titan_uranus

He went straight forward after the opening bounce. As Collingwood got on top he didn't get moved back into the middle. It's funny how Richmond look so different when their stars are down. They haven't had to deal with those players being out of the side or even out of form. Pull the other one, they've beaten pretty much everyone all year and they haven't lost at the G for 18 months.

Surely the home jumper with white shorts, which is what we wore last time. They wear royal blue so we can't wear the alternate. No way we send our 50-goal forward to the backline and hope for Weideman to get on top of Hurn, McGovern and co. That's a fair argument. I think, for me, a lot of my frustration at the change comes from sympathy for Fritsch, but taking emotion out of it I think we've done the right thing. Possibly. But Kennedy's influence against Collingwood in the first final was clear. As he got into the game WC got on top. We can't take him lightly.

The same agency has West Coast as favourites to beat us, which is odd. I suppose punters think we're more likely to beat Collingwood than West Coast is?

Pretty sure Martin and Astbury are unfit and shouldn't be playing. #overconfidence?

Pathetic. Every time he gets beaten he whinges to the umpires. I can't stand Collingwood and the thought of them making the GF makes me sick, but at least watching Rance get flogged is immensely enjoyable.

They gave Cox a sniff early and now, like Queen's Birthday, his confidence is up.

What am I watching? Richmond looks inept. They can't get the ball out of their back 50, they're rushing everything, they can't take a mark, they can't stop Collingwood's run. Collingwood are good starters and Richmond are good finishers but it's already 6 goals and Richmond hasn't played catch up footy all year, essentially. I'm not confident about Richmond from here.

I understand why Smith is playing but I don't agree with dropping Fritsch before Tyson. If we win, and unless Smith shows some sort of Rance-esque level of dominance, I wonder whether we'll drop him back for Fritsch to return, given both Richmond and Collingwood have smaller forward lines?

Valid concerns, but I'm sure the same concerns were held over the Bulldogs in 2016, who had already had to go to Perth and then had to go to Sydney for their prelim.

Eagles, Chargers, Giants

Good pick up. I didn't see this at the game but on the replay saw it happen with 10 min left in the third, and Daisy subsequently mentions it on the broadcast. We'll need to monitor this one. If Salem's out that is a position we don't have great cover for at Casey (Vince can play half-back but his run and kicking is nothing like Salem's, whilst Hunt's form just isn't good enough to warrant getting back in the side, and J Smith is too slow and tall for that spot).

My late votes: 6 - Viney 5 - TMac 4 - Gawn 3 - Jetta 2 - Hibberd 1 - Salem

They'll already have Kennedy, Darling and Vardy forward. Good luck to them if they send McGovern down there too.

I don't blame him for leaving and given how it turned out for us I'm glad he did. I wonder what he thinks of his career, though. How much success does he gain from walking into a star-studded Hawthorn and winning a premiership in one year when that club was almost certainly going to win it whether he was there or not. The guys he was celebrating with, he'd known for 12 months or less. Some of them had played 10 years together and had built that club into what it was. I just can't believe he looks back on that flag the same way Trent Cotchin or Matty Boyd look back on theirs.

The thought of Collingwood being in a preliminary final is sickening, but to be fair a Richmond-Collingwood prelim is mouthwatering.

The general argument that we can play better is correct. But saying things like we "took a step backwards" is just sensationalist stupidity. We're a young, inexperienced side playing in front of 90,000 people for the second time ever, against a much older and more experienced opponent. To find a way not just to win, but to win by 6 goals, when not playing our best, is an absolute step forward.

Tuned in for the fourth quarter, the team defence was huge. Bernie was huge that quarter, too. Good on him for cracking in and giving it his all.

On a side note, has anyone seen @Wiseblood recently? Hasn't posted since before the Geelong game. Of all of us, he's been the shining light of optimism over the past few years (and yes, sometimes a little too much). But I hope now he's getting to enjoy this finals run with the rest of us.

He's still trying to do too much with some of his field kicking, he often wants to hit the incredible, 1% chance of pulling it off sort of kick, but it either doesn't work or the target isn't ready for it/good enough to make it work. But I thought his defensive work was excellent yesterday and his leading and marking were an improvement. Not sure if there's anything causative in it but don't worry, there's zero chance he gets dropped. It's been covered a lot in the media but that was a massive turning point, only 15 points up at that stage, he misses, and we take it straight down the other end and goal.

I love Bernie but his form pre-injury doesn't warrant a spot in the side. Tyson was poor (would be interesting if someone can confirm he was in a defensive role on Burgoyne? I didn't notice it but I didn't notice Burgoyne either). But I don't think we'll be making any non-injury changes. Bringing in J Smith for Tyson means we're pushing Fritsch up the ground, but we've been playing Fritsch in the back line for weeks now and it's working. I just don't see us making that change mid-finals when our form is peaking. If we're going to drop Tyson, I think it will be for someone like JKH if he plays really well at Casey today and can add more in the midfield than Tyson. But I think we'll ultimately back the 22 in to do it again with an 8-day break and I'd be all for that plan.

Agreed. Hawthorn's supporters are the weakest in the comp IMO. They might have 80,000 members but half of them don't like football and most of them don't go to games. They signed up on the back of the threepeat. What we're seeing now is that our 45,000 members are as passionate and devoted as the supporters of clubs like Richmond and West Coast.

Another incredible night to be a part of. We weren't at our absolute best last night but in some respects, to have won they way we did despite not being at our best is a positive in itself. The second quarter was anti-Melbourne. They had 17 inside 50s for 0.6, we had 7 inside 50s for 3.1. That quarter could have changed the game but to our credit, our defence stood up and we didn't drop our heads despite the game being played in the wrong half of the ground. We kept working hard and we took our chances when we got them. That quarter was huge IMO. And our ability to steady when they drew to 12 points was enormous and speaks of a maturity that our side, as young and inexperienced as it is, has already built. There were some individual standouts but it was again largely an even 22-man contribution. Viney, Gawn, Hibberd, Jetta and TMac all played strongly, but Petracca lifted on his past few weeks, Melksham was always dangerous, Weidman's confidence is there even if he didn't influence the game like last week, Brayshaw battled through his tag, Spargo's score involvements are hugely important, OMac and Frost are getting better (save for that howler of a mistake that led to the Puopolo goal). Our form is peaking at the right time, we're luckily now through two finals without any injuries, and we know we can beat West Coast in Perth. It's surreal to think that we're in a preliminary final, but we are, and I can't wait to see how we go.

Yep. The way we play, we have to have that pressure dialled up to stop sides using the space we deliberately leave whilst pressing forward. Round 4 (and Queen's Birthday) were good examples of what happens when that pressure just isn't there, but the past few weeks have shown what happens when it goes the other way and we're right on top with our pressure.

Yep that's right. Before last week Lewis had 23, Jones the two from 2016, and Hibberd/Melksham one each (vs North Melbourne in 2014).

O'Meara and Stratton as outs are huge, the more so given their replacements are VFL-grade players (which isn't to say we don't carry some fringe players, because we do, it's more that their outs aren't being covered by strong replacements). This is how Geelong wanted to play us last week. In fact, I think it's how most teams will want to play us. Create scoring chains from our forward 50 turnovers and cut us up on the rebound. It's what happened in Round 4. Inside 50s were 54-53, but we lost by 11 goals. We got enough ball inside 50 but they waltzed it back out, belted through what little "zone" we had, and found space out the back. We're a much stronger side in all facets of the game than we were back then, of course, but if we mess up our inside 50s, miss easy shots at goal and give the ball back to them from turnovers, that's how they will work their way in front.