old55

We went hard after Jamie Elliott last year so it doesn't surprise me.

Is that you Gaddy?

It was great that we found a way to win against an equally desperate side and keep the season alive into the final round. It will be interesting to see if can do the same against Essendon next week - another team that played finals last year and has had a similar horror fixture to us without a break. It's desperately disappointing that we couldn't find that against the Swans or Freo. Now we've seen GWS lose to Adelaide and MFC in consecutive weeks off the back of some arduous travel. It's strange to think they belted Freo in WA just a few matches ago and now Freo is playing some very good football - they are not without a chance against the Dogs next week in Cairns.

That probably means it was Spargo ahead of ANB.

I feel sorry for Weid - KPF at MFC is the worst job description in the AFL with the chaos ball coming in on your head everytime surrounded by 3 tall defenders. He played in impossible conditions in Cairns for two weeks and has been beaten up for countless matches in a row with short turnarounds. Brown offers something but he doesn't offer another tall contested target and the less said about Preuss up there the better. Changes: Nev is my favourite player but he is totally cooked (like Nathan Jones) after years of punishment. Showed his never-ending courage last night but he's a shadow of his former self. Hibberd is the likely replacement. I'm just not a believer in ANB and it seems the FD isn't either - 64% gametime for the fittest player at the club. Harmes is a far preferable option. Most of the debate about whether Luke Jackson should play is around swapping him for Brown, but I think Brown offers a target up and down the ground, was desperately unlucky to be dropped after the Swans game and played some smart football in the last quarter. I'd retain him and Weid and bring Jackson in for Jayden Hunt. Jacko can do everything Hunt can do and better. In: Hibberd, Harmes, Jackson Out: Nev, ANB, Hunt

Interesting that the coach thought the best place for ANB, aerobically fittest at the club, was on the bench with rookies Pickett and Baker when the heat was on in the final minutes.

FYI ... Average Attributes Melbourne Attribute Fremantle 188.0cm Height 188.0cm 87.8kg Weight 88.6kg 24yr 11mth Age 25yr 1mth 78.9 Games 92.8 Total Players By Games Melbourne Games Fremantle 8 Less than 50 7 6 50 to 99 8 5 100 to 149 3 3 150 or more 4

Wow you're more confident of a good outcome this week than me.

With our loss and the Dogs win we're only the proverbial "mathematical possibility" now. Hard to argue we should be in ahead of them anyway after ther beat us easily.

There's 10 changes from the side that played the Dogs 2 matches ago. But all of the core is intact. I hope Harmes, Jones and ANB have some midfield minutes and give the core midfield some respite - Oliver and Viney understandably look tired - they both willed themselves to lift in the last quarter against Sydney which was great but they must be low on petrol tickets. Weid is going to feeling beaten up too flying in all those contests. I would seriously have considered Preuss for Gawn.

Outs make sense. I'm not a Smith or ANB fan but hope they do well, it's a good opportunity for them to show their value.

Norf supporters on BF were gleefully "death-riding" MFC for the 1st round pick we traded to them - that thread has gone a bit quiet now. I think they fell off a couple of weeks ago and have their foot caught in the stirrup and are getting dragged through the dust. At least they'll the picks they dreamed of at the start of the year - 2 & a pick in the teens, but I don't think they'll get them the way they hoped. Maybe we should have a "Death riding Hawthorn's 2nd round pick" thread to show them how it's done.

If we can't win it then I dearly hope it's Brisbane defeat West Coast.

Like @Jumping Jack Clennett said - I feel dirty even thinking about barracking for West Coast. West Coast v Essendon - thankfully I forgot it was even on until I got up this morning.

https://www.afl.com.au/news/493042/cal-twomey-s-2020-phantom-form-guide-september-update

Cal Twomey's intial top 25 is on the AFL site now. 5 of the top 15 and 8 of the 25 are Academy picks.

Yes I think so. Heeney stood on his head for a mark in our FP "right in front of me".

I've still got nightmares from R21 loss at the MCG in 2018 which meant we needed to beat WC in Perth to make the finals. Deja vu all over again here ...

Watched the last 2 minutes again. Dean Kent got 2 of his 9 disposals in the last minute. Maybe the zenith of his career will be that goal he kicked for us in Perth in 2018. Was seen barracking hard against us vs North in the last round of 2019, he either hates us or had a wager on the game ...

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I think it was a goal, but quite frankly I'd be happy if it was touched before the line and the call was wrong and we still won. It will become our Wayne Harmes moment when we go on to win this year's flag and the Saints miss the 8.

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.