Swooper1987

Dermott Brereton can talk some absolute rubbish nearly all of the time, but his call on Sunday was spot on. Gawn had the measure of the Tiger rucks, we were winning clearance yet totally ineffective inside forward 50. The time was right to throw the big man forward and set Pickett at his feet. Our clearance numbers would have still been solid - Chol can't ruck -his strength is his mobility around the ground. Our high, indiscriminate bombs forward to Max may have had a different outcome to that which was seen when we bombed long to Hannan and Fritsch. Rather than move Tomlinson forward (a winger who actually holds his position well and has been playing reasonably good footy) I think Gawn needs to spend more time forward. This is where Weid becomes structurally important. He looks the most likely relief ruck and he never gets outmarked. He drops plenty but he does have a good second effort.

There is some real merit in this Old Dee, and I am a Gawn fan. When you look at the last few flag sides, they've managed to get by with journeymen type rucks. Richmond - Nankervis/Soldo/Grigg; WCE - Lycett/Vardy; Bulldogs - Boyd/Roughead; Hawks - McEvoy/Hale/Bailey; Swans - Pyke/Mumford. That takes us back almost 10 years. There's certainly no Gawn's, Grundy's,etc amongst that crew. Even back to the mighty Brisbane team who rolled Clark Keating out every September to feed Voss, Lappin, Power, Akermanis et al. I'm pleased Max is playing for us, but we are certainly not getting maximum benefit from his dominance.

1. Gawn comprehensively beat both Richmond rucks. There was no "break even". 2. No, I'm not Simon. 3. Go back and watch the game again. You'll see a goal where Gawn got the ball to Melksham which ended up in a goal (city end). Was a decent kick too. 4. Check the Age player of the year totals. Gawn is on 22 votes from 4 games (all the others in the top group have played 5). He has the 6th highest total with one game less. Goldstein is on 29 and Lachie Neale is the runaway leader. 5. Most unbiased observers believe Gawn is having another good year. 6. I respect your opinion even though I disagree with it.

So you are saying Chol was a more influential player today than Gawn? Righto!

Except he Grundy couldn't beat Phillips on Friday night. Grundy has played 1 good game this season - round 1 against the Bulldogs. Todd Goldstein has actually been the form ruckman this season.

Disagree. Nankervis goal was a gimmee from a terrible umpiring decision against Petracca. Nankervis got injured immediately before 3/4 time. Chol and Nakervis shared ruck duties and Gawn played 90% on ground. He beat both Chol and Nakervis convincingly and if you saw it any other way I doubt you were watching the same game as me. Gawn was not the reason we played so poorly today. And as for the season. We've played 4 games. He was beaten in round 1, was second best on ground in round 2 according to the coaches (8 votes), beat the Geelong rucks last week and was clearly in the best 5 or 6 on the ground today. Solid enough form for me.

Rubbish. He had 19 disposals to 3/4 time and his 6 tackles were all recorded up until 3/4 time. As I said, he has set an incredibly high standard and his form in two of the four games we've played has seen him in the top three on the ground. He was certainly more than acceptable last week and only in round 1 would I say he was beaten by Naitanui. He comprehensively beat Nankervis.

Harsh on Gawn. He was excellent. Equal leading tackler on the ground,huge number of hitouts to advantage, 22 disposals at 64% efficiency and 5 marks. Even Jay Clark gave him a vote in the Herald Sun. I reckon the man has set an impossibly high standard here!

6 Gawn 5 Hibberd 4 Petracca 3. May 2.Salem 1. Hannan

I thought Grundy was just average tonight. Bombers dominated clearance and Phillips at least neutralized Grundy, yet lo and behold, according to the Herald Sun Grundy scores 2 votes as second best on ground! I reckon there were at least 10 players who were more influential in the result tonight - in no particular order Shiel, Hooker, Hurley, Stringer, Ridley, Ham, Langford, Phillips, Treloar, Daicos, Maynard. How the Collingwood cheer squad get into the Herald sun voting panel has me beat!

He and Mooney usually where 50/50 guernseys.

6. Gawn 5. Brayshaw 4.Tomlinson 3.Petracca 2. Oliver 1. Viney

I rate Heppell, Balls! My brother is a Bombers man so I've seen a bit of them. While he can turn it over from time to time, he gets it frequently, is very courageous and is a great leader. They play much better when he's on that's for sure. I think he's a huge loss for them and it's a shame because he's a decent bloke too! A terrible injury as well. No guarantee to play again this year.

I'm watching Rowell absolutely dominate against WC - no nomination for Rivers this week.

6 Gawn 5 Oliver 4 Petracca 3. Salem 2. Langdon 1. Tomlinson

One of of my best footy memories was that amazing comeback. A wonderful day!

Yep, agree. I'm waiting for the next instalment too!

I'd agree with that. North let that one slip, but then got lucky the next year when Essendon were clearly the best side but lost that unloseable game to Carlton. I think the 1998 North Melbourne side was actually the best of that 7 year period.

You've run the 2002 B&F results in the 2000 team. Woewodin beat White for the 2000 Bluey, but I think the 1994 side was the best of that lot when all were fit and firing. We were genuinely capable of winning the flag in 1994. In 2000 were probably the third best side in the comp but by besting Carlton in the first final we ensured they had to play Essendon in the prelim. Nobody was beating Essendon that year. 2018 was exciting to watch but at no stage did I think we were likely to be premiers. Richmond, Collingwood and West Coast were all better sides than us.

Gawn easily. Viney was a great player but Gawn has him covered already, even with 100 less games.

Loved Flower, then Jedda Healy, Schwarz, Jakovich and Lyon. Stynes, Neita, Wight and Gawn would be next. Had a soft spot for Danny Hughes, Todd Viney and really liked Warren Dean in 1987.

Have to say I'm really enjoying this trip down memory lane. It was a magnificent win - I was 14 at the time and remember getting very carried away. Unfortunately it was the end of what was a great run from memory. Did we get belted by Essendon the next game or very soon after?

At Waverley: 87 - lost to Hawks after the siren 88 - beat WCE by 2, 89 - beat Collingwood 90 - lost to WCE by 5 goals 91 - lost to WCE again, but beat Essendon the week before (all finals at Waverley that year) At the G we got hammered in the 88 GF, and the 89 semi v Geelong. Our record at Waverley was no worse than at the G, and we did win the 87 and 89 Night flags at the old VFL Park!!

Dropped rounds 13-15 before that comeback at Windy Hill. Those losses were to also rans St Kilda, North Melbourne and Geelong. The North Melbourne loss was unforgivable and absolutely decimated our percentage. 10.13.73 to 31.14.200.

McDonald was a far superior footballer to Jones. A smarter player, as nearly everyone has said; a much better user of the ball; an inspirational leader; quite possibly the most courageous player we've had in the last generation. An outstanding player in good MFC teams - B and F and AA in the last MFC team to make finals before 2018. Jones has been a loyal servant, and I don't want to do him any disservice at all, but he is an honest foot soldier. His Club Champion awards were all won in very poor sides (not his fault), he's never made an AA squad, let alone team and his record just doesn't stack up against Junior.