DeeSpencer

People we are playing in Alice Springs during the day not Darwin at night. Mid to low 20's for most of the week. Sunday is 27 degrees with 25% humidity. It won't be slippery. It should be pretty similar conditions to the Brisbane game last week. Very similar conditions to what the players were playing and training in every day only a couple of months ago. There's really no reason to pick different players based on the conditions.

Am I the only one who thought he had a few too many shaky moments today in the first half against pretty much no opposition? Cripps out marked him at one stage! Starting to hold some marks and certainly getting his hands on a lot more, smart ball user when afforded some time and space as well. I was hoping a lot of his problems were new team mates and a bit of an MCG hangover which should pass with time. Anyway, he's turned the corner and the good news is even if his form goes up and down it probably won't reach the stage where the criticism is scathing - except the media will be watching this week. A big game against the Crows will go a long way to restoring his reputation.

Who were the other emergencies? Pedersen has missed games and deserves a crack at getting back in the team, as do Garlett and Hunt, two guys close to the best 22 if not in it. I'd suggest they picked Tyson as he was the best emergency we had and if there was an injury pre game or coming in to next week to any of the midfielders he'd come straight back in. Belting Frankston would do little for Tyson, he needs the best quality opponents at VFL to play against. As long as they rotate the carry over players I really don't care how they structure it.

You don't turn down good players but wing/half back class and a gun small forward are probably still the priorities I'd think. Expect Carlton to put their first round pick on the table for Shiel or Kelly (or both), they are Sos' favourite players and they need to land a mature mid to kick start their rebuild before it massively flops. North will try the same as well. Anyway, unless ware linked to a player we don't need to be bringing up names. We have a team with a few weaknesses but also a few strengths as is right now.

If there's any contact to the head - and I think there was - then Bernie is done. Either way it's time he has a rest and/or some time at Casey to sharpen up. He started the year remarkably well but has trailed off recently. Hunt the obvious replacement and he'll give us a bit more overhead which is needed against the Crows - even without 2 of their usual forwards. No other changes. I'd be shocked if Smith or Spargo go anywhere, they did exactly what they needed to do. ANB back in better touch the last two weeks. Hannan probably the weakest link in the forwards - a bit too fumbly, slipping off tackles and some poor decisions but he got going in the 2nd half.

Started the year down on where he left off last year but turned the corner on ANZAC eve when sent to mind Rance. He's still frustrating to me because it's very hard to read what he is about to do with the ball and he gets blinkers on with his decision making. Not selfish, if anything he's unselfish, but he can miss clear options. There was one today where Tommy Mc had to call for an eternity to get a handball running through the middle of the ground that led to a goal. Really strong attacking work rate and good in a contest, then dual sided with the ball. I think if he gets a little sharper defensively and starts seeing the easy options he can go to another level again.

Oscar, Lever and Salem should steady the backline for a long time and hopefully Hibberd and Jetta have plenty left as well. Having both Vince and Lewis in the back 7 is a concern but I think if we get Hunt right he can take Bernie's place. If not him then Joel Smith this year and/or Petty sooner rather than later. In an ideal world Lever is the 3rd tall, he can be a 20+ touches aggressive ball user and we can find more ball use from talls as well if they are developed correctly. Half back flank is the easiest position on the ground to play, so it's about growing the midfield depth to able to have classy users from half back and making sure the lock down or two way defenders are the right players. Of the backline it's Jetta who I think is hardest to replace. Small lock down defender is still quite the specialist position so I hope at some stage in the next year or so we find a guy who is really suited to the job.

I'm not so much anti Weid. I'd love to play him and get games in to him and I think he'd earn them in a lot of sides. I'm just not keen on 3 tall forwards when we have a plethora of good mid sized players as well. I'm not really convinced playing as the 3rd tall option helps Weid's development as much as we think anyway. At Casey he'd be the number 1 or equal number 1 target. In the senior team as he is the ball probably should go to Hogan and Tommy Mc more often. He's really looking more impressive when he goes in the ruck and gets around the ball.

Can't see Vince being dropped, the back 7 will stay as is unless/until Hunt or someone else demands a spot. Viney is not a Vince replacement! Can't see Gawn, Jones, Oliver, Brayshaw, Harmes, Tyson, Fritsch being moved out of the midfield. Viney comes back in to that group and Fritsch/Harmes play more forward. Spargo was quiet but he was so impressive the two weeks prior he has to keep his spot. ANB much better and I think he stays as well, his work rate - whilst sometimes indiscriminate - is vital. So with Fritsch and Harmes spending more time in the forward line it's really one of the talls or mediums who should make way. I think it should be Weid's but not convinced. I just think it's not easy being a third tall, he's had more influence in the ruck but T Mc can do that. Petracca not as his best but I wouldn't drop him. Hannan had a bad 6 quarters before a good second half. Melksham is making terrible decisions - he's forgot he can kick 55 easily and is looking for stupid passes - but he's winning the ball. Weid's or Hannan I think.

He's made some silly errors the last two weeks but some of the time he's handballed to in huge pressure and his burst or power gets the ball to a team mate in free space and there's probably only Oliver, Jones or Viney who can do that in the team. Without Garlett we also need his pressure as a forward. Not always the most reliable in that regard but he can close 3 steps in no time and create havoc. Forward is where we need him now. Midfield is where we'll need him eventually but not in a rush.

There was a moment early in the Richmond game where Jeff had a clear path to goal inside 50, Melksham called him through a put on a shepherd and Jeff just had to run on to the ball, gather and goal. He fumbled the gather under perceived pressure of a defender who was still 10m away and stuffed up a clear scoring chance. That was just one moment but it was a clear one after many fumbles and poor efforts not bodying the ball under only medium pressure. I don't expect him to be like a big body mid over a loose ball but he has to play at Casey for long enough to prove he'll reliable gather the ball under pressure to get back in the team.

Watching in preseason Baker doesn't have AFL midfield endurance just yet. If he is to play it would be either forward or back flank. Balic was the least fit player on the list when preseason started. Fitter now, but that's how you end up with plantar fasciitis. He has agility and can find the ball in space, but he'd be far more suited to half forward and rotating on ball than wing. Hunt's not a wingman either. Half back allows him to use his speed and height to defend and to flip the field and turn defending to attack with pace. I'm pretty sure he hasn't been fully fit all year but I still can't see moving to the wing ever helping that.

We definitely need some outside skill and pace but more than anything to play on the wing we need guys who can run all day. At some stage in finals - if we ever make it - we'll come up against Isaac Smith, Kamdyn McIntosh or Scully and we need someone who can match them. Harmes and Jones are our best options this year. If Viney is back at peak form and we can find the right players in the inside mid and forward mix then those 2 can at least do the running on the wing. That said, I think they are more ball hunters than outside receivers so I'm skeptical long term. Fritsch has a lot of traits that would make a good wingman. From preseason he's probably not quite there ready yet to do it week in week out especially on bigger grounds and he's not a noted endurance machine. He's more the second wingman who can move around on the ground not the old fashioned lock a guy in for the far wing type. Tommy Mc on bigger crowds should be considered to do it more than just for a rotation. To have a reliable mark like Tom leading to the open side would really encourage switching and opening up the ground. It's also a long year and we shouldn't completely write off Billy Stretch. He's struggled in contests when given a chance the last two years but sometimes guys just start to click and be more confident. He wasn't timid when he first played as an 18 year old so I think he has something to offer. A natural outside runner and whilst his skills are limited he's pretty reliable. I hope he gets in from at Casey that gives him another go.

Adelaide - Walker, Jenkins, McGovern West Coast - Kennedy, Lycett, Darling GWS - Patton, Cameron, Himmelberg Port have played 3 or even 4 at times. Cats had Hawkins, Esava and Menzel who plays like a tall. Usually the third tall is more around the low to mid 190's and a mobile target with good defensive skills. It's the defensive skills that will undo our 3 tall set up. Especially given we don't have established smalls in that role. 4 tackles inside 50 was a poor result against the Saints. Bugg and Garlett are rightfully out of the side due to lack of skill/lack of contest. Kent injured. ANB struggling. Spargo looks good but he's more suited as a half forward with some good pressure skills. Petracca has the agility to defend really well, time to show it. Hannan inconsistent in his pressure, as is Melksham, he's not a natural at it. The other weakness with our talls is none of the 3 seem suited as good inside 50 kicks. Jack Riewoldt, Hawkins and Walker are right up there with the best in the comp for kicking to a lead inside 50.

Wonder why I'm negative. Must be all those finals we've played in recently? If you play ordinary against a terrible side it doesn't help you against better sides. It's a simple concept. I think our defensive effort and contested ball against Richmond was far better than against the Saints. If we defended like we did against Richmond then the Saints wouldn't have scored for 3/4's. Or at least 1 goal 7 knowing them.

We beat a terrible side by playing in fits and spurts. Purely with decent goal kicking the Saints would've been well clear at 1/4 time and in the game for far longer. In similar form in rounds 1-3 we ended up losing round 4-5. Last week was a half of sticking in a game and a half of very good football (until junk time). The second half last week was the standard we should aim for. At no stage today did we tackle or dominate around the ball to the same extent as last weeks second half. Today we played like a middle of the road team beating a bad team. That's ok. Don't be upset by it. Just recognise we can get better.

Didn't do much in the hit outs (zero actually) but a few nice handballs when up around the play in the ruck. Actually looks very comfortable using his hands in traffic, can handball both sides nicely.

A couple of long center clearances in to outnumbered forward 50's and strong defensive marks in those turnover stats I'd suggest. Kicks could be better but really it's part of the game plan. Bomb it forward and let the forwards do the rest.

Gus might have been best on today. Great game. But maybe his best moment was when he kept his head up and bumped a Saints player square in the side and kept after the loose ball. Hurt the guy too. Most importantly he kept that head of his well out of trouble and was safe to keep contesting.

The thing that stood out to me today with Gus was his defensive work rate. He was the midfielder fastest back to help the backline. I think that's the role which will make him most valuable in the short term. It should allow Oliver and Jones to hunt the ball, and Viney to hunt the man, ball and whatever else he likes to do. In terms of long term, finals are rarely won by match winners kicking 4+ these days but often won by a classy important big goal that caps off 2 or 3 or 3.5 quarters of sustained quality. Cotchin was the guy for Richmond last year who set the tone and kept them in or ahead in games. Martin then finished them off. Gus is far more like Cotchin and Tracc is more like Dusty. Both have a way to go but that's what I'd like to dream of.

Lynch is out for a long spell with a PCL knee injury. They played Day and a young ruck. Not sure how far away 2m Peter is from playing again. If he's not in then the obvious call is probably to just go with Lever and Oscar, but we could also experiment with Joel Smith on the young ruckman to give him a run. I'm not suggesting we gamble too much with our best team. Play like we did today and we are a huge chance of being beaten by any other side. But I also think we're going to need another tall down back at some stage this year. I guess I'm inspired by Clarko who's always a game or a month or a year ahead of the league and often brings young guys in when he feels the timing is right.

I didn't watch the game live which makes it harder to see the defensive work rates and break downs but I thought from the TV he was ok in that regard. His clean hands to get the ball once again were a massive tick. People underestimate how valuable that is. But he was slow to use it and got caught (sometimes pinged unfairly IMO). Kicking was the usual hit and miss and not a lot of creative use. Again, it comes back to the fact I won't criticise an inside clearance player too much when he's playing on the wing all game. Not sure why they can't spread his playing time through the middle and half forward a bit more and it's interesting to see what happens with Viney back. But for now if Tyson breaks even then there's plenty of others who can win their match ups.

Definitely true. You need better one on one defenders and better spread of forwards at the G but more than anything it really tests your midfield spread. Without the midfield running our backline gets exposed. I'm sure the hope is the young mids get fitter and start to spread better and cut down the chances. Against the Tigers we played the ground and opponent pretty well and it was only the break downs that let them get open runners that contributed to easier goals. Otherwise it would've been about 8 goals a piece for 3 quarters. The other thing we love to do is kick across the ground and change the angles and at the G it's just too tempting to go wide and get stuck in space. If our defending improves we can attack more through the guts at the G.

Viney in. But leave the midfield as is and just let him run around half forward and pressure and compete. Put him in ANB's spot. Maybe some swapping on ball with Harmes if needed. I doubt Salem will overcome a thumb in 1 week. If he does then it's a matter of whether Vince or Lewis need a rest, if they drop Tyson or probably I'd go Lewis back to the wing, Fritsch to half forward and go smaller up forward to get more pressure, in which case Weeds is unlucky and misses out. With Hannan, Fritsch, Petracca and Melksham all strong overhead I don't think we need 3 tall forwards, we're only playing the 3 because we lack the midfield/half back options as is. Regardless of Salem's health it's probably a week to consider if we need to get a 2nd genuine tall defender a run because there's other teams coming up that have 3 big guys

Going hard at a wingman, I definitely agree with that. Gaff looms as the logical target and I think our inactivity to solve the problem last year was to not pay overs for a stop gap and then lose the flexibility of going hard for Gaff. Heck I'd be on the lookout for 2. One to replace Lewis and one to replace Tyson. I can't have Garlett in the team until he shows he wants the ball. Insipid efforts at the contest and even refusing to go get the ball when 5m clear of an opponent. Yes, a good small forward deep and moving Spargo up makes sense. I can live with ANB until Jeff shows a better endeavour, don't want to rush Spargo in to too much either. The coaches went with Harmes on a wing at the start of the year but he's too keen to get in to the contest. Physically he can run the wing but Tyson is probably more disciplined and smarter at keeping space. Harmes is best used where his desire to compete is harnessed in a defensive role, be it as a defensive forward, a defensive inside mid (not a tagger so much but someone who can run contest to contest and tackle) as he was on the weekend or even as a combative backman. Viney coming back and no further injuries probably means Harmes competes with Tyson for a wing spot. I'm just not convinced that will be a long term answer either.