dee-tox

If you bring him in it is a replacement for the likes of Harmes, Dunstan, Sparrow, Jordon etc. Not sure that's a priority plus I can't see the Hawks not re-signing him.

Wonder if West Coast are also interested in Mitch Edwards the best of the rucks. Rated between 10 and 15. Has ties with Freo academy but as we know they have no early draft picks! WC need a quality ruck with Nic Nat done. You wouldn't think English wants to leave the Dogs to spend at least three years at the bottom of the ladder. Trade with us and they can get Curtin and Edwards!

You'd reckon the journo would have run it past the club before publishing. McGowan has a very good reputation as a journo... I think list spots are so tight at Melbourne at the moment.

Think I'd have Woey or Tomo as sub way before Harmes. Harmes is having a annus horribilis! Can't see him on the list next year.

It's a huge worry though. Missing two-three months of footy and resuming in a major final...

Agree! The genuine lack of insight is astounding. Pseudo intellectual jerks like Whately or brain dead ex footballers like Brereton are the worst! One of my peeves is the concentration on individuals rather than the team. It's all about overperforming (star vehicles) or underperforming (trade bait) individuals. It should be about the gameplan and the execution of the gameplan because that is the single biggest factor in a team's success. Taking Melbourne as an example hardly anyone has discussed our gameplan tweaks where we went from free scoring team early in year, to ultra defensive in the middle of the season to loosening our defensive structures in the past two games. The narrative is we have no key forwards, no star power, Petracca is amazing blah blah blah. Proper analysis would show the where, why, how and the who of us holding back numbers or similarly when we are loosening numbers. Such analysis would give fans a proper insight into what their teams are trying to do. At the moment it is player xxx is good, player yyyy is useless.

I see it, but I don't see it with our list demographic. We need quality mids. Either ball carriers with skill like Curtin and Duursma or inside replacements for Viney and Tracc (Reid and McKercher). If we progress how I think we want to progress over the next few years, we may not get another chance to draft top end talent in the midfield. Spending it on small, albeit incredibly skillful small forwards may not be the best plan of attack.

Perhaps, but Brayshaw missing from 15 metres on the left was easiest shot of the day!

Brian Taylor probably thinks a wildebeest is a wild beast...

Rankine was on McVee mostly and then midfield.

I actually thought at the Bulldogs he had more depth in his kicking. Going short all the time makes you think he has a groin/leg issue? He still contested the pill reasonably well.

Career best season.

I get that but he was exposed big time on the spread. Just doesn't have the running capacity of others.

6. VINEY 5. Kozzie 4. Langdon 3. Salem 2. Max 1. Chandler

The second string midfield really struggled. Sparrow, Jordon, etc. May a shocking second half. Viney is top two best and fairest. Good stuff Kozzie and Chandler. Langdon played a good contested game. Tomlinson some good things.

What is the midfiled doing?

You work so hard to kick a goal and you give one away like that!

Jeez, Crows swarm the midfield. Wonder if they can do that for four quarters. Liked: Tomlinson, Rivers, Langdon and two Chandler goals. Viney and van Roo. Disliked: Centre square clearances. Max four disposals. Marking in fwd 50.

Fair chance West Coast will trade their number one pick to us, right? They'll want the safe bet of Curtin who will fall around our pick (five or six) We can swap our first and throw in a second rounder. Done deal!

Ever since the media declared the Don's would make finals they have fallen apart!

Sounds ridiculous but I still rate the Crows. They run like scalded cats, have a decent midfield and sometimes an effective forward line. Sort of game where if we are slightly off we'll be licking our wounds. I reckon they are as good or better than the Don's, Freo and GWS and we know we fared against them...

Let's not forget that around 2018 Jake was one of our best players...

The machinations of our game plan are complex, but to date we've only really had Max and Grundy playing ruck and forward. Why not split them up a bit? For instance when we go forward often we have both as targets next to each other, competing for the same ball. Similarly when May kicks out it is often to dual targets on that left wing. Couldn't Grundy run to the opposite wing and draw a big defender, create a mismatch? Maybe station himself in the corridor as a marking target? In the forward line, why not provide an option in the opposite pocket to free up BBB or Gawn? But maybe this about numbers at the ball and the overall gameplan... The other thing is having either ruckmen a kick behind the play? We don't seem to do that and was one of the reasons why Essendon got us early in the year with Phillips and Draper killing us.

Bit hard to read 😀 I agree there is potential to play midfield and that's why I said we can revisit after a few pre-seasons. Big difference between AFL hardened bodies and WA Colts. At this stage of the year let's just be thankful he's doing what he's doing in the backline!