Lord Nev

Yep, no Mitch. (Aside from the White variety)

Seems pretty slim pickings this year as far as out of contract key forwards go. McStay is the obvious stand out, especially given he's a (restricted?) free agent. Don't reckon we need depth key forwards as such, we have Weid, M.Brown (if he's kept on), JVR coming through gradually, and BBB and TMac as they reach their twilights. Personally, I'd rather try and target a definite best 22 key forward if possible. Given the situation at North I'd love to have a crack at Larkey, but would be a long shot given he re-signed early last year. Not sure what else is out there for now until we get closer to the rumour season.

How do you know it's a 'regulation twisted ankle'? Or do you think it was worse than we all initially thought anyway? They only reported it as an ankle injury/soreness which leaves it pretty open. He seemed to tweak it a second time during the game and if it's a higher strain they can take a while to get back near 100%.

Kennedy is ranked 8th at the Swans for average clearances. 9th for centre clearances. 11th for contested possessions. 14th for tackles. Swans midfield is far more than Kennedy and Parker.

Not sure on this. Pretty even match up for team v opponent averages in clearances and centre clearances. We've got them covered for contested possessions, but that's more a reflection of our lack of spread lately IMO. They have us covered comfortably for tackles, and that would be a concern if it's wet. Kennedy out doesn't make a massive difference as he's not highly ranked for them in those stats this year. Their forward efficiency is also a fair bit better than ours so not having May and Buddy will be an interesting watch I reckon.

Yeahhhh I'm probably not going to pay much attention to your injury 'information'...

Yep, all fair mate, and you are absolutely not alone in your expectations for him. I'm just resigned/accepting of him always being a depth player for us. I think there's always a need for that and if he manages to kick a few (albeit smaller) bags every now and then like he has this year in a couple of games then that's a bonus. I think given his likely contract amount and list positioning; he won't be preventing us from bringing in another first choice key forward when the time comes (if he's still around).

Played 6 games as a backup key forward for the reigning premiers who are 10-1, define 'making it'. It's not all or nothing, people will define 'making it' off their own expectations, but clearly given team selection and his contract status the club consider him to be 'making it' right now. The amount of commentary about him this week given his place on our list has been over the top but sadly also expected here.

Find this talk of him being a 'bust' pretty strange tbh. He's a depth forward whose key averages for his position almost mirror our primary key forward this year. He's only a 'bust' if you're still expecting him to be a best 22 player, which by now I would have thought most fans would understand is not where he's at from a list perspective. Has played 6 games this year as our first picked replacement forward, hardly think he'll be overlooked for Tomlinson now as an option. You could make an argument for Mitch Brown, but clutching at straws with suggesting Tomo IMO. Just don't understand why so many Demonlanders think Weid needs to be a starting forward or nothing. Didn't we use to talk about how important depth was? It's not all or nothing.

Yet nearly a quarter of the pages since 2020 have been since the Freo game...

Yes it is. You know he's kicked bags of 3 and 4 this year right? That's way overs for a backup forward, but according to you he's "not once" grabbed his chances. "Last Saturday was the perfect scenario".... Seriously mate, what game were you watching? Our forward 50 entries were atrocious and in the second half we were absolutely smashed in the middle (9 centre clearances to 1 in the 3rd qtr alone). How did Ben Brown go?

He's a backup key forward/ruck. He's played 6 games this year as such, averaging 1.5 goals, 3.2 marks and 1.2 tackles a game. For reference, our primary key forward Ben Brown averages 1.9 goals, 3.4 marks and 0.5 tackles per game this year. I mean, I get it's the internet and people like to make outlandish comments, but the overreaction about Weideman is silly.

You'd keep him until either he no longer has a use on the list, he requests a trade for more opportunity or a better option is available. IMO he's never going to be a gun forward, he's never going to 'break out' and will never live up to his initial draft order, so people are just going to continue to get over the top frustrated about him until they realize that.

Apologies if I assumed wrong, but labeling him "a bust" is surely in the context of his draft order yes? If he was picked in the 80s would you be labeling him the same? Doubt it. I didn't say you did. I said it's a common mentality among Demonlanders to not understand the concept of list depth and a holistic list picture, not every player is going to be a gun or even regular best 22. I've spoken of his place on our list and what the expectations should be on him given that. You seem to be among the 'when will he break out/he's never gonna make it' brigade who have no comprehension of where Weid sits in the context of our key forward lineup and playing list. That's what you're missing mate. You're judging him against your own expectations, and given he was re-signed and has played games this year I would suggest your expectations do not align with the clubs.

Ok, you trade him, and then who's our key forward depth next year? The fact you're still harping on about his draft order says you don't understand where he sits within our list needs. It's the old 'star or spud' mentality that footy fans without the patience or understanding of lists as a holistic picture don't seem to grasp.

That's probably why he's not consistently in the side and remains a backup option. Sure, but look at how active this thread is after the weekends game when our forwards weren't to blame for the loss. People just use it as an excuse to bring out old criticisms.

Agree Weid could be better, but I'm not 100% sure on the whole aggression thing people talk about with him, I think that's largely based on his demeanor rather than his output. I don't consider Ben Brown as an aggressive forward but he's been a consistent performer over the years despite that. Bit on the fence about that whole perception.

Not every draft pick ends up with a career relevant to their draft position. That's the luck of the draw. We've got a bunch of premiership players who can atest to that working out in the positive for us now too. IMO Weid just cops these over the top harsh judgments because people are still expecting him to 'break out' and be this gun key forward. I accepted a few years ago he was likely to just continue his trajectory as a solid depth player and that's seemingly where he sits in the pecking order with the coaches so I just don't get the rage about him any more.

You should watch the game again and see the quality of those inside 50s. When Spargo has to take speccies for us to have a mark inside 50 then our efficiency isn't top notch.

The over reactions to every single performance Weid gives that doesn't mean Demonlanders expectations is pathetic. He's a depth forward on a small and short contract and should be judged as such. But all that is beside the point that we lost due to centre clearances and an injured defence. Not because of Weideman.

Oliver was on the ground at the start of the 3rd. He attended 9 out of the 10 centre bounces in the 3rd quarter when we lost them 9-1. He averages 85.7% game time this year. Against Freo it was 90%.

He's hard to replace, in no small part because he's like having an extra assistant coach as well. BUT... Let's keep in mind that about the same time last year (rounds 10-16) we lost 3 out of 6 games as many Demonlanders noted that the combination of seeming flat during games and Burgess' history of 'loading' possibly added up to us gearing our fitness towards finals. That worked out ok hey?