Ron Burgundy

You drew a big fat line in the cement ages ago in relation to Jack Watts, ProDee. And you have stuck to your guns ever since. Quite frankly, you got it wrong. He's had a terrific season and has been a critical player for us. Simple. But I expect a combination of confirmation bias and general stubbornness won't change things.

Sam Mitchell. Brent Harvey. Tom Scully. Hayden Ballantyne. Potentially Joel Selwood. Anyone who gets under the skin of Bernie Vince. Or any of our mids really.

I hate Garlett being omitted. I really hate it.

I agree with this - but the issue here is that this particular young experienced group of players is very competitive and looks to be a tight group that is well coached and will be playing together for many years to come. That's why the young, inexperienced group in this instance is so relevant and so exciting.

I'm just wise OD. Like a miniature Buddha covered with hair.

Conditions sucked. It was like a misty, soupy morning on the Western Front circa 1916. Hard to judge a floater coming in. And yep - I give Jeffy the benefit of the doubt on everything.

He should be instructed to attempt to mark it each time. Might very well become the best tap ruckman in the comp.

I'm flying down from Sydney for this game. Gutted that Viney's out. Trenners being in though would (almost) make up for it.

Despite the considerable improvement we have seen this season, the team selection in some of the games this year has been curious to say the least, and in my view it has absolutely compromised our performance in certain games (those games being against the Saints, Essendon and Port). Pedersen may have missed the Port game due to match ups, but he's not the only player I'd like to know why they've gone missing. Dunn is another experienced player who's no longer in the mix. Finally finding some depth seems to have troubled the match committee.

I don't understand why Oscar Mac regularly gets selected before Dunn each week.

I. Love. This. Post.

I love Jeffy. One of my favourite players. Thank you Micky M. Potentially the most demented trade in the history of the game.

That. Was. Sensational!

And the sharks are bigger and slightly less friendly over there too.

Kelly is a gun. But I'd probably take the Bont or Cripps over him. Does Barrett think GWS erred in this respect? Or does he just want to limit his view to hanging carp on us? Nasher has summed up the purpose of this trade from our perspective, something that dolt seems not to comprehend. Salem and Tyson are long-term best 22 players for us, and our list ain't bad.

Geez there are some good players in that draft.

I don't. Need teams that you love to beat. And they're hardly some vanilla club. I want to see the club prioritise re-signing all of our core players. If we snag Hurley without giving up too much, then fine. But I want to see the club stick to its clear and deliberate recruiting strategy - it's paying dividends. In this regard, I love the fact that we kept picks 2&3 a couple of years ago, even though at the time I was all in favour for trading one of those picks for an established A-grade midfielder. In short, the club clearly knows what it's doing. And I back them to get this one right too.

This thread sucks.

Nev Jetta was on the way out of the club too. Players can turn their careers around. Watts is in the mix for the third tall forward AA slot thus far this season. Many here need to let go of the past and assess him on his performances this year, which have been bloody good on the whole. His kicking (field and set shot) and vision around the ground is elite. Suspect the club would be devastated now if Watts decided to leave the club (which I think is highly unlikely in any event, given that he seems to be a quality individual with proper settings on club loyalty etc).

Predictable. Kicked 3 goals and set up others. Not a great game, but definitely a pass on any (reasonable) construction. Junk time goals? Nope. It's good that we arrested a potential 10-15 goal blow out and competed until the final siren against a top 4 team. The Bulldogs do not ease the foot of the accelerator in 'junk time', which I take it you mean the entire second half given that's when Watts lifted his game, kicked his goals and set up others.

Yet another pick that Jason Taylor nailed.

Hey - that's my line.

All decent, modern coaches like to reward players in a functioning, winning team. Haven't got the time or inclination to find the literally one bizillion direct quotes on the topic, but google Paul Roos' media conferences since the early 2000s and you'll find plenty of quotes affirming this. No one would advocate playing, say, Michie on a tall forward etc - that'd beggar belief and defy logic from a professional football department. The generic principle remains though. In two games this year: Saints and Essendon - I have thought the team on paper doesn't look quite right. Thought we needed Dunn in the back half against the Dons and another runner/genuine mid against the Saints, something acknowledged by Roos immediately after each loss. To my mind, the side fielded against the Suns had a good balance to it. And relevantly, every single player played out of their skin, both individually and as a collective, so I think absent an obvious player mismatch against the Bulldogs or someone literally kicking the door to Fort Knox down in last week's performance in the VFL such that they absolutely deserve to be selected in the seniors, the team should remain unchanged. Hardly seems a controversial statement, but some here would argue that day's not night and vice versa.

We beat North. The scoreboard just didn't ultimately reflect that.

No changes. Best win we've had in about a decade. Have to reward every single player in last week's team. And it's a well balanced team too. Lumumba coming in would be the only potential change. Love Salem, but I reckon a game in the VFL might be what he needs. ANB, Dunn and Matt Jones must be cutting themselves.