Little Goffy

100%. Dew was in a very tough spot, trying to turn around a catastrophically poor club culture when any player who wanted to be professional had the ready option to move out of there without guilt because everyone knew the 'why' was legit. I wonder if even a coach the quality of Paul Roos would be able to turn that around without already having the authority of a premiership to contain the gripers.

If only they had a young tall forward who could offer connection leads up the ground, is competent delivering inside 50, and a reasonable shot on goal with a bonus ability to roost it from outside 50.

He's an excellent kid with a long and bright future at AFL level, but he doesn't play 'standout' games or a role that draws attention. The Rising Star award is about hype, and Judd McVee isn't about hype.

It irritates me that Tomlinson is still struggling to get a game despite respectable (even very good) recent performances at AFL level and a massive body of good form at VFL level. as a matter of principle I want to find him a spot in the team, but I can't see him pushing out the May-Lever-Petty structure which works so well. All I can think of is to tell him to play as a negating forward and put all his defensive skill into nullifying Harris Andrews for a game. Following Andrews around will bring him to the right places to be involved anyway, so the learning curve of switching forward is mitigated. With our depleted forward line and our poor habits going inside 50, Andrews' effectiveness could easily decide the game. I'd trust Tomlinson to at least stop that from happening.

Amiss is basically Fritsch +8cm. I think it is fair to say that if Fritsch had had those 8cm he would have easily been drafted in his first eligible season and got off to a similar flying start to Amiss. I agree though that even with those extra cms Amiss (or theoretically Fritsch) does not change to become that traditional bully key forward. Both our outstanding players, though and both should be in routine AA third tall discussions for years to come.

Freo games where Luke Jackson has played well; 7 wins. 3 losses. rnd 3 - win Rnd 4 - loss rnd 5 - win rn 8 - win rnd 9 - win rnd 10 - win rnd 11 - win rnd 13 - loss rnd 14 - loss rnd 15 - win Freo games where Luke Jackson has played poorly / not impacted; Zero wins. 6 losses. Rnd 1 - loss rnd 2 - loss rn6 - loss rnd 7 - loss rnd 16 - loss rnd 17 - loss

6 May 5 Petracca 4 Sparrow - I have to give him credit for an outstanding game because I have been a doubter. 3. Brayshaw - Never spectacular but kept working effectively all day. 2. Viney - Weight of effort and strength counted for a lot. 1. Bowey - He just makes me feel safe, and I need that right now, okay?

Grawndy did okay-ish (Grundy alarming ineffective with the ball, though) ...but... when Marshall has them covered in total for marks, tackles, and inside-50s and is barely shaded for clearances in a two rucks vs one game, there's a serious issue. Pickett was invisible like the hole left by a cartoon character running through a wall - yeah, you can't actually 'see' it, but you notice it very clearly.

Absolutely stunk it up. Was checked closely and didn't handle it at all. Genuine risk of being given a spell to find some form. Maybe he's solar powered?

Three points; Sydney currently and Gold Coast for the foreseeable future are only kept relevant by the massive draft concessions they've received for exactly that purpose. I'm stating the obvious but just putting it out there so none of us are left thinking we're alone in our anger. Don't worry there will be a total overhaul of all this stuff just as soon as the Demons have a prospective top-10 father-son pick. Genis Steel Oval must be the most vandalised playing field in the country.

I dunno, my mum always made us go outside.

I'm just eyeballing it but if you look at our win-loss ratio for the two phases of our accuracy this season it is almost the same as the goals-behinds ratio. I was going to say something about it not being quote as 'simple as that' but it doesn't get much simpler than; More goals = more wins More behinds = more losses

He definitely had a form slump but it was far from catastrophic in scale and a very normal experience for a small forward. It has also been over for a couple of weeks and people need to also get over it. Having said that, I really want to him to lift to his best again because he still needs 18 goals int he remaining 8 H&A games to keep up his '40-goals-a-season' amazing track record... and... he is one of the handful of players who could actually turn the season back our way if he hits top form.

After being pretty bitterly disappointed by almost everything football related last week... Starting with the death ride games; not much to gain. Obvious Carlton v Freo is a big deal as it is both a game Freo would be expecting to win and it would directly lift Carlton over them thanks to the Blue's bizarre percentage. Freo lose that, then one of Richmond or Sydney will step ahead of them. I'd prefer Richmond to get the win just because I think the Swans will keep clawing up the ladder enough to pass Freo later, while Richmond need every win they can get. bunch of other games just keep teams ahead of Freo, rather than pulling in front of them. And for our security in the top 4. Collingwood over Dogs, and Demons over Saints, would put us a game and a big chunk of percentage ahead of our two main pursuers. One of Essendon or the Crows will go to 9 wins, Essendon is probably better for us because the Crows have much higher percentage and Essendon will presumably choke late in the season. Also, if West Coast decide to go the biff and get a bunch of players from both sides suspended that would be the only unpredictable or useful outcome of the Brisbane - West Coast game. I mean, legend has it that back before the Eagles unilaterally relegated themselves, there was a bit of a Eagles-Lions rivalry.

Send the video to Daniel Curtin with a 'see you soon' note. Wow, everyone was in that game. Stynes, Neitz, Lyon, Smith, both Lovetts, both Febeys, Farmer, and even Alistair Clarkson. Hmm, funny that Yze missed, given is couple of hundred in a row started that season, but he is there in round 2. What a time at the club - later that season instead of having two Lovetts we had two McDonalds. By the end of this week, and discounting the Grimes/Trengove 'moment', Nathan Jones is the only MFC Captain not to play alongside a Woewodin since Greg Healy in 1990!

What is wrong with you, man?

He'll start in defensive 50, then run through the center, before moving across half forward and kicking a goal.

This. Every Carlton supporter already knows this. The team and the several stars in it will find form, remind everyone of how great they ought to be, and it will all come to nothing because they faffed about early in the season. It is destiny. The only counter argument is that Fremantle are doomed to a near-identical fate!

We need to do something different up forward. X and Y are going to have a field day if we go out with the same set up we've been sticking too that we know doesn't work and only leads to opposition defenders dominating. Remarkable for an echo to carry all the way from the MCG to Docklands and back again without losing any volume or clarity!

You should see him close the freezer door.

I don't rate Smith's brain enough to picture him in the very demanding role Fritsch plays. I would say his best option is as a defensive forward tightly staying with the Tom Stewart / Lever / Aliir / Andrews types to prevent them from intercepting and rebounding too easily. With his athleticism he can create the occasional opportunity to turn the tables completely, but left to be a 'normal' tall forward he become the player that opponents can predict and know when to zone off from, and that's no help to us. Also, Gawn is actually having a respectable year, just not All-Australian level. I agree that he has had some games of very uncertain marking efforts and he also isn't being used as effectively as he should be to get to important positions. I have my theory for how they would work best (Gawn mostly a kick behind play or receiving the escape kick from defence, Grundy playing as a half-forward link option, each sticking to a loose area of control to minimise the low-value running, and each only occasionally slipping forward to mix things up for a while) but I'm not tearing my hair out about it just yet because Gawn and Grundy are both smart players and will not be sitting passively on the obvious problem.

Trouble is fitting them under the salary cap.

10, 3 and 9 in the last three games is a pretty phenomenonal rating for Viney. Given he has a well-earned reputation for rising to big occasions, I suspect he at least is one player on our list acutely aware of what has been at stake these last few games. Unfortunately I think there's a couple of guys who are content 'doing their thing' rather than really pushing that extra level. For example, Nibbler's pangolin impression has me suspecting that he's happy with doing that much and geting the breakeven stoppage; doesn't feel the need to actually beat his opponent. I also suspect Hunter, despite being very busy and reasonably good overall, is a bit too content to do his favourite tricky trick with the bounce handballs without really worrying too much about whether it is the best option for both reward or risk. That's a digression, but emphasises the point that really, everyone needs to be more Viney.

And the camels always hit what they aim at.

I'm getting a strange echo of the vibe of July 2018. "We were so good, so recently, so where is it now?" In 2023 there is a longer lead-in of expectations but a similar feeling that we are stumbling. But... wait... this is also how July felt in 2021 with the winter slump of two wins, one embarrassing draw and three losses. Anyway, with the loss to GWS we are now clearly out of contention for top two, and will be playing a classic '8 point' game next week to keep hold of our spot in the the top 4. Brisbane the next week is an important test. Two weeks from now; Best case; win games against 5th and 3rd, be at least a game clear inside the top 4, and revitalise our season with a relatively easy minimum-travel draw to finish the H&A season. Worst case; lose both and we're probably clinging onto 8th spot by percentage only, and even then thanks only to the Bombers playing the Crows then the Cats.