CHF

We sit at 11-2 with the bye weekend coming up and I had a look at the second half of the season with a clear eye on how we have gone so far this season. Of course, with Covid there may well be some changes to the fixtures. Round 15 Essendon at the MCG. Away game for us. We have a weekend off and they play this weekend against the Hawks in Tassie. A 85% probability of a win in my opinion. Round 16 Giants at the MCG. Home game for us. The week before they play the Hawks at home. A 75% probability of a win in my opinion. Round 17 Port at the Adelaide Oval. Away game for us. The week before they play the Hawks in Melbourne. A 50% probability of a win in my opinion. Round 18 Hawthorn at the MCG (finally a team that do not play Hawks just before us). Home game for us. The week before they play Freo in Tassie. A 90% probability of a win in my opinion. Round 19 Suns at Metricon. Away game for us. The week before they play the Bulldogs at Metricon. A 80% probability of a win in my opinion. Round 20 Bulldogs at the MCG. Home game for us. The week before they play the Crows at Mars Stadium. A 70% probability of a win in my opinion. Round 21 West Coast at Optus in Perth. Away game for us. The week before they play the Pies at the MCG. A 50% probability of a win in my opinion. Round 22 Crows at the MCG. Home game for us. The week before they play Port in Adelaide. A 75% probability of a win in my opinion. Round 23 Cats in Geelong. Away game for us. the week before they play the Saints at home in Geelong An easy couple of weeks for them at home. A 50% probability of a win in my opinion. So, in the last 9 rounds of the season I give us a better than even chance of winning 6 of the games and a 50/50 chance in the other 3. Factoring in a disappointing loss against a team we should have beaten and one win from the other 3 that gives us 17 wins for the season and that should be enough to get us into the top 2.

11-2 13 Rounds played…..11 wins….. still only 44 points in the premiership bank after a loss to The Pies. A game clear at the top of the ladder that may or may not survive the next weekend. I hope the Cats can do the dirty on the Bulldogs. Well, I had a stress-free weekend in the delusional belief that we would perform well on Monday. That game has meant that I have been in an ordinary mood since the first bounce. It is all a matter of perspective, so my therapist is fond of saying. It is not the end of the world to have lost last weekend, it just felt like it. Losing to that mob while top of the ladder and 15 places above them. We are at the bye and have lost just 2 matches. Lets be honest, all of us would have taken that at the beginning of the season. But still…… bloody Pies, of all the ratbag teams to loose to this season! And so, to the Bye. Really, this time it is the bye round for us. No footy next weekend for us. A bit of R&R for the players and coaches. A bit of time to reflect on what has happened and to look into the future….. Yeah, yeah…. One game at a time and all that but I am sure that MFC will look at what they want to do in September. Only natural. For me, I am very happy with the first half of the season (thanks to my therapist), there have been a number of players that have developed well this season. The experienced players in Oliver, Petracca and Salem have all advanced their skills and in-game performance. Players like Spargo and ANB have stepped up and look to have a bit more in them and the young/inexperienced players Jackson, Pickett, Rivers, Jordon and Sparrow have developed nicely and look to be long term first 22 in the future. The defenders as a team within a team are very, very good. All good from my point of view. For the second half of the season, I want to see a re-set for the team and I want to see the players build on what they have done so far this season. I want to see real belief from the players. I think that they do have the confidence in their abilities, but I just want to see them carry that through the last 10 weeks of the season to ensure that we are in the best position come September. I would not mind seeing them hand out a couple of beltings to a couple of teams…… I am looking at the Bombers. The facts: We have the weekend off – lovely, no loss this week. Stress free Problem areas of the game for us. Looks like it is playing rubbish teams…. Our defence looked ordinary. Half a pace behind the pies forwards and not very well organised. Calm heads required and some thoughtful work to go into what is required in the future games. That is as bad as I have seen our midfield play so far this year. Lack of pressure bad, reactionary disposals. Now for the forwards……. The good; There was no ‘good’ …… there were no forwards The bad; all of it The ugly; my language watching that rubbish This break should give the coaches a chance to re-work the forward structure to make sure we have some firepower in the forward 50. It is an easy way out to blame the delivery but that is to cover the cracks and ignore the structural deficiencies. Sort it out! The Bathwater Express is in for servicing and to have the wheels put back on. It seems a if we can remove a few of the seats as it looks like a few are ready to jump off. Never mind, TBE will be back better than every come the Bombers. My prediction last week was nowhere near the mark….. this week I predict we will see nothing.

This is about as good a position as we could be in halfway through the season. After the bye we will have virtually a full list to select from, top of the ladder a game clear and full of confidence.

"Video of the Weak"?

I just love the ongoing sense of crisis at the pies and do not think they have the experience or fitness to win on Monday no matter the circumstances. I do think that this unfolding in the week before the QB game will really focus our minds on the job at hand. We will expect them to be 'up' for the game as a send off to Buckley and will prepare for it. We also have the added incentive of this being a game in support of Neale. I just hope they go for the unemployed twin a coach.

Just as the players are becoming more mature in their approach to training and playing, the coaches are now more experienced and mature in the way they approach the season. I like what I see and love the results

11-1 (should be 12-0 except for some rubbish umpiring) 11 Rounds played…..11 wins….. 44 points in the premiership bank. A game clear at the top of the ladder and 3 clear of 3rd…… Love it. Stress free weekends and Monday morning hangovers….. I could get used to this. I have to put my hand up and say I cheated a little bit. Watched the game live at lunchtime Friday my time and had a few during the afternoon and had a beauty on Saturday morning. Rested during Saturday and then on Sunday watched a replay and did it all over again. Hence, another slow Monday morning…. All good though. This season just feels more and more like I have entered a parallel universe where My Demons Team is doing exactly as I always knew what they were capable of, winning games from whatever position they find themselves in. Watching the game on Friday, I never felt a twinge of nerves. I just believed they would work the lions out and ease away. A big pat on the back to the coaching setup for what they did at halftime. No big problems, just get back to the basics that we know work. Trust your teammate and go when it is your turn. We went for being half a pace behind the Lions to half a pace in front. And so, to the Bye. The boys have earned a rest. Most likely have a few days off and then a light training run around the witch’s hats to get the legs moving……. Ah….. I may have that wrong. Just checked and we play the QB match against Collingwood at the SCG on Monday. Still, the opening few sentences may still stand. Just so there is no mis-understanding, I hate Collingwood. Very happy to see them in a world of hurt both on field and off field. I do not like to kick a man when he is down but, hey, this is The Filth, where are the steel capped boots?. I am still not sure why Eddie resigned. Was it because of the systemic racism in the club? Was it the chronic mis-management of the list? Was it because of the everyone in the club was completely fed up with him? What ever it was, it should have happened years ago. The facts: We are coming off an excellent comeback win at the Giants stadium against quality opposition – Advantage us They are coming off a fall-over-the-line win against Adelaide in Adelaide– Advantage them We have one day extra rest – Advantage Us We are playing on the SCG – Advantage Not sure. Could be us…. Hope it is. Problem areas of the game for us. Who to leave out. Just let me remind you….. this will be 1st Vs 16th. We are 1st and the Filth are 16th….. Yeah, yeah, I know…… All that rubbish about … “coming before a fall”….. I don’t care. I will rub it in while I can and take the consequences next Tuesday morning Our defenders in the first half looked a little discombobulated* by the lack of the usual pressure from our midfield. May and Lever in particular needed to step up in the second half. I like what I see from Petty. He is sticking the marks and stepping to the fore when required. He just needs to stop giving away a silly free or two per game. This week I would like to see the defenders ‘on’ from the first bounce. Elliott will need a minder as will De Goey. Between them last week they took 15 marks with Elloitt kicking 6. Mind you, he was the only multiple goal kicker. They got singles from a few mids so we will need to keep the pressure on in that area. We will need to work on a couple of the Pies mids during the game. Sidebottom, Pendelbury and Daicos were responsible for 18 of their 31 clearances last week with Crisp picking up a lot of possessions just off the pack. Will be interesting to see how we rotate the matchups during the game. Just on that I did notice at a center bounce early in the first last week that a runner went out during the break and then Jordon and Brayshaw swapped sides, to get the match up right. I like to see these things happen. I think we have the players to really get on top in this area. Liked Jordon filling in for Langdon. I was surprised at his turn of speed and the tank he has. Really enjoyed Max’s game last week. I like the way the game is developing between him and Jackson and I like the leadership Max is showing. They strike a good balance. Would love to see Jackson stick a mark. Lynch to ruck for the Pies? Will they bring in Cox? Without Grundy there looks to be a giant step down to the backup Ruck. Now for the forwards……. The good; We kicked a winning score last week… again (love typing that!) The bad; Not a lot of that last week. Weid could have had a good game if he had kicked straight. The ugly; some of the posters and easy misses… I am not asking us to nail everyone, but just to take a bit more time and care to see if we can get a few. Against a quality defence we did well as we built in the second half. I liked the speed of delivery on the turnover and the space we found. This week while the pies have a couple of handy defenders in Moore and Roughead, a lot of their drive from defence comes from Noble and Quaynor. We will need to keep the pressure on these two to keep the ball in our forward 50. Roughead, Quaynor and Moore are all strong in the air. Selectors will have a one cheese platter night this week. Langdon to come in and Melksham to step to the Med sub. Very good play from Sparrow has to be rewarded. I expect Weid to play in a show of faith by the selectors. I picked up a new cassette for the Bathwater Express when we made a loo stop for Flat Track on Friday night. A song I have always liked. The Tokens, ‘The Lion Sleeps tonight’. An easy one to sing along too. Weeheeheehee dee heeheeheehee weeoh aweem away Weeheeheehee dee heeheeheehee weeoh aweem away In the stadium, the Giants stadium, The lions slept tonight In the stadium the quiet stadium The lions slept tonight My prediction last week was close…. This week I just hope the boys do not start their Bye too early. Dees to dominate the middle two quarters and then do what needs to be done in the last to hold the Pies. First might be a good contest. Dees by 7 goals. * Always wanted to use that word in a preview.

With Langdon out this is as good as the team is going to get. There will be some interesting matchup and I would expect some quick moves of players depending on the contests. Harmes to Zorko or Lyon for me. First up I would have him on Zorko to shut down his clearances. McCluggage to have Brayshaw with him if he lines up on the wing. Might give the inside job on him to Sparrow if he is damaging. Would not be surprised if Robinson goes to Oliver. Will watch the game with a close eye on how they line up. Dees to win by 4 goals.

Flat-track it is!

10-1 (should be 11-0 except for some rubbish umpiring) 11 Rounds played…..10 wins….. 40 points in the premiership bank. A game clear at the top of the ladder. Be still my pounding head….. Monday morning hangover and the blame for my condition can be laid directly at the feet of the mighty Demons. A Friday night win over the top of the ladder to take over top spot a game clear meant for a stress-free weekend during the footy season. Good weather in my part of the world and a couple of friends over for lunch yesterday a few (too many) good wines and Bob’s ya uncle….. Monday morning slowness and headache. Watched the game and saw a very good team win. We looked very focused and composed both when we had the ball and when we wanted the ball. Excellent decision making and pressure all over the ground. Did not give them an inch. So different to the Adelaide game. A very tight back six that worked off each other well. Play like that week in week out and we will go deep into the finals. And so, to the Round 12 encounter with the Lions on Friday night to be played somewhere. This is going to be a big game no matter where it is played. The Lions are in good form with an excellent hard-working midfield and a lot of forward potential. Last week they had 13 different goal scorers for 19 goals so we will need the defence to perform well as well as our midfield to make sure they are held accountable for their roles in defence. The facts: We are coming off an excellent win at Marvel against quality opposition – Advantage us They are coming off a big win against a depleted Giants team – Advantage them We have one day extra rest – Advantage Us We are playing at ??? – Advantage Channel 7 As long as we play at a neutral ground there is not a lot of advantage either way. Problem areas of the game for us. Covering the loss of Langdon may cause a problem or two. 1st Vs 3rd at this time of the season just has to be the match of the round. Two very good sides in form with quality players across the ground. I think it will all come down to which side maintains their structure the best. Our defence is back to being water tight once again and that back 6 just looks so composed, tight and competent, do not change a thing back there just do more of the same. Another test this week with Big Joe and Hipwood as the leading talls. There are a lot of scoring options if we allow them to dictate terms in the middle. I will back our defence to do the job and keep the Lions to a small score. Nothing like the 34 scoring shots they had last week. A bit to sort out in the Lions midfield. Zorko and Lyon are their best clearance chances with Matherson also putting in for a few. Harmes to Zorko? Similar sort of job as he did on Libba would be nice. I can see us asserting ourselves in the middle but without Langdon we might find ourselves a bit exposed on the outside. It will be interesting to see how we play Robinson. He looks to be in a great run of form at the moment. Gus as his direct opponent? My tip for the players is to make sure that dead head Matherson does not suck them into anything distracting or silly. I love our pressure. Max was good again last week and is working back into some excellent form. I can see he and Jackson tag teaming McInerney and I think we will win the hitouts easily. Last week McInerney looks to have rucked by himself most of the day with Joe taking a few of the forward rucks. Now for the forwards……. The good; We kicked a winning score last week….. Never gets boring…. The bad; Some of Weid’s marking attempts The ugly; Looking in the mirror this morning….. Well, it all worked pretty well at the pointy end last week against a quality defence. We had talls doing their job and not getting in each other’s way too much. Looked to be much more space in the forward 50. We had smalls at the base of the contests and managed to snag a few. Looks like the plan is coming together…… maybe…. Langdon out will not do us a lot of good. Baker to slot in? Seems the most likely. The way selections are going this season we look to be trying to disrupt the structures as little as possible that is why I cannot see them robbing the back zone to move one of them on to the wing. Like for like as much as possible. Bathwater Express is back to purring along like the potent animal it is. Barrelling along singing the song and letting the world know we are on the way. We acquired a pet bulldog along the way. Ugly beast but as timid as they come and loves to be on the leash. Any suggestions for a name? Loser? Now for the prediction…. Don’t worry…… We got this one. There will be a spark from them in the first quarter but then it will be all us the rest of the way. Dees by 4 goals going away.

Pretty much what was expected in selection. During the first quarter last week Melksham looked the goods but them disappeared from the game. With him only playing a bit over 50% game time it is understandable that he did not have much more impact. It was a strange way to use him last week. Give him more game time and judge him on that. There will be some great tactical games played tomorrow night. The bulldogs have a lot of strength and height up forward with the inclusion of English to ruck along side Sweet and both rotating into the forward 50. Either of them along with McNaughton and Bruce will stretch our backline. Add to that Bont moving through there as well and we will need to be in top form back there. Hibberd to Bont when he is in the forwards. Salem will improve the defence this week. In the midfield there are a lot of Bulldogs that can cause problems. I expect McCrea, Libba and Smith to contest the first bounce against Oliver, Petracca and Kossie. Looking forward to that. We really need to exert our will on the game from that first bounce to make sure we are proactive for as much of the game as possible. we need to get them on the back foot and have them working to close our players down, not the other way around. Get on top in the middle and force them to make the changes. We need to make sure we are well prepared and well drilled to react quickly to any adjustments that are required. Not sure what we will get out of the forwards this week. One thing I would look to do is set Spargo to run with Daniel to try and curb his influence.

9-1 10 Rounds played…..9 wins….. 36 points in the premiership bank. WTF???? (the same a last week) And now 2nd on the ladder. Firstly, an apology, usually I bang this out on Mondays but as it was a public holiday where I am I had a couple of other things I needed to do and yesterday I had a game of golf. Played like a dog. Managed to scramble 33 points without hitting too many good shots and leaving a lot of points on the greens with less than good putts. Bit like us on the weekend, thereabouts but not good enough. Hence, I am banging it out today instead. Damn, I found it frustrating to lose to Adelaide the way we did. Have to say no amount of “the umps got it wrong” from the AFL makes it any easier to accept. Hate it! Our defence was found out and may had a shocker against Walker and his murder of crows. Of all the people to have a bad day against??? The rest of the defence team were also out of sorts, we gave up the most points in any match so far this season. Adelaide also applied constant midfield pressure that paid off for them. I hope that our newfound maturity is reflected in the game next week. We need to learn from this loss. Still, as much as I was disappointed with the loss, Sitting 9-1 after the first 10 rounds is pretty damn pleasing. I would have ripped ya arm off taking that at any time before the season began. And so, to the Round 11 encounter with the Bulldog at Marvel on Friday night. Big match…. And that is an understatement. Whoever wins this goes a game clear at the top and builds that little bit of a mental edge over the other team. The Bulldogs have been cruising lately but have a couple of injuries that may take their edge off. We have a few problems of our own on the injury front but that may be on the improve. Salem looks likely to be back which will help in defence and will also give us additional drive from the back half. The facts: We are coming off an umpire error loss in Adelaide - Advantage the maggots They are coming off a light training run against the Saints witches hats. – Advantage them We are playing on at Marvel– Advantage them The odds are stacked against us. Problem areas of the game for us. Umps are a problem that we cannot do anything about. They are already responsible for effecting the results of 3 games so far this season. While the game itself ha the potential to be a classic, 1st vs. 2nd. There are individual contests within the game that will also be more than interesting. Who runs with Bont? Harmes? Who gets the job on Petracca and Oliver? There is going to be so much to watch. As good as the defence has been for 9 rounds, it looked to lose all structure on Saturday. As I said, May had a less than ordinary game and there looked to be a plan in place by Adelaide to bring the ball into the forward 50 low and hard. It worked. Last week the bulldogs had 15 of their 21 goals scored by 5 of their forwards. If our defenders are no better than last week we are done. And done by a lot. Salem back for Jetta should help settle the group a bit. One can only hope. Midfield improved their center clearances a bit and that will be needed to give us that initial drive to unsettle the Dogs. McCrea, Libba and Smith need to be controlled in this area. We can match them with Oliver and Petracca and last week Brayshaw snagged a good number of clearances as well. I see this area of the ground as a close arm wrestle that will determine the outcome of the game. We come up against the best midfield in the competition this week. It will be minus Treloar and that will be significant. Really looking forward to this contest. One area of the contest we might just have an advantage is on the wings. Looks like English might be back after a 4 week layoff to challenge Max. Good to see Max regaining a bit of form last week. We won the clearances last week and gave up 15 goals. How does that work? Now for the forwards……. The good; There was no good The bad; The goal tally from our KPFs The ugly; My mood after the game. Gee it must be tempting to go back to the initial setup we had at the beginning of the season that was forced upon us by injuries. There looked to be so much more room for the forwards to operate in. Last week it still looked crowded and the forwards were static with ordinary slow delivery. Not sure how you sort it out. I would still work this week around Tmac/Weid/ Fritsch setup with Jackson/Max working through there as required. Maybe best to leave all that to people that are wiser than I. Changes? Salem back for sure. The other thing I want to see is Sparrow get another run. I like the pressure he brings, and I think he will develop well over the next season or so. Bathwater Express is misfiring on a couple of cylinders and we missed out on the adding the twin overhead crow feathers to the aerial last week. Never mind, I will take 9-1 at this stage of the season. I am not one that will stop drinking the Kool-Aid at the first sign of stomach cramps or a bit of vomit in the mouth. I am in this all the way. Now for the prediction…. Head and heart in a big battle. Head says Dogs in a close one. Heart says “never in doubt!”. Have to go with the heart…… Dees by a couple of goals!

That depends on the definition of tall forewords. Not so much the definition of the tall part, more the definition of the forward part. Brown for Jackson is not really like for like and I would expect Jackson to spend very limited time in the forward 50. Weid and Tmac to spend a lot more time than Jackson at the pointy end. Forward roles will be defined a bit differently this week.

Petracca and Oliver have very different skill sets and have very clearly defined but different roles within the team. The great part is that both are performing at high level and driving the team performances. I also like the fact that they feed off each other in the games. Not that they look to move the ball on to each other to the detriment of the team but they seem to have an awareness of position that allows them to react instinctively. Great to have both of them in the team. I could not split them.

With the team selections I have decided to revise my prediction. Dees by 8 to 10 goals.

I think that dropping Brown is an acknowledgment that they got the selection wrong last week. We just seemed to have had too many tall forwards tying to get some space in our forward 50. Brown was the unlucky one as I am sure that the selectors wanted to give Weideman a couple more games to get a settled look at him. Same thoughts on the dropping of Chandler and reinstating of Melksham. Chandler was unlucky not to get at least another run in the senior team but his inclusion last week with all the talls looked to unbalance the structures and positioning for the forwards. Melksham will give us a bit more flexibility in linking between the back half of the ground and the forward half. I really like the look of this team and think we will play to our strengths against Adelaide and run out comfortable winners. There is no nervousness apparent in this team.

Danger game? I don't see it. We have them covered in all areas of the ground and so far this season all I have seen from our team is one that is able to respond and work out a way to win. Simple structures, setting up well behind the ball and players taking on the proper responsibilities. Nah, not a danger game.

I would find it tough to drop either Chandler or Weideman after just one seniors game. I know that Jackson is a young gun but Weideman did his job and I think Max's game improved a bit on the lat couple of weeks and it may be because he was asked to spend a bit more time in the ruck. Chandler to get a second game to allow him to settle in. Chandler also allowed Spargo to move up the ground a lot more. Only change I would make would be to bring Sparrow in as the med sub instead of Melk.

9-0 9 Rounds played…..9 wins….. 36 points in the premiership bank. Pinch me…. I gotta be dreaming. If I am, I am not sure I want to wake up. I love to win against Carlton. Let’s face it, who doesn’t? We are getting a lot of my favourite scalps this season. To go along with Carlton we have Richmond, Geelong, Hawthorn and North….. hate em all and love to beat em. There are a few more scores to settle this season. Bring em on! Watching the game on Sunday had a strangeness to it for me. We had a number of players that were down on their early season form, but the teamwork covered the individual form dips, and I was never worried. Always had the answers and the big thing that I noticed was that we had a hell of a lot more run left in us in the last quarter than the Baggers did. I have seen a lot of references to being “May Premiers” and “peaking too soon”. Anyone that has watched our last few matches will have to concede that we are not really “peaking” in any sense of the word. Want to see “peaking’? Look at North against the Hawks last week….. And so, to the Round 10 encounter with the Crows over in The Land that Time Forgot on Saturday afternoon at Adelaide Oval. The Crows started the season on a high with Walker kicking a bag each week and they were sitting 3-1. Not bad. However, they have lost their last 5 games and now sit 15th on the ladder. Bad. They have a few problems. The facts: We are coming off a cruisy win over the Carlton - Advantage us They are travelling back from a loss in Perth – Advantage us We are playing on their home turf – Advantage them We have one day extra rest – Advantage us Problem areas of the game for us. Some areas have small problems and others have even smaller problems……. Problems, nevertheless. On the travel again this week. Of the first 9 rounds we have traveled and won in Canberra and Hobart and now move on to a trip to Adelaide. I get the feeling that, after last season with all the disruption and last minuet travel plan changes, that MFC has a positive outlook to interstate games. Look at it as a chance to get together. I am amazed at the way our defence is working. Good structure and the right players in the right place at the moment. May and Lever as the rocks, the generals, that the rest of the defensive squad build their game on. Petty looked better this week and did his job very well. Hibberd is solid and experienced, and Salem is in the best form of his career. Add Rivers and Hunt and there is a very well-balanced structure that is the best defence in the league at the and drives a lot of our attacking movement. Noticed a couple of Demons helping out back there at times in Spargo and Weideman. Good to see. The Crows forwards do not look to present too many problems, but I expect to see Walker back in the team this week. Hello May. Of their forwards last week McAdam and Berry kicked a few between them and may bear watching. We have them covered in this area of the ground. Not sure what to make of the midfield. Why can we not at least break even on center clearances? It is not up there with Brain Surgery and Rocket Science is it? Is Viney so essential to us in this area? Really want to see us sort this out. I know that the mids bring great pressure on the opposition around the ground and also at stoppages and that is critical to our success. However, it would make their lives easier if they cleared the ball a bit more. Crows have a few quality mids in the two Rorys and Keays. After that the quality falls away a bit. Keays we will need to pay a bit of attention to as well as Sloane. Would love to see Petracca put in a good one beside Oliver. Love it when they are both on song. I could go on about the midfield but you all know the quality we have out there. Max was better this week. Seemed to have his head back in the game. Knew what needed to be done and did it. Adelaide will have problems matching up in the ruck against him and also around the ground. O’Brien rucked for them last week with forward back up of Frampton. WC had double the hitouts that Adelaide had. WC won the clearances 32-30 so the Adelaide mids were sharking the ball at the stoppages well. Now for the forwards……. The good; we kicked a winning score last week, again. The bad; the forward 50 looked to be standing room only it looked so crowded. The ugly; Max and Chandler spoiling marks for Brown and Weideman. More Talk! TMac is in excellent form and with Fritsch will again present the biggest problems for the Adelaide defenders. The beauty of having Brown, and to a lesser extent Weideman in the forward 50 is that Fritsch gets a mixed bag of defenders on him and TMac causes problems because he drags his man all over the ground and generally runs their legs off. A hard structure to match up. Our forward 50 is where Adelaide looks to have the most problems with manpower. Their defence does not have the KDPs that they need to cover our rotating talls. Their defence has conceded 850 points so far this season. To put that in context, we have conceded the least number of points, 560. While we did not gel in this area last game, I think we need to have another look at this set up. Spargo and Pickett were good again. I would give Chandler another run to see how he settles. Not sure if there will be any changes to the team this week. Would look at bringing Viney in if he is 100% and match fit. If there is any doubt keep him in our pocket for next week. Possibly Sparrow as Med Sub for Melk. Bathwater Express in Cruise Control but I do have a nice new set of blue bags in the boot. Had to add a few more seats as we were near capacity. The road ahead is flat and straight for a good way, but I do see a few hills up ahead that we will need to navigate. All good at the moment. Purring along. I thought/hoped we would win by more against Carlton. My winning margin was wrong. A bit more conservative this week. 4 goal win after it being tight at ¾ time. Go Dees!!!!

I like this team. TMac to have a lot more movement up the ground and to be fill in ruck. With Chandler in the team I can see Spargo playing a bit more expended role a little further up the ground as I believe Chandler is a natural closer to goal. The other option is to have Pickett play in middle a little more.

Center clearances on Sunday will be interesting to watch as we lost ours 4-17 last week and Carlton lost theirs 7-23

With Jackson's injury it will make for an interesting selection night. Personally I would bring Weideman in for Jackson and look at rotating both Weideman and Tmac into the ruck as the game requires. We get a chance to mix and match the forward talls to see if we can get advantageous match ups. I like the flexibility we have had with Jackson in the middle and think that with Weid will have similar flexibility but it will be different because of the different mix of skill sets. Sparrow in for Melksham for me. nothing wrong with Melk but I just think Sparrow will bring more pressure to the contest then what Melksham does. I also think that with Fritsch we have a better version of Melksham. I am one that looks at the possible midfield rotations in a team and like to see more rather than less.

I agree with the idea that we need to bring our 'A' pressure game to this one. I really like the way that the players seem to have trust in each other. No longer do they feel like they have to step in every single time to help a teammate in a contest. They give him a chance to win it and step in if required. The pressure we exert looks to cover a wider area around the contest than it used too.

It's a hard life!

The Great Sock Debate!!! I predicted this in one of my early match previews and prediction threads. I said that if we kept winning we would be reduced to complaining about the socks.