Nasher

Phew - still alive. Dang Swans could have put a bit more dent in North's percentage though, but I'll still take it.

Not at all. I knew I'd got pretty much every call in this thread wrong. I was expecting a ribbing - I even actively went looking for it.

Sob. Stuck at home with a sick 6 year old. Really would have loved to go. Would have gone as far as borrowing Swans gear from a mate and giving all the Norf fans lip. Ah well.

That's twice in two days I've been falsely accused of backing Grimes and Garland!

Then I went soft on it later in thread

Yes, crap call. Never made one, Pro?

I am on a losing streak in this thread.

Maybe the group think on Harmes was right after all. That has caught me off guard, I've got to confess. Best of luck to Michie and ANB. Say what you will about them as players, one thing you can definitely say is that they've had to go down the hard road this year to get their chances, and have sustained high quality VFL performances all year.

After a fair bit of brain racking I concluded Sylvia. Not sure why we couldn't just say it.

The AFL would be packed with players in that position, surely.

Even discounting the fact that 3 of the MFC players will disappear from that side, someone is going to be seriously stiff. Can't see how Joel Smith is not going to be in the dev league this week. Competing with Keilty for the last bench spot looking at that.

Love the barney about Oscar chasing kicks up the field. This is one of the benefits with players being very comfortable with each other - you can have a "frank discussion" with each other and get what needs to be said, said. Great stuff.

A no change bench if ever I've seen one.

Close

How much have they helped our younger players? Our back line is the youngest line of our young team. You'd think if anyone needed a bit of experience, it'd be us. Alas, we seemed to have coped just fine without them. I'd be amazed if we got anything for these two. Roos and Goodwin might as well have duct taped signs saying CAN'T PLAY MODERN DEFENCE on to their foreheads.

Wasn't Jake Spencer also a basketballer? I vaguely remember a story about him choosing footy over basketball because he liked hurting people. I've loved him ever since!

I think it just offsets the massive advantage they already had against the 5-8 team in the Prelim. It just brings them back to the pack rather than crippling them, per se. Personally, I hope this whole thing is a moot point because Borethorn go out in straight sets

The minimum any team will play is 3 in a 5 week period here though, and no team has to sit out two weeks in a row. Your team must have missed two weeks in a row somewhere unless I've stuffed up, which was surely the biggest momentum killer? So while that was a pretty unsatisfactory outcome for your team, it's not going to be that drastic here. It will also take the edge off the top 4 advantage of having a rest week after the first week of the finals - it's a big part of the reason why nobody in the current finals format has ever won a flag from 5-8 (and not just because they're not good enough) - those teams come up against a top 4 side who have had their feet up for the week, while the 5-8 teams busted a gut the week before in the semi.

I assume it's pay related. Either to make him eligible for something (ie a player welfare decision) or to jump through some loophole in the salary cap. I don't think it has any practical implication for the team. I am entirely speculating through.

Exactly. Best 22s are fluid. Love the player or not, I see no upside to an AFL capable player on our list being in this position, and that's not to mention the human side of this. The grave-dancing that goes on on this site is nauseating sometimes.

If you thought I was comparing the worth of McDonald and Harmes as players then I've clearly failed in getting my point across again. I'll leave it at that.

They might have been, not me though. I never thought Grimes would be near our 22 this year. I would have had Garland in my 22 at the start of the year (and he did play early I'll add), but at that stage I hadOscar in the VFL, Frost forward, and I'd never heard of Josh Wagner. As the season has unfolded I have zero complaints about Garland's treatment. I think a better comparison would be Tom McDonald. There are a few on here who have tuned themselves to see every mistake, big or small, to the point where it's now all they see. I see the same thing happening with Harmes. I totally agree that he needs to clean up those errors, no disputing that. I just don't agree that he's anywhere near the fringe of our side, and his standing in our side supports that, but his name comes up in these discussions every week.

Is the player who has played 1 game in the VFL like the players who have played the whole season there? Yeah, nah.

Haven't even got as far as the interview yet. Had to stop and have a deep breath after seeing the Stretch goal again in the highlights reel before the interview. My god, that was a spine tingling moment. Even Derwayne commentary didn't put a dent in it.

Harmes has become a victim of Demonland groupthink IMO, so I won't go in to that, but I really doubt Bugg's spot is in doubt. He's been excellent since returning from his VFL stint. His intensity is back up, his ball use has been clean, and he's kicking goals from the midfield. I'm a Salem fan, but I'm happy to keep him waiting rather than dropping a player in good form for him.