Hopeful Demon

Just one of those typical games where you take the four points and move on. Hawthorn threw everything at us in the second half but we still ended up with a 9 goal win. Our midfielders (Oliver, Petracca and Viney) were easily our best. Rivers was good again too.

Cripps has been far more underwhelming than Oliver this year...

Mate you really need to stop taking unwarranted pot shots at our players. 'Hunter's cooked'- Yes, he was off today but he's been very good this year. 'Grundy's a headless chook'- This one's an absolute shocker. Grundy has been a massive upgrade on Jackson. At least he actually has the capacity to kick goals and hold onto his marks. 'Fritsch needs a wakeup call'- Why? He definitely had a bad day but he's still averaging more than two goals a game. Not to mention that he's easily been our best forward over the past two and a half years. 'I thought Oliver had left behind these shocker games in 2020 but he’s had a few this year now'- Aside from the Brisbane game, all of Oliver's performances have been excellent-solid. And I thought he was great in the last quarter, when the game was there to be won.

Jesus we've had some really scrappy games against Gold Coast over the years. Thank god we're always the ones that end up winning them.

Jesus the commentators really want Gold Coast to win.

Lol spare me. He kicked 55 goals last year in a forwardline that functioned poorly.

Unfortunately this half was very reminiscent of late 2022. Get to a 20 point lead and then get way too comfortable. We need a better second half from Fritsch. He makes such a big difference when he's on.

Chandler is definitely up there with the best small forwards in the comp on current form.

I absolutely love this guy. I always knew he had talent, but I didn't think he'd make such a big impression this quickly.

Can't complain with that. I loved our killer instinct tonight. Even when we were were up by 60+ points we still had that desire to pile on the goals. Oliver and Petracca's chemistry was as good as it was in 2021/22. Our forwardline has been functioning really well lately. Chandler is an absolute gem and Fritsch and Pickett were electrifying. If giving up a 100 point lead is the only negative, then you know we've had a pretty damn good night.

People don't seem to understand that 100+ point thumpings aren't common anymore. Teams like to hold off a bit when they get to big leads early.

The half time score against Brisbane in Round 23 last year was identical.

Reminiscent of our 2018 style of footy.

He's looked a gun this year. His footy IQ is off the charts. He would have made a huge impact if he was favoured by the selectors last year.

Win's a win. The first three quarters were far from enjoyable but I like how we responded in the last. Van Rooyen was incredible late. Looks a gun. Chandler's fast becoming one of my favourite players. He's tough, quick and super composed. Love him.

Chandler was kept out of the team for too long.

Why the [censored] are we giving Cumberland a field day? He's not that good.

Already kicked 11 goals this season. Not bad for a 'lazy' footballer.

We've started in the very same fashion as we did against Brisbane.

Very harsh on Trac imo. I thought he was arguably our best player, especially in the second half.

I'll definitely take that. West Coast made us play an absolute scrapfest in the first half but in the end our class and fitness got us over the line. It was great to see Tmac find some form and Trac get back to his goal-kicking best. I'm also loving the look of Mcvee at the moment. You wouldn't have thought it was only his fourth game if you watched him play closely.

Fritsch has a love affair with this ground.

Now that was a win and a half. We looked mentally shot early in the third quarter but the way in which we halted Sydney's momentum was reminiscent of 2021. Our midfield responded brilliantly after last week. Grundy was BOG in my opinion. Oliver was back to his best. Petracca started slowly but got going in the second half. More importantly, I'm loving our forward mix right now. Chandler was excellent. Frtisch was vital. Van Rooyen looks a player. It feels so surreal watching us beat up Sydney like that.

Fritsch really knows how to turn the momentum of games.

There's never a stress-free game against Sydney.