At the break of Gawn

Really enjoying these. Looking forward to the next one!

I’d actually bring in Petty and Tomlinson. You can’t replace Max, but you can try and replicate him (á la moneyball). Essendon are the land of the giants. They have 4-5 tall forwards that rotate through in 2MP, Caddy, Langford, Jones and Stringer. Lever on Langford will be a disaster as Langford is a smart footballer who’ll know how to diffuse Lever. I’d bring in Tomlinson to play on Caddy, McDonald on 2MP and May on Langford. This will free up Lever to roam free and help with our intercepts behind the ball. Petty comes in and shares ruck duty with JvR/Turner. Petty’s contested marking is really on the improve. I don’t rate Draper at all. He’s a lazy footballer and very average when he drifts forward. I’m not really worried about his around the ground work. Ins: Tomlinson, Lever Out: Gawn, Woewodin Sub: AmW

This one still haunts me. I’d love to know the rationale for this. I know Curnow had that breath test incident and a previous knee injury so maybe that’s why.

Nup absolutely nothing in it.

I hope Turner doesn’t get dropped and is made the sub if Petty comes in. He can play at either end and provides good coverage if we have an injury to a tall. I really don’t think playing Woewodin or whomever for 15 mins is doing much so why not use it as insurance?

I thought Lever was pretty poor. He struggles big time when he’s one-on-one against a genuine tall.

Fantastic win. I know some would have been disappointed with it not being a 12–13 goal win but the Eagles haven’t really been belted by huge numbers this year except for the Adelaide game. The thing that impressed me the most was wrestling back the momentum mid qtr multiple times. That’s something we’ve struggled with this year but we did it well today. The big question is how do we make room for Petty? I still feel we still need him there as I thought we looked a little too short up forward when JvR was in the ruck.

Almost at the G now. 25k would be decent today for us.

Feel like it’s been eternity since last Friday night and I can’t wait to see if we bring that same level of intensity. If we do, I expect the Eagles to fold quickly and we should win by 8+ goals. Waterman to be a late out too I’m predicting.

Briggs is giving TDK a bath. TDK looks so average right now.

Barely touched the ball this qtr

Really need Carlton to win this to help our finals chances. GWS don’t have an overly difficult run home.

Based on the vision I saw (didn’t participate at all in training) I reckon he’ll be a late out.

Perfect for us that they lost. They’re the one challenger out of the 8 I’m worried about the most. If we belt the Eagles we’ll be in the 8.

Yep. If all the favourites win this week the Pies will be out of the 8 by the end of the round. If North beats the Suns we’ll take the Pies’ spot 🤭

Merrett is such a good captain. Absolutely leads by example with his tackling and pressure.

100%. Essendon look really shaky. We’re primed to take their spot.

I still feel we’re a bit short without another tall up forward. Who goes out if Petty is fit for next week? Does Melksham become the sub and Kolt goes out? Goodwin said last week he wants all 3 talls playing together to foster some cohesion and connection. One thing to remember is Melksham came into the side last year when Fritsch went out injured. They only played one game together (Sydney) then Melksham did his ACL. It’ll be interesting to see how we go with two midsize forwards.

So Bowey misses? It’s a good point you raise. If we lose a tall during the game we’ll be [censored] as we don’t have the luxury of swinging Petty back. Bowey would be unlucky though and he’s in our best 22.

Woewodin is named on the wing so don’t think he can be sub. I think it’s going to be Tholstrup. My tip is: Ins: Melksham, Salem, Bowey Out: Brown, Petty, Tomlinson, Sub: Tholstrup We’re probably a bit too tall down back with the 4 talls but now I feel we’re probably a bit undersized up forward. I can’t see Fullarton coming in over Jeffo but it’s going to be a struggle when JvR in the ruck with just Turner down there.

I'm only trying to interpret the way Goodwin said it. I think what Goodwin meant was bringing Jake straight into the senior side might not be the best thing for him as opposed to finding form in the seconds first. I honestly don't mind what they do, but I didn't get the impression from Goodwin that it's a forgone conclusion he goes straight back in.

I watched his presser too - I'm not sure on Melk, I got the sense the best thing by Melk could be to start him in the 2nds. Petty sounds the most in doubt but he said that his fitness test will come on Saturday so he could very well get up. The coaching group sounds like they've had a good week and I've got the impression they'll be really prepared for whatever West Coast brings. Ideally if the Eagles start to wilt, we should try and get a percentage boost to help our top 8 chances.

Apparently Peter Sumich was saying on radio today that Waterman won't play. I wouldn't take it to the bank just yet but seems like there's some doubt.

The Eagles are getting absolutely hammered in the media at the moment after yesterday’s horrible performance. They got belted by Collingwood before playing us last time and played their best game in 3 years. I’ll be so disappointed if we let this club rebound and beat us again.