DeeSpencer

FB: ***** May ****** HB: Salem Lever Harmes C; Langdon Oliver Tomlinson HF: Jones McDonald Melksham FF: Pickett Fritsch ****** Foll: Gawn Petracca Viney Int (from): - Jetta v Hibberd v Lockhart - J. Smith v Oscar - Brayshaw - Jackson v Weid v Brown - Chandler/ANB/Spargo/Bedford ?? Hunt ??? Vanders Assuming they stick with Harmes at half back then I'd go with Joel Smith over Oscar, Hibberd keeps his spot as he's the logical match up on Jack Martin, Jetta gets another run. Brayshaw keeps his spot because he has to be given first go on Cripps, but Gus needs to deliver. The forward line is tricky but I lean towards going with Weid as the second tall and then throwing Jackson in as a wildcard, especially if they think his tackling and ground ball work is as good as most smalls. I maintain the belief in Chandler as the best small to pair with Kossie, particularly if we want to use Fritsch and Melksham up the ground more in a taller set up than round 1.

Keeping the forwards in the forward line is a good point. That's a big part of why the Giants used Tomlinson as they did. The 3 tall fowards they had were dangerous. If any pair of McDonald, Brown or Weid were doing very well up forward then you'd want to keep them there for the full game. Jackson I feel a little different with because I want to see him do small bursts in the ruck and show off that upside. The short quarters are also a consideration here because once Gawn hits full match fitness he could ruck even more than he currently does (in percentage terms). One of the other big considerations is I'm sure we pitched Tomlinson time to settle in a position and show his talent with the ball (whatever that may be). I think he lost a few kilos of bulk over summer in order to play that wing role. That said, Richmond sold Caddy on the idea of more midfield time before he had his best ever season as an undersized key forward.

The shorter quarters actually favour someone like Baker or Hunt, explosive speed guys without the tanks to do 85% of 20 minute quarters on the wings which is what Tomlinson was bought in for. I just don't think Tomlinson is all that good in the ruck, not an upgrade on Weid or Jackson, and I don't think he's much of a forward either. He's not all that tall, isn't quick or powerful or a good mark. If he were to play forward I'd expect it would be as a high motor CHF type and we've got plenty of that already. Plan A seems to be to have Tomlinson and Langdon do 85-100% of game time on the wings so the team benefits from their positioning, discipline and high motors and then use the extra rotations on keeping the forward line motoring. Barring injuries or suspension I think we'll give that a month at least to see if it works. If Vanders and Bennell can get back then we're looking at some different options on the wings/half forwards and might be able to mix things up a bit

Seems clear as day that they should. His best ever game against the Cats came when he got a stack of touches in the ruck and kept that belief up forward. In most games he gets his hands to about 8 marks and takes about 1 of them, with mental or physical pressure causing him to spill plenty. Down back you don't have a defender crashing in to you and you simply have to hold your marks or you'll cost the team, he'll quickly start holding his marks and hopefully keep that confidence. He's also one of the best clean handballers on both sides of his body on the list and isn't a bad field kick so he shouldn't be a total turnover merchant. We can't waste a year of his development right now, if he can't get a game up forward we have to get him games down back.

I'd rather get Tom McDonald back to the player he was in the 2nd half of the 2017 season and in 2018. But we'll probably know by the end of the year if that's possible or if his mind and body are all but shot. I'd be surprised if Daniher is anywhere other than Essendon or north of the Murray next year. I'd support the club rolling the dice on him but the chances of him choosing us as well seem rather low.

The huge number of suburban leagues with plenty of cash across Melbourne show there's opportunity for thriving clubs and leagues, just a matter of setting reasonable salary caps or the points system and having the rivalries to drive interest. The set up I would favour though is to have the VFA partner and run the junior development as the state leagues do in WA and SA. I'm too young to know why that didn't happen here or if that was even discussed but that could save a lot of money with current VFL and NAB League teams both trying to run semi professional operations. They could share coaches, fitness staff, admin and facilities and it would also stream line the development process and keep kids who aren't drafted in an elite program rather than dropping back to local leagues. Not sure this current situation is the ideal time for huge changes though. Budgets will be tight but I'd imagine we'd try to enhance the Casey relationship not trash it as Carlton have done their side. Given clubs have been allowed to stand pretty much everyone down without pay I'm staggered that Carlton just turfed their alignment.

Comments at about 25 minute mark above. I don't think Jennings is really saying winning isn't important, he even says the opposite. The Dogs had a good VFL team before their flag when he was there. We had a strong Casey side as we went up the ladder. He's saying the teams and the competition of the current VFL means little, and the structure of a VFL fixture often hampers players on the fringes who need to be held over as emergencies etc and it's hard to disagree with that. Forking out a heap of money to prop the rest of the VFL up and get a special branding on a reserves comp does seem a waste. It's sad that the AFL took over the VFA and created a mess of a competition. Williamstown, Port Melbourne, Werribee, Frankston, Coburg and anyone else who can get a team together would be better off back in their traditional VFA league.

3-6 months to get a whole lot of development in to our players and to sort out this mess FB: Jetta May Hibberd HB: Brayshaw Lever Tomlinson C; Baker Salem Langdon HF: Petracca Petty Jones FF: Melksham Fritsch Pickett Foll: Gawn Harmes Viney Int: Jackson Lockhart Bedford/Chandler Oliver Out: Brown, T McDonald, Oscar, Spargo, ANB In: Jackson, Petty, Baker, Jones, Salem We need some actual forwards in the forward line. No more Spargo and ANB because they can run. 1 high half forward and make it someone who will get 20 touches and could actually hurt the opposition in Jones. Melksham and Petracca can't interchange on ball, we need them forward so we have multiple dangerous options and can then get Fritsch up the ground as well instead of stationed at full forward defending 2. Time for Petty, he can't be any worse than Brown and McDonald. The midfield needs skill and guys who can run both ways. It's been crying out for years (since Jones and Vince left) for someone who can hit some targets and hurt the opposition. Harmes is messy but he can tuck and run the ball through the lines. Salem has the skills we need to get some decent inside 50's. Baker might not have the fitness for full games rotations can cover him and he has the ability to hurt the opposition with penetrating kicks. We have to start being less reliant on Gawn. Teams know not to kick it up to him these days. Time for him to have less minutes on ball and play forward more in the Cox role of halving contests. Give the crumbers someone to work off. Jackson will be up and down but on his good days the midfield will go to another level having another mobile player and he won't touch it much up forward but he'll at least offer some defensive effort and size that troubles defenders. The backline is a mess. Oscar played well but apart from a couple of nice mark/kicks in uncontested play he provides absolutely no drive and never intercepts. Whenever the ball is near him you just hope he halves the contest or gets the ball to someone in no worse a position. Tomlinson is 195cm of meh. He can do that at half back where hitting targets is easier. Brayshaw can't be a successful midfielder in a side with Oliver and Viney, he'd at least show off his smart reading of the play and get a chance to kick it far better than he does at half back. Might add some urgency to his game too. I still think Hibberd can be of value but it has to be in a more limited role deeper towards goal - make him defend a good forward. He can't be coming up the ground trying to lace inside 50's. Jetta left his man too many times to rush up as well, he has to get discipline in to his game because good teams are always going to open you up on big grounds and you have to let things play out as one on one and have the mids cover off.

This has been about as bad as it gets, but the Eagles are about as bad as an opponent that we could face. Defensive structure hasn’t been dreadful. Forward entries I have to believe must improve

I think those injuries/illness whatever it is opened the door for Bedford. The shorter quarters could mean Langdon and Tomlinson can play the full 100% game time on the wing. Maybe a quick chop out from Brayshaw or Harmes from half back. Otherwise we'll go small and fast and heavily rotate the small forwards and try to keep pressure up on the Eagles. If I had to guess at the team I think it's: FB: Jetta May Oscar HB: Harmes Lever Hibberd C; Tomlinson Petracca Langdon HF: Spargo T Mc Melksham FF: Fritsch Weid Kozzie Foll: Gawn Oliver Viney Int: Lockhart, Brayshaw, Bedford, ANB E: Brown, Jackson, Sparrow, Hore

The multiple games within weeks sounds like a dud idea to me but I think the 16.5 minute quarters is also designed and approved by the sports science guys to stop players going in to exhaustion which then leaves them more susceptible to illness.

Book a table in your own home.

Unless the Tigers relocated to Sydney at some stage last September I think last years GF would've still been played at MCG. Otherwise I agree.

They might try, but it's utter nonsense. If we stop after 1,2, 4 or 6 games and have a 8-16 week lay off what does it matter? Stop when it's safe to stop and if we have to play September to December then do that. If we can't get restarted at all then so be it.

Goody repeatedly said he was one of his closest mates. A terrible Principal and a paedophilia isn't something to be glad about and the covid 19 sure isn't either. So I doubt he's smiling given there's a high chance he's out of a job now with the VAFA season on hold.

The AFL have 120M dollar future fund and own Etihad stadium. They also have a broadcast deal that pays them 450M a year when the seasons get back to normal. Players share in about 12M for 40 people. My point is the AFL can guarantee the short to medium term survival of clubs. Lets have a debt demolishion campaign at the end of all this when we can survey the damage and the interest payments kick in. In the mean time spend your money on family, friends and support local businesses.

I think Gill has indicated that he'll take a cut, he has to do. No issues with the players holding out at this stage. Why volunteer to get less? Agreeing to 20% less for 20% games on it's own is fair enough but when you could lose 50, 80 or 100% of the season it's a dangerous precedent to agree to.

We won’t be smart enough or spend the money on the legal measures that China have implemented. And we sure won’t start introducing the very questionable methods they use in China. Plus the issues of what happens when China re opens for business. The other thing that really concerns me is China is warming up. Northern hemisphere countries have the chance to keep it under control when people are healthier in summer. Vitamin d, vitamin c, less colds and flu etc. Even with a lot less flu this year we will go the other way in May/June

The test has a high false negative rate. No one knows how high just yet because there’s lots of tests and lots of labs scaling up without established standards. But it’s possible a swab of the mouth and nose is poorly conducted and doesn’t get any virus. To constantly test and retest all 800 AFL players when those tests are needed for other people would be a waste of resources. Until we go in to full lockdown I’d be fine with players training in small groups (say 5-10) with non contact and lots of precautions. The NRL bleaching balls because of a crowd was peak stupidity but they were kind of right.

They can get the test back by tomorrow. It's still far more likely to be any other illness than covid-19, particularly when Pendles has similar symptoms.

There's 3 priorities in all of this. Ranked from the most vital immediately to the important but less so in the short term. 1. Stop the spread of disease daylight more daylight 2. Look after each other - act as a community, in physical and mental well-being 3. Do what we can for the economy - money has to keep flowing wherever possible AFL Players playing are risking point 1. Both for the individual participants but also for that the community doesn't heed the message that we still need to social distance far more. Oh the footy is on - everything is normal, I don't have to listen to the experts. But games of footy would be such a great distraction and excitement. Just to escape from the overwhelming crush of the disease would mean so much. And footy is that thing for so many of us. And point 3 matters. Even if it's just a pizza and a 6 pack of beers delivered whilst you watch the footy on a Friday night that supports the local pizza shop. But it really comes back to point 1 and stopping the spread of the disease. If the players do play they are risking spread within their team and the opponents. But right now they've been isolated for a week, they are healthy, they are keen to play. So maybe the bigger issue is the community 'look' of having them play. And that's where the messaging has to come in that they aren't playing because they don't think this is serious. Government Health ads have to run during the games. Pubs have to make it clear that more than about 50 people and any kind of crowding is incredibly foolish. Players have to put out a message that they aren't playing because the risks are minimal, in fact it's the opposite. They are playing because it's real and they want to spread that message.

I don't think our trade with North had a coronavirus get out clause.

My baseline is that if everyone else is allowed to work then the players should too. But the travel is problematic. Even in chartered flights and sealed off hotel rooms that's a minimum of 40 (cut down assistant coaches and support staff) spending a lot of time together. And then the games as at least 47 (including umps) to breath on each other for 2 hours, plus the coaches and staff. It ends up mixing about 80 people together and that's if you keep commentators, media, ground staff well clear. Now in many ways that's less dangerous than just catching the train! But people need to catch trains. Do footballers need to work at all?

Yep, that was my point. I don’t mean to be insensitive to players but the vast majority should be concerned about health more than wealth. Small businesses and casual employees are in much tougher position.

The minimum wage is 110k this year. If you're 19-21 I think you can survive pretty well on 110k a year. If you're 22-24 that means apart from a limited number of mature age draftees you've already had 2 years of around 100k and another 2 years of more (probably 150+ pa) under your belt. If you're manager and financial adviser have overextended your debt buying too much property based on match payments then get better advice. Some AFL players have kids pretty early, but are they really forking out big bucks for private primary school fees? If so, that means they've had at least 5 years of AFL wages. The guys who have school aged kids on the Melbourne list are Nath Jones, Jetta and who else? They might have match payments and performance bonuses in their contracts given their age but they have been on a list for over a decade. I'm sorry but the only players who I can imagine are truly 'desperate' for the match payments are those who have made poor financial decisions and in particular those who have gambling problems.