Rodney (Balls) Grinter

Both were better than Salem in my view, but I'd probably gave given them to T Mac - he's been a powerhouse down back this season. Sure his aging body catches him out occasionally and he gets beaten, but on the whole, his defensive play has been first rate and saved us numerous times. Has been a realitive saviour in the absences of May and Lever, which make his performances even more impressive IMHO. That all said, I think May's game against Richmond was also first rate. Got beaten a few times by a quality opponent in Lynch, but generally held him pretty well when it counted. Felt they got off the chain a bit more when he had to go off. His presence down there is also such an influence on the whole back 6, demanding high standards - his rip at Rivers case in point. All of this not to say that I thought Salem played badly. To the contrary, I'm very glad that he seems to be improving his form and having more of an impact on games again.

I'd definitely add Steff Martin to that group as well. To think that at one point we had all of Mark Jamar, Steff Martin, Max Gawn, Jake Spencer and Jack Fitzpatrick at the club at the same time. Although Fitzpatrick never quite made it, he wasn't that far off the mark and did have some good football qualities about him. Spencer was the kind of solid backup option that we'd love to have now. And if only we could re-recurit another young Cam Pederson. Was a great forward/ruck on his day and very handy backup. If AJ can produce the sort of career with us that Peddo had, I think we've done well. The other recent also rans of quality that we never really got the best out of of course are Brodie Grundy and Majak Daw.

Not a chance in hell.

Trying to find another Max would be like trying to find another Gary Ablett senior or another Wayne Carey. Every club would love to have one, but the reality is that very few ever will, so they just work with someone who is competent enough at that position. Hawthorn one a bunch of premierships with Ben McEvoy as their main ruck. He was an above average ruckman, but nothing as good as Max.

Is such a dichotomy: We want a team that puts itself in a position to compete in finals every year; Vs Let's take it one week at a time. Personally I think we have way underachieved the season to date and have more upside than alot of the teams above us. The V12 firing on 7 cylinders is a reasonable analogy. Trac and Clarry are better than current form. The past few weeks we have seen what happens when Kossie, Max and Vines start to fire. We will need things to go right injury wise from here and a few young players like JVR etc to stand up and take the next step, but if that happens, I think we are better than alot of the teams currently above us. Who knows.

Asides from the 2021 Geelong examples, Max has kicked numerous clutch goals for us in the past. Fortunately his shots in the past few weeks haven't cost us games, so let's just hope that he starts kicking them when we really need one next time.

On a semi related note, you know, for all of his critics, suggesting he was soft, didn't try etc, I seem to recall one of the best games I saw Jack Watts play was a game he took over ruck duties, when Gawn was out before the game injured, then big Pencile Spencer got injured during the game and we were low on numbers on the bench (coincidentally might also have been against Richmond too) Jack absolutely gutted himself that game trying to play as an undersized ruckman and did a pretty decent job of it too. Would like to see that level of effort and desperation more often from our developing / frindge players.

At least they gave Fullerton a go. If he does stand a chance at making it longer term, he'll be better for the experience and knows what the level he needs to make looks like. Was also very happy to rest Max for that last 10-15mins. At least Goodwin seems to be learning the wisdom of resting your aging stars when there is the opportunity to. That said, the percentage we lost in the last 10mins could hurt us if we're in the hunt at some stage. Really need someone who at least breaks even in the ruck. That said, at least one of those was pret much an own goal courtesy of Trent Rivers and there's also 17 other players that should pick up the slack when Max goes off. We really need to lift that part of our game. That also said - junk time is what it is as well to some extent.

Class act is T Mac. Great insights on the Kossie situation as well as playing against his brother I thought.

Hard task master that Mr.Fence. Bloke kicks 5 goals and takes hangers and he's not happy with him? Sheesh

Sheesh. Is the the Nick Dacos thread or the Harvey Langford thread? Less said about that filthy lot, the better. Gees imagine if we were approaching a Pies game and they had "what they're saying at Casey Fields" thread.

Easy up. From what I recall JVR's goal kicking and contested mark stats are up there with guys like Schwarz at a comparable age. His set shot kicking is pretty elite. Think he's got plenty of talent and capability to be way more than average. Playing as a key forward for us over that 4 week period would be enough to get many down on form and confidence.

Good on Tommy. I recall when he was first recruited many thought what a prudent selection he was. I get that for the past 12 months he seemed somewhat underwhelming and didn't have the imeediate impact and presence of someone like say AJ, but guess it can still take some people time to settle at a club and find that confidence. A few other comments have alluded to the time it can take for talls to mature. Well right now Tom is at that age of 26, so maybe it's come his time. Probably the biggest thing I'm guessing the seletors saw in him was someone who was giving maximum effort and that's not something to be underrated. If he only ever becomes a solid no frills depth key position player / ruck that is still pretty valuable for us. What if he actually makes it? Looking forward to seeing what Tom can produce over the next little while.

Agree with all that. Thought Bowser played a ripper and T Mac continues to hold together the backline that's consistently missed it's star KPPs. Really hoping we can get McVee back and playing at his usual level sooner rather than later. Continue to be impressed by Langford and Lindsay, though I think Winsor hasn't got back to what he is capable of since returning to the side.

I wore Melbourne socks today as well! Didn't think anything too much of it at the time other than they were a pair of clean socks without holes in the and it was a Melbourne game, so what the heck. But as it turned out, maybe our sock powers combined in some hellish Desmon spirit today!

On a similar note, from a FB post of them all whining about not getting a free kick for that Dick guy in the last quarter: Only one thing worse than the umpiring...Kelly Underwood...oh my aching 👂

His return to his best form has been one of the few positives of the season to date.

https://www.afl.com.au/video/1303065/pickett-raises-the-bar-with-aerial-wizardry?videoId=1303065&modal=true&type=video&publishFrom=1745037093001 Loved these moments from Kossie today and played a ripper all round as well.

Want them to have earnt it, but I also want Fritta and JVR to find their way and find some confidence and form as soon as possible. We're a better side when Fritta is at his best and JVR should be the future of our forward line and stamping his authority all over the place.

Happy and somewhat relieved to get that win today. No way should we be a 1W and 5L side that's in the bottom 4.

Didn't expect to see Oscar Mc Donald out there today. Good on him. Keeps persevering and keeping his AFL career alive. Hated seeing that goal kicked against us, but still happy for Oscar at the same time. Would have loved to have been a fly on the wall for the banter and sledging between T Mac and him.

Could work. Disco was a good back before he was a forward. Think he's a better forward than Petty though

And dominate? Wow, that is optimism

I have near zero expectation we can win this game today, which probably means we will. We've got to turn it around sometime right? Looking for some enthusiasm from big Tommy and Disco Turner always provides good value IMHO. Good to be getting some more games into the Kolt, Lindsay and Langford.

Yeah, nah sorry. Never good watching Hawthorn win. Was much better them getting beaten every week. Still they haven't actually acheived that much yet. If they can go another decade or five without winning another flag, now that would be damn good to watch.