Fat Tony

Great podcast. @binman On recent podcasts you have said you are keen to see Petty played back but you have also been bemoaning our ability to defend the ground ball in defence. I think you are wanting your cake and eat it too here! A part of the decision to play a smaller backline is to give us more run and better coverage for the ground ball. (It is also because Ben Brown is a witches hat on the ground balls and TMac is out of form/unfit, so Petty gives us a more competitive option as a second/third tall.) With Hibberd, Salem and Petty not in our current back 7 against GCS, I think you need to specify who you think should come out of the backline. I assume Daniel Turner is one player who goes out, albeit I think he will be a good AFL player and really needs a block of games to get up to AFL speed. But who goes out for Salem, Hibberd or Petty? Is it Bowey, who is our best ball user but struggles at times one on one? Rivers, who is career best form? McVee, who has come on fantastically well this year? Or Brayshaw, who is playing higher but could go into the midfield? IMO our issues with the ground ball could be exacerbated with another tall in defence.

Yes they can PF because the AFL is bankrolling the team.

He was saying the onus was on the existing clubs to make sure the environment was one where players wanted to stay. I don't think he understood that it would result in Tassie taking players off the bottom clubs, creating other problems for the competition.

Dangerfield was advocating for 1 contracted player from each club being able to break contract and head to Devil land.

James Sicily on the target list 🤣

We should not ever relax and be complacent after missing the finals in 2017 because of a couple of goals worth of percentage.

I don't see how another game makes more profit. It probably costs $40-50m for an AFL side. 10 games means more overlapping games and splits the audience. Surely we would be better to see if North, St Kilda, GCS and GWS can survive before expanding further.

You don’t have to be Jason Taylor to recognise this kid is special.

Lever tried to hit leading players in the corridor from 40m against both the Tigers and Kangaroos. Both times were on a slow play against a set zone and both resulted in turnovers. I am all for attacking aggressively if we can get a goal out the back before the zone is set. But on the slow plays, the corridor kicks need to be shorter (30m) and to a stationary player in those instances.

The game plan is fine, but there needs to be some players who have more licence to go for the risky corridor kicks (like Bowey, Salem, Pickett and McVee) and others who play the percentages. Lever needs to put the Hollywood kicks away. With Gawn back in the side, we don't have to be so aggressive with our ball movement all the time because we have the advantage kicking long to the contest. Particularly when we lead marginally in the last quarter like against Richmond.

Lever needs to put his Hollywood kicks away and take the long options. Pen license revoked!

This sentence must have hard to type Dazzle!

Disco Turner is definitely AFL quality. Very balanced, tough and skilled. He just needs a bit more muscle. Dursma looks a beautiful mover. Like his brother. Joel Smith is definitely good enough.

Your favourite players are Brett Lovett & Robbie Flower. I dare say that you are unlikely to be the target demographic of AFL recruiters.

Tassie will be a disaster. Player retention will be impossible and there isn't enough homegrown talent in the Apple Isle. GWS and GCS players get to live in Bondi or Surfers Paradise and they have enough issues.

I wish Grundy would take the ball out of the ruck more.

Great win considering the umpiring didn’t go our way and we made some silly mistakes. The goal kicking accuracy was the difference. The three kicking turnovers in the last quarter when we were about 14 points ahead were ordinary (Lever, Rivers and Hibberd?). We needed to go long to Gawn in those situations.

Did May hurt his hamstring?

Assuming Gawn returns, we will need to start afresh in terms of our selection and structures. In terms of our key targets, I think we will see Brown, Gawn/Grundy and one of TMac, JVR or Petty. I would be tempted to go with Petty forward because we should get Lever returning and Hibberd appears to be available. Our backline looked really good against the Swans because Rivers and Hibberd were able to play as interceptors. Spargo going out due to concussion means we could reward Laurie for good VFL form or even blood AMW. That said, I would look to play Kossie more as a forward this week and bring Jordon into the 22. Fat Tony’s 22+1 Hibberd, May, Rivers Bowey, Lever, Brayshaw Langdon, Oliver, Hunter Pickett, Petty, Sparrow Fritsch, Brown, Gawn Grundy, Petracca, Viney McVee, Jordon, Chandler, ANB Melksham

Does Hibberd come back in this week (if fit) to play on Dustin Martin? I don't think he is really worth worrying about that much, but Pig has a good record on Martin.

He looks to me to play a bit like Darcy Fogarty for the Crows, who is not a natural runner and also a bit undersized for a key forward at 194cm. Jake Stringer is 192cm and Cam Zurhaar is 190cm but both can take hangers. Powell-Pepper is 187cm but he is probably a better natural runner than Sestan and is fringe player. Perkins is 188cm but can run. I just think to make it Sestan will need to develop a fitness base like Petracca, De Goey or Martin and be able to push into the midfield because I question if he can become a good enough aerial threat at 186-188cm to be a good deep forward. In short (pardon the pun) 186-188cm is too short unless you can take hangers or you can run 10-12km of fartlek.

Does Sestan possess the ability to take a hanger like those players though? I haven't seen that yet. All those players (except Membery who is taller with long arms and plays tall) have elite springs, which makes them aerial threats. Sestan's obvious AFL traits are ball handling, strength and kicking.

188cm is only big enough if he can run as well as Petracca or Sparrow, who are miles ahead. Extra centremetres never hurt!

Great insights. I see Laurie in a similar vein. He lacks athleticism which makes it hard to see his role at AFL level. I think Merrett is much quicker and a more dynamic and a more penetrating kick. I see him more like Jade Gresham, albeit I think Gresham is better in the air. Still, it is great to see he is getting so much more of the football, albeit I would like to see more kicks than handballs at VFL level. Woey obviously had a poor kicking day yesterday judging by various reports but he has been tidy in previous games. Did he just have a bad day on return (in the wind)? He has a bit of Billy Stretch about him. Sestan looks very good with ball in hand and in the contest, but he is still a way off AFL fitness. I also wonder if he is a bit short for a player of his profile.