ArtificialWisdom

I'm not a fan of the 2 wrongs make a right. We probably should have gotten more help and didn't. But it's clear the Sun's need help so they should get it. I am a big fan of priority picks between finalists and non-finalists. That would mean they have 1 and 11. This way it doesn't hurt the other teams that are struggling. I don't think it's possible to justify a pick for St Kilda given they've been competitive for years just not finals quality and have been hurt by injuries. Carlton is a different story. But Teague hurting their chances by getting them playing better footy.

Given Spargo is just about our best backup ruck option after Pruess I think it would take a top 5 pick to get me interested in a trade.

Gawn is a generational quality ruckman. He plays the 70% ruck time. We don't want to rob Peter to pay Paul. Leave the big man in the middle to do what he does best. Then we just have to make do with Pruess forward. We can experiment with Max forward at times but as OD just pointed out, Max is a near 0 set shot reliability.

Silver lining for him individually is that he hopefully got some of his 2018 confidence back before going down he, can hit the preseason hard. Better going down now than late in August

I've been against Pruess playing as a forward with Tom in the same side. So the bad news for Tom is good news for Pruessy. Won't have all that much faith but if he can clunk 1 mark and convert a goal that should be a tick for the game. Gawn to get some forward time to see how it goes. Gawn and Lever seem the two obvious ins. Not sure if Petty will get up but he's been getting better each week so hopefully he does. If not then JWag should come back in. Contrary to most around here I'd still like Wagner in the side so we can push Salem up the ground. But I doubt that will ever happen

Fact: Had we lost to Carlton and fallen to 17th the heat would rightly be on regardless of the injury problem late. Fact: Holding on to win against any fast finishing side with momentum when you have only 1 player left for rotations is difficult Fact: We comfortably held Carlton at arms length through the first 3 qtrs, as we should. It's not a "special" or "defining" win but it's a good win, job done. A negative year means we look at this result pretty pessimisticly but the most important thing for the club was to grind out a result and they did. Still a chance to get 3 or 4 more wins this year.

I think Weiderman's development has been stunted by our inept ball movement in 2019. Last year he looked good because we were hitting targets. This year if he leads up the kick goes over his head and if he says deep the ball is kicked to his defenders advantage. But overall I still like him. He's still light on but his body work has improved this year but will still struggle against the bigger key backs but training against May and Frost will help his 1-1 development. Aside from his 1 howler he's just about our most reliable set shot. His leaping ability will allow him to take Tom Lynch-like pack marks as he continues to get stronger. His contested marking is already pretty good despite being undersized. Fun fact time here's a list of a few pretty good players averaging fewer contested marks than Sam in 2019: Hipwood, Himmelberg, Finlayson, B Brown, Jenkins. And he's on par with the likes of Hawkins, J Cameron, and J Kennedy (WC). These guys have better numbers than Sam but never underestimate how much delivery makes forwards look better. Most of what he does he does well. If we were competing for finals I'd be worried. But we're well out of that race so just let the kid play. With Tom's injury he'll have a big test the next few weeks.

Was just about to pose the same question. I doubt Freo would want to give up a 2nd round pick along with that. I suspect it would just be a straight swap top 6 pick for the 2 players. Maybe a shuffle of late late picks.

Based on this evidence, this is the wrong conclusion . You have said his brand doesn't work by pointing out evidence that we didn't at all play to Goodwin's brand. If we had smashed them in clearances and contested ball and still lost then that would be evidence that his brand doesn't work. Its clear that in the last 2 weeks we are kicking more rather than using the run and handball. Which is on par with everyone else. We still try to move the ball on quickly even by foot so we are playing more like the Giants than the Cats/Pies. The gameplan is shifting, but when you fail so badly at what you do best then you're rarely going to win. Particularly interstate against a top 4 hopeful.

I like the idea of TMac playing the Adelaide Lynch type linking key but while ANB is no Rioli type with his agility, Tom turns like an 18 wheeler. You need more agility to put ANB level of pressure.

If we got Brad Hill and Jack Martin that would almost be enough. We have the grunt to support them. Guaranteed Weid will be a better forward with Hill or Martin kicking it to him instead of ANB. That said we have a snowballs chance in hell of getting either of them. We're just going to get Langdon instead who can run but is no more reliable by foot than Stretch.

Lever (if fit) for Petty. JKH for Hannan. Dunkley for ANB. Pruess only if Gawn doesn't get up. JKH needs one last shot to prove he can make it. He's only getting this chance because we're [censored]. If we were in the 8 his career would be over. But give him a month and just see if we can get a Jetta-like 1 last chance miracle. I'd like to see Dunkley get a run. I'm happy to keep ANB on the list for next year but I want to see them try something different for now. We can carry ANB as a depth player when we play well but we need a better option. Bonus for a structure change: J. Wagner for Smith. Wagner to play down back. Viney to play as a forward and Salem to go into the middle. Salem is a star, his step up this year has been one of the few silver linings. We need him around the ball as much as possible.

I agree that's about his worth but I suspect that given his age and steady improvement the Dockers will demand at least a lateish first round pick 14-18. Which I'd be happy for the club to pay but we don't have a late first pick to give. *I'm not advocating this deal* But if I was Freo I would offer Langdon and their first pick (10-12) for Gus Brayshaw and our 2nd.

It clearly wasn't his best game this year but I'd like to see Sam's contest win-half-loss from Saturday. He only got the 2 contested marks but eye test during the game it felt like he was at least halving most contests he was involved in. I suspect as a young key forward that's what Goody was most impressed by. Keeping in mind also that Clarry's goal and Tom's sealer both only came about thanks to contests Weids halved.

Disappointed Garlett's season is over. His contract will be interesting. I think most of us thought he was unlikely to get an extension at the start of the year but injuries to other forwards aside, when he came back in he wasn't dropped. His form was sketchy at times but his pressure acts were right up there every week. Given our forward line troubles as a whole a 1 year extension might not be out of the question.

I'd really prefer if you didn't. I'm not prepared for another 20 years in the bottom 4. I'm happy with JT's list having 1 blip on the radar of their otherwise consistent rise up the ladder

Sorry but we are just as bad as everyone else. Oliver routinely flops for off the ball frees, a reputation he will likely be stuck with his whole career. Jetta ducks every time he is tackled and don't forget Tracs little incident on Saturday where he tried to hand ball to himself on the wing then jumped in the air and basically flapped his arms like a bird trying to get a holding free. And the goal Max kicked in the last qtr came from what looked alot like an Oliver flick/throw handball to Viney, his hand ends in a fist but doesn't look like what made the ball move. Spargo ducks a bit as well but he gets a pass because he is knee high to a grasshopper so would likely be tackled high anyway. Lucky frees and staging is just part is the game. As long as the free is technically there then I think it is fine. But players who do stage for frees that arnt there should be punished more harshly than they are.

I think we need a small/medium forward will genuine pace and skill. I doubt it would happen as he is contracted but I'd seriously consider someone like Jack Petruccelle. Swap first rounders with WC our 4-6 for their 14-16.

If Finlayson was getting Melbourne midfield service people would be calling him spud. And If Weiderman was getting GWS service we'd be lamenting that we didn't pick him up. I'm hanging my hopes on Rawlings creating some space for our key forwards to work in to actually give them a chance.

In: Hibbard, Lever* Out: Wagner, Petty Petty did alright on Saturday but if Lever is ready he plays Petty doesn't, it's not complicated. Frost, May, Lever is the defencive core and we need to develop them playing together. That said, the club was very careful to suggest the possibility that Lever might be out for more than just 1 week. I actually think Wagner has improved this year and if they wanted to play Salem up the ground I'd be happy for Wagner to stay in and maybe ANB or Hannan come out. Fritch and Salem on the wings and give Baker a run as the high HF. I love Hannan in the side but he just can't get his hands on it, I'd be happy if they persist or send him back for form. Either way I'd like to see Dunkley get a run at some point.

Well we are sitting 3rd last on the ladder so naturally every minor problem is the result of the clubs incompetence. Remember May was also rushed back underdone but he played well and is playing this week so we forgot about that one

In a word? Yes. ANB was our best last year and he is no quicker than Viney. Forward pressure is more reliant on mindset than just pure pace. Sure we might not see him Chase down players like Saad running out the backline but his front on pressure could be a huge asset. The only * on Viney as a forward is his ability to convert. He's an awful setshot at the best of times. Playing forward he would need to do it often. Adding Viney as a forward might also help with our scrappy entries. 1 because Viney wont be kicking them in as often but also because if the balls inbetween him and his opponent I'd back him to win it more often than not. Unlike players like Spargo, Garlett etc

Actually 10 will have him conveniently return for the finals

Well ladies and gents. You wanted change. Good to see Jade back in the coaches box at AFL level.

Good on Fox Footy for using a very specific line out of context to fuel fans anger.