dee-tox

Tomlinson is hopeless in the air.

Week in the ressies to get some match fitness. Ten weeks off is a substantial amount of time.

Bluey and Olisik are back! Dees must have lost...! With that said, must say Jackson's form this year has been ordinary.

So in the third when it mattered we lost eight clearances in a row. OK, Gawn was forward (probably injured) but WTF was happening in there? It is hard for the defence to compete one-on-one when we are giving up clearances. After four losses in a row we should have swapped it around. Thrown Kozzie in there or give Dunstan a go. Jackson's form is a big concern.

6. Viney 5. Jordon 4. Lever 3. Oliver 2. Fritta 1. Kozzie

Kudos to Freo. Their last half was a masterclass. One thing this game shows is the impact the likes of Langdon, May and others have. Take them out and we struggle. Add to that Petracca doing nothing... Also, plenty of people rave about our depth. When we have Melk, Weed, Dunstan, etc we aint that good. Thought Bedford was the exception. Played a great first half. He will only improve. What I would like to see if Bowey continue his one on one defensive skills. Was shown up a few times today. Jackson has struggled since the Gold Coast game. We need him, Gawn and others taking contested marks on the wing

He doesn't impact contests. Needs to be more kamikaze. Brown at least brings ball to ground and gets involved.

Wow! This is one powerful team! What I like: Viney: In full beast mode. Bedford: that speed is mesmerising. Kozzie!!!! Max turning it on in the second quarter with his own clearances. Petty filling in for May. Lever doing great. Things to work on: Petracca is quiet. Rivers has made a few blues. Jacko could do a bit more especially with Lobb being so dangerous.

Strange discussion! Paul Roos always maintained it was the system or game plan that mattered not individuals. Especially early in a season. But within that system there had to be complete buy in and significant talent. Melbourne have that. Agree with RJay too, Salem is a massive cog in that system. We'll get even better when he returns.

What I've liked about selection in recent times is that it is position related. So if Viney is out, Dunstan comes in. If Harmes (forward/ tagger) is out Melk comes in. The exceptions to this are when pivotal players like Salem go down, Brayshaw takes on his secondary role and Jordon goes to the wing. Based on this if Langdon is out you would expect Baker to come in. It's position for position. The integrity of the 'structures' are kept where possible. I can't see them playing Bedford, Melk or Chandler on a wing.

Goodwin likes his players to win their own ball.

Personnel wise, the Blues appear to be the best matched team. Many said this at the start of the season. No surprise when they have McKay, Curnow, and Weitering plus a Jackson-like talent in de Koning. The midfield also has some similarities with great clearance players like Cripps, outside mid in Walsh and defensive midfielders like Hewitt. Even their small forwards have copied ours with their pressure game. Melbourne perhaps still has the advantage in my opinion of going harder for longer and our supreme fitness should not be undersold. There are pros and cons on each side. An advantage in the ruck can be huge in finals. As can a quarterback like Salem that can also defend is a point of difference. There's also the X factor of Kozzie and Fritta. There's three months to wait until they play and injuries will play a role. But I can't wait to see how it pans out.

Good insight to what most Demonlanders are well aware of. I don't think Marc McGowan belongs at the Herald Sun!

I think it was a pretty hard fought win in the end. There were plenty of things that didn't go our way. Norf hit us with everything they had. Langdon being subbed out was a big blow. Max had virtually no influence. Nor did Brayshaw, BBB, Petty or Hunt. There were a few blokes down on their normal output but they all contributed. The positives though were Lever is getting back to his best. Rivers was very solid. The small forwards in Kozzie, Spargo and ANB put plenty of pressure on. Jordon and Sparrow were handy. When teams hit you with all they have and you win by nearly 50 points and remain undefeated then you should be pretty content as a supporter.

6. Clarry 5 Lever 4. May 3. Tracc 2. Spargo 1. Fritta Lever is getting better every week. Great to see. Rivers best game for the year as well.

If we are going to be objective, there is a problem. Has kicked 9-16 this year. Two things stand out. The ball drop appears too high and he tends to lean back too much. The good news is these things can be fixed and he does look much better when he consciously has a low ball drop.

A cricket analogy. It will be like playing on the same ground you last made a double century on!

Awesome first half burst. Won on the inside and the outside. At times the kicking was amazing. The good: May, what can you say. Best player on the league at the moment. Brown. Such a handful for opposition. Always brings ball to ground. The bad: Our rucks. Max seemed to get injured in the second quarter. Jacko was beaten by two good rucks. The ugly. WTF was Zac Jones trying to prove ironing out Angdon and elbowing Clarry. Ridiculous

6. May 5. Langdon 4. Brown 3. Brayshaw 2. Oliver 1. Trac.

Classy little player. Interesting whether it is us who are interested or whether it is his agent pushing a connection to the Dees.

Lever had his boot off straight after the Hawks game. I'd suggest his problem is his foot not covid.

Of the guys that missed last week because of covid, only Pickett appeared on the track today at training. No sign of Jackson, Sparrow, ANB or Petty.

At the moment I think he is the best player in the comp. His last four games have been inspirational. Getting clearances, kicking goals, laying tackles... I am not sure if I had to choose one player who else I would want in my side.

6. Max 5. Trac 4. Clarry 3. Bowey 2. May 1. BBB.

That's OK. Some don't have May in their top six. :)