Wiseblood

The Oliver rumour is untrue. No final changes to either side.

I hate Carlton. The Curnow boys missing is huge though, and takes out their second best mid and their best forward to this point of the year. They'll be up and about early, especially after their win last week, so it's up to us to weather the early storm and play the game on our terms. Do that and we win comfortably.

Don't listen to him. He's the king of the 'hypothetical trade' that's based on absolutely nothing.

A trade period thread in May. What year is this? 2013?

I feel like this questioned gets asked every year. I don't think we'll be in the market for him, especially while under contract.

While I thought Pedo might get the call up as well, I'd hardly call it unlucky. Tim Smith has been sensational, from all reports, at Casey this year and fully deserves his chance. It's great Pedersen kicked 6 but it wasn't exactly against tough opposition.

Great to see so many playing well today to keep the pressure on, although it sounds like Frankston aren't exactly what you would term as 'stiff opposition'.

He is the carry over emergency for tomorrow's game so he isn't playing.

EFA.

B: BERT FRANCIS - WAYNE GORDON - FEN MCDONALD HB: STAN FAIRBAIN - BILL SHELTON - TOM KAVANAGH C HENRY COLES - CLAYTON OLIVER - ADEM YZE HF: GORDON LINDSAY - JOE HOGAN - LES JONES FF: ALAN KRAUSE - ALLEN JAKOVICH - GEORGE LENNE R: MAX SPITTLE - JORDIE MCKENZIE - LES NICHOLS IC: FRANK SCANLAN

Dear Poita, Do you have anything positive to say? Ever? Signed, Wiseblood.

I picked him this week only because I thought they would want him to play second ruck and free up T Mac as they've been doing in previous weeks. Happy for 'Bull' Smith to get his reward for great form at Casey. @Drunkn167 and @Rusty Nails, I stand corrected re: selection. Very happy for Smith to get a run and hopefully he can add to our flexible forward line in a positive manner when T Mac gives Gawn a chop out in the ruck!

Jake Melksham fits this perfectly... if we decide to have a defensive tag on him. And I'd like whatever the Carlton supporters are smoking who are suggesting that Silvagni could take Oliver out of the game. That pretty boy won't know what's hit him.

@Deemented Are Go! - does your ex-missus happen to be Maggie Beer?

Oscar will rotate through both, as will Lever. McKay is a big dinosaur whose gotten a few easy goals in the past few weeks so he doesn't worry me too much. Curnow likes to get on his bike a bit and get possies up the ground so you might see someone like Hibberd go with him a bit when he does that. Our backline, however, has been getting better and better over the last few weeks and I don't see that changing this weekend.

Tyson>Oliver.

I love the fact that someone like Garlett is no longer a walk up start. If players struggle with form then we have others in form at Casey who are more than capable of taking their place. Spargo is proof of this - he is the youngest player on our list (I think), yet he's made the transition to the senior side without any problems at all. This puts pressure on others and makes it clear that you either perform or you go back to Casey. I still think Garlett is in our best 22 but the message is clear - have more consistency in your game or you can get it running around in the magoos.

The other thing we should all take out of the stats is this: Thank the football Gods we took Oliver and not Darcy Parish.

Agreed. I also think, to this point, that Clarry has been far more durable than Cripps who has suffered a few moderate injuries over the last few years. Touch wood with Oliver, but he has been remarkably consistent with his presence and contribution to the side, more so than Cripps has for Carlton.

I'd take Clarry in a heartbeat, but Cripps is a terrific player in his own right who has to carry a far heavier load than Clarry does.

Werridee's obsession with creating teams is terrific. I'm looking forward to these teams in the near future: - Best team of players whose last names begin before the letter M. - Best team of players that never played a game of football for the MFC. - Best team of players that wore a number above #45. Get to it, Werridee. We're counting on you.

If he wants to come back home for money then I don't think we're ahead. You would expect the Saints, North (who have tried to poach anybody with two legs over the last couple of years) and Carlton to have more money to give. The Bombers wouldn't have a whole lot of wriggle room and us, well, we must have something to spare lying around. However, if he wants to come home to potentially win a flag, then the decision at the moment is a no brainer. Three of the mentioned clubs are absolute poo and going nowhere fast, while North are batting above their average, just like Mick Martyn did with any woman he dated in his lifetime. If we can offer him competitive money then we're a mile in front of all the clubs mentioned. I still think he's more likely to sign with the Eagles but I'd like to think we're a sneaky chance of nabbing him as well.

I'd be more than happy to get him, but the article doesn't reveal a whole lot. I'd be surprised if he didn't re-sign with the Eagles.

Whilst I agree that Bull should be next in line going by form, the thing that puts Pedersen ahead is his ability to ruck. I don't think we want T Mac pinch hitting in the ruck at the moment as he's giving us too much in other areas of the ground, so for balance Pedersen will probably get the call up ahead of him.

The injury to Weideman is unfortunate as his ability to ruck has allowed us so much freedom in how we rotate Hogan, T Mac and Gawn through our forward line. However, you would think that Pedo is the logical inclusion to play that role on the weekend. He can still clunk a mark and pinch hit in the ruck when they rest Kreuzer and take some pressure off Gawn, just as the Weid has. So, to me, than changes may end up being: In: Viney, Pedersen Out: Weideman, Spargo. Spargo is stiff but I believe Goodwin is right behind the tall forward structure we have going on at the moment and won't compromise that.