Gator

Two things... Weideman is exceptionally brave in the air and does fly in many marking contests. He may not be grabbing them, but can you remember the last time he was out-marked ? He competes in the air far better than Pedersen, despite Pedersen taking the odd fine contested mark. Weideman provides more ground opportunities than Pedersen, imo. There's no doubt an element of "getting games into him", which will benefit the club long-term. He, far more than Tim Smith, will be the beneficiary of any "line-ball" decisions.

Structure

It's always a bit hard on a first gamer who's subsequently dropped. But I'm more interested in picking a team the coach/MC believes is more likely to win the game. Yep, I'm far more interested in that.

Pressure for spots is great. I doubt Oscar is disappointing match committee, more-so they like what Frost brings and Oscar is the direct replacement because they don't want to play both. They would have explained to Oscar that he's doing well, but there are still areas he needs to work on. I'm liking the selections this year far more than last year.

Read this article. It's all about the Gawn factor and Spencer. It's excellent. http://www.theroar.com.au/2017/04/12/melbourne-gawn-not-likely/

Only 2 or 3 on the injured list are in our best 22. Not ideal, but not chaotic.

I'd rather you not deflect and try and drag me into your abject failure re Hunt. I'm not even sure what you're alluding to, but don't need to know.

Until he sees sustained quality performances with his own eyes he won't believe. It's futile trying to change a made up mind.

That's great. I don't care.

He hasn't quite been the same since the head knocks. The young player running around in our defeat of Geelong in 2015 just isn't quite there at the moment. Anyone who doubts Brayshaw's bona fides only has to have another look at that game. I don't know if it's a confidence thing or being played in that half-forward position, but he doesn't look as hard or as sharp. Like you, I'm happy for him to play half the year at Casey if it means he gets back to playing the way we know he can.

I am. But there's no point trying to change the mind of others who aren't. It's a waste of time.

Brayshaw will be a far better player than Bugg, but right now i think Bugg might offer a bit more. I'm happy for Brayshaw to build up some real form and force his way back into the team. The next time Brayshaw gets in I don't want him coming out again.

No-one is more anti-smoking than me. I smoked for 14 years. In the last 10 years that I smoked I smoked 60 a day. I gave up cold turkey February 23, 1993 and have never had one since. The date is poignant to me due to my incredible addiction to nicotine. I had an ashtray on the tiled ledge outside my shower, because I smoked in the shower. I smoked in bed before sleep and it was the first thing I did when I woke up. The tut-tutting over Hogan having a dart, when he's obviously not a smoker, but a young guy at a concert trying to be a 22 year old for a mere moment is beyond a joke. Going home and escaping for a couple of days as he conteplates his Father's illness sheds light on the situation. Does anyone here seriously think he's a regular, or problem smoker ? The outrage industry is alive and well and ready to judge or condemn at the drop of a hat.

Oliver isn't getting in Viney's way, just like Dangerfield doesn't get in Selwood's. Viney hasn't been playing a hard tag, but he did sacrifice some of his game as he kept Steven quiet and has played a slightly more defensive role in 2017. If he could stop running around to try and get on his left when it's silly to do so it would help his game. We should perhaps look at our midfield as a collective, because they have specific roles that we're not necessarily privy to.

As others have pointed out, Nathan Jones has actually taken another step. The likes of Oliver have taken the heat off Jones and freed him up to be more damaging on the outside. He must be loving footy in 2017.

It panders to the outrage industry and one of the most pc periods of all time. The thought police are watching you.

He'll play round 5, but obviously Jones doesn't want to discuss the health of his Father, which is obviously a concern to Jesse. That's the extent that needs to be read into it.

I reckon Dustin Martin is a reasonable comparison. They're different players, but at the same time have similar traits. Martin would now be considered in the top 5 players in the game along with Dangerfield, Fyfe, Franklin and Bontempelli. Martin was highly rated very quickly in his AFL journey, but it was his 4th season before he really broke out and elevated his game to a higher plane. He's continued on and taken his game to new levels, particularly this year (season 8). In his third year he averaged 22.4 disposals (Petracca is averaging 21.7 this year), marks 3.2 (Petracca 7), tackles 3 (1), kicked 23 goals at an average of 1.2 (1.3), and had 85 ranking points (Petracca 90). I think by year's end Petracca's second year will be very similar to Martin's third and by then people were criticising Melbourne for not even interviewing Martin let alone drafting him. It's reasonable to compare Petracca's second year to Martin's third as Petracca is still a few months older than Martin was the corresponding year, although Martin hadn't had interrupted preseasons. Petracca is tracking fine.

He's rated exceptionally highly internally, so I fail to understand the thrust of this post.

In: Spencer, Pedersen, Bugg Out: Gawn, Weideman, Hannan Weideman will be a player, but he finds it hard without Hogan. A week at Casey won't do him any harm. I like Hannan, but a couple of games at Casey won't harm him either.

That's great. WTF does it have to do with Hogan ?

Trust your eyes. While not express, he's powerful and far from slow.

Nice to see him play 50 for all that effort !

Jilted Freo supporter.

Hi Jack.