Lord Travis

Such a shame we'll probably miss finals now. So disappointing! You break my heart every year Melbourne you [censored]!

Time to start planning for 2018. We've stuffed this. We had some good moments this year, but at the business end of the season we have turned to [censored]. We need more hard running quick mids and some more offensive players.

Not even half time yet and we're getting belted. We don't seem to have learnt anything from the pathetic loss to the 17th placed Kangas last week and are yet again being out scored whilst we have the wind advantage. Game is pretty much already over. As our percentage is poor, we need to win all of our reminding final 3 games to make finals. Over the past 6-8 weeks our contested ball numbers and tackles have dropped off. Our scoring has dropped right off and we haven't scored 100+ in a match for nearly two months. Every week is now an elimination final. What can we change to find some form and try to scrape into finals?

How are people watching who don't have foxtel? The AFL app has been updated to block screen sharing entirely >:(

Anyone know how to stream the AFL app from an iPad to an Apple TV? It seems Telstra may have updated the app to completely block screen sharing, not even limit the size!

Well it was nice watching Geelong get thumped, but makes it even more important for us to win tomorrow. Top 4 is probably out of reach now due to our lower percentage, but we need to make sure we come home strong to give ourselves a decent run in finals. It would be good to get a final in Melbourne. Would hate for our first final in over a decade to be interstate and get knocked out straight away. Don't even want to think about the possibility we may tire and miss finals. I'd be livid!

Silly option. We need quality at both ends, robbing one to strengthen the other defeats the purpose. Without Hogan we would then lack quality key forwards who can clunk marks and kick bags of goals. He's the only one currently on our list that who has proven quality do do this. To get Lever, we will need to trade a good pick/s and maybe a player. It would be worth it as Lever is also proven quality. With Lever at one end and Hogan at the other, we are set at both ends for the next decade and can build around them.

Bizarre accident where he fell backwards through a glass door and lacerated both his hammies and buttock. Had ongoing issues with hammies after that and was never the same player. Was a genuine fun but that shorted and limited his career. Happened with lots of our stars in the 90s

Patton and Cameron out is huge for us. We should be able to win this one!

Is Clayton Oliver statistically the best second year player ever? The only other players I can remember such an impact in their second seasons were Chris Judd and Joel Selwood. Is anyone able to somehow check his second season stats against other superstars? This kid is a ripper. He's had an unbelievable season for someone so young, and will be the main ball winner in our midfield for the next 10 years!

Only against the rules for free agents to meet with other clubs. Lever is too young to be a free agent so it's fair game. Sucks for Adelaide that they continue to lose talent. That's Dangerfield, Phil Davis, Tippett, Bock all gone when they were at their peaks or close to as players.

It still shows we have dropped off in contested ball and tackling. We had the wind advantage in the last quarter on the weekend against a bottom two team and yet got smashed around the ball and out scored. That was not due to personnel, that was due lack of effort and desire. It's been a theme earlier in the year when we had most of our list available also. No excuses anymore. We need to turn up and win.

Time to pull the Lever Seriously though he is the ideal target for us. He can play key defender or roam a zone and become the general. He currently doesn't need to play as a pure key defender most weeks as Adelaide have good tall options. This has allowed them to use Lever as a backline general roaming the zone and he has excelled in a big way due to his high football IQ and clean hands. Our backs currently get crucified by opposition tall forwards, statistically we are worst in the league against them. Get Lever in there to steady the ship and we aren't golden. If we'd had him on our list this year we'd currently be sitting in the top 4 IMO. Also on Mitch McGovern, he will 99% go home to WA and has a big contracts offer already from the Dockers (where his dad played). Eagles will likely also have a crack at him to see if they can lure him to play with his brother. At 191cms I don't think he solves a problem for us anyway as a tall option. If his leap is taken away from him he doesn't not have other weapons.

http://m.afl.com.au/news/2017-08-01/the-stats-files-why-the-demon-rollercoaster-is-wobbling Interesting article on afl.com today that shows we have dropped off big time in scoring, quarters won and contested ball. Hopefully the coaching staff have got solution to get us back on track as we're currently on the cusp of missing finals.

We need to win 3 of the last 4 games to make finals, as our percentage is one of the worst and can't be relied on to scrape in with 12 wins. We need 13 wins. If we don't make it, it means we couldn't beat 3 bottom 4/8 teams while there was a finals chance on the line. That to me would smack of being mentally weak and this year being deemed as a failure. To lose to so many bottom teams through out this season has been a disgrace. I know the team is young still, but it is one of the most talented teams in the league at present and has more than enough tools to at least make finals. Hopefully Goodwin and the coaching staff can get the players heads straight. When we play with endeavour and intensity, we have shown they can beat any team in the league. We should be able to account for Saints, Pies and Brisbane and make the 8. I'll be livid if we don't.

Though he's not what he was a few years ago at the Hawks, I still think he's had a good patch of form leading up to finals. He's hitting his straps at the right end of the year. His leadership and direction out on field have been great. His main weakness at this point seems to be getting down and taking ground balls cleanly. Thing is, if he isn't able to take it cleanly and there is pressure, he positions himself in a way that he earns a free kick, gains us possession of the ball and releases the pressure. It's smart, and some of our other mids need to learn this instead of panicking and just knocking it to an opposition player in fear they will get caught and pinged with a free kick.

Yes pretty damning stats. We were beaten around the ball when the game was on the line. Hard to believe we were outscored when we had the advantage of the wind! All that needed to happen was win some contested ball and thump it forward. Wind and pressure would take care of the rest. Such a disappointing loss that may cost us a finals spot. Let's hope the players who struggled in Viney, Watts, Petracca, Hannan etc are all ok fitness wise and can serve up a better effort this week vs GWS.

Out: Hogan (inj), Trengove, JKH In: Weiderman, Vince, Jones Weid takes Hogans place up forward. Vince takes Trengoves place in the backline. Jones takes JKHs place in the midfield. If anyone else is dropped than Maynard will likely be given a crack based on him being elevated to senior list and performing well again in the VFL.

Lucky the site went down after the match because I lost the plot! With a top4/8 spot on the line, we lost to the 17th placed team who have been so terrible for two months that they're being accused of tanking. One of the most disappointing performances I can remember. The worst part was seeing how many tackles we missed or allowed to be broken. It was one of the weakest tackling displays we've served up in a long time. Our players seemed to tackle opponents standing still and still fall over or get brushed aside. Even guys like Viney and Petracca who should bury their opponents were getting brushed aside like ants. Was absolutely infuriating!

No change is a good result for us. Next week Jones and Vince back and we'll be fielding our best team all year at the right end of the season.

No Tarrant, no Wood and a battler ruckman who hasn't played at AFL level for months... if we can't win this match we may as well throw in the towel. Get it done Dees! Percentage!

We definitely got this pick right out of Salem or Freeman in the end. There were better options we could've taken at pick 9 in hindsight; Cripps, Ben Brown, Zach Merrett, Zac Jones and Matt Crouch all go alright. If Salem can stay healthy he will be a real weapon for us with his kicking skills. I prefer him through the midfield as a point of difference to the group of bull inside mids we have. Shame Freeman's body hasn't held up. He had all the attributes to be a Dangerfield/Judd type inside midfielder with burst of pace and strength from stoppages. Would've been good to watch, but don't think his body will ever let him get there now.

Great news if true. If quality is available then you go after it. What do we all think a realistic trade would be? First round pick and either a late pick or fringe player?

I think it will come with maturity. We definitely don't have the killer instinct yet, evidenced by the fact we have the lowest percentage of any team in the top 8. We often dominate periods of games but don't convert that dominance into scoring. The fact we were only 5 goals up at half time against Port on the weekend was pretty poor. Based on the stats we should've been 80 points up. I think with more maturity and synergy between young core players we will start to win by bigger margins that more reflect our dominance in games. At this stage in our development though it's good we are managing to stick tough and win close games. Even a few months ago we were losing close games constantly so there's clear improvement already being shown.

Just reported that Jetta came off at training after rolling his ankle? Not sure if he will play this weekend. Hopefully it is nothing serious. https://twitter.com/BenGuthrie_/status/889696972323422209