pitmaster

Been nervous all week. Just a little bit excited now. This could be great.

From what Goodwin said - "he has put together a good block of form" - his selection also reflects form at training as well as that one VFL game. And on the matter of "the body" Goodwin added that BBB has built his body to the point that he has confidence in it, implying that was a hindrance early in the season.

Goodwin explained that he was on limited minutes because of the five day break.

Spot on. And those bagging Pickett need to explain what he had to crumb to. (Answer: nothing and so it will remain until we select a key forward to make a contest.)

There was no lack of noise and support. What was lacking was intensity (early) and smart decision making and clean execution.

So difficult. I agree with everything both of you have written.

So far Sam is on track with Tom Hawkins who was dropped and on the block at age 23. It's the next 11 seasons that count. Given his current limited trade value, and his known ability, I'd say keep him and work on his self-belief.

Speaking for myself - it's a two to 2.5 hour round trip so yes to 2 above. And since we are not allowed in to the Casey oval and must peer through a chicken wire fence - the outer outer - it's less rewarding and I think there's less to be gained so yes to 1 above.

Given his place in the throw-in drills he looked like a mid but as for his starting position I can't say. I first noticed him in general play as a 'release' player outside the contest. Partly he stood out because he had no number but he looked agile and in Jack Dyer terms, got to where the ball was.

Sorry Ben. I saw him dob two but another observer who had been there the entire time said he had three.

Viney was moving really well. Looked right to go. Brown also would have to be considered given he clunked a few and kicked mostly straight. The rucking contests I referred to came after the two quarters. Brown stayed out practicing goal kicking after the others went in. Clarry also stayed out, doing some extra running on his own. Good boy.

Unfair to Nibbler who has improved his accuracy markedly.

Only two, 20-minute quarters. Hardly a big workout and not a lot of goal scoring. Four in total if the scoreboard told the truth, but I was a few minutes late and missed some action. Weed did himself no favours and barely touched it, if at all. Sad but he is going to have to be relegated to find some confidence. Brown kicked a couple of goals that I saw, missed one, and marked a few. De Class looks very likely and was noted in heavy traffic and was included in post-match boundary throw in drills. Daw rucked well against Gawn in the same boundary throw in drills. Red headed kid Bowey was busy. In the first quarter the teams were probables (including Weideman) in blue and possibles (including B Brown) in red. Think of your first choice team and they were the blues: Jones and Jetta for example were among the reds, although so was Petty. May, Lever, Hunt, Langdon, Gawn, Gus, Clayton all blue - get it? For the second quarter Weid and Brown exchanged places. Melksham was also a possible (red) in the first term and a probable in the second but I did not see who he swapped with. Annoyingly some random passer by insisted on engaging me in conversation so I found it hard to concentrate even though I tried to ignore him, so I don't have much more to offer. The most promising element was De Class who really looked at ease. Oops. Late edit: should have added Viney was with the reds - don't know what it means, if anything.

Could not believe he did that. Absolute scum.

Terrible result. Dogs were brave. Hate those hicks.

Great effort Dogs. Still might get up.

Same for my single report - didn't know about the joeys then!

Goody spoke of four days off then a good hit out Saturday. Anyone going to Casey for that? Anyone know if it's a morning run or afternoon?

Good in theory but haven't we been told how strong he's become? I am not giving up on him but he needs to rethink his approach. While he has not been contributing a lot directly, 2 goals was his best haul and had he kicked straight it would have been three, until Monday he was creating contests and our smalls were roving to the spillages he was creating. On Monday he made one strong spoil that ended with a goal to LJ but otherwise had little impact. I agree his game meant we were playing one short and he must be dropped for the Bombers. Nonetheless given he has limited if any trade value atm we should persist. We saw in 2018 that he can play but clearly something is missing. Given the age profile of our current forwards we may as well persist. Having said that, the suggestion of Petty forward is not totally out of left field given his game up forward against the 'Dogs in 2019 when he marked almost everything that came his way and kicked three goals (I think).

Right now he has next to zero currency. He needs lots of work maybe with Williams to build his confidence. I couldn't see us getting better than a late third round so maybe if Williams/Yze whoever, think they can get him firing we are stuck with it. As for the Bombers, Viney is a certainty probably for Sparrow who had his worst game, and while B Brown is likely I'd be just as happy with M Brown because he works hard up field in a similar manner to Hogan and TMac. So depending on training form B or M Brown for mine in place of Weid.

To elaborate: We have four matches against top eight sides. Unfortunately, three of those are on the opposition dung heaps: Adelaide Oval (Port) which should hold no fears given we have played well over several years there; the Eagles in Perth which is truly tough but I still have fond memories of wins there despite the prelim, and Geelong's paddock. We also have the Bulldogs at the 'G. If Covid allows the club could actually make that an earner. So as the ladder now sits we play 2nd, 3rd, 5th and 7th. Outside the eight we have 10th, 11th and 12th (Giants, Bombers, Crows) and 15th (Suns) and 17th (Hawks) with all but Suns at the G. The Bullies have a similar draw with Cats and Eagles away and four top eight sides including Port and Swans, but they have a bit less travel in their fixture against top eight sides (Port and Sydney at Marvel). They do however travel to Launceston where the Hawks are a challenge. I'd like the extra breathing space a Dogs win would bring.

Dogs win: we drop to 2nd BUT remain 2 games clear of 3rd spot. Cats win: we remain 1st BUT just 1 game clear of 3rd. Dogs for mine.

That I know but it's predictable and as Petracca and Brayshaw's ootf efforts yesterday showed, has limited room for error. We need to be less predictable and we need someone leading elsewhere to create options which the Weed did not do that I could see.

and in the pocket.

I understand it's partly a function of an emerging competition but one thing that is holding back the women's game is the constant shifting of players. I know it happens everywhere but with Daisy as the exception, in the AFLW it seems no one is willing to commit to the guernsey. That makes it harder to care much about it.