Lord Nev

Great point mate. I was starting to get worried JJ would be run down by finals after the last few weeks, but he had more impact and seemed more 'fresh' last night back in that role.

Judging by the tracker, it was a bit of both for Gus. JJ definitely on the wing a fair bit though.

He also had 5 clangers and 2 turnovers. Pretty high given he only had 3 kicks. I would consider Sparrow (pending the Casey game) because he has a better burst than Harmes, isn't as indecisive and because Goody may possibly consider Viney for that tagging role now. I'm not writing off Harmes at all, but it was noticeable last night again that our play seems more clunky when he's involved. No point being a 'defensive midfielder' if you're costing us as much (or more) the other way.

Think it was the start of the 3rd quarter when Gawn had a few vintage hitouts out of the centre straight to Oliver and Trac, which we haven't seen for a while, and I thought 'we're on here...' Interesting post-game hearing Gawn pretty much saying they'd done some heavy training around the bye, but more importantly hearing him talk about Kozzy and how he hasn't been able to see his family at a time where it would be really important was a really telling moment of his care for the group and maybe something not many supporters have thought about when looking at his form onfield.

Will wait til after the Casey game, but could be tempted to drop Harmes for Sparrow.

He was against GWS. Not the Bombers or Pies games though.

Burgess is a big fan of 'tapering' and Port had similar struggles this time of year when he was there. Wouldn't be a surprise if he's kept the same philosophy with us. We've also seen players do 'mini preseasons' during the year under him too. Doesn't take away the worried about a couple of structural things, but does give a bit of hope that they were more about ability to properly implement them rather than willingness.

Ruck work will be important too. Gawn currently ranks 16th out of ruckmen for hitout to advantage %.

Not that hard... Tomlinson. ;)

Missed two weeks at the start of Feb, did everything else.

Not saying this justifies it, but my guess would be: - He had a full season last year and a full preseason. - We've been getting beaten badly for clearances. - Burgess often rolls like that. He's not very conservative.

I had a fairly quick look through the heat maps earlier today as I was thinking the same thing, and it definitely did appear he was forward more often at the start of the year. The GWS game he was very much midfield. Part of that potentially could be to do with our different game style now to then, but 100% agree we were better when he was forward a bit more. IMO he's massively improved in his forward delivery, it's still not amazing, but 100x better than what it was a couple of years ago, so having him forward, particularly as vice captain, seems a good move in that regard.

Kicking has been off for sure, and totally agree on the ball movement (see above post). TMac's heat map from the GWS game is an absolute nightmare compared to our earlier games.

Mmmmm not sold on that mate. Wouldn't make sense to do that when Brown isn't even in the team. My theory is that because we've been getting smashed at centre clearances we've been launching even more from the backline meaning we're having to go long around the boundary which then means TMac (and Fritsch if you look at heat maps) are having to come way up the ground.

He's been playing well, but he's been high up the ground, has only kicked 1 goal in the last 3 games.

Maybe, although it went backwards in rounds 5-6 so I don't know how much of a pattern it is. Either way, not sure 3% more game time from Viney is going to make much difference, for mine it's more about the role.

His TOG hasn't been that low though. It's roughly around his usual average since coming back. Rounds 1- 6: 75.8% Rounds 15 - 16: 75.5% The thing I would like to see is Viney spending more time forward like he did earlier in the year. We seemed to have the midfield mix better than and he was delivering the ball well inside 50. Against GWS he was very much in the middle and it just didn't seem to work.

Perhaps there should be more heat on our goal kicking coach too? Is it still Stafford?

Surely then we're bringing in Daw if that is the criteria?

Is there training today? There was training yesterday and there's usually the captain's run the day before the game, I wouldn't have thought they'd train 3 days in a row; especially on a 5 day break.

Had a quick look at the possibility of the whole training tapering thing some have mentioned. Not an exact science obviously, but if you look at Port's record under Burgess in the round 13-16 range it could potentially give us a clue: Port's record rounds 13-16 (adjusted for byes) 2013: 2-2 2014: 1-3 2015: 1-3 2016: 1-3 2017: 2-2 It's a VERY shallow analysis, but you never know. Burgess has written/spoken a fair bit about tapering training, so it's a good chance it's part of his strategy with us.

“They have got a 10/10 forward. His name’s (Christian) Petracca. Is he best served being a 10/10 or 9/10 forward?” Healy asked on Fox Footy. The move could solve two problems at once. Petracca leads the AFL with 110 inside 50s, but just 11 of his kicks inside 50 have been marked; he ranks 47th of the top 50 for efficiency. In contrast, Brisbane star Hugh McCluggage leads the AFL with a 36 per cent inside 50 mark rate. No forward better than a seven, gun-turned-butcher: Dees’ flaws that may cruel flag bid

Bizarre hey? You would just automatically think that's the match up.

Yep, you're right, just checked, he only kicked one of them with Maynard as his opponent.