whatwhat say what

out: lewis, hogan, brayshaw in: vince, frost, kent i say we 'go small' against geelong and try and run them off their feet.

hogan will always be needed against any oppo as he takes the best defender. no side is good enough to not have best players out there if they're fit. any arrogance is unfounded at melbourne.

given lewis cops three either way, might as well appeal his at any rate

ouch, that hurts - way more than rowe and cripps got hurt!

6 salem 5 oliver 4 jetta 3 tyson 2 garlett 1 jones

I wouldn't play him off the back flank with his lack of kicking ability personally

Yeah I think Harmes can play the floating rebounder / zone defender role as well as Melksham but offered more zip and greater tackling pressure. Hannan holds his spot due to repeat half forward effort and aerial ability, plus has a bit of toe about him too. All changes will be dependent upon Hogan and Lewis MRP - I'm half expecting they'll get a week each.

Depends on suspensions. If none then Vince, Kent and Frost in for Brayshaw, ANB and Melksham.

Brayshaw is miles off being an afl player. Can't win the ball and turns it over when he gets it - very disappointed in his ability / development.

Classic Melbourne. We just play dumb football and then panic under a scintilla of pressure. Blues want it more, pure and simple. Will Hogan go for his punch?

Talk about over finessing... Ball use was atrocious and they will need to improve significantly to be a winner today as they're ripping us to shreds on turnovers, plus their best are yet to fire a shot. I know it's a regular bugbear of mine, it Brayshaw may be the worst kick for a top three midfielder I've ever seen.

Saints season off to a shocker, but my goodness meth coke just got every soft one. Pretty extraordinary. Fagan is doing good things for Brisbane.

i remember prior to the draft i was speaking to a champion data employee who was also a saints supporter - he was 100% confident that they were going to pick trac as he was, clearly in his view, the best underage player they'd ever seen in terms of where his ratings sat, and his influence upon games. he was shocked when it turns around to 'needs' rather than 'best available' and they picked mccartin.

i still think mccartin is going to be a very good player - he reads the flight of the ball well and is a terrific mark, but at this stage he simply doesn't look anything like fit enough to play afl-level football. the concussion issue is a massive concern tho. i would ask whether it's worth saints re-tooling him as someone who can learn the trade as a defender first, but his leading patterns and the like are actually pretty good; he doesn't need to follow good forwards around learning where and when to run, cos it seems pretty instinctual to him. so at the moment he's just a bit of an overweight key forward - and make no mistake, i think he'll end up a better forward than bruce or membrey, the latter of whom is a classic undersized third tall and the former who is a hit-and-miss player. fwiw, i am so very, very happy with weideman. once he starts clunking the marks he's getting his hands to - hopefully this week against the blues - he's going to be a really strong aerial threat who is a pearler of a kick both at goal and around the ground. petracca has the arrogance of stringer and neck tatts and hopefully will be better than both.

love the suggestions of tesla and lego.

did longmire say anything about the insane umpiring at his presser?

Maggots love Footscray

Quality game. Footscray are seriously good and Swans just keep finding talented new players to inject into their side.

And they FINALLY get pinged for throwing it!

The difference in quality btw last night and tonight is ginormous.

Harmes can also play as an attacking half-back. We will definitely be undersized in the zone, and he could be the sort of player that can float across and intercept / spoil as well as be a part of attacking moves. God I want to belt them but I live in fear of us dropping this game.

Blues unchanged it would seem

58k on a thursday night btw two sides with a combined 170k members or whatever it is is pathetic.

treloar - 31 disposals @ 58% de

treloar and prestia can win the ball, but their disposal leaves a lot to be desired.