Fat Tony

I think we need to develop a Plan B a bit like how Hawthorn attack from defence for situations where we get well behind. Our game plan works well most of the time, but failed us against GWS last year and against Freo when we needed to come from behind. I also think we need to be a bit more flexible going inside 50 to a congested forward line depending on who is the kicker. It makes no sense for Pickett, Fritsch or Spargo to kick to a contest on entry. They should be targeting a lead or a kick to advantage.

I assumed they would argue force was insufficient. Hard to see them arguing the intent down, but the tribunal has been pretty lenient recently.

They will have to argue to force was insufficient. I think the odds are 70/30 in our favour.

I am not sure if Turner has AFL level skills but he looks like a Melbourne defender. He looks like Jake Lever.

Key reasons we lost: We lost clearances by 10 and centre clearances by 4. We lost contest marks by 7. They kicked much straighter for goal. We only had 43 tackles.

I blame Albo!

I see Freo as a bunch of B graders playing an A grade system. They will be hard to beat, but we should prevail on talent so long as we bring the required intensity.

Since Cairns we have 32 wins, 1 draw, 4 losses and a premiership!

I think Melksham will play on the wing tomorrow. With Bedford coming into the 22, I think it is unlikely that Brayshaw gets moved from defence. We might play Bedford on the Langdon wing, but he didn't play there against North, so I think it will be Melksham again.

Very harsh. Weideman played well against Essendon and Richmond and was serviceable against GWS and Hawthorn. He is a good player who is struggling to break into a champion team.

Interesting selection. I assume Melksham will play on the wing again.

I would prefer to keep Hibberd going and hope he stays fit (he is playing this weekend) than take a chance on #12 in the mid-season draft.

18 teams is too many.

I feel sorry for North but I hope we are going 100% to pick off their best young talent.

Laurie has not shown enough AFL traits yet to be "probably ready for senior footy" IMO. While Laurie has been improving in the last month, he needs to consistently be winning 30 possessions per game in the VFL because he isn't quick and is small. He is competing with Viney, Spargo and ANB.

Langdon is one of our most difficult players to replace, as we have no similar players on our list. I think we will give Baker a chance, as he has looked to be improving in the VFL this year and Melksham isn't really a wingman. Dunstan was disappointing against North, so hopefully Viney is fit and can come back in. Salem has missed a lot of football but looked good at training (from TV vision). I doubt he plays AFL straight away and think he will get a run in the VFL. Bedford could come into the 22 for Melksham. I doubt Melksham will play 200 as a sub but bringing in Bedford means we will have three midgets in the forward line, which is not ideal.

Van Rooyen plays more like Weitering, who dominated at the other end.

We play the Dockers, Pies, Blues and Lions after that and all these games will be prime time night games except maybe the Pies.

The Dogs play Brisbane, Sydney, St Kilda and Melbourne in this block of games. All these games should be good contests and so I have no issue with those games being fixtured in prime time. IMO the biggest issue with our fixture in the Geelong game has a 5-day break, but this is required for the Swans to not be too disadvantaged and the geriatric Cats have the same short rest. The Crows game on pay TV will also annoy some fans.

Good to have you back old55!

Melksham was good against WC in Round 21 and also played against Adelaide in Round 22 las year and had a poor game. (He was so frustrated with his game he gave away a free for booting the ball after it crossed the boundary line.) That said, I have no issue with him playing. I think he plays well on Docklands and I think the club is right to get him to 200. Who knows, maybe he can rewind the clock to his 2018 form and give us another avenue to goal?

That will teach you to be so confident on the podcast!

The jumper clash will be bad on Saturday.

Salem moving pretty well at training on 9 news.

Apparently we are 0-8 against North at Docklands. We really need to give them a good hiding.