Wiseblood

Yep. It will be Giro or even Matt Guelfi. The one thing that will keep Spargo from a Rising Star Nom is that he isn't flashy and he doesn't get a huge amount of the ball. He just works his backside off, hits the scoreboard and does it all with minimal fuss. Love what he brings to the side.

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.

So out of that side go Lever, Hunt, Pedersen, Maynard and Wagner. At the moment we have added Brayshaw, Frost, Spargo, JKH and Tom McDonald, depending on how selection goes this week. Obviously Lever is a big loss, but Brayshaw, Tom Mac and Spargo have made us a better side, while Frost has been pretty good since coming in as well. I think we're a stronger side than the one we fielded in Round 1. On the flip side, they've added Dangerfield to their side and it's being place at GMHBA Stadium, so we'll need to be at our very best to walk away with the 4 points.

I think we have the midfield depth to cover him well enough, especially as we did so earlier in the season. Covering a potential AA key position player is harder to do.

Which is what a stand alone thread has allowed to happen. As I mentioned earlier, I'm not against the discussion, but a dedicated thread invites unwarranted vitriol and ridiculous comments. This one has been no different.

Absolutely no problem with the discussion. Just didn't think it warranted it's own thread.

I get it, Einstein. I get the topic is Jones and I even agreed with HT that we should be able to have a discussion like this about any player on our list, regardless of their standing. Posters here have potted everyone from Hogan to Lewis to Petracca to Tyson to O Mac and so on this season for a variety of reasons. Sometimes it's worthwhile (Tyson and Petracca), other times it's a knee jerk reaction (Lewis and Hogan). Jones falls into the knee jerk reaction part. I just don't think it's worth it's own thread... yet. You disagree which is fantastic. Go and buy a trophy and stick it on your mantle to celebrate. That's the last I'll say on it with you.

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.

In his original post, HT is discussing Nathan Jones' game against the Dogs. That's why I said it probably should have gone in the Post Match Thread. If he has another 3 shockers in a row then have at it, but I think it's a little bit of knee jerk reaction to be honest.

I think your comment about Jones is relatively justified, HT. He had an off game, and probably hasn't been at his best over the last month. He hasn't been bad, nor do I think he is lacking in leadership, but I think we have pretty high expectations for Jonesy and how consistent he has been for so long, and when he is down it's pretty noticeable. However, I don't think him having one shocker is reason enough to pot him in his own thread, and I'd wager that's why some are rightfully not happy with it. Couldn't this have been part of the post match discussion? I think singling him out in his own thread after one poor game is a bit harsh. I think the discussion is fair, but the singling out isn't.

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.

You would think Tyson gets first crack, but the one knock on him is that he hasn't exactly set the world alight this season. They may feel like doing something a little different to see if they can cover it better.

It may have changed how he runs, but it hasn't changed the way he plays which is terrific. If they decide to put him on ice for the season then I'm confident he can return in 2019 and recapture his best form.

The big question for mine is who slots into his position going forward. Do we do a 'like for like' swap and bring Tyson straight in? Do we push a flanker (ie Harmes) into the middle long term and go for someone like Bugg (just an example) to play that flank role? Do we take someone from a back flank like Salem and give him more midfield time? While it's a big blow to lose him, I think we can be creative in covering for it without losing too much on field. We did win plenty of games earlier in the season without him and there is no reason why we can't continue to do that.

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.