DeeSpencer

His pace and penetration are both down but I thought it was easily Salo’s best game since he came back. Won contests and was calm by hand. Kicking wasn’t bad just lacks punch. Possibly an argument for resting him from a Perth trip, getting some fitness in to him but that seems unlikely when he’s building week to week with match fitness.

Spargo would get more possessions - and hear my out on this, I know it’s an unusual ideal - his team mates actually kicked to him. The Harmes howler. Fritsch of half time. So many examples of Spargs making great position and being unsighted or skill errors not finding him.

He had a great first half but resorted to grabbing it from the ruck or whacking it forward to no one in the last quarter. It was hero ball kind of stuff when we needed composure and to stick to the basics. That said, he could probably read that Oliver was unable to handball on his right and most of the midfield were running on empty after last week.

Gawn 92% Weid 72% Jackson 69% Melk 80 Fritsch 87 That adds up to always having at least 1 tall forward and 2 mediums. Or 2 talls for 30%. Given the dogs don’t have dominant marking talls we could easily compete with mediums who provide better movement and defensive pressure. Big Harry chases, tackles and hits up on the lead as well as halving long contests. Keeping Weid’s game time low should’ve allowed him to give maximum effort per minute, and be fresh to be powerful in his attack on the ball. Sadly that wasn’t the case

Pretty sure Fritsch was better. Weid started well. But then for 3/4’s all he managed was one lead and goal. No competitiveness under a string of high balls. In fact barely got near most of them. Whether it’s athleticism, strength, courage or reading of the flight he just doesn’t have it and likely never will.

They need to get Brayshaw the heck out of the backline. He’s undone the balance of it. Completely unaccountable. Doesn’t provide genuine line breaking and can’t hit the side of a barn. Just zones off a mile and racks up chip kicks or long bombs. If JJ needs a rest he can go to the wing. Otherwise just drop him and bring in Bowey or Hunt and get back to the structure of last year. Otherwise it’s Brown for Weid and Lever for Tomlinson and that’s about it. Melksham for JVR, Chandler or Bedford? I doubt it.

In fairness, Selwood for most of his career has shrugged his shoulders to avoid tacklers and been happy to get free kicks along the way. He’s stayed upright and played through contact knowing that the free kick or broken tackle are both good results. The arm raise and leg drop technique was really bought in over the last few years. Toby McLean was the best at it. Dylan Grimes probably second. I understand why you could have some sympathy for Ginnivan but he and his coach have both been absolutely blatant. He’s thrown himself to the ground more than any player I’ve ever seen. And he even went as far as getting filmed at training practising his manoeuvre. His free kicks per game average is on par with Max Gawn who I think is the most infringed player in the league. I’m not surprised he’s forced the league to act.

Isn’t that exactly what Melksham did v Port? Apart from iffy contests and marking the main reason Weid doesn’t get an extended run is his lack of defensive pressure. Tomlinson can’t turn. I can’t see how he helps. It’s not Melksham’s strong suit either but he was very good defensively against Port. I see the competition for Tommy Macs spot coming down to Melksham, JVR, Hunt and Joel Smith. They’re the 4 guys who have the combination of height and mobility.

Sure. If given 6 months, not in 6 days.

Watch some tape of Bowey’s junior footy, there’s a lot of walking when the ball isn’t in his area and just hanging out around packs. Since then he’s played half back. Which isn’t to say he couldn’t be very useful at half forward in the future but I doubt he’d pick it up automatically.

I would’ve liked to have done better, but Port aren’t mugs. From a mids perspective Wines, Boak, Rozee, Gray, Drew, Butters, Amon is very solid and got them to back to back prelims. They were also 8-3 since their 0-5 start. I don’t think we took full advantage in the ruck but Dixon took a lot of centre bounces to nullify Max. They finished 13-11 but I’d imagine before the last 10 minutes that was probably even. Around the ground they seemed to push a lot of numbers up and at times I think the stoppage failures were on the forwards and backs as much as the mids.

Oliver back in and the temptation to pick JVR fresh off a bye against the Doggies are the 2 reasons I’m not sure Melk is safe. Otherwise I maintain he did his role and it was the right selection. We could’ve promoted Dunstan, but he can’t hit the side of the barn by foot and he’s seriously slow in transition. Harmes and Sparrow largely nullified Rozee and Boak’s running game. Boak got an early and a late goal but little in between. Rozee’s impact was far less than his stats, he had lots of nothing touches. If you offered me the choice of: A) Port winning around the ground stoppages and hacking it to our backline B) Boak, Rozee, Amon, Butters getting time and space in transition I’m taking A everyday of the week Individual brilliance went a long way to Pickett’s goals but he also got the ball with enough time and space to produce the brilliance. Whilst far from amazing the ball movement and forward line function after 1/4 time was solid.

Unless you count Chandler (and don’t count Bedford) it’s really only Laurie and JVR who are remotely close to a game. I think it’s clear why Laurie doesn’t fit just yet, and even if that’s not the case he’s only starting to play consistent strong VFL footy. I’m keen on JVR too, but he’s in the same boat of just starting to string together VFL games. Form which has coincided with a run in the ruck to get him involved in games. If he was a 3rd round pick would there be much interest in him getting a game? And if he does happen to be the messiah for our season maybe waiting until right before finals will prove to be an inspired move.

Our selfless culture has always involved 22 blokes pinging shots on goal. Go through the tapes since ‘21 and you’ll find so much T Mc, Brown, Harmes, Gawn, Pickett, Nibbler, having wild shots at goal. Fritsch adding a 3rd howler in 4 weeks isn’t good but I liked the general competitiveness of his game far better today. Think he saved himself by the way he bounced back after it. If they didn’t drop him last week why would they now?

Thought the same at half time but he rallied in the second half. It’s purely an issue of fitness and the tempo of the game, not convinced an easy kill at VFL will solve either of those if he’s recovering well between games

Agree on Bedford but he does have a great tank, his work rate looked good (from crappy tv angles) and Port’s dangerous back flankers never came in to the game. There’s not another alternative (Chandler, Dunstan, Laurie) that really demanded his spot. If you didn’t value Melksham’s game today despite all his usual Melkyness then you’re just being unfair to Melk and Goodwin. He was tasked with occupying Aliir and Clurey and he did what was required. Put in a solid stint defensively too. Not sure it was enough to keep the spot for next week but again, the alternatives aren’t inspiring. Melk did a successful job, a 51% pass maybe, but a pass none the less. No one can say Weid would’ve done the same.

I’d rehash my complaints about not turning over the list but that’s kind of useless now. The biggest thing we need to do is find the balance between plan A and the change ups. Short kicking, switching, getting the ball to the corridor and fat side, rolling half backs in behind the attack to lock the ball forward. All perfectly achievable things for us to do if we add just a touch more risk and flair to the side. Personell wise: Can potential shuffle some flankers and there’s a mix of options with talls. But not convinced the answer lies there

Agree on Laurie, but for JVR that game was 6 weeks ago and his first game in 3 weeks, potentially with a covid absence? 6 weeks is a long time for a first year kid. He’s since played in the ruck to learn some new skills and travelled with the team as an emergency. Expecting him to perform super well is foolish given his age but I think he can provide some spark in limited minutes.

The combination of Cameron and Cox (who was overlooked earlier this year for a kid with little senior footy experience) in their current form is functioning far better than Grundy and Cameron did. They seem to be splitting the time in the ruck about 50:50 and both kicking goals. Grundy doesn't have any forward craft so would ruck 75% of the game and Cameron would be stranded forward, unable to get in to the game as he is currently by being around the ball. Anyway, what we really should be looking for is not the next Grundy but the next Darcy Cameron.

Because I’ve watched the Casey games and Laurie doesn’t motor contest to contest the way our half forwards do at AFL level. He’s also on the slower side for a small, that’s undeniable. Doesn’t do a lot overhead, or with physical aggression. And whilst he’s taken a big stride forward his ball winning is only now getting to a good level for a VFL player, particularly as his midfield minutes increase. Without open trainings I haven’t really seen how he’s done in fitness stuff but I don’t think it was elite pre draft and he’s in year 2. Spargo is year 5 and a noted runner. Laurie has a lot of talent and when he physically matures and develops he should be a skilled mid/forward. I just don’t see the need to give him a game now only to prove that he’s off the pace as a half forward.

McStay Gunston E. Himmelberg James Stewart Shannon Neale Chris Burgess Josh Corbett Wade Derksen

JVR for Bedford Rivers for Bowey Take your pick of Dunstan or Melksham for Oliver if needed, just depends where they want to use Petracca, Sparrow and Harmes Fritsch survives especially if Oliver is out as we need the scoring power. But it’s last chance for him. Brown, JJ, Spargo….for now they’re all better than the alternatives

On a forward flank Laurie’s a slower, less fit, less experienced, less combative version of Spargo. Laurie’s VFL form is very promising for his future as a mid/forward type player with excellent skills. But that’s the future, when he’s developed his tank and his strength to play AFL midfield minutes. He’s barely established his midfield craft at VFL level, he’s a long way off AFL level. In terms of bringing fresh players in to play half forward I’d still have Chandler and Melksham more impactful at AFL level than Laurie. And Spargo ahead of both.

I said before the game we shouldn’t have played Brown on a 5 day break. He’s battling to run games out and being asked to do a mountain of work in the smaller line up. He’s having to crash packs at CHF and then get back inside 50. JVR gives us the 2nd tall forward, which means will can limit Brown’s minutes (and Gawn and Jackson for that matter). And JVR gives us the mobility to get up the ground and chase that Weid doesn’t.

Accidents will happen on a footy field, but it wasn’t a case of a player coming in from the opposite direction or being obscured by team mates. Oliver and Selwood were contesting as direct opponents. To hack wildly at the footy when your opponent is going for the ball is bush league. Of course, being Selwood it isn’t even mentioned