Little Goffy

Aside from the rare situation where you have a player who is very much suited to a specific role only, I get very wary about talk of 'inside' and 'outside' as separate things. In an individual player there might be a difference in their strengths and weaknesses but excessive talk of recruiting specifically for inside our out always makes my eye twitch and think of Terry Wallace, who was the grand priest of 'inside only and outside only' players. If I had one dream draft pick right now for our team, or a magic wand to wave over one player and 'complete' them, it would be to add someone like Dyson Heppell, Marc Murphy, or, obviously, Pendlebury.

Lol, is that you, Elegt?

If this was a serious thread about drafting during Taylor's time at the club we could have all kind of interesting discussions about attempting to make the most of diverse speculative third round picks, the routine decision to trade second rounders for mature players to get some stability into the team, and the contentious decisions to bank our early picks on getting some allegedly first-rate key defenders into the club for a tilt at a premiership while we still have Gawn at full strength. Overall, I'd say each layer of decisions has been a sensible strategy and it is unfortunate that many of those late speculative selections have had mixed and unreliable results. But this takes us back to the old 'selection vs development' argument. There are a lot of players who have shown something significant for at least a while and even whole seasons, but then plateaued or stagnated, or just been injured. Hunt, Harmes, Vandenberg, Nibbler, O.Mc, Smith, Hannan, Fritsch, Hore. All worthy AFL level when in good form, but all have seen long spells of poor form, and not a single pick above 40 in that set.

Based on the link provided, he made a speech requiring PREMIUM COMMAND FORM. Sounds good, but can the players put it into action?

Another moment to hope the players don't have the attitude of some supporters, I guess. We're less than halfway into the season, with a game in hand, and we're two games out of the eight Yet to play the entire bottom four, but have played the entire top four (and obviously don't have to play anyone twice) The Port game was a debacle, but if anyone needs reminding what a haywire and volatile season this is, aside from needing their head checked they can take a quick look at the Bulldogs, West Coast or Collingwood. Our next two games are against the bottom two teams. They are must win games but they are 'should win' games too. Then Collingwood for what is likely the proverbial 8-point game. Speaking of 8-point games, we are still to play all of Collingwood, Western Sydney, Bulldogs, Bombers and Saints. For all the misery yesterday, if you think that was the best we can deliver you're just being melodramatic. Destiny in our own hands. Far, far too early to write off the season, even if it wasn't a weird one.

Denis Pagan, Michael Malthouse are both available, too. I'm sure you see my argument, and I accept it is not total, but that would be my concern.

Dare I say it, but chalk up another one for the 'teams Melbourne have played back into form' list. Eh, it's not over, we've had bigger, less expected comebacks!

Remember 2020 when Scully was a paid player at all? Top work, Hawthorn

I'm not a monster! But... it is a mix of fluids and waxes kept at 60 degrees... I'm a monster.

Well, one thing that makes sure of - I really really want to thrash Port tomorrow night because the online meltdown of their feral supporters would be like breaking a lava lamp over a cat.

Been a while since people got wound up about re-signing our leading goal-kicker! I think Fritsch is doing okay at present, and I am 100% sure that he is doing a lot of team-first things that reduce his visibility and stats. His form is also 'fluctuating upwards', so to speak. Aaaany moment now he's going to have a ripper, I can feel it in me bones.

It is quite possible that the reason Jones was brought in and that Brayshaw is out there playing limited time in a non-ideal role is part of preparation for the hectic pace likely for the second half of the season. We will surely be giving some players rests at unpredictable times and having the extra couple of possible 'grunts' ready to go will be important. None of it is ideal and there's no mistaking that Brayshaw is fumbly and lacking the alertness that was a feature of his best football, but he may become very important, very soon.

Reminds me of the headline, "France knocked out, Britain through to finals". T'was a close run thing.

Having only been able to listen to the game previously, I actually startled my wife with my exclamation when I was that clip just now. I have spent my whole football watching life being a defender of individual umpires, that they should be treated as anonymous and generally accepted for the inevitable flawed calls, but I am going to remember No. 11, Curtis Deboy. That was not some kind of incidental flawed call, that was inexcusable to the point of raising bias issues.

Well down on some of the things which are supposed to be our strengths, some ridonkulus umpiring, some annoying missed shots, but only two goals in it at half time against the best first-half team this season. I wont say I'm satisfied but I will say I'm full of hope.

Don't discount the fun in a proper downpour being unleashed if that rain band hits the Gold Coast right as the temperature drops in the evening. Throw in just a little bit of backing up on the spot due to the heat island and one lucky push of wind back in from the coast at the right moment... Fwsooosh and only Gawn's eyebrows will be above the water line. Tonight's the night, even the weather is going to be epic (as the kids say these days).

To think, we could have had John Butcher! Water (heavy metal polluted water, but water) under the bridge, but hey, in the end we still got a future captain, champion, and possibly the best player in the competition at present, so it wasn't a total bust of a draft.

Turns out he was happy to let himself go...

Can anyone help me decide - Essendon misery or Adelaide misery? I guess Essendon misery has the practical side of keeping the ladder a little more open, while Adelaide misery is only relevant as a joy in itself. Crows to win. Essendon to spend the rest of the season just outside the 8. Or, to quote in anticipation "They were the best team to not make finals all year, weren't they BT?' and 'You've really got to think they'll be a serious contender next year, wouldn't you reckon Lingy?' etc.

What the world needs right now is a compilation clip of Hawthorn players under Clarkson diving, ducking, pulling and waving their arms around for free kicks, set to the sounds of Clarkson sooking about Papley. Of course, Hawks have form on the 'complaining about Sydney players milking free kicks', because it is well known they were right at the forefront of 'holding Adam Goodes accountable'. Junk club. Rot in a ditch.

I hope Owies has a long and successful career, but also with lots of one-week injuries just so we can see the team sheet "Out: Owies (injured)". I'm sure one day he will make a great forward line alongside Booboo, Ouchi and Prang.

You'd love him to stop that, wouldn't you?

My guess would be that the attack could have broken through for a goal with just one little extra thing going right - If Jackson had been able to tap the ball with his feet to move it forward even a bit, or if Pickett had realised he still had Brayshaw running with him on his right, it could easily have been a goal. And then of course there was the rebound, which came back a bit too easily, I imagine that coaches do sometimes get worked up when they see brilliance not quite come together and then the team system not quite cover the risk. Sometimes. Or maybe he was just really wishing it had gone on for the goal because it would have been goal of the week and made everyone celebrate Pickett and save him from being compared to Weightman!

One of the things I loved about the game against the Hawks was seeing Pickett getting frequently involved and getting to good places in support, whether or not he was rewarded or even got a stat out of it. It shows a little in the 'goal of the week mini-video on the main Demonland page at the moment - he was weaving in and out of the action ready dragging players with him and even closing in on the hot spot as the goal was being kicked. But the moment for me that really shone (and made me feel like we were definitely going to win) was a passage of play I think late in the third quarter where through sheer manic attack and slapping and bundling along Pickett was largely responsible for moving the ball forward about fifty meters despite Hawks outnumbering Demons for the length of the scramble. He must have physically touched the ball five times in ten seconds but statistically wouldn't have had a 'touch' to his name. Sums up why I think we've got a winner in this kid and why I'm going to enjoy watching him for years. Can I make a special request to anyone with editing skills for a mini-video of that ridiculous passage? Might be hard to find because it didn't result in a goal or anything special as an outcome, except Hawthorn once again were knocked back up the ground, out of an attacking position, and left with no options except to kick long to Gawn! It is also the perfect reminder that Pickett's stats are completely ignorable - he's doing his thing and it is definitely not bureaucratic!

I've been annoying my wife to hell with complaints about how Gawn is so often winning hitouts but the communication with the rest of the clearance team usnt quite happening. A decisively won hitout will drop just a pace or two too far ahead or a fraction of a second behind and the mid coming through has to reach or twist or stall for just a moment - still getting the ball, still getting the hitout to advantage stat, even still getting the clearance, but it just isn't quite as decisive. Seems another one if those things you have to play together to really improve, and I'm hopeful that we'll soon see a bit more of the bonus game changing double-goals that defined 2018 (goal, centre bounce, goal). It would also give Oliver that little extra moment to steady and deliver a clean kick or handball. Not necessarily brilliant but the proverbial 'high percentage option' that keeps the ball moving effectively. That's plenty when your work is done in a pack all day.