RalphiusMaximus

One point that the stats don't quite cover is the scores that happen because he's in the contest. Many are not direct assists, but balls falling loose after he crashes through a pack or forces the ball to ground. Simply put, we score when he's around.

Recent history shows clearly that priority picks are not the way to help a struggling club. Both Carlton and Melbourne went down that path and got nowhere. The way to help GC is to overhaul their administration and FD so that they are able to function as a professional outfit. Throwing picks at a failing club is not only unfair to other clubs, it's unfair to the kids having their careers ruined by getting sent there.

I support Melbourne... Let's leave it at that shall we?

While there is very little information provided from a single game, from what he showed there I'd say no to this kid. He positioned himself well and has good hands, but to me his pace looks average and his size is a huge disadvantage. I'm a fan of drafting footballers before athletes, but there are limits.

Our continued reliance on directionless bombs into the 50 make it difficult.

Pretty sure he wouldn't be up for a drastic change like that. Source.

What's your beef with Kobe?

I think he's worth the punt. If the club takes an ultra-conservative approach to his management and takes a couple of years to rebuild his body and make sure he's absolutely right for AFL that will still give us half a dozen years of service from a really good quality ball-user. There's no point worrying about his lack of output this year given where he's coming from. It's going to take time to get him sorted out and playing the way we need him to. If he makes it then it's a huge win for the club. If he doesn't then it's not a massive loss given he was steak knives in the May deal.

Walters gets off.

I think the mindset needs to change a bit for supporters. We've kind of been conditioned to look for top picks over the last decade or so. The club fed us the line back when we drafted Watts, Scully, Trengove et al that we were looking for the best talent from the draft to rebuild. Roos went in with a definite strategy of getting multiple first round picks over a number of years to build the core of the side. They've done that now. What we have now in terms of top-end talent is what we're taking forward. Like the other top sides there are going to be some trades, top-ups and free agents, but the core is set. If we're going to get to the top it's through improvement in the players we have and adjustments to the gameplan. Realistically, we're probably two or three years away from seriously challenging. Once the core players hit their mid-late 20's though, we'll be a powerhouse.

If he's really only 190 then I'd pass unless he shoots up this year. Too small for a KPD and while he's a good kick he doesn't seem to have a lot of pace to him to play as a flanker. Also, you have to watch the guys who have big bodies in the juniors. They often struggle to adjust to playing in an environment where they aren't the biggest strongest guy on the park.

We still haven't seen anyone suspended for staging. The rule is there but the umps and the AFL are afraid to pull the trigger on it.

Pretty happy with the game all things considered. The tweaks to the gameplan are good. I loved seeing us using the short pass to a leading player to advance the ball rather than just bombing it down the line for a stoppage. It did cost us a few goals due to poor skills, but that will improve as the players get used to it. I also loved seeing how quickly we switched the ball when we got it right. One play in particular where we'd bombed into the 50 twice only to have the ball come straight back out, Jones used his head, hit a quick pass to CHB which then went out the other side and resulted in an uncontested mark in the f50. We only got a point, but the play was beautifully executed. I love the look of May. He's a wrecking ball in the contest and has a beautiful kick. His presence and leadership in the backline is already having an impact. If we can get games into Lever as well I think we'll see some drastic improvement there. Frost as well. He's loving playing as the third tall. He gets to use his pace and leap to intercept and run away from people. His kicking is a bit of a problem at times, but he just set up so much play today. I am still bothered by our i50s though. We were better today, but still scored from less than 30% of our entries. That lack of efficiency is still our biggest issue. Hopefully Rawlings can figure it out.

A mathematical chance is still a chance. ?

Especially since we won ?

Sums it up nicely. +1

Saw that at Casey when Jurrah was FF. His opponent was trying to get a rise out of him. Jurrah just ignored everything he tried. You could see him think it over, then reach out and pinch his arm just to see if he got anything. Jurrah didn't even twitch, so he gave up.

Is Parish sill behind Oliver?

I am somewhat amused to see Scully decline to tackle in two consecutive contests that his running ability took him to. All the running in the world doesn't help if you squib once you get there. Bonus that he then had a free run and bounce through the middle and stuffed up the kick ?

Kobe needs a stepladder though...

The Hawks manage their cap really well. They are going to shed Roughead and maybe Smith at the end of the year which will free up plenty of cash to pay Martin.

I still say he's going to get to Hawthorn.

Oliver - Can't Handle Tag

Weideman was decent today. He should have had that last goal, but as others have said, he took the contested mark. That's better than most of our list already. If he plays like that for the rest of the season we'll be happy with his work.