Fat Tony

Lever and Viney are clearly in our best side but it leads to some tricky decisions this week. Lever looked like Lever in the VFL and played well (admittedly a much slower game) and I think he will be right to come back. On finding a spot for Lever, Turner looks like he could be an elite AFL defender and he is probably the best match up for Heeney this week. I am not sure swinging forward and back every game is great for his development. May looks like he is almost finished, injured or a bit out of form but I don't think we will give up on him just yet (plus he is signed for another year). I thought TMac made a few errors but he has been very good this season. Maybe Plugger will make a comeback up forward. On Viney, I would probably push Rivers back to find the midfield minutes, but Rivers was our top rated player against the Lions and was very good. This means we need to reassign one of the small defenders (probably Windsor). The other option is Kossie/Petracca play more forward. I think Sharp or Spargo is most at risk. Fritsch can have another strong game as sub to earn his spot back in the 22. (I would like to see him nail his set shots again.) We are getting close to being able to field our best 23.

I was cautiously optimistic when we learned that McInerney was out because I felt Max would have Fort's measure and would be able to grab the ball in the clearances. Another Clarrie stat that was fantastic was his 36 pressure acts, which was equal 7th career high. We don't really want Clarrie getting 30+ possessions (we want that from Kossie, Lindsay, Chandler, Bowey and Langford) but we need him to be efficient with the ball and a maniac without it.

The best way to watch the game would be the current way they show it PLUS a second screen which shows vision from a camera behind the goals. I have two TVs in my living room for the cricket and its great (but my wife hates it)!

Oliver had a player rating of 20.5 (second behind Rivers). The last game he rated that well was the night he did his hamstring against Port in 2023.

This. Plus those arguing for a change are ignoring the implications to our soft cap. A new coach would not be cheap and would want to bring in their own people and this isn’t feasible if we are paying Goodwin $1m to not coach their own people club.

This game has reinforced a lot of my views. JVR is a defender playing forward (and is being played forward because he is a good set shot kick for goal). Jefferson is a bust. K Brown could make it. Sestan could make it. Howes is a good VFL player. Culley is way too slow. Campbell is a very good backup. Verrell is not strong enough or good enough at ground level. I don't think Adams is a good enough kick to make it. Overall, out list management decisions have been too conservative in turning the list over.

Howes has definitely struggled at AFL level this year and has made too many critical errors. In particular, fumbles and poor handballs. He needs to be ultra clean because he has no real penetration in his offence.

Dees are dominating but not on the scoreboard. Lever looks to be playing well. Howes is going well also. JVR has played well but has missed two long shots and is a very good VFL forward. (But I maintain he will be better as a defender in the AFL.) Jefferson has one goal (after nearly dropping the uncontested mark) and missed a earlier set shot and another one kicked into the man on the mark. He is a dopey footballer. Tholstrup just had his first kick and has been invisible. Casey 32 Southport 27

Losing Jackson arguably cost us the 2023 flag.

I don't think the 3.20pm slot on Sunday is a bad one to get. The Saturday night game is no longer as good as it was from a commercial perspective given the change in free to air games. Being sent to Tassie, Darwin, Alice or Ballarat for a foxtel game is what kills the club.

I can’t see him making it due to lack of effort unfortunately. He was a passenger yesterday.

We won the clearances by 38-27, Newcombe had a quiet day and Oliver had 85% disposal efficiency. Isn’t that what really matters?

Hopefully we get a four quarter effort and some Kossie magic today.

We need another great game from Max to win this. He’s. been able to dominate Reeves, but Meek will be a tougher matchup.

Jackson is 28th in the AFL for Player Rating despite being played out of position for a huge chunk of game time. He is definitely worth the money.

Just to highlight how well Turner played, he had a player rating of 24.0 and Gawn had a rating of 24.1.

Kolt is definitely not a lock. I am a fan, but that's hyperbole. He has had player ratings of 3.9, 8.4 and -1.7 in the last three weeks. Sharp has had player ratings of 2.9, 3.5 and 5.5 in around 30% game time.

I expect Rivers to come in the midfield and Turner to play in the back 7. That said, I hope that Windsor goes into the midfield rather than Rivers because Rivers has finally found form in defence and Windsor has not quite clicked in the backline. This is the week to try Windsor in the middle or back on the wing. Petty will play as the ruck relief, but this means our forward line will be very short for 30-35% of the game. With Oliver out his week, I can also see Sparrow, Langford and Chandler being used in the midfield more. Chandler was very good in the midfield against the Roos and I am surprised we haven't tried this again.

How is Turner going? Melksham?

I hope TMac can play again next season, but I would not offer him a contract until the year is done.

I am not sure he is the best first year player in the team this season.

How was Turner going?

He is slow off the mark, which is what really counts in Australian football.

I think the one handers are all footsteps ones.