DistrACTION Jackson

Gaff is the one we need as a free agent. Would compliment our mids so well and would be that gut-running link up man on the wings of the MCG that we lack at the moment. Get him Dees!

Agree that we still have a lot to work on but I think we can take the way we played in the second half and use that as confidence over the next few weeks. Some things I was happy with today: Angus Brayshaw: thought he was outstanding in the 3rd quarter and seems to be moving well. If he can get his confidence back and start to work towards his best this will go a long way to helping us reach finals. Christian Salem: thought that he looked good across half back and would prefer we use him more there with stints in the midfield. He can win his own ball but I prefer him as more of a distributor. Bayley Fritsch: love the way this guy goes about it and he looks to be building confidence that he belongs at this level. Could become a very handy medium tall in the mould of Jack Gunston. Charlie Spargo: great debut by this young fella and just love his attack on the ball and man. We have really been lacking that energetic, quick forward and when Garlett is down we seem to struggle. Hopefully he can get back to his best and these two could really cause havoc up forward together. Mitch Hannan: great return game for his and he is another we really need to get back to his best. I could see him becoming a really damaging wingman and I think this is what he should be aiming for. Max Gawn was great again, I thought Sam Weideman fought on hard after a tough first 3 quarters and clunked a few great marks in the last. There is no point playing him at Casey anymore and we just need to keep playing him. He will have a game where he kicks 3-4 goals soon, I can feel it.

What is everyones obsession with draft picks? We stocked up on them the last 5 years. Gaff is a free agent and is a gun and exactly what we need, someone who can run and spread from a contest. If we don't go after him we are stupid. We just need to keep topping up our list through trades and free agency to plug the holes we find, he nucleus of the team is there.

Got a feeling Spargo will play this weekend. We need quick players who tackle, this is his specialty.

He's struggling anyway. I'll back us in to beat them no matter what side they put on the park.

The Pies have been good, but the Crows have been absolutely insipid tonight.

They lost this one at the selection table. Walker, Fogarty, Lynch, Jenkins, Jacobs, Talia, Hartigan, Kelly, Doedee. Wayyyy too tall for a wet weather game. Only need 5 of those playing. Jacobs, 2 tall forwards and 2 tall mobile backs. Also shows how hard it is to replace your best players. Both Crouches out and they are poo. We had no Gawn, Viney, Hogan & Jones for large portions of last season and it was never mentioned by the 'experts'.

How does Viney, Wines and Martin at all relate to Wagnr and Omac?

It looks like the players had a quieter day spent at the Botanical Gardens judging by Instagram. Good to hear TMac & Viney running a bit more now. Will be great to have them both at full fitness for the 2nd half of the season!

I love seeing things like this. Players working hard to get the best out of themselves! That is what wins you flags, not just talent alone.

Harmes played against an AFL standed side, Balic a poor VFL standard side. The only change I can see is bringing in a tall forward/second ruck if we prefer to use that structure this week. If not then unchanged.

Totally agree with this Wiseblood. While I'm happy with the win, I'm also not getting too excited as it was only North Melbourne. It seems the players also view it this way which is nice to see and I think as the side matures and becomes used to winning it will just be another game, another win, onto bigger things. While I acknowledge we have a lot of room to improve, it's important to note that every single side in the competition is in the same boat, even the undefeated Power who almost lost at home to the Lions! I think because w focus so much on our own side, we fail to see the deficiencies in our opponents. We are definitely not at our best, however we are in 4th spot with a health percentage. The next 4 weeks are huge for this club, starting with the Hawks this Sunday. Win that game and we are up to our necks in it this season. Go Dees!

Our defense looked a lot better with Frost, OMac & Lever as the 3 talls. Obviously Lever's kicking was poor but I don't think he has poor skills, I think he just had a bad day. His marking and reading of the play was good and we was able to kill a number of kicks into the backline. I think our backline will get stronger as the season goes on.

Nice! We could have a formidable back 3 for the next decade in Mcdonald, Petty & Lever if he comes on. I see he is also 197cm which is a really good size and as he gets stronger he may be able to take the gorillas.

It's a six day break? We had 3 in a row last year.

There is absolutely no need to have a 3 game series in AFL. If other teams feel the Grand Final should be moved to different States then I guess that could be explored, but having a sudden death Grand Final is so much more entertaining. I don't think I could even be bothered watching the other 2 games unless we were playing.

Haha how stupid....

I like this team, however I want Hunt to get back to his best and replace Wagner in time as he is a gun when on. What I like is the flexibility it gives us. If we are having issues with Brown and Waite we can send Frost back and play a bit taller. But if we are on top in the midfield we can send Frost forward to apply pressure in the forward half. I also wouldn't be surprised to see them roll a few different players through the ruck when Gawn is resting. I wouldn't mind giving the 4 mids tactic a run like the Tigers have but only every now and then. Maybe use someone like Trac or Melksham and work on being more mobile once the ball hits the deck.

Was there any truth to the comments that he had a groin issue? There has not been one mention of it in the media. Hoping that answers my question in itself.

Yeah I thought at the time we were crucified, but like you I need to be careful that I'm not just watching with my Dees glasses on. Makes the teams ability to dig in and win the game all the more impressive, seeing as a lot went against us in that period of the game.

The umpiring in the second half was deplorable. It wasn't so much the frees that were paid against us, but the ones that weren't paid for us. I remember numerous occasions I had my arms up wondering how it wasn't a free kick.

You definitely don't want to be playing your best football in March/April and as long as you are getting wins that is the main thing. I will back the team to gel better as the season goes on.

I'd say he will miss 2-4. He's 35 so you would not be risking it by bringing him back until he is 100%

Did you watch the same game as me?

I'm in the camp that we need to bring Frost in to release Lever to that third tall, intercept marking player as that is his biggest strength. He definitely needs to be able to one on one defend as well, but I'm sure he will continue to work on that while we also utilize him in our side. At present it seems Wagner is playing the third tall role and while I thought he was ok on Saturday night, we've got a player who is miles ahead of him in that role so he must go out. I want to get Brayshaw back in the side, but I'm unsure who makes way for him. Salem isn't racking up heaps of touches, but he is doing some good defensive things and we need his kicking going inside 50 so I don't want him out. Hunt does seem to have lost a little of his explosive pace, which I wonder is a result of the back issues he has been having? I also think he should be played more of the half back flank where he can break the lines with his run. People calling for Lewis to go out are kidding themselves, he will play the whole season if fit. He needs to only play the sweeper role though as that suits him at this point in his career. He will also become more important as the season gets on and the play starts slowing down due to players tiring. Vince did a good shut-down role on Zorko who can really cut teams up and has had massive games in the past. I would be putting Vince on Higgins as he is probably the Roos most dangerous mid now. So just one change for Round 2 with Frost in and Wagner out. B: Jetta OMac Lever HB: Lewis Frost Hibberd C: Vince Oliver Tyson HF: Petracca Hogan Neal-Bullen F: Garlett Pedersen Fritsch R: Gawn Jones Salem Int: Melksham Bugg Hunt Harmes