deanox

In hindsight not the right pick, but I think consensus within industry was that he was the "right" pick. Same with Cale Morton. Contrast these to Luke Molan (yes very unlucky once drafted but was never expected to be a top 10 player: read here for some of his bad luck http://websites.sportstg.com/assoc_page.cgi?c=1-25-0-0-0&sID=56257&articleID=7430876&news_task=DETAIL) or Nick Smith (the original 426, won played his 4th and last game in our last final, but who more relevantly was picked higher than expected ahead of some more credentialed forwards). Yep we got it wrong and could have been braver (like we were with Oliver), but mistakes like Toumpas and Watts are difficult to avoid based on exposed juniors form.

Does anyone know if I can stream the channel 7 coverage? I'm interstate (fnq) this weekend so don't get Melbourne channel 7 coverage.

I think it's stuff to list him as omitted though. He was cleaned up with an illegal bump to the back and struggled with neck spasms. Played out the game but with limited output. Surely the injury contributed to that output and he wouldn't have been dropped based on the previous two weeks form.

The only thing I can think of when Goodwin says it. Its even given me an excuse to get back into some straight edge and hardcore on spotify again!

He was the right pick at the time though. Other clubs passed on Wines after us too and industry consensus was with Toumpas. It's what happens when you draft 17 year old players who play in leagues with different rules and coaching.

It's rally hard to see what Oliver does at the ground but on replay and tv you see these amazing little touches, gathers, knocks, gives, that win us the ball but also lots of little defensive efforts through body position, tackling, ball control on the ground and a bit of close checking that make it hard for the opposition to get the contested possession and clearance as well. So subtle and underrated. A bit like trying to decipher a rugby union scrum: lots of by play between the props and there is alway a reason one side is dominating the scrum but it isn't obvious to the outsider/ viewer.

Agree. I know Joel is shorter than Frost or Dec, but he pays the intercept role that Lever plays. The coaches love him, and he was an emergency yesterday.

Bloke sounded gutted when outside AAMI last night. I wish him all the best. I think we have two options, bring in Smith as a zone/ intercept replacement or bring in a taller player as KPD replacement. Personally, I think Smith gets the nod because he fits the structure, is more flexible (less one dimensional) and the coaches love him. I'm worried that teams with multiple tall (195+) forwards may exploit this, but we'll back our structure to prevent one on ones.

A dusting of demons. Alludes both to the winter snowfalls but also how we are going to treat teams in coming years

I watched that replay and for the life of me I can't work out a) how he saw Hogan, through traffic, from 50m away (because he doesn't have time to scan and look for options, he only looks up for a fraction of a second) or b) how he managed to thread the kick through everything, under pressure, in the split second he had. It arguably should be goal of the week just for the quality of the assist.

I was watching on my phone but it really seemed to me like Oliver was the guy who turned our fortunes around. Once he started winning contested ball we got on top. I know others had great games, and finished well, but I'm unsure if any others were as influential in creating the victory. So, my phone watching votes are as follows: 6 Oliver - the engine the generated the win 5 Jetta - our rock down back, reads the play, marshals the team and doesn't lose contests 4 Fritsch - saved the day in an unfamiliar role. Has no right to be so strong in the air. 3 Lewis - experienced general, who is having a purple patch. 2 Hogan - doing it all, but his field kicking and vision get him the votes 1 McDonald - our best mark and most dominate forward Apologies to Gus who did a lot right but his finishing wasn't on point today and the blokes I listed were. Apologies to Jones, ANB, Gawn and Salem, who all made a case for sneaking in with one vote but there were at least 6 better posters on the day.

After getting a late hip and shoulder to the back but no free. Ridiculous, a hip and shoulder to the back should be a week.

I still don't reckon he actually meant to hit him in the head.

Am I reading rift that only 1 player (Lockhart) named on the ground is not on the melb list? Very strong team.

It's a really interesting insight into where our list and players are at. I'd really expect Tyson to be in that next group and surprised he isn't.

My main interest here is the emergencies. Stretch, Bugg, Pedo and Smith. I understand Pedo: he is a genuine emergency, next in line if a tall doesn't get up. Are we assuming Stretch and Bugg are named so that we can be sure Tyson and Garlett get game time? Or have they moved ahead of them in line?

Oh yeah I can't see him playing the year out, but right now I can't see any justification for it. I misread your post thinking you were implying this week.

I reckon this stats comparison misses the point. You could just as easily argue that if Martin was a better ball winner he would be more valuable to the tiges. To do that he would need to increase his contested ball winning and his clearances. Of course this would probably result in bringing his kick to handball ratio down but that's ok because he'd be moore damaging for his team by winning the ball. It's harder to win the ball than finish, so a lesser outside player can pick up the offensive statistic slack (ie goals and inside 50s might drop off a but someone else will kick them if you get it out to them).

While not in the side, I would try to let Jeff, Hunt and Tyson play at Casey as much as possible. All need to work on little things and find form. I agree on resting and on letting them go back to work on things but Spargo has been performing to an AFL standard, been adding pressure and skills. And we've been winning convincingly. No changes this week.

He is playing in the guts but he is our spread right now receiving the 2nd or 3rd hand ball and exploding outside. Super important to our performance these last few weeks.

He has but I think he is one who is struggling to find his right position. His strengths are inside the contest but we have Oliver as the number one in that role with good support from Jones. Add Viney and Tyson drops to 4th string inside mid. As a result they are asking him to play the 3rd mid role who needs to be more outside, spreading and using the ball. That isn't his strength and he isnt a natural wingman so he is not playing to his strengths. Brayshaw is playing that role beautifully right now and we have a number of flankers/ wings rotating. Tysons numbers are slightly down on the last two seasons but he is kicking more than previous years and his contested possession numbers are a bit lower, which could indicate he is outside the contest more than previous seasons. I think there is still a place for him on the list and with a couple of injuries, in the 22. Any of the inside mids go down and he is in. And he is probably next off the outside mid rank as well. If flankers go down we either bring Hunt/Kent/Garlett in or leave Salem et al on the flanks longer (less midfield minutes) and bring Tyson in. So he is next in line, and a very high quality 23rd player on your list, so I wish we'd treat him as such.

I actually thought his value the last few weeks has been his ability to spread from the contest and pick up those outside disposals. He has been doing it (the inside to out role) much better than Tyson was, and it frees Oliver to be damaging inside without needing to be the first to spread.

Unberlivable. I knew we had talent and hoped we would see some of it on display this year. I certainly didn't expect to see such dominance, even if only for a short window.

Is that all time?

Hopefully hunt realises that a) with a bit of form he is a lock and that b) there are two old blokes one the back flank keeping him out but they'll be gone in 3 to 15 months.