rpfc

He hasn’t taken to being a mid like Brayshaw has so I judge him on a curve that is probably unfair. He is an excellent kick.

Yes, he has effectively replaced that side of what Watts brought to the table - frankly, when someone who isn't Fritsch, Brayshaw, Melksham or Hogan kick the ball into the forward line, you quickly remember what we lack...

Facepalm. You saying this leads to the obligatory... ...and the allusion that if he does play it will be because he is indigenous... Garlett has been stiff and if he breaks in to play in this huge game it will be because the MC think he is the best option for one of the best teams in the league.

As I have bored people with before: we are not big enough to eat each other alive from past ills. 23 years of irrelevance, the near merger, the bubbling debt, the non-tanking verdict, the Neeld choice - they make up a rich tapestry of failure that we have all endured in the past and have stuck by the club. If you are a Demon at heart you are welcome inside the house in my view. And you can certainly query why a player isn’t selected...

Oh @skuit, you are a man/woman after my own heart... love these KPIs you have mentioned. What is the UPs situation - we are 10th but with 217 a game and that is definitely in the region of diminishing returns, especially considering we get it forward so often. Really hope we take this aggressiveness to the Hawks and not go back into our shells, they would prefer us in our shells; they want to prepare behind the footy and switch and snap the rubber band. Clarkson is an excellent coach but he has more and more also rans in that team and we need to expose their best players to our best players and I don't think they will cope.

Lewis does go to ground too much in contests but I never imagined he would have to do as much as he is currently doing. Last week he had the most intercept possies (Hibberd? Lever? Where are you?) this week he gets 20 (!) uncontested possies (ANB, Melksham, Harmes? 10, 10 and 9...). Lewis is being asked (or just does it like the leader he is) to do more than he should be because our next tier mids-link players are not travelling that well tbh. Our midfield depth is so overrated...

It just takes sacrifice @Lucifer's Hero - Hibberd and Lever have to develop an understanding that at a particular contest, one is beating a bloke and the other is killing the contest. They both are looking for contests to kill and it is putting stress on the others. Good players figure it out and they are the best talents we have had in the backline in a generation really. And I don’t want to paint the NM as some sort of failure either - it may be the beginning of it working: Lever-Hibberd (or Levberd as the kids call them) had 19 intercept possies between them, up from 10 last week, and that is with the team getting 10 less against NM (69) than against BL (79).

Going from playing on the third defender to the second is a shift and he is struggling. I do hope we help him and that back 6 allow him to stay closer to the spots he needs to be to cut off footy and help Oscar. And Hibberd and he need to work on how they pay together.

I love that they are putting Lewis through the middle a little more this year - his impact is his decision making into the forward line. At the minute, he is one of the few that seem to hit a target in there. We don’t have many passengers but our mid tier players need to do more, especially for those of you with the ‘let’s drop Lewis’ fever dream you have from time to time. He ain’t going anywhere when he has to do so much. 60+ Inside 50s again... Ummm, we really didn’t make the most of the advantage, much like the Geelong game. We still don’t have a discernible structure and that is to be expected with our CHF out. It just frustrates me when I see Hogan running into THE spot ‘competing’ in the air with his teammates from all directions...

Coached 2s in AFL Canberra. But that is immaterial to the bolded - if the same players keep on doing the opposite of what they are instructed then either the players don't listen, can't institute it and/or it should be abandoned because they are being asked to play a style they can't execute. They better we get the more I would want to isolate our best players and leaving Hogan to battle 2 extra defenders doesn't support that. Something to look out for this week: North will love it if we 'just kick the bloody thing' this week considering our forward line and how we overload the defensive side of the contest...

I think his demeanour is fine, my main issue is with our loyalty to this overloading behind the contest AND then we panic kick to the forward line where our players are not. It is fuel to the fire when teams get a run on. We just give it to them on their HB line. I think we need to read the game better and make it a one-on-one contest when teams have the momentum against us. I honestly think we can win against most teams in an arm wrestle.

I agree, they all have been patchy, it's important for us that they lift - I don't think we bat that deep with those types of players...

I don't agree! And Lewis had about 5 howlers that were cringeworthy but I know the club see him as a net positive. And let's be honest, he will play if fit. He also had 10 intercept possies which is pretty good. Vince did a job on Zorko - he only had 9 uncontested possessions - so he still has it does Bernie. Lever is adjusting to being the second defender as opposed to the third and it is a struggle at the minute... He panicked a few times...young players and all that. Another adjusting is Salem but if we are to turn him into a mid then two months, rather than two weeks, will need to be had before judgement can be made. He was also 2nd in pressure acts to Oliver. Tyson just finds the footy, he can make some mistakes but I prefer him to many others. Harmes sneaks up you but he ANB, Melksham, and Hunt are our link players and they are our bellwether I think - our transition relies on them.

Hannan was largely invisible last week and Tyson > Maynard. I have to say that I didn't think Bugg would play another game after smashing Heeney last year so kudos to him to working back from that precipice. If we are who I think we are - we will win.

Cut apart through the middle in the second and looked like we didn’t know how to move the ball into the forward line in the second half... we had so much footy that we just bombed into the forward line... The backline was like warm butter and Lever’s hands were dipped in them. If anyone thinks we need to practice goal kicking you are betraying your footy knowledge. We have two weeks against poor teams to get less panicky and have some decent forward structure...

That’s just not true. Mike is very bright. And even if he wasn’t why would you be surprised that stupid thrives in the footy media industry? Mark Robinson is the Chief Footy writer for the biggest paper in the country...

If I went to a work retreat where a colleague dislocated a kneecap and another concussed himself with a 'backpack brick' then I would expect the leaders of that organisation to know that that would have repercussions. From that article, the only positives I got was Nathan Jones once again is a leader amongst passives and that this thing didn't happen... We move on, but apparently some at the club haven't. Own it, and move on FFS.

Really dynamic forward line no matter which depth players make it; Hannan and Fritsch can make above their head (and on other peoples heads), Hogan, Petracca, Melksham, and ANB can go into the midfield, and Pedersen, McDonald and Hogan can all be targets for long footy. As opposed to the last 6 players picked, I am looking for the following to be the best players on the park most weeks; Oliver, Petracca, Hogan, Hibberd, Lever, and ... Salem (yeah, I know...). If that happens, we will win a lot of footy games.

I feel as though the 'Extra Handball of Pointlessness' is being eradicated on a small sample set to be sure. I think @Clint Bizkit was one to agree that this one of our biggest issues last year - thoughts? Maybe I am seeing what I want to see.

My first reaction was to throw up in my mouth. My second reaction was ‘huh, AFL must be moving away from white’. And we are back to it meaning little... What will it be in 2020? Silver again?

What a level headed bloke. Hope he gets a shot early in the season.

Maybe just the ones that involve carrying bricks in a backpack...

They cancelled it, after the first one went so well? Sounds like the players saving the club from itself. What did we have last time? A head injury and a dislocated knee cap?

Either me or @Deestroy All coined it... I'm pretty adamant but who knows. I have fried my brain on here a few times...

You get a certificate that is 'signed' by a laser printer...