Little Goffy

I'm absolutely in the 'if any doubt, rest Gawn'. I think it would do him and the midfield good, too. Good for him because he could spend a game watching live and thinking through what is going on in a way that isn't possible when just reviewing the tapes - grasping better what is going on and what he needs to tweak. Good for the midfield because it should help shake off the taint of complacency that is in their game - too often they expect things to go their way from the tap and even the greatest ruckman won't give much better than a 60/40 win rate consistently., let alone a true hitout to advantage. If it forces the midfield to play more accountably and to be ready with defensive spread, it could be an important moment in out season. Also... if we lose to Adelaide, with or without Gawn, we're in serious crapbuckets. North just belted them, with some of their most important players our to injury or dropped for career-worst form. Rest Gawn if there's the slightest question on him. If there's still any doubt, feel at peace to lay him over until it is time to face off against Grundy.

Just making a little note here - NOT AFL QUALITY. Oscar and Tom McDonald, Hibberd, Hannan, Tomlinson, Weideman, Fritsch, Hore, Jetta, Smith, a few older guys and a bunch of kids. I'm going to give you an over-under of 50% on the ten I've named there and see how it pans out by, say, end of 2021.

First up, either of Murphy or Heppell can point to periods of at least five consecutive years where their form would place them in our current best 4. More to my point, their mixed capability would allow them to contribute as much what we are currently getting from two players - eg. Murphy would outpoint Langdon and Bennell combined and Heppell would match Brayhsaw and Melksham combined. Right now we are limited tactically by the limited range of our main midfielders. A high-quality well-rounded player, not necessarily superstar, would make a huge difference to our situation.

Discussion was of type of player. Obviously. Silly Billy.

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.