Lord Travis

So baffling that it took them this long to play Weid and let play him up forward. Kids a natural forward and could’ve had 5-6 goals today. Leave him up forward and he’ll kick 40-50 goals a year for the rest of his playing days.

Cmon Dees keep your foot on the pedal. Need that percentage if we’re gonna fight our way back up the ladder!

We looked so much better with Weid up forward. He just provides a contest every time. Petracca has arrived this year. He’s on track for All Australian. Huge impact again today.

Jeez Lockhart and Brayshaw both poor again today after a few poor weeks.

Kobe is part of Freos academy as well as being eligible for father son at both Freo and Dees. His family lives in WA, he’s born and raised in WA, he’s a Freo supporter who idolizes Fyfe, and the Wizard works for Freo now in an ambassador role (not sure if Covid killed this role). If Kobe is good enough to play AFL, he’ll be playing for Freo.

I did too. I also wanted Green or Young instead of Jackson. Rivers was one of the two I wanted once we got the 20s pick however. I think we made the wrong choices with the high picks, but it’s in the past now and I support the players that are now in red and blue. Pickett is very exciting and shows glimpses of greatness. Doggies are probably the best team to watch in 2020. They win contested ball but also have a good fast brand played through the corridor. They have genuine stars and X factor. Good to see them beating some of the less like able teams!

We won 20 quarters in a row and were the most potent team in the league! Seems another lifetime now

Same. Was gutted that day and lost a few bets with friends as a result. The Collingwood game in 2018 was similar, though less offensive on the scoreboard in the end. We were in good form and on a winning streak, but their midfield absolute ripped us apart that day. DeGoey started the game in the midfield and had a massive impact with 12 inside 50s, 10 of those leading to scores. We had a good run later in 2018, but we still got embarrassed by the Pies and it hurt. I think some supporters may have glorified 2018 a bit over the years. We couldn't beat a top 8 team right until the end of the year and spent most of the year beating up on bottom teams. Had we been more competitive against top teams, we likely would've finished top 2 on the ladder and had an easier run in finals. It was still a good year, but not as good as some tend to remember it.

We actually might've taken Ben King. He played and excelled as a key defender at underage level, though swung forward a few times. His brother Max was the tall forward and higher rated brother. If we were after a key defender, Ben King was the best of that draft, so we might've taken him! He started his career as a tall defender at Gold Coast, hence no goals in his first few games. He was tried forward out of necessity and it's turned out he's a gun tall forward and will likely play out his career there. But yes, if our pick was later than pick 6 as originally projected, we were very keen on Butters as a classy midfielder to compliment our grunt. I'm still hopefully we could get him across at some point, as he looks a real talent and exactly what we need IMO.

Umpiring last night was amongst some of the worst I've seen. Pies had a dream run and even got paid marks when dropping the ball! There definitely needs to be a pull back on all the rule changes. We no longer have rules, just interpretations. It's making sport unwatchable, un-umpirable, and impossible to explain to new prospective fans and markets.

A quality goal kicking key forward is number 1 on the shopping list. Number two is a classy mid who can kick goals, and Butters will be exactly that player. Port nailed the 2018 draft, with Rozee, Butters and Duursma. We were super keen on Butters in his draft year but he wasn't within our grasp in the end. He's a second year player who has already showed he's a running machine, has good speed, great disposal by foot, can hit the scoreboard and doesn't mind a bit of niggle. He could play midfield, forward or back flank. If we could pry him away from Port, it'd be a massive win for us. He'd become part of our core midfield for a decade.

Why did we bother getting Brown if we’re not going to play him when we need a key forward and TMac is injured?! Guessing Jackson will come in as he and Brown were the reported standouts in the scratch match.

Mcevoy has been playing CHB/FB most of the year. They shifted him down there and use Ceglar as ruck. McEvoy has been good down back, but they swung him forward the past fortnight with success also. He's a solid utility. Ceglar out robs them of that tall option both back and forward. I think McEvoy is a better ruckman than Ceglar, and he's nullified Max in the past so our ruck advantage has just been reduced IMO. Does help us structurally though with Tmac out, giving them one less marking and intercepting option down back.

I’d go unchanged this week if TMac gets up from the eye scrape. If Hawks get their kicking possession game going, we’re toast. Need to bring the pressure this week to combat this.

That picture is from his profile on the club website. It's simplistic, but it paints a pretty clear picture. He's a poor defender and AFL player thus far. Harsh, but true. He should only get a game in our defence if we have a bad run with injury. As I said, I think it's forward or bust for him.

He does come across as laconic, similar to Travis Johnstone many years ago. Just because they appear that way, doesn't mean they're not busting their gut. I don't recall any specific encumbrance reported, but last year they had him do a mini pre-season mid year to "rebuild his body and confidence". Interesting looking back, as he may have built increased strength that was previously lacking and be moving more freely as a result.

I've been pretty vocal in my disappointment with him this season. He's a good athlete, but he's got poor football IQ. The amount of times he's flown for aerial contests and spoiled/crashed into 2-3 Melbourne defenders already going up is disgraceful. His game against Carlton was one of the worst by a player in red n blue this decade. He's been really poor in defence, really poor. Statistically, this season in defence he's rated well below average in every single stat available except tackles, where he ranks average. In my opinion, he should never play again in defence unless we have horrendous injuries. There's still hope to try him as a forward, where he showed a bit in one preseason game 2 years ago. If he can't excel as a marking target forward, then I'd rate him an easy delisting candidate. At 24 years old he should be hitting his peak, not struggling to even be an average league footballer and find a position. He's the type we need to stop carrying on the list for too long if we want to become a successful footy club again.

He was on Day for most of the match until Day got thrown into the ruck late in the game. He comfortably beat Day and also peeled off to assist other defenders too. Similar to Weid, not big stats but played his role well. Oscars positioning with defensive zone was light years ahead of Smiths. He reads the play quite well and doesn't get caught out as often, which is a good sign that he and the other talls in May and Lever have better understanding of each others games and are able to stick to their roles easier. It allowed Lever to peel off and intercept more and more as the game went on. Credit to Oscar for a decent game. He should be in the team again based on form and structure.

Apologies if it looks crap as I’ve done it on my phone. Names bolded are not currently in the team, injured, or no longer at the club. That is A LOT of change in 12 months! Hopefully we build some consistency with selection now as we had better structure on the weekend.

He played his role yesterday. He provides us a strong target inside 50, and though he doesn’t clunk all the marks he crashes packs and creates opportunities for our smalls. Another thing I liked is that he doesn’t get sucked up the ground like others in the forwardline - he anchors himself closer to goal and it improves our entire structure. If he plays that same role he did yesterday he’d kick 40 goals a year and setup many more. He needs to stay in the team and needs to be played forward, not swung around the ground in the ruck. Sure he can take ruck contests inside 50, but he stays inside 50.

People = ?

Gus had a poor game yesterday, but I still feel it’s due to not being played in a suitable role. His best footy, and coincidentally the teams best footy, comes when he is at centre bounces. In 2018 Gawn to Brayshaw was the best centre clearance combo in the league. We get more value from our clearances when Brayshaw receives the ball defensive side and the charges into space to deliver inside forward 50 by footy. It’s usually Petracca who feeds him too. Gus needs to play on ball. He’s one of our few mids who can hit the scoreboard as well. At the moment he’s being shoved between outside roles, flank, onball and as a result he’s struggling for consistency. Viney and him never play well at the same time. Whoever is on all plays well. We need to balance our midfield better. IMO it works best when we have the on all unit of Gawn, Oliver, Petracca, Gus. Need less bull at the gate inside kids getting sucked to the ball.

That game from OMac was better than Smiths whole career output. Experiment done. OMac is no superstar, but he can shut down a tall and allows others like Lever and Hibberd to get free and intercept and provide drive. Similarly, Weid is no superstar but he provides a target and straightens us up. Always chimes in with a few goals too. We look much better with them both in the side.

Blame Jack Watts. Wait no... who’s the current whipping boy again?

Excited to see Rankine play. He’s probably the most exciting junior I’ve ever seen at underage level. X factor out the wazoo. Think this will be a close match but Suns will get up in the end despite us having more scoring shots.