Fat Tony

I can’t see him making it due to lack of effort unfortunately. He was a passenger yesterday.

We won the clearances by 38-27, Newcombe had a quiet day and Oliver had 85% disposal efficiency. Isn’t that what really matters?

Hopefully we get a four quarter effort and some Kossie magic today.

We need another great game from Max to win this. He’s. been able to dominate Reeves, but Meek will be a tougher matchup.

Jackson is 28th in the AFL for Player Rating despite being played out of position for a huge chunk of game time. He is definitely worth the money.

Just to highlight how well Turner played, he had a player rating of 24.0 and Gawn had a rating of 24.1.

Kolt is definitely not a lock. I am a fan, but that's hyperbole. He has had player ratings of 3.9, 8.4 and -1.7 in the last three weeks. Sharp has had player ratings of 2.9, 3.5 and 5.5 in around 30% game time.

I expect Rivers to come in the midfield and Turner to play in the back 7. That said, I hope that Windsor goes into the midfield rather than Rivers because Rivers has finally found form in defence and Windsor has not quite clicked in the backline. This is the week to try Windsor in the middle or back on the wing. Petty will play as the ruck relief, but this means our forward line will be very short for 30-35% of the game. With Oliver out his week, I can also see Sparrow, Langford and Chandler being used in the midfield more. Chandler was very good in the midfield against the Roos and I am surprised we haven't tried this again.

How is Turner going? Melksham?

I hope TMac can play again next season, but I would not offer him a contract until the year is done.

I am not sure he is the best first year player in the team this season.

How was Turner going?

He is slow off the mark, which is what really counts in Australian football.

I think the one handers are all footsteps ones.

He dropped one last night.

Solid game last night but not as good as the week before. That said, I really don’t like the way Langford is trying to take one handers running with the flight of the ball. I count 3 times this has happened in the last 3 weeks.

Missed another one LEFT again last night.

WCE forward line is pretty tall with Allan, Waterman and Archer Reid (203cm). I think we would prefer to play three tall defenders and I like Turner as a player. I would look at Windsor's spot in the back 7 and see if it is working. Windsor's kicking has been poor. Rivers has been much better in defence and I would not shift him and Salem, Bowey and McVee are locks in the side. JVR for Fullarton seems obvious given how well JVR played yesterday. Melksham could be the sub if he comes in or he could push Tholstrup or Spargo to be sub. I would be dropping Fullarton and Sharp. But this means there will be one unlucky player who is dropped from the 23 if all of JVR, Melksham and Turner come back in. Selection this week will be hard (for a good reason).

Interesting that Oliver had such a high player rating and Langdon, Salem and Viney had such poor ratings. Watching live, I felt Viney and Windsor were poor with their skills and the noticeable weak links.

Great to see JVR play well. He struggles to find the ball at full forward at AFL level but is a good finisher. I liked Woewodin's game also.

Impressed by Van Rooyen, Campbell, Sestan and Bonner so far. Howes, Billings, Adams and Johnson have been ok. Culley looks too slow for AFL IMO. K Brown needs to tidy his disposal but I like the way he moves and his intensity.

The wind at Casey destroys the game and makes it inappropriate as an AFL training ground. I am not sure that Caulfield would be any different. The solution needs to be a MCG sized ground with protection from the wind.

Great to see Viney and Gawn return to form. Petty showed he’s a better forward than defender. He’s a great mark and a touch slow to be a great defender. That kick from 55m was spectacular. It’s amazing what a difference a full preseason can have. Bowey was excellent and Kossie was brilliant. Oliver still makes too many errors. I didn’t like the coaching to have Langford on the wing but he played a solid game. The ability to kick 55m on the left is a real weapon. Fullerton was just ordinary.

The peak years for an AFL player are much younger than you think. The top ranked players in the AFL this year are: Rowell 24 Brayshaw 26 Holmes 23 Sam Darcy 22 Miller 29 Serong 24 McCluggage 27 Richards 26 Jackson 24 Anderson 24 T De Koning 26