RalphiusMaximus

WTF was that? Seriously. Against a side like that, we played the most defensive set-up we've seen all year and concede the entire back half of the ground to them so they can chip it around and rack up the uncontested stats. IF ever there was an occasion to attack the game, today was it. That was just tactically backwards from Goodwin. Horrible tactics, horrible skills, terrible game all around. There were only a few who actually put an effort in.

Bring on the Yze. He's highly rated, he's had a long apprenticeship under Clarkson and he was an exceptional kick. Just what we need.

One big wrap for Smith. He took on three or four opponents for a ground ball and managed to force a ball-up. It was his one shining moment, but it was something the rest of the team lacked for most of the day. If he had the skills and football smarts to match his power and athleticism he'd win a Brownlow.

I just have a really hard time accepting those missed shots. Unprofessional, horrible basic skills, choking under pressure... Good sides don't do that.

Can we get Jack Watts back?

He worked hard, he got lots of ball and lots of ground, but in terms of the scoreboard, his contribution is basically the winning margin for the Swans. His man kicked two goals (from uncontested marks) and set up two others. Langdon missed two set shots, one of which resulted in a goal to the swans, and had no assists. He's not alone in that by any means. Jones cost us two goals and plenty of other people missed easy shots, but I do factor it into my assessment of his game.

The problem is he's now seen as our most dangerous forward. Coaches are putting extra time and effort into stopping him, which means he's getting a lot of extra attention from defenders who are significantly bigger and stronger than him. To make matters worse, for a period there Goodwin was sending him up a creek without a paddle by clearing out the forward 50 and making him play as the sole FF against multiple opponents because we didn't have any other in-form forwards. Basically, he's been asked to shoulder too much of the forward-line's load and needs the other, bigger forwards to step up and occupy the defence so he can get on his bike and play his game.

I'm surprised at the love for Langdon. His man got away from him in their 50 repeatedly and in return he missed his chances in attack for us.

I'd like to see Bennell play a few more games, especially given his winning % for the team, but if he doesn't that's cool. He's still not there with his body. Needs to put on a bit more muscle and get more miles into his legs. The fat that he's been playing as much as he has this year is a great sign. Also, His physicality and defensive pressure is a complete non-issue for me. Sure, it would be great if he was a tackling machine, but that's not what he was drafted for and it's not what we need him for. He's on the list because he's a great ball-user and a smooth outside runner. He's the creative cog we're missing. Why try to make him into something he's not? Just use the player he is.

The two guys who missed set shots from inside 20m in the last. Both of those misses went down the other end and ended in goals to the Swans. They are responsible for 23 points in Sydney's favour from two shanked kicks.

Give it time. I think Picket has shown us enough to think he'll be pretty good when he gets his strength and fitness up to the level we need.

Someone hire Yze to coach the team.

Well, that was certainly a throwback to the worst of Melbourne. Those directionless bombs forward just killed us. Poor kicking all over the field, bad decision-making, tackles not sticking... All the good stuff. One thing I feel the need to point out. Whether it's a good thing or a damning indictment? Maybe both? Anyway, those two sitters missed by Gawn and Langdon both resulted in the Swans taking the ball down the ground and scoring goals. Obviously it's a flawed bit of thinking, but if we were to add those missing 10 points to our score and delete the 13 points the Swans got from them, it's another narrow win to us. Obviously those weren't the only goals we missed today, but they were probably the worst. More importantly, the top sides don't miss those shots. It's just a fact of life. If a Geelong mid has a set shot from 45m directly in front, you're going to back them to put it through the middle. If they have a set shot from 25-20 out, you'd more or less put your house on it. With us it's always a coin toss and today more of those tosses went the wrong way. The same with West Coast. Maybe not Hawthorn any more, but certainly before they started to slide. It's such a basic. fundamental part of the game and getting it wrong is unforgivable. It's the same thing my old squash coach used to say. Serving a fault is completely unacceptable. The serve is the only shot in the game where you are in complete control. You can put that ball anywhere you want without your opponent influencing it in any way. The same holds true for a basic set shot. You are in complete control of what you do with the ball. Nobody can tackle or push you. It is completely unacceptable for these players to not be able to convert such basic chances and it's something that no professional player should ever mess up. </rant>

He did have a pretty crap game. Only nine disposals is way below par for him.

Much as I love his pressure, I think it's time for Pickett to have a break. I'd be thrilled if Bedford got a game in his place, but that's pretty unlikely. Much more likely to see ANB back in the side in his place. Hannan was pretty bad today. There are only so many turnover merchants we can cope with in the side and he didn't give us anything in attack. I think he's going to struggle to keep his spot and probably goes out for Fritsch. I'd love to see Harmes go back in as the defensive mid/tagger. He was so damaging in that role and for some reason they decided to change things up. Unlike many, I don't mind OMac. I think he's useful structure-wise. His defensive mindset helps balance out May and Lever and allows them to attack when they need to. Wagner on the other hand has to go. He was slow, fumbly and his kicking isn't great. Sadly, I suspect Hibbo will also be out. Lockhart comes in for him. So where does that leave us? OUT: Pickett, Hannan, Wagner, Hibberd IN: ANB, Harmes, Lockhart, Fritsch. Looks about right to me.

Funny thing. If you look at the young core group they are all getting up around that 100 game mark now. Salem, Harmes, Petracca, Gus and Clarry are all right around that mark. You'd almost think this whole idea of bringing together a core of quality players and getting them to their prime at the same time is working.

I'm not a huge fan to be honest. I know he's done well against us, but we play to his strengths. He's fast and can do some damage on the outside, but I think his disposal is suspect under pressure (so doesn't fix one of our big problems) and I think he's a bit soft. Let North keep paying his salary and poach their #2 pick from this draft in two years.

I don't know if this has been mentioned here and can't be bothered reading back to check, but there was an age article a few days ago that said we have had the least membership refunds of any club this year. Less than 100. We may not have the biggest membership base, but we have the best.

I just have this feeling the the Hawks are going to pick him up for a fourth round pick...

Well, we have one forced change in Sparrow. Easiest would be to just bring Jones back on, but if he's not quite right with his quad maybe it's time to give Jordan a look. The coaches have been saying for a while that he's ready, so this looks like a good chance to get his feet wet. The other thing is that traditionally the Saints have troubled us with outside pace by simply belting the ball into space in the certain knowledge that all of our mids have come in to the contest and they will have free players on the outside to run away with it. We need to get some outside run into the side for balance. Hannan might be able to fill that role to some extent, so maybe no other changes. If we do see more, it needs to be pace.

But that punch they are retaliating for (from a prominent player) wasn't classified as a "real" punch, so the retaliatory punch (by a no-name player) is now deemed to be the first punch and therefore indictable. Given the players blatant abuse of the system, we will be doubling the penalty.

So they wait until the favoured few have cashed in then decide to change the system before anyone else can? Is that about right? I do think that Melbourne hasn't done enough with our zone though. There's a huge African migrant community that we haven't tapped into at all. We should have put a lot of time and effort into clinics in the SE region to identify and develop the best of the talent we have access to.

OK, I just want to get this out first. Preuss did a great job. His first game for the season coming up against one of the big AA rucks and while he didn't break even he certainly put in a good contest. 24 Hitouts to 35 and 12 disposals to 15. That's a really good game against Grundy, especially keeping his disposals down.

I'm pretty sure Melbourne is happy with the list at the moment. We have depth across the board with the possible exception of the ruck. Could probably do with drafting another project ruck to bring on for five years and there are a few people who will be cut loose, but overall we're looking solid.

I think he'll poll, but not at the top. Generally it takes a year or so for the Umpires to catch up. Lachie Neale had a huge season last year, and now he's no doubt well ahead in the voting. Next year we can expect Petracca to get some love.