Fat Tony

Gus is having his best year at HBF. Our woes in recent weeks have been due to our lack of forwards and losing key defenders in game.

With Max out and May returning we should consider tinkering with the game plan to throw more numbers at the stoppages. I would like to see us go with a smaller forward line and Hunt included up there. He gives us a bit more pace and x factor and he is a good set shot. Our forward entries should be either precise short kicks or more 'dirty' long balls, as we want to prevent intercept marks. Shifting Brayshaw to the wing makes no sense to me, as Jordon has been playing excellent football and Brayshaw is dominating at half back. Weideman for Gawn Hunt for Mitch Brown May for Turner I would give Sparrow and ANB another chance to return to form. They both play a tough role and I don't see good replacements in the VFL.

I would consider switching Hunt forward in place of Spargo. We lose composure but gain a bit more x-factor. Hunt kicked 31 goals in 27 games over 2019 & 2020. Spargo has 23 goals in 38 games over 2021 & 2022.

19 teams seems an odd number to me.

Turner would play or we would recall Rivers or Hibberd and go smaller.

There is a picture of Rosman in the MFC Gallery of training pics. He is kicking and so I am guessing his hamstring looks to be minor.

https://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/1144624/club-statement-steven-may-and-jake-melksham May suspended 1 match for an altercation with Melksham and drinking alcohol.

If they don't bring in Weideman, I would still drop Ben Brown and go with a smaller forward line. He hasn't marked well for a month and needs to go back to the VFL to get form back. We would then need to target Gawn and Jackson inside 50 more often on slow plays but it would increase our pressure and mean we could go a bit faster. Having one fewer talls would mean we would need to be a bit more deliberate with our ball movement inside 50 as well.

I don't think it is a loading issue. I think the last two weeks we have got nothing from our key forwards. This is partly due to Ben Brown being a liability at the moment and partly due to poor delivery and partly due to our opposition defending well on turnover. Our defence will be better with May back but I also think Joel Smith is in our best defence because he offers more flexibility to swap and cover than Hunt and he is quicker than Hibberd.

Ben Brown has had just 20 possessions, 8 marks and 2 goals in the last 4 games. Weideman is catching the ball much better at the moment and will give us more aggression in the air. May for Tomlinson is obvious. I am not in favour of shifting Brayshaw out of defence, who was excellent again last night. Jordon was also good on the wing. Hibberd for Hunt is possible, but Pig has only had one full VFL game and is coming off soft tissue injuries. Bedford or Chandler for Spargo is possible but Charlie has a few credits in the bank and the difference between these three is minimal.

How did McDonald go from being selected to out for the season? What’s the source on his injury?

I have not seen a lot to suggest Laurie will make it as an AFL player. I have watched about 18 quarters of his matches in the VFL FWIW. He is small and slow and does not find enough of the footy yet. In 9 VFL games this year Laurie averages 15.5 possessions (8.6 kicks & 6.9 handballs), 1.4 goals, 3.4 tackles and 64 dream team points. While he has decent skills, he is not at Salem or Bowey level. The club obviously likes his attitude and sees more than I do at this stage. I hope they are right and he improves in the second half of the year. Laurie VFL Stats R1 Vs Sandringham 2 goals 10 kicks 10 handballs 20 disposals 3 marks 5 tackles 86 dream team points R2 Vs Essendon 6 kicks 5 handballs 11 disposals 6 tackles 44 dream team points R3 Vs Williamstown 2 goals 6 kicks 3 handballs 9 disposals 3 tackles 37 dream team points R4 Vs Coburg 2 behinds 12 kicks 9 handballs 21 disposals 6 marks 2 tackles 79 dream team points R5 Vs Richmond 1 goal 1 behinds 7 kicks 7 handballs 14 disposals 1 mark 4 tackles 59 dream team points R6 Vs Box Hill 1 goal 2 behinds 15 kicks 9 handballs 24 disposals 4 marks 2 tackles 89 dream team points R7 Vs Southport DNP R8 Vs North Melbourne 4 goals 1 behind 10 kicks 6 handballs 16 disposals 4 marks 2 tackles 85 dream team points R10 Vs Frankston 1 goal 3 kicks 6 handballs 9 disposals 3 tackles 36 dream team points

Normal programming resuming at 7.25pm tonight.

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.