Fat Tony

Harmes averaged 24.5 possessions a game in 2019. (His last season as an onballer/tagger.) Sparrow's best AFL game was 17 possessions. I am not saying possessions are everything, Harmes does not need to improve his disposal, or Sparrow has not improved, but the numbers are pretty clear cut and so I can understand if Harmes gets the nod.

Petty for Tomlinson is obvious. We need to have a long term solution in that role and Petty needs time to prove he is the man. Aerially he is an upgrade on Tomlinson and he is good by foot. He is not as strong and will need time to understand the role and how to play alongside Lever and May. The criticism of his first half against Hawthorn is a bit unfair given it was his first game in two years and it was only a handful of errors. (Tomlinson was actually worse in that game, being beaten twice in one on one marking contests by O'Brien.) Brayshaw has been much better on the other wing than any other option over recent years and needs to go back to the role. Baker doesn't make good decisions and his ball use is average and he should be omitted. This leaves a one starting spot in the midfield for Jones, Sparrow or Harmes and one other spot as the sub. Jones only played around 50% game time last week so I don't think he needs a rest. I would go for Jones to start but can see arguments for the other two and it is pretty even. Personally I would go for Weideman ahead of Brown but we need to see how Brown goes on the MCG. My biggest concern with Brown is that he gives little when the ball isn't kicked to him one on one. Also, Max has been playing more time at full forward this year and they cannot both sit there. One other thing I would like to see us trial is Jackson as a midfielder and Max in the ruck. Jackson is great in the contest and this would open up our forward line.

Boomer Harvey anyone?

I think he is a better option than Brown right now and definitely in the future.

I think Jackson plays a bit like a cross between Bontempelli, Blicavs and Marshall.

Weideman was clearly BOG IMO and North's VFL were woeful. That said, you are right that we should look to shift Brayshaw back onto the wing and open an inside midfield spot up for Jones, Sparrow or Harmes.

Even if we go for TMac back, I am sceptical that we can fit Ben Brown and Weideman into the same side. Both are poor/below average below their knees and chasing.

I think Petty needs to get first crack at Tomlinson's role. This is not a one off final and we need to think long term. Fritsch is hard to replace. While I hate Weideman languishing in the VFL and think he offers a much more rounded game than Ben Brown, Brown needs another go on the MCG to see if it can work. I would go for Chandler on the basis that our forward line already has enough marking players with McDonald, Brown and Jackson. Baker is not skilled enough and does not make good enough decisions for an outside midfielder IMO. I would bring Jones back in. I would make Sparrow the sub and have him play VFL on Sunday if he doesn't get a long run. Melksham is on thin ice but I don't think we need to make four changes to an undefeated side and with Fritsch out, he has a role to play.

I think Brown is one of the worst pressure players in the competition. He was definitely a complete liability yesterday. The last four premiers had key forwards which were excellent in terms of pressure. The fact that Buddy has the same number of pressure acts as Brown amazes me and probably says that the stat perfect. It’s only one game and we need to give Brown another chance on the MCG but I think Weideman is likely to be a much better rounded option. In fact we might be better off with neither of them in the side.

Here is the issue though. He is a complete defensive liability.

The 'bye' really tested us this week and we were a bit lucky to get away with 4 points. I am sceptical about Ben Brown and his role. I think Brown needs to average 3.5 goals a game to justify his inclusion. He should find more space on the MCG, but he needs to get on his bike and be more mobile. The inclusion of Baker was strange and I would have 10 in front of him. Jackson and Pickett were awesome and we have really nailed those picks. Petracca's set shots are a concern. Fritsch was exceptional. North were much better in the first half in the contest and we were lucky we were efficient with our entries. (We only had to win either the contest or be efficient to beat them.)

Did Goodwin do a weekly press conference this week? This should be on the website.

Firstly, young players improve, particularly key forwards. I would argue that Weideman has delivered a similar output to Josh Kennedy (WCE) and Tom Hawkins at the same number of games. Secondly, in 2020 he was 17th in the league for goals per game at 1.5. He is already much better than a middle of the road player.

It was looking like we wouldn't get there at the 29 minute mark.

I would argue that losing a game in the regular season is worth it if we have a fitter and better side in September.

I don't think it is Weideman vs McDonald. Really it is Weideman, Brown, McDonald, Jackson and Fritsch competing for three or four spots. You are correct that we need to get Weideman in. He is on the borderline of becoming an A Grade AFL forward. Even if McDonald maintains his form and Brown returns to his previous form, Weideman could be the best of them. We might need to rotate Weideman, Brown, McDonald and Jackson over the coming weeks and potentially give Gawn a rest. I know most Demonlanders would be against changing a winning formula, but we still need to experiment to determine our best team/structure.

Like AFLW this year.

Weideman is a borderline A grade AFL forward. He dominated the game without getting out of second gear.

Port are the side we want to start losing a few. All that matters is that we finish top 4 and have an all MCG route to the GF.

Is Lewis Jetta playing footy this year? He was the delisted free agent I thought we should chase in the offseason.

2021 Ladder position at the time of the draft. So our pick will be late

WCE only +5. The umpires' cheque for mining royalties must have been delayed due to Covid or the Holgate affair.

Weideman has looked better than Brown in the last two weeks IMO and would give us more mobility and pressure. Jones or Melksham as sub.

Bedford had a down week. Made a few mistakes in the first quarter and missed a soda in front. Bowey continues to show he has the pace and skill to make it but not yet the size. Smith was serviceable but less prominent than the week before. Casey are going to be very hard to beat this year.

We only play North once.