Fat Tony

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.

I think everyone would agree that Hibberd is the most likely to come back in. He was playing decent footy before getting dropped. As much as Hunt's injury is a bummer, we do have decent depth.

Smith was one of the players who flew to Perth, so it would not be that big a surprise.

I have seen Bowey play 5-6 VFL games and have posted several times on here that he looks a future 200 gamer. And I was also calling for his inclusion in the AFL weeks before he debuted. I am a big wrap for the kid. But he is not perfect and his obvious weakness is height and strength.

I am a bit surprised they are not playing Sunday night and even Monday night games given half the country is in lockdown.

He will still be able to play at AFL level because of his leap, pace and skill, but he would have greater scope if he was taller. He got out marked by Zac Langdon last night.

Jackson's timing with his marks has improved over the course of the season and he is regularly getting two hands to the ball in pack situations. He just needs to nail his set shots a little better.

Much better than the intense jealousy of missing out.

The Eagles were very good last night and (as always) got an armchair ride from the umpires, so it was an excellent win. If we do have to play finals in Perth, Optus Stadium suits our game style. It is a fast track a bit like Docklands and the narrow ground is well suited to the defensive game plan. It was good to see our forwards play well. Jackson was outstanding. ANB and Spargo played very well. And Ben Brown was a good target and effective.

Bowey was playing the same way in the VFL, so it is great to see that he has been able to step up to the the increased pace of the game. He obviously needs to get stronger and is limited by lack of height, but the rest of his game is A-Grade. I think Bowey will need to keep playing like last night to keep his spot though. Pig is still a good player and is more finals ready, even though he is not as quick or clean.

The Eagles play a kick/mark game and rely on their tall forwards. I don't think they have been good in the wet.

I don't think Melbourne will gain any benefit from the inclusion of a Tasmanian team. The inequitable distribution of supporters across the league and the power of the AFLPA means that the rich clubs are in effect subsidising the existence of the poor clubs (including Melbourne). While the AFL and AFLPA are currently supportive of this model, the current leadership may change and we need to be aware of this. Adding Tasmania would not increase revenue for the competition at all and would be a major cost. I get the romantic notion behind Tasmania entering the competition, but self interest means we should vote against a new side entering the competition IMO.