leave it to deever

We are now experienced wet weather specialists 😄

A long, long way to ride. It out of context though now

I think maybe 12 will get the job done if a high percentage is in play. Or 12 and a draw. Each year I keep thinking this is the closest season yet. I'm pretty sure the last round will offer some chances for quite a few. I've been wondering though that it's all irrelevant given how strong Sydney have been but they look a little wobbly of late. In fact losing to the Saints....very wobbly. They have the lions, Power and the bombers all away.

I wonder how difficult it is for coaching staff to get that into the player's mindset. With fixtures these days allowing for teams to play one another twice without a significant amount of time since previous encounters, it doesn't help. That was a humiliating loss for us but it wasn't isolated. We were playing some good football and some shocking football. We were all over the place and in the game against the Blues our inconsistent play was evident from quarter to quarter. Going in this time we seem a lot more stable. I just hope that the last loss to them hasn't left any deep scar tissue. Perhaps it will work for us with the Dockers being over confident. In any event it's a massive game for us. A chance to take a big scalp. Freo are for me are above the Blues and second favorite to win a flag . Win this one and we will definitely be playing finals. Quite possibly a real chance to finish top four. No pressure,😀

Poor Bowser hasn't been the same since his shoulder injury. As for Mcvee the kid looked like it was his 100 th out there. Is it possible young AMW has a future role as a midfielder? So exciting to see all our 1young players doing so well. As for Windsor, he looked very fatigued a month ago but his last two games have been awesome. Maybe worth giving young Brown another crack the way all the "kids" are going. And I still consider Jvr in the youngster's group. He did extremely well against Draper who is just so much bigger but not necessarily stronger. At the other end of age, how good was Melksham? He is the x factor our fwd line has been missing. Well technically we have quite a bit of x factor there already in Kozzie and Fritta, so Jakey brings some more. What an exciting trio up forward. I guess Jake provides the better marking option of those three. He's not super tall at 186 cm but he can take contested marks with the best of them. Like Kozzie and Fritta he can wheel and deal from either pocket and slot them through. At Chf he has great acceleration and wonderful vision and kicking to a target. Just like him turning on a sixpence and hitting up Disco who didn't break stride. I'll be honest in saying that before last year I thought JM was done and dusty and rarely played good games back to back. But last year he rediscovered his mojo or something because he was the key forward that got us into a doubles finals spot. Sadly his injury probably cost us those as well. We really have missed him and I think he will ultimately be the deciding factor in us playing finals this year.

Beats Tennis Elbow.

😄 Yea, but he lives in Portsea.

Was heart warming to see Neale Daniher at the game. I wonder if it gave us some extra oomfh and mojo. I love the bloke. I see him and I do feel sad. But I'm also overwhelmed by the size of the guys heart and positivity. And I'm pretty sure he doesn't want anyone' s pity. Of the Mfc, he is truly one of greatest to be associated with it.( And that is a very large group of greats). In fact beyond the world of footy and sport, not exaggerating when I say, he is simply one of the finest Australians about. I'm sure I'm not alone in this sentiment. The personification of courage, leadership and humility.

Wasn't that a typo. I'm sure you meant Messiah.

Ummm sorry Jibroni, your implying that Cwood supporters actually have some sort gainful employment. If turning up at centre link by video on a stolen phone counts then ok, I'll give you that.

Good assessment JB. I thought Oliver was very quiet in the first half and on the bench longer than he should have been. But he can alive as Oliver of old in the second and it was heart warming tuff. He Langers, Melksham and Nibbler were back to their sublime best. Rivers and kozzie in the guts too were fantastic. I've argued all year our midfield has been down on impact this year but it seems to have turned the corner. Despite having no ruck we won the clearances in the wet when we have lost a lot of games on these conditions. As mentioned numerous times Melksham in or fwd line makes it go from average to dynamic. He is a super hard matchup for others and we now have an easy 100 point kicking fwd line. Apart from his sliding smart goal to a vacant goal square, his kick to Turner was pinpoint accurate such that Disco didn't have to break stride. Can't wait until Max is back and Jvr gets to play fwd with the others and not so much ruck work. As good as Kozzie is in the middle I'd like him fwd as much as we can spare him.

Im guessing final round will probably see permutations of three or four sides to play finals. Hopefully ours are decided this weekend and the one after. I think 22 wins and percentage will do it. Shame ours has dropped recently. We have lost two close games and won one. Percentage was smashed by Freo so hopefully we can return serve this round. I have them as second faves above Carlton as a flag winner. And certainly the best chance against Sydney who look a little wobbly of late. Such a huge game this weekend for us. Win this without Max and we will be a worry for teams when Max returns. Rivers and Milkshake are big game changers. Rivers is slipping under radar and JM is the grunt, experience and skill we have been so desperately lacking at times forward. Quite a few teams above us have won their close ones so our position isn't a true assessment of our chances.

Great thread LH. And well presented and reasoned. Thanks. Huge clash this weekend. Win this and with a quick return of our fearless Captain, I'm tipping top four. It's possible. And these days the Swannies don't seem so invincible.

I've often wondered if we return to the 15 m one. Maybe not that but certainly a 25 m one. And maybe the 50 for more serious wrongs like when a player is hit high or shoved after a kick or hit off the ball. The one against Kozzie being under a metre over the mark gave them a goal. That's just silly. Good call Mr Fowler.

Is that you Binman?

Been reported that Langers ran almost 18 kms against the bombers. He probably ran home after the game too. The bloke is super fit. Great to see him return to his best.

Well technically before Saturday they were despite all the close calls, draw and anything else. I mean we were tenth when it could be argued that if we had won our close ones against lions and blues we would have been second even before the bombers games. But agree, the season is so close it's hard to gauge who the real players are. Last year's gfs...are suspect.Cwood are way overated but they did thump us but the Lions are making a late Dash. Even Sydney are failing against bottom teams. Port look hot then cold. Cats are all over the shop. I think probably the biggest threat is the emerging Dockers who we sadly face this weekend at home without Max. Win this and I predict we will be top four come the end of the year. But it will be a very tough game to win.

Just for a little Monday joy......

Spot on WCW. JM back for two games equals two victories. I wish he came back a week earlier for the narrow lions loss but he did extremely well coming straight back in with a no pre season or time at Casey. (good call from the Fd). With JM back we have kicked 100 points plus and without the rain probably another 100 against the bummers. Not too shabby. Jake had a big hand in more than goals he kicked himself. And props to Rivers who has really stepped up in Traccas absence. I'm just loving the zip we have from our young players especially Windsor who a few weeks ago I thought looked a little cooked. I hope AMW gets a full game next week and isn't subbed off . And I love the tango..(.he loves to dance with others in a not so subtle way) in the colts step and the disco in Turners and the two step with young Windsor's speed and Mcvees rock and roll over others.

Good point Stinga. I thought he was hard done by. I appreciate Woey getting a run but they took off the wrong player for me as well.

I hope we get a better shake from the umps than the Lions got yesterday. Another example of a lowly team being given favored treatment at their home ground. I won't hold my breath. In fact for once I thought King was actually right in the Eagles treatment on Neale. I know that's footy and credit to the Eagles for trying to nullifying him. But in this new period of seemingly over umpiring and pettiness...ie Kozzie being given a fifty mp against him for a couple of cm, then maybe they should have given Neale a few frees for being held off the ball. As Demon supporters we've seen it a lot against Oliver. But the big thing for me this year is the inconsistent htb calls against us. Early on in many a game we are pinged in a millisecond for this but often we are not rewarded for our tackling. Often in the same game the maggots um sorry paid professional adjudicators just put the whistle away after they have blown it to their hearts content against us early on in the first quarters. Enough. Just be consistent. Pay it as much you want just don't change week to week and even worse quarter to quarter. And in the last quarter against the bombers, yea there were frees to be paid but they were so soft it was hard to not feel like there was an agenda. And it's not the blatant soft ones given to the bombers it was the ones ignored like Woey having a player ride into his back onto the ground way after he disposed of it. You can always find dozens of soft frees if you want but it's the appearance of them at certain times and position on the ground that really is annoying. I have a broken Tcl telly as a result of these muppets. Tvs these days are pretty soft and should withstand a remote thrown at them. You would have thought this was covered by warranty.😄

Same with Jake Melksham who is listed at only one cm taller than Mcvee at 186 cm. JM is pure muscle at can take pack marks with the biggest and best of them. He has a very well timed leap and is a very hard match up for any team. He's like a Fritta with extra strength and grit. His two goals yesterday were pure Fritta like class and with him and Kozzie, the three of them are bound to feature in the goal of the year highlights reel. Throw in the pack buster and high flying Jvr and the wild card Disco and suddenly all our fwd line worries seem to vanish.

Whatever any faults Goody may or may not have they are wiped clean when I seem him on the boundary line fist pumping the year when a youngster scores a goal for us. And for those who have doubted his prowess in not delivering more than one flag I can confidently say going out in straight sets twice was pretty much out of our control with our fwd line injuries. In fact even the Gus "event" had Milkshake not gone down in the last h and a last year, we would have won the premiership. That's a lot for just one player but Jake the snake has hit a new level of form in his footy twilight years as we have seen lately. The bombers game in the wet revealed yet again a strong link up at Chf. Melksham was instrumental in that connection and aside from his two goals ( strangely he uncharacteristically missed a set shot directly in front) played a hand in quite a few other goals. He is so strong in his core that he plays like a tall ff. And he is very fast with great acceleration and his hard to tackle. As mentioned he is a very reliable shot at goal and kicks them easily from the pockets we where tend to target. As a senior player he leads by example and brings footy wisdom like his sliding goal kick. And yes it's a big call to say we would have won the flag with the inclusion of just one player but both our finals were extremely close and clearly lost by our ability to utilise our inside fifty count and accurate shots on goal. It's late in the game so to speak but in an incredibly close season, Jake the snake has and will be the key to us squeezing into the top six or hopefully four depending on how we go this weekend without Max again. JM has in his senior footy years has beaten a serious injury that would have ended some younger players careers and seems to have greater passion and hunger than before. We have lost some games we shouldn't have and smashed in a couple of others but we are still in the mix. The reality is that some teams above us have won most or all of their close games and we two out of our three. As the bombers found out underestimate us at your own peril. We are a team without our Coleman medalist and All Australian and possibly one of the best rucks to ever play the game. In that despite some junk time goals and questionable umpiring we absolutely smashed a top four team in the rain. A team of experienced talent in players like Nibbler,Langers, May and Oliver buoyed by some emerging gun youngsters like Mcvee, Disco, Windsor and the Colt makes us a genuine wildcard for a shot of playing for a flag. Our forward line has been something we have lamented about for eons. Now with Jake back in it, a classy Fritta,a magical Kozzie and an in form Jvr it looks like it could amass 100 points easily. Throw in Disco and we don't really need Petty there.

Fritta doesn't need to dominate games. Often comes in with a purple patch or two and kicks three.

How true. Seriously think we would have won a flag and be second possies right now had he not gone down last year before finals.