CHF

Selection this week will be interesting. Not just for the team that they end up selecting but for what it might suggest about the selections last week. I hope that they just write the Sydney game off and start with a clean sheet. Bowey injured and out for 8/10weeks will test the smaller man depth in defence. As others have suggested, I would move Salem back into defence with Howe on the IC to make up the 7-man defence group. If one of those goes down during the game, we will be tested. If May is not right, then TMac or Hore comes in depending on matchups. Midfield will require a change or two. While I would send Laurie back to Casey till he is bashing the door down and full of confidence, I think the selectors will retain him for this week. Windsor and Langdon on the wings with backup from Billings who gets a start. If required, ANB to fill in there. Oliver, Petracca, Viney and Sparrow primary rotations with Pickett, Rivers, Salem and ANB getting a run or two in there as well. Moniz-Wakefield to get a debut. Either that or Woey to get a run there. He looks to have put on a bit of muscle, and I would be interested to see him through the middle. Our forwards are always going to be a talking point of each and every match we play this season…… so? What to do? After last week I would drop both of Chandler and Spargo. It won’t happen which is unfortunate in my opinion. Neither of them was anywhere near good last week both look out of form and a bit lost out on the field. You bring in Pickett for one of them and I would give Sestan a run to see how he has developed and if he fits the team. The Medium is Fritsch, of course. For a tall I would like to see BBB if he is anywhere near fit enough. From training reports he is on a modified program to nurse him through the season and will most likely be a game to game proposition with his knees. I would also have Fullerton on the bench as back up forward/ruck. Not sure how good he is in the ruck but from reports he gets around the ground well. If one of Brown of Fullerton are not match fit then we look to Tmac as he could cover both ends of the ground and even contest a ruck or two. So this is the team I would like to see. FB: Lever, May, McVee HB: Rivers, Tomlinson, Salem C: Windsor, Oliver, Langdon HF: Neal-Bullen, Ben Brown, Sparrow F: Pickett, Van Rooyen, Fritsch Fol: Gawn, Petracca, Viney IC: Howe, Fullerton, Billings, Moniz-Wakefield, Sestan (sub) Not going to happen – 5 changes? More chance of me getting pregnant.

I seem to recall that we played Fritsch for at least half a season at HBF and it did not work out too badly for his forward work.

Disappointing start to the season but I am not one to write off the whole of 24 on such a small sample size. I want to see how we respond to this. Selection was baffling in my view as was he selection of Billings as Sub. I have wanted Bailey Laurie to succeed and have seen some good bits and pieces of ply from him. I have to say that I would not have him in the gameday 23 until he has absolutely battered the door down with a succession of dominating game at Casey. The forwards have been a problem for a number of seasons and I do not see any improvement in the situation. Delivery has been blamed but if you do not have movement or a dominating target to kick to then it does not matter how well it is delivered. Last night I saw a forward line group that did not look to have a clear plan to work too. Schache really did not give us anything worthwhile and I would look at playing anyone else and put Schache in the same basket as Laurie. Here are half a dozen doors marked Casey..... let me know when you have knocked them all down and then we can talk. Our small forwards were nowhere at the fall of the ball at contests. Chandler and Spargo have to be better than that to have any sort of influence on the season. Ben Brown is having a run at Casey today as is Fullerton. Bring in either of them or both. Bowey is out for a time by the looks of it and My was tentative in the second half. there may be a number of changes on all lines of the team for the next game. Howes looked good and not out of place. I hope he can bulk up a bit over the next few years. A lot to work with. Same with Windsor. He looks able and the more games we get into him, the better. A shoutout to Tomlinson..... he was very good and did his job. Petracca had a patchy game and Max was outplayed and out thought. sure he lacks protection from the umps, but that is par for the course for him and he usually sorts it out during the game. Clarry did what he could and was effective. Viney BOG. He was at his best. I liked the games of Salem and Sparrow but after that lot we had no grunt or cover from others that worked through there. Sydney picked us apart with quick accurate passing by foot and a load of pressure and running. We did not cover them and our pressure on the ball was very uneven. Now let us discuss the coaching.... I saw nothing from them during the game in response to the way Sydney were playing or in response to the situation in the game. With Yze gone, who is calling the game from on high with Goody on the boundary? it worked well the last couple of seasons but did not look to have the right level of understanding last night. The coaching group have a lot to work on. not just the team and the tactics, but also their own game time performance. So on to round 1 against the Bulldogs...... what to do?

I find myself not really bothered by the whole discussion regarding our ruck and forward structures. As far as the forward structures are concerned, I really do not see us performing a badly as last season. We had a raft of injuries to a number of key forwards that kept them out of the side and the players we had there for a majority of the season were relatively inexperienced. Add to that sub-standard delivery into our forward 50 and poor conversion rate when the forwards did actually get the ball. We traded in a couple of options and we have a bit of flexibility and variety to plug and play into the forward mix to see what is the best setup. I am one of those that do not write off any players stepping up and performing at some stage during the season. Any improvement on the performance last season is a bonus as far as I am concerned. With the ruck situation, again, I will look at how they set up and how the perform in the season. This is where the coaches show their value and work out the setup and game plan for stoppages. At the center bounces we have Max as a tap ruck that, in the past, has not consistently found a man. This has lead to our mids being a very good reactionary team. Hunt down the ball, nail the player with the ball and turn it over. Where max is of great value is around the ground as a critical link. So often he is hit up as a target, he marks and feeds off via hand or foot to initiate attacks. So I am not so much concerned about the actual ruck work. We need to find someone to do the running to position as Max does. Not an easy thing to find. It is a very different list to last year and I think we will se a different team, setup and style of play.

Yep. Good advice. I have been having regular blood tests every 6 months for many years. 18 months ago there was a significant jump in my PSA levels which is an indicator for Prostrate problems. After additional tests and a biopsy The indicators showed that the cancer was a vey aggressive type of cancer. Had all the offending bits removed as that was the recommendation of the surgeon. 1 months down the track from the op and all is clear and trending the right way. the regular tests meant that I got it early. Get tested!

It will be interesting to see which way WC go with this pick. I just do not see the advantage for WC to keep pick 1 and take Reid. I do not see a single player having the impact they need at the moment given the situation they are in. I think they will split the pick with either us or North depending on the way they see the draft selections going. While I am sure they would like to get Curtin into the club along with another top 15 selection this year, they might well think that they can forego Curtain if they believe there is other quality options. I think we need to keep in mind that WC have all their draft options in play for next year as well. I think this will only be resolved on draft night.

Petty is not the first and will not be the last to be in a situation where he has a preference to move closer to home and family. (yeah, I know he is from a small country town miles from Adelaide) I do not have a problem with that. I will judge him by the way he plays and approaches next season. I will judge him on the fact he is a professional sportsman and I expect him to work and behave as a professional sportsman.

Speculation only. Does an offer of Pick 6, Pickett and a F 1st get consideration from WC for Pick 1?

Agree that is a move I would like to see. I think he would really have an impact there. The move I have heard is related to key position.

Not really hearing anything leaking out of the MFC. Hearing a couple of whispers but nothing really solid. Heard a couple of people say that they believe Flynn will get across the line to us. I think that would be a good result. Mc Adam move might be in doubt. No idea why and I do not rate this whisper. Have heard that the club has a few different strategies in play and that the direction they take will be dependent upon what trades fall early, and not just trades we are involved in. Harmes more than likely to stay along with Tomlinson. I did hear that there may be a key positional switch coming up during the preseason. Will keep the name to myself until after the trade period. Heard nothing re: Oliver except what has been on here.

Heard a few whispers but do not have a lot of faith in the veracity of said rumours. I do like that there is little or no leaks coming out of the club these days. We know that Deakin Smith is gone...... Dunstan retired..... Hibberd retired...... Jordon 99% out the door as a RFA.... Grundy 80% out the door traded to Sydney? but I think the club would not mind if a deal cannot be done and he stays for another season. For what it is worth unfounded whispers..... Harmes is looking at options but I have heard that there is a deal available for him if he stays. Chandler or Spargo may be on the table depending on the offer. Brown and Tmac I have heard that one of the two will retire with the other staying on the list. both have been mentioned as staying and both have been mentioned as retiring. No idea which way this will play out. Tomlinson will be getting more games next year as the third leg of the main defensive tall trio. As for drafting and trading...... More whispers. No real news on possible forwards. We are talking to a few players with regard to this year and trade period next year. seems hard to get a clear idea of who they might be and the chances of getting them. I did hear that we might be going a little left field for a possible solution in looking at a kpp, not necessarily a recognized forward, to cover the position should JVR of Petty go down. I heard that we will try for Reid but will not sell the house to get him. We have spent a good deal of time talking with him and his agent. I think we will be taking a longer term view of this situation. Not really a lot out there from what I have heard.

I think that there is an agreed strategy in place between the club and both players dependent upon a number of different and, at present, unknown factors. These factors may include how the players themselves feel after their after season break, the attitude of the football department after the trade and draft, their understanding of the players vision of their future and a prognosis of their potential fitness to face another pre-season. Brown, I can imagine might want to continue working in football through a coaching stream whereas I would think Tmac might well be looking outside football for a future. Both know they are close to the end of their footy playing days and both can retire knowing that they have a premiership to look back on. Good luck to both of them. I do not pretend to know what will eventuate or have the knowledge to venture an opinion but do have faith in the ability of the club to make the right decisions.

Still on the other side of the world. Enjoying the weather, food and wine in Tuscany. It’s a hard life but someone has to do it. Will be streaming live and look forward to the Dees winning. I expect a hard close opening but we will get on top in the third as our structures and contest take centre stage. Dees by 7 goals. more wine! More food! More wine!

With the Doggies missing the finals I think that is also the end of The Pornstar, Lukie Boy.

Anyone, Any where, Any time.

Dear 58, I do not want to be pedantic but what you quote as evidence is really just a collection of opinions. I am unaware of any direct evidence or confirmation from Brody that he wants to move to a club where he will be the No 1 Ruck. All will be revealed in time.

I believe that he will be with us next season as we need a ruck backup for Max and he is the best one going around. I do not see us getting a replacement across the line to join the club. The club will ask him to give it a second season with us and he will accept. Max is not getting any younger and gets no protection from the maggots. I could see Brody giving max a week off every now and then during the season, playing alongside max where possible, covering any Max injury and looking to improve hi forward skills. I think he will want to take his chances in a club that is firmly in the premiership window. If he moves on we are pretty much without a viable ruck. EDIT: what evidence are you talking about? Media speculation?

I believe that Grundy will be at MFC next season.

Very interesting selections in this team for Sydney. The 22 are pretty much what is to be expected but the 8 man IC that needs to be trimmed to 4 and a sub provide a lot of options that we can only guess at. The same goes for Sydney. They will be looking at what is the possible biggest threat. My IC would include Tomlinson as I think that the defence looks so much more settled and secure with either Tomlinson or Petty playing back there beside May and Lever. I would also have Fristch and TMac there as we need to see how they are with fitness. As long as they will qualify to play at Casey the following weekend if they need to run. 4th on the bench would be a choice between Sparrow, Woewodin and Laurie with Smith as sub. Yeah but..... wadda I know?

Good team selections. A bit to watch on replay with Laurie and Tomlinson. I tend to get lost in the emotion of the game when it is live and like to go back and watch the replay to see how players went. Any chance we might see May go forward if we have a good cushion in the last quarter?

Grey, overcast and wet here in NW Europe. This weather should hit Melbourne around October.

I good win last week. I know it was against the second bottom team that are in a world of hurt, but after a very soft and unaccountable first quarter we went to work and turned it around to the tune of 10 goals. Kudos to the coaches. They identified the problems sorted out what needed to be done, told the team and the team did as they were asked. Mutual trust between the team and the coaches means that the team trust in what the coaches are asking and the coaches trust the team to respond as asked. For Carlton we will need to make a couple of changes. In defence I would like to see Tomlinson come in. With May not in good form and making a few uncharacteristic errors I think it would be good to have the cover and flexibility of Tomlinson to call on. I may look at moving Smith back to sub to accommodate. Oliver, if fit, for Harmes or Jordon. I think the call will be based on what the selectors see as required. Harmes brings the pressure and I think he can still tag if required whereas Jordon is a bit better and cleaner with disposal. With Oliver coming back to the middle, they might see Jordon as a bit more value with a bit more outside run. I will be interested to see the Petracca/Oliver combination back in business. I expect Petracca to spend more time forward than he did before Olivers absence. it works well and with his movement between forward and on ball it makes him an even more difficult match up. Shame Petty is out at this stage of the season. he was shaping as the sprinkle of magic dust we needed in the forward 50. maybe three possibilities to replace him. Grundy, Schache, Brown. Pros and cons for each of them. Might leave that one to the coaches and selectors. I think they might play Grundy just to make a point and see what is what. I do not mind that but the ruck cutout with JVR has worked a treat in the last few weeks and I would like to see that continue. if Grundy is there he plays forward or is on the bench. I can see the Dees bringing their 'A' game for 4 quarters this week as a test run for the finals and winning well. Just a note on Smith. I would like to see him attend a couple of centre bounces. He might just surprise in there.

Who was he playing for?

Finally got a bit of time on my hands to see what is happening in the Demon world. Been a busy time for me playing in the sandpit with the grownups. Had a watch of the Crows game and a couple of things really caught my eye. In defence, Tomlinson looked very good and his game was pivotal with May looking a bit off colour. Also think that Rivers game was excellent. I would not be surprised to see him more time in the midfield next season than in defence. He may even pop up on a wing for a bit of time. He has the smarts and speed to burn. I like the way that the midfield is being managed in the game by the coaching staff. A lot of flexibility and a lot of variables to keep the opposition looking both ways wondering what might happen. I also noted the game of JVR when he was relieving ruck, he did not look out of place there and it might be that as much as anything that is keeping Grundy at Casey at the moment. Jackson Mark II? The forward area is its usual mystery box. Fristch goes down and we bring in Melksham and the change looks seamless. No Grundy on the ground and Gawn bobs up and kicks a couple. Chandler a couple and Kossie great in the middle and a couple of goals. If ever we get some consistent games out of a tall forward combination we will have found the magic dust. After a couple of close games this game against Richmond gives us a little pressure release which could be dangerous. I am aware that we are a well structured mature side but we still need to have our collective minds on the game and not let any complacency to slip in. Tough being a selector at Melbourne these days as we have a lot of good options in all areas of the ground and a lot of players putting their hands up. Defence is a solid unit and performing. Tomlinson deserves this game and to continue as long as he holds form. I would start McVee on Martin in the forward line initially and trust the mids to hinder delivery into the forward space. Martin is half a pace slower than he used to be and it would be good for the development of McVee to beat him. Petty for Brown is ok, I would have given Brown one more run there to see if he could get on the end of a few but understand the thinking. We need to get a bit of time for Petty there prior to the finals to see what we can see. it will be interesting to see what will happen when Fritsch gets back. While I would start Oliver every single game that he is fit for, I have feeling that his prolonged absence will be good for us in the longer term as it is giving our other mids a chance to move into some different possibilities. in a lot of ways it has forced the coaches hands to look at different setups. Who would have thought that in Oliver's absence we would move Petracca forward more and have Brayshaw, Pickett, Sparrow and Rivers spending more time there along with Jordon. Speaking of Jordon, with Sparrow out injured, I am looking forward to seeing his game this week. Smith as sub again this week and I would still love to see the coaches game enough to put the trigger when required rather than 5 mins into the final quarter. I feel a good win coming up. Dees by 5 ........ goals

Some people on this site only see the mistakes and the negatives in a game without appreciating the big picture. I watched the game and saw a willing close contest with the ebb and flow of momentum. All the players made mistakes, some under pressure and others without pressure. It happens in a game of footy. What I see is that we have a few rounds to go in the season and we are in forth place on the ladder a couple of games and percentage clear of 5th. We have been playing the last 8/9 weeks without one of the top 5 mids in the competition and without one of the leagues top goalkicking forwards. Add to that Petty injured and I think it is commendable that we are winning matches under those circumstances. We also have players like Grundy and Spargo playing for Casey ready to step up when required. Melksham has been great cover for Fristch and Tomlinson has been a seamless replacement for Petty. A great position to be in. We do not have to rush anyone back into the team. We have the time and space to allow them to be 100% when they come back into the team. Good wins over the last two weeks and a good position to be in. I will state for the record that the Demons team in the '21 Grand Final played the best footy I have every seem a team play. As close to perfect as you will see. EDIT: forgot Hibberd who is also worthy of a team spot.