Dee*ceiving

Plenty of talent. Not committed enough for mine, hence not fit enough to make the most of his talent

Melksham in finals has the potential to be Stewie Dew like (pre beer gut). 8 kicks could be 3 goals and 2 assists... ...or not 🤷‍♂️

I'd love Jones back in the side... if he was still 29 years old. Sadly, just too slow now.

Good summary Col, and agree, it is sad. It was hard not to like Jack, despite obvious frustrations.

I was at this game, with two pies supporters... It's a funny game footy, one of millimetres. A ripping, desperate spoil from Hibberd and a clever kick from Oscar to Harmes advantage. The 29 for Collingwood (Tim Broomhead?) looked like he couldn't chase down a runaway souvlaki. The kick from Harmes to Watts wasn't a particularly difficult one, albeit harder due to fatigue, ver late in the game. The ball bounced twice, a metre or so in front of Jack not far from the boundary, it easily could have jagged a different way and run out of bounds. Very pleased it didn't! ?

But he provides class and finish. Something the other forwards do not, for the most part.

Form is fickle, especially for a young team. The suns certainly embarrassed themselves yesterday. We shouldn't get to far ahead of ourselves though, suspect the only team that might have struggled to beat them yesterday on recent exposed form would be the eagles. BTW, not a great time to get the eagles, at home after an embarrassing road trip. Their leaders will step up and they'll have a home town crowd and team of umpires behind them.

I can see your point there Travvy. Those stats are good. I just wish Harmes would keep his game a lot simpler. Fewer fend offs and trying to evade 5 tackles in an effort for the miracle kick/handball to advantage. Whenever Clayton feels tackle pressure his instinct is to get his arms high and free giving him a chance at an effective disposal. This would be a better technique for James than the fend off. He doesnt have the upper body strength of a Trac

With our poor finishing I think we'd be unwise not to at least have a look at Melksham. He's our best finisher and field kick. Give him eagles and crows, see what he can bring us. Harmes out Melksham in

Hopefully this is step one of an AFL plan to hub all teams in Vic, and maybe Tas

Not sure what's better, a night in GC and play at Metricon day later than scheduled or Sit around in a plane for 8 hours flying north then south but getting to sleep in our own beds and play at Marvel a day later than scheduled

Silver lining, maybe a week off now is a better timed freshen up for us than in 4 weeks time?

Agree, this makes the most sense. Vic Govt has proven they will at least work with the AFL

Pure speculation, but are we too confident at the stoppage? Do we treat a D50 stoppage the same as a stoppage anywhere else on the ground in that we back ourselves to win the ball and be positioned to move it forward with attacking intent under the comfort that if we don't win it our defensive structure will win it back? Maybe to simplistic but to my eyes we don't do enough to cover the dangerous players at D50 stoppages and you'd think the strategy would be different for various parts of the ground

Jackson and Jordon must go out. For mine, Melksham must come in, purely for his finishing. Our finishing is deplorable and he's the only bloke on the shelf with a leg that can make half chances 6 points. The second in is tougher, I am not convinced it should be a tall. Maybe on a dry deck up north, if so I'd be thinking M Brown. He will do the basics well, run to the right areas and likely kick straight if given a chance within reason. Elsewise Sparrow is a good option. Has done well enough with limited opportunity. Jones, I am afraid, is way to slow for a fast deck and lacks depth in his kicks now. Won't make a difference I feel. Harmes, ANB I wouldn't be against leaving them out but they might be worth another shot only because the options beyond those two are limited and with little to no exposed form.

Agree, missed the boat on this. In fairness I suspect the lack of a VFL competition for several weeks to assess form made it 'safer' to stick with the same 22 week in week out, but we are paying for it now. We needed to inject some older heads, Melksham, Jones, M Brown and a few of the youngsters, Sparrow, Bowey, Bedford, Lockhart strategically through the middle part of the season.

What's most frustrating is not losing a game like that it's burning points against the crows, giants, pies and Hawks

We were In it all night. Midfield matched the dogs, Gawn dominant. We were wasteful in attack, again, they were not. We missed several gettable shots, they did not. We failed to take our difficult chances, they did not. We got a rough ride from the umpires, they did not. Game over...

Agree, freed up Tommy with a less qualified defender. Came up the ground at the right time and was effective enough when the ball hit the ground. He even turned well. His gather, turn and kick to a team mate inside 50 from close to the boundary was class.

Convinced me binman...great work

They do this in the hope you'll reinvest, some if not all of your winnings and get it back that way. The liablity mustn't have been to big for them. Can't imagine there were tens of thousands laid on the dees at 17 or 23-1.

IMV, the reason Stringer spent so much time in the midfield was because Essendon's coaching staff felt he was unlikely to beat Hibberd inside 50....but could break loose with strength and speed in the middle. Which he did a few times. Luckliy for us greedily and wastefully for the most part.

Couldn't agree more

Nice point... Greene's leadership has been terrific and unexpected in a depleted team. Fritsch has been mostly good finishing solid work further up the ground but Green brings greater value overall for mine

Good question. Did a great job on JJ, but a question mark whether good enough for Cameron. I'd also think Cameron to be to agile for Hibberd but maybe his size and strength levels it out a bit with some help from his mates.