Great Northern Summer

I would give Smith a go. His upside is huge. We need to tap into this, or at least, give it a go. He's the sort of player that can bob up and kick 3-4. Plays tall and small. Versatile too if we need him to go back.

All very good and valid points

From the coles car park? Or the council leisure centre? There’s not much else happening around there these days 😊

The 17-5 or 17-6 fixture option wouldn’t be as simple as that. It would be more beneficial to finish 6th than 7th because you would be playing for a double chance, and you would be guaranteed to make the finals regardless of how the last 5 or 6 games went. You would also be playing the better sides, so would be better prepared when the real finals actually start. Sides finishing 7th to 12th would only be playing for the last two spots in the finals. I really cannot see why this system hasn’t been given a shot, although there are a few weaknesses (with the bottom third). The main problem is 13th onwards would be barred from finals. In a close right season, after round 17, 13th might only be a win or two off the 8, so putting a line through them that early is no doubt a turn off. Also, working out any incentive for the teams finishing 13th to 18th, in those last 5 or 6 games. One of the incentives at the moment for such teams is to ‘knock off a contender and stamp your mark’, bit like we did against Hawthorn in 2016. Beating a fellow struggler mightn’t have that factor.

and he dates our club doctor!

David King just moaning on First Crack that the Suns were robbed. Of course, cherry picking a few situations which went against them, selectively ignoring each of the incidents that went against us in the 3rd quarter that led to three Suns goals. On a positive note, King did say it was the 'best game the Suns have EVER played'. Regardless of the situation, if we won a game against a team that just played their 'best EVER game', that has to be a positive for us!

I think they changed this rule, are disregarding it or the interpretation of it. A few years ago they paid this 100% of the time when it happened. I haven’t seen it paid at all now for over a year.

I was a massive fan of getting Hunter in. Thought he’d be pivotal on the ‘other’ wing. Aside from a few moments here and there this season, he’s looked slow, cannot get enough penetration on his kicks and makes poor decisions too often putting team members under unnecessary pressure. I hope this doesn’t become the norm - that we are dealing with a very limited player, rather than one I expected would make a tangible difference. As I’ve said repeatedly, we need to use our squad rather than playing the same blokes week in and week out. If any of our guns need a rest, next week is the week to do it. It’s a very long season.

Shane or Taj?

These four sides are a mile in front of the rest. Wouldn't be surprised if there ends up a significant difference between 4th and 5th - even 3 games. Ordering these sides right now is anyone's guess. It'll all come down to injuries and who has the healthiest list come finals time.

and will probably cost the Suns a finals birth too!

so we only had about 5 good players, yet still won? It was a hard fierce game from both teams and fortunately we came out on top.

The Tooheys Blue Demons - to be precise :-)

absolutely brilliant

What do people think about Woewodin? Out of contract at the end of the season. Seems a fair way back in terms of selection. Will he make it? Will he play any senior games this season? Will we offer him an extension? I suspect he won't play this season, but we will offer him a one-year extension. He appears to have improved a lot, and he's much better than when we drafted him - which was a speculative pick anyway and no other club was going to draft him. Unfortunately for him, no spots have opened up.

Couldn't have said this any better. If every team plays at their best, Collingwood don't make the GF.

Everyone seems to want us to play our best 22 (or 23) next week. It’s round 8 into a long season. Last season we came unstuck through fatigue and doing just this, playing what Goodwin thought was our best side every week, whereas Geelong took more of a squad mentality and rested blokes along the way. It’s clear we need to do that, but at what point of the season? Now, or do we want to get to say 8-3 or 9-2 (which we are almost certain to do) and then do it, with the knowledge our fixture in the second half of the season is nowhere near as brutal as last season? Problem I see with this approach is if a logjam remains at the top of the ladder and there are 5-6 breakaway teams all around the same number of wins (which could well happen), it would be tempting just to revert to last season’s approach. It doesn’t matter how high we finish after the H&A season if we’re banged up and buggered when the finals start. We should know that from last season.

Yes, exactly. It's why, had Sheed not kicked that winning goal in the GF and Collingwood hung on to win, it would have been up there with the Bulldogs 2016 Premiership as a team nowhere near the top couple winning the flag. Richmond and Melbourne were clearly the top two in 2018. Hawthorn only the made the top 4 after the H&A season by virtue of the easiest fixture in AFL history - everyone knew they'd be out in straight sets. WCE were flat track bullies and didn't win too many away that mattered except the GF. Melbourne shot itself in the foot in so many of the close losses with ridiculous inaccurate kicking. The Sydney loss near season's end said it all. Like you said, if they finished where they should have, it would have been a very different end to the season and no Perth trip.

Other teams up the top of the ladder like Collingwood and St Kilda have already put all of their cards on the table. We haven't. We are experimenting and will continue to do so until the 2nd half of the season. We have more upside than these other contenders. Still confident we will ultimately be the team to beat.

Surely this bloke will be back at Punt Road tomorrow addressing their troops!

How so? If St Kilda win, they'll still be a win ahead of us. Think you mean we could be 3rd.

The AFL won't do that, because it'll mean one of Port or Adelaide will have an extra home match for the season as against each other

They are the worst with 'white line fever' during a game, esp with the continual booing - I mean they probably booed when a free was paid against Gaff when he king-hit Andrew Brayshaw! When the game isn't on, I've found them fine.

Been to many games in Adelaide against Crows and Port. My experience is totally the other way around. Never ever had an issue with Crows supporters, at any of the half dozen games i've been to there. In fact, even congratulated after we won. By comparison, my experience with Port supporters is horrible, as bad as it gets. Some years ago I was walking down Rundle Mall with my father to grab a bite to eat before the game. The Port Army or whatever they are called were walking in the other direction. I didn't say or do anything, but all of a sudden was shirt-fronted - yep, basically hit, from one of their supporters, who pretended he didn't do it when I confronted him about it after. At games as well, I've found Port supporters to be quite nasty. That's just my experience though.

The season is a marathon, not a sprint. We need to peak when it matters. We're not losing next week, so why not start rotating the list a little bit and giving a few blokes a rest next week. Will refuel the batteries and ensure we can go the distance. We have the depth and need to use it. It's what hurt us last season in the end.