Fat Tony

I agree that Smith is a better interceptor than Hunt/Pig (although mostly due to leap rather than height) but there is a potential problem with having too many players being able to take intercept marks if they fly against each other. I like Smith also but the chemistry between him and the other key defenders and Gawn is the main concern.

I don't think the difference between Rivers, Hunt, Smith, Bowey and Hibberd is much at all. All five players have their strengths and weaknesses. Rivers and Hunt are obviously in the box seat given they have played most of the year. Bowey has been excellent so far against lesser teams and was ok on the weekend. He struggles a bit in the air and his lack of strength is a concern. Smith is a superior athlete but not as skilled or as good a decision maker. Hibberd's form has turned down a bit but he still has the strength you want in a final. Pig has played some great games this year, blanketing Martin (before injury), Greene (who kicked 3 but had very little possession) and Stringer (after quarter time). We have good depth in this area.

Possible trade Eishold, Godfrey, Hopgood, Bartram and Spencer for Cerra

Here is the current side and AFL Player Ratings: Trent Rivers (35) Harrison Petty (33) Jake Lever (91) Joel Smith (36) Steven May (95) Christian Salem (93) Angus Brayshaw (35) Clayton Oliver (99) Ed Langdon (52) Alex Neal-Bullen (46) Tom McDonald (86) Charlie Spargo (24) Kysaiah Pickett (65) Ben Brown (70) Bayley Fritsch (83) Max Gawn (96) Christian Petracca (99) Jack Viney (63) Luke Jackson (53) James Harmes (51) Tom Sparrow (15) Jake Bowey (13) James Jordon (28) Other Players: Jayden Hunt (47) Majak Daw (79) Neville Jetta (61) Mitch Brown (56) Marty Hore (52) Michael Hibberd (45) Sam Weideman (36) Jake Melksham (35) Adam Tomlinson (30) Nathan Jones (24) Aaron vandenBerg (19) Jay Lockhart (17) Oskar Baker (16) Toby Bedford (13) Kade Chandler (13) The AFL Player Ratings of some players are obviously skewed by opportunity. (Oliver would have a lower rating if he played Sparrows game time/role and vice versa. Brayshaw also has a very low rating due to our game plan limiting his involvement to the defensive wing. The ratings are also impacted by games played (i.e. Bowey at 13). My take on the best way to improve our list: We have a lot of money tied and years tied up in the midfield (Petracca, Viney, Oliver and Harmes) and backline (May, Lever, Salem). Ben Brown has 3 years left and we need to try to have players in the forward line which complement him. Retaining Jackson and Oliver long term should be a priority, so we need to save our salary cap space. Upgrading our small/mid-sized forwards would be the easiest way to improve our side. We could get natural improvement from Spargo, Sparrow, Chandler and Laurie, but this should still be our focus IMO. Upgrading Brayshaw to a more natural winger would also be something to consider. However, we have Rosman on the list who has shown potential and the current game plan has got us to top of the ladder. Even if we had a more natural wing option, would Goodwin want to play a more expansive game style now?

They showed a clip on Fox last night of how we were pushing Salem up to the stoppages in the first half to increase the chances of winning clearance. In the second half, Salem was sitting behind the play as a loose player. Kossie tagged Rich in the regular season.

Smith allowed Lever to play the way he did in the second half. Not sure he is definitely best 22 but judging his game on possessions and rebounds is not seeing the whole picture. We would get similar results out of any two of Smith, Hunt, Bowey and Pig.

I feel strangely confident about tonight but the key is no injuries.

Looking at Andrew's highlights he is still a few years off AFL. He is not a great kick and needs to add 10-15kg of muscle. It will be interesting to see where he lands. I love the athleticism and the similarities with Aliir Aliir are obvious. Still not convinced a club will be brave enough to take him inside the top 20.

Our cap will be similar.

Parker would be an amazing get, but I am not sure he would come cheaply and we have salary cap pressure. Also, why would he leave the Swans?

Jack Ziebell & Ben Cunnington are the type of players we should be looking to lure across with the chance to win a flag.

Smith is probably not going to feature in the finals and he will never read the play like Lever, but that does not mean he cannot improve in that area. Mal Michael, Alex Rance, Trent Croad and Liam Jones are all examples of athletes first who later developed their ability to position themselves as defenders.

Smith has played just 19 AFL games and only ever 8 games in a season. IQ and inexperience are different. The main issues with Smith are skill related. He is so elite with athleticism that he has the ability to recover from being out of position. Your love child Oliver could cost us a final with his poor goal kicking.

If the Dogs win and we are locked into top 2 and rest players Oliver could miss out on the Brownlow. That said, maximising a chance at a premiership should be all that matters.

Goodwin said Smith was cramping in the third quarter. The VFL has been off, so he will be better for the run. He is usually one of our best runners.

Hawkins dumped in the tackle but did the umpire even pay a free kick? It was hardly dirty play worthy of missing a final. Selwood running past the ball and bumping the head last week was a much worse action even though there was no concussion. You hit the nail on the head with the biggest issue with the MRO being inconsistency. Stars get preferential treatment and the system is completely relaxed in the finals.

If the Dogs win on Friday night, we are locked in for first or second. And if the pre finals bye is scrapped, I would be willing to rest some of our big names for the following week.

The least wealthy Melbourne based club will always be vulnerable. North existing as it is puts us less at risk.

The Demons benefit from not being the poorest club in Victoria. Those wanting North to move need to be careful what they wish for.

We don’t need any more teams. Even the most ardent football watcher would only watch 6 games per week. We have 18 teams by virtue of the competition going from the VFL to AFL. Not because it is the ideal number. There are 3 games per week which add little in revenue and are net losses. A new side would only be economical if it gets a massive government subsidy (which means it would be uneconomical).

I still think Smith is capable of being a good AFL player, particularly in our system which is so defensive from the back half. He obviously has below average skills but he is absolutely elite athletically. Given we have no draft picks and are in Premiership mode, we don't want massive turnover to the list. One year deals to players like Smith make more sense than two year deals to pick 99.

We would be better off allocating our finite resources to highly skilled players on the outside and forward half. Just by having gun rucks and Petracca and Oliver we are already well placed for inside ball winning. The main issue with our midfield is that they are not great kicks. There are only 240 minutes to go around for inside mids and Oliver and Petracca take up 120-130 of them. And Viney and Harmes are on long-term deals and play their best footy in the midfield. Plus Brayshaw is an inside midfielder playing on the wing.

The A-League is a basket case. I doubt that any of the clubs are truly financially sustainable. And the NRL is not really interested in making the Storm work. I can't see NRL working in Tasmania. The AFL have been smart to put the onus on Tasmania's state government to fully fund a new team. There are already too many poor Victorian clubs and clubs needing support in NSW and Queensland.

Bowey is 15kg lighter than Mitchell and 25-30kg lighter than Petracca and Bontempelli. He will need to spend a lot of time in the gym to get strong enough to play in the centre IMO. That said, he is super clean.

They will probably also get a few carparks at the ground with a federal election around the corner.