Lord Nev

Not 100% sure, but think it's still Stafford.

IN: Melksham OUT: Viney or vandenBerg Need some skill in the team, that was extremely apparent tonight. Greg Stafford time to move on too IMO.

3rd or 4th game for the year where we got on a bit of a run with Jackson in the ruck, brought Gawn back in and it went the other way. This time it cost us the game.

Oliver complaining about an umpiring decision while the play is still going, Hawks goal. That's a microcosm of our attitude tonight.

Mate. Have a cuppa, you're gonna have a heart attack or something.

This has nothing to do with the umpires.

#FreeKickMelbourne

JUST KICK IT! (Just wanted to join in, hope I'm doing it right)

Have the same thoughts on vandenBerg's decision making and disposal, but tbh we're probably not losing much given Harmes' form lately in those areas. Also thought Sparrow would be ahead of him but he was icing up both his legs at the end of the Casey game, so maybe there were queries on him being sore? Or maybe Goody just loves vB (as we all know) given apparently Sparrow will be sub.

Could potentially also be that the coaches decided that's the best way to make the midfield mix work with Viney in there. We definitely seemed to have better cohesion in the Port game in that way. Not sure what it means for Harmes though, and a little concerned about our ball use forward out of the middle with vandenBerg in there, although to be fair it's not exactly been a strength of Harmes' also.

The talk is he'll tag Mitchell.

Has carried it for a few weeks now. 'Ear infection' is underselling it, he's needing an operation but is hoping to put it off til post-season.

Bit like last years Bluey...

Yep 100%, Lever's done that since day one, but have also noticed blokes like Gus, ANB, Kozzy, Trac and more all directing now and it's a massive part of why our zone works so well this year IMO. Gus in particular has really lifted with his onfield talk.

My biggest gripe about our leadership in previous year has been our lack of 'organizational leadership'. Gawn's a ripper bloke, Viney is heart and soul, TMac, ANB etc great trainers, but we didn't really have anyone leading the onfield talk and directing players/structure. For mine, one of the biggest things this year has been how amazing the entire team has been at this, lead by those some players and a few more.

Yep, agree with all of that. I think the problem at the moment is the role where he plays his best footy is being done by two better players (Jackson, TMac) at AFL level at the moment.

Top-five most distance covered per game in 2020 Ed Langdon, 12.3km Christian Salem, 11.9km Adam Tomlinson, 11.5km Clayton Oliver, 11.3km Sam Weideman, 11.3km Marathon men: Telstra Tracker reveals your club's endurance kings

18 disposals, 7 marks, 3 tackles, 3 clearances, 4 hitouts, 3 goals straight. He's playing well, just unfortunately it's in a role where he likely won't get a shot in the seniors at the moment.

Unfortunately I don't have those stats at the moment, but 2 of his goals were from set shots (from memory) so obviously took a few inside 50, and given he also played in the ruck and higher up the ground (had 18 disposals) it's a pretty fair return. I don't think he's coming in the team soon (barring injury) because it seems clear now his best role is a bit of a mix of what TMac and Jackson currently do and neither of them are coming out.

That's just simply not true.

Took 7 marks and kicked 3 goals today.

Ok, probably no change, but wouldn't fall off my chair if Melksham came in for Harmes

Sure can.