Nasher

I’m really nervous about this game, but only because of its value to our finals aspirations. It’s the most important of all those remaining on the schedule considering Geelong are one of our key rivals on the ladder. I’ve seen this Geelong team fold to pretty uninspiring teams a few times this year. Talent for talent, this game is quite winnable.

Great article. I didn’t know Hibberd and Melksham were such close mates before they came. Obviously they’re grown adults, but still being able to walk in to the club together would have taken the edge off the nerves. Because I’ve become a spiteful footy supporter, my favourite part about all this was that Melksham was Watts-level (or even greater) whipping boy at Essendon. The fact that he’s come here and become an important member of the team and even pretty popular among the fans gives me great morbid pleasure. Suck it, Essendon. Hope it stings. When he’s going he’s an such enjoyable player to watch: a reliable contest winner, gets the ball to boot very quickly, and is an absolutely fantastic kick. He won’t always fire which is probably what separates him from the very best, but no doubt he’s an asset to the club. Congrats Jake on the 150!

We’ve had umpires down to training before as well guys. It’s common, not the sign of a conspiracy. YIKES IT’S A SHADOW!!!

So he’s definitely talking about Marrara Oval, where we spend 4 hours s year, and there’s absolutely no chance he’s talking about our training ground, where our players spend a dozen hours a week, which was recently described by a Demonland member as being rock hard? I’ll never understand why people choose the conspiracy theory over the simple and logical conclusion.

This seems to be the most unlikely of all the suggestions. Has looked well past it whenever he’s played this year.

Do you understand the difference between anecdotal evidence and actual research? This is not the first time this week I’ve seen you call on your very narrow personal experience to draw a very wide conclusion.

I think Hibberd’s actual defensive “craft” (I hate that word) is what will be missed most, and why an actual defender needs to take his place. This is why Hibberd is an important player - he’s effective in both the attacking and defensive elements of the game. Melksham, Fritsch et al can assist with the rebounding, but they’re not true defenders and I’d say will almost certainly be found wanting when the play demands solid defence. It’s a conundrum.

Hmm. Maybe I am underestimating his drive. Oh well, we’ll see how we go.

It’s probably a controversial opinion but I reckon his ball use when at full tilt (ie creating run and drive) is often sub-par. I’ve seen him kick it directly to the opposition as often as not. I honestly think Smith or Wagner can cover that aspect of his play. It’s his contested work and support for his teammates in the back half that I think we will miss.

Is Hibberd irreplaceable? He’s a good player, but I don’t see this one hurting anywhere near as much as losing Viney or Lever.

Yes, probably best you don’t mention Gawn or Oliver ?

Opportunity for Wagner or Smith. Obviously either would be a downgrade, but not so significantly that it’s a game changer in my opinion. Injuries happen. No point getting too upset about it.

ANB: 22 Harmes: 22 Bugg: 25

That’s revisionism - at least in Martin’s case. Many were spewing when Neeld traded Martin. He was a good ruckman when he was here, the problem was that he was behind Mark Jamar in the pecking order and he couldn’t play anywhere else. There were also a few personal issues at the club that might have prevented him from staying anyway.

That’s a bit like selling your car just in case someone steals it. When Jesse gets to the FA stage, he’ll be a RFA anyway. If he comes to the club with an offer and wants to go, we make the other club come up with a suitable trade, Dangerfield style. I definitely wouldn’t pre-empt it though. Save that stuff for the paranoid and the insecure, and back ourselves to keep him. This is all hypothetical anyway. I’m very confident he’s not going anywhere. I know some people think footballers are all filthy liars, but the quotes from the article listed by @ProDeereally resonate with me, because they align with exactly what I thought would happen. So long as we could successfully navigate those first few homesick years, he would develop in to an adult that was settled in Melbourne. That’s precisely what has happened.

This is what playing AFL footy until you’re 40 does to your brain.

I liked it just because of how much it wound up the Dogs’ box ?

Yep. Sounds likely that Viney is probably going to spend the balance of his career managing this foot. The reassuring thing is he’s the sort who will leave no stone unturned in working out the best way to do that. Hopefully the issues reduce over time.

No matter what happens from here on, if anyone says "we don't deserve to play finals" as if implying we deserve it any less than Geelong, Port, Hawthorn or any of those other clubs around our mark, I'll know they're full of it. Our game against St Kilda has nothing on what Port just served up against Freo. This year's flag is anyone's at this point.

Those guys were all still playing AFL grade footy - North were trying to help correct the age imbalance on their list, ie push it in the direction of youth to avoid severe pain down the track once they decided they weren’t a premiership threat. We’re still on the youthful side of perfect when it comes to that balance, although we are approaching thr sweet spot now, so there is no need for us to start cutting away experience that still has some meat on the bones at this stage. I expect Jones to be around for another 4 years at least. Players like Vince who are clearly now on the slippery slope are a different story, but I wouldn’t put that in the category of “tough call”.

I think from a top 4 point of view we would prefer Collingwood to beat West Coast wouldn’t we? Given we play West Coast in the run home, it could be their spot we are trying to pinch, whereas we have no influence in Collingwood’s final ladder position so they may as well win every game from here on.

Another one down. The Geelong and Hawthorn results this week show why there’s no need to go overboard with poor results. The clubs we are competing with are just as flaky and likely to shoot themselves in the foot. That said, I’m hopeful we can put Geelong away next week. If so, top 4 remains within reach and finals overall get a lot more likely.

Hahaha, I’d forgotten about that. That song is so cringeworthily 90s. Have to admit I watched all the way to the end though. Goosebumps at the kick that got them in to the 96 grand final.

I’d say Clayton Oliver can be our Clayton Oliver. All players are unique, especially when you’re talking about the best llayers, so I don’t really understand why there’s this need for the footy media to draw parallels all the time. There’s only one Clayton Oliver and there’s only one Dustin Martin. That said, King makes some compelling arguments. Clarry said in the MFC podcast that he thinks he’ll be rotating more with Petracca between half forward and the midfield. It’s a salivating prospect if they can get to the point where they’re both fully firing.

Agreed. I wouldn’t expect it to be a factor in the conversation about a 25 year old though.