DeeSpencer

It was probably Tomlinson's best game but he still only had 6 kicks for 168 metres gained and mostly just hit short easy ones. His best value today was being very good getting handballs under decent pressure and giving them off nicely. The early days of GWS really trained players well in fundamentals. Someone should hire Mark Williams purely as a skills coach. If Lever is starting to play well as a genuine CHB then we should look for more ball winning or skill from our 3rd tall spot. Unless we think Lever's the match up for Membrey and Tomlinson can take the resting rucks. It's not our biggest issue so I'm a bit ambivalent about change their but certainly the backline - whilst probably our most consistent unit - still isn't firing on full cylinders. By keeping May and Hibbo deeper we need guys who can genuinely run to cover the space infront of them. That's what Harmes is appearing to do. He's involved a lot, he's just got no idea what he's doing!

Out: Preuss In: Gawn Out: Sparrow In: Rivers Out: Melksham In: Hunt FB: Hibberd May Tomlinson HB: Rivers Lever Salem C; Vanders Oliver Langdon HF: Spargo McDonald Pickett FF: Hannan Weid Fritsch Foll: Gawn Petracca Viney Int: Lockhart Brayshaw Harmes Hunt

Goodwin's made changes to get a sustainable game style. The first half against the Dogs we looked the far better structured side. Keeping defenders deep this year has drastically cut down the over the back goals. There's been signs of life at various times of finding more marks and bringing in more switching. Today clearly wasn't the day for it. There's been signs of being smarter going forward - we use the boundary rather than going for the miracle corridor play at all times and we're kicking to Weid in a contest. We lack versatile players, we lack smart players and we have too many forwards and mids who are poor defensively. It's hard to think of any game plan that stands up when your can't get pressure on. The only method that would work is the Roos method of packing the backline and I'll be damned if we go back to that rubbish.

What's the evidence for that? A few games at the start of 2018? The way Salem wins loose ball contests at half back is exactly as good midfielders do. He has fast hands, vision and a smart step. He covered the most ground last week and the 2nd most this week. So tank can't be an issue. We have too many midfielders and not enough skilled half backs is the clearest reason he plays half back. Shaun Higgins was one of the best midfielders in the comp since he moved to North after being a career half back or half forward flanker. Players can keep developing well in to their 20's. It's unlikely we draft a skilled midfielder who pushes out Oliver/Viney/Gus/Petracca because they are nearly impossible to find. The best chance of adding in some skill to that group is biting the bullet and giving Salem a go. The best way to do that is to get some skilled back flankers in to the side so we can try it.

Today was the worst. Round 1: West Coast first goal Round 2: Carlton first goal Round 4: Geelong - 2 in the first 5 minutes Round 5: Richmond - first goal Round 6: We got the first one! Suns the next 2 Round 7: Hawks get the first 2 goals Round 8: Lions first goal Round 9: Port kick 3 in quick succession Round 10: 1 goal for us, 0 for Adelaide Round 11: Neither team score for half the quarter Round 12: Collingwood kick 2 points from easy chances in the first 5 minutes, look the better side Round 13: Dogs go bang bang bang We've looked really flat after half time for most of the season. Oliver was getting a blister dressed just before play started. Why didn't he do that in the 20 or however many minutes he had? Something in the routine needs changing because it's completely unacceptable and should be preventable. And it's not game plan related either, it's all mental.

It's really hard to arrest changes mid quarter guys. Preuss tapping the ball didn't work. So they switched to Preuss just dropping it dead. Remember Preuss and our mids haven't trained together since February. Brayshaw went loose back at some stage in the 3rd. Tom McDonald did the bulk of the ruck in the 4th to add more mobility and another marking target forward in Preuss. We have such a limited playing group it's really hard to make too many changes. Spinning the magnets is a bad idea when the magnets aren't good at moving and lack of team work was the problem to begin with.

I agree. We get little from Lockhart, Harmes, Tomlinson and Lever and then Hibberd starts to do far too much. Rivers is the most logical addition in Harmes' spot. But at some stage before the end of the year I'd look at Smith for Tomlinson and Chandler for Lockhart as well. Our backline has done a decent job as a unit for most of the year but we can't sit back and rest on them just being good. If we find some quality at half back we can actually unleash Salem in to the midfield as well.

The only benefit to playing him down back would be to have him see how other forwards are moving and attacking the ball. And the dropped marks, turning like a cruise ship and awful kicking would cost a few goals to find those answers.

Don't forget Goodwin dropped him for a first year ruck with the grand total of a few WAFL Colts games of key forward experience and probably would have him behind Petty as well. 4th string key forward is not a position many teams have good options in. The only viable alternatives are either shifting Tomlinson or going small. Or Mitch Brown I guess. The Dogs just gave us a good beating with Josh Bruce being probably twice as bad as Tom was.

A couple of poor moments - that was his worst - shouldn't overly detract from the fact he gave Bruce a cold bath. 12 intercept possessions is a very good game. But he didn't have a lot of metres gained so he didn't provide drive on the back of his intercepts.

Forwards and backs both had moments but the reality was especially in windy conditions where running the ball and breaking the game open is imperative we just don't have enough quality runners and ball users in the extended midfield group. And I mean wings/half forward/half back although the centre square is where it's most exposed. The Dogs backline has Daniel, Crozier, JJ and Bailey Williams who are all good ball users. We have May at times, what's left of Hibbo and then we ask Salem to do everything. We do have some quality forward but Kossie and Spargo spend all game chasing because Fritsch and Melksham don't and if those two aren't kicking or creating goals they aren't helping. Plus there's no midfield rotation in any of that. Then the midfield is obviously the biggest disaster where we just don't have the skill and run. And the total disaster today was the lack of transition defending. Completely inexcusable especially from kick outs.

Sparrow's injury opens the door for the return of Harmes to at least a wing/tag/half forward rotation. Rivers in at half back. But the question is does it really help him or us if he's not settled long term in a position?

Croad, Tarrant....Hogan? We could do with a CHB. No interest in him as a forward, he's exactly what we don't need.

Could probably still play a role pretty well if he learnt how to play to his limitations. Continually tries to turn opponents and cut back to get a kick away where if he just ran and gathered the ball and kept momentum going he'd be able to give a handball or snap a kick to space. If he embraced the idea that he turns like the titanic, has no left foot and isn't a good kick anyway he'd cut down about half the dreadful errors that plague his game. The other half is to stop dropping marks!

His best trait is that he’s a nice allrounder. Plays tall or small. Good mark. Good kick who never quite got enough confidence, time and space to become a very good kick. Worked really hard on his tackling. But I think he’s just a yard slow and an inch or two short. A bit more height and he’d be a good interceptor. A bit more speed and he’d play on quick forwards far more easily. If there’s a spot for him it’s probably in the role Hibberd is doing sitting back deeper with May and being sound defensively. Otherwise our half backs bring size or speed.

How little aggression would we have to have in the game for teenage boys not to copy something? Strip AFL right back to soccer and basketball with red cards and there’d still be kids getting in to it. And do the parents care? I coached junior footy and the parents had 2 concerns: their kid getting a kick and concussions. I never once had a parent concerned about push and shove and a bit of extra.

Does anyone believe that? Kids didn't suddenly discover that sometimes people punch each other because of Tom Lynch. Nor is a junior coach suddenly going to decide to tell his players to punch the opposition. Just isn't going to happen. The 'won't somebody think of the children' routine isn't a real problem.

No thanks. The game is better when there’s a bit of leeway for players to be aggressive even if it’s stupid.

They had a system where 3 fines in a season = a week suspension. But then they dropped it because "you can't be suspending someone for that". A simple fix would be change it back to the 3 fines = a week off and then add that the counter resets for the finals series.

Kossie's in the top 10 for forwards (who actually get regular games) in average pressure acts. He's run hot and cold with the ball but there will be plenty of stats out there to show he's more than doing his job for the side. Mitch was a big part of our form turnaround against Gold Coast and Hawthorn, before struggling against better opposition. I think he's been better than fringe this year although I guess I don't mind the more conservative rating. Hopefully he's about to deliver. Not sure how Goody has ruined Bedford. A number of players - Jones, Hannan, Bennell weren't available for round 1 and were for the resumption of the season. The lack of proper VFL games hasn't been good for him (and all our guys missing out) but I don't think the coach has done anything wrong.

Don't speak too soon. They've got a pretty handy back up by the name of Jordon Sweet who's been desperate for a game but Bevo doesn't believe in 2 rucks and they've got a lot faith in English for obvious reasons. Sweet might be a very decent player.

The thing that I'd look to achieve is to have Brayshaw on ball without attending centre bounces. Viney can be in at the bounce and then swap over with Gus to a half forward flank at the next stoppage. Because I really think we need Viney to crash in against Libba and either Sparrow or even Harmes for speed to counter Bailey Smith. Once the game gets set and played with out structure we've seen the benefit of Brayshaw combining with our other mids and playing like a centreman and being very dangerous. But I bet you the Dogs are thinking we can run off this guy.

Do you watch the games? He’s played CHB for the last 3 games.

After his first few VFL games I thought he'd be a very good defender but he did have a habit of taking front position and getting worked under it if not marking and is a bit one paced. But I was pleasantly surprised by his forward stuff last year. Either way there's certainly a spot for him and I'd like to have him locked away for at least another year soon. Also I've haven't watched the injury updates lately, has Burgo provided any kind of time frame?

We need the 2 pressure forwards. With 2 big guys, Fritsch, Melksham and Jones we're very light on for pressure and the Dogs are really dangerous if they get running. Daniel and JJ both need to be restricted. If Pickett needs a rest - and I don't think he does, he was great against North - then I'd go for Hannan. I'd like to see Harley again but in place of Jones or the extra mid and when the opposition suits. Petracca and Goodwin have clearly said our game plan is all based on a solid defensive set up and the pressure forwards are the first line of that set up.