Wiseblood

Let's not get carried away.

Classic.

All good points there, Brownie. I think you're spot on about Jones, too. I think they'll probably give him that role and I think he can do a good job for us there. One thing about having the three talls in the side is that I think it will actually take some pressure off Tom, and whether he plays more up the ground or closer to goal, I think having Weid and Jackson there for support can only be a good thing for his confidence.

I said some similar things in the changes thread, titan. Do we shift a Harmes, Brayshaw or Jones as part of the back line rotation? Conversely, do one of those above go into the forward line rotation? I could see Jones running the wings and resting across half forward, and we know Harmes is capable of playing there as well. And the three talls will be fascinating. Do they push Tom up field and use his tank to run his man ragged, or do they push Jackson up there to make use of his athleticism and to do the rucking forward of centre? Either way I think we have plenty of options, which is a good thing for tomorrow night.

Interesting selections for a few reasons. Firstly it will be exciting to see Sparrow in the side. The kid has a real dip and, while I can't base this feeling on much, I think he might have a real future at the club and I think he can come in and make an impact. Secondly, I'm interested to see how we go with Weid, Tom and Jackson in the side at the same time. Will they push Tom further up field and use his tank? Or will they move Jackson further up the ground to make use of his athleticism? Very keen to see what they do with it and if it works for us. Lastly, neither of the ins are a like replacement for Jetta, so it puts the onus more on Hibberd, Lockhart and Salem this week. I think they can do the job for us, but who will join them in the rotation? Not unhappy with the changes and it will certainly give us some interesting options and match ups for tomorrow night.

Ins: Tom Mac, Sparrow Outs: Bennell, Jetta. Confirmed on the AFL site.

His influence was certainly down on the weekend, but I think we'll have to wear that a little bit as he continues to build confidence in his body and he gets some consistency back in his game. If he didn't need the rest, which is the smart thing to do right now, I'd say he would be keeping his spot in the side.

Can't argue with this. He is coming from a long way back and playing him in each of these games would heighten the risk of him injuring himself. While I'll miss his creativity forward of the ball, it's the right decision when thinking long term.

While his goal kicking has been off at times, we have no idea how much he'll be paid, and if we hold fire then we open ourselves up to allowing other clubs to make offers and for Fritsch to glance elsewhere. He has shown more than enough to deserve a two year deal. It's not as if we're giving him five years. I think two years on reasonable money is a fair deal for his output to this point. He is playing the third tall role well, and his skills by foot around the ground are very good. He is a best 22 player and you sign those guys up when you can.

They are the lowest of the low. While the official Melbourne page gets some ridiculous comments, the supposed 'fan sites' on there are even worse and they're generally run by nuffies who only push their own agenda. There is a trades and news page that is run by a Saints fan and watching people bait him is hilarious. He releases his current AA side regularly and it's just choc full of Saints players.

You can easily argue that, over the years, we've made some poor choices with off field personnel. However, we've got it right with Burgess. Not only is our injury list one of the best in the league (and when was the last time we could say that?) but we are fit and firing. We are running out games strongly and we never look tired. Burgess was brought in to get the fitness aspect right, and while he doesn't dictate how we kick a footy or the decisions we make on the field, he has put the players in the best possible position to get the best out of themselves, and he has to be commended for that.

After the match did you lean over the fence and call Big Carl 'Ditterloss'?

I agree in terms of selection - I think the coaches like the experience his brings, but he looked off the pace all game and the head knocks won't have done him any favours. Rivers would be a good option. I'd prefer him to Smith for the role he will play. I do hope Sparrow gets a crack in the coming weeks, though. I think the kid might have a future for us and getting a few games into him would certainly help.

It's a fair point re: Harmes. Those three are our best midfielders at the minute and deserve as much time in the middle as possible. Using Harmes in a tagging role is going to take someone out of there, which I think they want to guard against at the minute. I'd like to see Harmes given a run with role across half forward. He has a good set of hands and gets to the right spots, and he could be a bit of weapon clamping down on one of their primary runners off half back which would either help us in forcing more turnovers or locking the ball inside our 50.

Who goes into the back six rotation if you're dropping Jetta and not replacing him with a back pocket or even a back flanker? Can't see Tom or Sparrow really playing there. I'd like to get another look at Sparrow at senior level, although I still think he's behind someone like Tomlinson who will get another crack before he goes.

You get a few of these strange calls every week. Reality is that we will make one or two changes, with those coming from the likes of Jetta and Brayshaw. Goodwin might be disappointed in Fristch's efforts at the end, but he won't be dropping him for it.

Some posters will be showing their age in this thread.

That's good news. While I thought he was slightly stiff on the weekend with that 50 metre penalty (but I'm happy to concede he shouldn't have pushed his luck), he is a very good player for us going forward. He can play out of the square, has a good set of hands and is a very good kick of the footy (unless he's kicking for goal, although it seems he is starting to kick a little straighter as the weeks progress). Will be an important part of our forward line in the coming years, so locking him away is the right move.

This is the side of Pickett that I don't want them to dumb down. I hope that, even with the fine, he doesn't change the way he plays in the coming weeks. I want him to hunt the opposition and provide that 'implied pressure' week in, week out. The fine is a joke, and I hope the club tells him as much.

I'm 50/50 on it dazzle. It hurt, but how often do we see players do exactly what Fritsch did and not get punished? Look at the Trac one above - the player actually knocked the ball away and got away with it. Fritta was pushed down, got up and was in the process of handing the ball over when he gave him fifty. He's a bit stiff in my opinion. He could do that next week and not get penalised.

True, but Viney deserves plenty of credit as well. He had 7 touches in the first 7 minutes of the last term and was everywhere. Both he and Trac were the ones to get us going.

That will be Wylie 'Kent Kingsley' Buzza to you. I hope they don't rest him, as he is in very good form, but would understand somewhat if they went that way. No need to run the kid into the ground and he is playing on some key position players who will wear him down. I'd like to see him get at least another week.

Thanks Dad.

Let's just banish from the league and do everyone a favour.

And we only got rolled by 4 points. I wouldn't say we played dumb footy - if we had, we wouldn't have been in the contest (which is also thanks to our backline), but I just think the Lions were a little cleaner than us. I think this side has come a long way over the last month. Imagine playing them four weeks ago in these same conditions - we would probably have gotten rolled by 6-8 goals. Obviously we need to continue to get better and to eliminate the errors from our game, but I think last night shows we are not only headed in the right direction, but that we are closing the gap on the better sides in the competition.