Lord Nev

vandenBerg last week had 6 clangers and 4 turnovers from 11 disposals. He also gave away a goal with undisciplined play for the 2nd week in a row. Surely with Viney, Petracca, Oliver, Preuss and Sparrow in the middle we have enough "bash and crash". Our problem for 3 years has been skill and inside 50 efficiency. Who do you reckon helps more with that out of Hannan and vandenBerg? It's a pathetic decision by Goodwin even if you just want to look at the discipline aspect of it.

Hannan out and vandenBerg still in. Tell me the absolute lie that Goody doesn't play favourites despite form.

No. 50/50 for next week, so you'd think he'd miss the next 2 games at most.

Would only be guessing, especially given there's so many options, but given Preuss was emergency last week then he would be a chance to come in for sure. The conditions may change selection slightly too. Could be... OUT: Jackson, 2 out of Harmes, vB, Jones IN: Preuss, Lockhart, VIney

Yep, nowhere near 100% though. They're pulling a Gawn with him.

He's a long way off being fully right to play. Injury is much worse than reported. Huge game for both clubs though so think that's why they're willing to risk it.

Yeah they may opt for just Lever and May given the conditions. Intriguing selection night.

Nah sorry, no idea. It felt like he was not too far off going by what Goodwin said during the week so fingers crossed he may be back for the next game, but that's just a guess.

Not a super reliable source, but have been told Pendles won't play. Edit - Literally as I was typing that the same person told me the Pies will likely risk him this week. (Sorry)

Unreal. Love this bloke.

He's out.

Gawn won't play. Pretty reliable source.

Out of the games Oscar has played in this year, only the Round 1 loss to the Eagles and the Port loss feature opposition scores that were above the average this year. Not sure he was solely to blame for that in those particular games either. The other 3 games feature opposition scores below average, 2 of which we won.

https://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/794634

Could we potentially bring OMac back in, play Tomlinson as main ruck, TMac to ruck in forward half and relieve? Preuss has apparently only played 1 scratch match so not sure on match fitness.

Uhoh...

Uhoh.....

Nope. Might have heard wrong, but wasn't it Tom Browne who apparently suggested something like that? He's not exactly Mr Credibility.

Goody said a few days ago that they would give him til the absolute last minute.

Fair. Just don't think every post here needs to be having cracks at each other in disagreement.

Don't be so sure. Have a Pies mate who is usually on the pulse and he said the Pendles injury is pretty bad.

Sorry, should have given more detail around that, I posted it in the thread about Gawn being in doubt for the Crows fame. TBF to everyone, it's a really tricky one. It's easy for a few of us here to say 'he shouldn't play' and then add 'see, he shouldn't have played' after the damage is done, but the context of footy club culture, being a captain, our club and it's circumstances, the coaches position being under fire somewhat and all the rest makes it a bit more messy than just a simple yes or no. I would have been among the many who were up in arms if we had lost to the Crows too, so it's a bit of a no-win situation. I guess what I'm trying to say is, I don't agree with how it was handled, it's not what a good club would do, BUT I also understand we're not really at that stage yet and maybe we have to take these gambles sometimes. Let's not forget though, we're smashing out an incredibly compacted period of footy and have been riding on the back of a clearly very banged up and sore captain who has had multiple knee injuries, and to both knees, with one as recently as this year. We wait and see how it all pans out I guess.

How dare the clubs media and marketing department try and put forward a positive message about the club...

I understand that more as a captain feeling the pressure to play when his coaches job is under fire. Maybe that's different to how it was intended @Mel Bourne?

It was reported by various outlets leading up to the North game that Gawn played the Crows with a sore knee. I also seem to recall it being mentioned by the commentary team during the Crows game. I never said McHenry caused his knee to get worse, but pretty clearly playing a full game, and one where you're being targeted physically, is not exactly going to make you less sore. Yes, you're correct, he literally said he put his hand up to play and of course he did, that's what AFL captains are expected to do. We've made that mistake before with Viney. I mean really, do you honestly believe a captain and star player for a struggling team in a week where they've been absolutely smashed and his coach is under fire is going to say 'you know what, I'm a bit sore, better sit this one out'.... It just does not happen. I have it on VERY good authority Gawn was told to miss two games due to the lat injury. Burgess is famously not conservative, so that obviously wasn't by him. I find it incredibly strange that footy fans here think any player (let alone a captain) wouldn't declare themselves ready to play at every opportunity. Gawn also said: “There is that added (responsibility) from the captain to potentially go out there and perform."