Mel Bourne

Can somebody advise me on something? Whenever the subject of replacing a defender arises - in this case the potential of resting Hibberd - why is Lockhart barely ever mentioned? He’s been in our best-on-ground lists two of the last three rounds. Even the write-up of last week’s Casey game on the MFC website goes into great detail, yet never mentions his name once. Except to say he was second-best on ground in the stats. What am I missing here?

Hunt was good. Petty did his job.

Dees are looking sluggish. Intensity just wasn’t there in the second half. We need to rest a few crew if we’re going to give ourselves half a chance in the finals. I don’t think we’re cooked, and still think a GF appearance is very possible I don’t think a GF victory is likely however, because we seldom keep cool heads in high pressure situations. ANB and Hibberd could do with a spell. Bring in Lockhart and Sparrow. Sparrow has shown promise with his few set-shots. Pickett is a bit lost at the moment, but given the options (Melksham?) it’s probably best to leave him out there and hope he sorts it out in real time. He, Rivers and Jackson have put in great seasons, but I fear their youth is catching up with them from a fatigue point of view and come finals time, they will have worryingly-empty tanks.

In non-outbreak settings the recommendation for duration between AZ is still 12 weeks, as it provides the highest efficacy in the long-term. The four-week interval is only being encouraged in Sydney hotspots right now.

Even if they got their first shot this week they wouldn’t be fully-vaccinated until after the season’s ended.

Craptacular moments keep popping into my head…. Oliver having a whinge when Spargo intercepted his mark in the forward pocket. Two things about that: - really poor form from a team perspective - I’d take a Charlie Spargo kick from the pocket over one of Oliver’s every day of the week.

Pickett’s set shots are a f$&king joke. He needs to put serious work into this aspect of his game. So sick of watching him line up, absolutely safe in the knowledge that he’s going to f$&king cook it.

I think the Bombers could do them. And us of course. Who knows what Port will be throwing into their final H&A game too?

Even if they win this, the dogs look absolutely dismal. I’d love for us to meet them in the finals.

And apparently a brilliant player who played in the ‘79-81 team. It was told with such conviction that I didn’t even question it.

Oh lord, I really should have googled that! I stand utterly corrected, and corrected on grammar by Leigh Montagna, just to make it worse. My day is ruined.

Things got on a roll early on in the pre-match coverage, when Leigh Montagna asked Simon Goodwin if the recent dip in form was “attitud-unal”. Or maybe it’s spelt “attitud-inal”? Hard to know how non-existent words are spelt.

Do you mean Juice Newton who sang “Angel Of The Morning” and “Queen Of Hearts”? Do you mean because she wrote a successful, early 80s country-tinged ballad then followed it up with a toe-tappin’, light barnstormer, only to be written off after the lukewarm reception to her third single, “The Sweetest Thing”? I’m so confused by this analogy but I’m enjoying it very much

This is peak Demonland, right here. 1). He knows he’s being filmed for “light entertainment” purposes so is obviously hamming it up a bit. 2). Why the hell am I bothering writing any more than what I’ve already said? At least you have to admit he’s showing far more discipline than Gary Ablett did before the ‘89 grand final when he showed up late and ate an entire bbq chicken in the change rooms. Ok I’ll admit that story is entirely irrelevant. I just like thinking about it sometimes.

Completely agree with all of this.

All for Jay getting a run but he hasn’t played a forward role for a long time. He did come to the club as a forward though, and did well in his first few matches there.

You get the feeling this will be an absolute belting. Not great for a hangover. Might take the arvo off and check in later.

Thread should be called this instead of "Game Day"

Hoping to see Mumford and Greene mortally wounded get injured in the first quarter.

Hmmm, I dunno. They’re a bit like cockroaches.

Well done Suns! But I gotta say, if I had to listen to that theme song after every win I’d be throwing some games.

We’d have to be the only team who could define being firmly entranced on top of the ladder as “flying under the radar”.

I’m more inclined to accept “likelihood” over “fact”. I sure hope that those players don’t see it as “fact” anyway. Max in his post-game remarks went to great pains to point out the pressure that every player is under to hold their spot in this team, while we currently have genuine quality in our depth. Could be just words, but I’d like to think he meant it. It’s ultimately a very good thing.

We can do without him for a round. He needs to feel a little heat, and letting him play off the leash for this long with little payoff sends the wrong message. He also needs to spend a weekend kicking set shots with Choc. He is so off in that department, and it's not fixing itself in situ.