DeeSpencer

Spargo played in 2018. Langdon is the other one.

Birchall was in a genuine marking contest, nothing wrong with that. Was a hospital kick from Gus I think. The only positive was Birchall couldn't get his hands on the ball and gave away the free kick

Sounds a bit complicated, I was just planning on borrowing Tony Mokbel's yacht and wig and hoping the winds are favourable. Might stop at Rottnest rathing than sailing all the way up the Swan to Optus just to be on the safe side I guess.

Surprised how much midfield Sparrow played, especially in the first half. Whilst they sent Harmes forward to keep an eye on Rich and Birchall. Was a bold call given how strong the Lions midfield is.

Being completely surrounded by the free way and off ramp isn’t a great plan. Doubt it’s functional. The club has to know the best car park is the one facing Gosch’s. There has to be a reason why is isn’t preferred. - expanding aami stadium? - foundations, pipes etc? - access to the medical centre? - access to the rugby field or public access to aami Theres got to be reasons. How valid they are we clearly don’t know.

Thought Smith was clearly on Cameron for the first 2, but the first one he had to go for the aerial contest. Relies on his team mates to cover the ground ball. 3rd goal not sure. Free kick goal was rubbish, but a more experienced defender doesn’t get sucked in. Allowed Cameron a simple mark to set up the Daniher shot too. Im a Joel fan but he still stops to think which costs him half a yard. That half a yard kills you more than lack of speed.

I feel for Teague in that he didn’t get much support, but every club is dealing with the same soft cap now. So it’s a question of resource allocation. It’s hardly the days of Daniher going solo whilst the big clubs invested millions. I also feel for Teague with the way the last few weeks have unfolded, that speaks for itself. Otherwise, Teague took over Bolton’s defensive structure, put the mature players back in the midfield and went 6-5. He then went 7-10 and 8-14 with no defensive structure and consistently giving up 5 goal runs. Yes they had injuries and some interesting recruiting choices but they seemed to be going backwards. If he’s lost the playing group as well then there’s really little choice but to start over again.

It's far too close to the city and Docklands to really justify it's own small stadium and if it did they'd probably just use North Port anyway. The existing plans only really add a little bit of open space and my guess is the planners want it to be exactly that - open space. Not taken over by an AFL team. The population leading to new members just wouldn't happen. It's going to either be people from other parts of Melbourne or Australia who mostly have teams or overwhelmingly immigrants and students like Docklands who just aren't that interested in Aussie Rules. Clubs grew their fanbases in the post war years when people arrived and had no option but to follow the footy. The people move here now might have a bit of curiosity but they can easily follow their favourite soccer, cricket, basketball or whatever team without leaving home. Gosch's is a great option for us, particularly with the oval expansion. But we have to make sure it gets built on the right car park, not overlooking the Pies!

If the voting is based on week by week performances and value to the side I’d probably go: 5. Georgiades 4. Green 3. McInerney 2. Schoenberg 1. Jackson That’s not to say Jackson has been bad, we’ve just simply had a lot of games where we’ve played 2 rucks and 2 big forwards and limited his minutes and role. If it’s based on upside and best ‘star’ performances then maybe: 5. Georgiades 4. Jackson 3. Green 2. Gulden 1. McInerney If it’s pure upside then you can add Thilthorpe, Perkins, Cox, Jones and others.

https://www.afl.com.au/news/561218/2021-nga-list Made the official list in March, but we haven't heard anything about him and several of his squad lists call him an NT Thunder Academy player and don't mention Melbourne. Maybe just an oversight but I do find it strange Cal Twomey would have JT on his podcast and ask about Mac Andrew, Taj Woey and not this guy as well.

Yep I reckon there were 4 big factors: 1. We didn’t have a winner down back. May was battling with Hawkins, Petty with Cameron. And neither Lever nor Gawn could find any intercepts 2. The centre clearances were terrible. Gawn was getting smashed by Stanley. We couldn’t hold a tackle 3. No winners up forward. We couldn’t retain possession. That changed when Petracca played as a CHF in the second half 4. The backline were panicking and not using the ball. May started switching the ball and opening up space. Suddenly our forwards and mids found room and we got some quick transition. Definitely agree on Langdon. He’s not getting that extra yard and balancing up. Low and wide or chips out in front are his best go.

Had a terrible first half, punched balls he'd usually mark, gave away the reversal free kick and panicked with the ball. Townsend got under his skin a fair bit in the 2017 grand final. Whatever the coaches said or Jake did at half time last night we need to bottle for the rest of the year. When he plays with that confidence and calmness and the team gets it right up field he really is a special player to watch.

Port is a better match up for them, and probably for us! That said, the first place finish and the belief is surely invaluable

The Bowey dangerous tackle might have been the worst free kick I’ve ever seen. But hey, the umps came through when it mattered

Was silly from Jake but even Lever couldn't work out what he was trying to do. Held him down across the top of the chest/chin with one arm and then attempted some half baked punch to the ribs with the other. I doubt they even come up with a fine for that given how poorly executed it was, but that's surely the most it would be.

Harmes and JJ have been available to play on the wing most of the year yet the coach prefers Gus, even tho Gus has cleaner hands and better ball winning than those guys. Why? Because he agrees with me. I might be wrong saying it's speed off the mark, I meant more lateral speed, but I stick by that. No matter where he plays you see Gus struggle to change direction, where as in a straight line he can run with most opponents. Instead of people yearning for a player that probably won't ever come back we should commend Goodwin and Gus for finding a role that at times works against his game but also maximises a lot of how he plays.

Maybe 'slow of the mark' was the wrong phrase, that's for correcting me. But he definitely takes an eternity to change direction. Priddis and Mitchell promptly retired when the game had gone passed them, allowing the Eagles to put Yeo and Gaff on ball for more burst. Richmond changed the game by injection smaller, faster mids who weren't so worried about winning the ball in to the centre. Tom Mitchell can really move side to side as well, mostly because that's all he does! Agility in order to pressure really is the vital component to most AFL players these days.

What was the incident? Time stamp?

McDonald was super rusty but I'm sure the hope is he builds back up, we can't trust Melksham and we don't really have any other forward options. The only way he'd come out would be if Petracca plays forward more (and maybe Harmes too) and I think we saw that earlier in the year as not always working out. Petracca had a much better second half playing forward tonight but generally we need him on ball. I still prefer JJ than Sparrow as a midfielder, which means Harmes doesn't have to spell on the wing. But Sparrow seems more effective as a half forward. So I'm not sure they change that one. Which really only leaves Smith for Hibberd. I can see why they went Smith tonight. He can match Rohan and Dangerfield for pace and switch on to Cameron at times. Handy when Lever doesn't have a match up. But I think against the Lions it's Hibberd in for Cameron. The only other option might be Rivers on Cameron and Smith or Hibberd on to McCarthy. I don't think you can back Smith in to play on Charlie. If Hibbo gets beat for pace he gets beat for pace, better than getting caught out like Smith will.

Anyone from this century? About as relevant as saying John Nicholls would still be a good ruckman at 189cm these days. Gus is actually pretty quick once he builds pace too. I don’t know if the concussions played a role or if it’s a physical thing but he gets completely burnt off the mark.

Brayshaw is just really slow off the mark. That makes him a complete no go for the centre square, because if he doesn’t win it he’s a liability. He worked in that role in 2018 because we had guys off the back of the square covering. He’s had a solid year on the wing, with some big ups and downs. When the team structure breaks down he gets absolutely caught out. When there’s pressure on and teams bomb long he gobbles up intercepts. In an ideal world he’d be able to sprint up and back, still get the intercepts but actually provide some attack too. And close off his winger rather than allow them to mark the pressure relieving kick from the backline. We just have to be alert to his match up and if there’s games he needs to be moved. He was torched by GWS. The next week against the Power he played more half forward and would swap on ball with Tracc after centre bounces. That’s a role we have to consider using him in. It’s also hardly a surprise that Langdon, Brayshaw and JJ might all be a bit down on output after a huge year. JJ’s had a freshen up. I wish they’d give Langdon a quieter week too. Maybe Gus needs a freshen or it might just be a mental thing with the travel, short break, not a lot to play for against the Crows.

I just hope everyone enjoyed their wildcard weekend last week.

This would be a huge compromise and not something we should do. We’d clearly just be the crammed in poor cousins to Collingwood. The entire point of having the club together is for them to be together. Not training on the other side of a stadium. The access is rubbish. There’s no scope for future development. Where’s the ability to host family days or open trainings? Yet alone the dream of one day getting the same privileges as Richmond and Collingwood to host reserves and women’s games. This stinks

That's baffling from Majak. Unless somehow he thought Cox had the ball and it's a tackle gone all wrong - the slips up as Cox dips down - it makes no sense at all. Not the right week to have damaged someone's larynx

Top sides are expected to be able to carry a few outs. We were still picking our primary depth players, the Crows were just about going with whoever was available. I’m not upset with the performance. Got the job done, move on. But we certainly didn’t play well in the first quarter and we’re in need of a test I think. Everyone complains about the fixture when you have more games against better sides. I actually think it helps the best teams stay at the top. If you play the battlers more weeks than not - as we did for years on end - you’re up against it when the heat comes on. West Coast just gave up a 50 point first quarter to Freo. We played well against them until the lightening delay but they’re cooked and have been for weeks.