DistrACTION Jackson

I believe we also have a few academy options in this draft, which may be why we were happy to have later picks in 2020.

IF the Bombers knew it was a possibility he was infected and still proceeded to have him at training while waiting on results of a secondary test, then they should be forced to forfeit. Why should we be punished for their mistake?

My view is that Jones should make way, but I doubt that will happen just yet. Personally I would like Jones off half back and Harmes as midfield tagger and half forward, but also doubt that is going to happen. My changes would be as follows: Ins: Weideman (it's now or never in my mind) & Kozzie (to good to leave out) Out: Jackson (loved his first game but Weid offers more up forward at the moment) & Jones (love him but we need to win and having ANB, Hunt & Kozzie with leg speed is a must against the Bombers)

No idea why our defense sets up that way?? I've seen it done before and it never works.

Interesting thing is Essendon have beaten both Fremantle (in Melbourne) and Sydney by 6 points in both games. Definitely not shooting the lights out, given both sides are expected to finish near the bottom. If we can play 75% of the game at the level we played in the first quarter we will win..... seems to be a big ask for this team though.

Really have to take these games with a grain of salt. 14 v 14 is really only good to keep players somewhat match fit. The openness of the game would be so different to an actual match and it's no surprise Weid & Brown each kicked a heap of goals, as there would be no real zones. Glad to see Weid kick some goals, but obviously coaches will be aware of the difference in conditions.

I didn't think they should sing it. Although there were a few debutants and new players winning their first game with the Dees so understand why they did.

It looked to just be a mistake. Players all got into the rooms, bit unsure what to do given no one is allowed to put their arms around each other anymore, even though they all tackle each other during the game.... Storm in a tea cup type stuff. It was a strange end as it seemed the players were almost not even going to sing the song given how poor their second half was.

Anyone unhappy with our game last night need to look at some other results this weekend. Eagles spanked by last year's wooden spooners. Giants beaten at home by a Roos team that traveled up on the same day. Just have to take the wins no matter how we get them.

Agreed. I don't get the hate for Oscar on here. He's just turned 24 and holds down a key defensive spot. Him being in the side allows Lever and May to focus on intercept marking. Rather than worry about the opposition forwards I think team structure is the most important. That's how Richmond have become so good. Playing the same guys week in week out no matter who they are up against. For what it is worth, David Astbury was much maligned early in his career and has now become a solid lock down defender. Oscar reminds me a lot of him at the same age so we can only hope he can get to a similar level.

I'm going Salem within 45m. Outside 45m I'd go a bit of a roughy and say Steven May who has a beautiful and long kick. My future up and comer however is Trent Rivers and I think he could quickly become the best kick in our side.

I agree with removing the ruck nomination and reduction of interchange. I'd probably start at 10 per quarter and see what happens. Another idea I really believe would be good for the game is to include a bonus point if a team scores over 100 points in a game, even if they lose. Take the 2018 season for example, we scored over 100 14 times in the regular season. Those additional 14 points may have got us into the top 2 (don't have time to run the numbers for all clubs) and equates to 3.5 extra wins over the season. It rewards the teams that play attacking footy. I've also had people say 'oh but what about if a team plays in the wet?' Stiff! We don't have an even fixture so why do we get concerned over little things like a team playing a game in the wet.

So can't the men also train there over the next few years. As much as I would love a base around the MCG, if it isn't realistic then I'd rather have a state of the art base out at Casey. At least then we can train on a ground that is a similar size to the G.

I'd get rid of a lot of players before Fritsch!

I genuinely believe this could be one of the greatest drafts in our history. Jackson, Pickett and Rivers all to be regular 22 by next year.

I wonder how the death of his brother may affect him also? Obviously an extremely sad situation for him.

I imagine we will get Saints, North or Bulldogs at 4:35pm on the Sunday....

100% agree. We seem to have a playerstart playing well and then decide to move him somewhere else. So confusing! We can easily rotate Viney, Petracca, Oliver, Harmes and Brayshaw through the middle. Trac plays forward when rotating. Viney plays forward when rotating. Oliver plays forward when not rotating. Brayshaw play half back when rotating. Harmes play half back when rotating. I'm not sold on our current coaching group, however I do think we need to stick with Goodwin for stability. I'd like to see a full sweep out of our assistants like the Tigers did and invest in the very best line coaches we can find.

Ed Langdon is a better kick than Scully.

Couldn't care less what these nuffies say. Last final we played them we won convincingly and also beat them last season. End of the day it doesn't matter who is closer if neither eventually win.

I would be happy to pay $100 to go to a game

The issue is they would then have to employ staff to monitor where people are sitting, man the ticket gates etc. So 10,000 tickets probably won't cover that. Also, how do you choose who gets to go and who doesn't?

Colin Sylvia

I will say this, to anyone jumping on here making fun of channel 7 and the AFL for doing this - what else do you want them to do? I saw a comment about lobbying the governments to have crowds? Don't be ridiculous. I think the difference was substantial and if we have to play without a crowd, then having the background crowd noise is a good way to take people's minds off the fact there is no crowd. I'd also like to see 7 and the AFL get creative with it. Maybe have fans send in photos of themselves and lucky ones get cut outs in the crowd or something. It's a sh*t situation but everyone just needs to suck it up and stop complaining every time something comes out.

I think it all depends on the caliber of players you have at your disposal. If we have Gawn and then Jackson becomes a star then you play both no matter what and build your game plan around that. If you don't have any great backup ruck option then you need to come up with your preferred structure. The risk is you lose your ruck man early in a game and then are left with an inferior ruck the whole game. I would like to see our coaching team focus on playing to our strengths as opposed to trying to do what everyone else is doing.