Skuit

That troubling equation on Demonland when you agree with Stuie or Saty's comments but are still antagonised by their general tone of response . . .

Steve Ther-Manj or Dan - can you cut just one letter off your username? The aesthetics of the over-hang are killing my inner-pedant. Also, why mehhhhhhhhhh as to Lyons (in the context of what's available and our obvious moneyball approach as to incremental improvements to our list)? Genuine question - I'm happy to admit I haven't seen a great deal of Lyons this year but his stats shape up and what I have seen has been decent/promising.

And what ever happened with that Lovett kid? Anyways - why is this thread so short? There's five pages on Cloke.

Viney to Stretch to Lyons will do.

It's all part of a marketing campaign playing to stereotypes. The blondies are up in Brissie, the tatooed one off to Collingwood, and the soccer player signed up at Lygon st. Meanwhile, we have the oldest players in the league to match our club heritage.

This won't even start well.

IDid anyone catch the alleged Jones off the ball shirtfront? I'm stuck with the radio. Sounds pretty serious.

So with Trenners inking a new deal, that's three Jacks, (and two Macs), a Jake, a James and a Jayden, and a Jeffy and a Jetta re-signed for the year. Seriously, it's time to step up Jesse. And maybe we can snag a post-season Jaeger to add to that mix?

It's foolhardy to think that a change of scenery and time in our system might provide any given player a spark to recapture form/consistency, but we need a Motlop. And maybe he'd dig our game-plan? His name came up last year if I recall but the $$$ touted were obscene. And while I thought he might be worth something in the ball-park of pick 12-15 then, maybe it could get done for half-a-dozen or so less in this period. Not unmanageable. Second-round pick swap with a castaway. A Grimes to Richmond for (illegitimate) example. This may prove a far more palatable risk than any O'Meara play.

With Prestia nominating Richmond there's suddenly a big question mark over his footy smarts and decision making. .

1987: 12-10 108.05%

Gawn: 'The boys tried their hearts off' . . .

I was looking forward to seeing Weiderman in the team with Hogan too. But his absence probably doesn't impact our chances of winning, and with one of Weid or Pederson coming up injured the selectors have been saved from Picket's exclamation points. I think the selectors are capable of making tough calls, but would also find it difficult for example to oust players who might not fit the long-term plan but were otherwise playing their role, while also maintaining an ethos of players earning their spot. See the lack of changes for the last Port game, despite it being flagged in the lead-up.

There have been a lot of 'convenient' injuries this year for the selectors - with players slipping in form or needing to be unfairly squeezed out. Indeed, I can't think of many that were considered a big loss on here at the time. Garlett. Viney. ?

Not specifically targeting you Wells but there's been a bit of this sentiment around. Forget for a second the financial and future membership benefits of playing in a final and those further unquantifiable aspects in terms of experience and belief etc., and just examine the contention that we'd be simply making up the numbers in the event of an unlikely finals' birth. Of the current 8, we were done by Sydney in atrocious conditions away and couldn't match it with a still inexperienced Bulldogs side prior to their more serious string of injuries. We've beaten two of the top four in GWS and the Hawks, gave the latter a decent run in our previous fixture, and were within a couple of goals in the final quarter against Adelaide. An errant kick from defeating North in Tassie, and under a goal against the Eagles away while hammering them in the stats. In our last match-up we beat Geelong at Kardinia, a team that despite improvements has shown it is still vulnerable against lesser sides. These teams will be tougher come finals time, but if we do make it, we'll be going in with a full head of steam and I wouldn't discount us as mere fodder. We could also get lucky with a de facto 'home' fixture against Geelong or Western in an elimination final. Prediction: North or St Kilda will win on the weekend and put this thread to bed.

Cheers LH - that's what I thought, but also not sure if this equates to a maximum score of 40 or some coaches' composite out of 10. Or if there's some mechanism to counter reasonable absence, such as discounting the bottom handful of individual vote scores? Could probably discern the former by digging up an old vote tally. Anyways, with Roos' focus on footballers playing their role, it could throw up a few surprises as graded to expectations rather than talent. He's made mention a few times after decent performances that Max has some things he needs to work on. Meanwhile, someone like Bugg could be doing exactly as asked week in week out.

Once again, can someone explain the current voting system? It could have an impact on people's predictions.

Hogan to outpoint Schulz on the weekend.

Viney was the next Melbourne captain before he was even on our list.

Jesse has been absent in our two best wins over the last two seasons. No longer an elephant in the room and not sacrilegious to discuss. But the kid has talent. Let's work out what it is that enhances our attack when he is away and incorporate his attributes into that mix.

Harsh on VDB

I have a European partner who has refused to watch a second of AFL all year despite my contention that it's not all that complicated to understand. Until Round 19, that very second, when she stopped in front of the TV: 'What's going on?' '[censored] if I know.'

I'm amused that three individual footballers will receive Brownlow Medal votes from that match.

And cheers to whoever programmed the countdown clock on the club website.

Captain-in-waiting Jack Viney should be made this week's special guest one-man selection-panel, with the primary selection criteria vs. the Saints being: this ends here!