DeeSpencer

Vanders makes the team far more physical and aggressive, much like the effect Mumford has on GWS, even if his output isn't great he can lift the rest of the side. We saw that in 2018, he crunched the Giants in the last round and was a big part of putting a heap of pressure on the Cats. He's not a forward though, gets caught out of position. Ideally he'd play on ball but there's no room there but I still think if his tank builds up with more games he can be very serviceable on the wing as he was in 2018. Whether he has to go back to practice games before getting more senior chances is hard to know at the best of times and near impossible without seeing games at the ground. Plus dependent on other selections.

Front half scoring continues to be the basis of good football. Of course we have to be better with our forward entries in order to score more and to lock it in more but that doesn't mean we should go slower once we're in attacking position, just shorter, more diagonally and laterally and smarter. There's been a lot of changes to our defensive system. The deeper defenders - May, Smith and today Hibberd and always looking to have one of them peel back and keep a number behind play. We didn't give up an easy over the back goal at all today if I remember correctly. The problem today was partly forward entries, but mostly the desire of our midfield to peel back and defend instead of to work with the forwards and keep a well structured zone. We just allowed too many kick and marks. Our forwards and mids get lazy and get out of position. Fortunately today it was mostly mentally lazy and getting caught dropping too far back or not covering the switch rather than physically not chasing at all so it became Geelong kick to kick largely without getting anywhere. The appalling fundamentals are a problem, the lack of forwards who can hold a grab is an issue. The overall defensive and attacking structure today wasn't wrong.

Backs: Hibberd came in for Jetta and was better than Nev has been in the vast majority of games since 2018. Neither Hibberd nor Jetta have the pace or skill to play at half back these days. So you can only pick one. Lockhart started well then made some errors but overall was hardly the difference in the game. Joel Smith was excellent. Oscar couldn't make some of the spoils Joel made today and he absolutely couldn't follow up at ground level providing pressure and contributing to rebound. Yes Oscar could've taken Esava but then who takes Rohan? Who provides the pace to get up and back and can cover at ground level. Our much maligned backline has conceded 4 goals in the open halves the last two weeks. 4 goals in 4 quarters. When the midfield and forward pressure is decent they look good to me. Forwards: Melksham was our second tall forward. He's too lazy to be anything else but is also consistently better in the air than Jackson or Weid would be. Jackson is 6'7 but has no judgement of the ball in the air, he's a flanker in a rucks body if you're playing him forward. Weid can't hold a mark, I'd have no issue with Weid over Melksham but it's marginal at best. Play both forward and our spluttering forward pressure only gets worse - personally I think Melk should be able to play wing and Weid relief ruck and get rid of Tomlinson but I doubt that's happening. Hannan was good, best he's moved and tackled in a long time. Hunt was competitive too. Mids: AVB gave us the extra midfield grunt and rotations on the wing to let Tomlinson do a bit of ruck and have some rest. We'd all rather a fit and healthy Harley Bennell but that was deemed not at option. The midfield composition is a big problem but I'd love to know any solutions apart from Harley and Vanders. Harmes back in at least helped the defensive efforts.

The goal line stuff was equally terrible. Both Lever and Tomlinson should be embarrassed and where was Max and May? The bigger boys should be there whilst Lever is in front of the contest. But given the Cats had about 1000 uncontested marks and could move the ball at will around half back and the wings I thought Lever still managed to get a number of crucial intercepts. And for the patches where we did get the game on our turns he was in good position a lot. The chemistry with him, May and Smith was far better and I don't think we once gave the Cats chances over the top and rarely gave them easily ball at half back which is a huge effort given how easily they played kick to kick in their half.

Lever was much better today, probably 2 drops marks away from a very good performance. Yeah he's going to struggle if left one on one against a good forward, that's why we got May and Smith. Hibberd as a deep defensive option and Rivers with more time will help as well. Today isn't the day to blame Lever.

Yep if full strength Brown is the one, and I wouldn’t bet on Daicos playing more than say 100 games. The point is we want every player to be perfect, I’m as guilty as anyone in doing it. What we need is players who play to their strengths and do the job they are sent out to do. Spargo was doing that in ‘18

Brent Harvey holds the record for most AFL games ever played and I reckon he's the same height as Spargo. Collingwood are the flag favourites and have 2 sub 180cm half forward types in Daicos and Cal Brown neither of whom are big goal kickers or have any particular one on one skills. They're clever footballers who do a job for the team. Spargo has the footy smarts to run to the right spots, he has a good tank that can go to another level, he has very clean hands and a neat kick and he's meant to have an angry competitive side. At the moment I think the biggest concern is are we providing the right coaching and culture to push a guy like Spargo to improve and is he committed to getting the most out of himself. The covid ban wasn't the only time he's been out on the town.

That entire Fishermen's Bend area is all under control of the Government and big developers. I've always thought we could merge with Melbourne Grammar who surely can't use their facility much during school hours but carving out a chunk of the development otherwise would be very hard to do. There's all sorts of stuff available online if you've got the skills to comb through what is and isn't locked in. www.fishermansbend.vic.gov.au

Nice to see Roosy jump at the chance for a bit of cheap publicity and no doubt deflecting from the fact that we recruited an absolute lemon. It's shocking to have Lumumba's claims verified, even if it wasn't widespread or mean spirited what an idiotic playing group at the Pies. What I can't work out is why Lumumba has such a grudge against Buckley who was turning over the list and had the good sense to notice Lumumba's form and focus on football were both slipping. It seems the awful nickname was far more prevalent at the time Malthouse was coaching than Buckley, yet Lumumba's grievances are with Bucks.

The thing Carlton did well to create one on ones inside 50 or at least let their big boys fly with a good chance was put on an excellent display of switch kicking and spread running. It's something few teams ever achieve down at Geelong. Docherty, Simpson, Weitering and SPS in particular kicked beautifully and they spread really well. They timed their leads so they had a target moving in to a space 30-40m behind a player who had led to 20m up to create pockets to kick in to and hit those pockets. I don't think you can tag Stewart. He's going to go where he wants to go, and if you play narrow and safe he'll be the extra defender at the contest. Salem, Harmes and Rivers hitting the switches and the wings/half forwards providing the options might be more important than the big forwards winning match ups. For that reason I'd stay smaller and quicker and keep rotations high running for those options.

I'd love to have Matty Taberner and get him wearing that special Trav Cloke glove so he stops dropping sitters. His movement and jump at the ball is as good as any.

Seriously underrated player in his prime and we took a swing at getting him then I believe, but I think the game has gone by him now. Plus what would we do with Melksham? Melk, Fritsch and Petracca/Oliver resting should give us a trio of dangerous medium sized half forward players and that's without factoring in Hunt and Hannan. Tall forwards and fit, classy kicking and tackling versatile flanker/mid types is what our forward line needs. In terms of raiding the Crows I think they've got a few handy backline players who might be available and help us keep some experience if we have to replace Hibberd and Jetta.

I’d argue Viney and Brayshaw have peaked and Langdon and Tomlinson are about at their best. Brayshaw needs to add a string to his bow to stay in the side. Tomlinson is a fringe role player. Langdon’s very valuable but it’s hard to see improvement. Obviously Viney bouncing back would be great but it’s hard to see him being better than he was a few years ago. Petracca and Oliver have untapped potential, and Tracc has taken big step forward this year. Oliver’s clearly coming from a higher base but he has to start rounding out his game to go to the next level, If not now then when? The biggest concern with the midfield is the imbalance with a lack of positional flexibility, speed, skill and defensive pressure. The coaches are desperate for Vanders and Bennell, and if I was the midfield coach I’d want Salem and Harmes as options too, but someone has to play half back!

I would've thought at a minimum you would make sure not to have 8 best 22 in the one group, even if you're going by position. For 2 reasons: 1. Minimise the risk of infection wiping out 8 best 22 players and all but guaranteeing a loss. 2. To keep training standards consistently high and reduce the risk of a gap between the big names and those on the outside So if it were a midfield group I'd have Gawn, Oliver, Brayshaw, Vanders, Sparrow, Langdon, Dunkley, Wagner in one and Bradtke, Petracca, Viney, Bennell, Jordon, Tomlinson, Baker, Jones in the other. That way our young guys aren't getting left behind and they are all still practising the same structures and game plan. I'd do that for one week and then the next week I'd focus more on drills that connect the lines in the team. We've had midfield dominance with awful forward entries. Tom McDonald should spend some of the time training with Langdon and Petracca, they'll be the ones kicking it to him as much as the rest of the forwards. Rotate through difference mixes of players and train up the things that correspond with the groups. If you've got 4 forwards and 4 backs then it's one on one contests, if it's backs and mids then it's transitioning from the backline. It wouldn't hurt to train some more versatility in to players as well.

People sooking that we should've got the 4 points or get to play a half strength bombers side are missing the big picture here. Every club will be put out at some stage this year. Some clubs have already had to go in to hubs. Essendon and North did same day travel etc etc. It easily could've been our boys getting the positive test. The club shouldn't be worrying about what they can't control and should turn up wherever and whenever and win games.

I don't see why we'd have to move. Casey Fields is surely locked down purely for our use, and the players drive there, train and surely drive straight home. It's far more secure and locked down than Goschs' where they'd have to fence off the oval and work out a plan on how to keep the players safe in the facility (is the gym and pool still shared with Storm and others)? Stay at Casey, make sure our players are getting their coffees and filling up the petrol tanks back where they live.

Are the umpires going to give Bennell special rules because he hasn't played since that rule came in? I was only highlighting Jetta because it looked like he had conceded the 50. I don't care what type of game it is giving away 3 goals from 50's isn't good footy, hence why I was glad it wasn't the real stuff.

Langdon failing to give the ball back. Bennell protected area. Possibly Jetta looking upset when Spargo kicked a goal. Looks like 3 goals came from 50M penalties. I guess we should be thankful it wasn't in a real game.

8 goals combined from Melk, Fritsch, Hannan and Hunt operating as mobile marking targets inside 50 in a team with only 1 key forward. Not the game to read much in to McDonald not hitting the scoreboard. He was involved in play, that's a start.

Somewhat ironic that 1 Essendon player and 2 of our players were caught breaking the rules and then we are now the clubs getting punished by the karma bus. Hopefully everyone is ok and the AFL find a reasonable solution. Possibly more alarming is that this might be a community transmission and might indicate there are now a lot of asymptomatic people walking around in Melbourne right now. If we were all tested twice a week I think the case numbers would skyrocket.

Look at the set up and tell me it’s not a 99% chance it was a centre bounce. Gawn’s a pro so I’ll give him a break but otherwise our lazy poorly disciplined midfielders need to learn how to defend space away from the contest. That’s not based on one training it’s based on years of unaccountability.

The McEvoy Mexican wall worked! Worth watching how it goes for a longer sample size and having at as an option for Max

We don't have forwards who can win one on ones so I'm pro moving the ball quickly and getting out in space. We have defenders who can win it back and our mids can thrive in fast paced contested games. A loose ball hacked in to the middle with Oliver and Petracca around and an open forward line is perfect. But that entire style is reliant on a lot of pressure and it's not enough to just throw numbers at the footy to create that pressure, you have to be disciplined as a team to cover off the outlets. Two experienced wingmen were a good start. Notice Langdon above plays it perfectly, covering his opponent whilst creating doubt in the player with the balls mind. After Saturday's game there was a lot of bemoaning Joel Smith flying for contests where he should've stayed down, but I see our midfield and forward pressure as pretty much the same thing on a team wide scale. We leave open guys running free all the time and when we do get turnovers we struggle to capitalise as everyone is congested.

I'm not suggesting every little thing I've highlighted is a huge issue. Petracca may have been working on an attacking clearance. Gawn's not exactly going to kill himself chasing a springy kid at training. But there's a few endemic problems we've had with our midfield being awful defensively (Brayshaw), our pressure game reliant on players rushing towards the ball rather than working together (Oliver) and our mids overusing it and making skill errors (the white team). We're not going to get any better if we can't sort out the basics.

I'm willing to give Clarko the benefit of more than one match. McEvoy has a better kick and movement than Max and is the second best intercepting mark for a ruck, I think it can work in a team that has more run and skill around him. Less Stratton and Frawley, more Impey etc. Gawn sometimes plays like our best backman when he sits behind the play and takes marks, would it really be that crazy to erect a 208cm wall at CHB! I'm thinking more do it for a half or so in a game this year if the game is all but over at half time, or trial it a bit next year. Not this week. Jackson has the tank to play a role early, yes he doesn't have the size and strength to win hit outs and he has a heap of work to do with marking contests, but the run in the legs means he has something to offer. Hit outs themselves are the most overrated part of ruck work, our midfield weren't any worse with Pedersen than there were Gawn.