Fat Tony

I think Langdon is one of our most difficult players to replace. It also depends a bit on where the game is. Alice Springs and the Gabba have a lot of space. Giants Stadium is much tighter. If we play at Alice Springs I would think about pushing Harmes out to the wing and Sparrow into the 22. Jones would be an option at Giants Stadium. I’m not really a fan of Baker. Bowey could be an option also.

That was easy!

We didn't win because of our poor defence. The Crows scored 96 from 47 inside 50s. Prior to the Crows game, our highest score against was 73. And the Crows game was the second lowest Inside 50s against for the year. Weideman didn't play well. Nor did Fritsch, Spargo, Melksham or TMac. But part of the reason why the forwards had relatively low statistical impact was that we were efficient in generating scores (which is the aim). We had 7 more inside 50s but 37 less possession. Essentially we had a lot of quiet forwards but the structure actually worked pretty well.

I think our side looks to be as good as it could be with only Viney and Tomlinson out. We need Max to dominate.

I did not read from Richardson's interview that Weideman was a lock. Far from it. Just that we currently feel thata our best side includes three of Weideman, Jackson, Brown and McDonald. Personally, I think our best forward line is the one that has been selected tonight. While we had a number of players with little impact last weekend, as a whole our Forward Efficiency was 56%, which was 5% up on our season average. We were just pipped by a side that had everything go the Crow's way (they played well, kicked straight, we dropped marks in defence and, of course, the umpiring).

I reckon our side looks better than the WBD on paper* with Treloar, Dunkley and Martin out. [5] Taylor Duryea, [42] Alex Keath, [9] Hayden Crozier [34] Bailey Williams, [12] Zaine Cordy, [35] Caleb Daniel [31] Bailey Dale, [21] Tom Liberatore, [39] Jason Johannisen [7] Lachie Hunter, [17] Josh Bruce, [19] Cody Weightman [44] Tim English, [33] Aaron Naughton, [4] Marcus Bontempelli [41] Jordon Sweet, [11] Jack Macrae, [6] Bailey Smith [27] Patrick Lipinski, [30] Lachlan McNeil, [37] Roarke Smith, [38] Riley Garcia [2] Lewis Young,[14] Rhylee West, [18] Louis Butler, [43] Ryan Gardner [29] Jayden Hunt, [1] Steven May, [8] Jake Lever [3] Christian Salem, [35] Harrison Petty, [14] Michael Hibberd [10] Angus Brayshaw, [5] Christian Petracca, [15] Ed Langdon [23] James Jordon, [25] Tom McDonald, [18] Jake Melksham [31] Bayley Fritsch, [26] Sam Weideman, [9] Charlie Spargo [11] Max Gawn, [13] Clayton Oliver, [36] Kysaiah Pickett [4] James Harmes, [6] Luke Jackson, [24] Trent Rivers, [30] Alex Neal-Bullen [17] Jake Bowey, [32] Tom Sparrow, [37] Kade Chandler, [50] Ben Brown Note*: I may not feel this way at the end of the night.

A 17 round season wouldn’t be so bad.

Going back to my earlier post. Salem in for Jetta would be my only change. Sparrow the sub again.

I think a lot of our problems in the first quarter are the first 10 minutes. I think we over possess the ball. This works when the pressure dies down but we need to be more focused on territory early in the game (i.e. hit outs forwards and quick kicks).

I think Lockhart offers more run than Jetta but it is only a 5 day break for the VFL players. And Jetta has a good matchup in Weightman.

Salem (if fit) for Jetta. Viney needs to come in if fit but it sounds like he might need another week. Docklands is not the best surface to return on with a foot injury. Melksham started very well vs Adelaide but looked proppy at the end of the game and would be the likely out for Viney. Chandler could come in if Viney/Melksham are not fit. Casey play on Sunday and I would make Jones or Sparrow the sub and back up if they don't get a decent run.

Good report PF. My take: Baker doesn’t show enough for mine. His decision making and skill isn’t AFL standard. Bradtke is a mile off. I am not a Bedford fanboy but he was very good today in patches. Bowey is going to be a very good player.

Bowey is going to be a very good AFL player

Classy rove and goal by Chandler on the run from 45

Chunk looks a cut above with his skill level.

Gee Baker has no idea. He is a terrible decision maker.

Problem is that games like last night could cost us a home final.

Enough with the Adelaide were the better team rubbish. It was even at every change. We dominated the clearances and had 5 more scores. Adelaide played very well and were slick with the ball but they only got over the line due to luck and poor umpiring.

Got to drop the umpire responsible when they make such poor decisions favouring the home side in the end of the game. 3 times this year the umps have decided the game with howlers. They have to send a message otherwise it never ends.

I want to see the full Demons side play like Bernie Vince on Dangerfield in 2015.

Bring the heat Demons!

VFL play Sunday, so the sub could get a flight back on Saturday night or Sunday morning and play at Casey if they don’t get a run.

I think Weideman is a marginally better option than Brown at the moment and Tmac and Jackson are automatic selections. Weideman is a bit more mobile and offers more flexibility than Brown. And Fritsch will get a bit more space inside 50 without Brown. That said, it’s a long year and Brown will get more opportunities. Melksham is our best kick inside 50 and our offensive play can still improve. We will be a better side if he can return to form. I like Chandler but I can’t complain with either change. Sparrow will be sub to see his family.

It depends how far out we are. If Petracca gets injured in a prelim we can win it. If he gets injured next round it will be much more difficult.

Football is a team game and there are 36 players on the field at any point in time. The Kangaroos had a great record without Carey. The Bombers should have won the flag in 1999 without Hird and Lucas. How many great footballers have never won a flag? And unlike basketball or even soccer, you cannot easily just give the ball to the star player. Even in basketball, the NBA is almost always won by teams with at least two stars. Lebron and Jordon both needed other stars to compete.