Swooper1987

They have absolutely been hit in the [censored] by a rainbow. I don't recall so many close games going one way ever. Their percentage of 106 despite only losing 5 games tells you everything about where they really are. It will take a miracle for them to win the flag, yet it seems that might be possible.

Geez. The criticism of Gawn on here is beyond ridiculous. 15 hit outs to advantage is almost unheard of. 25 disposals for a ruckman, 8 marks - 3 contested and a huge number of score involvements. English is a good player and played a good game and that can happen - Gawn v Goldstein over the years has often seen both play well. The reason we did so well in centre clearance, and scored so heavily from it was because of Gawn's dominance. Maybe you couldn't see it on TV (I haven't seen the telecast) but at the ground it was obvious.

I was at the ground and Gawn was easily our best player. English played a good game and you know, it happens. Not that many years ago Gawn and Goldstein played on each other and got the 3 and the 2 in the Brownlow. Gawn played a great game last night. 15 hit outs to advantage is an extraordinary figure. 8 marks, 25 disposals and was still trying his heart out right o the end. English kicked 2 goals - the first when he was gassed and just sat back and waited for it to come over the top - May or Petty should've been on him at that stage. The second was just a good goal. Our mids bumbled and fumbled all night; Nibbler blind turning into tackles; Viney trying to break tackles and Petracca in and out when it suited. Oliver gets a pass on the fumbles because he was playing with one hand and as usual busted a gut. 6 Gawn 5. Brayshaw 4. Oliver 3. Fritsch 2. May 1. Hibberd

More decision making than selfishness. He's a good forward and he's a good team player. He's made some decisions that he'd like back but I don't think that makes him selfish. Getting a bit tired of the Fox BS.

With our 13th win we are now assured of playing finals. This is the first time since 2005/06 that we will be playing consecutive finals series. And is only our third finals series since that time. Enjoy it.

I thought it was a decent win. 5 goals up with 5 minutes to play in pretty warm conditions. No Petty, no Oliver, Lever injured early and rendered pretty much useless (was a good effort to stay out there). Mids smashed at clearance, Gawn second up after an injury that most players take 6 weeks plus to recover from and he played an impactful second half. Tomlinson proved that his still capable of playing well at this level. Pickett played a game for the ages. Port are a very good AFL side and were in very good form coming into this game. We'll get better from here

This for me

Pretty good summary Joeboy. Gawn was important in the second half. Salem desperately needs to lift.

A great result. Excellent work Bombers. That will help us though only if we don't drop the next couple of games. Must win the ones we are expected to and at least break 50-50 in the rest. 4 out of 6 will see us top 4.

He does look a bit fumbly since his return. Even against the crows, where he played a pretty good game, he was shaky early. His kicking reflects his overall uncertainty I think.

Super pleased to say that did not age well. Well done Suns!!

I've been hearing all season about how Witts is the favourite to replace Gawn as AA ruckman. He's done absolutely nothing tonight. A few dinky little handballs. Tigers 4 goals from stoppage out of 10. Other than being big and getting his hand to it a bit he's pretty useless. Gawn is in no danger from him. Richmond will win this by 10 goals plus the way they're going.

1990 Darren Millane. Played the last month of the season with it. Every game he re broke it. Plastered it up during the week, played the next game with it strapped up. Never been a fan of anything black and white but that was the most amazing thing I've ever seen. He was still marking the ball and playing incredible footy. Was a huge reason they broke the 32 year drought. Oliver has Millane - like courage.

I reckon he'll play. If he's had surgery today he'll be right with a hand guard. Some of the injuries this guy has played with are beyond belief. And nobody could tell.

As long as the trade works for us I've got no issue with losing Jackson. He's a barely adequate tap ruck and as he gets heavier his leap will be less a factor. He has shown no interest in approaching aerial contests with anything like the requisite aggression. He constantly gets outmarked. I loved his third quarter in last years GF but his influence there has been a bit overblown - almost an inverse to last night where the rucks have copped heat for what was in effect the inability of the mids to get the job done. In the GF the mids made Jackson look better than he actually was. I think he'll turn into a decent AFL utility player but at this stage he's really not fit to carry Gawn's bags. And I don't say that as a "scorned lover",. He won't ever be an elite ruck, and by going to Freo, if that's where it is to be, he's confirmed that he doesn't think he will be either. There's no way he's playing ruck ahead of Darcy.

It's a long break until the next game. A lot can happen in 10 days. I'd be expecting minimal changes. The reality is most of the next in line blokes in the VFL have been tried and fallen short. Maybe Rivers or Hunt gets a call up. Bowey and Salem both off at the moment. Bedford looked ordinary last night, but the other small forwards struggled too. Goody tends to back his lads in. There'll be a big response against Port. We play Traeger Park well.

I think the criticism of Gawn's game is a bit harsh. As Goodwin pointed out our ruck gave the mids first look plenty of times (Gawn had 11 hitouts to advantage - basically a third) it was just that Geelong's pressure at clearance was better than ours. I'm not sure that Viney and Harmes made great decisions a lot of the time either. They often looked to over possess instead of taking the first option. In a territory game, on a territory ground like KP, moving the ball forward quickly often works better than the extra handball or two. Secondly as the Fox Footy crew pointed out, and the Geelong players later confirmed, it was a strategy to not kick to a contest involving Gawn. They nullified his involvement by avoiding him. Well done to them. He will be better for the run. The bigger disappointment for me was Jackson, who can't possibly have been fit. 43 ruck contests for the night and only 13 hitouts. Only a couple of clearances and only 2 kicks. About 120 metres gained. In a game that required territory gain, that isn't good enough.

Geelong the better side tonight. Congratulations to them. 31 scoring shots to 18 is a comprehensive victory. Still a long way to go. Need 4 out of 6 to make top 4.

I reckon Gawn has 4 x 3 vote games so far as well. Port, Giants, Hawthorn and Swans.

Pickett fined $2k so won't need to worry about replacing him.

$2k fine. Just handed down

I agree with this and it isn't just Oliver. Gawn has had a terrible run in terms of being blocked, thumped from behind, impeded. In 2018 he bolted in the AFLCA award yet finished only 4th in the Brownlow. He wasn't even the top votegetter from his own team. I cringe when I see some of the pathetic, soft frees dished out to blokes like Harry McKay yet Gawn can be literally assaulted and the commentators laugh it off as "he had to really earn that one".

He was ok tonight and performed exactly as I expected he would. As Melbourne supporters we have been spoilt by having Gawn for so long. What we got to see tonight is how most teams fans feel when they play against Gawn. O'Brien is a decent AFL ruck, a club B&F winner and has had a number of competitive duels with Gawn. Weid played within his limitations, provided a contest, was useful at ground level, tackled quite well but dropped some marks he could've taken. O'Brien played well but didn't dominate as he could have. I think he did his job. Having said that, I'm very happy to have the skipper back on Thursday night.

Brilliant game by Petracca. 6. Tracc 5. Oliver 4. Langdon 3.Brayshaw 2. Viney 1. Jordon

Pretty easy selection I'd say. The only problem might be Pickett