mo64

Stop teasing us. All the more recent clues lead to my original answer being correct, but alas it was not. 😢

It's all of the above. And that's why most on here were sadly mistaken when they said that we'd be unstoppable with a Gawn/Grundy ruck combination. Losing hit-outs are the easiest thing for an opposition coach to neutralise. Too many people got caught up with last week's game, in particular Gawn/Grundy. That reality was that Bevo did nothing to counteract Gawn's dominance over English, and nullify our mids. English broke even with Grundy. If Max is out long term, our coaching dept have a lot of work to do. Grundy can't play Max' role because he's useless as a contested mark. I honestly don't see what the answer is.

And I'm sure the feeling's mutual. All 4 played in the final that we lost badly. I can't stand arrogant supporters especially after we were putrid for most of the game.

You really think that the Lions coaching dept will be in a mad panic when they see Tomlinson run out instead of May? Every coach will tell you that late changes have zero impact on the opposition's game plan.

People seem to forget that the Lions pantsed us in a final last year. They've added Dunkley and Ashcroft. Week 1 results often throw up odd results. I expect Lions to bounce back big-time. I expect us to win but it's 50/50. It's strange that nobody is mentioning how big a loss Kozzie is.

Ditto. But back to the OP, we didn't swap Watts for Fritta. Every other club had the opportunity to draft Fritta before our pick. We obviously had some inside knowledge.

It would be a huge mistake to move Gus back into the midfield, and bring in Salem. Gus is essential in our backline. Unless Bowey, Rivers or McVee drop in form, Salem needs to bide his time in the VFL.

Why not just play Petty up forward if that's the case? At least he has recent form as a forward. Personally, I'd rather play JVR as a forward than Tomlinson.

I'm in the rather exclusive Bailey Laurie fan club. I thinks he's got some football smarts and is handy around goal. Hope the kid does well, but I think he may be a sub.

Well they can point the finger at the Cripps decision being overturned on legal grounds, if they want to prove negligence. And the Cotchin decision also proves that the AFL fall short when it comes to duty of care. I'm staggered that the AFL haven't overturned more MRP and Tribunal decisions. Maybe this is a wake up call.

Have they checked behind the grassy knoll? I believe Picket Fence was seen lurking around there.

This is awesome @WheeloRatings. I'm wondering if it could be pinned up the top because it's a fantastic reference.

I had some inside knowledge.😁

St. Bernard of Clairveaux is the patron saint of beekeepers and candles. 😁

I'm assuming they're referring to Tom Morris the golfer, who won 4 British Opens. But at the age of 172, I think he's a bit old to be making a comeback.

Congrats to @Mazer Rackham who takes bronze. The connection for all these players is that they attended St. Bernard's College West Essendon. Some players like James Cook and Daniel Cross came to the school after being recruited by their AFL club.

I don't think that any of our key forwards or resting ruckmen are good at applying pressure when they haven't got the ball. The issue with Weid and Schache is their 2nd efforts when they don't mark the ball. They need to stay engaged in the contest. If our gameplan incudes bombing into the forward line with our key forwards/resting ruckmen instructed to bring the ball to ground, then Schache will struggle. If our bigs can get separation, Schache can be useful as a key forward or a depth 2nd ruckman.

Two more clues:

There's one podium place up for grabs, so here's a clue: There's some real hard-nuts in this team. But there's also some downhill skiers who may require some assistance.

Agree that it was an excellent article. The player analysis was spot on. If Goody and the match committee were aware of the cracks, they did little to address them by way of team changes. Article clearly showed ANB's decline in form. It also debunks the notion by many on here that Spargo is elite when it comes to inside 50 connections. His numbers and percentage are less than Sparrow, who gets canned for his disposal.

Congrats to @Demonstone on solving it and picking up the silver medal.

And we have a winner. Gold medal goes to a previous winner in @tilly18.

Your initials are MR. Is that you Mark Robinson?

And I think that Kenny Roberts should have been a lock for this team.

For all the mental torture that the likes of Demonstone have inflicted upon me, I've compiled a quiz. In the scale of hardness, I'd rate it a 'talc', but that's because I know the answers. What do these players have in common: Backline Brad Sholl Noah Balta Paul Hamilton Half Back Daniel Cross Scott Lucas Garry Foulds Centreline Peter Filandia Jude Bolton David Calthorpe Half Forwards Mitch Wallis Joe Daniher Jake Riccardi Forward Line Justin Madden Matthew Lloyd Ricky McLean Followers Simon Madden Dane Swan Tom Liberatore Bench Steve O'Dwyer Leigh Tudor Ben Ronke Xavier O'Halloran Emergencies Lachlan Sholl Steve Morris Rohan Welsh James Cook