rpfc

Your optimism starts and ends with the Geelong win. We should beat Freo in Darwin and WB at the G. We should smash GC at the G and StK at the G. We should not fear the Swans on our home deck.

@stevethemanjordan - I know you are not a Tyson fan and I don't have issue with that in and of itself - but our midfield just got pantsed for the second time in two weeks with the games best ruckman. If the bloke who got 35 touches and 7 clearances and looked polished and better than everyone else in the twos doesn't come in - I have a real problem with how and why we select players at match committee...

If any club could do it...

If we are who we thought we were on Monday morning - we will play finals. I am more interested in when we will have a win that show we have become a flag chance and I haven’t had that moment yet. It may happen this year but it might not... I think we are out of excuses/reasons pretty soon.

Smith stays. He did some good things. Tyson should be right in the frame and JKH, Garlett, Stretch and Frost chances too. If we want to move past Pedersen then Weid is a really promising ruck now which makes that an easier decision. As a 3rd tall, Weideman is fine right now. Harmes, ANB, Vince, and Hannan should be worried IMO. Spargo had a ripper 2nd term but faded. He looks lively though. Hannan, Harmes, and Pedersen for Tyson, Garlett, and Weid is what I would do.

I thought Lewis was great yesterday. When I was watching off the footy he was invariably the designated loose in the absence of Lever and the fact we couldn’t afford to move Hibberd off Sidebottom. Buckley really took Goodwin to school yesterday... but that is another thread. In an interesting aside - Lewis has to do more than we would want him to do when Viney went down last year and now history may repeat with Lever. I am very comfortable having someone like him back there. Really think the OP doesn’t like him and is waiting for any and every to blast him. Sad.

Vanders has always played a little 'shorter' than he is when the ball is in dispute and a little 'taller' than he is when it's in the air. Those effing ankles... I would try to keep both in some form as there is more value to both than we can get during trade week. Depends on what the club wants to do with the Kings, JKHs, and Johnstones of the list...

Groan. So, we are first in Contested Possession, and second in clearances and we 'need' Wines? We are 5th in uncontested possession and up until the last three weeks have not got reward for our Inside 50s rate - which tells me that we have had issues entering our forward line with the ball, not getting the ball. I love great players too, and would have loved if a different decision was made in 2012 to get Wines, but I know what kind of player I would chase. Let's see who the club chases...

WYL, let's have a tiresome back and forth over the definition of 'needs' in inverted commas... Or you can accept that Viney and Oliver and Jones have more in common with Wines than they do with Gaff or other outside players?

He’s great but not what our midfield ‘needs’... Gaff is definitely a skill set that would compliment Viney/Oliver/Jones/Harmes/Brayshaw et al. Also Petracca over the next few years will progressively spend more time in the midfield and he is something no team has enough of; power mid with good hands and explosive speed culminating in very good skills out of a contest. So keep some room for that to happen...

Really excellent interview and Goodwin comes across as a Roos acolyte with the concentration on the 'care' the club has for those at the club. I know he isn't just a Roos acolyte and he brings his own style and experience but that culture Roos started is why people want to be involved in the club and why it is so hard to leave.

Some players have to be comfortable playing roles to let others shine. CP5 is playing a role and I think to call him Sylvia Redux is pretty rude tbh.

North of the wall... (GoT reference)

His sloppiness with the footy is what hurts him. I will stand by the fact that he is bloody good player - you don't find it as easily as he does without a great deal of talent. What a great place to be that ANB, Harmes, Fritsch and co. are keeping him out. I trust him to come in and contribute and keep us going and that is great. You can't replace your best players of course, but Tyson could easily be in the 22 that runs out deep in September.

It would be utterly remarkable, and lend credence to the 'sleeping giant' fever dream we all have about the supporters that have been subdued by years of mediocrity emerging from the cold.

@monoccular - it’s not so crazy, they do similar gate sharing in the US sports. Land of the free, home of the comrades...

I think that is direction from the coaches box. We also haven’t laid a sheppard in 3 years so that is direction as well. Usually, you get yelled at for handballing backwards over your head to someone you can’t see... Maybe I am just getting old...

He and Hogan are so damaging and complimentary - it is underpinning our flag hopes really. We can get smashed in the middle and still kick a winning score because these two attract a confident transition from our players behind the footy. They know they will get rewarded when they turn the footy over and move it quick.

The closest thing we have to replace Lever is Hibberd doing what he did last year. Whether we go tall or small will depend on match ups but Hibberd will be the intercept player and we will try to allow him to do that.

Do you end up telling him? It has been almost 5 years...

Are you railing against the criticism to nix the camp or are you railing against criticism itself?

I will celebrate his 300th as a great of the game but the 307th is meaningless. It’s about how many times you front up in the red and blue.

Nah, get to my feet and stay there.

As a tall forward I was offended on behalf of Tomald when Fritsch ruined his mark late in the game. But his vision and skills are just so impressive. Footy scouts would have overlooked him for the dumbest of reasons.

Poor fella. Next man up, but Lever would be devastated. Hibberd will have to step back a bit.