Bring-Back-Powell

Is Lobb due back next week? I’d me way more confident in beating Freo without him given what happened in our round 11 game.

Nathan Jones also cited the example of Tom Boyd whereby earning an exorbitant amount of money for a 21-22 year old can actually do more harm than good for one’s mental heath. The pressure of being the highest paid player at the club at such a young age could really be harmful to a kid’s development. Jones advised to LJ to re-consider the Freo offer by staying at MFC where he can still learn off Gawn, earn a bit less money and relieve himself of excessive scrutiny and pressure.

Nathan Jones (who played 4 games with LJ in 2020) who is more qualified than anyone else in the media to comment on Jackson had some thoughts on SEN tonight: 1) the money being bandied around is ludicrous for LJ 2) LJ is far too an inconsistent a player to warrant such money. 3) LJ coming to Freo has the potential to be a culture killer for Fremantle. Not sure if he was referring to the magnitude of money that would be going to the one player or the player himself being a culture killer.

Excellent stat. Was not aware. Port had a big win over Sydney the week after they (Swans) beat us so are capable at Adelaide Oval. But you couldn't bet against Geelong on their current form.

Any danger of Collingwood losing a game anytime before Sep 24? Carlton have been gifted a % booster with all of GWS's outs, and the fact they're pretty woeful regardless. Clearly the biggest result for us would be Port knocking off Geelong. GC over Brisbane would be fantastic but won't happen. One result that could go our way is Richmond knocking off Freo tonight for a bit of a top 4 breather for us.

What about a nibble at Paddy Dow from Carlton to fatten our midfield depth chart? The HUN reporting that Carlton are looking at off loading a former high draft pick for salary space so I can only assume it's him. Last year he almost got there as a realised talent but for whatever reason can't get a game this year (that reason being that he's probably not good enough in Voss's eye)

It would be handy if LJ can hurry up and make a call then. We all know you're heading home mate, just confirm it with everyone and move on. Gus is such an important signing IMO.

Melksham kicked one goal not two.

I don't believe the hype either and I don't agree with the purported salary he's either seeking or been offered. I certainly don't believe in the 'generational player' that gets labelled at LJ. Carey was an example of a generational player. At the same age as LJ (21st year) he won a B&F, kicked 46 goals and polled 14 brownlow votes in 1992. In the following year he was captain of the All Aust side, kicked 63 goals and was arguably the best player in the league. Aside from a rising star award (great but Lewis Taylor also won one) and a good but not amazing quarter in a grand final, what has he achieved to be warranting such a big pay day? What trajectory is he on to warrant such a big pay day? Do Freo honestly think LJ is going to have the influence of a Carey or a Buddy over the next 1-4 years?

He also flips his opinion in the same slot that he's on. In the same segment King said that the Bulldogs were average in their loss to St Kilda last week and Gerard Whatley didn't even interject regarding his error.

Jones is very good but his high pitched giggling can be annoying. Daisy is a very solid special commentator. BT is a mistake riddled commentator and it's an indictment on channel 7 that they hadn't adequately prepared a (Friday night/marquee/AFL grand final) satisfactory succession plan post Bruce and Dennis who both left a legacy as VFL/AFL football's finest commentators of all time.

Sydney and Collingwood are our absolute bogey sides. Would be hard to stomach if either of those side do the business on us in the finals.

Would be as good as it gets IMO. Sydney (2016) and Collingwood (2019) have beaten Geelong at the G in finals. Further to that Sydney have beaten Geelong this year and in 2021. They also only lost to them by 6 points in 2020 when both sides were opposite ends of the ladder. Perhaps Sydney have the wood over Geelong?

Lever also said the 6 day break will work against him.

Lever’s concerned the 6 day break won’t be enough time to get up next week. In - Oliver, Petty Out - Lever, Bedford (not Melksham)

If we go 2-3 (and the two wins are against WB and Carlton) it would see us having a record against the other top 6 teams (Geel, Bris, Fre, Syd, Pies) of 1 win/7 losses. You couldn't just expect us to flick on a switch and run the table in the finals with that kind of record. 3-2 needs to be the minimum goal and it would be great if two of those three were against Freo, Brisbane or Collingwood as we'll no doubt be facing at least one of those sides in September Anything more and we'll be top 2 and in pole position for a home MCG prelim. Probably Saturday twilight if we're the second ranked side.

With regards to Collingwood, the average percentage for a grand finalist since 2012 is 134%. (MFC's percentage in 2021 was 130%) Collingwood are currently 106% so they would be defying absolute football logic if they make the GF this year.

I'd imagine if he has another major indiscretion, the club will consider sacking him. There was was a lot of negative PR he put the club through.

There is something in that. In 2018 Geelong played Freo and GC in round 22 and 23 at Geelong, and absolutely flogged both of those bottom dwellers. We had a hard 3 last weeks in 2018 and then had that magnificent finals win over Geelong at the G..

I think we can go as bad as 3-2 (16-6) and still finish second-fourth due to our great percentage. It's a pity that out of Brisbane, Fremantle, Sydney and Collingwood, only Sydney and Collingwood play each other. You would've loved more of these sides taking wins away from each other. I can see a scenario where all of those sides (and Melbourne) finish 16-6 and then percentage deciding top 2, top 4 and elimination sudden death. We need to have a couple of big percentage boosting wins on the run home and avoid any blow out losses if/when we do lose.

In - Oliver, Petty Out - Tomlinson, Bedford. I feel sorry for Tomlinson who played easily one of his best games for the club, and a dramatic improvement from the Sydney game. They would have to move Petty (who incidentally kicked 3 goals against WB in 2019) forward for Tommo to retain his spot. Or he needs Lever not to come up. Bedford has had 7 kicks in the last 3 games of footy. That's clearly not AFL standard and unfortunately has to provide more involvement if he want to stay in the side. With regards to Josh Bruce, they say the second game back after a long lay off is the game they really struggle in. However, given he had 3 possessions and 1 mark for the game, perhaps the first game was his struggle game.

I'm bullish on Collingwood's chances this year as they have a great blend of attacking flair, defensively sound and play with a ton of spirit. However, you'd have to wonder how sustainable all these close losses are in terms of their chances in September. The law of averages will suggest they'll start losing some close ones in the late rounds and finals.

Surely Collingwood’s winning streak ends next week against a resurgent Essendon?

With no recognised ruck for Port, I’m expecting Luke Jackson to step up massively today and put in an imposing career best performance. I also expect us to come out fresh and firing off our equal longest break for the year.

Jake Melksham will have a 3 goal 18 possession game and be a key contributor towards a much needed win tomorrow. If Goodwin didn’t believe Melk would have a positive impact on the game, he wouldn’t have got selected.