Wiseblood

I like the positivity, LH! I think, with our percentage the way it is, that we can definitely finish inside the Top 4 as none of our remaining games scare me (the Eagles in Perth will be our toughest assignment IMO). This round of games proves that anything can happen in this league, and teams like the Dockers and Lions are more than capable of causing an upset or two. I also like the fact that we have a tough run home as we can really test our mettle against some quality opposition leading into September.

Don't want the chap. Just an accumulator, goes missing when the going gets tough, and my next door neighbour claims he should never have won a best and fairest, even though I'm pretty sure he's never won one. Pass.

We can roll the Cats at Kardinia Skilled GMHBA Stadium. What works in our favour is the smaller ground - I'm going by assumption, but I think it's closer in size to Adelaide Oval (someone will prove me wrong no doubt, which I deserve as I didn't check) and it will suit our game style. Gawny should give us first use out of the middle most of the time, and if we can have the same synergy like we did in the second half today then that will go a long way to helping us win. I still see us as a huge chance against the Crows (we play that oval well) and against the Swans and GWS over here. The Eagles in Perth is always a challenge, but we did it last year so there is no reason why we can't do it again. I think the players are full of confidence and I'd back us in for our last 6 games of the season. There is no reason why we can't win all of them.

We are going to change your name to 'Opinionhome' soon. You fall back on the 'opinion' argument every time, but in the bolded part above, you show how good you are at not answering the question at hand and, instead, just falling back on your tried and true method of using opinions as something to hide behind. My query was - how could you be happy with the club if we recruit someone you don't rate? If, in your opinion, you think he is nothing but an accumulator, why will that change if the club recruits him? Why will you just accept it? I think back to the recruitment of Melksham and how many people were reticent at the time. Many didn't just go 'I don't rate the bloke, but now the club has recruited him so now I do' - it took some consistently good play from Melksham to win those people around, not just the fact he now wore red and blue. I have no doubt you would support him, but I can't see how your opinion on him could change so quickly that you be happy getting someone you don't rate.

Exactly. I still think, in it's simplistic form, a team still needs to have the right mix of players in terms of height, position and inside and outside ability. You can build all sorts of game plans and stay on top of trends much easier that way. Trading away one type for more of another, just to suit what is in vogue, is no way to manage your list.

I fail to see how it could be, considering you've made it clear you don't rate him and are now using childish, 12 year old names (Golden Balls) when discussing him. That all goes out the window instantly the moment we sign him? That doesn't make sense to me.

That doesn't mean that model for a forward line will last forever. Things change constantly. In two years time sides might be screaming out for 2 key forwards as one team wins the flag on the back of it. No need to trade out someone as talented as Hogan to suit another clubs style of football.

We have had a heap of players recently state they love the club and then signed on. You might be cynical about it, but we have a pretty good track record recently of players following through with their intention to re-sign with the club.

Not every player has to be painted with the Tom Scully brush.

I know. I'm as surprised as you are that SWYL has finally matured in his views.

He'll be linked to them until he re-signs because of his brothers. I don't really think there is much more in it than that.

He probably won't be bothered, but I reckon he would have a case. What he did was no worse than the pushing, shoving and blocking that would go on around the stoppages during a game. Or he could ask Michael Walters to pay it, as had he hit someone else who doesn't have a pea heart it wouldn't have even been a 50 metre penalty.

You're spot on here, mate. Not only that but the 50 metre penalty was a soft as they come with Walters going down like he'd been shot. Lewis is doing far more positive than negative for our side and there's simply no chance he gets dropped.

True. Saty will tell you that until he is blue in the face. Your opinion can be wrong, though, and it's not as if Gaff has been up and down this year. He's having a sensational year and everyone, bar one, agrees. It just seems as though he's sticking to his opinion out of stubbornness more so than actually believing Gaff is nothing but an accumulator. That, plus he also lied a few times when he said Gaff had never won a B&F, then when he was corrected on that claimed that he has Eagles supporter friends who didn't rate him that highly the year he won it... which made no sense considering he said he'd never won one. He hasn't exactly covered himself in glory on this topic.

Yeah, how dare he rack up important touches and hit targets further down the field. Just the player we don't need... On a serious note, there was piece of play in that third term that summed up how good he is. He got the ball on the half back flank, ran and took two bounces before hitting up Cripps 50 metres away to help set up a goal. It was great to watch. He would look superb in the red and blue.

First two lines are fluff. He is generally pretty good regardless of the opposition. And I rarely see Lewis panic with the ball in hand. He isn't quick and he should keep his feet a little more often, but panic isn't something I see him do. The 50 metre penalty shouldn't have been given. Any player with more than pea heart would have kept on running. Walters, however, milked it and suck the umpire in. Your thoughts on his performance on irrelevant to me now. You're so fixated on potting the bloke that it overtakes any form of rational thought on the matter.

Outside of the 50 metre penalty, which had Walters going down as if he was smashed by a battering ram, I though Lewis did his job well tonight. He was part of a backline that dominated and he played his role with minimal fuss.

If you're saying it's a rubbish deal because of Josh Kelly then remember that Roos said we would have taken Jack Billings anyway. As a side note, I hope your username is something we're all saying later on this evening.

I pay absolutely no attention to the TAC Cup. Not now that we're half decent and not in play for a pick inside the Top 20 anyway. So, therefore, I have no idea who the bloke is. I've heard of Rankine and Lukosius in the last few days, but that's it.

He does fix our problems. Our backline was on fire before he went down, and that was due in large part to his leadership, footy IQ and footy skills. You are selling the bloke short. As for this years top 20 being 'exceptional' - we've all heard that before. Our first rounder this year still has every chance of being around about the 11-12 mark, which isn't superb by any stretch. The last 'super draft' that everyone refers to from 2001 had far more misses than hits. If you take out Judd, Ball and Hodge as the Top 3, an area we wouldn't have been picking in anyway, from picks 4 through to 30 only Bartel (#8), Dal Santo (#13), James Kelly (#17) and Steve Johnson (#24) could be considered gun picks. There are a heap of no name players who did nothing with their careers. After pick 30 you had guys like Sam Mitchell, Leigh Montagna, Dane Swan (pick #58!), Jarrad Waite andBrian Lake (#71) all taken in the second round and beyond. They can talk it all up all you like, but I think having what is considered a strong Top 20 works in our favour. Jason Taylor has a proven track record of securing talent later in the draft and I'd back him in to do so again. We didn't overpay at all for Lever. We paid market value for a bloke with 50 games under his belt and almost AA selection in his first few seasons in the game.

No, we didn't. Seriously, we didn't.

Hogan's work rate, generally, is terrific. It's what allowed him earlier in the season to have such an impact all over the ground. He's been quieter over the last month or so, but to suggest his work rate is poor and his season has been 'shithouse' is plain wrong.

Yeah, he's been that bad he's kicked 34 goals this season to be fourth for the Coleman Medal. Does he need to have cracked the ton at this point of the season to get a pass mark from you?

That's right, I had a civil discussion with Steve about Oscar McDonald. At least he makes some sense, rather than saying things like Jake Lever isn't a key position player, and that Joel Smith is our current CHB, even though Harrison Petty played that role on the weekend.

How old are you? 12? I look forward to it, Steve. Lever going down with an injury has been pretty catastrophic to make up of our backline, as he and Oscar had been working superbly down there together. No doubt it has hurt us more than I think we care to admit, but I still think Oscar has been doing a pretty good job under the circumstances. Just last week, outside of a couple of 50 metre penalties, one of which was pretty dodgy, he had Charlie Dixon's measure. That's no easy task. Either way, I think finding the right player to put alongside Oscar is the bigger issue than the issue of Oscar himself.