Nasher

I always thought he seemed terribly anti-Melbourne too, but maybe he's just objectively a good judge - after all, we have actually been pus for the best part of a decade. Could be a good sign!

Four changes! Sif. If there are any more than two, including the one forced, I'll eat my hat. It'll be Garlett for Vince, and possibly the next worst midfielder for Brayshaw - Bugg and vandenBerg front of the queue for mine. There is no hurry on Petracca while his fitness builds.

Maybe - gotta squeeze Garlett and possibly Brayshaw in too.

I'm surprised more players weren't dead on their feet to be honest. It was a marathon, high intensity game, and every quarter went over 30 minutes.

It's a 1%er for mine. Both are inadequate rucks, and Gawn seems capable of carrying most of the duties now. Pedersen may hold more marks, but realistically Watts and Hogan are the marking targets; a third just clogs the forward line as we've seen. Now that I've seen Frost in person I'd persist. He has some serious athletic traits; with some time to settle and comfortable I think he can be good a player. I don't support the view that he should be played as a defender, I think that wastes his athletic traits, and you'd need to also play Pedersen in that instance as you can't really ruck when you have the job on a key tall.

By the way the other thing I saw up close was Watts get the absolute stuffing knocked out of him in the contest that ultimately resulted in the turnover. Without wanting to make excuses, seeing him during and after the contest, there was no doubt in my mind he lacked clarity of thought in that instant. Hogan's very short lead in to the pocket was also just rubbish - one of your side's best kicks has the ball in hand for a shot on goal - don't confuse matters by leading in to a spot where you'll end up in basically the same place anyway. It was a high risk low reward play by both players - who incidentally were both otherwise fantastic on the day.

I'm with you. Saw him up close for the first time yesterday (literally - I was seated basically on the fence on the flank where he kicked his first) and he's seriously impressive. It's not just the clean ball use either - he never seems to end up in the wrong position, ever. I saw him take one away just standing behind a pack of talls who all ran under it. Great judgement while playing in a gale. Love that everyone knew who you were talking about without you mentioning his name! Hard to believe some clubs didn't even think he was worth interviewing. He and Viney - who has without a doubt gone up a gear this year - make a formidable inside mid combination. The best part of it is it's already true; we don't have to wait for them to develop or play the "he'll come good" game. Just so bloody exciting.

LOL! There's only one person commenting in this thread so far that seems unable to deal with the fact that we lost.

It was 8 goals to 2 and in the first half the "breeze" (wind) definitely favoured one end. At the ground it was clear those kicking to the river end were kicking worm burners (not to mention hoofing goals from outside 50) while the team going the other way were constantly kicking unmarkable floaters. I am presuming you saw the second quarter as well? The breeze died down at half time and was much less of a factor in the second half.

6. Viney - was the clear most influential midfielder across four quarters for mine, You can just count on him to bust a gut - usually it's in heavy traffic but his involvement in the 'slingshot' (involving Jetta at HB and Hogan in the middle) that resulted in himself getting the goal was a bloody outstanding piece of 'outside' work. Brilliant. 5. Gawn - not often you'd say the second best player was someone whose opponent kicks 5 goals, but his work in the ruck was the chief reason for our competitiveness. Just love the way he has come on this year. 4. Hogan - worked hard, and was involved from start to finish. A very welcome return to form. 3. Vince - more on sheer volume of involvement. Did an awful lot of blindly hoofing forward with mixed results - a bit more careful use of the footy would have had me ranking him higher, but he got it heaps which is half the battle. 2. Lumumba - had a horrible q1 (with plenty of friends) to the point where I'd already penned my "changes for next week" comment in my head at quarter time. Really lifted after that in terms of contested work. His kamikaze approach to getting through traffic is enough to give one a coronary, but it turned out to be effective later in the game when the wind died down a bit. 1. Oliver - said it before, but he's the best in traffic player I've seen. His handballs are exceptionally clean, and he always seems to instinctively get in the right place. Loved his work in front of goals today. Influential. Players I couldn't find room in the votes for but wanted to comment positively on: Salem - has a toughness that belies his baby-faced appearance, and was probably our most consistent user of the ball. Would have been close to best on in the very disappointing first quarter Watts - getting too much criticism for that stuffed pass to Hogan when he should have kicked the goal IMO. He was not the only one to make a terrible mistake in the last quarter - Kent's pass to a North defender while running towards goal was another, as was Bugg's pass to Stretch (when Watts was in the clear to the other side). Watts also dropped a couple of vital marks, but I think the thing that stood out was zero failed attempts at going, and a number of seriously tough efforts that resulted in goals. I thought it was another solid game, was just a shame about that blunder. Kent - had a quiet first half, but came to life in the second half. Too large a gap between best and worst at this stage. Jetta - seems to play at the same level every week. Just such a dependabe player. Jeez, I'm still filthy about that high tackle on Goldstein that was paid against him. Harmes - as I said in the post-match thread, some polish in traffic is the only stops him from being a permanent fixture in the 22 - the odd fluffed kick or fumble etc, but he marks, he attacks and he tackles. I thought he was impressive today.

That is a harsh piece of advice to a poster who is never anything but completely civil. Especially since you are barking up the wrong tree regarding what incident it was.

Just saw that on the news. Elbowed a player in the head. Should get a week I'd think. The hip and shoulder on Ziebell was ripper.

Look I really hate it when people post things like this, but I've got to question whether anyone who wants to drop Harmes saw the game. You just don't drop players who get 10 tackles.

Harmes and Kent definitely not in the gun IMO. I'd be happy with no change.

Harmes was excellent I thought. If his disposal in tight was cleaner there would be no question about him being first 22 IMO. He attacks ball and man fiercely, and he takes grabs - he took a clear pack mark right in front of me in the last quarter that wasn't paid. He is credited with 10 tackles on the day which outstanding.

Non-factor I thought as we mostly had control of the ball. Some costly misses - the Hogan and Kent ones - and poor choices with the ball, e.g. Bugg had Watts out the back on his own but went for Stretch instead. Our best players were on the ground and didn't look out of legs to me.

Just got home. I have no voice left. Just thinking about how that game was umpired makes me furious all over again. For me it almost ruined what was a thoroughly entertaining game. Wind was a massive factor in the first half. The ball held up and was almost unmarkable when kicking to the non-river end (not sure what they call it). I think the score imbalances did reflect conditions - our intensity looked okay to me in the first quarter but we just couldn't score. Viney best on by miles for me.

That and all the other amazing things that happened can be discussed in the Casey vs Frankston thread:

Yeah - Gawn has turned out to be such a disaster. The gramps ruckman that has done two knees, that has turned in to a class ruckman, and happens right now to be the only fit ruckman on our list. Have another gold star.

Let's just pretend the thread was bumped to recycle this ^^ joke.

That Tynan, Taggert and Sellar were better players?

Can we just enjoy seeing their faces rubbed in to the dirt for a minute before you remind us that it's probably temporary?

It's a bummer, but I feel worse for Mitch King. Not exactly the way you want to start your AFL career. Trenners is just a minor setback I reckon.

I'm pretty sure it is true, but like you, I have no evidence other than "I'm pretty sure...". I hereby delegate you the task of keeping track of this every time we play on a Sunday this year. Enjoy Ed: if it's not a strict rule, it's generally a good enough rule of thumb to go by in any case.

I've unpinned this, as I think people seem to tune out of the pinned topics and it is being missed. Anyway, I've got night shift before the match so I'll be an exhausted zombie, I have crap seats, the weather is meant to be ordinary, the team selection makes no sense and I'm still in a god damn bad mood with the MFC after last week. The only variable that make things better is if the team plays good on the day. It's all in your hands, MFC!