ArtificialWisdom

Someone showed me a stat a few days ago. If you take our best 2 quarters and worst 2 quarters from each game and compare the scores as if they were the whole game. You get a side that is 10-0 with 200%+ and a side that is 0-10 with 51%. I'd say that suggest we are as capable of anyone, contender at both a premiership and the top draft pick. It is a frustrating year because it's no longer us being incapable of matching it with the best, its us being incapable to produce more than 1 week in a row...

I haven't been on Demonland all that much lately so I'm not sure if it's been discussed already, but if Hogan is still out then why do we not try Oscar forward instead of Tom? He reads the play pretty well, he is tall and he can take a mark and he is a pretty good kick. He plays without confidence in the back line, putting him in the position to kick a goal or 2 in a game might be good for his confidence. He seems so worried he will make a mistake that he inevitably makes the mistake. Put him forward where a dropped mark might be a goal for us instead of a goal for them. And if he does mark it I'd rather him take a set shot than Tom. For what it's worth, if not for his prior indiscretions he wouldn't be in these discussions based on his current form. He really hasn't been much of a problem, if at all. People just repeat his name most weeks because it is easy

"Salem, Hogan, Gawn" That would be one hell of an Ins list.

No, No, Yes. With only 1 win being the difference between 4th and us at 9th nobody can rule us out of finals. Our percentage is fantastic. If we can win the games we should win then we will make finals. But I still worry that will not happen. Our best is top 4 material but our worst is still bottom 4... If we can bring that worst up to 9th/10th material then we should make the finals. We should be able to cause at least 1 possibly 2 more upsets. Which should give us a really good chance. But its all going to ride on the games against Collingwood x2, Sydney, Carlton, Brissy, St Kilda, North. We should win all of them, then we just need 1 of the Dogs, Eagles, Crows, Power, Giants. I'd back us to do that... but the unfortunate reality is that we are more likely to win all the hard ones than all the easier ones. All we need is consistency..... the only thing we lack

I feel like you're forgetting or flat out ignoring their injury list... they are missing about a 3rd of their best 22... and they are still winning more often than not. Coniglio, Griffen, Haynes, Hopper, Smith from their injury list would all be walk up starts in our side that is just 2 players short of full strength. They are debating whether they could fit them all in. You could make a case for Buntine, Deledio and maybe even that kid Setterfield getting in our side. So don't doubt the giants for a second. They arn't unbeatable.. but they are by far the most capable side in the comp.

yeah KB was talking that crap that this morning but if you watch it again its actually it switching from slow motion to normal right as it goes past the post that creates an illusion of deviation.

2 things 1. We won the clearances. 2. What change could we possibly make that will help with that? You may not have noticed but we have no ruckmen to pick!!

We are reliving St Kilda's year last year, There about in the first 6 rounds couldn't quite get the wins they needed then they travelled to west coast... and lost by 100+. We get Adelaide on the rebound... God help us.. Saints came home with a wet sail late in the year but the damage was done for their finals hopes... Now we sit in a very similar position, 3 wins and 4 could've, should've, would've losses. The overall trend is good we are in every game but our finals hopes a dwindling, we now need a couple of big upsets to get back in contention. Just a side note to the guys crying like the world is ending, and claiming we were "disgraceful" or "pitiful". 3 years ago a pitiful performance was a 100 point loss... this year we have had 4 pretty "terrible" games against Carlton, Freo, Essendon and now the Hawks and we have gotten 2 wins and 2 losses of 2 and 3 points.... We have come a mighty long way. I'm shattered we aren't quite there yet, but we will claim a big win at some point I'm sure of it, and hopefully if we can just hang onto the main pack we will be able to make a late run at finals with our big ruck man back. This side is poised for success, and is inches away from getting it. just as we were inches away from winning today. A couple of nice bounces and we win today, despite a shocking start. We are not talking massive overhauls anymore, we are talking little tweaks and a bit of consistency.

In: ANB, Kent, Stretch Out: JKH, Bugg, Hannan First thing Goody said in the post match was that there wasn't enough pressure. All the forwards are on the chopping block. The fact is your talking about these guys being pretty mediocre which is true but we need those types. We need them to be giving 100% with massive pressure to allow the talented players to do their work. We cant have 22 stars, unfortunately today our bottom rung players did not bring what is required that means they should go out of the side. The bottom 2-3 players should be coming in and out of the side as they fluctuate in form, that how it works for every side.

From that bench I would play Salem, Stretch, Kent and Wagner. But with TMac possibly doing more ruck duties they may want Oscar in again. And ANB keeps getting high praise so Kent would be hard pressed to get in. I'm a fan of Tyson despite his flaws but he has had too many chances, needs to earn his spot now.

Better question: Why dosn't anyone honour Hogans leads. He lead alone to the defensive flank over and over during kickouts and they refused to kick it to him. The one time Bernie tried to he missed the target.

Its strange that people are making out like Goody is a moron for his selections... They arnt that out there. Id rather Kent out there than JKH but they can play the same role. Pedo is there as a backup he knows it, we all know it I dont know why there is so much confusion. Smith is 26 or something, at that age they drafted him to play, not to develop in Casey another 2 years. Melksham, well we all knew he was a shoe-in to play and he will probably also play next week. After that if he continues to under perform then he might be in trouble. But I mean come on I don't agree with all the selections but with our current list none of us are ever going to agree. But given the reaction of some you would think he had dropped Gawn for Filipovic

I think this is the point with Melksham. I don't think his skill set is much different to someone like Jetta, but Jetts has 2/3 really good moments every game. Melksham hasnt really had one. He does provide some really good outlet kicks but nothing he does is spectacular, its all very forgettable

Bugg could run with him. either that or Viney?.. either way Frost should take him when he goes forward.

"Pencil it in"? Forgive my arrogance but i think my "Spencil it in" is better

Would have been awkward if i put in all that effort to go through each game only for them to not pick him.

I'm not so sure, they played like that in round 1 and 2 and had their pants pulled down. Then they played free flowing footy and looked much better. Someone reffered to it the other day as "TAC cup footy" and I think thats pretty accurate. Shouldn't be a problem for us, I hope we put them away early.

Its posts like these that make you relieved that I'm not your employee

So with the big Spencil coming in for our 12 week Maxless challenge. I thought I'd look into his 11 assignments (11?! yes 11, there is a bye in there). I'm interested to see how he goes against some of the more "battler" type ruckmen. Although, going though this makes me realise, If there had to be any time of year for max to go down, this was the one you would say is the best for us. Particularly when you look at the run home, but we'll get to that later. For now, here's Spencil's fixture: Freo (H) - Sandilands So, straight in the deep end for Jake. Sandilands is as big as the come and has been one of the best for years. As good as Max is we wouldnt even be sure that we would get any advantage with him playing. The best we can hope for is Jake nullifying Sandy much the same as the likes of Hickey were able to nullifying Max last year. Rich (A) - Nankervis I'm pretty big on Nankervis, I think he will one day be a star ruckman. That said, he isnt one yet. For now he is a solid competitor who shows glimpses of talent. Spencil should have nankervis covered 8/9 times out of 10 but if he has a day out Nankervis could quickly become a handfull. Ess (A) - Leuenberger/McKernan/Bellchambers? Mckernan has been showing some good signs this year, particulary around the ground so Jake would have his hands full after the initial contest. However I think in the ruck itself Spencer should be fine to draw even against any of these guys. Haw (H) - McEvoy/Vickery Well I think we can agree Jake has Vickery covered. McEvoy is a bigger challenge. Hitouts I think Spence can get himself his fair share, but I don't know if he will be able to get many that are particularly meaningful. Much like the Essendon guys i think Spencer will draw even. Adel (A) - Jacobs Jacobs is a huge challenge. Probably beyond what Spencil will be able to handle. I'd love to be wrong but the lack of max plus it being at adelaide oval against what could still be an undefeated Adelaide (their fixture is easier than ours)... it could be a really tough day for us. North (H) - Goldy/Pruess Strange things going on at North. Pruess is playing as the Nr 1 ruck.. and doing well. Who knows how long it will last but once again Spencer will have his hands full here.. could be another tough day but we should be good enough to get over the line even without control in the ruck. Suns (H) - Witts Witts is an interesting one, Spencer's story could be similar to his in 12 months time, He has been in the shadows of Grundy for some time and has instantly become a solid Nr 1 ruckman at another club. No easy task for Spencil but at the same time he should be plenty good enough to match it against a fellow VFL ruckman. Coll (H) - Grundy With Gawn out of his way, I think Grundy is a super chance of taking the AA spot this year. Hope spencer can limit him as much as possible but it will be the hardest task of this run. Dogs (A) - Campbell/Roughead/Boyd Battlers and nothing more. Spencer should be just fine against whoever he comes up against. The dogs are well known as a bigger threat at ground level. WCE (A) - Vardy/Peitre/Giles/Basically anyone over 190cm Vardy keeps treatening to be a good player but then either underperforms or gets injured. Spencer should be good enough against these guys. They share his "Temp guy" label so wouldnt expect them to be capable of dominating. Syd (H) - Naismith/Tippett/Sinclair All decent without being great ruckmen. Tough day in the office but by no means unbeatable. Like most on this list he should be able to draw even. So coming to the end of the 11 weeks I have to say: It's not by any means looking like a disaster. No doubt we will miss a few opportunities for Max to be completely dominant, but Spencer is a capable guy, he should be able to keep us in most games. Freo, Adelaide, North and Collingwood shape up as the 4 toughest asks. Of which 2I would say we should still win, Adelaide and Collingwood (Dependent on from) may not be so simple. Other than that I wouldnt think Spencer would kill off any of our chances in the other games. Their ruckman are far from dominant enough to give us too many issues. For media personel to suggest our finals hopes are done is foolish. I believe in what the Spencil can do for us! Now, with all of that being said... I couldnt leave out the worst case scenario even if it was just a footnote: If Max's rehab is delayed, the final 8 matches of the season are Carlton, Adelaide, Port, North, GWS, St Kilda, Brisbane, Collingwood. Those 8 games contain most of the best ruckman going around, If we dont have Max back then, it could be a really tough run home. And on the otherside of that. Max wont have anything in the way of a warmup when he is back, he will be straight in against Kreuzer and it aint getting any easier. But let's think positive for now! Will be great to see how we as a team track through these big 3 months. Spencer himself could do anything in this time. I hope he earns himself a big contract, whether it is with us or elsewhere, it doesnt matter. Because if he does that, we will be playing in September

Perception, reality, both or neither, It's a big week for the club. A big 4 weeks, we could come away with 4 wins or just as easily 4 losses. The opportunity has come for them to take the step. We are no doubt capable of taking it, what I dont know is if we a ready.

Far be it from me to defend a bloke who I was against picking in the first place... But he was not the first to do this kick during the game. Infact it has been done quite a number of times through the year. It's not the most attacking move but thats not what we needed at the time, given the cats were coming hard, we needed control. We have kicked backwards in that style to get an uncontested mark to then launch a number of times this year. So far we have 1 instance of it failing and countless of it working... I have no problem with his decision, had it been a well executed kick we wouldnt even be talking about it.

Well this is a particularly positive outlook.....

Spencil will do better than Watts did. He wont be as good as max but those stats were a little out of context. Better to compare the stats between rounds 1/2 and 4/5 after Spence as a couple of games.

Yep... Oh good i thought it was just me

While the latter may one day turn out be right. There is no way that we saw his best in either of the first to rounds. So until it is proven otherwise, I'll assume his talent will eventually come through.