Simon Port

I've seen in a few different outlets that Disco might be a smokey for us to play forward? What are our thoughts on that? I think Tomlinson coming back in is a great move.

I like the fact you're thinking similar with the taller forward line. I just don't see Tmac getting back to form. I think we all expect him to get back to 2021 form but he's 2 years older after a couple of major injuries. Sparrow would be a shock to be dropped, think he's been great.

Would love to see Grundy out for Tomlinson with Smith being pushed to the forward line. I do like Grundy as a ruckman but, unfortunately he minimises Max's impact and then has no presence up forward. Smith has more of an aerial impact up forward and crashes packs. JJ out for Spargo who provides more pressure and cleaner kicking skills. He really put his hand up today at VFL level. JJ has been terribly out of form. I think with our lack of tall forward options due to the unfortunate injury to Petty and injury/form to Tmac, Schache and Brown means we have to go with a bit of a different structure. Once Fritsch comes back I wouldn't drop Melksham or Smith and instead play a mixture of hybrid/medium sized forwards to compensate for our lack of pure talls outside of Van Rooyen who is still so young. I believe Smith must play due to his versatility to be able to play forward or back if any injury does occur. I think the best 22 for the first final should be: Mcvee May Lever Salem Tomlinson Rivers Langdon Oliver Hunter Petracca Smith Neal-Bullen Pickett Van Rooyen Fritsch Gawn Viney Brayshaw Sparrow Bowey Melksham Chandler with Hibberd and Spargo the first inclusions if injury/form changes of the next couple of weeks. .... Thoughts?

Bowey May Lever Salem Petty Brayshaw Langdon Oliver Howes Pickett Mcdonald Neal-Bullen Gawn Van Rooyen Fritsch Grundy Viney Petracca Harmes Sparrow Rivers Chandler

FB: Lever May Rivers HB: Salem Petty Bowey C: Langdon Oliver Hunter HF: Fritsch Mcdonald Chandler FF: Gawn Van Rooyen Pickett R: Grundy Viney Petracca I: Brayshaw Harmes Sparrow Neal-Bullen Key Back depth: Tomlinson Turner HB depth: Hibberd J.Smith D.Smith Mcvee C depth: Dunstan Jordon Howes Woewodin HF depth: Spargo Laurie Melksham Moniz-Wakefield Key Forward depth: Brown, Schache Ruck depth: Schache* Players I'd like to see in the 22 later on in the season for upside/x factor include: Turner Smith Howes Laurie

Seems like our recruiters love Cadman, this account is always spot on.

Cal Twomey reporting if the Hopper to Tigers deal can't get done, the giants would be open to trading Whitfield. He would be exactly the player we need and we could place him on the opposite wing as Langdon for some class and run. Could trade Bedford and a couple of picks/players to get that done. One can only hope.

James Harmes toured the Hangar, would be a real shame to see him leave too. Weird feeling having a few players leaving/touring other facilities.

Paddy Dow has a truly horrific kick. We need to inject good ball users, not poor ones.

We were very keen to land him back in 2019 when he was drafted. Wonder if we are still interested in him.

Chandler and Van Rooyen must play round 1.

Why aren't we being linked to Oli Henry? He's a very athletic marking type who would add a lot to our forward line. We desperately need another goal kicker and he could provide that for us and would be relatively cheap to obtain. Him in tandem with Fritsch would be a nightmare for opposition defenders.

I would seriously consider bringing in Bowey for Salem but, it just won't happen. I feel like he's just been playing severely underdone since his serious knee injury. He's as a shell of himself. He's an absolute star at his best but, I feel like his body is really affecting him.

In: Bedford, Smith, Dunstan Out: Neal-Bullen, Melksham, Harmes

I love Spargs but, he has been terribly out of form for a lot of the year. His role isn't suiting him and I would prefer to have ANB further up the ground to play his role and Chandler as a replacement for some more potency up forward. There needs to be some sort of selection integrity regardless of the runs on the board. We simply must bring in Harmes for Sparrow who is a leader and can play a negating role on Neale. In: Harmes, Chandler Out: Sparrow, Spargo

Harmes takes Sparrow's role as that rotating mid/forward as Sparrow had just 9 touches and isn't influencing games at all. Bowey comes in for Hunt to clean up our ball use and brings some more creativity into the side coming off the half back line. Chandler comes in for Nibbla who is very out of form and isn't getting enough of that link in the chain possession like he was earlier in the year. He isn't hitting the scoreboard enough and Chandler brings some x factor and more goal kicking power to the side. Lastly, I know this may seem controversial but, bringing in Smith as a wildcard forward marking option could present opposition defences with a few headaches. He will command respect in the air and gives the smalls a front and centre point of reference. We desperately need another marking target up forward without Tmac in the side and I feel like if you just unleash Smith and let him make a contest, at least the ball won't come out of our back half so easily. There's a recent article on the Melbourne website about Smith's move forward and we've seen it before in pre season games to good effect. Would be a risk but, one I think is worth taking like the pies have with ash johnson.

In: Harmes Bowey Smith Chandler Out: Sparrow Hunt Melksham Nibbla

In: Clarry, Petty, Weid Out: Melksham, Tomlinson, Bedford

What changes would you like to see? If any?

Weid for Bedford (need another target up forward desperately. JVR is probably still too raw. I know Weid has been poor but, we have no one else) Laurie for Spargo Rivers for Bowey Dunstan for Clarry (if he doesn't get up for the game)

Best Melbourne player ever when it's all said and done. Absolute superstar who gets better every game. Been consistently outstanding since he first had his debut. An absolute joy to be able to watch Clarry for another 8 years.

In: Jackson, Kozzy, Nibbla, Petty, Sparrow Out: Tmac, Bedford (stiff), Melksham, Smith, Dunstan Bedford is the tough call and would love to keep him in but would find it tough to drop spargs or keep kozzy out

It's quite phenomenal how consistent Clarry has been since 2017. He just never plays a bad game. I don't think I've ever seen a more consistent player in my time watching AFL.

1. Clarry 2. Gawn 3. Trac 4. May 5. Lever 6. Salem 7. Langdon 8. Brayshaw 9. Fritsch 10. Viney 11. Jackson 12. Neal Bullen

I've heard that Petracca is one of them