Bring-Back-Powell

Season on the line with this one. And for those underestimating St Kilda, they’ve lost to Port by 11 away, GWS by 1 away, Hawthorn by 5 away and Freo by 17. And of course they beat Collingwood in their only MCG appearance this year.

Another stellar night in the commentary box by BT. 1) called a Fremantle player “Franklin” 2) Called Nick Daicos “Josh Daicos” 3) made numerous other mistakes. He so often calls a player by the wrong name, can’t keep up with the flow of play and gets in the habit of saying “I think might have been player x who kicked the ball” It’s not good enough by channel 7’s premier caller and it’s not good enough by channel 7.

For those that are surprised Howes got dropped, I reckon it was mainly due to the lack of chase on Harley Reid as he ran into an open goal. He simply jogged and gave up rather than at least attempt to run Reid down. Standards need to be reset in this under performing club at the moment.

Hunter in and Howes/Bilings omitted are noteworthy

I thought Hunter was very good in the first 10 weeks of last year, to the point when everyone was concerned that he would be sorely missed for the Freo game (thru suspension) in round 11, which we duly lost. His second half of the year was ordinary but I thought he stepped up in the Carlton semi final and was able to adsorb the finals heat really well in that game. I expect him to be given an opportunity next week if we lose to St Kilda and either Billings plays another poor game (assume he's selected) or Windsor needs a rest.

Just realised Jack Higgins, who's been their best forward this year, is due back from suspension this week. M Crouch will return after getting 38 touches in his come back VFL game. Membrey was rested last week and will come back in fresh for this one. If Butler gets up, St Kilda will be 100% at full strength which is bizarre given the amount of injuries going around in the league. Will be a tough one to win given we can't generate a score. In fact every week for the rest of the season is going to be a tough assignment given we can't generate a score.

So the North game was sort of the beginning of the end of sorts. I can recall it being a very unenjoyable win.

Chuck it the bin and revert to 2023 with a dash of composure. We won 7 of our last 8 home and away games, with the one loss decided by an inconclusive goal umpiring call against a prelim finalist. Dominated the inside 50's by +32 against the Pies in week 1 finals which is surely a win in 99/100 occurrences; Outscored Carlton by 8 scoring shots in the semi final which in anyone's language is a 3-5 goal win any day of the week. The game plan didn't provide for Max Gawn missing a critical shot from the point post. This year we are all over the shop. We're showing wild inconsistencies within games. We're losing stats we otherwise would usually win. We're letting opposition mids waltz out of the centre. And most recently we got outscored on turnovers by about 70-14 which we're told over and over again is a critical stat for success. On what basis does a good game plan allow for that kind of disgraceful discrepancy?

Any chance J Smith can be moved from the injury list? He's not injured, will most likely never play AFL again and it just makes out injury list look bigger than it is.

St Kilda do not have a single established player on their injury list, with B Crouch, Butler and Hunter Clark available this week. Going to be a tough assignment despite St Kilda being out of form.

Thoughts on McAdam's MFC's debut? Whilst it was rusty, I thought he put himself in offensively dangerous positions, created options and could've had 3 goals if his 40 metre kick made the distance and that dribble at goal in the fourth quarter bounced the right way. Kozzie definitely wanted to bring him into the game. Something to work on.

The last 2 games he's missed: 1) Gather round shocker v's Essendon 2) Lost to the Dogs in a shoot out at Marvel in late 2022. Not a good one to have out.

This was our worst performance since the Brisbane game in round 5, and we all said that game was the worst loss since the Port game in 2020. Very disappointing to have 2 uncompetitive performances in the space of 5 weeks. I hope it's not a trend.

Yeah that's the angriest (relatively speaking) I've seen Goodwin in a post game presser in years.

Feels like we’ve been asking the former to step up for the last 2 and a half seasons. Another of a long list of 12 possession little influence kind of games, last night.

Lever to miss the next 3 games with knee surgery according to Ch 7 news.

Fair point. Last year's game plan got us 8 more scoring shots against Carlton in a semi final which by any measure should be a 3-4 goal win when you outscore your oppo by that many. (we also outscored the premiers by 3 shots in week 1) The game plan did not factor in Max Gawn missing a goal from the point post or Fritta and Kozzie missing goals they usually get in their sleep deep into the last quarter. The game plan could only go so far if the players failed to compose themselves in key moments. Hopefully this year's game plan comes together soon, but it's clear the players are having a bit of trouble with it as highlighted by getting out marked by 51 and minus 21 in inside 50's, in addition to losing stats during the year that we usually excel in.

You're right they wouldn't have said you're only in for this week. But on what planet would BBB be playing next week against St Kilda with JVR due back and Goodwin's willingness in keeping Petty as a forward.

He was probably told that the only reason he was playing this week was in replacement of JVR and that he'll be back at Casey next weekend. Would be hard to stay motivated particularly for a 4 hour away trip. Agreed that he's completely run out of gas after a very promising Dogs and Port game, and simply not helping the team.

Should rename the thread "road to top 8". We are not playing anywhere near top 4 football as our consistency within games is nowhere near the standard of a top 4 side, since the "Business Trip". The Geelong game being the outlier where we brought fantastic pressure for most of the night, and made the most of our opportunities in a clutch last quarter. To make finals, and win ONE final, on the back of a terrible pre season, an impotent forward line, a dramatic downfall from our midfield and the loss of depth is our ceiling IMO.

At the end of the day Collingwood banked enough score earlier in the game to be in a position to win a close one. The complete opposite to us last week and for most of the season so far.

Reminds me of our final against the Pies. All the inside 50’s they were able to absorb against us in the last quarter, and again today.

Has been responsible for all four of their goals to qtr time. Might be handy if Adelaide put a bit of time into him.

Would love for the Crows to win today but can’t see it happening. Pies have got the game in order and the consolation would be that Carlton will slip to 9th or 10th.

edit - double post.