Fat Tony

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!

Didn’t the Cats give Freo a hiding this season?

Our best is THE best. We just need to put it together on the night. Centre clearances and conversation are the main concerns but the rest of our game (pressure, game plan, zone, speed, fitness) is better and we are rested.

I will preface my comments by saying that I watch Freo less than most other teams and Cerra is not a player that really stands out. IMO Cerra is a good young player but he is not particularly tough or quick. He will obviously improve as he gains strength but I doubt he will ever by elite. Cerra also looks like he plays best as a centre square midfielder rather than a forward or winger. With Petracca and Oliver as the core of our midfield and Viney, Harmes, Sparrow and Jordon as other midfielders, I am not sure he would make us much better in there. Particularly given key roles of the other midfielders are blocking and pressure rather than winning first possession in the clearances. There has been some comments that Cerra would be a better winger than Brayshaw. Cerra may be more natural there, but I am not sure he would make us better though and Brayshaw has runs on the board. We have developed a game plan to play with one attacking side (covered by Langdon) and one defensive side (covered by Brayshaw). While this game plan has has been developed to protect our weaknesses (only one true winger) it also caters to our strengths (making the opposition have to go through Gawn, Jackson, Lever and May or try a risky kick in the corridor which gives us the chance to counterattack). I think adding a more dynamic winger would be a bit redundant unless we change the way we move the ball and defend (which we should not be doing given the success this year).

Let's be honest, the best result would be a big donnybrook in the semi final.

Rivers should never have gone into the corridor. It was a low percentage play given our entire midfield was in the forward half and they had an open 50. It was completely against the game plan. We have not gone inboard like that all season. You either take the tackle or feed it towards the boundary.

Rivers could have turned and given to Lever behind him. Taking the ball into the corridor was a massive blue. Smith got a bit lost between defending and attacking but the goal was mostly Rivers fault.

So no blame on Rivers just putting it on Cameron’s chest?

This shot was before Rivers even had the ball and made the crucial error. It was a scrubby kick and Smith came to the contest. Rivers won the ball after it hit the deck and coughed it up to Cameron. Once he got the break, Usain Bolt could have been playing on him and it still would have been a Cameron goal. Pretty important omission from your initial analysis of Cameron’s goals and criticism of Smith.

The second goal was a bad turnover by Rivers where he handed it to Cameron and Smith was spreading from the contest.

We certainly had a great brand of footy to watch in 2000.

Got to say that our reward for winning a Prelim Final in Perth reminds me of Stonecutters episode of The Simpsons. Remove the ball of shame! Attach the ball of triumph!

Our game plan is incredibly ridged and each position has set roles. I think we will go with Smith or Hibberd to play a deep defensive role on the oppositions best fast forward. Who plays that role if our small backs are Hunt, Bowey, Salem and Rivers? We have had at least one of Jetta, Hibberd or Smith in the side in all games except for GCS and WCE. Bowey is the one at risk if Hunt is fit IMO and Hunt is much more physically equipped for finals. Hibberd could replace Smith but it is very even and both have strengths and weaknesses.

All year we have proven that we are far and above the rest of the AFL in games once we are able to establish numbers behind the ball. Goodwin has developed an incredible defensive system which is based around Gawn, May and Lever. Brayshaw is also crucial, effectively playing a Lever type defensive role on one side of the ground. We are a bit more vulnerable when the ball hits the deck but this is really a low probability way for the opposition to win because it opens them up to the counter attack led by Langdon, Hunt, Petracca, Fritsch and Pickett and means that we can move the ball into a vacant 50. But it can work as Adelaide and Hawthorn showed in the season if the crucial 50/50 balls go their way. The other way we can lose is if we get beaten too badly at centre clearance and stoppages. Our losses versus Pies, GWS and Dogs were examples of this. We also nearly lost to the Swans due to losing centre clearance 17-4. If we can neutralise centre clearance, kick straight and have a reasonable run with injury from here the opposition will need to find something new to beat us.

Text from a non Demon last night: Melbourne’s structure are elite. Every player knows exactly where to be - all the time.

We lost the clearances, kick poorly from set shots and didn’t defend the ground ball particularly well. If it clicks in the next few games the opposition won’t get close.

It will be the weekend prior.

I reckon Bowey will go out for Hunt if fit or Pig. We will want more out of TMac but I don’t see Melksham likely to replace him.

Looks like we’ll only win two finals on September again. Oh well.

Three more steps to the top of Everest Demons!

Yep at 8.30pm