Swooper1987

Our big men need to play like big men. Grundy is great below his knees but not giving us enough defensively in the air; same goes for the other talls forward and back. Credit to Essendon, they have a strong plan and they are executing it well.

Petracca 5/4 Oliver 5/3 Grundy 4/2 Kelly 3/2 McDonald 1/1 I thought Fritsch and Rivers were both great yesterday. Tracc had a wonderful second half but I'm not sure he was best on over the whole game.

He hasn't been the best player in the comp in the first three rounds. Who knows what the next 19 games might hold. Lever would be leading our B&F right now.

4-6 weeks is standard for a mid range medial. Max is a pretty quick healer usually.

6. Gawn 5. Pickett 4. Lever 3. Petracca 2. Rivers 1. Oliver Gawn really played a complete game. He was a threat offensively and defensively to the Bulldogs all night. His capacity to push back and either fill a hole or play genuine one-on- one meant that we could cover May's absence. Watching him live at the ground is a real lesson in what it takes to be a genuinely elite big man at this level. English is a good ruckman who played a solid game but he got schooled by Max in work rate and effort, as well as craft.

Two Demons in the top 10 for what it's worth. TOP TEN: 1. Dustin Martin 2. Lance Franklin 3. Patrick Dangerfield 4. Marcus Bontempelli 5. Max Gawn 6. Patrick Cripps 7. Scott Pendlebury 8. Nat Fyfe 9. Christian Petracca 10. Jack Riewoldt

They don't have a great record with their champion ruckman do they? Len Thompson, Peter Moore and now Grundy all left the club in somewhat acrimonious circumstances. Monkhorst and Manson (not quite in the same league but both premiership players) also finished their careers at other clubs.

Absolute robbery! But love it.

Pleased with the trade. I liked watching Jackson play but I never rated him as a ruckman. He's not tall enough and the opposition had him largely worked out this year. His tap work is worse than poor, and as long as his backside points to the ground he'll never be a better ruckman than Darcy. He desperately needs to improve his marking technique and if he plans on making his name as a Blicavs type player he needs a much bigger tank, and a lot more game sense. His late third quarter GF effort is greatly appreciated and it's churlish to hold any hard feelings given that he more than paid his dues by helping us win a flag. I hope for his sake he doesn't get overwhelmed by the Perth fish bowl. We have a great opportunity to further improve our list over the next two drafts now and capitalise on the incredible talent we have in our ranks.

I rate him. 2018 Sutton Medal, 2016 Premiership player. Turns 28 in December, played 173 games and a lot of those have been excellent, including a couple of games over 40 disposals. Seems to play well against us. As has been pointed out by others he's strong defensively and offensively. He'd be an asset.

My absolute favourite day at the footy. That last two months of 1987 was absolutely remarkable.

So after 16 rounds Max Gawn is one vote better than Alex Neal-Bullen. WTF?

Gawn and May both missed multiple games. Oliver missed one. I still think Clarry gets it just from Petracca, Brayshaw and Viney and then either Gawn or May.

Selwood would be a great addition.

His shots on goal look horrible from time to time but he did kick 13 goals 14 behinds for the season. So beyond woeful is a stretch. Petracca on the other hand, went at 19 goals 31 behinds (and a substantial out on the full as well); Nibbler at 9 goals and 17 behinds and Charlie Spargo 10 goals and 12 behinds. Interestingly, that is the first time in Charlie's career he's kicked more behinds than goals in a season. Luke Jackson kicked 11 goals 12 behinds. I'd say Max's accuracy, whilst it could be improved upon , is certainly a damn site better than some of the blokes who are actually paid to kick them.

Phil is from Robinvale. He was actually really good mates with Jamie Siddons who is my wife's cousin. Leon is originally from NSW I believe. Not sure of any family connection there. A bit of background on Phil's experiences. https://www.sunraysiadaily.com.au/football/3050896/racist-taunt-almost-dashed-career-of-a-sunraysia-footy-great

Phil Egan, former Richmond and Melbourne player, was commissioned to write the report for Hawthorn. He was tasked only with gaining the perspectives of the former indigenous players at the club and then offering recommendations for further consideration. Its author, former Richmond player Phil Egan, commended the bravery of First Nations players who shared their experiences and described the review’s contents as “unprecedented”. “The report noted a range of recommendations for the club to address in relation to creating a culturally safe environment for all,” Egan told The Age. “These include further and immediate investigation of the findings; reparation and compensation for the affected families if the allegations are validated; and policy and structural changes to ensure cultural safety is embedded within the club.” Egan, an Indigenous man who played 125 games for the Tigers during the 1980s and endured his own experiences with racism in the game, said he felt privileged to have been tasked with the review because of its sensitive nature, and that Hawthorn deserved credit for commissioning it.

He did. After he was discriminated out of Carlton when the trainers refused to rub him down because of the colour of his skin, among other things.

Horrible stuff. Just appalling if substantiated.

We beat them twice in 3 games, 3 times for the season and our closest final was a 6 goal victory. It was the most comprehensive premiership since 2007. Gastro or not, they were never beating us that night.

Congratulations to Cripps. He's a worthy medallist, just as Miller, Oliver, Neale et al would've been. He's been an excellent player for a long time. I watched Gawn get ripped off in 2018, when he was clearly the best player in the comp (AFLCA winner) and he didn't even poll the most votes in his team - Brayshaw 3rd and Gawn 4th. We are very fortunate to have so many outstanding players at the same time who have combined to give us one flag and hopefully one or two more still to come. It's a team game and there's one medal every Brownlow winner would trade it for, including Cripps. Oliver, Petracca and Gawn and 20 of their mates already have one of those.

Not a vote for May or Fritsch. Bizarre

Topped the club vote by the look of it. Think we just pipped Geelong by a couple. Clarry polled in 12 games but not enough best ons unfortunately.

Fortunately for Clarry he plays in the same team as Gawn and Petracca; unfortunately that will cost him a Brownlow. But you wouldn't trade that premiership medal for anything.

I'm not into conspiracy theories as a rule but I am beginning to believe there is a real dislike of Clayton from other players. The last two years he didn't get near the MVP despite winning the AFLCA award in both years. Blokes like Pendlebury come out and blacken his name with his "elbow into the throat" bs. Just seems like there is a bit more going on here.