Dee-tonator

Great news for the next few seasons, but .............. (1) We have no way of knowing whether a 34-year-old Kozzy will have anywhere near the pace and zip that excite us all today. (2) I hope the club has covered itself this time in terms of the payout due if his career is cut short for any reason. Now let's dangle a carrot or two in front of Jackson and really annoy the Dockers.

Unless he's 55 metres from goal on a 45 degree angle and the game has already been won. Then it's a certain goal.

Bowey - cool and skilful Chandler - excellent first quarter. Fritsch - made costly errors. Gawn - dominant in ruck. Howes - justified his selection. Lindsay - struggling for impact. Langdon - great tagging job. Langford - pace too hot. Lever - much improved display. May - turned back clock. Melksham - found going tough. Oliver - a midfield tiger. Petracca - power without finesse. Petty - posed little threat. Pickett - some magic moments. Rivers - did his job. Salem - past his best. Sparrow - another mixed bag. Tholstrup - added midfield energy. Turner - elite defensive showing. Van Rooyen - looked completely lost. McVee - sound and efficient. Windsor - more time needed.

+6 May - back to his best. +5 Gawn - dominated ruck battles. +4 Turner - elite level today. +3 Oliver - tigerish in midfield. +2 Petracca - but still not at full power. +1 Fritsch - for his goals. -1 Fritsch - for his many costly errors. And a very special mention to Langers for irritating and blotting out Nick Daicos.

Effort was outstanding but why did we still bomb it in long all night towards Howe and Moore? That's precisely what the Collingwood coaching team would have wanted us to do. Special kudos to Max, May, Turner, Clarry and Langers (who did a superb job at irritating and closing down Nick Daicos). Sad to say, JVR disappointed yet again. He still does not seem to understand that forward craft involves more than crashing packs. I seldom criticize umpires, knowing that they have a tough job. But when every questionable decision throughout the game goes one way, you have to wonder what's going on.

Would the current version of Fritsch even get a game at West Coast?

JVR + Melksham: zero impact. Fritsch: definite asset (for Collingwood).

According to the Sydney Hand Surgery Clinic: "In general it takes 6 weeks for a hand fracture to heal and a further 6 weeks to reach near normal strength. Very heavy lifting and contact sport should be avoided until the fracture has solidly healed (8-12 weeks)." Let's just hope for the best.

Maynard has already done it and ended the flourishing career of Angus Brayshaw. The AFL tribunal decided, presumably because he plays for Collingwood, that his actions were just fine.

Our forwards would probably trip over the dog.

Another no-show like today would truly make us mince for the Pies. The Johnson experiment is surely over. He has everything except talent. Lever is under-cooked but even that does not excuse his woeful performance today. Presumably Viney and either JVR or Jefferson will come in to shuffle the deckchairs on our rapidly sinking ship. If Viney is still not ready, genuine fears for his career will not be far away.

Votes? For that appalling mishmash of awful goalkicking, constant turnovers, fumbles, misdirected kicks and general amteurishness? You have to be joking!

Unbelievably shocking goal-kicking today from what masquerades as an AFL forward line. God help us if we play like that against the Pies.

Is he good enough to play VFL nowadays?

You are far too kind to nearly everyone, Joeboy.

If there are 100 cents to a dollar, how many Levers make a TMac?

Is putrid too strong a word for this mish-mash of dropped marks, fumbles, wayward kicks and woeful defence?

6 Pickett - Mr Electric Legs. 5 Petracca - on full power today. 4 Oliver - the buzz is back. 3 Gawn - stood tall as usual. 2 Bowey - always cool and efficient. 1 Langdon - high work rate and good delivery. Several others just miss out.

Can any other club match our ability to mess up goalscoring opportunities?

I am never happy to see any player injured. Oh, with the exception of Maynard, of course.

Suggested club statement: "With all defenders fit, this was an ideal opportunity to give a veteran a break". Half true, like most PR statements, and a far better way to treat a man who has confounded the critics who claimed he was past it.

Awful PR from the club, given that TMac has been among our best this season. Surely it is not too late to issue a statement confirming that he is being rested this week. Unless of course there is an idiotic plan to risk him in the VFL. Someone deserves a rap over the knuckles. That said, it was a tough call for the selectors with everyone fit.

If Goody reads our meanderings (which I doubt), he will have learned quite a few things from this week's batch of opinions. For instance: Lever must come in. Lever needs more VFL time. Spargo is the weakest link. Spargo is smart and useful. AJ must be dropped. AJ must not be dropped. Sharp offers little or nothing. Sharp offers pace and defensive pressure. At least we have one advantage over the coach. When we get things wrong, there is no clamour for an instant sacking.

Jackson left us because of off-field issues. Now he wants to leave Fremantle because of off-field issues. Haven't we had enough of those recently?

If lowly North can match the Lions, surely we can too. With Petty and Melksham back, Turner can move forward and provide some desperately needed ammunition up front. Jefferson's non-performance has silenced his many advocates for the moment, and Fritsch seems to have lost the plot completely. Both he and Van Rooyen have only one attribute --- accurate goal-kicking, and in general play might as well not be there. Fritsch is lazy, doesn't chase or tackle, and has lost all confidence, while the slow-moving Van Rooyen seems to think his only task is to take spectacular pack marks, at which his success rate is poor. We'll miss Viney but otherwise I think Goodwin can field a better-balanced side this week. The remaining unexpected and unwelcome issue which has now become clear is, of course, lack of fitness. Occasional fourth-quarter fadeouts can happen, but with us it occurs almost every week. Maybe it's time to put Selwyn Griffith's performance under the microscope.