Lord Travis

He had an average start to his career, didn’t find much ball and kicking was inconsistent when he did. The last 1.5 years he’s turned into a really good wingman, up there amongst the best in the league behind Langdon. Free agent this year, so suits us as we don’t have decent picks to trade. Not sure where he fits though unless we’re going to lose Brayshaw or Jordon and Sparrow types are demoted.

General afl media and opposition supporters don’t rate him, but other clubs definitely do. Just last week Sam Mitchell highlighted Petracca and ANB as keys to lock down on as they’re our highest score generators. He makes a big difference to our defensive pressure and ability to spread from contest.

There's some very good talent in there ahead of Bowey, though I'd rate him higher than the meeting odds place him. Horne-Francis is over-rated based on draft pick thus far compared to output of others there. Daicos and Martin in particular have been next level good and a clear level above the rest of the pack. I'd rate Bowey after them in 3rd spot. Very strong crop this year though. All those players there have had a big impact at their clubs and on games, Ginnivan has been a match winner on the big stage too. Absurd comment. He's averaging 25 disposals a game to start his career and has already had some BOG games. He's probably having the best debut season from any midfielder in my lifetime. Others up there are Buckley, Selwood, Judd, Oliver (more his second season due to now abolished sub rule), and statistically he's well ahead of them all. He obviously gets more attention due to his family name, but take the blinkers off and acknowledge his output. He's having an incredible debut season and looks set to become an elite midfielder of the competition for many years to come. Barring injury, he will rightly win the Rising Star award no contest.

The Hawks are on the right track. Mitchell has them playing attacking football and they’re further ahead of where most of us expected them to be. Though I never thought we’d lose on the weekend, they gave us a good contest and had they been a bit cleaner they may have given us a real scare. They may struggle in the coming years with some senior players winding up, but they’ve got a decent game style and some good young players coming through. Was a shame we didn’t see CJ play on the weekend for them as he’s a superb young talent who’d I’d kill to have at our club. While we’re at it, note me down as principle Western Bulldogs hater on the board. Can’t stand those soft throwing cheating mullet [censored] scum!

If Hill tries that on the weekend May will put him on his [censored] and they’ll be a man down 😆

A few years ago sure but about to hit 30 and his main asset is pace which will be on the decline soon. His main weakness is defensive running, which is our teams MO, so he’s not a fit for us.

Looks pretty flash

In 2018 he was voted by the coaches as the best player in the league. The coaches are the best judges as they know the game inside out and what roles players are being asked to fill etc. The past 5 coaches MVPs for context, 2017 - Dusty 2018 - Gawn 2019 - Bontempelli 2020 - Neale 2021 - Clarry Hard to argue with any of those. Gawn is a champion and gets recognized as one of if not the best player in the game.

Just hoping for four points today with unsettled team. I’m not there today as grandma rushed to hospital with Covid. Fingers crossed she survives. [censored] Covid

Freo are a legitimate contender. Superb young list and statistically the best defensive team in the league so far this year.

Forced changes: Viney in for Sparrow. Tmac in for Jackson. Bedford in for Pickett. Unforced change: Lever in for Smith.

Or 6-6-6 rule means no loose players and quick long bomb from centre stoppage works a treat 😉 That 2012 midfield is putrid and uninspiring. The 2012 forward line is pretty decent though IMO. Anyway obviously 2022 thumps them. Not sure what the point of this thread is!

Let’s see what secrets Yze has up his sleeve this week.

Bad kicking is bad football. Time to reset and grind out four points.

Freo and Swans have built fantastic young lists and will contend for years to come. Swans got the benefit of all the academy picks have lead to multiple guns. They will be our main competition for the next 3-4 years.

Just another +14 for the Doggies there. How long until this farce gets the proper attention it deserves? I know the free kick count doesn’t need to be even or close for that matter, but when it’s a pattern of favoritism and by the end of the season one team has nearly 200 more free kicks than another, then surely it needs to be addressed?!

https://www.afl.com.au/video/746178/saint-pinged-for-umpire-dissent-after-this-gesture?videoId=746178&modal=true&type=video&publishFrom=1650625574001 That right there is the reason there’s so much heated discussion around this topic. IMO it’s an absurd umpiring decision. I turned off and switched over to Netflix after seeing that and I’d consider myself a footy die hard. AFL is an entertainment product designed to draw in customers and if the customer doesn’t like the product then the product is a failure. They need to fix this rule or the product will continue to go backwards as more and more customers switch off. Players don’t like it. Coaches don’t like it. Supporters don’t like it. Customers don’t like it. Umpires surely don’t like it. I can’t imagine anyone would want to pick umpiring as a job/career with what we’re seeing now. Fix the rule you dimwits.

The umpire dissent rule adjudication is beyond pathetic. That 50 for pointing at the ground was possibly the lamest thing I’ve ever seen on a football field, and I sat through the Neeld era! If that’s where the game is headed, then supporters will rightly be switching off.

Goodwin clearly said we wouldn’t play all three of Brown, TMac and Weid. Selection committee believe Weid has performed better than TMac since coming in and I agree. Therefore TMac is out and will need to earn his place back from Weid again. It’s healthy to have these players pushing each other to perform for selection. We’ve gone like for like so we don’t change our structure at all. Dunstan in for Viney is like for like. Smith for Lever is like for like, albeit both replacements are less capable players, but great depth nonetheless. Should be a good win on Sunday night. Looking forward to being in the big crowd at night with the pregame stuff too.

It’s working for him and his team. He’s consistently getting free kicks, and due to where he plays those free kicks often lead to goals. For supporters and spectators, he’s a flopping little [censored] who goes against the spirit of the game. He’ll get his head taken off some day and it won’t be a surprise or garner any sympathy as he will have put himself into that situation with knee dropping/going head first.

Abuse of an umpire should be penalized. That’s entirely fair to provide them with a safe work place and show respect. Legitimately questioning the decision, seeking clarification or expressing frustration is not abuse and should never be penalized. Umpire proclaiming “arms raised is 50” is pathetic and tarnishes their reputation further. The idea that a person full of testosterone running around for two hours straight getting belted from pillar to post can’t raise their arms in frustration is mental and defies human biology. The players are not robots and can’t be expected to act as such. I will boo this sort of umpiring louder and louder until it is stamped out. I encourage others to do the same. Umpires are less respected than ever and the new rule interpretation is having the opposite effect to its intention. At the end of the day the game is a product for paying customers aka supporters. If they’re not happy, then the product is a failure.

Hunt is probably the one to make way for Salem. However, I’d rate Hunt as best defensively out of the names mentioned here, and our gameplan is defense first. That may be his ticket to retain over someone like Jordan should he dip in form. I also think Hibberd will struggle to regain his spot with Tomlinson and Smith also battling to get back in. Backline should probably look like this. Lever May Rivers Bowey Petty Salem Hunt or Brayshaw bench option. Probably prefer Brayshaw back to the wing/midfield as backline is seriously stacked this point, and Gus can perform anywhere he’s sent.

It’s the first Easter break Melbournians have been able to travel since 2019. I went last night and had a blast. However, most of my friends and family are not currently in the state due to finally having freedom to live somewhat normally. There’s more important things than random games of football.

Trash umpiring is trash. We’ll turn it on for five minutes and win, but we’re just going atm.

Gawn made an interesting comment about May being happy to have Lever back as he spent half his energy trying to get Smith to adjust his positioning. Sounds as though Smith perhaps struggles with gameplan or just lacks footy iq. His stats might be decent, but if he struggles to play his role as Gawn suggested then he’s out. I suspect Smith or Hunt would be the ones to be dropped, so unlucky timing to Smith to lose his spot for Covid protocols.