Matsuo Basho

A lot of potential. Just looks dangerous whenever he's got the ball or in the vicinity of it. Lockhart has what Spargo lacks. Permanent small forward role is there for the taking - if he works hard enough. Over to you, Jay.

I can't agree with any of that. Was ordinary against the Crows quite aside from the missed winner, did nothing against the Filth save for a a couple of moments of involvement late, was a non-event for most of yesterday. A couple of nice marks and some decoy forward running in 300 minutes of footy. Sorry but my bar is set a little higher than that. We all see things differently.

I watched. Had to check the stat sheet towards the end though to re-confirm he was actually out there. Might help his 'development' more to actually dominate competitive games of footy at Casey, take marks and kick repeatedly for goal. Week after week after week. That would build confidence far more than spending 95 minutes out of 100 simply filling out a guernsey and being disdainfully pushed out of the way by seasoned AFL defenders, which is what's happening now. Just a thought. Weideman is not earning his spot in this side. That's not healthy.

If a motivation and intent behind a strategy is to decrease the likelihood of winning in order to secure a higher draft pick, then yes it is tanking. This strategy wreaks havoc on a club even when the carrot of a priority pick is present, so why would it even be entertained as a thought when that incentive no longer exists? Winning is a habit, as is losing. Flirt with this reality at your peril.

‘An elephant in the room’ commonly refers to something of weighty importance that the occupants of that room are thinking about but dare not speak of. I doubt OMac registers that highly in supporters’ thoughts. He’s well down the pecking order now and rightly so. Barring more ill luck with injuries to key defenders from here on in I can’t see his contract being extended beyond 2020. Just doesn’t have enough athleticism or natural ability to go with the best in the competition, as we have repeatedly seen.

When are people going to get it through their heads that the abolition of the priority pick effectively ended tanking as a strategy? Throwing games for pick 3 & 21 instead of winning as many remaining fixtures as you can and having picks 8 & 26 is not only close to pointless but extremely dangerous in terms of damaging the fabric of the club, as others have stated and as both the MFC and Carlton in particular have found out the hard way. Most likely you are going to get a decent to very good player in the top ten picks in the draft. Stars can emerge from any one of those ten picks. Maybe it’s weighted a fraction in favour of the top three but generally it’s a raffle at the pointy end. Summary: Having a slightly better chance at winning that raffle gets trumped every time by doing all you can to build a winning culture and instil confidence and self-belief in the team. Win. Win. Win. End of discussion.

Weideman won’t be dropped but he was poor yesterday. Touched the prune 6 times, kicked a late goal. Rarely involved at any stage. He should be in this conversation but we just accept that sort of output as par for the course from him. Blokes should have to earn spots, from youngest to oldest on the list. Bringing in another key forward for 2020 will ensure that Weid is kept honest and earns games on merit. We were very fortunate Hogan was MIA for much of yesterday as result would likely have been different. Not something some will want to hear but there it is.

Hannan should be the first to get the chop. Came directly back into the seniors after a long layoff and hasn’t gotten near it for two weeks. Needs to get hands on pigskin at Casey for a few weeks. Would like to see whichever of Kolodjashnij, Dunkley or Jordon performs best for Casey replace him. Petty and Wagner to go out pending the fitness of Hibberd and Lever.

6 - Viney 5 - TMac 4 - Gawn 3 - May 2 - Lockhart 1 - Oliver

Or why we should not play in Darwin, recruit better, coach our talent better and win games on our home dung hill. That’s how you build a winning organisation. Not by flogging off parcels of your land.

Fair enough AF. Was just pre-empting the usual Wallys who turn their noses up at everything I post regardless of content.

I liked what he had to say OD. He’s going to hold people to account for their performance from top to bottom. He’s fully aware of the problems.

Gary Pert being interviewed on SEN crunch time right now. Was asked my Kane Cornes about list issues and problem areas at Melbourne. Pert immediately said the obvious one and the area of greatest priority is the forward line and our inability to hit the scoreboard. Make no mistake - we will be head hunting a key forward this October if we haven’t already tapped someone up.

Pay me $250k/year and I’ll go you one better. I’ll ditch my current goings on, hit the road with the recruiters and have a stab at the 2020, 2021 and 2022 crops. ? ???

Good thinking Dazzler. I like the fact that you’re now on board. Replace JKH with Gussy boy!

That forward line gets me about as pumped as a two day old party balloon. Freo by 27 points. Clarry v Fyfe and May v Hogan head to head will be fun to watch though.

Hawthorn will now be assessing their entire list strategy moving forward. They have not taken quality kids at the draft in several years and now have an ageing group with holes in key positions they need to fill. Not convinced at all they would prioritise Brad Hill over other concerns, nor have the cachet to do it on terms that would satisfy Fremantle. He is under contract. Bell will demand a late first round to early second round pick or they will keep him. Hill’s girlfriend being in Melbourne is the primary reason for wanting to return to Victoria. He can compromise and come to the mighty Dees. Send Goodwin, Jetta and JKH over there to have dinner with him at a nice restaurant in Cottesloe, invite Wizard Farmer as well and let the brothers pump up the tyres of the red and blue. We can do this!

I like the sound of Anderson and Kemp but Taylor as we know has been watching these lads closely in the flesh for a couple of years now, plus he’s getting well remunerated to use his expertise in identifying talent and prioritising it. Let’s not worry about a silly little thing called accountability. A job for life I say jolly old chap what what!

12 TMac + 8 Weid = 20 matches

There’s nothing conclusive in that article at all. As Brereton mentioned - Hawthorn may have other more pressing list needs. Things change. Plenty can happen between now and October.

It really is. I switched over from last night's Wc v Ess game halfway the through second quarter to watch John Candy in the mid-80's comedy classic 'Uncle Buck'. I thoroughly enjoyed it and didn't switch back again. Only last halfway through the second of tonight's game. The AFL product quality is diminishing. It was never this boring in the 80's, 90's and 00's. The thrills are being suffocated out of it.

That could be automated too! Puttin' your thinking cap on there Dryza. I like it.

Really the goal umpire can’t see that was a goal? It was a metre past the goalpost. Why pay them to even be there!

Short of being his manager or his old man I’m sorry DazzlerD but that’s not something you or anyone else can know definitively. Until the bell rings the stock exchange is open.

It’s not always that simple. He is not a FA and Freo under Peter Bell have shown they will look for the best deal for the club, not necessarily what the player in question wants. Melbourne will have an earlier second round pick in the draft than Hawthorn. Hill may have to compromise if he wants to return to Victoria. Steven May’s first preference was to go to Collingwood last October trade period. He’s now a Demon. Watch this space.