Fat Tony

Grundy played his best football as a solo ruckman. Not sure he really compliments Gawn and he would cost a fair chunk of cap space even if the Pies pay a large percentage of his wages.

It was actually 15.4 with 2 rushed.

This is the issue with the penalty being so contingent on the outcome. It would be a travesty if Petracca or Oliver miss a grand final for such an incident where a player gets accidently concussed. My view is that Cripps left the ground to contest the ball but was late and braced and bumped Ah Chee. I am not saying Cripps was blameless but IMO some of the intentional punching to the body is more worthy of suspension.

Not sure it’s a balance in defence issue. The Dogs and Pies just kicked very straight and JUL and Johnson are both up and coming stars who held their marks. I am more worried about our inability to connect the midfield and forward line.

Luck goes in swings and roundabouts. We had plenty of luck with injuries last year. This year, we have lost 5 games when the footy gods have been against us. The other thing about luck is it is not predictable. Hopefully we are lucky again in September when it really counts.

3 weeks would be better if we get them in the first week of the finals.

Jackson is out of contract. Naughton is not.

Why would the Dogs trade Naughton? Sounds fanciful.

Jackson is much more likely to win one on ones or take contested marks inside 50 than Brown. He plays higher up the ground, in part, due to Brown being in the side.

Further to this, we need to target Jackson inside 50 more often. He is our best contested mark other than Gawn.

Perth is 11m narrower than MCG. My view is that the forward line needs surgery and we can’t have as many pressure valves. Playing Fritsch and Brown or Weideman only works if the midfield supply is precise.

I am thinking we need to rejig our set up to maximise our chances of winning the flag. I think our MCG problem is still alive and it only really went away when we played a smaller more mobile forward line at the start of last year. The wins at the start of this season were against lower sides and we are now getting a bit found out with better opposition. (Playing finals in Adelaide and Perth actually suited us and helped us win the flag IMO.) With TMac still injured, the best solution is to have Petty replace Brown as full forward and Tomlinson come back into defence. (Turner is also an option.) Van Rooyen is not ready to be the sole key target at AFL level, albeit he could come in to replace Melksham. I am 50/50 on this, as it usually takes time to adjust to AFL level. Petty played five games as a forward in 2019 and was very promising, averaging 1.2 goals, 1.2 contested marks, 11 pressure acts and 3 tackles. In contrast, Brown’s 2022 averages are 1.7 goals, 1.3 contested marks, 6.2 pressure acts and 0.6 tackles. So, the Petty for Brown move potentially reduces goal scoring and finishing but brings greater forward pressure and similar contested marking. Harmes should come back in for Spargo or ANB, who is out of form.

I think Melksham is not a great tackler or chaser but he is clever in positioning himself to stop the intercept marker. We really need him to be an elite finisher if we play him because he does not offer much otherwise.

MCG 160m x 141m Perth 165m x 130m

We are 34 wins & 10 losses & 1 draw over the last two years. But this includes our record without either Ben Brown and Weideman, which is 6-0. I think our glorious September last year and beating up on the lower teams has given us a false sense of our best mix. The taller forward line worked well on the skinner grounds in finals last year (because our midfield was incredible and the narrow grounds helped our press) and it worked against the poorer teams on the MCG at the start of 2021, but the lack of forward pressure from our talls is costing us this year against the good sides. The biggest problem with our game plan is that other sides have worked out how to prevent us getting counter attacking goals. Last year we scored a lot when Hunt, Langdon and Pickett combined on the Langdon wing. I can't remember the last time we scored this way.

Goodwin talks a big game about being ruthless. How about we be ruthless and use the sub like every other team.

Brown and Gawn apply no pressure and Fritsch isn’t much better. Brown needs to kick 3 goals to justify his place IMO because so many parts of his game are a liability.

I think we win that game 95% of the time. The Pies kicked 15.4 with 2 rushed. In saying that, our last quarters are a concern. We just cannot seem to transition the ball with any flow when we get into space. I also thought we defended poorly inside 50. I feel we need to play Jackson inside 50 more often and use him as a target. Brown is not marking it enough for the chances he gets and we are playing with 17 on the field when the ball isn't kicked to his advantage.

We need to start being a bit more willing to bend the rules like every other side.

Ben Brown had a season high 16 possessions last night and kicked 2 goals but he is such a massive liability when the ball is in his hands in open play, on the ground and defensively. I don’t think he is accretive to us winning. I am not saying Weideman is the answer but if TMac was fit, Brown wouldn’t be in my side.

The Pies are an excellent kicking side. We will need to make sure we win the contested ball convincingly and we need our forwards to fire.

Jackson looks a bit ginger with his knee.

Any idea who's spot will Hunt take? Brayshaw, Salem or Petty?

I started twitching my eye at the headline.