Swooper1987

Every side that remains is a good side but our players have nothing to worry about. They have proven over the course of the year that they can find a way to beat all comers. I think the extra tall in the Geelong forward line suits us. We have struggled most against ground ball in our defence and now Geelong will need to go aerially. It probably means that Smith stays and certainly means Max spends more time back but neither of those really diminish our chances of victory. Parfitt is a big loss for them. He's a very good player and has relatively good pace compared to their other mids. GWS were ripe for the picking and Geelong did what all good sides should do. However, they are running out of legs and have played only average footy for about 5 weeks now, other than the 15 minute burst against us. Hawkins has a corkie, we'll see how that comes up. They can be pretty problematic a week after.

Gawn second for best Captain. Petracca 4th for MVP. No Oliver or Wines in the top 5. Lost a lot of credibility tonight.

6. Oliver - dominant all night 5. Gawn - a sluggish start but was outstanding from quarter time. Such a massive presence. 4. Brayshaw - an outstanding game from one of the great team players. And very courageous. 3. Fritsch - 4 goals from 7 kicks is a great return from a very dangerous mid sized forward 2. Neal-Bullen - continuing his very solid form 1. Petracca - not quite at his best but still an excellent game. Bigger things still to come I suspect.

Sympathy votes from Scott for Stanley there if ever I've seen them. Given Stanley restricted his opponent to 25 touches, 39 hitouts, 6 marks, 7 clearances and the match winning goal, I'd hate to think what Scott was thinking Maxy was capable of without Stanley's stellar job!

Geez they are pretty average. I guess stats will say whatever you want them to.

And Buddy Franklin too. Garry Lyon was his hero.

We've been there before in 2018. Gawn won the coaches award and should've polled better than he did (20 votes), but Brayshaw got 21 and Oliver 13.

Interesting. Gawn also on 13 according to this. So Clarry 34, Petracca 25 and Gawn 13 is 72 votes between them. We won 17 games (hard to get the 3 in losing games, although Oliver should do it against Adelaide first time around) which is 51 total in 3's. It's not beyond the realms to be fair. I think Gawn is likely to be a little higher than 13 and both Petracca and Oliver marginally lower. But I still think Oliver wins (or at least ties).

Courtesy of the AFL.com.au writers. 6 Demons make the final team according to them.

Gawn and Naitanui will both be in the side, as they should be. Both are in the top echelon of players in the competition. Two rucks is now "normal" for AA sides. 2010 - Sandilands, Jamar; 2012 - Naitanui, Cox; 2018 - Gawn; Grundy; 2019 - Grundy, Gawn; 2020 - Naitanui, Gawn. Darcy has been named in the 40 as the "heir apparent".

In the history of the game lots of players have had statistically better years than others and not won major awards. The game is in the eye of the beholder. Umpires do the Brownlow, media do their awards, the AA selectors bring their own bias, as do the coaches (still can't believe Naitanui polled against us a couple of weeks back). You mentioned the Age and HS journalists where votes are often handed out by hack journalists who look at the stat sheets, yet you reference Oliver's stats. The reality is, Oliver, Wines, Walsh, Miller, Steele and Bontempelli have all been great this year and a case can be made for all of them. I'd love Clarry to clean up but I won't care one little bit if he's wearing a premiership medal at the end of it all. Anyway, we agree that Oliver is a star and has had a brilliant year.

Maybe so, but Wines has had an outstanding season. I think Wines is Oliver's biggest threat for the Brownlow.

Ollie Wines has taken out both the Age and Herald Sun player of the year award. Wines polled 145 votes in The Age, Oliver was equal second on 116, tied with Sam Walsh.

I find Montagna to be very balanced (and astute) in his analysis. He's definitely the brightest member of the First Crack team.

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/four-points-the-most-captivating-final-round-of-the-afl-era-demon-hearts-beat-true-dockers-shocker-20210822-p58kwk.html Michael Gleeson sums it up perfectly here.

Huge effort by our ruck - forward combination in 2021. Jackson and Gawn have combined for 26 goals this season. That is some effort. Combined they've kicked 2 more than Petracca and only 4 less than McDonald. That's a very impressive effort to go at over a goal per game. Makes such a difference having that extra avenue. And Kozzy with 35 as a second year player is just a sensational performance.

I thought Scott's pressa started fine and was pretty fair. His commentary on dominating the game was largely about keeping his team's confidence up. Obviously the ruck is a major worry for them and Stanley has been pretty serviceable for the second half of the year, but to say he dominated Gawn until the last quarter was a massive stretch. Again that was to help Stanley's ego, but truth is he was absolutely smashed and Kane Cornes pointed out how pathetic his effort in the last play was. Occasionally you'll get some interesting insight out of these things, but at this stage of the year it's really all about keeping your team "up". Goody's pressas are the biggest non-event since the days of Yabby Jeans. Doesn't give away much at all.

Don't expect Clarry to poll against Adelaide but he's got at least 2 from last night. He probably deserves 3 but it depends how much emphasis the umps put on Gawn's last quarter, he'd be the only threat. Bont can't poll in the last couple of games and Wines definitely will.

If anyone doubted Gawn's ability as a leader that should be completely put to bed after his last quarter tonight. As great as Oliver was, Gawn was the momentum changer in the last. Jackson was a non event tonight and Gawn's last quarter was one of the great Captain's efforts. For those who followed footy in the 80's, that shot at goal after the siren might bring back memories of 1987 final round. Steve Kernahan had to do the same as Max to seal top spot for Carlton. He did, and it probably won them the flag. Let's hope history repeats.

The Age: 9 Oliver 8 Gawn 8 Selwood 7 Dangerfield 7 Salem

6. Gawn 5. Oliver 4. Lever 3. Salem 2. Pickett 1. Viney

Oliver unlikely. Seedsman will poll well in the Adelaide v Melbourne game. I expect Gawn, Petracca, Lever and Fritsch will be most likely, perhaps Jackson. Agree on Miller. He's a big danger (and a terrific footballer).

These votes are in terms of influencing thegame when it was a genuine contest. 6. Gawn 5. Langdon 4. Petracca 3. Lever 2. Salem 1. Fritsch Unlucky - Petty, Oliver, Rivers

He was a very good player too. I wonder how much of a difference he and Lyon would've made in the 87 prelim? Chris did his knee in round 5 at Carrara and then of course everyone knows about the famous Lyon stretcher incident in round 22 when he broke his leg early in the game at the Western Oval.

The post match pressers are usually indicative. Simpson was very bullish about Yeo and Naitanui. Goodwin equally effusive about Jackson. Goodwin also made mention of our third quarter dominance which by extension means Naitanui wouldn't have been in his consideration given he got exactly zero disposals in that quarter - the match deciding quarter as it turned out to be. Redden and Kelly were the best four quarter eagles in my view. It makes no sense that Goody would've given 4 to Jacko and 1 to Naitanui given they played on each other for a big chunk of the night.