Fat Tony

Apart from Kossie, our small forwards are just good role players. I know we need a star key forward, but we don't have a great draft hand and it doesn't appear there is one in this draft. I think we could do worse than going for another small forward in the draft and trying to trade or use free agency for a key forward this year or next.

Chris Scott spoke about our predictability in his post match conference. He spoke about how we regularly have two 200cm players going up in packs and how they stopped it by making sure the crumbs didn’t fall gently to the front where Oliver and Petracca position themselves. I would like to see us trying a few things before finals, such as occasionally attacking with short kicks through the heart of the opposition zone. While we might give away the odd turnover goal, it would make us less predictable.

I was saying WE lacked another key forward because we failed to compete a few times. I think we went in with one too many small forwards.

Jordon had a bad night but has been excellent this season. I would not be throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

Salem has lost his drive and is only kicking 45m at the moment. I don't think we can put it down to role, which is not really changed.

I am coming around to thinking we need to give Weideman time to get confidence and find form if we are going to win the flag.

Hibberd looked every bit like a 32 year old coming off a 5-day break. He should have been rested (as suggested). The side also missed another key forward on the skinny ground. While this game was lost in the midfield, we have to be a bit smarter about selection on the short breaks. Our best 22 on paper is not always the best 22 to win the game. Since 2020 we are 1-4 on 4-day or 5-day breaks.

I will reiterate my call for Hunt to be played as a forward. Hunt is a proven goal kicker and our small forwards are getting out marked too often and Hunt will give a better aerial contest than ANB, Spargo and Bedford.

Alice Springs is a huge ground. I was all for Weideman playing tonight but the extra small might work on the bigger ground.

We lost it in the clearances and particularly the centre clearances. Weideman should have been playing tonight on the skinny ground. Our rucks were ordinary. May was moving like Frankenstein and fumbled. The Cats planned well to nullify Lever. Fritsch is too selfish.

I was more impressed with Rosman last year and am a bit disappointed with his progression. That said, he is playing a new position this year. I see a super athlete, with a long kick and decent overhead. But he fumbles too often to play AFL and is not a natural footballer. I think he will probably be retained on our list because he has potential due to his size and athletic traits. Plus we won't have many draft picks. Howes and Woewodin look to have more polish.

I think he would be because he mostly wins his own ball. The ability to leap in the ruck, land and immediately take off at full speed to gather the loose ball, tackle or spread is undeniable. He is worth the investment IMO. And I think the flexibility he provides as a second ruckman is way understated. He will never play just one position because he is able to fill others roles when the players are on the interchange.

Yes that’s what Niall is saying. But he misses the point that Jackson is a unicorn and he should be a priority for 18 clubs.

Niall undersells what Jackson will become and the flexibility he provides. Jackson is already a star ruckman despite not winning many hit outs and he could also become an elite forward and midfielder. He will be unstoppable if his marking keeps improving, particularly if we can manipulate him forward on a smaller defender. There is no reason he couldn’t be Adam Goodes as a midfielder, Grundy as a ruckman and (good) Mitch Clark as a forward.

The old grey mare she ain’t what she used to be!

Really? I hope you are right about van Rooyen but Cameron and Curnow are top 2 in the Coleman! And we would be unbeatable with Carlton's key forwards. Ben Brown is dropping too many marks when he is getting hands to the ball and picks and chooses when to go hard. Weideman has stagnated. TMac was good before injury but ordinary early in the year.

Curnow had a rocky first year due to illness and injury and really took off in year 2. (So maybe I am comparing apples and oranges here.) Cameron kicked 29 goals in GWS's first year when they won only 2 games and had a percentage of 46%. He was very good early on. I know we are short of good key forwards and blessed with an abundance of key defenders. But I just don't see van Rooyen is being as 'cat like' or quite as skilled as Charlie Curnow, Jeremy Cameron and Jack Reiwoldt, which he would need to be to be a star forward at his size. I will be very happy if he proves me wrong. That said, we almost certainly have an AFL talent player here. van Rooyen will be a beast, with good judgement in the air and a decent kick.

Cameron and Curnow were showing signs of Superstardom right from the beginning because they were elite on the ground and could take hangers. I like Van Rooyen but I don’t see that level of talent. I still think he could project as a Weitering type defender but he could be a Mihocek type forward.

Swapping the primary (on ball) defender every pick and role. This prevents a pull up jump shot.

Garry Lyon was spot on tonight, having Brown in his sights for soft efforts in the Good, Bad and Ugly segment. Brown is a passenger at the moment.

We had a 5-day break going into both the Port and Sydney matches and then 4 days into Freo. The Sydney/Freo schedule in Cairns was dreadful because it was back to back. Last year we had a great win against Port in Adelaide off a 5-day break (both sides had the same number of days). But the point stands, fitness and health is crucial on a short turnaround and the coaches/fitness staff should be wary of a let down due to fatigue. We should pick the side most likely to win this Thursday and not take any risks with our stars, which may not be the best 22.

Hogwash! We do rest players, just not often. You said the same thing before the NM game off a short break when I said we might rest Viney or Lever and then Viney pulled out the day before the game. We lost badly in 2020 off short breaks against Port, Sydney and Freo. I think we need to pick a 22 which is cherry ripe rather than one that looks good on paper. Obviously I expect Petracca to play, but he did look sore at the end of the Adelaide game and we won't win the flag this Thursday but we could lose it. Pig is 32 and has had two calf strains this year already.

Brown is either out of form or cooked. We need Brown to fully commit his body in the air or go with Weideman because Brown is a liability at the moment.

We should definitely complain and ask for better ranked umpires next time we play in Adelaide. The last two games against the Crows have been unacceptable.