Mel Bourne

Not sure you get a fair result averaging out 20 games vs 5. Players don't exactly get fresher and fresher out there with each round. "That’s like saying Sam Frost has a wiser head than Hunt because he’s played 129 games." It's really not. Bowey has played five matches. It's a very different comparison.

IIRC, Hunt was also at the end of some ambulance-delivery in that spate of HTBs. I think it's pretty harsh to characterise Hunt's contribution this year by discussing what I'm sure he'd regard as his season's lowest moment without the context of other matches where he's genuinely impressed us all. "Sure, Hunt has most of our players covered for 'run and carry', but not sure what that has got to do with 'football-wisdom'?" I'm not saying it has anything to do with football-wisdom. Merely that it's an aspect to his game he has over Bowey, and needs to be factored in when the decision gets made.

I think it’s important not to be hyperbolic when discussing fairly nuanced stuff like this; he wasn’t caught 4 times in 5 minutes. Bowey was also caught standing still in the opposition goal square against the Cats, in a situation where he had plenty of room and time to evade, which gave them a free kick 10m out (and a goal). Again, I’m not trashing Bowey AT ALL. He’s great. But when I saw that, I saw a young player getting used to the big league (and certainly didn’t begrudge him that) and didn’t see a wise old-soul in the body of a kid. Sorry. I know what you mean when you say that some players don’t seem to develop football-wisdom no matter how many games they play. My point however, was that saying that some have it in spades over their teammates after playing five games is a bit much. And yep, Bowey’s disposal efficiency is in better shape, but he doesn’t have the run and carry that Hunt has. All I’m saying is that the choice is not as clear as some are making out.

Seems a bit of a stretch to say that Bowey, who’s played 5 games, possesses a wiser head than Hunt who’s played 94. I’m really excited by Bowey but his inexperience and lack of wisdom (which is something gained, not learned) has peeked through at times. Specifically his lack of opposition-awareness. He’ll get there and he’ll get there well, but I think it would be a bit remiss to consider him an automatic replacement for Jayden just yet.

People omitting Langdon and Lever is somewhat mystifying. Still, a good sign that we have a real spread of contributors.

Yeah I think we’ve covered this mate.

Weird that nobody has mentioned this yet, but Greene was reported and managed to escape suspension as recently as June of THIS year for touching an umpire. He even said that he “couldn’t guarantee that it wouldn’t happen again”. Man of his word at least

Wow, ok. Yeah that is poor commentary Some more classic fake news from our friends at Fox then.

I’m pretty sure the commentators (on the Fox broadcast) made mention that the switch was made on Cameron from Salem to Smith. Perhaps in the quarter time break.

Just high on life Titan! Perhaps I should have quit while I was ahead and left him out. Salem was on Charlie for the first half though, no? I do think Hibberd will be very stiff not to get his spot back for the prelim though.

Ha! I liked his game to, and was careful to also praise him. But he gets a little frozen out there at times. To be expected. He’s doing a bloody great job for a kid amongst men. He’ll be huge next year with such a massive experience behind him.

I left Joel Smith out of my passionate/fairly drunk appraisal of the team. Thought he was good! His pace came in handy against Charlie Cameron. Kept up with him in the pocket, and quashed a goal that could have been a dambuster for them.

Love this team! 93% of them did their part tonight Sparrow, really lifted. Jackson was immense. Oliver is the key to grand final glory Trac had one he’d be a bit [censored] off with. He will hit the prelim hard. Langdon is just such a consistent asset to us. Our defence is something to behold. Lever’s positioning and strength in the air is blowing my mind these days. I though we paid too much for him. I thought he was generally a bit of a recruiting-mistake for his first three seasons. I am clearly a [censored] [censored]. But he, surrounded by May, Salem, Rivers and Petty are such a dependable unit I love that gang. Like everyone here, really excited about Bowey. What an insane situation he’s stepped into, and he’s holding his place. BUT, he needs to find the jets a LOT faster once he gets possession. Can look like a bit of a rabbit in the headlights at times, and I’ve noticed with somewhat concerning regularity that he’s getting caught while standing still. I get it, he’s a kid and these are standard lessons you learn. But this is finals, and it’s a baptism of fire! Our Staffordshire Terriers, Viney & Harmes were doing what good staffys should. Great game from both of them. Ben Brown would have been frustrated with his game tonight, but he’s doing plenty of the right things and it will click in two weeks. At the very least he’s putting forward a strong argument that eating like a hummingbird creates a better forward than eating like a pterodactyl. Brayshaw, though allergic to the area between the goalposts, has admirable composure out there and can make the difficult look effortless at times. Spargo and Kossie weren’t exactly starring, but holding down their roles well, whereas Fritsch is clearly our X factor. Just takes a while to warm up. Gawny, as ever, our safest pair of hands (aside from Lever) and the best captain we’ve had since Tulip. Who did I miss? Oh! Nibbler! Not bad! Ran hard, and was a reliable option across half forward So yeah, T Mac. Not sure. He’s been a witch hat for two weeks running. Maybe he’s doing things I’m not noticing. I’m pretty stunned we’ve played so well these past two weeks with one guy effectively out of the game. But hey, it’s working 🤷🏻‍♂️ But I’m stoked. What a gift our team has been for those of us stuck in our houses with little else to do but dream of Australian Rules glory Also I really like Chris Fagan. He just went out of his way in his post-match presser to praise the club. Onya Fages! Oh and…. Vale Luke Jackson’s front tooth. Not the fake one, but the real one next to it which is apparently also cooked according to the coach.

Should have been a 100m penalty, but then hey, we wouldn't have gotten that incredible ending. The ABC commentary...wow. I had no idea their commentary box had devolved so much. Was waiting to hear the gurgle of a bong while Max lined up for the kick.

I know it’s very little to work off, but I was impressed with Sparrow’s set-shot technique and composure in a few games this year.

My take from that game is that we were a pretty average lightning team, but lightning was West Coast’s new form of meth.

That…is a low bar. But I do think he should play.

You're dropping off, dude. This is rubbish.

Just tell me! Ha!

Hugely emotional evening in the land of the oval-shaped ball. Just watched Eddie Betts' final post-match interview. What an absolute superstar he has been. Love the dude.

I asked the question earlier and am still waiting for the intel.

I'm incredibly grateful for every call that went against us. For we would not have had that ending.

Watching the second half again now, but this time in a verrrrry different mood. With five minutes to go in the third quarter, Melbourne are about to kick 43 more points. Geelong are about to kick 2 points.

When was the last time we won a game after the siren?

I've discovered that not getting involved in the game day threads is far better for your mental health.