old55

That loss to the Cats that @Delusional demon 82 referred to above was the most devastating H&A loss I can recall - it gutted me. If Kent had kicked the sealer on Saturday night after a 50 I think that would have topped it.

Saints lose to Eagles and Giants. Dogs lose to Eagles. We win 2.

The wrist grab is a relatively recent and deliberate innovation. It's pretty obvious when it happens and would not be too difficult to umpire.

One rule change which would aid the ball winner and protect the head would be to ban grabbing the ball player by the wrist. It would still ok to pin the arms but no grasping the wrist. That's a very effective tactic that has potentially dangerous consequences and makes it too hard for the ball player to complete a legal disposal.

I think we need a squad mentality in this next set of 3 games. I think our starting midfield needs some respite. I'd play Harmes in his former midfield role and retain Petracca, Oliver, Viney and Brayshaw but give them less minutes. That will probably keep Jones in the team despite his 2nd quarter coach killer error. Maybe ANB for midfield minutes, he was talked up in the scratch match. i'd be tempted to play Preuss in place of Maxy, it's Sinclair/Allir this week and Darcy/Lobb next weekend so it would have to be against Sydney I think. Brown and Wagner were fine - We're not going to drop a bloke that went back with the flight like that and then got straight back up and took the next mark (not paid because of some unrelated free). JWags started out fumbly and I thought here we go, but he tightened up and played his best game for a few years. Spargo's tackling pressure was good and as @PaulRB said - our zone was good so our whole team must've worked hard off the ball unseen on TV. Kossie's pressure is good but he needs to take responsibility and win the ball, he's overawed as his tap on to Petracca showed. Just grab the thing, turn on the after burners and kick the goal. He also falls over too much. Hopefully he's being coached on this. I'd give CWags, Bedford or Chandler a run in his place at least this week. I thought Tomlinson was good, he was just solid and effective which is what we'd be hoping for. AVB was MIA until the last quarter. Fritsch has might come in for him. Lockhart for the injured Hibberd. I'd retain Oscar for structure and what he enables May and Lever to do. But they might opt for Tomlinson back there again because the Swans aren't as tall as the Saints up forward. I'm not a Smith or Hunt fan.

Brought May, Langdon, Lever and Tomlinson to the club who were all very good tonight.

Massive win. What a great effort against all odds. Petracca vs St.Kilda -how sweet that is.

Copper no doubt mined in your great state. He's been a naughty boy. That's all I know.

Sandra Sully with the late news. I know there's a time difference over there Steve but try to keep up.

the new "day before" set-up plays havoc with Fantasy football

WoaDB ?

No way - more likely "Water off a duck's back"

I think v Collingwood in the last round of 2017 - fail v West Coast 2018 R22 in Perth - pass v St.Kilda in this round ...

It's a line in the sand game - if you can't see that then you need a visit to the optometrist. There was absolutely no way Max was not going to play. No players are at "100%" at this time in the season - all are carrying some sort of niggle.

Preferred outcomes: In Perth without West Coast in it OR In Brisbane and West Coast lose it to Brisbane

Vaccine should not be made mandatory but those who refuse to take it and therefore put society at risk should be excluded from other health benefits provided by society - e.g. no access to Medicare.

Martin Pike mkll?

A win this Saturday

Yes your claim to fame is that you think Oliver is a great player - genius!

Lynch charge for punching Hurley in the throat dismissed! "I was only doing what Dimma and Wally did in the 2000 GF" Someone needs to fix him up good!

Daniel McKenzie at St.Kilda was mentioned on the AFL site, can't break into the Saints 22 because: "But the rapid growth of young defenders Hunter Clark, Ben Paton and Nick Coffield – along with the transformation of Ben Long into a damaging half-back – have the No. 36 just on the outer." Here's a story about his re-contract and he sounds like he has some attributes we could use - toughness, pace, lock-down. https://www.afl.com.au/news/132083/saints-lock-down-no1-competitor-for-three-more-years Richo would have the necessary insight.

In: Gawn, Rivers, Jordon (if available) Out: Preuss, Sparrow, Spargo (if Jordon is available) I'd move AVB from the wing to the forward line to increase our tackling pressure there. And I'd move any one of Hannan, Melksham or Fritsch to the wing - I can make a case for each of them: they are all strong overhead and therefore can provide a target and all can deliver well inside 50. I'd move Viney forward for a significant amount of gametime and I would backfill his and Sparrow's midfield minutes with Harmes. If you want to see what Viney can bring inside 50 look at 2:27 in the highlights video: https://www.melbournefc.com.au/video/799313/rd-13-match-highlights?videoId=799313&modal=true&type=video&publishFrom=1598080461001 As above, I'd move Harmes into the midfield to backfill Viney and Sparrow and bring in Rivers to the back 7. If Jordon is available (he wasn't mentioned in the Scratch match vs St.Kilda) I'd bring him in for Spargo because I think he may offer more midfield depth grunt and I already have 7 forwards with Weed, TMac, AVB, Viney, Pickett and 2 of Hannan, Melksham or Fritsch.

Agree, but we are still on the improve, we're not going to lose anyone critical out to age - Nev and Jones, and Jackson, Kossie and Rivers can make us better. Key elements of this outfit haven't played all that much together yet. The Dogs are the same age bracket as us but are a bit better, I'm confident they'll win flags.

The Dogs are a very talented young side, they're better than they were in 2016 and they're back to full strength with Hunter and Naughton in the side. They were better than us because they probably ARE better than us, particularly with Maxy out. They wouldn't have been able to get away with that ruck set-up against Max and it's true we weren't able to adjust to it. They haven't got their game going until now this year, it's going to be interesting to see how they go against the Cats and the Eagles in the next two. We can't win the flag but we can still make finals.

Full strength highly talented Dogs line up will be our toughest test for the rest of the season IMO.