Lord Travis

Doesn’t deserve to be in the team on form, but he’ll keep his place purely for what he could potentially produce. Very frustrating player and it doesn’t look like he’ll become the player we thought he could be. He’s definitely not capable of becoming a full time midfielder, and now he’s not scoring or getting involved as a forward either. He just lacks clean hands collecting ball quickly and has lost his vision to hit up short kicks for goal assist that he was so good with up forward last year. Maybe try him off half back to spark him?

Hunt is out injured for 4-6 weeks. Agree Garlett needs to come in. Our forward line is a shambles and needs a spark. He can provide that spark and is a genuine goal scoring option.

Was poor last week and poor again this week. If he lifts and gets on his bike this second half we’ll win.

We’re 6 - 0 away from the MCG this year. We’re 3 - 0 at the new Adelaide Oval. We accounted for Port twice last season from memory. We’re 2 - 4 at the MCG this season. On those facts, I’ll back us in to win tonight. Ironically if it was at the G you’d tip Port. We need to learn to play our home ground or we’re ever going to get anywhere come finals time! Dees by 11 points.

He's had more disposals and laid more tackles than anyone on his team thus far tonight. He's no longer a purely outside player, and is winning his own ball in a team getting smashed. Not having a great game by any stretch, but he works so hard and would give us something we sorely lack through our midfield.

We're definitely too small and too slow down back. Lewis and Vince in the same backline is getting exposed for pace. No talls other than O-Mac could be exposed by a tall trio of Dixon, Westhoff and Ryder. Hopefully our midfield is on top and restricts the supply getting down there. If their mids get on top, it will get ugly. Dees by 11 points.

If they’re willing to offer that, he’s staying an Eagle. It basically means they will match our deal and we’ll have to trade for him. We have nothing of value in terms of picks we can trade, and I doubt we’d be willing to trade any of our guns to acquire him, so game over.

Think you’ve got it the wrong way around. We’re 2 from 6 at the MCG. But we’re 6 from 6 away from the G. Not sure it’s a good thing, but makes tipping easier!

Don’t have time to wrong a long post at present, but the single biggest issue we have with playing the MCG is our defensive press. It pushes far far too high up the ground. There are stages when OMac was is the deepest player, standing forward of the centre circle and less than a kick ahead of the play. Time and time again the ball slingshots out into half a ground of space for opposition to work with. It’s embarrassing and obvious to all. Pull the defensive press back like it is on smaller ground where deepest defender is back near the goal square and we’d be a 5 goal better team at the G without any other change.

Games having another good year. We just need to make sure we make the most of his dominance around the ball. I expect him to be AA ruck this year, tracking really well is big Maxy!

Murphy has had a good career. However, a 31 year old who can’t get on the park is of no use to us. Next.

One year contract as depth or trade for a low pick to a WA club to clear list space.

This season he’s basically doing what we expected Petracca to do. He’s kicked bags of goals when playing forward (5+6 goal games), and dominated in the midfield on both the inside and outside. We don’t have picks to get him, so pipe dream. Hopefully Petracca gets a rocket and follows De Goeys lead as he should be the better of the two.

What do you rate our performance out of 10 to this point? Why? 6.5/10. Our win rate so far this season is 66%, so 6.5/10 is the equivelant rating. We've had huge wins against poor teams that in the past we probably would have stuffed up. Unfortunately we've also had huge losses against most decent teams we've played. Statistically we've improved from last year, but our actual win/loss results aren't too different. Which player has impressed you the most? TMac has been brilliant. If only he was available to play all season! He's genuinely one of the best key forwards in the league now, comfortably. He can kick a bag, clunk contested marks, cover heaps of ground and play a variety of roles. He's a star and it's great he's signed a new contract with us. Brayshaw has also been good once he was finally played in the middle. He's always had the talent, and it's good to see him getting past the lingering injury side-effects to start becoming the player we know he can be. Which draftee has made the biggest impact? Fritsch has been better than I expected. He's a seriously skilled player who takes marks he has no right to. Hopefully he can continue building strength in his body and cement his place longer term. What has been our best win to date? Adelaide game in Alice Springs was a ripping win. The style, structures and intensity we played with that day was everything we aspire to. Which player(s) needs to improve in the second half of the year? Petracca has been the biggest disappointment of the season thus far. After a good season last year, his improved fitness and vaunted move into the midfield have been a failure. He's gone backwards. As a forward, he's kicking less than a goal a game. As a midfielder, he's not wining enough ball or even getting to enough contests to have an impact. His first few matches were decent-good, since then he's been poor. I'd also list Hunt here, but he's now injured. I was bullish he'd be All Australian half back flank this year, but unfortunately he lost his mojo and is now injured. What has been our most disappointing performance? The Hawthorn game was probably the worst, followed by Collingwood match. Our inability to play the MCG is a big worry. It's at the point now where I back us to win nearly every match away from the G, but pencil in home games at the G as a loss. For whatever reason, our zone gets way too high up the ground at the G, and teams stream forward with all the space in the world to utilise. We won't go anywhere until we can learn to play our home ground again. Where do you see us finishing? Give a win/loss and finishing position 13-9 record finish in 8th place. We won't be top 4, and we could realistically finish 9th again unfortunately.

Won’t be seeing Hunt anytime soon. He was at the game today on crutches. Not sure if the injury but he said he’d be off legs for a while.

Biggest disappointment of the year for mine. He’s capable of so much more but has gone backwards and just doesn’t seem to have the drive of others. He’s looking like a slightly better Sylvia at this stage.

Belted around the ball today. Shocking!

Disgusted by the lack of intensity in the midfield and backline today. Very disappointing day for the club to cough up 2nd on the ladder and fall back to the pack.

We need to win tomorrow and claim second spot on the ladder. Lots of our finals competitors have fallen over, so this is a good chance to put a gap between us now. I think the selection panel have got the (forced) changes right this week. Pedo has been in ripping form in the VFL all year and has learnt his shot replacing Bull Smith. J Smith, though I haven't seen him dominate at VFL level has the right skillset and attributes to make it as a player, and with his leap he could fill the Lever role down back. Get it done Dees!

He had 14 touches and a goal in the first quarter when the game was still hot. Either you're biased or blind.

Billings is a talented player. He was great in 2017 despite his inaccurate goal kicking and put up similar numbers to Petracca. If he wanted out and it didn't cost much, we'd be mental not to have a crack. He's clearly lacking confidence at the moment and is playing in a sh*t team where it's hard to build momentum. With a fresh start and some confidence I have no doubt he could be a seriously handy player. Any player who can crack a 30 touch 5 goal game at AFL level has to have some talent and skill!

Twas Rance who stuck his knee out and ended Smiths year with what can be a really serious and life-threatening injury. From memory a free kick wasn't even paid, just play on etc. Rance is the definition of thuggish scum on-field. Not since the 80's has there been such weak thuggery out there, yet no-one seems to mention it and he's considered a golden boy. Absolute madness! It'd be great for T Smith to be in the team again next time we play Richmond. Set him the task of playing a negating role on Rance, instruct him to be hard on him physically and whatever happens, happens

Rance is a deadset piece of sh*t of a bloke and possibly the most overrated footballer in my lifetime. He can't defend man on man, lays less than 2 tackles a game on average because he runs away from a contest, he drops uncontested chest marks, and is a complete dog. His coward punch to Watts in the back of the head while he was laying prone and defenceless is one of the worst things I can remember seeing on the footy field. That disgusting act was straight up assault, and wouldn't be tolerated in civilised society, yet the commentators brushed it off saying "he's just frustrated" like that somehow excuses it! He's now been fined twice for staging in the past 12 months, and continues to leap like Superman out of any contest he finds himself in because despite his Hollywood muscles he's weak as [censored] and can't wrestle his way out of a paper bag. The love affair the media and commentators have with him is mind-blowing. I hope he cops more flack for diving again this week. His reputation deserves to be tarnished further and resemble the piece of sh*t he is.

I liked Vanders aggression and intensity at a time when we lacked it as a team and club, but injuries have effectively ended his career. He wasn't cemented in our best 22 back then, and he'd be lucky to get a game now considering how far we've come. He'll be 27 years old heading into next season. A 27 year old who has played total of 28 games, hasn't played in two years, averages 15 disposals and 0.6 goals a game... that is the definition of delist material and the easiest decision the list manager will need to make this summer. Appreciate what he brought years ago when he burst onto the scene with that aggression, but the game and our team have long since moved beyond that. Kent on the other hand has still showed something this year before getting injured again. He has a lot more competition for spots now and may get a short contract renewal. However I think it's more likely he will get traded back to a WA club for a late pick.

Kent has shown good for as recently as this earlier this season, but injuries are stalling his momentum and development. He now has competition for his position and isn’t entrenched in the best 22. I’d expect his next contract will be a short one, or he’ll be traded to a WA club for a late pick so he can return home. VdB will likely be delisted at the end of the season. He hasn’t made a meaningful contribution on field for over two years now and will be 27 next season, so hardly a spring chicken. Even when he was fit, he wasn’t entrenched in our best 22 and we’ve only gotten stronger since then. If he’s lucky he’ll get a one year contract as a depth player, but unfortunately injuries seem to have ended his career.