BigFez

This bloke will be a gun. He has the talent, work ethic and desire to be worth every penny (and draft pick). I have zero doubt. Staggered at the amount of criticism he has received after 3 games. Can't wait for him to be able to say "how do you like me now?" to all of the doubters. Might not be this week but very soon I suspect we will all be stoked we have him on our team.

Lever's head made illegal front-on contact with Goldy's elbow/forearm. That is the only logical reason I can see for the free.

Looked to me like two actions, one to elbow Lever in the head, and one to put his arms up. Not sure this changes anything in terms of you analysis, which I completely agree with, apart from I think Goldy tried to engage Lever as he was running in, perhaps to draw a free. Don't two wrongs make a right? Play on for mine.

Just had a wander over to the Hawks Big Footy forum. Came back very annoyed. Very confident of a win over there, one poster even said Jesse Hogan and Sam Frost aren't great forwards and should be covered easily by Frawly and Stratton. Really knows his stuff that bloke. Also found this gem: "Melbourne a due for a bad loss so I hope we can dish it out. They’re a limited team that’s had a very soft start to the season. They are exactly the kind of team that we need to beat to jump above that logjam of sides trying to improve." Only one poster out of 10+ pages was concerned about the degree of underestimation going on over there. Not sure if it's because of the number of smug Hawthorn supporting friends I have, but I can't stand the Hawks. Really hope we turn up and win this one. Didn't mind the side last week. Hoping we play a defensive forward on Sicily, not sure I could emotionally handle him tearing us up. Cyril is another one that causes us headaches, hoping Nev isn't injured and can go with him, otherwise bring Hunt back.

Hawks were rubbish early last year and still beat us. Really hopefully of a win but would be very surprised if it wasn’t close.

I remember that. Disgraceful. At one stage when the whistle went everyone (even North players including Goldstein) were looking around wondering who's kick it was. I can't describe how much I want us to win this game.

Exactly. Risking sounding like a [censored] here, but I reckon this game will have a finals like intensity about it early. If not that intense, then guarantee it will be willing. There was plenty of feeling in the games last year. North will really fancy their chances and despite all the talk about hoodoos being meaningless, North and their supporters would like nothing more than extending it to give them another year of gloating. On the other hand, we will really want to break this hoodoo to stop it being discussed, so both teams will be smashing into each other. Hopeful of our class shows through like it did in the JLT. Super nervous about this one, might just put a sneaky $20 on North 1-39 into Ben Brown kicking 4+ goals to ease the hurt if North win. Can't see them winning without him kicking at least 4. Would love to see Brayshaw get a run.

Think there's some confusion between the Official ratings best 22 and Kane Cornes' AFL team of the week. As for the latter, he had Tom Mitchell on the bench and Dangerfield AND Ablett on the ground. Anyone who saw that game would agree Mitchell was better than both of the Geelong players. Cornes had Garlett in a pocket and Hogan on the bench. No sign of Oliver.

Obliterated them in inside 50s 64-41. Tidy things up going forward and that would translate to an easy win. Had so many passengers yet almost won. Gawn-Oliver-Petracca-Viney combo will be one of, if not the very best midfield combination within the next couple of years.

Has anyone seen him close up in person? I haven't, I'd love to know how big he looks up close.

Excellent summary.

Gee I just assumed he was because he was given odds. Shame on me for trusting Sportsbet. Looks like he turned 21 on the 6th December so might be 3 weeks too old. Will have to look into it further when I haven’t had a Sunday sesh.

Currently a juicy $51 for rising star. If: A) he gets a game and B) he plays like that every week, could be the value bet of the year. Most likely kidding myself but surely a tenner on him wouldn’t hurt?

This kid is now 5th for total disposals, 2nd for contested possessions, 5th for clearances, 10th for centre clearances and 3rd for tackles for the entire competition. (Source - afl.com.au/stats) Completely absurd for someone in their second season who only turned 20 a few weeks ago. Seems to be flying under the radar of most supporters and experts alike, I wonder if his 'dive' has taken the gloss off the most complete second year I've seen from any player I can remember. Or does his high handball/kick ratio make him a bit less flashy and eye catching? Regardless, he is as important as anyone in the team now and I love him. I remember a lot of supporters hit the roof when we drafted him ahead of Parish. I'm sure Parish will be a gun but for now it looks like a great decision.