Lord Travis

If we lose to Essendon I think finals are off the cards for 2018. We’re a quarter of the season down and we’re a rabble at the moment. We’ve had a good run of games in Melbourne and are yet to play a number of top teams or travel. What a horribly disappointment this season is turning into. You think I’d get used to it after following this loser club for decades, yet here I am getting disappointed still!

Yeah that was idiotic that attempted kick. It was only ever going to go out on the full, but he didn't have the smarts to just work the ball over the line to reload for a throw in. Depth player who tries but isn't good enough.

I don't care how far he's run, ANB has been a disappointment this season. He was good last year, as he laid lots of tackles in the forward half, applied constant pressure around the ball, and made the most of his scoring opportunities when he got them. This year he seems to be running around aimlessly and even appears scared of the contest at times. He's not winning ball, he's not scoring, he's not tackling as much, and he's having an overall negative impact on the team.

For starters, that footage is from 3 years ago. I think his leadership has improved since then, though he's not a natural leader. Jones is a good hard player who leads by example. He obviously isn't solely the problem, but he contributes to what I believe is the key thing holding us back, and that's on-field leadership from the players. The coach can only do so much from up in the box. Our problem is we don't have on-field leaders who act as on-field coaches and organise the players. When you look at leaders like Hodge, Selwood etc they are barking orders and constantly organising their teammates. They're organising at stoppages, they're directing players where to move to push/pull they defensive zone, directing when to switch the ball etc. None of our leaders (bar Lewis occasionally) do this, Viney included. Yes, they're hard players who lead by example, but when we don't have momentum they're not recognising how to stem the tide and regroup quick enough. It's the key reason we traded in Lever, who's clearly a vocal leader and organiser. I think our defense actually played well last night considering the quick ball that was coming in, and Lever was a key part in that. We need those on-field coaches around the ball, and until we get them I don't think we can improve much unfortunately.

I'd suggest the following delistings at years end. VandenBerg - can't get on the park, 2 years since he's played, was borderline 22 when he did play, 28 years old when/if he makes it back from years of injury. Delist. McKenna - can't get on the park, 0 games in 4 years. Delist. JKH - Decent VFL player, can't translate his game to AFL level. 5-6 years on the list. He's depth at best. Delist. Johnstone - struggling to even get his game up to VFL level after 2 years. We have a number of other options in his forward pocket/flank position. There are a number of others on the list who are likely not going to make it long term (Wagner, Harmes, Stretch types), but we have to consider contract status and the need for depth. We also don't have any first round pick again this year, so we won't be bringing in elite talent to replace whoever we delist. VandenBerg and McKenna are the only certain delists, as we can't afford to waste spots on the list for guys that aren't even an option to play, and are not certain best 22 even when they are available!

Our changes are decent IMO. They've lost some best 22 players to injury and suspension, so that helps us. Let's see if the boys can fire up this week after sh*tting the bed last week against the Hawks.

Richmonds changes IN: Broad, Higgins, Lloyd OUT: Caddy, Graham, Vlaustin

OFFICIAL CHANGES IN: Tyson, Stretch, Weideman, Hunt OUT: Lewis, Bugg, Frost, Fritsch

North comfortably win. Jeez that [censored] me that we gave up against a middle of the road side in the Hawks last week. Has ruined our percentage!

Other than Pedo and Spargo, none of the Melbourne listed players showed much. JKH and some of the others who have been around a few years are pure list cloggers who are being kept around for contractual and emergency injury situations. Further culling of the list is needed as we severely lack class. We have far too few good kicks still after all these years somehow! Casey seemed to try hard, but with a crowded forward line struggled to make the most of opportunities when going forward. Exactly the same as the AFL team, and it shows our gameplan does not work and needs to change.

Spargo getting involved this last quarter when we need it. His disposal has been iffy, but he doesn't have much to kick to with that clogged up forward line. He knows how to find the pill and has fire in him. Definitely something to work with there. On the other hand, Dion Johnstone struggles to get involved in any form. Doesn't find the ball, doesn't lay many tackles, just jogs around aimlessly. The nicest thing I can say about him as a footballer is he is present and playing. Seems a bust and clear delist material alongside the injured Vandenburg and McKenna.

Agreed. I thought he was best on ground for us in the first half. He repeatedly beat Roughead in one on ones in quite convincing fashion. Very impressive. He’s improved his body work and spoiling immensely this year IMO. One of the few shining lights for us thus far this season.

Agree. Those first two clips show how incredibly well he reads the play and he managed to tear away from the closest man and impact the contest of the ball that was kicked in to ensure Oscar/Frost had support. He didn’t mark it, which he may have when last when when in better form, but he read the play better than anyone else in that half of the ground. Pretty exciting to see if from that angle, it’s clear as day his footy brain is a level above anyone else out there. Once his confidence returns and there’s some form of pressure on the ball coming in, he is going to flourish and be f*cking unbelievable.

Yep certainly some vitriol being spewed in here. He had a poor game, but a broken hand explains why. He's a tough guy Jordy! Good on him for seeing the game out, must've been hard in those conditions and being part of such a disaster to keep pushing himself. He can heal up for a few weeks now and hopefully return fresh and primed to have an impact.

Yeah I did a youtube search but only found older episodes. I'll wait a few days and see if it pops up then. Thanks anyway! It's a shame Hunt's been out of form. His pace and running power both ways is exactly what we're missing at the moment. Here's hoping he did enough a Casey on the weekend to earn a call up.

I'm pretty sure I know exactly what they'll show (Lever and Vince over-running ground balls, Vince not kicking ball away a metre out from goal which cost a goal etc.), but where can I watch this online? I don't have Foxtel.

It’s a bad look for the game, but it’s within the interpretation of the rules so we need to adapt to it. The Hawks and other teams have used it to good effect against us. Blocking the man on the mark means the kicker gains an extra 10 or so metres before bombing it long. Our defense is weak at defending quick long balls in when there aren’t midfielders there to assist with killing the contest. Good coaches know that, and so they use the rule to their advantage. We need to learn to adapt. If an opposition player is sheparding the man on the mark, it means we have an extra player elsewhere. Make use of that.

He's been disappointing, but the whole backline bar O-Mac have been poor this season. Can hardly blame it all on Lever, though he is seriously down on confidence. He's gone from Rance level confidence in the air and dominating the league, to sh*tting himself whenever the ball comes near him. What's happened to him? Jetta is horribly out of form. He's gone from AA level form in 2016-2017 to losing nearly every contests he approaches. Is he injured? He's been outbodied so easily this year! Hibberd has been average. Not getting to as many contests down back, and his rebound work has been average too. Far too many mongrel punts to 2 on 1 contests, just horrible decision making. Hunt was so poor he was dropped. Frost's legs move faster than his brain. I like that he has pace and power, but he needs to learn when to use it. Constantly runs into trouble or stuffs up the whole structure back there by taking the wrong option, going to ground, leaving his man free etc. Wagner has done enough to hold a place, but he's hardly set the world on fire. He's an average footballer warming a spot for when a proper option comes along. Lewis played like a 50 year old today. Fumbled, went to ground repeatedly, picked poor options as it all seemed to fast for him, and he showed zero leadership. Deserves to be dropped after today. Vince was ok, but he's near the end and struggles to keep up some weeks. O-Mac has been good this year. I'm not his biggest fan, but he's seriously improved to the point where he's become the most reliable defender we have. Who would've thought!

[censored] I hate supporting this team. How long until this torture ends?!

First game I’ve left early since the 100 point loss days. To not kick a goal for over 2 quarters of footy in unacceptable. Nothing has changed. No finals this year. Goodwin is clueless.

Goodwin being shown up again today. Organization and strategy with ball today has been atrocious. I wish we had a coach who could organize this group properly because it’s a top 4 team playing below their ability at present.

Umpires for today? Do we know yet?

No excuses today. We’re a better team than Hawthorn now and if we lose today it means the players didn’t try properly or we were out coached by a great coach in Clarkson. Conditions suit us, and small forward like will work when we take control and bomb it long. They’ll have opportunities at ground level to swoop and kick us to a big win. I expect and believe we should win and win big today. In reality I’ll just be happy to get the 4 points. We need to win games like this against lower teams as routine now.

Does anyone have the gif/clip of Clarry from Hawthorn game where he did the one handed pickup/rotation/handball while being tackled? Was sheer brilliance but I can't find it online. I remember seeing it on Demonland last year though!

Sloane can’t handle a tag. Crows missing their best midfielder Matt Crouch.