At the break of Gawn

Absolute star. He’s the best defender in the league right now and will be the first person the AA selectors put down when selecting the back 6. Has also played in a GF so also has great finals experience.

Friday and Saturday nights will be capped at 15,000, while a maximum of 10,000 can attend each of the finals at University of Tasmania Stadium in Launceston - Port at home doesn’t sound that scary anymore. 15k is very disappointing. Even if it got to 20k. You could almost fill more people at the G with fully vaccinated Melbourne supporters.

The way we won that was poetic justice. - A horrible insufficient intent decision that has cursed us once this year almost cost us again. - Max Gawn kicking the goal after the miss in 2018 - A goal after the siren at GMHBA which redeemed us for that Tuohy goal. - A win to seal first on the ladder at a ground that has haunted us in the past. You could not script it better! I love this group and have so much faith that we can turn it around in any game. Bring on the Lions 3 more wins to go!

Had the home crowd cheering them on and had Omac on Hawkins.

think some supporters need to cool their jets here. We ain’t winning 7 in a row to win the flag. A tune up here and beat Port at home isn’t too bad. We haven’t lost twice in a row all year and there’s no way we’re losing 3 in a row.

I’m not sure the Dogs are likely to lose 4 games in a row. Martin will come back for finals which will straighten them up. We’ve lost to them once before. I’d choose the Lions over the Dogs, but 50-50 of Port at home vs Lions at a neutral venue.

Agree. Port at a neutral venue was our ideal situation. Lions have turned the corner. Losing to the Hawks down in Tassie has sparked something for them. Since then they’ve smashed Freo away, belted Collingwood at home and now looking likely to put away Eagles pretty easily.

Same. Brisbane’s forwards worry me a bit even without Hipwood. Port look impotent I find. Dixon has been disappointing all year, Marshall is horribly out of form, Georgiadis is injured now.

A Brisbane team (who belted us in the first half) in red hot form at a neutral venue or a Port Adelaide team at home with all their feral supporters who’ve won their past 6. Neither task will be easy Port at a neutral venue would have been ideal.

I’m barracking for the Dogs. If we lose tomorrow, which is very likely, playing Port at home with all their feral fans could easily nudge them over the line against us.

I think Port has pulled the wool over quite a few people. Lost to us and then have played bottom 8 sides since then. I expect them to be soundly beaten on Friday night.

Like every year, the AFLCA is keeping secret the last two rounds of votes for the AFL coaches award this year. Since how Oliver is in the lead by 3 votes, any idea on what the round 22 votes will look like against Adelaide? I have a feeling the Bont wouldn’t have polled well against the Hawks.

Oh wow, there you go. Geez forgot how dominant Freo was that year.

After beating Adelaide we have now beaten 16 of 17 other AFL teams this H&A season. I swear that must be close to some record since the inception of 18 teams. A win agains the Pies on QB would have been a clean sweep.

Melb in front by 5 goals at 3/4 time against the Cats with the premiership seemingly in our grasps. A delay to the start of the qtr due to lightning gives the tired Cats an extra 15 minutes. The Cats run over the top of Melbourne with Hawkins kicking a goal after the siren due to a blocking free.

If this club truly has changed its culture it will beat Adelaide by 10 goals+. It’s time to get our revenge on these [censored] for beating us in round 10.

Well done to AnB. BoG in his 100th game. And credit to Harmes, was easily our best midfielder and one of his best games all year. I don’t know if it was because of no Viney, but for those 3 and a half qtrs I thought our midfield purred and we dominated clearances.

Have notice that. Has had no space. Sheppard is a good player.

He’ll probably get a week. His defensive pressure would be handy against the Eagles’ mids but it’s really not all that much to fret about. He was our worst player on the w/e (putting Sparrow aside). I hope Jones comes in for him. He’ll be like an uncaged lion trying to grab his chance and would probably match Viney’s intensity.

Geelong had a home game against Richmond last week and asked the AFL to move it to GMHBA due to no crowds. The AFL denied it and the game went ahead at the MCG. Whateley said that the main driver of this was that the AFL didn’t want to set a precedent. The AFL knows Geelong will have a home final and they will want it played at the MCG. We’d have to be one of the unluckiest teams ever if we’re forced to play at GMHBA in week 1 of the finals.

Considering most of us (including myself) demanded Jackson to be dropped last week, shows that the coaches still have a fair better idea than us! Harmes won’t be dropped. I think every match report I’ve read he was listed in the best. The only change I can see are forced changes for Tmac or Salem if they can’t get up, or potentially Sparrow out for his mate Jordan or potentially Jones. I’m still concerned with Viney but his grunt might be pretty valuable against the Eagles midfield.

I thought Harmes’ second half was ok. He still provides good contest work. I’m more worried about Jack Viney. I’d be very happy to see Jones come in and replace him. Kind of funny that 2 of our poor performers today each had a chance to get us the 100+ win but both failed.

Viney still has no idea. Doesn’t kick when he needs to, tries to take everyone on and gets caught holding the ball. In the bottom 2-4 players in the team. Probably not as noticeable, but AnB playing very well.

Was just wondering this. I wonder how the delay by one day stuffs up preparation? Surely an early 2hr flight, then sitting around then another 2hr flight can’t be good. Do they do another mini captain’s run or just let the players go home?

If we’re flying up the day of the game, then you can forget about a win. The last same day flight with an early start was North in Tassie where we almost stumbled. Max said in an interview that he needed a nap before the game even started. We also lost to Sydney in that Cairns debacle when we did a same day flight game. The boys struggle immensely with it.