption that we would rise back up the ladder. We do have Hawthorn's second rounder, but that based off last year's position is 28. So ultimately if there's no games, we will be done over more than many other teams. The only good thing is that if there's no AFL, there's also no great likelihood of junior footy being played, so just about every selection by clubs will be based on a kid's form in 2019. And we all know that around 16-18, a lot of kids do some major late developing (eg: Bont, Oliver), so the whole draft will be a much bigger lottery than previous years. Which leads us back to Doh!

OK, I've assumed VDB and Salem don't come up. They definitely both would be picked if fit. I've also ruled out Petty, Joel Smith and Jimmy Hannan - all of whom would have been in the mix if fully fit - although Smith and Hannan are close to resuming anyway. I've also assumed Weid is fit to play, which leaves Brown and Spargo as emergencies. Spargo misses because we all want to see Kozzie play (coach included) and also because the size of the Eagles means we have to go big as well. But if they go small, then a decision will be required on which of Jackson and Weid misses. That leaves our Rd 1 side as: 7 def: RFs: Lever, Harmes, O.Mac, Jetta, Lockhart. LFs: Hibberd, May 8 mids: Gawn, Viney, Oliver, Trac, Brayshaw, Langdon, Tomlinson, Jones 7 fwds: Melksham, T.Mac, Fritsch, Jackson, Weid, ANB, Kozzie Emerg: Brown, Spargo, Hore

Congratulations to Dr Gonzo for a supremely well argued summation of why it should happen, what it would achieve and why there should be no fear/paranoia about doing it. Sadly you have to put up with the meathead -"Clarko's just saying it because his team's no good" response, but your response should win a Demonland award - if such things existed. Well done, I'll keep an eye out for your learned comments in future. Removing players from the field is the only logical solution to congestion and should have happened 10-15 years ago AFL grounds remain the same size as 120 years ago yet players are exponentially fitter not to mention the constant rotations Removing players from the field will break up defensive zones because the area each defender will need to cover between opponents will be too large and so will force teams into man on man game plans There will always be "loose defenders" but removing players from the field will limit their impact as there will be greater space for players to move into which they will not be able to cover It will have a dramatic impact on the flow of the game without changing any fundamental rules relating to how the game is actually played. 16 a side is the minimum, I would consider taking it down to 15 or 14 or perhaps even further. I would still keep the wings but remove one midfielder, one forward and one defender to start with (5-5-5) fewer midfielders at centre bounces will make it easier to clear the ball Or we can refuse to change this, keep implementing rules that alter the fundamental nature of the game which have unintended consequences and don't address the issues they were brought in for and watch the game continue to devolve into an unentertaining rolling scrum of players with little room for individual brilliance and skill

Enjoyed the session, but they started late - not sure why but suspect they did the Tan or some other drill as their warm-up was short before getting into a bit of kraft and then match sim. My BOG from the match sim was Jack Viney - in everything and was ultra impressive getting his hands free of two tacklers for the give to Fritter who nailed the goal. Not far behind was Steven May who took a couple of well-timed intercept pack marks. Based on what we saw, he will play this week down in Tassie. Gawn may play down in Tassie as well, although he isn't quite at full steam yet - sluggish off the mark in run throughs. But he still was fit enough to take Bradtke in match sim and he nailed a nice set shot from 50m and then followed up a bit later (not in match sim) by barrelling a torp from the centre square. By the way, Bradtke has really stepped up in the past few weeks. He's still got a long way to go, but there's finally some signs. Most of the session I spent idolising the exquisite skills of Harley, who was snagging everything in the rehab group. He's still months away from playing but previously he looked decades away. Also impressive in rehab was Jimmy Hannan who was nailing set shots from 60m out. He's champing at the bit to get back and must be super close to rejoining the main group along with Chandler. Petty was still being nursed along and sadly won't be playing anywhere round one. And given I had him as a Rd 1 cert, I'm afraid to say Joel Smith is also a week or two away from resuming. He's still kicking primarily with his left foot because of his right-foot cut and I wish someone had used this time on the side to show him how to ball-drop on the left-side. Back to match sim, Trac and Olly impressed as always and Lockhart looks the real deal back in defence now and Harmesy also is providing run from down back and set up a nice goal for his team because he kept moving. Jacko, Weid and Spargo were quiet, but Kossie did a couple of magical things laced with a couple of fumbles. Sauce got plenty of ball as did JJ, the latter of whom tried a 50m safe switch that only went 45m and was intercepted by Fritter. But Sauce, JJ, Dunkley (who was rehabbing) and maybe even Swallow are all looking way better than last year, the difference is that with so few injuries, they are going to have to be redhot in the magoos before they get a game. And of course with birthday boy Vanders back and Jones super keen to impress as a forward, there's just no room for development players at the moment. Hopefully someone else can report on Salem's whereabout - surely not watching a replay of Arsenal's FA Cup win!

Plenty of logic behind the move. Harmes is a right-footer which is critical for the reverse switch when you already have Salem, Hibberd, May hugging the left-side along with Lewis (past 3 years) and our best back-up in Wags . We tried to redress the balance at times with Jones and even Stretch (late in season) but for a variety of reasons they never came off. With Lever out last year we were caught between quick, dangerous release from Frosty and the slow, percentage play form Oscar which was way too predictable. Nev, when fit, is also very precise but generally doesn't provide much drive - he's a super defender, not a risk-taker and he doesn't have a long kick anyway. Harmesy can be a thumping kick but he's also very disciplined and will love being challenged playing on some livewire half-forwards who think they are hot stuff - a couple of Tigers come to mind. He's quick enough to play on smalls and should be able to cover medium talls pretty well. And because he's such a long kick, he can switch with a bit more confidence and if teams sag off him he is not afraid to take the game on and head long to Pagan's over the back Paddock. Most of these decisions get made off-season - think Melky when he had seven horrendous weeks in 2017 down back before Goody realised he was way more suited up forward. The huge pre-season from Lockhart has actually made the switch less crucial because we now have an extra right-footer who can play that role, but at the same time Harmesy is a safe bet because he has such a strong physique and is good in the air. The extra height can help when you are caught in a mismatch with a big. By the way, my preferred back seven with one on bench (it hasn't been a back six for five years now) is: Jetta May Hibberd Harmes Lever Salem (Joel Smith). But with Joel certain to miss Round 1 and May also doubtful, both Oscar and Lockhart are likely to play Rd 1 and Wags is next cab off rank.