Swooper1987

And the coaches agree with Demonland. Only Langdon and Gawn polled in the AFLCA votes. 3 to Ed and 1 to Max. 6 Swans players scored votes which is no surprise at all.

6. Gawn - won his position with ease. 13 hit outs to advantage and half a dozen big marks. 5. Langdon - ran himself ragged 4. Tomlinson - a very good game from start to finish 3. May - at least he looked like he was trying 2. Oliver - many disposals, most of which were rubbish 1. Brayshaw. - that he gets a vote on that performance says a bit about the other 16 who took the field.

What's everyone's hang up with 300? It's just a number, there have been many Melbourne players who have played far better careers than Jones with about half to two-thirds of the games he has played. He has been a warrior but he is no more deserving of being nursed to 300 than any other player. This should rightfully be his last season. He risks significant reputational damage by playing a season too long - some would argue that is already happening. If at the end of the year he finishes with 297 games and 3 Bluey's, that's a career to be genuinely proud of.

And was comprehensively outplayed tonight by Nankervis and Soldo. I think Max is still a big chance.

sooked it up at Brisbane, ditched Port, given the [censored] by North by the look of it. Sounds like trouble to me. That said, no doubt he can play.

When it's played well it's the difference between winning and losing. Gawn is a champion, Preuss is a trier. Gawn's deft touch is elite. The Bulldogs got away with it yesterday, and they may get away with it next week against Geelong, but the week after, NicNat will absolutely obliterate them. There are hitouts and then there are hitouts.

6. May 5. Lever 4. Tomlinson 3. Viney 2. Salem 1. Weidemann The fact that nearly all of the backline were in my best tells a sorry tale. A terrible performance from our one way mids, Viney the obvious exception. Very pleased to see Max next week.

I thought Tomlinson could hold his head high today. Ditto Lever. Our midfield was deplorable for the bulk of the game. Viney gave his usual wholehearted effort but to limited effect. Petracca and Oliver might as well have not played for all the influence they had (and I am a fan of both). You could throw Brayshaw into that as well. The forward half pressure was non existent. Harmes is just a shadow. And our relatively simple shots that we missed just meant at no stage could we put effective score board pressure on. Much more than three words I know. Goodwin was given a lesson in how to adjust during a game. Beveridge completely outcoached him.

Neale's to lose really. He's had an amazing season. Great effort by the three Melbourne boys - especially Oliver in recent times.

Max if he plays this week, has 6 games left. NicNat will have to leave Perth after this game. He was very poor away from home first time around. Don't forget that just two games ago Max was in both Robbo's and Jake Niall's mid year AA team. He only needs to dominate three of his last six games and he'll be in. My guess is if Max has a stellar finish to the year they'll pop both of them in. Gawn is still the 4th best player in the comp this year on AFL ranking and the leading ruckman. (tracc being first and Oliver 5th).

Dean Cox 2006

Grundy has been average this year. Currently rated the 9th best ruck in the league. Nic Nat and Gawn (presuming he returns this week) would be the two front runners. Keen to see how Naitanui goes away from Perth. Goldstein has had a reasonable year and Witts from GC as well. The two pronged St Kilda ruck team has been excellent as well.

Versatility has always been an underrated commodity. Tomlinson can play a number of roles reasonably well. That makes him a very useful AFL player. He's covering off the second or third tall forward in the opposition at the moment which is helping our defensive unit function much better overall. He can be a serviceable wingman who gives us that long, down the line option. He can pinch hit in the ruck and not be outbodied. I think as time goes on he'll prove his worth. Would I like to see him attack contests a bit harder - for sure, but overall he's going ok.

This

Grundy is struggling. I expect that they will give him a game off. If not, in his current form, any combination of Preuss, Jackson, Weid and TMac should be sufficient. I'd aim to have Gawn cherry ripe for our last 6 games.

Absolutely makes sense. He is spent. Can barely raise a trot. I reckon he's carrying an injury too.

Grundy is barely going at the moment. O'Brien comfortably beat him tonight. Unless Gawn is near to fully fit I'd give him another game off.

It was actually 2017. He suffered a bad hamstring injury and missed 9 games. We had some good clearance stats and won 5 and lost 4 while he was out. It was a 12-10 season which I'm sure you all remember. Of the 4 games we lost - Round 4 v Freo by 2 points; Round 5 v Richmond by 13 points; Round 7 v Hawthorn by 3 points and Round 9 v North Melbourne by 14 points. I'd argue had Gawn played we win at least two of those and comfortably make the 8. I guess stats tell you whatever you want them to.

Great to see Lever back to near his best. Over the length of his contract he'll prove a very astute piece of recruiting. Petracca was his now usual dominant self. Very impressed with Hannan's start. He led well and contested super hard aerially. He faded but started with great intensity.

6. Petracca 5. Lever 4. Oliver 3. Brayshaw 2. Langdon 1. Jackson

In all honesty, if they went back and forensically examined every game Gawn has played this year they'd find the same thing. Brisbane did it, Port Adelaide were even worse because they were actually physically restraining Max in marking contests (Westhoff in particular). Gawn is a bloody marvel and we are so lucky that he plays for us.

Walker copped a fine for his hit on Gawn last night. A step in the right direction. Be handy if the umps could pick it up as well.

And Cox played in the centre square with Judd, Kerr and Cousins. Hard to believe that side only won the single flag - by a point!

Goodwin has simply stated what most of us have observed for a number of years. No doubt there have been advances made to the relevant authorities over some time and I think the last couple of weeks it has reached new levels. Port continually held Gawn back in contests (Westhoff repeatedly held onto his arm), Brisbane were blocking his run frequently, Adelaide did sit him on his backside a couple of times and credit to the umpire who picked one of the blocks up and awarded a free, albeit actually behind play and not forward of it. Aside from that, he puts himself into positions where he does frequently get smashed into. There was a particularly crude effort last night where he was hit flush in the back of the head - no free, just play on! David King's old coach would regularly come out with the "just give Wayne a go" call, often around August in the lead up to finals. Pagan was a master of it. I'm actually pleased Goodwin has found his voice.

Mods feel free to merge this if you don't believe it's worth its own thread. Jennings on Whateley this morning spoke at length about Gawn and his influence. The first 3 or 4 minutes are really interesting. He believes Gawn is the best player in the competition and one of the top 3 alongside Carey and Ablett Senior in his time in the game.