Gawndy the Great

I think my blood pressure would disagree with the use of your word "comfortable". We haven't really comfortably beaten anybody this year. Even against the Hawks it was a close affair until the last quarter. If we could improve our forward 50 game, then we will become quite a feared opposition for many years.

Yes we have defensive system which is great and allowed us to strangle and absorb pressure. That is what won us the game again. No doubt. However if we are off just one percent , we’ll we have seen what happens there. If you saw the Dons stoppage and contest setups a lot of their players were outside and allowed them to walk out of the contest too easily. You need to torch sides that take such an aggressive setup yet we did not. Do that against a potent forward line like the Eagles, Port or Geelong and no system will save you. Happy with 12-2 but we have a really tough draw coming up and need to start finding some good form to take into finals.

We are not playing well. We can’t keep winning like this..

TMac is definately a better fit, but i would struggle to see how we would let him go ahead of Weid. He would have to request the trade, which he may very well do. Weid is not worth pick 3 for sure, hence why we would have to sweeten the deal. 2 players for Pick 3 + 2nd or 3rd rounder is probably a more worthwhile discussion. Something like: Weid + Brayshaw for Pick 3 + 2nd Rounder, Or Weid + Melksham for Pick 3 + 3rd rounder Or Weid + ANB for Pick 3 and 3rd rounder With the question marks still on BBB, i just cannot see how we would even entertain letting TMac go... This may well change between now and end of season though.

Tom Morris reporting that Suns eager to find a partner in crime for Ben King. They have pick 3 on offer and also 2 top of second round picks. Weid is definitely not worth pick 3 but given they are after experience, who could make way with Weid to get Pick 3 plus one of their 2nd round picks in exchange. The Suns need legitimate experience so someone who could impart good training standards and still have a few years of football left in them. I've scanned the list and there really isnt much we can offer them. Doubtful that Jones and/or Jetta would attract any attention. Hard to see anyone wanting to leave as well given our progression. But if I was forced to put up some options that fit the Suns needs I would look at one of Hibbo, Brayshaw, Harmes or Melksham. We could then use both of our 2nd round picks to bring in Maynard and still have pick 3 to either take to the draft or cash in on another high profile trade.

i am not an astute football analyst but genuinely wonder what potential Sam has? What other footballer playing right now should Sam model himself on? He has raw footy talent - ill give him that. He has a good kicking technique (clearly affected by his confidence at times), which is probably why we took him at pick 9. Is he more of a Hawkins/Walker (lead & physical/contested marking); Cameron/Hogan/Hipwood (mobile, lead and endurance); Dixon (pure contested marking); Are his leading patterns off? Why is he continually found under the ball ? (is this body positioning on the defender, not reading the play etc)?

Whilst the narrative has been around Weid not living up to what we all wanted him to be, It is clear that he is at least better than the form he is showing right now. Confidence and resilience are traits that should be paired together. It is easy to get confidence when you are playing well and everything is working out, but being resilient (or having the grit) when things are tough is often part of ones character that is overlooked and is much more than training hard and doing a good pre-season.

Seriously can that happen with Bolton wanting a new contract? Unless he’s part of the deal?

Danger Mr Robinson Danger. This mob have one of the quickest ball movement and transition in the comp. it is also our weakness because it doesn’t allow us to setup defensively. We will need to be switched on to take the 4 points here or prepare yourselves for another disappointing outing.

This would explain a lot of why he is never anywhere near the ball on the field... perhaps he is option number 3 or 4 behind Tmac, Fritsch and possibly even Kozzy and Spargo.

I would love nothing more than for Weid to find form and/or develop into a player that can kick bags of goals and prove all of us wrong. I get the delicacies of social media and not writing off young men but this is a fan's site and we should all feel comfortable in posting our beliefs and opinions. If we are way off the mark or over zealous in our views, I have no problems in being called out for it - we live by the sword and die by the sword ?. My view on Weid is that in his 6 seasons of AFL and almost 50 games of footy there have been very few indications that he has the skill, belief or attitude to make it - i can only go by what i see on the tele so cannot say which one is at the heart of it. For comparative purposes (i know how all you DL's love stats and comparisons) you only have to look at Eric Hipwood who was picked up in the same draft, 5 selections after Sam. The key stats are that he has played more than double the games and kicked more than triple the goals (should have been much more had he learned how to kick straight). I don't think Eric is anything super special. He is a good, tall, mobile forward but you could see in his first 1-2 seasons that he had the goods to cut it at AFL level and is worth almost 2 goals per game. We refer to Sam's finals form as the potential he has, which has been the carrot being dangled before us all that has/had all of us accepting of Hogan's departure as nothing to be too concerned about. Give him a solid 5 game block in the VFL and if he is kicking 4-5 games consistently and Brown is not impactful, then i'd give him one more crack. I do hope for the team, that we are not in this situation though.

Chasing money more than an immediate tilt at the flag.

What is his manager supposed to say while he is contracted? i wouldnt read anything into it. If Maynard wants out there are two things we need to sort out: 1. Draft picks and/or player trade. They will want a first rounder for sure, but he is not worth that so i would go Future 2nd rounder and possibly throw in Weideman for good measure. 2. Salary Cap. If we rid ourselves of Weid and Jones retires that maybe enough to scrap 500-600K/year. We may need to think about retiring Jetts as well, but i like the fact of him staying around to mentor the young indigenous players - Jetts seems to be a stand out guy that would inspire some of the younger players, which is great culture building that you cannot buy. The other factor is that the Pies are a long way off from playing in finals whilst we are in prime position to contend.

werent we in front in the free kick count by almost double? I think the OP mentioned the absolute howlers that did cost us a few goals (NET), but when you play as badly and soft as we did on Monday, you wont draw any sympathy from me on umpiring. The Pies deserved that win.

It easy to be dismayed by the recent loss, but i know everyone of you Demonlanders would have taken 11-2 at the start of the year. What is even more impressive is the scalps we have taken along the way. Undefeated against top 8 teams is an indication that we can really up the intensity when required. I love watching the emergence of some of our young players in Rivers, LJ, Spargo, Jordon and Kozzy. Consistency for young players is always a challenge but showing us what they can produce gives us a taste of what is to come. The bounce back of TMac and even ANB is truly a testament to the team first mentality. For most improved i think Jordon takes those honors and will be smokey for the Rising Star. Coaches award - is it no surprise that Melksham has that wrapped up! (joking joking). If this was decided on role playing then i think Brayshaw has to feature as does Oliver and Langdon. We have a very difficult 2nd half of the draw (WC in Perth, PA in Adelaide, Cats in Geelong) so anything better than a 5-4 should guarantee us a spot in the top 4 and in years gone past would have us in top 2 as well. I think Oliver is clearly in front from an individual performance perspective with Trac, Gawn, Lingers and Lever to round out the top 5. Its no secret our forward line is probably the area that is most under scrutiny. The time for experimentation is over and we need to focus on settling on a forward 6 to take us into the finals and having a tilt at the flag.

I think that experiment has now concluded. Weid knows, we know it, the club knows it. Obviously not helping his confidence but it doesn't take a genius to put 2 and 2 together. If he had a body of work in the past that could give us promise, then you would kpersist until he might find some of that form. But he had a handful of good games in the finals and nothing since. Time to trade / delist and move on. I would highly doubt he get another game this year (unless due to injury or he kicks a ridiculous amount of goals in the VFL). The attention now has to turn to building cohesion with TMac, BBB and LG in the forward line - leading patterns, crumbing, structure etc. We know BBB's strengths and weaknesses so adjust the Game Plan accordingly. BBB and TMac will give us another 2-3 years to find a longer term solution either through trade or draft. The Key Forward position will now certainly be high on the recruitment radar. Alternatively if we pickup another long term ruck prospect (some have mentioned the young man of African heritage from the NAB league whose name escapes me right now), we may focus on playing LJ as a permanent key position forward and build a forward line around LG, Fritsch, Kozzy, Spargs, ANB beyond TMac, BBB years.

I get the frustration Dr. It defies logic that the losses we have had this year have been to lower teams. But you cannot win them all and i'd rather be losing the odd game now rather than in finals. There is no denying we were awful, but the Pies (and the Crows) played a style we have now seen is not sustainable. High Risk kicking, play-on percentage > 40% etc. These are not sustainable game traits but its how you beat us and probably the other 17 teams in the comp when it works. Had we been on and applied our usual pressure, we would have toasted them on turnover. We flattered their disposal efficiency due to the lack of pressure. Problem is today we never really got going. Why? Could be many things - sometimes you just had to try and win in 3rd gear as its not possible to play like we have in the past 2 weeks for an entire year. Its a marathon not a sprint - as the saying goes. A lot will be made of this - im not worried yet - as its an anomaly not a pattern (yet).

This was a real regression, however we have a bye to recharge and reset. We had two very big weeks against two very good oppos so can understand the mental fatigue probably setting in. We played on the SCG - where i think we are probably negatively impacted as its a small ground. I dont think we really play good here. We need width and length in a ground to exploit opposition teams There were two clear howlers from umps that cost us two goals (Cameron & Penlebury) and TMac missed a few sitters. It was Buckley's last game so it was expected that Collingwood would play a little more high risk. It was a same style that we lost to Adelaide. High risk, high reward. You cannot really defend it as invite this type of game style hoping to pounce on the turn-over. THey were just kicking it to damn well - its unstainable, but you might win a few games doing it (this was our 2018 brand). Now that is all the excuses, we should have smashed them. The Pies were truly awful - we were just more so than usual. The embarrassing thing is that Pies were missing a few and we pretty much fielded a full strength side. Our F50 connection was way off today. Cameron and Moore had a field day with the intercept. Maynard was a class above. Weid will be dropped and dare say will find it really tough to get another game this year. I think the writing is on the wall now, he just cannot cut it at AFL level.. I would be very surprised if anybody would actually go for him, so he may just wither away in the VFL leagues.

I know we are going great guns and its only halfway through the season, but there is a lot developing on the trade front already. We have had a number of dedicated trade target related threads but there are less obvious ones that i have seen recently floating around various media outlets. Some absolute superstar players that would add significantly to our playing list include (and in no particular order): 1. Zac Merret (inside & outside) -> adds to ball use and midfield depth. Reports are that he is likely to sign with Dons. 2. Josh Kelly (outside / wing) -> great runner and ball user. Has goal kicking in his repertoire. has been off and on in the past few years - perhaps vital to the resurgence of GWS and hence unlikely to leave given his mammoth contract. 3. Tom Mitchell (outside) -> Former brownlow, ball accumulator and play maker - will be difficult to deal with the Hawks on this given lack of required draft picks. 4. Luke Parker (general midfielder) -> great attacking midfielder, hard working and intelligent, would add great depth to the midfielder and attacking options (replacement for Melksham?). Currently out-of-contract, not sure whether Parker would be a RFA or FA. He is 28 yo. Sydney will hit the premiership window sweet spot in the next 2-3 years, which may just be outside of his career. 5. Adam Cerra (outside) -> great ball user and has footy smarts, will be an elite footballer. Wants to leave Freo. Have a trade history with Freo, but fear they have a bitter taste with the Hogan saga. 6. Shai Bolton (outside / small forward) -> unlikely but an up and coming superstar. Cant see him leaving unless he was after big $$$, which we dont have to spare. 7. Brandon Maynard (versatile defender) -> talked only on DL about a replacement for Jetta / Hibberd. Can go one-on-one also has great rebound 50 skills (ala Hibberd). We don't have much by the way of trade currency unless we offer players as part of a trade swap. I'd say most of the above will require some level of draft picks, which makes any of them unlikely. The other issue is our salary cap. Its been speculated that we are close to the tip. I wonder whether Jetta & Jones will be asked to retire at year end. Would still need to trade a player who is a regular Melbourne starter to get anything done - Weideman is really the only player that comes to mind.

Would be a great asset. Isn't Rivers primed to be the Hibberd/Jetta replacement though? If we think of a healthy list for 2022 (and excluding Hibbo/Jetta for now): May, Lever, Tomo, Rivers, Salem, Hunt. I would then be looking at given game time to Bowey and Petty. So if we did bring in Maynard, who is he replacing from those 8 players?

The AA Team is all wrong. This is what the team should be ?.

Just goes to show that some coaches still look after there own.

Coaches Votes are out for Round 12 and i must admit im a bit surprised. The calculations would indicate that Bailey got 5 votes. Yes he was good but 5 votes worth? VOTES PLAYER (CLUB) 8 Christian Petracca (MELB) 7 Zac Bailey (BL) 7 Clayton Oliver (MELB) 6 Max Gawn (MELB) 1 Tom McDonald (MELB) 1 Eric Hipwood (BL)

We have a really tough run home. Port, West Coast and Geelong all away games. With Melbourne in lockdown, I cannot see the Dees playing in front of a crowd at the MCG for a while yet.

Lets not also lose sight that we just played 2 of the top 4 teams in the last 2 weeks. The beauty of our forward line is not defined by a key position forward (Weid/Brown) but made up many different components. We have speed and finesse around stoppages (Kozzy, ANB, Spargo), endurance, workrate and contested marking (TMac, LG) and general footy smarts and skill (Fritsch). Throw in our other mids (Trac, Oliver) and you have a really diverse attacking profile which is really what you want. Having a single channel to goal through a KPF is handy but is not (and should not) be our 1 wood - it is just the cherry on top. So whilst i'd love Weid and Brown to kick a bag every week, it is easy to predict and counter. As long as they continue to take the 1st defender and ensure they play their role, im happy if they essentially neutralize the defensive threat so that our other offensive options can get to work.