deespicable me

Harmes is an enigma, no doubt. His grunt is important. Strength and run from contest to contest excellent, pressure good and can help us break even in an area that then allows Oliver, Trac and others to get going. But his inability to do the simple things well let alone when he overthinks the occasion is a massive cross against his game. If you give the ball back to good sides unlike GC today they will beat us. In finals you need to hold on to the ball and keep it going your way. But against Yeo and a mature West Coast midfield he probably stays in but he must be put on notice to get his disposal right. You would hope Jordan and Sparrow have higher potential and can eventually keep him out of the side, but we will probably have him in this finals series, hopefully it will be a successful one.

"They all come from greek mate. I'm telling ya! Alpha, Beta, Delta. That China Wuhan story is jus [censored] mate. They were invented in Afens mate."

AZ DZ?

Sorry just reread that and it looks like I'm wanting injuries to happen. I certainly don't.

I think we need to challenge a few players and mix it up. It's time for a new game style, or try something to get a few ideas. I know it's crazy and won't happen, but I'd rest Gawn and Tracc!!!!! I'd play Salem in the midfield and Brayshaw back. I'd like to get a look at Declase on a wing. The main reasoning behind resting Tracc and Gawn is to hand over the leadership to some of the others and tell them they need to step up. Salem should be a leader out there but constantly just runs around getting cheap kicks. He gets very comfortable and goes under the radar. Get him in the midfield mix or at least on a wing and into the game more. Get him connecting forward. Gawn played like he was an island against the dogs, constantly almost giving up on connecting with his midfield and grabbing the ball and lolly popping it forward. And I think a lot of players wait for Tracc to win the game, without trying to win it themselves. We'd probably lose and I'd look silly but thats my fix. Actually by posting this post I'm already looking silly. But think of this. We have been injury free and have not had to bring in fringe players and develop them within team structures. Is this a bad thing or a good thing? In our case I'm not sure.

I'm a little worried about the G. We have been awful there our past three at least. I think we need to show we can play well there pretty soon. There are obviously other factors and excuses for 1 win, 1 loss and a draw, but hard to know with Melbourne. Apart from beating Essendon there in a slog our previous win there (had games switched out through Covid 4 ) was round 9 against Carlton. Our forward 50 entries have been terrible. I'm not sure how many more games we play there before finals but it would be nice to show we can play the ground well against a big opponent. I can handle a loss if it's tight and we at least play well. Hopefully we pull on our big boys jumpers and give those dogs a walloping

I don't either and I never said it did, I'm just observing that a guy playing his first VFL game seemed a more natural forward than Weeds. I know I'm being a bit harsh on Weeds and I certainly wish him well and hope he can make it, but it's with a view as to whether he can make it at AFL level. As a forward I find him a bit disappointing and constantly out of position or easily defended against. And one of Weeds goals was also a joe goose over the top as well.

Went to Werribee on Saturday to watch the game and check out our next likely players to come in. Bedford was interesting, along with Chandler, Bowey and Lockhart as small quick players and I tend to agree Bedford has a bit of potential and could make the grade, but only just and all four were below our AFL small brigade of Spargo, ANB, Kossie, and even Hunt and Hibberd who sometimes play on smalls. Unless there is injury they probably won't get a look in this year. For the Bowey fans I still don't see any reason for him to play AFL for a year or two. He has the Salem smarts about him but doesn't have an AFL body yet, so needs a couple more pre-seasons and natural growth. Weidemann is a bit dissapointing. He doesn't play the role of the lead up forward and constantly gets caught out the back of contests. White and Ellison were the two presenting all the time and the fact Ellison who is a natural forward kicked six in his first VFL game is an indictment on Sam. Ellison could have kicked more as he found space early in the day but was ignored as we kept looking for Weeds. (Just a note that Ellison was minded by the 3rd defender whereas Weeds would often attract more than one defender) Sparrow is still the next in and Melksham has a touch of class and remains in the mix. Just a note on the Casey boys. Obviously with low injuries there is a lot of AFL listed players in the team so the Casey boys opportunities are limited, but all of them played good games. And finally I thought two of the most promising players out there were No's 68 George Grey and 40 Kye Declase. George Grey was fantastic, quick, clever and in everything, he definitely has a future and we should get him on the list ASAP. Declase played the wing taking over from Rosmann who was largely unsighted unfortunately, But Declase is another who could definitely go to AFL level. He is tall, and plays the wing role really well with good endurance and skills, and with Ellison kicking six our depth is good and Casey are flying. Well done to our recruiters and VFL coaches and development staff.

Sounds nasty. Excuse my ignorance but whats IBS? Is it catchy? I've had one shot of the vaccine.

I thought the bathwater tasted funny

That's unfair. I just went to the toilet

I agree Viney is a problem. Having Harmes, Viney and ANB in the same side is not a good mix. Oh my lord, the turn-overs. Harmes who had essentially replaced Viney in the middle was doing a pretty good job with a few turn-overs but reasonable connection with Trac and Oliver. James Jordan was also doing a fine job helping out as the inside mid. On the weekend we put Viney in the middle and got slaughtered in the middle and lost Harmes hard tagging ability around stoppages. Harmes had to be called back into the middle for longer periods of the last half when we were slightly better. Sparrow and ANB shared the half forward role. Sparrow kicked a goal but really looked lost and ANB kicked a great goal and was involved in another but had some horrendous moments as well. Viney has definitely upset the balance of the side. He doesn't connect well with our two gun mids and when he gets the ball he stops and props which also upsets our fast moving style. It's not necessarily that Viney needs to get fit as much as the team needs to adjust to having him back in the side. I'm not sure the answer but unfortunately Sparrow who was also developing nicely and is a better sharer of the ball will probably have to go out and the others in there will need to park their egos and get connected again or we're [censored]!

No. People are sick of your grand-standing. You said we'd lose 4 and win 4. You then went on to name the 4 games we'd lose. And got it wrong. So back in your box hero.

As long as it's the last time for this season we can live with it. They should be fit enough, but of course injuries now become really problematic. Hopefully our round 18 and 19 fixtures offer an 8 day break

I think we are on track to be there at the end but there is a long way to go yet and although we have booked a top 8 spot, we haven't as yet booked a top 4 spot. If you look at the draw (and ignore covid relocations for teams) Brisbane have the easiest of draws. They could easily finish top 2 and become flag favorites. If we falter and say only win 5 of our last 8 games, which is feasible, we could finish 3rd or 4th or maybe even 5th, although we'd be unlucky, but keep in mind there are 5 teams looking for a top 4 berth and the only one I'd book in is Brisbane (and they're about to go into a hub!). It's nice on top of the ladder, but there is a lot of jostling to go and then a finals series begins. Long way to go. At the moment we are flying under the radar and are $5.50 equal second favorite for the flag. In six weeks time we might be out to $7- or $8- if we don't keep improving and in fact show signs of drop-off, coz the good teams will have had a long time to have a good look at us and will definitely have plans to beat us. Playing Dogs and Cats again will tell everyone a lot and until then we can't claim diddly, and then until we win something we can't claim diddly and with 8 weeks to go we certainly can't claim diddly, so stay calm and enjoy the ride and let people have their opinions coz in the end they may be right.

Yeah, I'd definitely hand back the win over the Crows for a victory over the Bombers.

Gee the arrogance to play Ryan, no. 32 Hardwick just thinks he can create footballers out of thin air. His first contest was too physical for the poor bloke. He's barely VFL standard. And Dusty just doesn't think he needs to chase anymore. One way runner and barely that. Certainly not in my AA team. Trac and Bont and even Toby Green have gone straight past him. With respect to his three premiership medals and Norm Smiths and B&F's etc but in 2021 he's dropped right off. I think they might finish 9th at best.

Fair dinkum, they are a weak mob. Out ; nancy health officialdom In; Darwin

If we are the real deal and not just a first half of the season front runner we have to and should win this game albeit against a side who will bring in a youthful enthusiasm and a hunger to beat the top team that will be hard to quell. There are 3 other top eight clashes this week with Brizzy v Cats, West Coast v Dogs and Port v Suns. This is the time to put distance on rivals. This is what teams capable and committed to winning the top prize would do. If we win this week we are that much closer to sewing up a top 4 spot and well favored to finish top 2. Drop this one and we let others in. This is about understanding the competition and what victory means. We should have good plans to stop Essendon, shut them down, get the game on our terms and win at all cost. If we come out like against Collingwood I will be super disappointed. If we lose we are probably still too immature yet to win the flag.

They have been in lock down so can't go anywhere or be with anyone and you can't suggest there wouldn't be enough players putting their hand up to play this weekend. That is a non-argument Dazzle

It was their first 4 quarter game all season. 4 quarters of crap. Playing like millionaires, they've completely forgotten how they played to get where they are. Completely lost their synergy. Didn't play as a group at all. Gawn was off in la la land for the first half. This is Goodwins big test. Clearly our worst game for the year. Does he [censored] them on the track? Give them a rest? At least they go to the break knowing they are a long way off a flag yet.

I did the survey but found the last question inherently racist. It asks you to describe yourself and suggests "white Australian" etc. I answered Australian. If you answered white Australian you aligned yourself with the question, took the bait and are now considered inherently racist. Your views will be collated accordingly. I mean what does it matter what colour I am as to how I answer the survey. I am Australian.

Please...........

Given the "darlings" of the AFL the Bulldogs are so favored you would have to reckon' The Bont is leading the Brownlow. They might struggle to stay top 4 if that +32 gets evened up over the second half of the year. I'm glad we're close to even, it means the fools in yellow don't enter a game thinking they've got to limit the frees to us.

I hope they can map out a program that has him ready to run through brick walls in the prelim. What that looks like with his foot I'm not sure but it looks like he might struggle to play all games so give him the Clark Keating (triple premiership player for the Lions who only played about 10 home and away games) treatment. While Harmes is doing his job he possibly isn't needed and it's also good to get games into Sparrow, but of course Jack Viney makes us a better side.