Gawndy the Great

We couldn’t send him to Norf. That would be such a bad thing to do.

Pick #3 on paper is worth more than 2 of Freos first rounders likely to be 2 x 14-18. Now LJ on what we have seen is probably more like #2 and almost nudging Rowell out so that makes him worth even more. I would say Freos 1st round picks in 2022 and 2023 and Lobb for LJ and our 3rd round pick in 2023 if they are offering that sort of coin. They can also cover 30-40 % of Lobbs contract. Will also mean they will struggle to get Gus onto their list so that’s a bonus.

And where are most of the 10-0 teams on the ladder?

One thing which will come apparent in the later stages will be team fitness. Younger teams like the Swans , Pies will eventually fall away as they haven’t had the years to build that base. We will also be playing other top 4 at various stages of their fitness program so I’d be interested to see how other teams will approach the finals. I’ve listened to a number of different pod casts and one (will not mention the name) said it was undeniable we are loading giving how out of puff we have been in the last month and mentioned several times that teams just don’t lose fitness as quickly as we have shown. Kind of makes sense. Nevertheless I am little more optimistic now and would probably be surprised if we fall out of the top 4. Top 2 will probably boil down to beating Lions at the Gabba. Which reminds me to give the AFL a big F U for fixturing the reigning premiers an away game against the prime contender for the final game of the season. Seriously wouldn’t be surprised if Bartlett had organised that little parting gift.

I can’t stand the Cats but boy I really love their f50 connection. They move it as slow as we do but they just find the space for Hawkins all the time. His not terribly quick but he plays the role perfectly. If We could build connection like that, then BBB, Fritt and even Weid will be able to kick bags. The bomb and hope has to be eliminated from our game style.

Port can’t afford to reload this season and will ultimately fall away towards the tail end. That’s whAt 0-5 does to you. But FMD where was this Swans outfit 2 weeks ago. Even with our poor form we would have beaten them by 6 goals. Just [censored] me how every round a side brings their utmost best against us especially when we needed a break. Suppose the boys wouldn’t want it any other way.

Norf need to finish last to give us some protection from LJ just nominating the draft - although I really doubt it will come to that.

I agree. Brayshaw, Trac and Harmes should rotate through HF and midfield with Sparrow to come out of the side. Brayshaw is just too valuable to waste on the defensive wing. JJ has proved he can play that role. Qn is whether Brayshaw can play a high HF role to improve connection into the forward line.

There are a few decent PF and Ruck prospects in the June power rankings for the upcoming draft some of them even from WA. I would expect the Eagles to split their 1st pick and grab a few top end talent to start their rebuild while they have some leaders in the place. Would be silly of them to go after LJ.

Listening to some callers talk about the video just shows how much society falls short in understanding how much of an issue we have regarding violence in general and sexual harassment. Im gobsmacked that the average Joe find De Goey's behavior tolerable and that 'boys will be boys' or 'leave him alone - he's only human' or 'he's on holiday' or 'do we expect him to be a robot'. I'm also gob-smacked at how easy the media is going on him this time given his track record in comparison to a punch up between two team mates and even more surprising was the non-event of Bailey taking Cocaine. For what its worth they are equal in my view. The only difference was one team was on top of the ladder, faultless all year and then a speckle of blood hits the water and the sharks came a circling.

Not saying they will. Just saying that is probably what we can expect - possibly even less.

I 100% get where you are coming from, but Hogan is a perfect example how potential can be overplayed. Im 50/50 right now about what to do with LJ but probably leaning on wanting to keep him. If we evaluate LJ based on current performance, then the above is probably overs for him. However its when you factor in growth and potential that it becomes anyones guess as to what is an equitable trade. Whatever the scenario, we don't really gain from a trade when there are just picks involved. We are in the window right now and we need a like-for-like player. I think Lobb is decent enough and gives us a solid target in the forward line that will be a hard matchup, particularly once we have BBB and TMac in there. We can then use the picks received to offer other clubs for a younger KPF or goto the draft and develop from scratch. Either scenario.

Freos most realistic offer for LJ would be the 2022 and 2023 first rounders plus Rory Lobb inc 40% of his salary. Most likely being 2 picks in 14-18. Feels a bit short of the mark. But gives us what we need right now plus time to scout for a new ruck beyond Gawn.

The Eagles will have the upper hand so it wont be a good position to be in if they do finish last so hopefully Norf take the wooden spoon. The Dockers are not in a great position to deal with given they have very little trade currency and i suspect some salary cap challenges. I know LJ has huge potential, but i cannot understand some of the suggestions for trade here. Right now, its a top 5 pick and an early 2nd rounder at best. its about time we got on the front foot and started targetting some established talls as well. Who knows maybe we are. McStay, Ben King, Darling (on the cheap), Georgiadies ... we cant afford to draft and develop a tall.

May as well load up on them. Everyone else is loading. 😁

What if we don’t? He cannot walk into another club right ? Does he have to nominate for the draft? What’s stopping WC taking him with their 1st pick (if they finish last).

And we would be a very complete side. But in that bizzaro world, Weid would have won the Coleman 3 years running.

Carlton are clearly loading.

Tigers of old are back. This is what I was expecting the Dees to look like against the Pies.

I think the stat was scores from centre clearance. Not raw centre clearances.

This is all about perceived pressure. when you get a clean break like that, most players that have good awareness take a bounce and either get to the 50 and have a shot, or hit a lead up target. You do that once or twice, you then get isolation at the top of the goal square so when you do need to bomb it, there isnt half the opposition team sitting under the ball waiting to intercept it.

Pay for Entrecote's broken desk. 😂

My revised team below. Pretty much our premiership backline. Bring in May for Turner, Weid for Gawn, Tommo for M.Brown and Rivers for Sparrow. A few movements in particular of note: Brayshaw to HF to improve forward connection and delivery. He also has the defensive awareness and presence to create stoppages in the forward line. Tommo at CHF but can also pinch hit on the wing with JJ allowing Weid to rotate with LJ in the ruck. Key D Match-ups: May - McStay; Petty - Daniher; Pig - Cameron. If they roll Rayner through may need to get Pig onto him which leaves Bowey or Salem to Cameron. McCarthy and Bailey can also prove quite damaging. I think we get Lever onto McCarthy as he is not as agile as Bailey. Some concern here with ground balls. Midfield is pretty much known and no real difference from last year. Lions generally shark Gawns ruckwork so having LJ in there will potentially nullify all of their scouting and centre bounce tactics. Worryingly though, is that large percentage of our scores have come through Centre Bounces in the last 6 weeks with our turnover game dropping right off. Lions will try and choke us in the middle, which could limit us to scores from turnover. Forward line is where this game will be won or lost. Andrews, Starcevich and Adams are all good defenders. Andrews probably takes BBB, Adams to Tommo/Weid and Starcevich on Fritta. Not an ideal matchup for us, but we can exploit them. They are probably also a bit more damaging on the ground with Rich, Ah Chee and ANderson. This all goes out the window if its wet, which is where i think we will have a slight advantage. Also looks like Zorko is our with a hammy. B: Hibberd May Lever HB: Bowey Petty Salem C: JJ Viney Lingers HF: Brayshaw Tommo ANB F: Kozzy BBB Fritta Foll: LJ Trac Oliver Bench: Harmes, Weid, Spargo, Rivers OUT: Sparrow, Gawn, Turner, M. Brown IN: Weid, Tommo, May, Rivers

I agree, but it could be anyone of Bowey, Salem or Brayshaw who to tend be the best users of the ball. We need to improve our forward connection which means we need a better kick going in. We bring Rivers back in to backfill Brayshaw. JJ and Lingers stay on the wings and we move Brayshaw into the HF / Midfield rotation. One of Sparrow / Harmes / ANB to make way. Will this happen? No - i cannot see Goodwin pulling this move.

18 teams should be the limit. How do you manage the bye with 19 teams? one poor sod of a team gets bye round 1 and then plays 18 rounds of footy. Given our 9 day break it’ll probably be us. We have too many teams already in Melbourne so I think ultimately 2 need to relocate. 1 tonTassie and the other to Darwin in 5-7 years time. Should be Collingwood.