Wiseblood

I do too, dazzle. I won't argue with anyone that he doesn't give reason for regular 'heart in mouth' stuff during a game. I feel like he gets caught with the footy at least once a game. But, as you say, you really couldn't fault him on the weekend and he was part of a back line that kept us in the game and continues to show some development - enough that we don't need to talk down about him in every thread.

Depends on how we move the ball and who he plays on. If they stick a smaller/mid size back on him and we give him some space then he'll create havoc. If we just bomb it on his head with Lonergan on him? It won't go well. If we were to give him the space to lead, run and jump at the footy then he'll take his share of marks. I like the idea, but I'm not actually sure how Trac will go with it. You're becoming obsessed, Steve. You bring the poor kid up in every thread.

This shows two things. One, there is still so much improvement ahead for this list. For many players in that 19-23 age range, they are still working on consistency, building on their strengths and limiting their weaknesses. As they play more together, learn together and improve together, that consistency will come and when it does, the other 17 clubs had better look out. The second is on the same theme - the lack of consistency means we will still have a few losses that will really hurt. That's all part of the process. Hopefully most don't lose sight of the bigger picture and stop themselves from jumping off the West Gate when the opposition kick a few goals in a row or we make a couple of bad turnovers. For the time being it WILL happen, so just accept it and focus on where we're headed as a club - and that's up the ladder.

That's covered already as he's injured and won't be playing. The Cats don't scare me - we do. If we don't turn up to play then the Cats will be all over us. We won't get a second chance like the Blues gave us last week. If we come out switched on and ready to go then it will go a long way to helping us win the game.

There's no reason why we can't have both - landing a midfielder with a second/third rounder that can be a good player for us isn't out of the question. If Lever was available then he should be our priority.

Is Josh Kelly even the type of player they need? Or is he the sort who sort of transcends that? Two first rounders is a huge amount for a club that doesn't have a whole lot of decent kids coming through. If I were them I'd be after a key forward as Waite is almost done and Brown is almost doing it down there on his own. The fact that they are, supposedly, offering Kelly a 9 year contract shows how pathetic and desperate they really are.

He's worth a look, for sure. Very, very good player. Will he leave the Crows? I'm not convinced, but we should at least ask the question.

Saints and Norf seem like two of the most desperate clubs out there at the minute. They are throwing cash at anyone who will listen. It's a little pathetic, really.

Why panic stations? He hasn't said anything controversial. And no, I don't think we need to be chasing Fyfe. Like others I believe another key back would do us the world of good, and Fyfe wouldn't come cheap.

While it would have been better for him not to be given a 3 week suspension, what he did was help to lead the team back from the brink. Cripps was dominating at the time and the Blues were well on top. Lewis (and Viney) clobber Cripps (yes, Lewis could have done it differently) and it sparks a bit of melee. The end result? It puts the Blues off their game a little, swings the momentum and we kick 7 of the next 9 goals and win the game. Co-incidence? Possibly, probably likely, but I still think Lewis summed up the situation and realised something needed to be done. It worked.

I actually don't think the loss of Lewis and Hogan will hurt us too much; while I would rather have them out there, I believe we have enough depth to cover them and still be well and truly in the hunt on Saturday afternoon. The Cats aren't the juggernaut they were, and if we can somehow curb the influence of Dangerfield and Duckingwood to a certain degree, then we are a good chance of winning this game. It's easy to be all doom and gloom, but why can't we be 3-0? We can still make it happen.

Does he even want to do it again? Seems like he is enjoying his new role in the commentary box, and he would be getting paid quite well to do it. I guess if he felt he REALLY, REALLY wanted to do it then he might go back for the right club/deal, but I don't think we'll see it. Or maybe I just don't want to see it.

When you look at the list on the Melbourne website it looks huge - but they've included many who are now 'available' on that list. This list doesn't look too bad with those taken out, and hopefully Hibberd is off that list by next weekend as well.

The thought of an AA ruckman only rucking for 50% of the game is not something that should ever be entertained. Max isn't a forward, either, and as we've said in the past he is only good when he drifts down there while rucking. Spencer is no forward, either, so playing them both just doesn't really work. As for the potential of going with a small forward line, if we are able to move the ball quickly and lower our eyes then it can work. If we bomb it in there all day and allow them to pick it off then we'll be playing right into their hands. So, to me, it depends on how we play in terms of whether a smaller forward line will work or not.

It's no different to someone like Darren Jolly, who eventually moved on as he was constantly playing second fiddle to Jeff White. Jolly got more opportunities though as he was more mobile and effective as a forward, but no matter what he did he was always going to be second best. The same will always go for Jake, and it wouldn't surprise me to see him move on to another club at year's end.

As if we needed any further excuses to hate Carlscum.

Sorry Dappa, I should have specified - I meant that he learned from it in time, not that he learned from it after the final against the Saints. And yes, I agree re: Jesse. It may have no affect on him at all going forward, and let's hope that this is the case.

I still remember the Saints getting under his skin in the Elimination Final in '06. The beauty was that Flash learned from it, and hopefully Hogan does the same (and does it a little quicker than Flash did, too).

Or they'll see his reaction as a sign that you can get under his skin and make him do silly things, and thus opposition backs will annoy him week in, week out looking for that reaction.

You're not thick, DS, so you know that Tyson isn't getting dropped. I have no idea why you would even bother to put it in there. I was going to say that Smith is no chance, but then you backed Hannan in ages ago and looked what happened, so if you think Smith is a legit chance (and not just based on one game at Casey), then maybe he's more of a chance than I thought.

The way you've worded this almost makes me want to banish Hogan to Casey for the rest of the year, PD. I like the idea of keeping things unpredictable as well, as it will keep Geelong on their toes and their backline hasn't necessarily been a strength so far this year. I still think Pedersen gets a run to help keep their tall backs honest, plus it means Watts can spend the whole day forward while Pedersen gives Gawn a chop out in the ruck.

You're starting to sound like Saty with how often you say stuff like this, Steve. You're better than that. They were both silly boys but I hardly feel the punishment fit the crime. Unless the club feel there is grounds for an appeal then there isn't anything we can do about it. We can be angry, frustrated, annoyed, but it gets us nowhere. Time for a few others to step up. I'd rather Pedersen come in for Hogan, too. Gives us more up forward than Spencer.

Plays his 100th consecutive AFL match this weekend. The man is a beast.

True, but it still allowed us to move the ball quickly. When we moved it quickly during other parts of the game we were still able to score, but we also took too long or turned it over during other stages of the game. We had to adapt and, thankfully, we adapted in time.

It was infuriating at times, but the Blues wanted to fill our forward 50 with as many players as possible. It was always going to happen. Once we stopped messing around and moved the ball quickly we kicked 6 goals in the last. It just took us 3 quarters to get it right.