Little Goffy

I don't understand why it becomes so complicated. Surely our primary inside midfielders are; Oliver, Petracca, Viney, Brayshaw. With a support cast of; Salem, Harmes and then various others rotating through. That doesn't seem like it should be an overcrowded inside mid group, even if the argument is made for Salem to be used as a proper full-time mid. We have several small-medium half-forwards who can take some time in stoppages, but we have a very clear core 4, 5, or even six if Harmes gets settled back as a stopper/counter-attacker once he returns from injury. There's also no reason I can see that those four core inside mids can't be one of the absolute dominant midfield groups in the AFL. Some things you tinker with, some things you let settle. Hopefully, once all four are available, that settling is allowed to happen.

14+ wins to make the top seven, and then one lucky straggler will get in with 12. We'll be in the 14+ if we can get through our first month without Brown and while building a few players back to match fitness after interruptions, and while getting an idea of who is actually suitable for what. If things go badly in the first month to six weeks, they really could spiral out of control given the termites feeding on Goodwin all day, but if we survive that with our sanity we will likely be that 12-win sneak-in and then see what can be done.

There was a piece of play sometime late in the game where Jetta was one on one with a loose ball to contest and I spontaneously burst out 'Jetta is smarter that you' at the Freo player (on the screen). Never had a doubt and sure enough Jetta outpositioned and outplayed his opponent without hesitation. Also made me look like I knew what was going on for once, so yet another reason to be grateful for Uncle Nev.

3 marks inside 50 for 2 goals one behind, and 6 score involvements (behind only Oliver). Would seem he is precisely doing his job. Fry a different Fritta.

I wonder if we will see tackling down but the overall 'pressure acts' category up if the ball continues to be moved more through the corridor? Fewer actual stoppages but more rushing under pressure. Certainly that feeds nicely into the smart interceptors we have in our defence, so I'm not too upset about it. It could also mean that well-timed tackles that cause turnovers become even more valuable. As for the ruck impact - Gawn is not always the best ruck at stoppages, but he is unmatched when it comes to getting around the ground to offer an escape target, or cover the long bomb. Even some of that will be diminished by the new rule and it will be important to get the contibution from him up forward at times. BUT fewer boundary throw ins and stoppages means less of the jogging 40m to take a hitout and then jogging another 40m to get where you need to be structurally. A dozen fewer of those each game works out to almost a kilometer less running, and with Gawn being as fit as he is, with a bit of smart positioning he could be barely coming to the bench. Did some checking - Gawn was on the field for 92.5% of game time in round one. In previous seasons with full-length games he was at most around the 85% mark. Further to that, these changes only add to the appeal of a truly versatile ruck-tall and it may just be that Luke Jackson turns out to be the ideal young ruckman to have right now.

Wow, looks like the Match Review Panel doesn't always get the video for interstate games. Victoria's average (46.1) is higher than any interstate club except West Coast. For related info I've only eyeballed it but the free kick counts seem mostly similar heirarchy. With one very visible exception - West Coast are routinely in the top four for favourable free kick balance, and have never in the last fifteen years been out of the top 8 on that figure. What a quirky coincidence that such a dirty team would have such a benevolent free kick ratio. So much coincidence...

In round 1 2021, Spargo easily surpassed double the contribution that he'd generally managed in games in 2020, 2019 or all but a few of his 2018 games. Interesting that he is still only out on the field for 70% game time. I'm curious to know the reasons behind that as you'd think he'd clock up at least more than the full-time midfielders. Just throwing numbers around, but - 3 goals assists, 3 inside 50s and 2 marks inside 50. 87% disposal efficiency playing across half forward (for the Demons! unheard of!) and 7 of his 16 possessions being contested. Throw in 5 tackles for good measure. Anyway, let it quietly blow your mind that on the weekend Charlie Spargo would have been in the best four or five small forwards in the AFL. Just enjoy it.

Also, this. Coaches Votes, round 1. Melbourne v Fremantle 10 Steven May (MELB) 7 Clayton Oliver (MELB) 7 Jake Lever (MELB) 4 Tom McDonald (MELB) 2 Andrew Brayshaw (FRE)

This conversation is distinctly reminding me of the way so many Demon fans started talking down Hogan when we were anxious about him leaving. And that went on for years. Different person, different situation, different everything, really.

Hmm, I'm going to go through a process of looking at the picks systematically without actually having decided my opinion beforehand! Wacky! What I might do is take our early selections and consider how they compare to the 'next ten' in that draft, and then just add our later picks as a kind of bonus. If I recall correctly, the first draft Taylor was responsible for at Melbourne was 2013. Here goes - 2013 Pick 9, Salem. Of the next ten picks, 5 are already out of the AFL. The others are Sheed, Cripps, Z Jones, Dunstan and Acres, so a pretty respectable group remaining after that 50/50 split. The extras; we still have Hunt and Harmes. 2014 Pick 2 Petracca, Pick 3 Brayshaw. You'd expect to do well at the very pointy end, but the next ten include three already out of the game, and a mix of the not so good, the unlucky, and a couple of other very good; Lachie Weller, Peter Wright, Nakia Cockatoo, Caleb Marchbank , Darvy Moore and Jordan De Goey, The extras; Still with are Nibbler and Vanderberg. Still playing football (for 40 glorious minutes!) is Oscar McDonald. 2015 Pick 3 Clayton Oliver, Pick 9 Sam Weideman. Well, Oliver's only realistic rival for best of this draft is Weitering, so that's a win. There's a lot of just pretty 'goodish' players in that first round, especially now at Essendon. In the hunt for a tall forward, other options were Carlton's pair McKay and Curnow, as well as Eric Hipwood and Harrison Himmelberg who were both academy selections. All of them are still a bit on the wait and see side, even Hipwood who has had amazing games but isn't yet a consistent gun. Beyond tall forwards, that second half of the first round was pretty strong and at this stage Weideman has delivered the least of the group except for the injury-cursed Doedee. The extras; Only Joel Smith remains. 2016 No early selections. Which may have been a good call in itself as very few of that first round are looking like true guns - with the caveat that we're well inside the too-soon-to-tell zone here. The extra; only Mitch Hannan is still playing AFL, at the Bulldogs. 2017 Again, no early selections. And, again, a draft that is pretty ordinary after the top 9 plus players now at West Coast. The extras; Charlie Spargo, Bayley Fritsch, Harrison Petty and Oskar Baker. Other than the top ten and West Coast (who not only nailed this draft but also went on to grab the draft's best player across from Geelong) As for the more recent drafts, we're getting too far into the only time will tell fogs. 2018 we took a bunch of later selections and for a variety of reasons the jury must remain in discussion. 2019 Jackson, Pickett and Rivers are still hugely subjective judgements as all have shown promise but also weakness. Well, Rivers not so much any major weakness! 2020 of course there is no point trying to evaluate.

Fair Bump. Play on.

Not alone Petracca won't. Oliver is our Scott West, except better. He'll be among our best players week in week out and that is priceless - especially when we have so many inconsisent players in our midfield. He's the stable rock of of stoppages when everyone else is being mixed and matched and experimented with because none of them are proving reliable enough. I mean, seriously, Oliver's closest rival for clearances on the weekend was Alex Neal-Bullen who is simply not an inside midfielder.

Just another gut feeling, but my reckoning is that his performance this year won't affect his actual salary expectations so much (doing better means more faith in club, virtuous loop). If we stink it up as a club and aren't looking like addressing it properly, he may look to take that pay cheque from somewhere else. I do feel like he'll be a long-term Demon, though.

At half time, it would seem both those teams are actually hoping for a massive downpour to cover their inadequacy. Most of the players seem less interested in that game than Pickett2Jackson is! 'Stalemate', says the commentator... or did he just say 'Stale, mate.' We have to go into the next couple of rounds looking for kills.

A very young ruckman able to develop while playing a role adequately at the top level is nothing to be scoffed at. Would be entirely happy if over the course of this season he just became enough of a potential headache that opponents have to take him seriously and make our mix of talls even harder to plan for.

Either Dangerfield gets multiple weeks or the concussion campaign is a sham. 50/50 Dangerfield will be allowed to play again before Kelly is. Meanwhile, it would seem Walker has been visiting the same psychologist McDonald has been. I've never much liked him personally, but it is always good to see any player find a bit of form after a long slump. Plus, he's doing a really good job of not being Tom Hawkins.

The little stadium out west is very exposed and the rain up here is going beyond ridiculous for four days already. By tomorrow afternoon the ground could be barely playable.

Right now, we are top of the ladder but that might only last a few hours depending on how heavily the Crows thrash Geelong. ??

Some kids just rise to the level when exposed. A fine debut.

Well, not much fanfare but he probably got a Brownlow vote so he won't be crying.

6 May 5 Lever 4 Oliver 3 Petracca 2 McDonald 1 Spargo (Because bite me) Apologies to Langdon and special mention to James Jordon.

Is it even worth mentioning how unlucky many of our kids have been when it comes to injury? Several of the younger guys who are in that 'might crack a game soon' category have been knocked around repeatedly. Not all of that can be blamed on the club. Oliver, Fritsch and Spargo would be just about only players 20-24yrs old who haven't been seriously interrupted by repeat injuries. Toss in Hore and Smith in the same group, since they were under-25 at the start of the year.

What's going on with the wave of new threads started with one-line 'tut tut tch tch' comments?

Freo's forward line looks very small. It will be basically Tabener as their only true tall, then Cerra (188cm) and Fyfe when he goes up there. that's great for intercepting marks but only if we are putting pressure on the kicker - and that's a significant if for our mids. Real danger if the ball is allowed to get loose in their forward 50 too much. Relying on the wisdom of Lever, May and Jetta to get to the best spots and kill contests before they begin. Our forward line might look a bit makeshift (because it is the very definition of banging something together with whatever you had available) but I think it still matches Freo's defence. It is unlikely Meek will inherit the Earth or much of anything playing against Gawn. Meek is a big lump of a lad so might go okay at the hitouts, but no chance at all of keeping up with Gawn around the ground. Gawn will frequently be free to provide a relief target or able to drift forward without a direct opponent, thus creating that momentary hole and confusion as the Freo defence reorganises every time he comes their way with Meek puffing and panting fifteen metres behind. Both sides will have their midfield depth tested. We've got some vulnerable kids out their while they have more of the Dom Tyson types after you get past their top four or so mids/half forwards. Can't ignore them, shouldn't be too afraid of them.

As always these days, the listed structure never really matches the constantly changing pattern on field. I for one will be hoping to see a quite dynamic mixing of our onballers at stoppages out of that group. I'm still in the camp of 'Harmes is best as a tagger with strong counter-attack ability'. An interesting show of faith in a couple of veterans, perhaps at a dangerous cost of speed. I wonder which of our emergencies will be brought in for the definitely legitimate medical substitute?