DeeSpencer

Possession mean very little for a key defender. The only stat that matters there is you'd like him to up the number of marks, but Lever and May were in the side to mark it more than Smith anyway. There was some switching but his primary match ups were McKay (6 touches 1 behind, Rohan 6 touches 0 score, Riewoldt 9 touches 1 goal). Averaging 7 touches isn't so bad when your opponents only get that many too. You say 'bad run with injury'. If either May or Oscar are injured or need a break over the period where they cram multiple games in shorter breaks then Smith will be straight in, there's not really any other options.

The wing is a smart footballers position - knowing how to position around stoppages and where to run to receive the ball. He's a defender, he can position himself from an opponent and with team mates in a structure and whilst he's got to learn how to defend leading players he knows how to position himself between opponents from the basketball background. Otherwise he's a forward and you just embrace the chaos like a Gary Rohan at Geelong. The wing is too much to ask.

Complete rubbish. His 6.3 spoils a game is 12th in the entire competition. His 25% one on one losses is actually a respectable number alongside elite one on one defenders in Talia and Darcy Gardner. There's not a whole lot of difference between his stats and Dougal Howard who just got traded for an end of first round pick. He's not even all that different to Tom Jonas who captains the top of the ladder club. Yeah he made a couple of bad blues against Carlton -flying for a huge hanger that wasn't worth it and one very dumb contest. But he also made McKay look dead ordinary despite having very little midfield support after 1/4 time. Lever and Jetta were worse defenders in the same game, yet alone over the last decade. And if spoiling your team mates was a career ending crime then Gawn, Jetta, Tom McDonald, May and Lever would never play again. Worst case scenario he's depth behind May and Oscar in case one of them go down. A 24 year old back up key defender who's a bit rough around the edges isn't the wrong type of player to have on your list, it's exactly the right type so you've got some physically ready instead of turning to a kid. There's at least half a dozen guys on the list we are carrying holding us back more than having a bit of tall defensive depth - hint: most of them are still in Melbourne.

What position is he going to play: Half back flank: Unfortunately the speed that Richmond put in to the game in 2017 probably took out the option of the veteran on a half back flank similar to Matty Boyd. Lewis did it in 2018 and he had height and kicking on Jones, but even then got found out by the best teams and it was clear in 2019 that wasn't going to work. Wing: Jones adapted pretty well to the wing but once again we saw last year he struggled for speed and disposal under pressure in that role. It's easier in a better and fitter team and maybe he could play a bit on the wing ahead of say Vanders but his fitness will have to be top draw to run out to space and get enough of the ball. Forward: Hmmmm. He just doesn't tackle. And if you can't tackle can you play half forward these days? You better be getting a lot of the ball and using it well. In that regard Bennell is his most direct rival - another player who so far doesn't tackle or pressure much, but the skill upside of Bennell is superior. Melksham's the same, but Melk has overhead ability and hopefully starts finding his kicking boots. I get the feeling they're trying really hard to get his body 100% because his best attribute at half forward these days would be a tank that can all over the ground and keep finding the ball as the extra to the contest. I think his best role would actually be on ball with stints at half forward or wing to rest his body, but that's our strongest spot. This year was always going to be a struggle to get to 300 and once the 17 game season came in and he was dropped it was looking very unlikely. In some ways it could be good that it won't happen this year now because he gets to focus his efforts on playing very well once he gets a chance and making a genuine claim for next year. That's better than everyone than if he had got to 290ish and was limping along and they had to keep playing him out of obligation. Assuming he gets back in the side he'll then have a chance to show he can fight for it on merit.

We've been spoiled with a number of high quality kids coming in to the team over the last few years that we've forgotten that developing a player isn't linear and takes time. This magical idea of Smith being the root cause of Lever's problems has hidden the truth which was Smith actually played pretty well. Did a number of excellent things overshadowed by a couple of silly mistakes against Carlton, was very solid against Geelong and a couple of errors again obstructed what was an ok game against Richmond. I was wrong about Oscar coming back, but on a small sample size the reality might be that Oscar might just be a lot better that he was last year and it wasn't so much about dropping Smith as giving Oscar a well deserved go. Smith can struggle reading a man and the ball at the same time on a leading player, but from what I've seen his instincts on how to close space are very good. His marking should come on, his kicking looks far better and he can really run and pressure at ground level. So I'd be thinking really hard about getting him back in the side as a defensive half back flanker with some intercept game, shifting Hibberd in to Jetta's deeper role. Smith across half back could free Lever, Salem and Lockhart (or other attacking half back ie. Rivers etc) up more.

If we're hunting a key forward it has to be a better player than Tom and Weid. And really Tom, Weid, Petty and Jackson. No point adding another name to that list unless we feel like we're subtracting from that list too via trades. I don't think Wright has the athleticism or hunger to make it as a key forward, I think he's a bit similar to Brad Ottens as the type of big man who flourishes once he embraces being a ruck and using his skills around the ground. Our biggest list need right now I think is replacing Bennell and Melksham with a couple of hard running mids/forward flank type players who can go on ball and get the handballs from the bulls and can also provide pressure and link play in to the forward line. I really hope Bennell can keep improving but it's a lot to bank on and hopefully Melk gets it together as well. And even if they do we can find room on a wing and half back for skilled runners. Interesting to read with targeted Zak Butters in the draft as he's the exact type we need. If a star key forward is out of the question then it's looking for classy mid/flanker types.

It has with Lever. Both a little mentally and maybe physically fragile.

I don't particularly think Rankine making Jetta look bad is a huge part of the problem, the kid is freakish, but it's Nev's lack of impact in general that has me worried. In 3 games he's had 2 tackles - one of the great tackles our club has had in years and he can't get near guys. He's had 4 marks and is averaging 7 touches - even allowing for shorter quarters that's a big drop off. He doesn't look like providing any thing with the ball and he doesn't look nearly as composed when marking. Something very odd happened in that Gold Coast game with both Jetta and Lockhart both barely touching it, whilst McPherson didn't get near it for the Suns and Sexton, Ainsworth and Holman didn't get much ball either, nor did the Suns big guys. So maybe just an odd occurrence from a statistical point of view. But the stats really are just highlighting what the eyes are seeing which is a guy who seems to have lost a step and isn't as sure of his capabilities.

He doesn't have the fitness or attacking game to play as a half back. So he'll always be deep. If they play more of a zoning system at times he'll end up covering a tall outside 50 whilst the bigger boys drop back. A lot of fuss about Jetta holding up McKay 50m from goal a couple of times.... Otherwise if they play man on man he'll have to line up on smalls who have him for pace. Look around the comp and the small lock down defenders are going out of fashion. Essendon called time on Baguley. The Saints are using Geary forward at times. Nick Smith's time ended at the Swans. The Hawks back pockets are Stratton and Frost - quick guys with the speed to play small and the height to switch opponents and take intercept marks. Geelong have an entire backline 186cm+ with Bews, Mark O'Connor, Henry etc as the deeper mid sized guys. I hope I"m wrong and Nev can bounce back but we can't just hide him on lesser opponents.

I agree with you but I do think the theme last night was ‘walk before you can run’. Keeping the game simple and slower rather than the risks we’ve been taking. Another thing to note was the Suns missed a lot of set shots whilst nailing kicks from all sorts of places. So most of our kick outs were from slow plays in to set up zones. Also the Saints under Richo were one of the best kick out teams I believe. And we tried things against Carlton and Richmond. It’s a watch and see.

Is it lucky that Gawn has a good marking day when he’s the best mark in the comp and knows he has his opponent covered? Last week we ran a couple of set plays of Gawn coming back to the middle. We win the ball but turned it over and got killed. Against Carlton May tried to lace out a heap of kicks with various levels of success. The Giants ground is thin and the Suns had a tight zone. There were a couple of chances to go the fat side and then run in to space, but the forward line and mids have to do a heap of work and hit targets. We had a strategy that was working and playing to our strengths with Gawn and contested footy. Isn’t that what people want from that coaches?

Bad kicks can become good kicks at half back though. The options are much easier. Long down the line or safe switches works more often that not. He's not playing too badly right now, but he's not really improving either.

What's the full list of 12? Petty, Hore, KK, Nietschke on the injury list. Preuss, Baker, Bedford. Both Wagners? Bradtke? I think Lockhart was his man for the first and let him go to the front whilst he kept back position of the pack. The mids were awful for the 3rd goal but Nev still couldn't get near him or block his run. And otherwise Nev just didn't look up to the tempo of the game. The old legs just don't go as well as they use to. Maybe he gets one more go, maybe he can reinvent himself as a pressure forward like other small defenders have?

Was very little in it but Clarry swung an arm at him, that's always going to be a free. The biggest armchair ride Rankine got was Max tapping it right to him. Our mids were in awful position at that stoppage and Jetta just couldn't go with the kid. Thankfully he can't kick a set shot.

The umps were soft but our players have to be smarter. Ellis loves that kind of rubbish. So Langdon - who I think easily had the better of him all night as a runner - has to avoid the little shove in the back. And Kossie needs to be smarter too. Kossie's pressure was really good all game and he had a number of efforts that saved our bacon. Plus at least 2 goal assists. But to give away a down field as well as a couple of ordinary turnovers soured his night.

Tom had some decent moments against the Cats and Tigers doing the same. Our ball movement was more predictable today. Don't get me wrong I was happy with the job Sam did, I'm just saying we are yet to get 2 talls really firing.

The 2 big blokes did their job, Bennell showed promise but also was clearly lacking in areas. Jetta was ordinary, your first thought was correct.

And that was for all of a quarter and we were down at 1/4 time. When we went smaller in the 2nd and used Weid as the pack crasher around true CHF we looked our most dangerous. The suns goals were pretty rubbish early and we controlled the ball and tempo better with Tom hitting the wings, but it didn't lead to much on the scoreboard and the ball walked out of our forward line. In the second quarter Weid split some packs and we played on out of those contested situations to hit up inside 50 targets. There's still plenty of work to do to get two talls up and firing, plus make sure Fritsch and Melk are finding the ball enough to contribute and getting the defensive pressure consistently sorted.

He's responded to concerns about his defensive running by this new habit of just sprinting back to the backline and a couple of occasions tonight he actually opened a hole in the corridor infront of him for a suns defender to run through. I actually think he's been going ok this year in a lower possession but more accountable role. We're certainly looking for players at half back though. Harmes didn't work out. Rivers not ready, Lockhart just going. I'd certainly think about giving Gus another go there and seeing if he can make a good go at it. Yeah if Oliver and Viney weren't in the side he'd play more on ball and probably do well but the midfield game has sped up so much the last couple of years, I worry about Gus as a transition runner even if he was surrounded by better movers and users. Half back could see him get good value from his marking and his ability to use either foot - if taking safe or long options.

Did they change the structure? Tom only played the first quarter, so we really only had 1 tall for 3/4s of the game. Weid probably sat a little deeper than Tom was at times the last couple of weeks as Petracca played an undersized CHF but that's been happening the last two weeks as well. We didn't get much of a real look at 2 key forwards together and a couple of times in the first quarter Weid struggled to get off his man anyway. Oscar was better than I expected, he certainly looks fitter and a touch quicker and more assertive, and yeah he's more interchangeable with May at least on the Suns big talls so May could come up a bit more, although he didn't play all that well. Lever has been freed up all season, tonight he took better advantage of it at times.

Backs: I really think Hibberd was so much better when deep and not up getting the ball and butchering it. Jetta just doesn't have the legs any more. And Lockhart's struggling to get involved and tape on the knee isn't a good sign, he's had a few bumps and bruises already. But who's available: J. Wagner --- hmmm Rivers - a week is a quick time to rebound Sparrow? Hunt - down back....? Chandler - did he even make the trip? Smith - Actually don't mind the idea of him playing higher up the ground, he has the tank for it and would provide us with more intercept marking Fritsch - he won't be getting much full forward time if we play 2 talls and he doesn't provide a lot of pressure at half forward Mids: No change for now. Vanders has to use it better and can't turn to tackle (protecting his foot I'm sure). But his crunching tackles and pressure makes a big improvement. Forwards: Tom might be in trouble. Bennell clearly is still a long way off defensively but I guess you give him another chance to see if his work rate lifts. Melksham struggling to find the ball and using it awfully. Who's available: Jones - unlikely to give much tackle pressure but at least would crack in which Melk hasn't been, unsure of how much skill he has left ANB - probably the logical pressure help but pray his ball use is better Brown or Jackson - hmmm, Brown probably the safe option Hunt - if we want to stay small and mobile

Signs of life tonight. Not buying the idea Smith was the problem although Oscar is more predictable. Our best midfield defending and forward pressure which gave him more chances. Still don’t think Hibbo and Jetta can play in the same side and Lockhart is struggling, so the half back line needs reinforcements. Really for Lever he just had to hold his marks which means a few things have to happen: One - stopping his own team mates spoiling him. 2 - setting up the pressure. 3- Jake has to jump and be strong in the air, he’s still not elevating with conviction.

The thing that worries me about Pert is his vision for Melbourne doesn’t really sit in reality. He wants us to be a big club and a big commercial business. Jackson seemed to be focussed on making us a well run boutique club. There seems to be a rise of wearing different jumpers. The social media has shifted towards gimmicks. Everything possible is sold to a sponsor, including the extra Zurich logo on the back of the jumper. Some of that is the commercial reality of covid and preferable to job losses, but I’m still concerned. Otherwise he was bought on to build a facility which now seems unlikely and instead has to get involved in footy decisions - it is the core business. So he has a mess to sort then has to come up with a new plan to improve the club.

I don’t think any new CEO in the world wouldn’t have extended Goodwin. The measure of the CEO’s value will he if the contract has out clauses for the last 1-2 years. A 4 year deal and a pay rise deserves to have some protection on the back end of the deal.

Tomlinson is NOT a forward. Didn't we see a glimpse of that on the weekend? He can't jump. He isn't quick off the mark. He doesn't hit the aerial contest hard. If we want a lead up forward we have Mitch Brown on the list. But we don't need a lead up CHF - we have Tom McDonald in that role who is starting to find a bit of ball and confidence. We need another tall inside 50 or for the alternative down the line option when Tom is elsewhere and we've tried going smaller with Hannan/Hunt/Fritsch and Melksham. It hasn't worked but it has bought time for Weideman to get a bit of confidence in match practice games and now he'll get his go. The awful ball use is still the biggest issue. Tomlinson either gets another chance on the wings if we want to bring more width and slower ball movement. Or if we're honest and decide he's ordinary then we'll look elsewhere. Clearly changing up some of the half forward and on ball mix starting with Bennell back in is a start. Fritsch and Hannan higher up the ground and either Melk or ANB/Spargo/Jones part of the shake up too. Pressure doesn't necessarily equal effort: Round 1 was poor. Round 2 started very well but then everyone stopped running and attacking the game as the game went on. Round 4, we make big changes to ensure more run and the run and effort was huge to keep the Cats score low, but the pressure was bad because we were disorganised and sagging back to help the backline rather than getting up in a good organised zone. Round 5 - effort certainly there against Richmond and plenty of pressure when we kept our structure. Unfortunately all kinds of turnovers from awful skills and decisions cost us ability to get that pressure on. If you have 3 open team mates short and bomb it long to a 1 on 3 you aren't going to get any pressure on! Disorganisation is the key theme, not so much lack of effort.