Bang Bang Bang

We were right into him in 2019. Probably would have bid for him if Jackson wasn't there. JT was seeing them like beach balls that year, given the three we ended up picking and the interest in Georgiadis/Green. They are 5 of the very best players from the whole draft. I think one of the reasons we were so big on Green though was his tremendous character, and those sorts generally don't go chasing coin after two seasons. So I'd give us little chance of landing him. Would cost a decent draft pick that we don't have in stock too. One player I'd love to see us go after is Mitch Wallis. This guy is out of favour but tore us a new one at Metricon only 12 months ago, and was doing it to teams regularly up until this year. Would give us more firepower and a point of difference to BBB, TMac and Fritsch. Approaching 30 but this age demographic fits in with a sustained flag push and he wouldn't cost much.

There's a good chat up with LJ on the Gus and Gawny podcast - about 30 minutes in total. Amongst the banter and the "getting to know you" kind of stuff, two things stood out to me: 1. He said was 91kg on draft night and has already hit the ton. 2. He could not have said "Nup!" quick enough when Gawny went serious and asked him if it was tough living away from Perth. He even thinks Melbourne has overtaken Perth as a city (despite being COVID-ravaged for most of his time - as Gawny pointed out) He's a ripper.

Something that might be overlooked because it was a behind, but Trent Rivers effortlessly kicked a 75m drop punt. Not convinced there was a gale blowing like Richo said (from Melbourne studio). The guy just hits them pure.

Would love to dig up some of the posts on here from October 2019. I don’t think there was a single person who wanted to draft him (myself included). Imagine if you’d said at the time “This guy will be an important cog of our 2021 Premiership tilt”. You’d have been laughed out of here. But that’s what he is.

Surely we can get all smug and “manage” Pickett and Rivers for this game. With top 4 set and finals venues largely irrelevant due to Covid this game means [censored] all. Love these guys but they are second year players who might be tiring a bit. I’d include Jacko too if he wasn’t contributing so much.

For those having an aneurysm about the last part of the game, take solace in the fact we have not one but two full games to enjoy without any pressure whatsoever. We’re in the Top 4. It’s padlocked. Think the real hardcore fans on here have earned this.

Good [censored] on you Alex Neal Bullen. Best on Ground in your 100th game. You deserve this!

FMD Garry Lyon is a miserable campaigner. Was a great player for us but not convinced at all he's still invested in the club.

Who would you actually have faith in to kick after the siren for a win ? I’m convinced we have nobody trustworthy. I used to have faith in Tmac, but he hasn’t flushed one in weeks now. Even BBB missed a soda yesterday! Maybe Tom Sparrow would give me confidence, but he can’t get a game. Fritsch is pretty solid under pressure these days but he still wouldn’t have me confident. It’s a big concern for mine because if we win a flag, we need to win at least 3 games and you can be sure at least one of them will go down to the wire.

I always cringe when I see odds of $9.50 for Hawks to win and people on here talking about percentage and a “10 goal victory being a pass mark”. Clearly not enough people follow this team forensically. I wish I didn’t. The two points may prove to be very handy, but this team is taking months off our lives every time they serve this porridge up.

Geelong are the biggest bunch of sooks in the game. I can still remember in late 2013, Geelong were having their usual cry to the media about their home finals needing to be played in Geelong. Fremantle were their opponents in Week 1 and Ross Lyon was asked at a presser for his thoughts on where the game should be played. "Who cares? We'll play them in a carpark if we have to." was his blunt response. Fremantle went and beat them at Kardinia a few days later. I expect our attitude towards the rest of this season will be more in line with Ross Lyon's and not the sooks down the highway. They are also the only team with players and coach openly sooking to the media about the length of quarters. Just shut the [censored] up and be prepared to win anywhere, any time. Muppets. As you may have guessed, this current vintage of Geelong is my most hated AFL team ever.

I tune in to watch the Cats every week so I can barrack against them. Absolutely hate them with a passion. A lot of weeks they get lucky with umpiring decisions or inaccurate opposition teams. They shouldn't be 12-4. But... not one team has stunk the joint up against this mob like Freo have done tonight. My God, they've been awful. I'd be embarrassed to support them.

After the Giants loss, I was fully expecting to be 5th by now. Instead we are a game clear on top and 2 games and % clear of 5th. Shows just how important Thursday's win was (and perhaps not to overreact after a loss - every team has them).

A bit disappointed about this. I'm happy enough to be making up a game in the NT but why can't it be in Alice Springs? It's a beautiful ground there, and it's always a great game of footy. Darwin is generally a [censored] spectacle with the high humidity and slippery ball. Also in the past Melbourne teams generally haven't shown up the following week due in part to the fatigue of Darwin games. Can only assume there's a clear reason why the game can't be played in Alice.

After 17 rounds things have changed a bit from when this thread was created. May, Lever, Gawn, Trac, Oliver and Salem would be near certainties for the 22 you'd think. Most of them could sit the rest of the season out and still make the squad. Langdon, Fritsch and Kozi have fallen away a bit but have still had fantastic individual seasons. Steven May should also get a retrospective jersey for 2020. It's criminal that he's never been AA or played a final in ten years. Both about to change.

Also forgot to mention. I'm not an umpire basher but apparently HTB doesn't exist in Adelaide and most certainly doesn't apply to Motlop.

Performance of the season. We might have won either way, but Luke Jackson's genius tap to Trac in the third quarter was the moment of the match. ANB hits TMac on the chest and it was all Demons from there.

Cut him some slack. Second year player who had virtually no pre season and was then rushed straight into the side. I’m surprised he’s lasted this long. No rocket required but a rest is a good call.

The Port game is our biggest H&A game in years IMO. Port have generally played their worst footy against the top sides and we've played our best. If we win, we're nearly eliminating them from the race and reminding the competition we're not done with yet. If we lose, we go down to 5th and it's pretty much curtains for Top 4 with the tough road trips to come. Moreover, a loss would confirm our worst fears that we're not actually good enough to win it. Of course, their most valuable player is already scheduled to make a miracle return after he was "indefinite" five days ago and spend what seems like many months on the sidelines. MFCSS is at its highest levels since Cairns. Prove me wrong Melbourne.

Sadly this is going to prove to be the game that costs us Top 4. We'll drop to 5th when Port beat us. Still have West Coast in Perth and Geelong in the Cattery after that. [censored]. This is a slightly modified 2017 all over again. BBB would have easily been able to milk a couple of frees or take a couple of marks on the lead and that's the difference right there, but the arrogance of Goodwin has cost us big time.

This is the Collingwood game all over again. Absolute porridge. BBB probably would have had 2 looks for 2 goals. He doesn’t have a lot of tricks to his game but being a straight kick goes a long way in the current side. FFS, even TMac hasn’t slotted one for a month now.

I’m not a fan of what Spargo did that’s borderline corruption for it to be paid HTB one minute after Toby.

I'll be naming my firstborn Jakelever.

All of Brown’s games were played in wet or poor conditions for AFL footy (maybe a bit harsh on Tassie as I think it was an OK day for once there against North). Weideman has played every game bar 1 in perfect conditions for a tall forward and still clearly inferior to Brown statistically. So Brown has kicked more goals in fewer games in poorer conditions, and has played about 5x as many good seasons as Weideman has played games. Absolutely baffling. I wanted Weid gone after the Crows game, how he’s still here doing nothing a month on has me stumped. It would be like playing OMac ahead of May in 2019.

I will [censored] flip a lid if Weideman keeps his spot against Essendon. Surely not. He is OMac levels of bad.