Freddy Fuschia

That being the case I think Laurie will be the tactical sub and Tomlinson the travelling emergency in case a tall becomes unavailable before the game.

How gratifying it was to see Demon Sam Weideman top scoring for the Bombers with two of their three goals. Imagine what it would have looked like without his contribution

Precisely. At the time that Melbourne was being attacked for tanking, the fact that it sent some players in for surgery before the end of the season was Exhibit A in claims that the club was committing the major criminal activity of tanking. Today, it’s okay.

No, the AFL won’t make the system fairer. It will most likely use the system to engineer outcomes such as to enable North Melbourne to get access to one of the best prospects in the country Ryley Sanders who wasn’t even on any Academy list earlier this year when the AFL put out their academy lists - Red-hot WA duo among this year's NGA prospects

Great to see Disco rewarded with a place on the extended bench for his great first up effort at Casey after missing several weeks with injury. However, I’m not that sure that he will get a run against the Swans on Sunday because I believe he’s not AFL ready just yet. He’s listed at 194cm 88kg but with a big preseason and some extra kilos on him, I expect that 2024 will be his breakout year.

First delisting. Essendon has told James Stewart that he will be delisted.

Kynan Brown picked to go to the State Combine only. Is that a good thing?

The problem is that nobody in the organization is responsible for running football. That’s where everything is falling down.

Jon Ralph has an article in the Herald Sun online entitled “Wreck it Ralph: Every free agent - where is your club placed with its players“. This is what he says about our free agents - MELBOURNE James Jordon is a free agent after being delisted and then relisted, and clubs including Essendon, Gold Coast and Sydney are interested. The Demons want to re-sign him, but he would get a long-term deal and a more prominent role elsewhere. Jake Melksham had 15 goals in nine games before a goalless past two games, then bounced back with 3.4 against Hawthorn. He turns 33 in the next fortnight and would believe he can secure a one-year deal. Michael Hibberd turns 34 in January, so his age is against him, but in 11 games he is shown he is still a tight-checking defender in an excellent backline, so he's a chance to play on.

6. Jack Viney 5. Clayton Oliver 4. Christian Petracca 3. Christian Salem 2. Angus Brayshaw 1. Lachie Hunter

For the Freo death riders, it’s worth noting that they are ranked higher than their ladder position. Let’s hope the keep losing.

It’s rare for any team to play consistently at the same level throughout a season and we’ve seen most clubs experience their highs and lows this year. But, I’m not sure that there have been many stories similar to the Carlton experience of recent times. They started the season off winning 3½ out of the first 4. Then they lost 8 out of 9 (the win was against WCE by over 100 points) during which time they were dreadful in a few of their games. Then, out of the blue, they start a winning streak (currently 6 on end) where they are crushing their opponents by big margins. Is there any explanation for this phenomenon?

The lid is that I know some Collingwood supporters who were talking like some of the above posters about two weeks ago.

Is anyone surprised that since we were chucked off Gosch’s Paddock, we’ve not lost a game?

And that was the gist of it all - he was always a ‘project player’ and Pick 5 was always too high a price to pay for him. He should get better with further development and the Suns should only improve going forward with a new coach and three top 10 picks via their own NGA Academy which is subject to different rules that apply to most other clubs.

If the Eagles want JvR then they'll have to give us pick 1. Straight swap

Danger game.

Simon Goodwin:- "We were really encouraged by what Brodie did at VFL yesterday. The patterns he was running, his impact in the game, I think he had four shots at goal. Just the exposure at VFL level, you could see he's starting to get some grasp on that forward half of the ground. "We've started to hit the scoreboard a little bit better the last few weeks but we're not the finished product ... we're still very open minded about what it looks like." On Grundy, Goodwin added: "As I've said all along, we're not trying to turn him into a forward. We want him to have impact when he's forward, but also share those ruck duties.

Sounds of Silence has been covered by a band called "Disturbed" who the Dockers should hire to do a rendition of their club song.

Lachie Whitfield has accepted his one match suspension for striking Fremantle’s Jordan Clark - Whitfield accepts suspension. He will miss the game vs Melbourne in Round 16.

Lachie Whitfield’s dangerous tackle will be looked at I reckon.

I reckon you could say much the same about half the Carlton side at the moment.

I’m going to watch the replay on Friday night in opposition to the Brisbane v Sydney game.

I wonder how this year’s draft will evolve in view of the following anomalies - • Five of the top 20 prospects are tied to clubs – three GCS academy players plus two father/sons Jordan Croft (Western Bulldogs) and Will McCabe (Hawthorn). • Three players in the top 40 are Tasmanians and some recruiters might be reluctant to commit to them in light of the entry of the Tassie Devils in a few years’ time especially given that there are no rules about compensation (if any). Is this really such a good year for the Demons to hold what we think is a strong draft hand?

The bye - isn’t this the best time to do some loading?