DeeSpencer

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.

It’s 70k a player if it doesn’t work out - 50k pay and 20k severance payment. But for 50 million dollar businesses that’s peanuts. I don’t really buy the resources argument. For us it’s filling in 3 ACL victims who are all probably easy to manage. I reckon the benefit of fresh legs on the track is actually underrated. If you’re bringing in older players they should be easy to manage, if you’re bringing in a young guy for the future you’ve given yourself a head start. There’s a lot of rookies who barely get a chance because the draft and their first year is over so quickly. It didn’t work out last time but I think teams will find 19 year olds this time (partly from the stronger covid crop) who play really well next year.

Riley Knight just nominated and I reckon he’d be a nice fit. According to a preseason article wants to a chance to play on ball rather than be stuck at half forward, but he can play that role too. I do wonder whether we can afford (financially and with list spots) to pick up 2 mature depth players and still take a 19 year old if there is one. The media hasn’t really explained why clubs are so reluctant to use all their spots.

I wouldn’t call 1 bad game for Hunt as losing form. I think it’s 3 weeks until you can discuss form. I’d be shocked if Spargo is even mentioned at match committee. I’m not worried by dips and rises in particular stats. He’s as locked in as a role player can be.

What form do you expect Spargo and Hunt to find? Spargo is in perfect form. He's doing exactly what the coaches ask week in week out. Hunt is playing about as well as we can expect from Hunt. He had a poor game against the Crows, some of which might be explained by Salem out, but overall he's been serviceable. If we're going to go deep in the finals he'll have to step up under pressure but there's very little competition for his spot right now.

I'd put Jordon on Libba. JJ doesn't win a lot of contested footy but is our best tackler, he can clamp down on Libba. Then Harmes to Bont who has to restrained, you can't let him rack up kicks in space, he'll cut us apart. Even if he gets 25 touches if they aren't out in the clear it's a good result. Max and Jackson are our best hope of breaking even at stoppages. I'd like to try a bit of back to the future with Nev Jetta as a defensive forward in the VFL to see how it looks. Geary did that job really well last year for the Saints. Mark Bagley for Essendon did it too. Once a defender loses the leg speed to stay with their man down back they struggle but Nev's tackling and aerial contesting is still strong. There's a slim chance he might have one last go in him in that role. Spargo and ANB will get the job this week, they beat a lot of dangerous half backs through work rate and positioning, but Daniel is the quality of player that you need to unsettle and force in to one on one contests I think.

Without the financial terms it's hard to judge, but if the options were a contract that's 2 years too long or losing him to Geelong for a pick in the 30's of a severely compromised draft whilst we're in a flag window - I still lean towards being happy we kept him. We've made worse decisions, like bringing in big broken Ben Brown.

Look again, he’s a fair way behind the players and Fritsch and his opponents are directly in his path to the ball. The umpire at the front of the screen is a boundary umpire. The field umpire does as well as he can but he couldn’t see what the Crows player and Spargo were doing

Heck no. It’s a disaster in basketball and got phased out after one year in the NFL. Are we meant to appeal the holding the ball? And stop the game before Walker’s shot? What about Pickett being tunnelled in the contest before the deliberate? It is totally unworkable.

The umpire couldn’t see a thing. Because he was caught up the ground due to the centre bounce. No fault of his. The only way to fix this is changing the umps starting positions or allowing boundary umps to make calls. The touch wouldn’t have been picked up live even with an umpire in perfect position. It would’ve been called deliberate. But an umpire not seeing anything doesn’t know what to call and whilst an educated guess would’ve been deliberate he’s decided to make no guess. At the end of the day it’s better not to guess and that’s what umps are told I’m sure. The power of 50k screaming fans with or against you has influenced this decision and that’s why it’s harder to win on the road. At the MCG we get this call.

Essendon weren’t up to AFL standard. They played the worst 3 quarters you’ll ever see. Brown spent years at Essendon getting some cheap kicks against bad teams then not touching it against good sides. He was hopeless against Hawthorn for 3/4’s before a late cameo when the Hawks had run out of legs.

Which forwards are in form in the 2's? Mitch Brown - not up to AFL standard. Does nothing defensively and doesn't contest. Doesn't jump at the ball in the air. The VFL has always been his level. He's the most flat track player going around, if that's what we need I'd keep Melksham. Bedford - has good pace but isn't smart enough for AFL level. Chandler - has the smarts but lacks speed to get out of trouble and doesn't have the size or strength to hold up in the contest. Harmes, JJ, Sparrow and Petracca can all rotate through the forward line for a bit of size and strength. Sometimes you need to get creative with the 22nd player and mix and match them in a little bit.

If Ben Brown isn't right and Weid hasn't nailed his spot I reckon we go smaller. The forward line has functioned better with Fritsch, McDonald and Jackson. Gawn stays more engaged in the game. Jackson is our best 'bring the ball to ground' tall forward. Fritsch stays in games getting more of the ball at full forward. The question is who to bring in. Salem for Jetta obviously. I'd be thinking about Lockhart and Sparrow for Melksham and Weid. Sparrow plays half forward with some short stints on ball as the 5th on baller. Lockhart plays a mixture of a few short stints on ball, a little on the wing and a little at half forward. I'd use him very much as an impact player to bring fresh legs. He can even take a stint on a back flank to give the half backs an extra rotation. The secret to beating the dogs is to keep the pressure on for long enough that they start doubting their skills and to move the ball around to stop their aggressive zone defending having easy peel off spoils.

Exactly, that's what Sparrow did in our first 4 rounds and our defensive pressure was really strong. Petracca keeps butchering it around the ground so much he's actually at his best playing forward and up for centre bounces/clearances. Cutting down the midfield time for Brayshaw, Harmes and JJ let's them be fresher when they are out there too.

If he can consistently keep his legs moving, if he can stop mouthing off at the umps so he gets umpired correctly (should get 5 free kicks a game) and if he can kick at a decent level he’ll be the best midfielder in the game. I think he’s made improvements in all 3 areas, with the kicking still needing the most work. Last night was his best game ever, but there’s still room for improvement.

Either the umps should publish a consistent report of performance which includes a break down of multiple free kicks or they should stay quiet. Press conferences post game aren’t required. Leak to the media that it was an error and move on.

Lever was worse. Sprinted away from McAdam for no reason that made May roll up and leave Rivers on Tex early. Panicked with the ball all night - conceded 2 goals from dodgy handballs, went sprinting off Fogarty to concede the second to last goal. Failed to tackle Tex on a clearly play on ball inside 50. Tex and the crowd were in his head all night and that’s a huge mental issue for Lever. Overall our defenders were too keen on guarding space or generating extra numbers and not consistently on their men. That’s the game plan but they have to adapt to the opposition and the way the game is being played. They have to trust each other to stick on their men and then peel off when needed. May in particular gets nervous if he’s not the deepest defender. He gets caught on the back foot rather than staying up on his guy. I’d rather Petty have 5 kicked on him and May and Lever stick to their guys than each of them getting beaten by being neither here nor there. Petty is going to have goals kicked on him over the next 2 weeks. May and Lever have to trust him to halve some contests and fight through it.

Jetta has been excellent in the VFL where as Lockhart had one game back from a calf after missing time with his ‘groin’ injury. I can see why they went with Jetta. But it wasn’t just Nev who was disappointing. Hibberd, Rivers and Hunt all weren’t as good in slightly reshuffled roles. That’s as much on them. I think in the future Bowey could cover Salem. Lockhart can cover Hunt or Rivers and Jetta only gets used to cover Hibberd. But that relies on Bowey and Lockhart being fully healthy.

Needs to axe the podcast. Anyone who’s listened knows his brain is addled. As is Brayshaw’s.