Adam The God

You've always seemed to like opposition players more than our own mate. I said Brayshaw was the better player and I'm not a big fan. Doesn't mean I'd say no to Adam, but in terms of doing what they do, Brayshaw has taken his game to another level this year and his level is significantly higher than Cerra's thus far. Doesn't mean it can't turn, but it is what it is at this point.

WA very similar situation...

Brayshaw is the much better player out of that Freo midfield. It depends what Cerra'd cost us. I know some of the WA posters like him, but I'm not a big fan. That said, we're clearly looking to add outside polished to our midfield (see Merrett), so if Merrett is a no go, maybe we do look at Cerra. He's got a great name. The one thing I know is the more we keep winning and the deeper we get this year, the more appealing we will be to a player like Cerra who might be assessing his future.

And to be fair, as soon as the ball hits the ground, Harry McKay is as soft as butter. Elite in the air, but after that is pretty ordinary. That persistent shoulder issue probably isn't helping though to be fair.

We lose too much offence if we play a negating role on the attacking wing. Unless we flip Brayshaw to the attacking wing. I think I prefer Gus playing defensive wing and Salem, Rivers, Hunt, Jordon or even Jackson or Hibberd playing the attacking wing. That said, I do like Harmes' ability to negate and attack, so maybe I'm talking myself into your idea. ?

I like this too, but I'd like to see Rivers vs Cameron. But I guess Hibberd could get the nod there. I hadn't heard this. Fascinating insight. I love the idea and it certainly makes sense for players to train two roles. In that case, I wonder what Salem's other role is.

Agree on Baker. I wonder if Salem might be the better bet on the wing and JJ to the quarterback role Salem has been playing. That said, if they'd thought Salem was even a potential back up wingman they would have tried him there by now. I hope JJs emergence as a clean, good decision maker allows us to play Salem up the ground a bit. If Salem's ball use can be utilised as the attacking winger it might be very dangerous for Brisbane. Langdon often plays that wide receive role, just as Salem does, but Salem's contested game has improved and could offer something a little unpredictable against Brisbane. I also don't mind @Nasher's suggestion of Hunt to the wing. My only questions about Hunt are not necessarily his ball use anymore, but his smarts, his positioning and spatial awareness. It would be nice to get him in the game a bit more though.

Tim Kelly got injured and sat out the second half. So not only were they down a rotation, they were down their best current mid. Essendon should have capitalised in the first half on their forward half dominance though. They deserved their win.

I like the team, but not the sentiment.

Oh well. Let's turn our attention to Operation Get Ben King. ?

Pity about Essendon. I really want Merrett in our line up. We won't get him now. The Eagles are undermanned and lack spark, but Essendon are very impressive. Handy win in the context of the ladder for us though. West Coast's top 4 hopes look shot.

I reckon last night's game to the neutral eye would have been a bit of a borefest too.

So there was a contest in the third quarter of the Brisbane game where Harris Andrews appeared to ping his shoulder and then grabbed at it. I couldn't be bothered watching the last quarter, but I take it he was alright in the end?

Is this a dig at his Catholic upbringing or have I missed something?

Me too. He also fails to understand how commentary on the TV is supposed to work. I imagine he's a bit like me at the footy. Constant commentary. He leaves no air for the audience to take the game in. It's a wall of Dermie rambling. I still remember when he was on an episode of my favourite Australian show ever (Stingers). Again, an egomaniac. And no, he's not a good actor.

We will because our structure is so good. Pressure helps, but the way we zone the ground means the opposition simply don't have easy uncontested possessions. And if they do get easy touches, they're not outside our offensive 50. Luke specifically said it was only 28 points but felt like a lot more. I didn't read it as ungracious. Quite the opposite in fact.

I thought ANB spoke beautifully on that show with Dermie this morning. Said all the right things.

Dermie is an egomaniac. He's either slightly on the spectrum or has narcissistic personality disorder. He talks and talks and others around him are awkward in their interactions with him and he never notices. As for his comments today, all ex Hawthorn hate Melbourne. Dunstall is the same, but the lack of insight into how we broke the Dogs down and made them play the way they aged is exactly what @binman often laments on the Demonland podcast. The lack of quality analysis in the footy media is very evident. King overdoes it at times in looking for trends that don't mean much, but on other occasions he has some great insight. I reckon he's back on the Demons too.

Yep, as Richo said during the game, we get such tremendous pressure on the ball carrier post clearance that even when we lose clearance, we almost immediately get the game on our terms or at least neutralise it.

We do this though. The other team usually comes at us in second halves. The modern game is about ebbs and flows of momentum and we have this incredible ability to take the game down into a scrap and an end to end scoreless battle. By this stage, we have the lead, so it's about maintaining it and where possible, hitting them going the other way. This doesn't bother me at all. And we have more gears to go to. This is what it comes down to. Stay healthy and I think we can play in a Grand Final. Lose a few here and there and we might struggle. See Richmond 2017 and their lack of injuries all year.

That was the prototype James Harmes negating game. He stops his opponent getting it at the source and then joins in on offence with gut run. It's not strictly a hard tag, but I'd argue it's still a tag. I reckon he's one of the best in the business at tagging and then kicking goals on his opponent. His return to form is a very exciting prospect with Viney still to come back.

He does seem like a muppet, but I wouldn't mind he and Kozzie buzzing about at the feet of our talls. We need another x factor small pressure forward IMO. Agreed. At least he used his body a bit more in this game, but we definitely missed a trick with the KPF in that draft.

She does stand out, although made some errors too, like confusing Petty for Rivers. Not sure how you do that, but she did. Still, a long way better than any of the other muppets. I like how she dissects the game.

Just watching the replay for a second time. Our pressure was outstanding. Our defensive shape was even better and as others have said, it completely spooked the Bulldogs. They couldn't move the footy. When we bring our work rate for the shape and the pressure game, I can't see any team in the comp going with us. I've never been able to say that in my almost 34 years. I thought Oliver was incredible. His consistency at being elite is elite. Harmes' tag game was brilliant, but as when he plays thst negating role, he hits the scoreboard, which makes him and our midfield so dangerous. Gus played one of the great defensive games you'll ever see. He lost one contest in the second quarter, otherwise I don't think he lost one and was integral to ensuring they couldn't transition the footy. Superb game. Lever, May and Petty were all terrific as our defensive bigs. Lever sets us up so beautifully and we all know his ability at reading the play and knowing when to go. Watching live I felt Hibberd had struggled, but he's pretty solid. Salem is the one that really struggled. Can't remember him winning a 1v1 and made some uncharacteristic errors by foot. Hopefully that's his one off week. Rivers is an absolute beauty. His first half was brilliant. The rest of his game was solid too. He wills himself to win contests and then at pace uses the ball so well. He will make a very good mid, I reckon. The forward chemistry was good, but that first half from Weideman was not good enough. They constantly tried to play through his man and he laid one tackle. He was our weak link, despite crashing a few packs. He worked his way into the game though and should have ended with 3. It's a bit of a watch this space with him. I hope that second half gives him the confidence to take the second half of the season by the scruff of the neck. McDonald kicked some important goals as usual and continues his very good 2021. Fritsch got into the right spots this week, but the distance between his best and worst is staggering wide. He can be a game breaker and an out and out liability other weeks. As others have mentioned, our role players were excellent. JJ, Spargo, ANB, Jackson and Kozzie all brought tremendous frontal pressure that made it easier for our mids and backs. Some of JJs repeat pressure acts in stoppage were phenomenal and he hit the scoreboard. He's a ripper too. Petracca was good without starring and aside from two dropped uncontested marks that could have cost us, Max was much better. One of the most impressive Melbourne wins I can remember. Langdon missing for next week will make it very tough though. I hope we can bring the same intensity and work rate next week. If we do, we're a big shot.

Great coaching. I think many who had questions over Goodwin had them due to lack of success or consistency of success. Most, if not all, would be more happy that we're playing so well.