BW511

He’s also more of a ‘place the ball out in front’ style kick than say a Petracca or Fritsch who kick through it, hard and low. He was certainly a lot better on the weekend, but he could find another gear. The point about him driving out of stoppages is the key, he can create space for others, by drawing players to him before releasing.

I’m not saying he was gifted games, but we have been the laughing stock of the competition throughout that whole period. He hasn’t exactly been surrounded by stars, so I was just pondering if he would have played 300 elsewhere. It’s a tribute to him that he’s stayed on and fought his way to where he is - he won’t get 300 and I’m entirely comfortable with that because it means there is finally players that can keep him out of the side. At the end of the day, winning games of footy is what we all want.

Jeremy Howe is the ultimate example. Is now considered a very important member of the pies and widely regarded across the league. He just floats around taking marks 90% of the time

It's an interesting one for sure. Almost 300 games at Melbourne, would he have made 200 anywhere else? Make no mistake, he's been an absolute warrior for our club over a long period of time

I think he's been very lucky to get to where he has. Not saying he hasn't been immense over the journey, just would have liked to see more competition for spots over the years

Good to see a bit of a shootout versus the rugby scrums we are used to.

One of the benefits of starting our play from further back is a lot more ground to work with. Jamming all our players in the forward half takes up space that we can’t find for attack.

Milkshake and AVB must be very good trainers

I hope Goody listens to SEN @george_on_the_outer & @Lord Travis. Maybe things look a lot more complicated and difficult from the inner sanctum and an outside perspective is all it takes. If Goody and Jennings were great mates, wonder if he's picked up the phone for a little advice?

Jennings has just told every club how to beat us and it's unbelievably simple. Interesting hearing the chat around Clayton and how it was hard to admit things were not working when he was getting plenty of stats. Jennings has made at least 2-3 references of not coaching to stats. It's sounding a lot like Goody & the playing group are all trying too hard to do too much. The idea of Max rucking back half and T-Mac rucking front half seems like a no-brainer, gets T-Mac involved in the play and maybe works him back into form. Edit: Everyone is frustrated with Lever, well he is being actively targeted. A lot are frustrated with Clayton, he is being actively targeted. Petracca was interesting, but people don't notice that one as much because he's about the only bloke doing anything the other way.

Love the optimism Chook, however what makes you think we can turn this around in a matter of weeks when the problem has existed for 18 months? The ball is in the wrong hands at crucial times because of selection, unless Goody and co want to eat humble pie, that won't change.

It would be great if we had blokes picking themselves with their performance. At present, almost every position on the ground could be debated and reasonably argued. Trac, Max, May and maybe Hibberd are my only guaranteed starters. Hibberd is only based on last week's game too. Every other spot is a raffle

Considering we are a 'contested ball' team, you'd think that would be the play. Keep it on the deck where we can at least be competitive, rather than in the air where we are inept

You couldn’t do that nowadays and that’s not a problem for us anyway

We all know it’s a glaring issue that we don’t have a second tall forward and we have two of our best ever whacking the club this week. I haven’t heard either say they are available to help? They may well have reached out, but you’d hope they are still willing to assist the club if it’s something they can easily aid with

You can't just flick a switch and decide to have a baby. It is much harder than school teachers lead people to believe and being a professional athlete doesn't stop life from happening

I mentioned this in one of the other threads in relation to Viney. I suspect a large portion of Demonland posters are a long way removed from newborn children. It is extremely taxing mentally and emotionally, particular if it's a first child. Football would be quite low down the priority list

They may not be considered a great kicking side but Cotchin, Martin and Houli would be ahead of our best and that gives them 3 more than us who deliver the ball forward of the centre

Richmond and Collingwood both have very good field kicks at their disposal. It can work if you have the players for that style, we simply don't

Interesting that everyone says Tomlinson would need to improve his defensive efforts to play forward, I'd argue that by competing and drawing his man to a contest, he is contributing more to our scoring opportunities than any chase or tackle. It's also somewhat ironic that they suggest Tomlinson play the Tom McDonald role of 2018 while the man himself is stuck playing deep.

The poor buggers that got left behind would be spitting chips

Agree, Trac has been doing it well. Not convinced the others can do it and it would not hurt to have more elite kicks, even if it's just to add a different dynamic around our midfield group

They should have been there from the first day Jackson walked in the door, regardless of Weideman's from or place in the team. We paid a lot for him and you'd think it would be smart to give him the very best resources to develop his game. Would not harm Weideman either, so it's a win-win. Also, what is stopping Weid from getting in touch with these guys himself? He needs to get his skates on in the next 6-12 months or he'll be lost to the game

We need a linebreaking elite mid. Have needed it since as long as I can remember. Guarantee our forwards would be much better with Whitfield or Kelly hitting them up as first option

Perhaps he already is, hence the reluctance to wheel him out