titan_uranus

I'm surprised that OMac and Smith were both dropped but not because it doesn't make sense, only because I had braced myself for OMac to get an extended period and for Smith to play until Hogan returns. OMac's form doesn't warrant retaining his spot and with Frost now fit enough to come in, that's an upgrade. Bugg for Smith is more interesting and speaks to how the FD want to play the game structurally. At the times when Spencer is off and Watts is rucking we're going to have just Weideman as a target up forward so it will be interesting to see how we attack in those periods. Spencer should, surely, be fit enough to ruck the same proportion of the game as Sandilands which will mean Watts only has to ruck against McCarthy or whoever it is at Fremantle who gives Sandilands a break. I'm not that fussed. If Fremantle approach the game like they did last week, I'll be pretty confident. Both St Kilda and Geelong played attacking football and we did better than St Kilda and well enough against Geelong. If they play like Carlton, though, I'll be a lot more nervous. But I think Lyon's long-term future relies on him playing kids and being more aggressive so I don't see him moving into lockdown mode.

This is only a story if AFL players don't, normally, smoke during the season. I'm 99.9% sure that they do, which means this is not a story.

Hawthorn's next two games are Geelong and West Coast. Sydney's next two games are West Coast (away) and GWS. There is a not unrealistic chance both of them will be 0-5. The competition will benefit enormously from that happening.

No. That was precisely my point. I'm not saying it destroys our year, but Spencer will never be Gawn and that is not a positive thing.

Really? Their best players today were Murphy, Gibbs, Docherty and Curnow. Same old same old, and only one of them is below the age of 27.

I'm not sure there is any evidence at all to suggest he got the injury because he played 90% of the game as the number 1 ruck. It was something we always had to prepare for regardless of how we use him. I see what you mean about it being a blessing in disguise but Spencer has a lot of work to do to play consistently near the level Gawn usually gets to.

Well that's just about the worst thing that could possibly have come out of yesterday.

To be fair to Essendon, this weather suits Carlton to an absolute tee. Carlton's game is based on stopping their opponents from scoring which is significantly easier to do in a deluge. If GC holds on against Hawthorn (big if), then Hawthorn, Sydney and North will be the bottom 3, which would be delightful. If anything, though, it certainly looks to be shaping up as an even season.

They had Fyfe and Sandilands the first two games, too. They injected a bunch of youth and dropped a stack of underperforming veterans who are no longer good enough. They got a huge morale and confidence boost from that. Whether or not that carries into a second game, away from home, will be determined on Saturday.

If Spencer replacing Gawn wasn't a dead set certainty, it must be given we're going up against Sandilands. We generated a lot of shots on goal, that is true, but I'm not convinced we can maintain that with a forward line of Weideman, Smith and Hannan. We might just look to do one more week like this and then drop the worse of Weideman/Smith when Hogan returns, but I hope we're taking Fremantle a little more seriously than that. If Pedersen can get to more contests than Weideman and can fly at packs with more strength, I'd switch Weideman for Pedersen.

That is an incredible upset, given Fremantle's pathetic opening two weeks. Next week is going to be huge for us.

Didn't have the chance to follow the game but obviously a bitterly frustrating result. Reminds me a bit of the West Coast loss last year. Really want to see us back it up with a strong performance against Fremantle next week. In a long, long line of contenders for your most stupid post, this one sits near the top.

What "form"? We've played one freaking game against a side who knew they couldn't beat us unless they dragged the game into a defensive turnover fest. Similarly, we have no Etihad "form" despite one win there. Two wins in 10 years does not equal "form".

Dear lord Fremantle is a basket case.

An interesting backstory. Let's not rely on it to suggest Lewis and Hogan deserved not to be suspended - both did. But interesting nonetheless.

I think we need a tall to replace Hogan and that should be Pedersen, not Spencer. Vince replaces Lewis in a direct swap. Pedersen plays Hogan's role, Watts continues to do relief ruckwork when Gawn is off (although Pedersen can do the rucking in the forward line to ease the load a bit). Watts benefits from being brought into the game through the middle. Agree. I'd have Harmes up forward in a marking role, along with Petracca and Hannan, then with Pedersen and Weideman as the two talls. Garlett at their feet, ANB through there too.

Looks like an open palm to me. Does it make any difference though?

IMO both deserved to be suspended but I don't agree with the penalties. The MRP continues to focus too heavily IMO on the outcome and not on the action. As such, Scott Thompson gets one week and Preuss gets a fine because, presumably, their respective victims did not suffer any injuries. But Cripps suffered a broken jaw and Rowe had headaches and that makes the suspensions heavier for Lewis/Hogan. I don't think that's the right way to go about it. I'm also not convinced Hogan intended to strike Rowe in the head, and I would view Thompson's act as "worse", but so be it. He shouldn't be putting himself at the mercy of the MRP. The two of them have to accept they made inexcusable decisions and the club has to learn to control the aggression.

Each game will be interesting for different reasons. Geelong will play us a lot like St Kilda, again at Etihad. At our best I'm confident we can win, but will we reach our best? Fremantle will play us a lot like Carlton, again at the G. We should smash them but after today who knows? Richmond is our first prime time game for the year against a side we performed really well against under Roos. Will be interesting, to me at least, to see how we back that up (especially if we are 3-1 or, heaven forbid, 4-0, going into it).

Tyson was rubbish until three quarter time but his fourth quarter was a major improvement, much better with the ball in hand and more influential at stoppages. His defensive work was good all day, though. If the game had ended at three quarter time he'd have been the first one dropped but it didn't, and with his trajectory being one of improvement, I'd be comfortable retaining him for next week.

If I'm thinking about the same goal (fourth quarter), I saw Hogan congratulating Weideman, not berating him.

If Lewis is suspended, Vince takes his spot. If Lewis is not suspended, I'd drop Melksham - adding little at the moment and is around the same spot on the ground we'd be playing Vince. ANB and Hannan were good enough last week to get another game next week. If Hogan is suspended, I'd play Pedersen over Spencer. Spencer's not a forward but would have to spend 80%+ of the game down there. I'd rather that person be Pedersen than Spencer.

6 - Salem 5 - Jetta 4 - Jones 3 - Garlett 2 - Tyson 1 - T McDonald

An intentional strike to the head with low impact is a two week ban, down to one with a guilty plea. IMO there is far too insufficient evidence for Lewis to go. Cripps played on without any issue (I don't think, anyway) so unless he has a crack at Lewis, how can anyone know exactly what he did (e.g. was it an open palm or a fist, where exactly did it hit him, etc.). Hogan I'm less confident on. I'm not sure he can escape it being intentional or to the head, which is the end of the debate even if it's low impact. Looked to me like Rowe milked it but I'm not confident the MRP will consider it anything other than intentional or to the head.

Don't agree, at all, with the Garlett call. The Lewis call is myopic and based on one game. No issue. The Watts call is nothing new. He was a star in 2016 despite the same flaws so we know he can be a star in 2017 without necessarily fixing this problem. Poor thread IMO.