Fat Tony

Lewis is cooked IMO. He makes too many skill errors for a player of his pace. And his ability to pick up the ground ball is just about the worst in the AFL.

It is a tough week at selection. Watts probably deserves to be dropped based on his last two efforts. Hannan was injured early and had a shocker against North and deserves to be dropped. Trengove’s lack of pace makes him a liability. At the moment, I would probably like to see Jones and Vince for Hogan (injured) and Trengove (omitted). I cannot find a spot for Maynard given the return of two midfielders.

The opening post is on point in that we have obviously had an issue stopping the key forwards this year. But the real question is if we need to recruit in outside players at the end of the year or stay the course. The coaches have clearly put their faith in Oscar McDonald and believe he will develop into a 200 game defender. I think he has shown enough that he will make it as a player, but while I think he will be better again in 2018, he needs to put on size and I am not sure we won’t be having similar conversations again next season. Also, we need to factor in Weideman into our thinking. If Weideman can develop into a good AFL forward, Tom McDonald will be able to switch back to defence because a forward line of Hogan, Weideman, Watts and Tom McDonald would be too tall. Would we be having this discussion if Tom McDonald played in defence all season? I doubt it. In saying all this, I would still target Lever because he is such a good prospect and because clubs generally can get out of contract players for unders. However, I think both Oscar McDonald and Weideman will develop into AFL players and they probably need to play at the AFL level to get there, so I am not in the camp that says we are desperate to recruit a key defender.

Hopefully Toby Greene gets a 2 week holiday from the MRP.

No change this week unless Jones is fit. Otherwise Trengove goes out. As for Vince, I cannot believe Demonlanders don't think he is a walk up start. He kept Sloane to 8 possessions in his last match until he was concussed. He clearly makes us a better side.

ANB is playing a similar game to Toby Greene. He wins a lot of possessions as a high half forward. Greene is a better mark and gets more shots at goal, but ANB tackles more. ANB has missed some easy shots this year, but he is becoming a good half forward. http://www.footywire.com/afl/footy/ft_player_compare?playerStatus1=A&tid1=12&playerStatus2=A&tid2=25&type=A&pid1=4067&pid2=3649&fid1=S&fid2=S

Weideman has shown enough that he has the talent to be a very good AFL player once he fills out. He was dominant in the VFL against Box Hill earlier this year and has shown some nice things in the AFL. Still, on the balance of evidence, you would take Curnow now. He looked like a young David Schwarz on Sunday.

I would love to bring in Lever at the right price, he looks like being a star of the game for a decade, but I hate ProDee's solution of trading Frost. I think his athleticism is exceptional and he can provide both great run from defence and great pressure. At 23 and only 50 odd AFL games, he is already a very good AFL player and could develop even further. I think a backline including a developed Oscar McDonald, Frost and Lever would be very strong. (With Tom McDonald as a forward/swingman.) However, personally I think our greatest need is outside class and pace in the midfield.

Tyson and Watts will come back in if fit. And Kennedy is worth considering. Possible omissions on form are Kent, Smith and Stretch. However, I worry about going too tall in Darwin. It is going to be hot and steamy and is usually very slippery. So while I like Pedersen, I would strongly consider leaving him out this week even if Watts is not fit. And while he was down last week, I don't think we can leave Hogan out on form. I would go Ins: Tyson and Watts and Outs: Smith and Pedersen. Lewis to go to the backline for Smith, and Tyson into the midfield.

Stringer is a 23 year old premiership player who has kicked 56 goals in a season. The answer is yes at the right price.

This is assuming Viney and Tyson are injured and Bugg is suspended. And that Hogan is available and Watts is not. Out: Viney, Tyson, Bugg, White In: Kennedy-Harris, Hogan, Kent, Garlett/Kennedy · I would have Tom McDonald play in the midfield and play a defensive role on Cripps at stoppages. There are two reasons for this. Firstly, with Hogan coming back, our forward line becomes too top heavy with all three of Hogan, McDonald and Pedersen. And secondly, we have a big hole in our midfield this week and Cripps is an important player to stop. · I don’t like dropping a young player after one poor game, but the balance of our side is wrong with both White and Wagner in defence and I have more confidence that Wagner has the intensity of AFL football. · Melksham to play on Docherty. Hunt OMcDonald Hibberd Jetta Frost Wagner Vince TMcDonald Stretch Kent Hogan Garlett/Kennedy Hannan Pedersen Melksham Gawn Oliver Petracca Kennedy-Harris Harmes Neal-Bullen Lewis

I think Smith will count as a draft pick, so we only need to delist two players.

Out: Garlett, Salem In: White, Kennedy I only had one eye on the Casey game on the weekend but Mitch White really impressed me and looked like an AFL player. I am not sure he has the pace for AFL but his disposal is very clean. I think it needs to be one of Wagner or White to come in for Salem, but I wouldn't go for both. Wagner is obviously rated ahead by the club, but it is a close call IMO. The issue I have with Wagner is he tends to fly as a third or fourth man up too often. (This can be rectified.) Garlett is one of our best players and will be a big loss. I would go for Kennedy marginally over JKH. I only had one eye on the Casey game on the weekend, but I felt Kent was a bit sloppy with his disposal.

Jones will be out for at least four weeks. From experience, running is not the issue with quad injuries. The problem is kicking.

JKH has ability and is worth persevering with IMO. While he is small, he has reasonable pace, a good tank and is a decent kick. He started in the AFL as a composed, hardworking forward pocket but who was too slight and did not find enough of the ball. He has since put on size and strength and is now picking up 40 touches a game at VFL level. In the AFL this year, he has fumbled too much and has lacked his usual composure, but it has only been three games. He will be a good AFL player if he puts it all together.

He kicked as many goals (four) as our 22 last year.

And the free against Garlett after the WCE kick in that should have gone the other way for a certain goal.

I think Lewis is almost finished. He fumbles too often and misses too many easy kicks for a player of his pace. I hope I am wrong.

Great win obviously. I hope Viney has no case but the incident reminded me of the Ziebell one in 2012. Fingers crossed.

White is dominating again. I am not sure of his leg speed at AFL level, but he is worth persevering with.

I think we have a very balanced list, but a classy outside midfielder like Issac Smith would be the biggest need IMO.

Trengove is only average though and is no better than Tom McDonald or Frost. While I think the need for a key defender is overstated by our injuries, Lever is quality and the one we want.

Further to this, I think a benchmark for Lewis is Daniel Cross, who played two great years for us, averaging 22 possessions and over 4 tackles. He cost us a similar amount to Lewis in draft picks, but much less salary cap space and years. While Lewis is a more damaging kick than Cross, he looks to be showing his age much more, with poor defensive efforts and trouble bending over once the ball hits the deck.

Personally, I think Lewis needs to lift his game a bit for the trade to be justified. Lewis is taking up a big chunk of salary cap space and is on a three-year deal. At the moment Lewis is still reading the play very well, but he is making too many mistakes in marking/receiving, disposal and picking up the ground ball for a player of his pace. He is also a poor pressure player. Hopefully he is just out of form, but he was definitely showing his age on Monday. I like seeing him played as a loose defender, but this is not a position we will always want, or as a defender on a slow forward. I feel he needs to also find a role other than this.

I think Gunstan is worth a late first round pick and would suit our side perfectly. He is a clever player who can fit into any forward structure and is a dead-eye kick. Philosophically, I would prefer we traded our picks as I think you get better value and greater certainty from trading them.