Flower Magic

6 Viney 5 May 4 Lever 3 Hunter 2 Petracca 1 Brayshaw

What he said. It is beyond me why Brown was picked for this game given the horrible weather forecast for AS.

But unfortunately now pi$$ing down all over again.

Currently 8 deg in Alice, feels like 6 deg, but it has stopped raining. No wind, so conditions are perfect for footy now. Only question is how wet the ground will be after several days of persistent drizzle.

I will admit to being as soft as melted butter - it was too cold to go to this afternoon's training session. "Feels like" on the weather app has been around 5 deg most of the day. Kudos to anyone who braved the cold to go to the session. After waiting some years to finally get to this game, it's really disappointing that the weather tomorrow is likely to kill the atmosphere and cruel the crowd numbers. But a solid win will make the long trip worthwhile. Let's smash the Ghastly Woeful Shockers!

Alice Springs weather update: rain until around 12 noon on Sunday, max temp 9 deg FFS! Forecast for Melbourne is max 14 deg. WTF is going on? My Alice Springs friend says there has not been weather like this in the Alice at this time of year in 35 years!

We paid $30 for general admission tickets on the advice of an Alice Springs friend and footy fan. The $249 option looked like an overpriced rip off. I sincerely hope you get your money's worth.

Saturday maximum now predicted to be just 8 deg with 30mm of rain, after 23mm on Friday. The friggin' ground could be underwater. Lads may need to pack their snorkels. 😵🏊‍♂️🌧️

24 beautiful degrees in the Alice today, but then rain starts tomorrow and continues until Saturday, with big falls of around 20mm on Wednesday and Friday. So the Todd River will be flowing! Thankfully it is forecast as dry on Sunday, but cold, just 11 degrees maximum after three similarly cold days preceding it. And here I was, looking forward to escaping the Melbourne chill. 😒 Will the cold weather help us, who knows?

Please explain the difference between starting a new player on the interchange bench as opposed to the sub. And why would there be "reluctance"?

Good question and I have no idea. My point is that by the time he was shifted, the horse had bolted down the Geelong Road and was already halfway to Melbourne, so the move was pointless either way.

In: Oliver, Tomlinson, Woewodin (sub) Out: Chandler, Jordon, Spargo Petty, despite his stinker last night, must play forward. It was gob-smacking to see him shifted there at around the 23 minute mark of the last quarter. What was the point of that? Ridiculous. He should have been there from the start with Tommo down back. Woewodin must be given a chance, surely he can provide more than the three who deserve to be dropped.

It’s a horrible thought, but did we get Grundy because we suspected that Max was cooked? He has been a much inferior player this year compared to the colossus of 2021.

So keen to finally get to this game that I bought my air ticket in January - cost $400 one way - happy happy happy about that.

6 Viney 5 Salem 4 Rivers 3 Hunter 2 Fritsch 1 Tomlinson

But he doesn't, and that's the problem. And it's not the small forward's job to bring the ball to ground. Kozi is lethal on the ground, not in the air.

I'll go further and say his attempts have become embarrassing and are hurting the team. Aren't small forwards supposed to stay down and grab the crumbs when the ball spills free? He should be dragged the next time he goes for a speccy and drops it (which he will).

6 Petracca (clearly) 5 May 4 McVee 3 Salem 2 Fritsch 1 Langdon

What is wrong with Jake Lever? Surely Petty's absence from the backline shouldn't make that much difference to an elite player's game. Is the change to a more attacking game plan prejudicing his ability to play as an intercept marker, or is he just out of form? I think Jake is one of our five most important players and his lack of influence this year is very worrying.

There are currently two elite players in the competition whose form and confidence is shot to pieces, and it is causing a major problem at their respective clubs - Harry McKay and Jake Lever.

Worth picking Joel just for the chance of seeing another Smith hanger.

Not so sure about that. Dixon and Marshall missing tonight. Horne-Francis and Butters are dead-set guns. Can see them staying in the top 4.

6 May 5 Fritsch 4 Rivers 3 Oliver 2 Petracca 1 Hunter

My previous comment regarding Mr Anderson was not based on his performance last night, but on the following facts: 1. He has represented Melbourne players twice before with poor outcomes (Viney and Fritsch 2021). 2. He has been a barrister for seven years - this is a very short time in the career of a barrister, hence the moniker "Junior Counsel". 3. He has moved into this arena after working for the AFL. Did he ever play football? Probably, we all did, but not at any significant level. There are ex-AFL and VFL players at the Victorian Bar. Wayne Henwood, for example. And get this, his last appearance before the Tribunal was to represent Charlie Ballard of the GC Suns!

Adrian Anderson VAB (very average barrister). There are countless Melbourne supporting barristers at the Victorian Bar, including KC's, who would do a better job