dee-tox

Are we all a bit more zen in this thread now? :) Great quarter. Fritta, Clarry, Kozzy, Hunter, etc.

This will be a slog. Roos under the pump after poor month. Clarkson will make our life hell. So for the game thread. Before we single out players, and [censored] and moan, let's remember that AFL is a tough caper. Go Dees!

Every team runs on system, right? For fans, it's the least analysed part of the game.

Schache will play very soon. Maybe even defence...

Maybe by putting it out there we are trying to stimulate some movement of top 10 picks. Perhaps Taylor and co. have something else in mind?

Think Fritta is recovering from being held/pushed/retarded/ankle tapped/blocked by Grimes and co. every time he went for the ball! Joke umpires.

Unlike us to advertise our intentions but then again Cal Twomey normally has his finger on the pulse. As we've been able to confidently do over the past decade: just back the recruiters to make the right call.

Not sure there were any absolute standouts to be fair. We tend to mark Oliver, Petracca and Gawn too critically. 30, a goal at 80 percent ain't bad going.

Where was this umpiring last night? Great game.

6. Petracca 5. Viney. 4. Lever 3. Oliver. 2. Gawn 1. Langdon.

Bowey is the one for me. 11 uncontested possessions (no contested) and our defence is terrible defending ground balls. This area has to improve.

Except he's from Zimbabwe!

Fritta 3, Kozzie 3 Max 2, Petracca 2, Oliver 1, ANB 1, JvR 1, Viney 1.

Understandable, but if the midfield performs we should get over the line.

Saints are a serious team. Disciplined, well drilled, defensively minded. Their three key defenders, relative unknowns, are dominating. Their small forwards are doing the job. One of my pet hates is AFL fans falling for star individuals over collective team effort/system. Blues had Cripps, Walsh, Curnow, McKay, Weitering, Cerra, etc and were no match for the Saints.

Think Jeff Farmer can also be classified as an import with Freo trading their rights to Farmer for Phil Gilbert.

Fair enough! It wasn't personal, but a podcast is more than asking a bunch of questions and getting stock standard answers. There needs to be some real interaction.

Podcast tip. Be nice if it was a conversation rather than just a Q&A (set of questions he nervously answers!)

Thanks for the info. Any idea if they are trying to develop Deak to be a lock-down defender? Was drafted as more of an outside mid, from memory.

Good post but I would argue our problems stem from the midfield. In both the Brisbane and Essendon games we've been flogged in the midfield early.

They said that about us in 2021. They are fit and they are hungry. Structurally they are excellent. They'll make the eight easily.

Saints look good. Bit like us in 2021. Guys taking contested marks. Manic attack on the ball. Working hard to support each other.

Some really worrying signs. Exposed early by two ruckmen. We are ineffective if Oliver quiet. We have a talls problem. Petty's form this season a concern. TMac couldn't get a touch. Grundy's lack of defensive nous was telling. We don't know how to use Brayshaw. Tomlinson is terrible in the air and should never be asked to play key position defence. There appeared a overly relaxed approach to the game. Hated how Hunter and Bowey refuse to put bodies on line. Couple of selfish pings at goal by Melksham, Fritta, Petracca, etc.

6. Langdon 5. Petracca 4. Oliver. (Second half only) 3. Viney 2. ANB? 1. ?

Bowey played his last game for a month. Pissweak.