DeeSpencer

Hibbo’s almost certainly the least fit player on the list, even if they shrunk the scg in half I wouldn’t have him on the wing. Plus he’s needed down back. If there was a defender to move it would be Hunt.

If the AFL allowed them the NSW Directives allow players out for exercise. I'd book somewhere in Bondi or Coogee and allow the boys to have a swim.

I’d prefer Giants stadium than the SCG. The thinner and longer dimensions suit us more then the short and wide SCG. Plus the surface seems in far better shape. Given the crowd will be next to 0 regardless I would’ve thought we’d get a choice. Maybe Ch7 and the AFL want the more prestigious ground but that’s bad luck for them. The main benefit to the SCG apart from a few more neutral supporters is the players probably get a nicer hotel and shorter trip. But they’re flying out for business and if they’re restrictions travel with them I doubt they’ll be doing much sightseeing.

Too expensive in terms of cash and draft picks I’d imagine. A third A grade mid is a huge expense. Particularly when we have Gawn, Viney, Harmes, Langdon and most likely Gus on the books. Unless we find value in trading players out I’d imagine we look towards free agency, even if it’s matching and getting a discount. Plenty of other holes we need to fill with draft picks or cheaper trade acquisitions.

My post was in a response to a suggestion JJ goes to half back. All the things you’ve said are true and he’s a great competitor. But if he went to half back spoiling and intercept marking would become very important. Compared with Salem, Rivers or even someone like Gus I don’t think that’s a huge part of his game right now. In my opinion in limited opportunities he hasn’t looked as developed in that part of his game as tackling or clean hands or plenty of other things he does well. I don’t think that’s controversial or nit picking.

If Salem’s fatigued with soreness I reckon it would be madness to ask him to do a mountain of running on the wing. Surely the aim is to manage him until the bye. JJ’s clean hands have been excellent but he hasn’t looked natural in aerial contests and his kicking is very hit and miss. I don’t think he suits half back at all. If it’s not Baker I’d go JJ to the wing with an extra mid coming in (Sparrow and/or Jones). I’d save the option of a Hunt/Brayshaw swap in game if plan A fails and we need speed on the outside.

Agree Brown’s Swans game was the best we’ve seen from either of them and thought it would buy him more time. But I do think they’re in no hurry with Brown, they’ve got 11 weeks to get him right. Disagree that the draft pick means anything at all anymore for Weid. It’s ancient history. The big thing I keep coming back to for Weid was the 9 game stretch when he came in to the team last year and was an above average AFL key forward. Multiple goals in every game. Contested marks. Halved a lot of contests. 10th in the best and fairest. If he plays like that he’ll keep his spot. Sadly he doesn’t have the athleticism to contribute without marks and goals like a Todd Marshall. And isn’t doing the ruck minutes due to Jackson. And we don’t kick well enough to give our forwards easy chances. He has to crash and clunk to hold his spot.

Jordon’s the best endurance midfielder on the list. Won’t have Langdon’s freakish repeat speed but pure endurance won’t be an issue. His game time is low because he’s the 4th best on ball and the main 3 are handling the bulk of the duties.

Weid's rucked. Brown hasn't. That's a big factor for a lot of those stats. One thing to consider is that Weid fits better as the 3rd option out of the way. With Fritsch at full forward. Brown demands the full forward spot. Fritsch then becomes the 3rd banana most likely. That worked for him v North but in other games he got lost in between. My overall opinion is if Tommy McDonald can crash packs slightly better than he has been. If Fritsch nails his set shots. And if LJ can just hold a couple more marks then we're better off without either of the big fellas. The biggest worry with that situation is it puts a huge strain on all of those guys but particularly LJ and Gawn. So maybe you keep trying the big boys whilst we're in strong ladder position. The Hawks used to play Schoenmakers all the time until finals. Or the Tigers would play Chol a fair bit last year. Sometimes you just play an extra tall to get through the season and then when the whips are cracking go small and hungry.

These aren't just isolated errors though, it's some I've seen multiple times. TMc's fend worked well against the Swans but unless he's running in to space it's not worth the risk, in a crowded forward 50 he should give quick handballs. Same goes for Gawn trying to kick unless it's from a stoppage. He should be a handball first player. The deliberate issue has occurred multiple times with us. We don't appeal for it enough and we don't try to influence the ump by a forward running to the ball to keep it in or look like they are close to it. The turnovers were in the last quarter and when defending a lead. I don't think we really played like we learnt much from last week. We have to ice games. It's pretty silly that we're 10-1 but haven't really taken the chance to move guys around in the last quarter to get some experience in different roles and to rest up the best players. JJ's made a great start to his career and I love his no fuss playing style but now is the time for him to put some work in to his kicking and decision making. Not over summer. Not 3 years from now. Centre bounces should be pretty easy. The forwards should be predictable. There should be a target area for where the long kick lands. It was by far our best centre bounce game of the season but we didn't take full advantage.

A triumphant return to Cairns would be a bold choice.

Giants stadium is my guess.

Next Wednesday night We’ve got 2 spots free. Although that could be 3. One of Hore or Tommo isn’t inactive yet I’d imagine. My guess is we only take 1 pick Players can nominate on 6 or 18 month terms. Given they’ve all been overlooked in previous drafts I’d imagine they are life time free agents. Extending players probably isn’t the main concern, the first concern is finding one good enough!

He looked underdone against the Swans. And in the VFL the week before too for those who saw it. I reckon the job on Walsh was excellent and sharpened him right up and last night was about the peak of that. Maximum votes in the best and fairest for that game.

Not to be too negative but I reckon we’re still making far too many silly mistakes. Gawn played on inadvertently twice due to stepping off the mark at half forward. Both led to easy turnovers. He filled Petracca’s quota this week. The umps are red hot on it and players have to learn. And we need to nail the unselfish forward play. No more Tom McDonald stiff arms. No more Max Gawn snaps in traffic. Feed the ball back to our mids and reset the attack. And every slow long down the line kick that doesn’t reach a tall target should be treated with disgust. May went long to ANB with 2 minutes left in the first half when Gawn was on the boundary. Several other times kicks fell away from Tom, Weid and Jacko. It’s a core part of our game plan and we can’t get it wrong, especially if we’re playing such a tall forward line. Our forwards also have to be aware of the deliberate rule and know their job is to help the backs. Melksham sat and watched a ball roll out that he could’ve touched. Get over and get it. Petracca, Oliver and others turned the ball over in the corridor in the last quarter far too many times. It wasn’t helping the plan to just kill the clock. If we can ice games we can rest our best players so they don’t miss weeks. And JJ, love your effort, but you aren’t kicking centre square goals from 60 brother. The clearance was beautiful, back yourself to find a hit up. Or go 15 out so it isn’t rushed. The guys were great last night, but there’s still a lot of sloppy stuff that can be fixed pretty easily. Small things that can make a big difference if we get them right.

Tell him to say hi to Marcus for me

Yeah I thought he wasn’t amazing as well. But I loved the aggressive zone off and mark at the start of the 3rd or 4th? After we gave up a howler of a centre bounce clearance giving Libba a free run. I’d love to see Rivers take more kick outs in the plan is just bomb it long. I get the feeling Salem was on light duties last night. And May was stuffing plenty up with misdirected long kicks, including the one that gifted a goal just before half time. I wouldn’t mind them using Petty as a marking target on the other flank to Gawn and the key forwards from kick outs. I’m still not sure on his ideal fit long term. He doesn’t seem all that powerful or quick on the lead, but has excellent agility to chase smalls and compete on the ground. He’s a unusual mix of attributes. Still, hopefully he’s settling in and it’s impressive to see him play well given he had an interrupted summer on the back of missing all of last year

Rivers has a funny habit of starting games slowly. He gifted Weightman a goal early. Then bouncing back and just building the longer the game goes. It was his best game for the year tonight. Just on Weightman, he dropped a lot of easy marks under little pressure - from a variety of defenders. He played a bit like Kossie from last year. I expect he'll settle in to AFL and be holding them and converting within the next year. I wish JT figured out a way to get both the small forwards!

Weid saved his spot late, but he needs to start holding a few soon. Simply has to clunk enough marks to make up for his deficiencies. Hunt is now officially on selection watch, but whilst the backline functions so well and the VFL boys don't get to play I wouldn't change anything.

I can see a case for Baker and I wouldn't be too upset if they gave him a go. He's been working closely with Langdon and I think his running and positioning is much better. His contested work is still poor but the only way to improve it is to play him more. At this stage though: Out: Melksham, Langdon In: Sparrow, Jones Brayshaw, (80%) Jones (60%) and JJ (60%) share the wing minutes. Sparrow plays mid and forward. What we lose in Langdon's 2 way run we make up in the extra mid rotation.

Could do, but would be a waste of an opportunity to use Sparrow and Baker to find out more about them. I wouldn’t mind holding Jones back to later in the year for another chance. Unless we go a double change with someone else who doesn’t play wing and doesn’t pressure.

ANB is too important and is also a see ball get ball player, I don’t think he’ll hold a wing or compete well in the air. It’s either Baker, or go with Sparrow on ball and JJ wing I think. JJ’s doing alright from what I can tell as the 3rd wing.

McClug playing a lot of centre square. Harmes to him. Zac Bailey equally a threat. As are all of Brisbane’s mids, they’re super deep. Baker’s clearly improved his tank, expect he’ll get a chance.

But mostly because he just wasn't all that good to begin with, then had a nasty injury. I think Libba has to be sat on at the coal face and Bont can't be allowed easy kicks, they're deadly players in those situations, otherwise it's a team effort. Dealing with the Dogs inside to out flick around handball game is a whole different beast though. We have to win our share of the ball and then we have to pressure like mad to stand a chance of shutting that down. I'm very worried about the likes of Brayshaw and Melksham who don't have that quick change of direction and constant energy, they'll leave glaring gaps in the net of pressure required to close down the Dogs.

Midfielder has break out game when allowed to play in the midfield isn't a huge shock, but also highlights to me that Narkle isn't a wingman or a half forward. He has burst pace but not a lot of top end speed and does he best work around the contest. He's on the smaller side, isn't a great pressure player and his skills are sharp but not amazing. Would he dislodge Oliver, Petracca, Harmes, JJ or Viney? I don't think so. Would he be an upgrade on Sparrow or Bailey Laurie next year - maybe, but not enough to go chase him. That's why a player like Narkle will probably struggle to generate a lot of interest and get teams chasing him. A lot of teams are in the same position we are where we'd love outside or mid/forward players with pressure and skills. If you are on baller who's outside a teams best 4 options you won't generate a lot of interest.