Lord Travis

Reports it will likely be a loss of around $1.4 million for those two games. This pandemic can [censored] right off!

I’m enjoying Jackson’s development like most fans, but the bolded sentence isn’t true. Jackson seriously struggles with contested marking contests. He’s averaging less than one a game, and is worse performed than Weid at this skill. This threads existence is baffling. Weid is averaging 1.4 contested marks a game, 4th in our team this season. Somehow his marking is a problem? What does that say about the other 40 guys on the list? Weid isn’t having big impact on games right now, but if he starts clunking even one more contested mark a week, then he’ll be up there as a league leader with Gawn and Dixon for contested marking stats. He’s not far off, and it’s not really a problem. People need to get over their bias and be objective towards players.

Two options IMO. Hunt or Jordon to the wing. If Hunt to wing, someone like Bowey, Jones or Lockhart to fill his spot. If Jordon to wing, Sparrow into middle to fill his spot. This option seems better. No other changes needed. Wouldn’t bother with Baker. He might be quick, but we never see it at AFL level. Average tank and skills mean he’s unlikely to make it as a winger long term. Weid gets another crack. If he struggles and Brown performs well in VFL, then swap the week after.

I’ve mentioned it on here before, but with no crowd present, Levers leadership on field was even more noticeable. He’s the general out there, like an onfield coach similar to Luke Hodge back in the Hawks prime. Those types of leaders are worth their weight in gold. Look at how well organized we are defensively out there this year, and he’s a prime driver of that. He barely had a voice by the end of the match when Richardson interviewed him! Just a shout out to Jake. Having a great season, but also proving to be the leader we hoped he’d be.

He’s not that similar to our boys. Sparrow is a Viney clone, he’s all about intensity at the ball and man. Jordon isn’t a big clearance winner, more defensive around stoppages but has good kicking skills when he gets it. Narkle is more about burst of pace from congestion, sort of like Shuey if I had to give a comparison. If Narkle can stay fit, he’s got potential to be a decent long term player. Could play midfield, half forward or half back comfortably IMO.

I rate him and would gladly have him. When fit, he’s shown he can be damaging and is quite versatile. He’s played his best footy on ball and is more inside and contested than people think. He’s shown he can hit the scoreboard and break lines too. That said he’s not an answer for a permanent wing position IMO.

Bad news if true. Our midfield has dropped off big time since he went down injured. Over the past month statistically we’ve gone from a clear top 2 team to a middling team grinding out wins (and a loss) against weak opposition. Viney adds defensive pressure, ball winning ability, and a vocal leader to organize around the ground. His absence is being felt more than it’s being spoken about.

Hooray! One of our best and most important players this year. Big addition to the team for our biggest game yet.

Good they admitted their mistake, but it doesn’t change the outcome of the game. Incorrect decisions made by umpires since officially recognized as incorrect by the AFL have now directly influenced the result of three matches this year. All three teams who incorrectly lost have been the visiting side from interstate. Umpiring needs to be seriously looked at now. The entire ladder would be different if the correct results were upheld. $100,000s would have been incorrectly paid out in betting too. The AFL has to do something.

6. Oliver daylight 5. Langdon 4. Petracca 3. Jackson 2. Harmes 1. Lever Reality is that outside of Oliver we had very few strong performers tonight.

Aaaaaand right on queue he kicks a goal. Thanks Kozzie!

Needs to get involved, even if it’s just tackling and work rate. He doesn’t need to produce any miracles, just do the basics and stay involved.

I’d say the opposite. Oliver is more consistent at his designated role (inside midfielder), but Petracca is a better footballer overall.

Agree with this. Travis is about the only player on my lifetime who I’ve trusted with kick ins. Thankfully we’ve been better this year. We still just bomb to the flank where Gawn is too often for my liking, especially when he’s not marking it. The last few weeks Gawn has been hopeless around the ground and his one dominant contested marking has deserted him. We need to find other avenues for when he’s not playing well. We miss Jackson creating a contest IMO.

Give him an extra week preparation and make sure he’s fit for the match against the Dogs.

Chandler really struggled. Only 4 disposals, with 3 effective. Only 2 tackles and gave away 2 free kicks with those. He also had -2 meters gained lol. His job is to apply pressure and take opportunities. He did neither, and we essentially played a man down. I don’t like dropping kids after one game, but it was a very poor game and there are others like Sparrow banging the door down at Casey. I’d save Viney and Jackson another week if they’re fit. We have a short break off interstate trip before meeting the Dogs, so best to bring them in and have fresh legs. This week I’d drop Chandler and bring in Sparrow. He’s been the emergency or sub multiple times, missed multiple games as a result, and smashed VFL when playing there. It’s time he gets another game.

If Viney is fit, he can replace Chandler. If Jackson is fit, it’s a hard choice for his replacement. Weid is the most similar in terms of role, but Brown was the worst performing tall today. Otherwise no change needed unless someone is sore.

6 Salem 5 Lever 4 Oliver 3 TMac 2 Langdon 1 Hunt Apologies to Jordon

Max King will be a ripper if he can tidy up his set shots. Does everything else right and generates a heap of opportunity. Very promising youngster! Match had been poorly skilled tonight. Glad we beat both these teams already this year.

His 14 goals in 3 games are a big reason their percentage is 269. He’s second in the entire VFL goal kicking. His current goal kicking form in the VFL is better than any listed Melbourne forward in over a decade, including Hogan. Credit to him for putting in the hard work and outperforming his peers. I’m glad he’s finally got his chance at AFL where he’s already proved capable. He just needs to stay on the park at this point. Jackson will never be as effective as Weid as a forward. His value is playing ruck and midfield.

Trust takes time to build. We’ve been conditioned for over 50 years to expect the wheels to fall off. It takes more than 8 games in March and April to build trust again.

We should account for Carlton comfortably on the weekend. As Yze said in his interview this week, they’re a good attacking team when they’re on. They’re not great defensively however. We are currently the best defensive team going around, and have a good attack too. I felt this was a danger game coming into this week, as we’ve had some tight matches with them in recent times. Looking at gamestyles this year though it should be a comfortable win as long as we don’t revert to the Melbourne of old and gold under pressure. 9-0!

I can understand why. He wins the ball in contested situations and almost always handballs it off very quickly. Opposition fans often think he’s thrown it and crack the [censored] haha! When he’s playing poorly, he just plays hot potato and transfers the pressure to a mate carelessly. Thankfully he appears to be getting this out of his game now. He’s also not damaging in the same way midfielders like Trac are. He rarely kicks goals, his set shots are embarrassingly poor, and he’s not known for great kicking inside 50 like Trac or Bont. He’s got less score assists than other elite mids basically. Dont get me wrong, Clarry is my favorite player and one of the best midfielders I’ve ever seen pull on the red and blue. I can understand why he’s not rated as highly as other gun mids by oppo teams. It’s the same reason I think Cripps is vastly overrated; Not damaging or rounded enough as a midfielder to be classed as truly elite.

Nathan Jones has injured his hamstring. Just posted on Afl.com

We’re all excited by Jacksons potential, but it’s simply untrue to say he’s already showed more than Weid. Weid has already had 3 goal, 20+ disposal game in a final where he was near BOG. Sure he’s been inconsistent with form and fitness, but he’s also averaged 2+ goals as number 1 tall target, and showed he was capable as a second ruck. We all get excited when young guns start their careers, but let’s not make stuff up and say they’re already better than more proven players with better output. That said, we’ve looked better at centre bounces with Dogga in there as ruck. His ground ball follow up gives us more drive than when Gawn is rucking the bounces. We should be aiming to get Dogga back in ASAP once he’s healthy again.