Mel Bourne

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.

Didn’t see Bedford coming. AVB gets another crack. Gotta wonder when we’ll see Chunk again.

Jayden Hunt has just posted on his SM that his surgery went well and he’s hoping to play finals.

I can’t help but think part of the “slamming” was his feeble and frankly dishonest defence. "It was more a show of defence. I didn't want to get rolled over and him be on top of me. that was the position I was pulled into and that was where my strength was." I’m a bit perplexed as to how the club green-lit this before he offered it to the tribunal.

Who’s the umpire who says “staaaand”? Could he staaaaand down too?

Hunt - Lockhart. Sick of saying it, but give this bloke a match. His consistent efforts at Casey and past performances with Dees warrant a late-round match against the 2nd-bottom team, at the very least. Hibbo can come in against the Cats. AVB - Jones TMac - Jordon

To be fair, it's inevitable when you umbrella an entire state's supporter base with one team (I realise there are two WA AFL teams, but eight years of only having one was enough to galvanise things). Imagine if there were only one or two Vic teams. We'd have no choice but to cheer along with people who would otherwise be Tigers or Pies supporters. I do think they should show a powerpoint presentation of AFL Rules on their scoreboard before matches, though. Particularly one on "prior opportunity". It's astonishing to me how many "supporters" still don't understand this incredibly basic concept.

Tigers - Tiges Kangaroos - Roos Bulldogs - Dogs & more. Bit of a long-standing tradition to shorten your club’s name, no? At least we’re not the Magpies. Imagine constantly referring to your team as an oven-baked pastry dish.

Tigers - Tiges Kangaroos - Roos Bulldogs - Dogs & more. Bit of a long-standing tradition to shorten your club’s name, no? At least we’re not the Magpies. Imagine being unfamiliar with the game and thinking that a club had named themselves after an oven-baked snack.

That game looked incredibly sapping, and we have sweet F.A time to recover. Little worried about the next two.

Dome Cafes don’t count as whiskey bars.

Yeah I’m far too adrenalised to contemplate sleep.