Wiseblood

Got get 'em, Sam! I'd love nothing more than to see him kick a few and cement a spot in the side for the rest of the season, however long that may be, with Hogan out. It's time to get behind him and back him in for a good game!

Garlett frustrates me no end at the moment. I feel as though every time we need him to perform in a big game he goes missing. His best performance since returning to the senior side was against Gold Coast. Even SWYL could have snagged a few against that mob. I'd rather us play Kent than Garlett. Melksham, Weid and Hibberd are the other ins. With Hogan and Hunt, I'd be looking at dropping Garlett and Pedersen. JKH survives by the hair of his chinny chin chin.

Mate, I can't go into the weekend thinking any different. I've got to back the Dees to get it done!

Dees to win a thriller, finals therefore assured and we don't have to sweat through another Round 23 game.

Are you still in school, SWYL? I thought you might have graduated by now.

Addam Maric.

I didn't think you were having a go at all! I was genuinely appreciative of the response as I thought it was well written and brought up some valid points re: my earlier response. I know I'm a glass half full person but I try hard to be as reasonable in my responses to things as possible. As I've said, I readily admit their are holes in our structure and our game plan that need to be fixed for us to be able to compete with those teams above us. But, I do think the basics of our game plan are very sound and can provide a platform for us to climb up the ladder if we are willing to make the changes. I think Goodwin can be stubborn sometimes and this can harm that progression. Thanks for the consideration re: having a young family as well. Once the little one goes to bed though is the time in which I can get most things done. But, again, I appreciate the response!

Thanks for giving a thoughtful reply, LH. I appreciate that. I was hoping the person I responded to would do the same but, alas, I should have known better. I'm currently at work so I'll delve into it a little more deeper when I get home, but it's only fair I try and back it up in someway. I feel like I've brought it up before but there's no chance I'll find it from weeks ago, plus it's a bit outdated then. I'll get back to you on this one.

I couldn't disagree more. I know you'll fall back on the 'we haven't beaten one yet' argument, but the statistics suggest that we can more than compete with the top sides. We just haven't shown enough composure or the ability to think on our feet enough to execute it properly, nor do we take our chances often enough. We get more inside 50s and more scoring shots in many of those games which suggests the game plan gives us plenty of opportunities to win games of footy. We know that we need to fix the way in which we get the ball inside 50, and we know that we need to fix up the way we set up our defensive 50 when the opposition has the ball, although I think it hurt to lose Lever and then Hibberd for a month not too long after that just as things were ticking along superbly. I won't deny that we need to make some tweaks to the overall gameplan, but the stats suggest that we are generating enough inside 50s to win these games of footy. We just don't take our chances when we are presented with them and this allows those good sides to hurt us on the rebound. I have faith, for the time being, that Goodwin can address this sooner rather than later (and by that I mean the offseason as it's hard to do mid-season) so that these issues occur far less than they do now.

He's had a better month though as a mid rotating through the half forward line, but you're right - he hasn't really become that X-factor type of player we hoped he would be. I think the issue for Petracca is where his best position is. Does he become a full time midfielder, or do we look to utilise his strength and marking ability out of the goal square? He could be a nightmare match up for a defence if given the chance. He has an excellent leap on him thanks to his basketball days that allows him to jump out of the reach of opposing defenders. Either way, when we find the right position for him then I think we'll see him become the player we hoped he would be.

Also, while it's hard to argue that his output is lower against Top 8 sides, our output across the board has been lower against those sides as well. Apart from 5-6 players, everyone is down on their contribution this season when playing those top sides, so it's not as if he's on his own in this. If the midfield isn't giving us much, and the defense is able to get back in numbers, what chance does he have? I know Tom has been a little better in this regard than Jesse, but then he didn't play the Geelong, Richmond or Hawthorn games earlier in the season either, and thus has spent more time playing the bottom 8 sides than the top 8 sides.

That stat changes all the time depending on who is in the 8. He has kicked 4 against the Cats this year and they've spent most of the season inside the eight.

He most certainly had.

It's none of that for me. I questioned it as, up until now, you've had no history in being someone with inside info and we've been burnt by far too many over that time span for me to just accept any old rumour posted on this board. There has been more false info than correct info in the last decade and you could count on one hand the ones you could really trust to be honest. As you say, PD backed it up with some of his info so that's fine. But just as you're more than welcome to post 'inside info', others are allowed to question it as well. That's life.

I thought he was set up for a good game on Sunday when he hit a beauty of pass to Oliver in the first term. I then felt as though I didn't see him until later on in the second half. His spot would be one in question with others ready to return.

Love how grounded Hogan is about it as well - mentioned that, while disappointed, Alex Johnson just did his sixth ACL so he can't really complain. It's a great attitude to have and will hold him in great stead in his recovery from this injury. It's well known that he is one of our hardest workers at training, so once he is fit again I have no doubt that he can come back fitter and better in 2019.

You wouldn't, but if the club came to you and said they needed the salary cap room and that you weren't a guaranteed first 22 player, you would consider your options.

Hannan get's selected and is then quickly told he's out, Trac?

I wouldn't say it's heavily flawed - if it was, then we wouldn't currently be in the position we're in, which is in the Top 8 with a big chance of playing finals if we win one of our last two games against sides who also have their own injury concerns. I'd argue that we have flaws that come to the fore against the better sides, although there is also a trend to suggest that our ability to hit the scoreboard properly is a large issue as we tend to kick more points than goals when we play sides inside the eight. Earlier in the season the Hawks and the Tigers were able to pick us apart a bit, as were the Pies, but we still generated enough inside 50s and opportunities to score to suggest that we created the issues as much as the opposition found them. I know we've discussed this in the past mate, and I respect your views, but I do think we are still trending in the right direction IF we can fix our composure in bigger games and fix the gaps in our gameplan when the opposition run the ball out of defence. No Lever and Hibberd hasn't helped in that regard either.

I disagree, although I believe our depth and potential versatility will be able to cover it relatively well. In terms of our structure and the knock on effect (such as T Mac getting more attention), Hogan is a pretty big loss. It is an opportunity to be more versatile, flexible and unpredictable in our approach in the forward half, and hopefully we can find a good mix that works.

What report is that, Moonie? All I've read is that someone asked Worsfold about him, he played a straight bat with the answer and the Sun ran with a report that they are targeting him. Doesn't seem like a whole lot in it to me.

You know how OD feels about Weideman, Jaded. You can't pay any attention to it as it's gone beyond reasonable thought. Weideman makes sense for Hogan to play the 1-2 role with Tom, especially as one of them will need to give Gawn a chop out in the ruck. As you said earlier, the potential additions of Hibberd and Melksham will make us a much better side.

I don't mind that either jumbo, although you would be imploring some of our smaller players to run themselves into the ground to provide the pressure that we need. T Mac on his own may not be enough though as he will need to give Gawn a chop out. The one positive is that we now have the opportunity to be a little more unpredictable. Teams will know we will look for Tom, so we need to lower our eyes and look for others instead. I'd like to see Fritsch play down there more, especially if Hibberd returns, while Petracca might also be given more time down there as a marking forward. Either way, while it's a real shame to lose Hogan regardless of the what the negative nellies say, our season is far from done and we have the depth to cover it and still make our push for finals.

This hurts, but it's not season ending. Weideman may get his chance here, or we throw Pedersen forward if Kennedy doesn't play. We won over there last season without him and we also had Gawn just returning from a long lay off, while they were pretty much full strength at the time. If we get both Hibberd and Melksham back then it off sets the loss a little and we are still every chance of knocking them off. Hopefully Hoges can recuperate now and get himself ready for a big tilt in 2019.

To be fair, there is no proof that this has occurred. When there is then he gets the tick of approval, like Chook from Perth gets as he has runs on the board. I'd be unbelievably surprised if we were keen earlier in the year in a once paced midfielder whose body is breaking down. It doesn't fit what we need going forward. It's been well known that we have huge interest in Gaff, so why we think we would be able to trade for and then take on the contract of Hannebery has me beat. This isn't a knock on the OP by the way, just experience from years and years of off seasons on the internet and having people say they have an inside source or whatever and then it turns out completely wrong.