Wiseblood

I could see Bruce and BT loving the hell out of that name on a Friday night.

Nervous about this one, but more so because I hate the prospect of losing to the Filth than the fact I think we'll actually lose. Hopefully we can get 80,000 plus to this one with both sides in great form and some great match ups, headlined by Gawn vs. Grundy, to watch. Dees by 24 points.

Does anyone know if the bloke is any good? I've heard of him but have no idea if he can play or not.

Just the media have missed something. He's signed until the end of 2022.

Get Nev signed up and then ink deals for Oscar and Gus and all will be fine and dandy! Nev deserves a good, secure deal and I think he'll get it. It's only a matter of time before this deal happens.

I doubt it. I think we've got room, but not that much room, unless we let someone like Brayshaw go. I'm not convinced Wines wants out, though. Give it a few weeks and he'll have signed a new deal with Port. Gaff is the one who I think we can pry out of West Coast.

Dare I say it, but I don't think we need Wines. We have enough tough, contested ball winning type players. I'd rather Gaff as he adds to our outside run and carry that would really make us an elite side.

Why don't we just play the Pies twice a year so we both get some decent coin from the gate? If both clubs continue to be competitive then each game will bring both clubs good money. I think the club has started something very important through Neale with the Freeze MND cause, and unless the Pies agree to keep this going each year, then they should settle for either being in the match or having an alternate fixture some point in the season.

Imagine, just for a second, if that came up at this point of the season. We wouldn't get one first rounder, we might be lucky enough to get three!

That's fine. I just think it's strange for you to suggest Dec is the first cab off the rank without having really seen him play, when you would be the first to sink the boots into someone for making the same suggestion. Either way, Frost doesn't fill me with confidence, but neither do the rest. That's not their fault, it's just that Lever is such an elite player for his position that we won't really cover his role as well as we would all like.

Great summation, LH. I won't say we've made the finals, or are guaranteed a spot, until we actually have got a spot that we can't lose, but we're in a great spot to do so. If we can continue to win games going in to the final month then I don't think those final games will be as big of a deal, especially if we continue to be in good form. It also doesn't factor in the injuries teams may have at this point. Yes, some will get players back, but there is no guarantee that by that stage they haven't lost others either. At the end of the day we just need to keep winning games. Outside of Jake Lever we have a fit list that is in very good form. Roll the Pies and win a few more early after the bye and everything will fall into place.

Strange for you to suggest he's the right replacement if you've never seen him play. I'm in the Joel Smith camp at the minute, but I still reckon they'll give Frost first crack. Not saying that's the right thing to do, but I think they'll see it as the safest option for the QB clash.

I'm assuming you've seen enough of him to make the case that he has the intercept marking, positioning and smarts skills to fill the void left by Jake? I don't necessarily disagree that Frost doesn't exactly play the same role Lever does, but Lever is elite and anybody we bring in is going to fall short in those categories.

Does it? Couldn't care less. The Pies aren't the only ones I mentioned as North are well and truly in there as well. I just brought it up as I found it interesting. Nothing more, nothing less.

One things for sure - it's going to be discussed for the next 6 days until the team is confirmed on Sunday arvo. It's going to feel like an eternity until then.

I like how you made it big to get your point across. Mine still stands. That's one person. The rest are foaming at the mouth.

Didn't necessarily say I care, just that I find it interesting how people in the media perceive certain performances.

Just want to add here - the media are quite happy to rant and rave about the Pies and their credentials as a premiership contender... after rolling an injury ravaged Fremantle on their home deck. The same goes for North - they roll the Lions at Etihad who ended up with barely anyone on the bench and they can't stop patting them on the back. When we rolled Carlton and had won 4 on the trot all we got was 'they haven't beaten anyone yet'. Now, even after 6 wins, the media are still questioning us because Lever has gone down and clearly they feel as though we are no chance of covering it. Just goes to show how happy they are to jump on one bandwagon but not another, even though the trajectory of the teams and who they have beaten are very similar.

The only thing I don't want to see is Tom McDonald going back. The 1-2 punch he has going on with Hogan at the minute is too important and working too well for us to change it. I think we'll play it safe to begin with and possibly go with Sam Frost for Queen's Birthday as he has been at the club long enough to have some synergy with the other guys playing down there. If he keeps things simple then I think he'll go okay. Wouldn't mind Joel Smith either, with Keilty and Petty waiting in the wings if either of the two don't work out.

The only reason I said that was because he has the frustrating ability of dragging other teams down to their level. I didn't say the game plan as a whole will ever get them anywhere, just that the only card he has is putting blokes behind the ball, clogging it up and hoping for the best. It's why they can't score and also why their games are horrible to watch.

Outside of the current players in the backline, no one else down at Casey can read a game like Jake does. It's what makes him elite. We'll just have to bring in the best player for the game and hope they slot easily into the back six without too many disruptions.

Bernie Vince has played some excellent games as a shut down defender over the past month. He still has the odd brain fade, but to say a bloke has been 'mostly awful' during the best 6 weeks we've had in a decade is strange. The fact we've had close to a month of no changes is an indication that no one has been close to awful in that time.

Out: 8-3 In: 9-3

If you were to go purely on their ruck work, then Gawn wins. He leads the comp in hitouts and hitouts to advantage (and another one they mentioned today, but I can't remember what that was.) Grundy has more influence around the ground, but to me, the AA ruck should play the rucking role better than anyone else. To me, that puts Gawn in the box seat.

I believe Harmes was the one to do that, although with how well he runs the wings Fritsch was able to give some support down there as well.