Adam The God

Backline fell apart because our midfield and half forward line fell apart. I thought the defenders battled relatively well. Joel Smith struggled in the first half, but grew into the game. Great spoil in the last. His spoil and then follow up tackle early on was good too. The around the ground clearances were worse. 16-27! You don't win games of footy with our attacking press system, when you lose the clearances that badly. Wow. There's some stuff I agree with and then there's this... the bloke was second for the Coleman coming into this game, playing midfield and forward. He's a star. He had a down day, but he'll bounce back. You're suggesting Viney and Jones are too slow for the middle, but your replacement is Tyson? I think we might go Jeffy and Hunt next, as we need some outside run, but I wouldn't say Viney is slow. And given Port's slowish midfield, we might reset with the same midfield and not go Jeffy or Hunt at all. Rest is needed to reassess and then we go again in Port.

I did think a few times that I could picture Lever coming across and spoiling, third man up against Cox. So that would have helped. But we also allowed the Collingwood forward entries into Cox to be un-pressured. And when that happens, the ball should be kicked to the advantage of the forward. When that forward is Ted Cassidy, there aren't many ways to stop that, except pressure the kick into him. Needless to say, we didn't. Agree with Weideman over Pedersen too. And I also agree with the Vince conundrum. I don't want to see Harry come in just yet, so maybe it's Wagner. Kicking-wise, they're pretty comparable. Yes and no on this one, mate. We failed a big exam today, but we still have solid percentage and a game up our sleeve, which will at least keep us in the 8 over the bye. We might just be able to put this one down to tiring legs and exhaustion. Why Collingwood didn't suffer from this is the frustration for me. But there's plenty of time this season to make up for this weak and tepid performance. I just hate that we didn't bring it against an average football team, who played out of their skin. I don't think I've ever watched a Buckley-coached side play as well as we let them play today. Particularly, as it was very similar to how we lost against Geelong, Hawthorn and Richmond. Utilise the short chipping game to compress our press and then go quickly over it.

Except, the way I see it, the key reason we lost the game was we got smashed in around the ground clearances. So to say Gawn beat him around the ground, IMO, is completely wrong. I'm sure Max will bounce back, but today was his chance to really cement his AA credentials and Grundy snatched it from him.

Max gave more around the ground? Today? We must have been watching different games.

I should add a couple of other notes. Collingwood constantly manned up our anchor and usually with a quick player like Wells or Stephenson. This also meant our zone was constantly compressed and far too high, and like Hawthorn, they used their pace to continually exploit this. But they also had an extra man off the back of the stoppage (as most clubs do), but it was also someone with genuine pace (ie Cripps or Treloar). This helped them murder us around the ground in stoppages and because we failed to apply any real pressure at the contest for long enough, they repeatedly gave to players in space with plenty of time. We refused to work for the switch too, just as happened against Richmond and Hawthorn. This meant we kicked the ball to contests we rarely won, Collingwood would hold it up, reset and then win the around the ground clearance. It happened over and over again. We have banged on about building from the contest out and yet the last two weeks we've managed to get mauled at the coalface (Max, you handed that horse-looking muppet the AA jacket today too). The umpiring was terrible but often it follows that the team getting to the ball first get the better go from the umpires and we never looked like it today. Half way through the second, the scoring shots differential fluctuated between 7-8 more scoring shots and you could tell we'd lose by 7-8 goals and that was a fair result. We were as disappointing as we've been all year. It would have been a lot uglier if it weren't for Tommy's brilliant game. As with all games where we are comprehensively beaten, it's always our bottom 6 who are simply terrible. ANB, Harmes and Pedersen all offered very little and fumbled or let us down at crucial moments. Unfortunately, Charlie Spargo was shown up today with ball in hand and seemingly just overawed by the occasion and contest, however when the ball wasn't in his hands he was a lot better. His chasing and tackling was solid. I think it might be time for Petracca to have a spell in the twos. He's so ineffective, goes at marking contests with one hand, trails his opponents to contests and seems to completely lack concentration and a tank. And then there's Vince. I'm really not sure what he offers this team. I'm convinced he's getting games based on his experience and his occasional attacking kick into the corridor that comes off. I'm really hoping a break is all this team needs to get going again, because they weren't there today (apologies to Tom McDonald, our backline and the super consistent A grader, Clarry).

Gawn was absolutely embarrassed today. Our mids were comprehensively beaten and our half forwards barely laid any tackles. Tommy though is worth every cent. The other leader to show leadership. I hope this puts the Pedersen debate to sleep too. His inability to bring the ball to ground or compete, as well turning the ball over resulted in 3-4 first half goals. Let's see how we reset after the bye with a bit of rest. A thoroughly predictable Melbourne performance though. You knew as soon as Richmond lost and second spit was there for the taking that we'd capitulate.

It's funny. Petty was the guy I was most excited about from the off season last year. Perhaps, it's a hang over from having to invest hope into young kids for so many years, but he seems like a Lever clone to me and given I knew what Lever was capable of, I was more excited about Petty's recruitment than anyone elses. He reads the ball beautifully in the air, knows his strengths in terms of body positioning and is a nice kick. Give him 15-20 games in the VFL to iron out some decision making education and learn the game style, and then he'll be ready for the big time. I'm excited to see where the FD sees him slotting in. Can we play Lever, Oscar and Petty in the same side? Probably, but I wouldn't want to sacrifice Hibberd's run or even Hunt's back there. I know it's 12 months down the track, but maybe Harry plays Vince's role, alongside Lever, Oscar, Hibberd, Lewis, Hunt and Salem. It'll be fascinating and exciting to see it develop. Fingers crossed we don't have anymore injuries and Petty can come in when he's ready.

In tandem with good development and a good culture. If players aren't coached properly, they don't win games every week and they certainly don't win the ultimate prize. Humanity has a real issue with viewing everything as black and white (I am still guilty of this, but am trying to change). It is never that simple.

Yeah, except our list rebuild started at the end of 2013 and anyone with a half switched on brain could see that St Kilda were being carried by their older players week in, week out and their younger players weren't developing. They're in for pain for a lot longer than just this year or next. Their list build has been ordinary and they've gone after non combative half forwards, instead of midfield bulls like we have.

Wow. I pay a lot more than $10 a month.

Fox's coverage is terrible but at least they don't have ads during games. 7 is heinous. I don't see the AFL ever giving up distro rights. Too costly for clubs and these CBA deals are the only reason some cluvs are even running.

I don't. I watch it on FOX. But ever having to watch football on 7 is a crime.

I'd prefer Channel 7 had no games. Can't stand FTA. It's archaic and done.

This was a terrible decision in 2013 when he was Communications Minister and it has become an even worse decision with time, given its cost us bloated out even further than the ALP's superior NBN plan at the time. Either way, wireless will bring us into the 21st century soon enough and companies like Telstra, who were handed tax-funded infrastructure by the LNP, will cease to exist without a monopoly on the infrastructure. Do not privatise intrinsic public services. Telstra and Australia Post are two of the worst companies in the country. Their service is dreadful and it's mostly based on the fact that they cut costs because they know they have the market tied up. When wireless comes in, I will guarantee you now, there will be an Australian sports streaming provider.

And thank goodness for that. FTA everything is just plain terrible. Their sports coverage, their tv series'... urgh. The sooner the majority of them [censored] off, the better.

Streaming is the future and in many respects, the current. FOXTEL will be dead within a decade. It may exist as a streaming service only. The ability for 'ambush television' (I like that term), to occur under the traditional broadcasters is just the same though. It really depends on where the dollars are and strategically, which way the code considers they can get the most dollars. I would hope the AFL have learnt from their scheduling of multiple Carlton and St Kilda Friday night games that there is a very fine line between success and failure in this business. The fans are the most important people as they ultimately drive the advertising dollars, but if you [censored] them off, your code could well be [censored] for the term of the licence deal. It won't be long until there is a dedicated sport streaming platform in Australia and when there is, the AFL would do well not to [censored] off their fans by doing any EPL-like deals.

I reckon Vanders should be moved on at year's end. I'd prefer us giving Jason Taylor another pick to find a gem. I've long been on record as saying Kent won't make it. He showed some progress early this year, but then his body broke down again. He may well be handy in the lead up to finals, but who knows.

There's still time tomorrow afternoon.

I reckon the impending weather conditions might have a say in this.

I think Hunt is more likely to come in than Jeffy for Hannan. Jayden offers more flexibility, can play at both ends of the ground if required and may well be needed to match up on a Collingwood small forward. We'll see. That said, I think the most likely outcome is what many are saying and that's Pedersen for Smith and Smith for Lever. I think they'll start Smith as the interceptor, but will rotate between he and Hibberd.

Basically, I agree. He might break out later this year, or it'll come next year, but if you compare his development with Gus' they're quite similar in terms of their trajectory. Gus has overtaken him at this point, but there's plenty of 2018 to go.

I want the best person available. If that comes from within, fantastic, but if it's an external appointment, so be it. It doesn't bother me at all that the AFL want to closely audit our progress. I don't have any trust in our football club not to [censored] it up again and neither should the AFL.

The worst thing about this news is that we get another terrible pun from Matt Burgan and Melbourne Media. "Tommy Gun Locked and Loaded"? You don't need puns for headlines anymore. We're in the 21st century. Other than that, great news.

He's probably right. Frost v Hunt for the rebound position. Both quick, poor kicks and poor decision makers. But at least Frost has the versatility of height. Hunt doesn't.

I'd mostly agree with this, although I've found Hunt slightly suspect one-on-one in the air and he'd certainly be placed in this position playing as third defender. We might be able to get away with it. Not sure if it works all year though.