Bang Bang Bang

Whateley is just symbolic of the footy media getting carried away from week to week. I remember last year, at one point before Round 6, he said Sydney were no chance to make the finals. Fast forward to August and all of a sudden it's Sydney are unstoppable. September comes, they have a bad night and it's done and dusted. The Hawks game for us was 4 lost points againat a very good side and a disappointing percentage drop. Nothing more. Whateley wasn't the only one to overreact.

28 touches and good kicking on show today. He even fluked a goal! Much improved on last week. I agree with the wanna-be Dustin Martin analogy though, does my head in.

Tyson couldn't have been that wasteful because the commentators were calling him our best kick with a 'dynamite' left. Obviously that's not normally the case but... Still gets caught way too much but his disposal was on today.

Two things. 1. I'll take a 39 point win against any opposition any day of the week. 2. I can't recall Brayshaw having anywhere near 33 disposals in prior games, 360 degree player, fantastic game and a real bonus if he continues on with it.

About as worrying for opposition sides if Andre Gianfagna umpires a Melbourne game. Non issue.

I always liked having Bugg in the side because of his ability to agitate, but his skills would constantly frustrate. I think we may have found his replacement in Spargo. By the way dazzle, not having a go at you mate and I really appreciate the inside info you shared, but GWS couldn't have been that filthy about losing the rights to him? As they overlooked him one pick before us.

What was his username? As others have said it was almost identical to 2017. Not only that, but we're on the same W/L ratio after six rounds, with a worse percentage but much smaller injury list. I was probably more optimistic about finals this time 12 months ago, but the season is far from shot. We've really made good use of our second round picks in the past few years. Melksham and Hibberd (trade) and Spargo and Fritsch (draft) were among the best on the park today. I thought games like today would be where we'd miss the skills of Jack Watts the most. But Melksham (field kicking) and Fritsch (set shots) have filled the void. I'm actually struggling to remember why everyone was against getting Melksham in the first place. He has been excellent. Still not convinced about the Lever trade working out for us but it was good to see some of his friends down back find form today. Even Lever himself was better after half time.

My bad. Thought I was being the hero for a moment there.

Live stream available. Check VFL website. You're welcome.

I actually thought he was good yesterday, gave away one of the worst frees I've ever seen paid on Goldstein, but was busy and got better as the game wore on. Granted, for two first rounders and 800k a year, his first three games as a collective have been totally underwhelming. But it's way too early for the vultures to come out. Just watch, Lever will be BOG in a final one day and Kane Cornes types will write how "it was great for Lever to show up those who doubted him." That's the media for you.

Those quotes do bode well for his imminent signature. I know Scully said nearly exactly the same things in 2011, except for one difference. He had already put contract talks on hold til the end of the year (how did we not see it coming???). Petracca has indicated a contract will get done. Normally when players are on the way out, or considering leaving, they normally trot things out like 'I want to focus on my footy' and 'There's no hurry/timeframe.' No guarantees but I think Petracca will sign sooner rather than later.

Two things. Predicted superdrafts hardly ever end up being as good as projected. Rave about 2001 all you want, but then came 2006, 2008 and 2012, all of which have flunked. Meanwhile, 2013 and 2015 were considered weaker yet look the best of recent years. Secondly, we could have picked Scully (2x AA squad), Martin (best player in comp), Talia (AA) and Fyfe (AA) with 1,2,11 and 18 in 2009. That's just off the top of my head.

Every single year this happens. I remember the Gold Coast guy saying the exact same thing re. O'Meara. Brisbane were super strong re. Aish. Both ended up at their club of choice. You also need to factor in emotion, how would YOU be feeling if Petracca requested a trade to Collingwood three days after losing a GF we should have won? Yeah, I thought so. Burton will calm down and soon realise we're good and fair to deal with. We paid Essendon slight overs (at the time) for Melksham and they were good enough to return the favour with Hibberd for slight unders the following year. Playing hardball gets you nowhere. Lever is just about worth two first rounders outside the top 10. He's a very good player, although I question his selection in the AA squad. He's also injury prone. But draft picks are overrated, if it ends up being 10 and 20 or something for Lever then I won't be losing any sleep over it.

Haha, that guy was a pathological liar. Lucky I have an elephant's memory and remembered him claiming Dangerfield was 98% a Demon in 2014, thus taking the Rockliff stuff with a grain of salt. kurtneverdied did deliver the Brendan McCartney news ahead of time, so he has some credit in the bank. 1st and 2nd rounder will get it done if he has indeed chosen us. Expensive, but worth it. Lever is in his third year and in AA discussions. Oliver is in a similar boat (although only in his second). What price would we put on Oliver?

From memory Goodwin brought him over with the idea of playing him in defence. That didn't work out, but he's absolutely smoking it in his new role and fast becoming a favourite. All of a sudden I love that punchable head of his. Love his passion too. If you think about it, paying pick 25 for a steady role player in a Top 8 side is probably a fair deal, despite the early kerfuffles. A similar pick for Hibberd was quite simply highway robbery.

Lewis seems to have a few critics on the internet. I saw the Demonblog guy (who I normally rate as a very astute judge) say Shannon Byrnes produced more on the field than him! Facts are we have an 80% winning record with Lewis in the team and 0% without. 29 touches again today and the match saving mark (well technically it wasn't, but you know...) Worth every penny.

Another 4 votes in the AFLCA. By count that's 8/11 games this year he's gotten votes. A teenager.

We're 6-2 with Lewis and 0-3 without. I dunno, he was poor today but I'd still do the trade.

I don't think that's true. I seem to remember Roos stating publicly that McCartin, Petracca and Brayshaw were the clear standouts and we were always going to take the two St. Kilda didn't. I think Emma Quayle quoted our recruiters as rating McCartin first in one of her books (I read that second hand so don't take it as gospel). Certainly, Lever was in the mix and would have been a better pick than Gus but that's hindsight for you. In fact if we had our time again I'd be taking Petracca and Peter Wright, not Lever. Hopefully Weid ends up being the goods because Charlie Curnow is well ahead of him at this point in time too. Taylor has done an excellent job but you can't get them all perfectly right. We also took Salem ahead of Cripps. Not a bad decision per se, just not the perfect one.

Demonland needs a dislike button.

His first half had me convinced he still had shares in the Hawks and we were in for a long three years. But he was very important after half time behind the ball. I think it was him that gave the boys a spray at half time before going off. Whatever he said worked! But I do agree with the general consensus, his 'elite kicking' is actually quite inconsistent.

It's funny because I shared your bemusement when Rohan Connolly left him out of his top 10 recruits earlier in the week. But the same Rohan Connolly made a snide remark about Hibberd missing All Australian in 2014 in article #1 and also included him in his 2013 midway AA squad for 2013 in article #2. So this would confirm that Hibberd indeed was a bloody good player at Essendon in the eyes of Essendon fans at least. http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/allaustralians-a-team-brimming-with-new-faces-20140915-10hakg.html http://www.theherald.com.au/story/1570050/half-a-season-produces-team-full-of-talent/

And not just that, his poise, decision making and skill are all elite. A good interceptor too. When the McDonalds get it and even Frost, Hunt and Lewis, there's the occasional heart in mouth moment. But when Hibberd gets it you know you can relax. Gun.

I was happy to get him but didn't expect him to be this good. Our trading and drafting last October gets a big tick. Hibberd for a pick in the late 20s, Lewis for peanuts and Hannan in the 40s are all wins. Unfortunately the Melksham trade is n't looking quite as rosy.

He is LEADING the 3AW player of the year with Rory Sloane. Surely he'll slow down at some point, but if he doesn't, 'going to be elite' is wrong. He is elite.