Swooper1987

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

Witts turns 30 in September, Gawn will still be 30 then. Why would we be handing from Gawn to Witts? And other than hitouts, Gawn leads Witts (easily) in just about every other measurable stat for the season. Assuming Max doesn't miss more than a couple of games he's the AA ruck again.

Paul Salmon another big man with significant knee injuries who played until he was 37, and still at a high level.

I think Weid is more than capable of providing a centre bounce contest for one game. Let's be honest, Jackson played a good game last week but you'd hardly say he dominated hitouts - in fact quite the opposite. Our mids had no problem garnering clearance from a non dominant ruck. Weid needs to be busy around the contest and provide a down the line contest. O'Brien hasn't been in stellar form but on his day he is a very good AFL standard ruckman. Obviously we'd be better with Jackson, but I don't mind Weid on ball. Our biggest issue will be when Weid needs a spell.

Sandilands retired at 36, Gawn is a "young" 30 with not a lot of miles on the clock due to his early knee injuries. I think he can play out his current contract and then might have another year or two. His forward work gets better every year, he's the fittest big man in the league, he's got career high numbers for everything bar hitouts this year, which makes sense given he now only spends about 60% time in ruck. Barring injury he'll make it to 35/36. Should have another 80 or so games in him I reckon.

He's displayed a level of consistency over his career that I can't recall from anyone else. I was thinking about him, Gawn and Petracca and where they sit against the greats of the last 50 years. Whilst I still believe Gawn is our most influential player, I'm comfortable that Oliver is the best since since Flower, based purely on his incredibly high output over his first 130 plus games. Tracc has had a couple of wonderful seasons and Gawn is our talisman and has been for a long time, but Oliver I think stands apart for his ability to make those around him better. And that is absolutely worth a 7 year extension.

Correct. Viney on 22. 10 v Brisbane, 5 v Port (round 4), 5 v WCE (round 9), 2 v Sydney (round 12)

Just picked up 1 coaches vote for his effort last Thursday. Probably adds at least another zero to the Dockers offer!

Nuts isn't it? Viney and Lever universally the best two on the ground from all bar the scum. You have to wonder if they watch the same game sometimes.

That was one of the really great performances by an individual last night. Right up there with Gawn's game against the Swans, some of Oliver's and Petracca's dominant performances. It was everything that you'd expect from a club leader and more, and a reminder, if we needed it, as to why this guy is so important if we are to go back to back.

He was very good. And this is his natural position. He played well in this role when Jackson was out against Hawthorn, but then got dropped when Jackson returned.

Gotta say I agree with Fagan and Goodwin and thought McInerny and Jackson shared honours. That's a credit to jackson because Oscar is a very good AFL ruckman but it isn't vote worthy in my opinion. 6. Viney - clear BOG 5. Lever - his best game in 2022 4. Petracca - worked his way into the game to become a significant influence. Just needs to hit the scoreboard. 3. Jordon - is having a really good patch at the moment. 2. Oliver - perhaps not as damaging as in some games but just works so hard 1. Brayshaw - continuing a fine season Honourable mentions: Harmes, Hibberd

Lions for mine. Like Fagan and remember attending Fitzroy's last finals series back in 86 with some Lions supporting mates. Be happy to see them take the choccies if it isn't us.

Hibberd May Lever Salem Petty Rivers Langdon Oliver Jordon Petracca Weideman Spargo Fritsch Brown Pickett Jackson Brayshaw Viney Sparrow Bowey Harmes Neal Bullen Sub: Hunt/Bedford That right there is 21 of last years premiership side, missing Gawn and Macca. Time for Trac to go forward and see what he can do with the terrible delivery coming in. Now that Salem is back, give Brayshaw a shot in the middle. Weid takes second ruck.

All of that is irrelevant. They have a salary cap to keep within, some outstanding young players to pay and pay well and potentially a premiership to win this year. As I said, it makes no sense. I'm not certain that he's a generational player either, but I guess time will tell. It's all paper talk.

I love your work on this topic Binman. It's very instructive. I do wonder about at what point those making these decisions start to feel nervous about top 4 - or does it even matter. I recall first hearing about this in the late 90's when Neil Craig was in charge of fitness at the Adelaide Crows. They made finals in both 97 and 98 with 13-9 records and won both Grand Finals absolutely running away. Different finals systems back then but they were only just above average H&A teams who were absolutely primed for finals. If we finish outside of the top 4 and end up having to travel a bit I wonder what the cost-benefit analysis of this will show? I guess only time will tell. What I am certain of is if we don't load then we won't be winning the flag.

It just doesn't make any sense to me. Fremantle have a genuine star ruck in Darcy. Jackson at 199cm has actually yet to prove he's a competitive ruckman in any more than 5-8 minute bursts. You have a super talented young list at Freo, paying in effect a second ruck and not particularly effective key forward 10 mill over 7 years is not the sort of call I'd expect from the Freo admin. Now WCE, that might be a different story!

You'll need 13 to play finals this year, because the last couple of sides are so bad. Port would need 7 from 9 from here. Unlikely but not impossible. It's been a good effort by them after being 0-5.

Agree. Fagan seems a top bloke, really genuine and down to earth (and a very strong Demon connection) and I always had a soft spot for Fitzroy. If it is destined not to be us this year, I'll be cheering the Lions on.

Over the past 6 weeks. Source is in the 360 analysis linked earlier. King and Montagna.

Yes there's a bit of a myth about 2017. We went 7-6 with Max including the game he got injured in v Geelong in round 3, and went 5-4 without him, including losing three of the first 4 without him. The only side we beat was Essendon, and lost to Fremantle by 2 points at the G and Hawthorn by 3 points. Richmond also beat us by a couple of goals. We missed finals by .5%. I'd argue Max doesn't tear his hammy from the bone we make finals comfortably. We worked our way into life after Max after that first month with some wins against softer or struggling opponents - Gold Coast and the then struggling Bulldogs in the midst of the premiership hangover. We also got over Collingwood on QB with the famous Jack Watts goal. Couldn't be certain of clearance numbers but his absence didn't make us a better footy team, that's for sure.

Not sure if this has been posted elsewhere, but it gives an important perspective on Gawn's influence and what we are about to miss. I'd advise to pick up about 2 minutes in when King and Montagna discuss his influence over the past 6 weeks. We are ranked numer 1 for clearance and number 4 for post clearance, as well as number 1 for clearance scoring differential and number 1 for scores from centre bounce. Basically Gawn and Oliver have been keeping us in games almost alone.

McInerney (204 cm 110kg, 47.8% hit out win and 8.2% to advantage)) is a decent ruck and Fort (204 cm 98kg 45.3% hit out win and 4.5% to advantage)not a bad back up. Will be a massive test for Jackson (199cm 100kg 32.6% hit out win rate 2.1% to advantage). I've not liked what I've seen from Jackson in ruck contests this season. He needs to halve this if we are to have any chance.