titan_uranus

Current top 8 record against the current top 8: Melbourne: 7-2 Bulldogs: 6-3 Sydney: 5-3 Geelong: 4-4 GWS: 4-5 Brisbane: 3-4 Port Adelaide: 2-5 West Coast: 1-6

Couldn't help yourself, could you. Brown played well last night.

I'm not against rewarding VFL form but this reads as if you're suggesting we give Lockhart the Adelaide game just because they're Adelaide, and then drop him for Hibberd in Round 23? We won't be doing that. We're not messing with form and experimenting with our 22 on the eve of our most important finals series in decades. If Lockhart is the best option outside the 22 to replace Hunt, he gets the spot. If not, Hibberd gets it.

Some have argued that limiting May and Lever's intercept marking is the key to beating us. Well, last night May had 2 and Lever had 1 (and Gawn had 0). The wet will have impacted that, but it's impressive to see that we can play well without those two dominating the air.

Anyone who can access the paywall?

We made the mistake with Melksham, IIRC? In 2019?

Port would have to beat the Dogs at Marvel for this to happen. Port is 2-5 against the top 8, with one of those wins vs GWS (the worst side in the top 8). It's not probable.

Here we go again with the vandenBerg myths. "Professional free kicks"? He [censored] gave West Coast a goal with a ridiculous push in the back when the ball was going over the boundary line. Nothing "professional" about it, it was moronic. Unfortunately he doesn't appear to have improved that aspect of his game. Meanwhile he was only on the ground for 50% of the game but had 6 clangers, our second-most. He doesn't add anywhere near enough to our side to offset his mistakes and what are blatantly unprofessional free kicks. It's insane that he gets praise for that sort of game. If Viney did the same thing he'd be pilloried.

No one placed our 7-2 record against the top 8 "as the pinnacle of our season so far" except you. All I did was note it. You're the one who saw it and blew up. Which speaks volumes of your attitude, one which IMO is horrendous. You're all about the "gold medal", not setting for silver/bronze. We won't win the gold if we don't win H&A games and finish top 4. Last night was a win that secures top 4. It is literally a key step towards the target you say is so important. And again. No one other than you took that post to mean everyone's satisfied with the H&A wins to date.

Would agree with all of that except I'd say: Langdon - good first half Bowey - really, really impressive

My immediate gut reaction is TMac/Weid for vandenBerg (I want the second tall forward back into the side so if TMac's not ready Weid gets the game, and vandenBerg was our 22nd ranked player tonight and I'm happy for a last in-first out principle here). Hibberd for Hunt if Hunt can't play. Other changes to be considered if we need to rest bodies on a tight six day break.

Right. Your first post after the game, other than to bag the umpires, is to say this win means nothing if we don't win the premiership. That's a ripper attitude. And by ripper I mean ridiculous.

I think that was Spargo's fault. He marked the ball and then immediately plays on. I think some are arguing the umpire called play on, which would have been wrong (the kick was more than 15), but I reckon he thought it was touched or something. He handpassed to Sparrow who missed the snap.

Why? We're locked into the top 4 no matter what.

Am I right in thinking we haven't won the minor premiership since 1964?

Last year vs Fremantle in Cairns - loss. 2017 Round 5 vs Richmond (ANZAC Eve) - loss

6 - ANB 5 - Oliver 4 - Jackson 3 - Brown 2 - Petty 1 - Bowey

Petracca kicks that goal immediately after the re-start and the game could have taken a very different turn. But you almost have to write off the last 15 minutes after the break. At the break we were 10.9.

Soak this in. We have beaten every single side in the top 8 at least once this year. Our record against the top 8 is now 7-2.

The finish was crazy. Before that though, a lot to like. How good were our youth: Jackson, Bowey, Rivers, Jordon all played really great games. Brown was so good early, helped us get the early lead and gave us a chop out repeatedly. ANB's forward pressure was immense and he got 2 goals to go with it. Thought Langdon's first half was back to his best but the game wasn't down his wing enough after half time. Harmes improved on last week, Melksham stood up when needed too. Backline was good without being amazing and we still only conceded 18 scoring shots. Still want TMac straight back into the forward line to make sure we have two marking options, particularly when Fritsch struggles like he did tonight. And I'm not going to comment on vandenBerg's silly free kicks against. Hope Hunt's injury isn't too bad, but we've gone into Perth with no Viney, no Tomlinson, no TMac, Hunt off in the first quarter, then a crazy half hour lightning break in the fourth quarter with West Coast's season on the line, and we've come away with the win which locks in top 4. It's huge. I'm happy.

Nah I've got zero time for this attitude. An unprecedented 30 minute break when we have the game entirely under control, in hostile territory, forcing West Coast to change their entire attitude, after a week in quarantine, off the back of a day last weekend on a plane. This is a win to savour, not to complain about.

Guys. We're finishing in the top 4 no matter what. YOU [censored] BEAUTY!

Off topic slightly but how about Hawthorn's fixture this year. In a COVID disrupted year, they'll get to the end of the year having only played three games away from the MCG, Marvel and UTAS (their other home). And of those three, one was an "away" game vs Gold Coast at the SCG. So they'll only have played two games all year in true foreign territory.

Our 22 from the 2018 prelim: B Neville Jetta, Oscar McDonald, Jordan Lewis HB Christian Salem, Sam Frost, Michael Hibberd C Mitch Hannan, Nathan Jones, Angus Brayshaw HF Jake Melksham, Tom McDonald, James Harmes F Aaron vandenBerg, Sam Weideman, Alex Neal-Bullen FOL Max Gawn, Clayton Oliver, Jack Viney I/C Christian Petracca, Charlie Spargo, Dom Tyson, Joel Smith Bolded aren't playing tonight (assumes TMac plays). That's 12, more than half the side. An almost entirely new backline, too. For comparison: B Shannon Hurn, Tom Barrass, Will Schofield HB Thomas Cole, Jeremy McGovern, Lewis Jetta C Dom Sheed, Luke Shuey, Chris Masten HF Mark LeCras, Jack Darling, Mark Hutchings F Willie Rioli, Josh J. Kennedy, Jamie Cripps FOL Scott Lycett, Elliot Yeo, Jack Redden I/C Liam Ryan, Liam Duggan, Daniel Venables, Nathan Vardy 10 for them not playing.

They're missing Ryan and Barrass, too. We have to expect them to come out all guns blazing tonight in an attempt to atone for their poor performance last week. If we're not switched on early and they jump us, we might find it hard to pull them back. But if we can weather any early storm, and hopefully get a quick break on them, I'll be much more confident.