Chook

My twitter feed right now is bizarre. It's 50% insane tweets about Donald Trump's attempted assassination and 50% proud Melbourne supporters pumping up Koltyn Tholstrup and the gang. I may or may not be tweeting on both topics myself, like a madman.

This one is going to be tough. Fremantle have the wood over us in a big way, and without a recognised ruckman against Jackson and Darcy it's going to be brutal. On the positive side, the whole side is starting to rack up some confidence and belief again, and would be absolutely primed to atone for one of the worst performances put in by this side under Goodwin a few weeks back. Van Rooyen will have to play majority ruck unfortunately - he's simply our best option in that spot, as much as I'd love to play him as a forward. No chance Gawn gets up for this you wouldn't think. Win this one and our finals chances truly are alive. Lose (as expected) and we're still in the hunt but it's going to be tough.

Looks more like McDonald's running gait, that.

I agree, AMW is the best of the three. Laurie won't make it. Woewodin is good enough to be a fringe AFL player, and who knows he could explode one year and win a Brownlow (it's happened before). Moniz-Wakefield has clean disposal by hands and excellent tackle pressure, shows far more than the other two in my eyes.

Whew! Felt a bit of movement at the station there in the final minutes, but overall a performance full of merit. Still a long way to go this season, but we're putting together some solid footy again. Bowey and Sparrow are just not up to it at the moment. I shudder any time they're near the ball whether they have it or not. Bowey has some solid kicking skills but he's just too small. Sparrow has a solid frame but his intensity is so so poor. In contrast McVee and Windsor are constantly on the move and working at high intensity. Van Rooyen sacrificed his forward game today to put in a manful performance in the ruck. Great work from him and Turner. Petty was there also. McDonald, May, Lever very influential in the backline.

McKay is challenging Joe Daniher for dumbest AFL player tonight.

Bloody happy we ripped away early in the last. Not so happy we've shut up shop like this.

Tom Sparrow never gets out of a jog. Absolutely low intensity footballer.

Has Bowey ever won a defensive one-on-one marking contest?

Soak it up dees. I hope the Goodwin haters are curling up with some warm milk at the moment because it's been a great performance from all concerned.

Turner is such a beautiful set shot for goal. Not to pile on Petty, but compare Turner's routine to Petty's (remember the Lions game) and it's night and day.

How good is Caleb Windsor playing at the moment. He and McVee are a touch of class.

KOZZY!

What a goal from Melksham! Love this bloke.

Clear free unfortunately. May whacked him in the gob. Not.

Jeez, the live ladder has us less than a game out of the top 4. What a bizarre season (port and Brizzy have a chance to leapfrog us still this round).

Great grinding performance across the first 3 quarters to win a three-goal lead. Can't be scoreless in the last again though. I worry about Jake Bowey. He's a very little guy, and is often caught out in one-on-one marking contests or moments where he has to lay tackle pressure.

Look we knew it would be an uphill battle in the ruck, but credit to Goodwin for cobbling something together with Petty, Turner and Roo. I feel Roo has kind of had to be called in because Petty's pretty hopeless unfortunately. Great work to break even and even win the contests in the 2nd quarter. Hoping the weather stays poor because Essendon's running handball game has cut us to pieces when they've been able to implement it.

Windsor does great stuff but at his best he'll be a top tier wingman - a much lower ceiling than Jackson. The other two boys are untried at AFL level. Given we're in our window now (or were in one, it's probably closed now to be honest), potential is worth a lot less than current output. If Windsor becomes Robbie Flower Mk.II then I'll re-evaluate the trade.

Melksham and the kids should be very very hungry given most or all of them missed out on 2021. Hopefully it's enough to light a fire under the bums of a few veterans (Salem, Clarry, May, Langdon in particular come to mind).

Luke Jackson is an absolute star and we were royally ripped off when he left.

Win tonight and it's still going to be a tough road to make finals. Lose and it's almost impossible. As others have mentioned we're showing some really positive signs with our tackle pressure and forward connection (Roo is looking like a gun in the making imo). I'm cautiously optimistic about Petty and Turner tonight in the ruck. I think Roo should play forward 100%, as he's so critical to our structure. Melksham will play a big role in keeping the forwards functioning as a unit, and will be instrumental in us getting the best out of van Rooyen. Let's go Dees.

Petty has had a lot of trouble getting into the game as a forward. Having him be a defensive ruck following Draper around the ground and helping out defensively could work very well in theory. 1. Gets him into the game 2. Utilises his defensive nous and knowledge of the backline structure 3. Potentially providing a good marking target down the ground 4. Keeps the forward line open for players who know what they're doing (Roo, Melk, Fritta, Kosi) to go to work Better than Fullerton, who wouldn't really be able to do any of that

Agreed. I think JVR is a great 2nd ruck but we need him at full forward more. Carlton get by with Cripps at stoppage, so surely we can fill the position when Gawn is off the ground with someone who isn't quite so vital to our structure up forward (as JVR is).

Personally, I think this is a wonderful decision. Melks should return via the AFL team to help us win. Supporters continue to show they have no clue with their team selection advice.