Dee*ceiving

Agree. At his best, Melksham will marshall the forward line, disarm the oppositions best key defender and hit the scoreboard.

It will be fascinating to see how Melks fares when he returns. He's been running and training for some time now so should have the tank (in theory). Question is does he come back with steely grit and determination or wanting for motivation. My guess with Jake is steely grit and determination, which would be an amazing addition for our last 6-10 games!

Agree wholeheartedly. Purely bizarre. I am glad we're playing on Sunday as hopefully it's bedded in better by then after the umpires completely eradicate the notion of prior opportunity Thursday to Saturday

I'll say it again. If a forward won his position as as often as Steve may does as a defender that forward would probably be the highest paid player in the comp. Backman don't get anywhere near enough respect.

Ok, coming around to be more optimistic about Smacca, plus if it's really his brithday what better time than to send positive energy his way. In the realm of extreme optimism how good would it be if Pickett and McAdam could forge a Sean Charles/Jeff Farmer esque tag team? Not sure the combination won us a heap of games in the 90s but they sure were exciting and did look for eachother (as it seems Kozzy has been doing).

I think that makes sense Jaded. We won't lose much in terms of pace with Woey Jnr, plus he gets rewarded for good form, plus we manage Leb's minutes. Leb could be a real impact player if injected at the 20 minute mark of the 3rd qtr.

Petty will remain forward in the 1s until he's out of the team injured or we're no longer in realistic contention. At which point we'll see TF, MJ and WV...hopefully not an outcome we see this year. If Tommo plays well the next two weeks it will be interesting to see what we do with him when Lever returns. I am not sure we can have all of May, TMac, Lever and Tommo in the backline. Tommo could potentially play the role Howe filled until last week, but he and TMac are both slow and having four talls back there means a small or medium (who is much faster) would need to move out.

I think it's fair to say that our high performance strategy does not utilise: resting/managing players utilising the VFL as a means for players to find form, whether returning from injury or just not playing well Re: Hunter, I thought he was very good. Found himself in good places, defenisvely often, offensively some and had some deft touches, slight handballs and knock ons that opened up play. He's a smart player and probably didn't (and didn't need to) extend himself too much in the VFL).

I think with Petty there's still a chance he'll find form and make a considerable difference. It looks a long way off but the FD is taking a gamble that it will click and with any luck it does at the right time. Like it or not, my guess is they'll stick with this until Petty is legitimately injured to the extent he can't play, or it's evident we're not a genuine chance to win the flag. Whichever comes soonest (hopefully neither)!

That's sad Fork! As we get older, lamenting the current to be as not as good as the past is a fact of life. If you once loved something that you don't love anymore you should let it go. You will probably feel better afterwards. Unless it's your life partner, in which case you should check your superannuation and enquire thoughtfully about the financial implications elsewise it's possible you'll feel much worse! Was there a long time ago Clint...At least the WWE have the decency to admit it.

I agree, no change. But the clock is ticking for Petty and McAdam. Petty looked to have turned the corner in the second half v Geelong but has barely touched the footy since. He clunked one about 5 minutes in yesterday and I thought he might be on, sadly not. Re McAdam I agree he needs a block of games but it's a big ask to carry two forwards who not only don't hit the scoreboard but barely touch the leather.

Definitely feels like a trend. Though in 2022 we'd do the opposite. Jump out of the blocks, lead at half time and then try to grind out the second half. Of course it all grinded to a halt eventually

Can someone ask the Saints to trial him at CHF for the rest of the season please?

Looking at the stats and highlights of the Casey v Sandy game, we should bring in Mitch White...oh wait!

Cam Pedersen, 10 years too soon, where are you when we need you most? Only 37 and working for a university. Bring him back too! 😇

Clarrie is improving slowly but I completely agree with your observation regarding metres gained and 'not using his legs'. Although not overly quick, a key aspect of Clayton's game has always been very powerful first 3-4 steps to burst away from a would be tackler and clear his arms for an attacking handball or driving kick. I don't feel like we've seen that sudden burst and drive from his legs as yet this year.

Umpires umpiring Max properly vs Saints, a game we're likely to win anyway, to minimise derision when he get's no sympathy vs Freo and Pies 😏

6. Gawn 5. Neal-Bullen 4. McDonald 3. May 2. Salem 1. Viney

Great to get the four points but areas of concern may outweigh the aspects to celebrate. Positives: Max, ANB, May, Tmac Midfield mix change ups Tommo slotted in ok Hunter exceeded expectations Better game from Sparrow Negatives: Petty couldn't get a kick for 3 qtrs and then injured (& the cupboard is bare) Concerned for McAdam, spilled a lot of chances, pressure just ok Windsor couldn't get into the game, fatigued? Fritsch mostly quiet 67 inside 50s for 14.16 Coughed up 3 goals in junk time, costing us ~3%

Top 5 in my time (born '81, following with some appreciation from '87...) 1. Max Gawn 2. David Neitz 3. Clayton Oliver 4. Christian Petracca 5. Steve May Honourable mentions: Jim Stynes Garry Lyon David Shwarz Allen Jakovich Nathan Jones Robbie F only left out because I just didn't see enough of him at an age where I could properly appreciate him, but the highlights and reading is amazing!

With Lever out for a month the selection needs to consider filling that role for at least the next three weeks. Based on that and the fact that the coach has said Petty will be staying forward (we really have no one else to play key forward anyway), Tomlinson has to come in. As does JVR (for Brown) and Langdon. The swap for Langdon is tough though. Woey's form is better than Billings, but tough to drop Billings against his old club. Windsor could probably use a rest but I am not sure we can afford to lose his pace. Other options that would necessitate a reshuffle might be Howes (not practical?) or Sparrow (harsh, but may send a message?).

I always thought the maximum distance before bouncing was 15m, essentially counted as 15 steps? I counted Harley at 13 watching that video

If we are not looking like contenders come the bye, I think it would be time to trial a couple more kids trial some more positional moves play Petty in a role that will maximise his value for trading Avoid running Max and May into early retirements

Outside of a key forward we've got enough kids in the team that haven't fully matured yet (Windsor, McVee, JVR, Howes, Woewodin) and a couple at Casey (Kolt, Sestan, Verrall) that should still come on. Unfortunately losing Brayshaw has hurt a lot, exacerbated by not retaining Jordon. Plus Smith. Both were not replaced. And for whatever reason we've not been able to lure a key forward which hurts us now. The two straight set exits were supremely disappointing (2022 more disappointing than 2023 IMV) but, we easily could have won both those finals last year with a touch more luck and Angus not in hospital.