Bang Bang Bang

Apart from a 2 minute cameo last night, he hasn't played for 2 weeks now. By next Saturday it will be 3. He will be fresh, provided his neck injury can subside.

I think it's partly this, and partly because we have nobody that can replace him. A disinterested Howe is still a much better option than one of the usual suspects from the 'trash can', and all of our kids that are even close to ready for the AFL are playing already. He might be in trouble when (if) our injury list starts to shrink.

Dunn's was a free kick against any day of the week IMO. It was a clear throw/illegal disposal/whatever you want to call it. Darling could definitely have been pinged too but the ball sort of spilled out in the tackle. The HTB against Matt Jones in the second or third quarter was the most baffling for me! Schmidt is clearly one of those umpires that over-officiates. He loves paying HTB.

Pleasing news re. Brayshaw. I expect him to play next week then. In. Lumumba, Fitzpatrick Out. Bail, Spencer Lumumba is a given, and can come in for Bail who has been pretty hopeless all year. Can't kick, can't mark and can't tackle properly. Tries hard and runs hard but he's the first out. Fitzy is just a little bit more flexible than Spencer. We can throw him onto Daniher if Tommy Mac or Dunn get carved up. We can throw him forward and he can help out in the ruck. Spencer competes but is a dinosaur and fairly useless in most areas. Matt Jones can stay, but him being a mainstay at the moment just makes me want vanders, Salem and Kent to hurry up and get fit. I'd consider bringing back the more skillful Newton too.

He did some good things (amongst some bad) but I'd be happier for Stretch and ANB to play ahead of him. They seem like natural footballers.

Seriously? 15 possessions, 7 marks and 3 shots at goal isn't a stinker at the best of times, let alone when you're 20 y/o playing in your 10th game.

Reasonable first three quarters, disappointing last quarter. I really hope Brayshaw isn't too badly hurt because we have 3 winnable games coming up and we need him out there. I like the work of Stretch and ANB and Watts looks a totally different player of late. Clearly Bail, Spencer and Matt Jones aren't the answer. But we knew that already. Games in Darwin are dead set boring to watch.

I like the look of Stretch. He's not the biggest or most skilled of players but his poise and decision making are top notch.

There will be a very solemn mood at all remaining games this weekend, but particularly tomorrow night's game. Walsh was at West Coast from 2008-2013 so most of their players would have been close to him. I don't think there will be any celebrating of goals and after the final siren. The 4 points really aren't important. Still in shock. I'm not expecting Adelaide v Geelong to go ahead.

Awful news, one of the most gut-wrenching I've ever woken up to! R.I.P. Phil. Thoughts are with all those who knew him. There's absolutely no way Adelaide will play on Sunday I'd have thought. So sad.

You're kidding yourself if you don't think we would have any gear-loving players on the list. I have no idea who, but we would have some. As long as they don't go off the rails Ben Cousins style, stay out of headlines and avoid the 3-strike suspension (which seems to not exist), then I'm not too fazed about it.

How would you know? Do you sit in the box with him? Have you heard it from a current player or one of the assistants? Do you have an elite understanding of modern AFL tactics and structures (if yes then why aren't you employed at an AFL club). There's no way you can make such a sweeping statement like that. I was hoping Roos would coach us in 2016 and then take on some sort of mentoring role in 2017 onwards. I hope he can hang around the club in some capacity after his time is up.

Stringer is an absolute machine and will only get better! I would be happy if Petracca turns out that good.

I can't remember any of those guys dominating games in the same way vandenBerg has though. Maybe Nicholson once in 2011 when we beat Richmond, and Evans' last quarter against GWS in 2013, but that's about it.

I like Garland but he's very much a "meat and potatoes" player. We'd get a second round pick as compensation and I'd have a lot of faith in Roos trading that for a decent replacement elsewhere. Still, I'd rather Garland stayed. If we have a decent second half of the season then he will. He'd be crazy to sign somewhere else when we have such an exciting and stable future (potentially). Pretty much no side outside of Hawthorn and Sydney are guaranteed to play finals in a given year!

Do you guys think vandenBerg and Salem will come straight back into the side? We have a hat-trick of winnable games after Darwin so I want us to get our best players in fast.

You might be right on that, but what I did was rattle off the best 10 or so key forwards in the game at present and analyse where they went in the draft. There might have been some misses along the way (Gumbleton, Butcher, Watts, Jarrad Grant off the top of my head) but I think if you want a DOMINANT key forward, then you need to draft one early OR trade away the farm to get them in down the track. I think St.Kilda's logic was OK.

That's not entirely true. Pretty much all the elite tall forwards in the competition were taken early in the first round. Franklin (pick 5) Roughead (pick 2) Kennedy (pick 4) Hogan (pick 3) N. Riewoldt (pick 1) Pavlich (pick 4) J. Riewoldt (pick 13) Stringer (pick 5) McCarthy (pick 13) Then you have Joe Daniher and Hawkins who were F/S picks but would have been top 5 if they were in the open draft. Cameron was an underage selection, also would have been top 5 otherwise. Taylor Walker was a late pick but Adelaide had special access to him from memory. So yeah, pretty much every half-decent forward running around in the AFL was an early pick back in they day! I understand what St.Kilda were trying to do, but I agree internally they'd be a little concerned about the early form of Brayshaw. It didn't take long for us to realise we had missed one in Wines.

Just finished watching the replay. Tyson's look away kick to Stretch in the last quarter was a work of art!

Pleaaaaaaaase. Crouch looks ok, but so did Jordan Gysberts and Cale Morton once. If he was the 10-12 year A-B grade midfielder that you're so certain he will become, then he would have played more than 6 games. Hyperbole. We wouldn't have selected him anyway. Vince was a classic Paul Roos trade and I don't see any reason why he can't play until he's 32-33 if the injuries stay away. He started his career later than most and doesn't rely on pace or athleticism to dominate games.

He probably said Garland. The Maxwell one sounds very Maxwell-like though. Against the Doggies when Fitzpatrick played a blinder he said "The MCC are chanting Fitzgerald's name. Fitzy Fitzy"

I doubt many clubs would take McCartin at 1 if the draft was held again. Not saying he won't be good, likewise Petracca, but you'd be crazy not to get Gus Brayshaw into your club given the way he's adapted to the AFL. No risks at all, the kid is already a gun.

Viney is almost the forgotten man of our young brigade. Has looked good from game 1 but he has also steadily improved with each season, they way you expect it to be. 28 touches to Selwood's 16 is a complete annihilation. He's never going to be an elite kick but his decision making has definitely improved. I don't panic when he gets it anymore. Gun.

Yesterday was actually the first time Nathan Jones has beaten Geelong. He was on the list in 2006 when we beat them at the MCG, but was yet to debut at that point. That game in 2006 was also Lynden Dunn's debut. Wins like these must be extra special to these two.

Who was it that said they were done with the club after St.Kilda? Wormburner? Sucks to be him.