Fat Tony

I loved Gus’s game but I have also really loved the emotion of his post match interviews. The selflessness and sacrifice of his game on the wing this year is one of the reasons we have gone from a team of champions to a champion team.

This was posted a year to the day before Flag 13. Apart from Weideman coming on (Brown hadn’t arrived yet) I was pretty close to the mark!

And the old final 5 gave the minor premiers a week off before the second semi and another potential week off.

There’s a lot of talk about targeting Gawn but I hope we are super aggressive on the Bont and English.

English and Gawn were both in 89/108 ruck contests. Schache was in 18.

While the premiership cup is won on grand final day, the premiership is won over the course of the season.

I would tag Libba at the clearances but not around the ground. Mostly with Harmes and try to get him on the spread. I wouldn’t push Salem up to stoppages but let ANB push up. This would mean Treloar or Smith will outnumber us, so we would need to set up defensively to prevent losing out the front of the clearances. I also like Max grabbing the ball out of the ruck because we can win clearances despite being outnumbered.

Shaun's quotes were pretty balanced Dazzle. Shaun was really just saying Joel would deserve to play given the effort he has put in. Joel likely would have played in the prelim if he did not get injured, so you can see where Shaun is coming from. Joel will need to train in the practice session to have any chance.

Keep posting Binman. You are providing the glass is half full view that we all need right now.

It’s based on scores. Yes Zac Dawson was full back in the greatest defence.

We lost the free kick count 11-25 as well and that would not be in the expected score.

The squiggle currently has us winning by 5 points. It aggregates all the models’ tips. The squiggle has our defensive rating higher than any previous premier in the system but below St Kilda in 2009.

They didn't "stretch" us really with only 6 marks inside 50. (We had 9.) Melbourne had 24 shots to WBD 21 but Melbourne kicked 9.8 to WBD 13.4 (excluding touched/rushed). The free kicks were 11-25. Our defence let goals over the back which was poor and we were badly beaten in stoppages 31-37 despite winning the hit outs 67-18.

Assuming May plays, I can't see us changing the 22. Our bottom few players all played well enough. Hibberd for Smith might be something they consider but having two players with hamstring issues is a risk. Hibberd was ok against the Cats and he makes sense to play on Weightman. Bowey played a very good game and will keep Hunt out of the starting 22. Spargo was excellent. Sparrow has become a lock in the last few weeks with three strong games. TMac looked to move really well again. I could see him ripping apart the Grand Final. He will also be good insurance if we get an injury to a tall. Rivers had a poor game but is able to play tall and small and we won't want to make a change to the side. Jordon was OK as sub and found a bit of the ball. If Hunt is fit I would probably bring him in as sub to replace Jordon. I think he is more dynamic and with May questionable it would be worth having another defender who knows the system if he goes down. The sub will almost definitely be used and I could see Hunt's pace breaking the game open in the last quarter, which is something we might need if we fall behind.

When’s the podcast this week? I’m going to need to hear Binman’s overconfidence to calm the nerves.

Does that change with the new sub rule? If you take 14 days you are likely to re-injure it but it might be considered a risk worth taking in a GF.

Can’t wait to see I’m play in a grand final. He will seriously hurt. Hopefully he causes the whole opposition team to cry by the end of the game in two weeks.

Probably now is the time to tell you all about the tunnel I’ve dug across the Nullarbor. The tunnel starts in my bedroom and is hidden behind a Raquel Welch poster. My wife doesn’t know.

I might have a heart attack if we win with a last minute goal again.

In the next 15 days we can send the Cats into a rebuild and end our curse. Carpe diem Demons!

Listening to Pert on SEN he did not confirm it was a strain but it sounds like Smith will miss. Hibberd is the man for the role and we have good depth in this area.

He has earned his money at Brisbane in 3 seasons.

I think we will go with either Smith or Hibberd to play as the deepest small defender. Who plays the main stopper role with a small defence of Bowey, Salem, Hunt and Rivers? I expect Hunt will come in for Bowey this week or next (fingers crossed).

Richardson also intimated that Bowey was the most likely at risk if Hunt plays.

Bloody exciting vision. Looks like the King twins. Thanks Dazzle!