old55

Grand Final day: B: McVee May Lever Rivers Petty Salem C: Gawn Oliver Viney Langdon Petracca Hunter F: ANB J.Smith Kossie Chandler TMac Fritsch I: Bowey Brayshaw Sparrow Grundy S: Melksham This means 7 worthy players miss out: Tomlinson Hibberd Jordon Harmes Brown JVR and Spargo I'd really like to fit Hibberd in but I have McVee and Bowey ahead of him. Sub could be Harmes or Hibberd. TMac may not get up, then it's JVR.

Short legs, low centre of gravity - that's not necessarily a bad trait.

If I'm any judge Rob Harding is @Hards who used to post here before he joined the AFL working community.

It's one thing to be eternally negative, but it's another to snipe other posters for being positive like you did with @Jaded No More who has given reasons for her optimism. "Nothing funnier .." eh? Look everyone knows your prediction record is dodgy, with the lowlight being "the rugby player" - how do you reckon he's gone recently? Grow some humility.

it won't be the "end of our season" when it happens, despite the "veil of negativity" that will inevitably descend here

Despite my prediction of a loss this week I think there are changes we have made and can continue to refine to give a better overall outcome this season. We've recognised that we need to be more offensive and are playing Petracca forward and Kossie higher and this has been very effective. We probably lose against St.Kilda, Brisbane and Adelaide without these changes - well done to the FD. There has been a cost to playing Kossie higher and that's we've lost i50 defensive capability, this has been exacerbated by Brown and Melksham in for Smith and Fritsch. My suggested solution is to play Smith forward for Woey. Smith's pace and physicality provides pressure at ground level and in addition he's an aerial threat. Yes Woey has shown a nice cameo and looks a capable Jordon replacement when he leaves at the end of the year, but he's not up to speed for the pointy end of the season. People ask "why didn't we persist with Petty forward?", there's two reasons - he's great in defence with May and Lever and Ben Brown completed his mini-pre-season and was ready to go. BB has tried heroically but I don't think it's working as well as hoped. The FD will want to bring Grundy back to relieve Max who can't ruck out the season solo. We do lose forward craft with Grundy for BBB but this can be alleviated somewhat by including Smith as an aerial threat. Whether they pull the trigger on Grundy this week or wait another week remains to be seen. My forward 7 for the run home is Gawndy (BB currently), JVR, Fritsch (Melksham currently), Smith (Woey currently), ANB, Kossie, Chandler - with some strong minutes from Petracca. I don't really care if Petty comes back this week or next week for Tomlinson. Hibberd could come in for McVee or Bowey - both of whom would be stiff - but maybe McVee needs a spell for a week. It's not out of the question that Hibberd could come in for Tomlinson given Richmond have only Riewoldt and Miller as tall options but I'd prefer the 3 tall backs to prevent Lever having to go 1-on-1. I'd like to see us retain some dynamism this week in the sub and would promote Harmes who can also come on to give some midfield minutes and spare Viney. Changes: Smith for Woey and Harmes to sub Possibilities: Grundy for BBB Hibberd for McVee Petty for Tomlinson I still think we lose anyway but it sets us up better for the run home.

IMO Richmond win this. They've got very close to their best line-up available. Yes they are missing Nankervis, but Soldo is capable replacement, Lynch is a big out - I think if he was available they'd be a real threat in finals this season. They have a strong backline with Balta, Grimes, Vlaustuin, Broad and Rioli. They have their full midfield complement and it's very deep: Taranto, Prestia, Bolton, Martin, Hopper, Baker, McIntosh, Ross, Pickett, Cotchin. As above, their forward line would be much better with Lynch in, but they have sufficient dangerous avenues with Riewoldt, Martin and Bolton. They're playing for their season and we're looking beaten up - Jack Viney, who has been carrying us for weeks, needs a rest and he won't be able to get it this week. Clarrie can't come back quick enough now - we may get some respite vs North the following week. There'll be "season-over" vibes on Demonland following the match, but I don't buy into that, we're still a very decent shot at the flag despite my pessimism about this week.

I rate Adelaide but it's going to be tough for them to make the 8 now after losing Murray to an ACL when Doedee is also out for the season, both Rachele and Rankine out this week with Rankine multiple weeks, and no guarantee Laird will be back.

Saw Mitch at Sandringham vs Casey

Being the eternal critic is the softest, easiest game in town, and you're flying with the twin parachutes of "they're finally doing what I've said all along" and "happy to be wrong" if we do succeed.

I'd like to see Hibberd in for Dusty who is in very good form. The out is tough though - McVee or Bowey, I'd like to retain both. I thought Woey was, not surprisingly, off the pace today and he'd be my out but it would take some shuffling to achieve it. With Kossie playing higher I'd like to see some more defensive pressure inside 50 but I'm not sure who we could move in there to provide it. McVee is probably the best option but it's a big, crazy move.

Kossie was a match winner today. We need to find another way to increase forward pressure and retain his scoring power. You have to be able to score against Collingwood, Brisbane and Adelaide to win.

There's a week off before finals. They probably play, maybe reduced minutes.

Let me guess: "happy to be wrong"?

Agree. I really rate the Crows. Lost to Collingwood by 1pt at home and then 2pts at the MCG where they kicked 7.1 in a quarter. They attack relentlessly and are a great challenge for our system.

yeah, well we'll need to give more than that if we do it ...

A very mature and experienced Collingwood side out there last night. One player with less than 50 games! Average Attributes Port Adelaide Attribute Collingwood 187.7cm Height 188.3cm 87.7kg Weight 87.9kg 25yr 10mth Age 27yr 9mth 104.9 Games 140.3 Total Players By Games Port Adelaide Games Collingwood 5 Less than 50 1 8 50 to 99 9 6 100 to 149 3 1 150 to 200 5 3 200 or more 5 The only club near them this week is unsurprisingly Geelong at 27y7m and 145 games.

I imagine Kane Farrell is not Mr.Popular on the Port boards today. The deliberate OOB that gave Elliott a makeable shot at goal and then dropping the pressure chest mark at the death.

Cal and Riley have been saying on Gettable that he won't be at North next year - Essendon, Sydney?

I think today is a critical marker for our fortunes this year. Adelaide will want to attack through the corridor, it's our best chance to practice and display our ability to deal with this.

Agree. North also have the highly rated Brayden George on their list, recovering from an ACL. If Ben McKay leaves, as expected, then they have Todd Goldstein at 34yo and Nick Larkey as the only two players over 194cm to have played 30 games. They have Corr at 194/120 and Logue at 193/64 next in the pecking order. They need KPs.

Agree. You can add Howe too. They don't have any weak links. The defence first way we play means good opposition is never out of it too, so they'll be there-abouts even if we play our best. We can beat them but a lot will need to go right.

As I posted in the Reid thread, we can rest easy that if Taylor rates Reid as worth it then the hype is real. He has a tremendous record with players like Reid.

Jason Taylor has an impeccable record with mids, not just the players we've drafted but the ones he has coveted e.g. Butters, Humphrey. I have total faith he'll have a definite view on Reid and other possibilities like Duursma. We will actually be in a position to execute on his plan with the Freo pick. It will be interesting to see where Curtin is expected to fall and that will influence WC. North have a lot of mids and he may appeal to them more than say McKercher, especially if they succeed in their bid for Sanders. They may have two picks before our Freo pick too via McKay.

The newsbreaker!