Thrice

West Coast are no threat with GWS then Crows in the final 2 rounds

It's really not that cut and dried for us. A loss today for the Saints will bury them but we can still make it on %. 8th is most likely going to have 12 wins if we lose today - the saints will need to beat the Tigers in the final round to get 13 and the dogs will need to beat Port next week. We've passed the bombers on % after last night. A narrow loss today and we will get over them on % if we win the last 2.

I reckon Frost is part of the deal. It's the only plausible reason he would have put contract negotiations on hold till the end of the season. Frost, who would be around the mark of their best 22 without Lever, and out first round pick this year would easily get it done.

It is probably a fair assumption that average revenue per match would go up, but which ever way you look at it there is less revenue coming in. 17-5 would also be more favourable for TV rights, as there is guaranteed to be more quality matches for prime times for the back end of the season heading into the finals. Not to mention for attendances, as there would be a 'finals-lite' type atmosphere for the 1-6 and 7-12 brackets as all would be genuine 8 point games.

I actually don't mind the 17/5 concept. It's better than the wildcard round for 7-10. It would obviously go hand in hand with playing everyone once in the first 17 rounds. It shows the value of percentage that we aren't there for this round - we've had plenty of chances to have 1 more win too which would have us in 5th. It's the whole point of the H/A season generally. For those whinging about how it applies to this season we've won 3 of the 4 from teams we've played twice so far (Blues and Crows), which basically mirror GWS and Brisbane anyway. For this season it means we play Essendon, Western Bulldogs, West Coast, St Kilda and Collingwood. We're 5-0 against them this year and have ladder advantage, so it actually makes our run into the finals easier from this point. If we were in the top 6 we've beaten the Crows (once) and Port and lost to Richmond and Geelong (I'll exclude Sydney because theoretically they wouldn't be there). The advantage is that you are guaranteed finals, and it places an advantage on being top 4 because 5th and 6th need to beat the top teams to unseat them. 13th to 18th are all played on Foxtel at the grave yard times, so it's better for neutral supporters. The other games get played in prime slots which ensure there are better matches when more people are watching.

You do realise a 17 round season means 45 fewer games per season out of 207 currently (198 H&A and 9 finals), or put another way 22% fewer games? In broad terms, taking into account value of finals etc, the $2.5B TV rights deal becomes around $2.0B - that's a $100m per season hit to the bottom line. The players and coaches get paid less, less money into development etc etc. Not going to happen.

Ah, no. 2 seperate trades. Picks 2, 20 and 72 for Tyson, 9 (Salem) and 53 (Hunt) was in 2013. The pick 20 was on-traded to Port as part of the 3-way Polec deal with Brisbane along with GWS's pick 21, 34, 45 and 48. Port used it to get Jarman Impey, with GWS getting in upgrade to pick 14 (Cam McCarthy) and 29 (Rory Lobb). Can't be bothered unpacking this further for Port and Lions or where they other picks GWS had came from. Pick 2 was Kelly, obviously, and they passed on 72. The other was a straight Pick 23 from us for Frost, 40 (ANB) and 53 (OMac) in 2014. The coda to that trade was that the pick 23 was used for Pat McKenna, who we traded for a set of steak knives in 2016.

I went pretty heavy on the aromatic botanicals, with only just enough from the drier end to balance it out. But to answer your question: no citrus other than a hint of lemon myrtle.

The earlier Saturday arvo games wipe out anyone who plays weekend sport, be it themselves or children. It's prime shopping time, so plenty of people are at work. It's also poor for the theatre goers - too early to go out in the city afterwards for dinner; whereas the 3:20 or 4:40 games are better for this. There's a good reason the AFL have stopped scheduling games at this time - no one watches on TV and even fewer turn up to the games. For myself, I had a gin making course at Bass & Flinders in Red Hill that finished at 1:30. It made for a nice celebratory drink. I would've been there otherwise. Clearly Saturday lunchtime/early arvo is a popular time for a lot of things. That it is fast approaching weekday peaks on the roads is testament. Be thankful that 25k die hards, who literally have nothing else to compete for their time, did turn up. More than any other time we have played Port at the G.

Toby Greene offered 2 weeks, with no option to reduce with an early plea due to his hit earlier in the year.

His hit on Watts last year was pretty low as well. Fast earning a reputation beyond being the best intercept defender in the league... and J McGovern is poised to take that mantle from him as well.

There's a couple of ways: Go to AFL player ratings on the afl.com.au website and list by midfield to find the ranks of midfielders: this is a rolling 2 year average, so Oliver is relatively under rated here. Interesting aside, Petracca is 91st in the comp as of this week off 32 games. Alternatively, The AFL player ratings twitter produces a bunch of tables showing the progress through the year. Oliver has risen a lot but not as much as Tracc

Optimus Prime, whilst also the leader, is the biggest and strongest of the Autobots (good guy transformers). I don't think it's any deeper than he is a fair specimen.

Baseball doesn't have uniform grounds either. 99% invisible did a podcast on baseball 'ball parks' just a couple of weeks ago: http://99percentinvisible.org/episode/in-the-same-ballpark/ I think it's great: it adds some uniqueness and favours certain players / games styles across the different grounds.

I, too, love what he brings. But an impressive 20 minutes of a senior match doesn't scream automatic selection. I think he has a higher ceiling than Wagner, but to bring him in requires structural readjustment that would see Salem to a wing which affects our ball movement coming out of defence. What we're effectively doing it going maximum dash from half back with Frost, Hunt and Smith all having licence to break lines coming out. This move would squeeze out one of ANB/Harmes/Bugg/[maybe Stretch] it would take a bit of an edge from our forward pressure, so the question becomes does this deliver better team balance than how we've currently been playing?

As it was he was only 3 off the contested possession record of 29 by Dangerfield. Would surely have broken that one.

We actually have the 4th highest average (a better stat considering 6 teams still haven't had a bye).

True, but equally a number of the younger players that are influential this year had little impact. Oliver was quiet both times against them. Hunt debuted first time around and had little impact both games. Salem didn't play QB. Tracc only played QB, but did have a good game.

We were keen on Lever at 3, however that was if the Saints took Petracca at no.1. We would then have gone Brayshaw and Lever. Ergo, we rated him higher than McCartin; which would've been considered a highly left field choice (as was Clarry at no.4 a month prior to the draft). Taylor and co at very astute judges of talent.

It is year to date. Petracca is in the top 5 rated 'general forwards' for the year according to AFL Player Ratings, which is the basis for team of the week and team of the year. Hunt is perched just outside the top 5 'general defenders' as well so could sneak in. Clarrie, for whatever reason, doesn't rate as highly in this as others who've been going along nicely. A key metric for midfielders is creating and maintain scoring chains and score assists, which advantages attacking midfielders. Given his more purely inside role he isn't going to be getting as many of these. Clearly the AA side will look different to this. I don't think Atkins, Hall, Ablett, or yes, Tracc, would be seriously considered for AA spots. Clarry, on the other hand, would be in the squad of 40 at a minimum if his current form holds for the rest of the year.

Best game so far: Adelaide. Even better because I was there for it. Worst game so far: Hawthorn. We stank for 3 quarters against a really ordinary side. Freo was more frustrating though, cos we controlled it for 3 quarters Most improved player: Garlett. If he keeps this up he is some chance of landing an AA spot A player who needs to lift: Watts. Last year was the benchmark for his talent and so far hasn't really got near it. If he hits that level we are a much better team Who is currently leading the Bluey?: Oliver, clearly. Just look at the AFLPA votes. Best recruit: Hibberd. I'll take 100 games of what he's delivered in the past 6 weeks thanks. Will we make the finals?: Yes. Every side in the mid table is flaky, but we have the most talented list... especially with the return of Gawn and Hogan, who are easily the 2 most important players to our structure.

Relax WB... He's covering for talking him down before he pulled on the jumper for us. He's right at the upper ceiling of expectations when he came in. At the risk of derailing the thread, Melksham's game tonight was at that level too: if he can maintain that then he's parked himself in the 22 for the rest of the year.

12 Tyson, Dom 79 23yr 11mth 8 Jun 1993 186cm 86kg Oakleigh Chargers Midfield 17 Frost, Sam 46 23yr 8mth 28 Aug 1993 194cm 94kg Sandringham Dragons Defender 16 Kent, Dean 56 23yr 3mth 24 Feb 1994 179cm 84kg Perth Forward 35 Kennedy, Ben 40 23yr 2mth 3 Mar 1994 175cm 78kg Glenelg Forward 19 Hannan, Mitchell 8 23yr 2mth 9 Mar 1994 189cm 81kg Footscray Forward 7 Viney, Jack 79 23yr 1mth 13 Apr 1994 178cm 86kg Oakleigh Chargers Midfield 42 Wagner, Joshua 17 22yr 11mth 24 Jun 1994 189cm 85kg Aspley Defender 1 Hogan, Jesse 45 22yr 3mth 12 Feb 1995 195cm 100kg Claremont Forward 24 Kennedy-Harris, Jay 25 22yr 2mth 21 Mar 1995 173cm 75kg Oakleigh Chargers Forward 29 Hunt, Jayden 28 22yr 1mth 3 Apr 1995 187cm 85kg Brighton Grammar Defender 45 Keilty, Declan (R) 0 22yr 8 May 1995 194cm 93kg Casey Scorpions Defender Forward 3 Salem, Christian 39 21yr 10mth 15 Jul 1995 183cm 83kg Sandringham Dragons Defender 43 Harmes, James 31 21yr 7mth 5 Oct 1995 185cm 85kg Dandenong Stingrays Defender 5 Petracca, Christian 26 21yr 4mth 4 Jan 1996 186cm 94kg Eastern Ranges Forward 10 Brayshaw, Angus 33 21yr 4mth 9 Jan 1996 187cm 90kg Sandringham Dragons Midfield Forward 30 Neal-Bullen, Alex 21 21yr 4mth 9 Jan 1996 182cm 82kg Glenelg Midfield Forward 44 Smith, Joel (R) 1 21yr 3mth 25 Feb 1996 191cm 87kg Geelong Supercats Defender 28 McDonald, Oscar 24 21yr 2mth 18 Mar 1996 196cm 97kg North Ballarat Rebels Defender 41 White, Mitchell (R) 3 21yr 1mth 10 Apr 1996 188cm 88kg Dandenong Stingrays Defender 40 McKenna, Patrick 0 20yr 9mth 12 Aug 1996 186cm 85kg Gisborne Football Defender 15 Stretch, Billy 32 20yr 8mth 8 Sep 1996 180cm 80kg Glenelg Midfield 34 King, Mitch 0 20yr 4mth 1 Jan 1997 200cm 99kg Murray Bushrangers Forward Ruck 27 Hulett, Liam 0 20yr 2mth 17 Mar 1997 193cm 91kg Dandenong Stingrays Forward 26 Weideman, Sam 9 19yr 10mth 26 Jun 1997 195cm 94kg Eastern Ranges Forward 13 Oliver, Clayton 22 19yr 10mth 22 Jul 1997 187cm 88kg Murray Bushrangers Midfield 37 Johnstone, Dion 0 18yr 11mth 1 Jun 1998 179cm 77kg Oakleigh Chargers Forward 47 Filipovic, Lachlan (R) 0 18yr 8mth 29 Aug 1998 200cm 92kg Sandringham Dragons Ruck Saints 29 Webster, Jimmy 58 23yr 10mth 28 Jun 1993 188cm 83kg Glenorchy Defender 41 Minchington, Darren 27 23yr 5mth 9 Dec 1993 179cm 81kg Dandenong Stingrays Forward 34 Wright, Nathan 32 23yr 3mth 16 Feb 1994 185cm 82kg Dandenong Stingrays Forward 28 Membrey, Tim 39 22yr 11mth 26 May 1994 188cm 88kg Gippsland Power Forward 40 Connellan, Ray (R) 0 22yr 10mth 29 Jun 1994 187cm 85kg Athlone Defender 42 Pierce, Lewis 1 22yr 6mth 16 Nov 1994 202cm 101kg Dandenong Stingrays Forward Ruck 7 Dunstan, Luke 60 22yr 3mth 29 Jan 1995 184cm 84kg Woodville West Torrens Midfield 35 Sinclair, Jack 31 22yr 3mth 12 Feb 1995 180cm 81kg Oakleigh Chargers Forward 10 Freeman, Nathan 0 21yr 11mth 16 Jun 1995 183cm 80kg Sandringham Dragons Midfield 15 Billings, Jack 51 21yr 9mth 18 Aug 1995 184cm 84kg Oakleigh Chargers Midfield Forward 8 Acres, Blake 34 21yr 7mth 7 Oct 1995 190cm 90kg West Perth Midfield Forward 43 Marshall, Rowan (R) 0 21yr 6mth 24 Nov 1995 201cm 98kg North Ballarat Ruck 9 Steele, Jack 26 21yr 5mth 13 Dec 1995 187cm 88kg Belconnen Midfield Forward 32 McCartin, Patrick 20 21yr 1mth 19 Apr 1996 194cm 95kg Geelong Falcons Forward 36 McKenzie, Daniel 17 21yr 17 May 1996 184cm 77kg Oakleigh Chargers Defender 13 Lonie, Jack 31 20yr 9mth 13 Aug 1996 174cm 71kg Dandenong Stingrays Forward 23 Goddard, Hugh 9 20yr 9mth 24 Aug 1996 196cm 98kg Geelong Falcons Defender 38 Coughlan, Nicholas (R) 0 20yr 8mth 12 Sep 1996 193cm 84kg Albury Football Club Defender 31 White, Brandon 1 20yr 4mth 13 Jan 1997 188cm 80kg Dandenong Stingrays Defender 37 Rice, Bailey 0 20yr 3mth 10 Feb 1997 184cm 86kg Dandenong Stingrays Defender 33 O'Kearney, Nick (R) 0 20yr 3mth 13 Feb 1997 181cm 72kg Calder Cannons Midfield Forward 39 Joyce, Darragh (R) 0 20yr 1mth 23 Apr 1997 194cm 93kg Kilkenny Defender 21 Long, Ben 2 19yr 9mth 21 Aug 1997 182cm 73kg Nt Thunder Defender Forward 4 Gresham, Jade 27 19yr 9mth 24 Aug 1997 177cm 76kg Northern Knights Forward 30 Phillips, Edward 0 19yr 1mth 29 Mar 1998 186cm 78kg Oakleigh Chargers Forward 26 Battle, Josh 0 18yr 8mth 1 Sep 1998 193cm 89kg Dandenong Stingrays Forward North 2 Williams, Marley 77 23yr 10mth 22 Jul 1993 181cm 83kg Claremont Defender 32 Wood, Mason 21 23yr 8mth 13 Sep 1993 192cm 87kg Geelong Falcons Forward 27 Garner, Taylor 22 23yr 4mth 8 Jan 1994 187cm 88kg Dandenong Stingrays Forward 3 Anderson, Jed 23 23yr 3mth 2 Feb 1994 179cm 81kg Territory Thunder Forward 8 Hrovat, Nathan 39 22yr 11mth 7 Jun 1994 175cm 78kg Northern Knights Midfield Forward 11 McDonald, Luke 61 22yr 3mth 9 Feb 1995 189cm 88kg Werribee Defender 31 Preuss, Braydon 4 21yr 11mth 16 Jun 1995 206cm 107kg Surfers Paradise Ruck 14 Dumont, Trent 28 21yr 10mth 30 Jun 1995 186cm 86kg Norwood Midfield 28 Turner, Kayne 30 21yr 4mth 31 Dec 1995 180cm 75kg Wodonga Football Forward 37 Fordham, Will (R) 0 21yr 2mth 14 Mar 1996 188cm 84kg Sandringham Dragons Midfield 33 Vickers-Willis, Ed 5 21yr 1mth 28 Mar 1996 190cm 86kg Sandringham Dragons Defender 26 Nielson, Daniel 0 21yr 9 May 1996 194cm 96kg Eastern Ranges Defender 24 Durdin, Sam 2 20yr 11mth 6 Jun 1996 198cm 95kg West Adelaide Forward 15 Ahern, Paul 0 20yr 9mth 1 Aug 1996 182cm 83kg Calder Cannons Midfield Forward 39 Hibberd, Mitchell 1 20yr 8mth 23 Sep 1996 190cm 87kg Clarence Defender Midfield 42 Mountford, Declan 1 20yr 3mth 13 Feb 1997 181cm 75kg Claremont Midfield 41 Wagner, Corey 5 20yr 2mth 23 Mar 1997 180cm 75kg Aspley Forward 46 Taylor, Matthew (R) 0 20yr 1mth 27 Mar 1997 187cm 81kg Perth Defender 13 Clarke, Ryan 10 19yr 11mth 17 Jun 1997 184cm 87kg Eastern Ranges Midfield Forward 23 McKay, Ben 0 19yr 5mth 24 Dec 1997 199cm 95kg Gippsland Power Forward 45 Junker, Oscar (R) 0 19yr 4mth 23 Jan 1998 193cm 84kg Western Jets Defender Midfield 21 Simpkin, Jy 6 19yr 2mth 5 Mar 1998 182cm 75kg Murray Bushrangers Forward 44 Zurhaar, Cameron (R) 0 19yr 22 May 1998 188cm 81kg East Fremantle Forward 40 Larkey, Nick 0 18yr 11mth 6 Jun 1998 198cm 85kg Oakleigh Chargers Defender Forward 36 Williams, Josh 0 18yr 11mth 12 Jun 1998 189cm 73kg Surfers Paradise Midfield Forward 35 Watson, Declan 0 18yr 8mth 17 Sep 1998 191cm 83kg Aspley Defender I would actually say Carlton have claims to genuniely challenging talent-wise under 23: 19 Sumner, Liam 28 23yr 9mth 16 Aug 1993 178cm 74kg Sandringham Dragons Forward 12 Boekhorst, Blaine 18 23yr 8mth 2 Sep 1993 187cm 78kg Swan Districts Midfield Forward 15 Docherty, Sam 79 23yr 7mth 17 Oct 1993 187cm 87kg Gippsland Power Defender 45 Gallucci, Andrew (R) 0 23yr 3mth 28 Jan 1994 177cm 70kg Williamstown Forward 32 Graham, Nicholas 32 22yr 11mth 12 Jun 1994 182cm 83kg Gippsland Power Midfield Forward 20 Plowman, Lachlan 48 22yr 8mth 11 Sep 1994 191cm 90kg Calder Cannons Defender 18 Jaksch, Kristian 14 22yr 7mth 7 Oct 1994 195cm 90kg Oakleigh Chargers Defender Forward 38 Byrne, Ciaran 12 22yr 5mth 6 Dec 1994 187cm 88kg County Louth Ireland Defender 9 Cripps, Patrick 53 22yr 2mth 18 Mar 1995 195cm 93kg East Fremantle Midfield 33 Pickett, Jarrod 5 20yr 9mth 18 Aug 1996 178cm 77kg South Fremantle Midfield Forward 22 Marchbank, Caleb 16 20yr 5mth 7 Dec 1996 193cm 90kg Murray Bushrangers Defender 40 Glass-McCasker, Jesse (R) 0 20yr 4mth 3 Jan 1997 195cm 96kg Swan Districts Defender 30 Curnow, Charlie 14 20yr 3mth 3 Feb 1997 194cm 91kg Geelong Falcons Forward 28 Cuningham, David 4 20yr 1mth 30 Mar 1997 183cm 83kg Oakleigh Chargers Midfield 23 Weitering, Jacob 29 19yr 6mth 23 Nov 1997 195cm 96kg Mount Eliza Football Club Defender 1 Silvagni, Jack 16 19yr 5mth 17 Dec 1997 191cm 89kg Oakleigh Chargers Forward 10 McKay, Harry 0 19yr 5mth 24 Dec 1997 200cm 95kg Gippsland Power Forward 5 Petrevski-Seton, Sam 9 19yr 3mth 19 Feb 1998 180cm 74kg Claremont Midfield 29 Polson, Cameron 1 19yr 2mth 11 Mar 1998 177cm 76kg Sandringham Dragons Forward 26 Macreadie, Harrison 5 19yr 1mth 11 Apr 1998 196cm 89kg Henty Defender 42 LeBois, Kym (R) 0 19yr 22 May 1998 175cm 67kg North Adelaide Forward 25 Fisher, Zac 5 18yr 11mth 15 Jun 1998 175cm 68kg Perth Midfield 36 Kerr, Pat 0 18yr 9mth 31 Jul 1998 194cm 93kg Oakleigh Chargers Forward 31 Williamson, Tom 7 18yr 5mth 12 Dec 1998 189cm 81kg North Ballarat Rebels Defender Cripps, Doherty are genuine A-grade already. Weitering, Petrevski-Seton are future A-grade. Silvagni, McKay and Curnow look solid players. Plowman and Marchbank are both solid defenders picked up from the GWS reject pile.

Yes, we were looking at Billings over J Kelly. Lewis Taylor was the smoky if Salem was gone by pick 9.

Billings and Gresham have genuine talent. Petracca has maybe 80% of Gresham's mercurial, but can genuinely go through the middle and has the power game than Gresham will never have. Oliver is way, way ahead of any mid they have coming through. Dunstan will be de-listed by the end of next year. No one has even bothered mentioning North, and for good reason. They have a pile of meat and potatoes types under 23: McDonald, Dumont, Turner. Probably the best couple were imports: Marley Williams and Hrovat. Mason Wood has a bit of x-factor, but hardly an A-grader in the making.