DeeSpencer

I think if you can bump Favre for Rodgers you can probably move McCarthy on! The man is surely set for life financially and in time should be honoured as a SB winning coach. 13 years is a long stretch, it's not like he's been replaced in a hurry. Today was an unusual game for the Bears. The defense absolutely dominated for a large part and get out to an early 2 TD lead, somewhat similar to the Bears v Packers in round 1. Trubisky made 2 head scratching intercepted throws which he hasn't been doing lately. Then Cohen has a really bad fumble. Just when you think the Vikings should get back in to it they give up some soft penalties. Bears kick a field goal to all but seal it but then let the Vikings drive on them just to keep it interesting. The Bears biggest issue right now is they have a thunder back - Howard and a lightening back - Cohen but the thunder back can't catch it and the lightening back can't make those down hill yards up the middle. O line isn't helping either, they're good in pass pro but can't get the running game going. If they could run the ball far more efficiently then they could ride out games getting the bare minimum from Trubisky. Right now they can't so they put him in some tricky spots. With Nagy's play calling he'll torch bad defenses but the good ones can adapt. The Vikings defense looked confused for a half today before looking in total control. Not overly impressed by the point differential, that is overhyped by blowing out Tampa, NY Jets and Buffalo - 3 teams that crapped the bed when faced with our defense. Beat Seattle when their defense was a mess with injuries. Scraped passed the Cardinals. Narrow loss to the NE Pats. Blew a game in Miami. 2-1 in the Division now. A final record of 3 and 3 in the Division wouldn't shock me, a tough back up for the Lions on Thanksgiving won't be easy and then Packers/Vikings down the stretch might depend on where those teams are at. .500 in the division is more of what the Bears are I think. Defense that starts absolutely great but can fade late if the pass rush is worn down or made obsolete by good play calls. Offense that looks great with trickery but where the QB struggles under pressure. That might be enough to win the NFC North this year due to the Packers malaise and the Viking's O line but it's a long way from the class of the NFC.

Roll the dice and fire him Macca. What's the point in investing 30 million + a year in Rodgers and saddling him with a play caller he doesn't get on with? I've been critical of Rodgers for a long time being amazing at big plays and the scramble drill but lacking the consistent marching drives with high percentage throws. Yeah the TE and WR spots aren't good but there's enough to create some sort of scheme to get guys open. I'm a big believer in Mike Pettine coaching the D. Mike Daniels is a star. Blake Martinez is a really solid middle line backer. Jaire Alexander is a star. This is a defense that can be sustainable. Not world beaters but good enough. They made Brady look very shaky before the momentum changed with the fumble a few weeks ago. Held the Rams as well. Plus aside from that small stretch of slimmer Eddie Lacy the Pack finally have a running back - one that looks adept at getting yards on the ground and in the passing game. The easy choice on who to hire - John DeFillipo the Vikings OC. Worked wonders in Philly and doing well with a bad O line at the Vikings. You'd weaken a main division rival and get a very modern offense in. Lincoln Riley would be a bold choice that could work wonders. The Packers have the right veterans and organisational culture to make a change and not lose out. Hire an offensive guy and the offense surely can improve. Hire any other quality head coach and the game management can't be worse than some of the things McCarthy has done recently - punting, not throwing a challenge etc.

Pittsburgh, Houston, Carolina

I wouldn't tip the Chiefs because come crunch time the Rams have the smarter head coach. That said, I think right now the Chiefs offense is more explosive which gives them a better chance in a straight out shootout.The counter to that is the Rams can use Gurley to kill the clock and ice it that way.Will be interesting to see if the Rams are impacted by the fires and all the disruption, I wouldn't blame them.

Fair enough to say his form the last couple of years has been uninspiring and he's battled a lot of injuries but it's pretty clear what we think he has to offer isn't it? He has a lovely penetrating left foot kick, is a natural outside runner and has good size. We traded Tyson, Lewis is just about done and so is Jones. Adding a running player with a lovely kick to play wing or half back was a pretty obvious move.

Falcons, Pats, Chargers. For the betting folk out there I think the Seahawks are too good to start with a 10.5 advantage

KC, Houston, Chargers

I’ll predict through necessity he’ll play high up at the ground at CHF where he rarely had the poor body language and play very well. Just like he did in years 1+2 here. In fact Lobb at FF suits him as a partner more than any Melbourne forward did. I’ll predict he averages 20 touches, 8 marks, 2 goals but doesn’t really make Freo all that much better because even though a lead up CHF is nice it’s only required if your team doesn’t move the ball quickly and accurately enough to produce flowing direct passages of play.

The biggest change in that time was playing Gawn a kick behind the play. Having one of the games tallest and strongest aerial players situated under the ball made a huge difference...Up until when the Eagles smashed us at the contest and kicked to the open wide flank and used 2 rucks to draw Gawn in to bad positions. I don't think it was sustainable use of Gawn. We need him around the contest as the extra mid, as a link man around the ground an pushing forward to goal. The kick behind the play should only be an occasional tactic.

Pats, Rams, Vikings

McGovern made the match saving play and Barrass was great. Darling played 1 good quarter and Kennedy played well but his most important stuff was largely getting on the end of smart up field work. A midfielder kicked the game winning goal. We need to replace Garlett but big goal kicker Dean Kent is a good laugh

Players motivated by playing in flags is terrible for the league. Dogs, Tigers and Pies have shown every team should be a chance to win a flag within 3 years. Melbourne are more equipped than Freo now but not necessarily in 3 years if they do things right. If Fyfe, Hogan, Cerra and Pearce can be Dusty, Riewoldt, Cotchin and Rance then why not? Hogan didn’t leave purely because he was unhappy here. In fact I think he had a good off field life here. He said he wanted to leave because his Footy was suffering in Melbourne due to his mental demons. He was going to struggle to win a premiership for us (and therefore with us) playing at 70% of his potential. Playing at 100% for Freo gives him a far better chance of personal success and to drive team success. Moving because you know you aren’t comfortable and aren’t performing to your best isn’t a non winner move to me. It’s taking ownership

That post was from Nov last year and with a good run of games Gus got right back to being a star. Was I wrong?

Yes, but I believe it was with the MFC's permission/knowledge. The Watts drama last year overshadowed the fact there was a fair bit of smoke around a Hogan trade. Freo had pick 2 and 5. Not sure what if anything they offered or if Hogan would even have agreed to a trade then but I'm sure both parties discussed it. My guess is Freo would've put pick 5 and some later picks on the table last year and MFC said no thanks we'll see if we can win the flag with Hogan and Lever this year and that worked for Freo who needed to get some games in to kids. Hence Hogan's comment about the 5 year plan. Hogan stuck it out in Melbourne for one last go around. I think all the media posturing and Peter Bell's carry on this year might've been because a deal was in place from a long way out.

Sorry meant might not be able to be taught. That said, I look at Hawthorn, they had Cyril, just line him up and he'll go out there and get to the right spots and make an impact. But they also had Breust and Puopolo as pressure forwards. Puopolo was a state league defender. Breust played rugby growing up. Somehow the Hawks got those guys in positions to maximise their talents. Bedford might not ever get more than 10 touches a game but if he's in the right spots and it's 10 good touches and 5 big tackles that's a very handy player

12 touches a game doesn't impress me, nor does 1 goal a game. But 8 tackles and 3 clearances are more impressive numbers. That's a guy who can win it in tight and be a really aggressive tackler. I'd want to know why he's not finding the ball in space more. Is it work rate, is it the position the team puts him in or is it a feel for the game thing that might be able to be taught.

When Mahoney said midfield rotation it was very much implying wing not in the centre square and it looks to me like Tyson out KK in is exactly what the footy department were targeting. Correct an oversupply of inside mids for an outside mid. Wing will be an interesting position this year given the 6-6-6 rules. It won't change much in general play but from a centre bounce there might be some different tactics. If he settles on the wing KK might be required to start right towards the back of the square and be a loose defender or play half back flank which he's well qualified to do. And without the extra running off the back of the square he might have sprint to cover a midfielder bursting from the middle. Wing's are vital defensive sweepers and outlets at around the ground clearances so he'll have to do some work there but it's not impossible to improve on.

Here's why I wouldn't worry so much. 1. We have a guy for Hogan's best spot - a guy who really stole it this year in T Mc. He's the CHF of our side. 2. The full forward role Hogan often played this year can be covered by Weid. Who has shown - maybe not enough but he has done it - a few really nice things: A) An ability to beat up on bad teams on the rare occasions he got great supply at Casey. In his first year he had a couple of 4 goal games, a couple of 3's. In an interrupted second year he had a game where he kicked 6. And last year at Casey in 10 games he had a 7 a 5 and a 4. B) The ability to go in to the ruck C). A growing inclination to tackle and pressure It's too hard to be a reliable full forward these days and consistently take marks and kick goals. The better player to have in that 2nd tall role is one who can kick some goals on their day but contributes in other ways. 3. We have multiple players capable of beating one on one match ups deep - Petracca, Melksham, Hannan. These are often the guys you want inside 50 now. It's the balance of options and roles that not only covers the loss of Hogan but makes us better due to versatility and match ups.

Looks like he’s sunburnt in Bali but yep that was a great interview and a strong endorsement for Goodwin

Who did he play on? The question has often been Oscar or Frost. My answer is neither. Give me May, Lever and a 3rd tall option depending on match ups that could be Oscar or just as likely could be Hibberd or Joel Smith.

Don't love the trade. KK was pretty much free so it's pick 6 for May. Would've preferred to swap pick 23 up to a higher pick in that deal as well. Anyway. Love the player though. Big. Angry. Physical. Skilled. Proper key defender.

Hogan: 8 goals in 6 games against top 8 opponents Weid: 8 goals in 5 games against top 8 opponents from round 22 onwards We'll need to find a back up. I think Preuss or Tim Smith can do it short term. Add another scrap heap or VFL option but draft for long term.

Hibbo and Lever should go up a level. Oscar down a level to Casey

Read the Naill article. It's about 8 teams involved and no team wants to be the first to accept a deal when there's so many moving parts. The only currency teams have are draft picks (including restricted future picks), players and occasionally paying a percentage of contracts for other teams. A huge business deal would rarely feature so many independent and competing companies and they'd be able to offer different forms of compensation as well as bonuses, penalties etc. At the moment it looks like Brisbane won't move until they're happy with the Beams deal. Freo won't move until they've got the Neale deal sorted, after which they deal with Port so that they can work out deals with GWS and Melbourne. Port are involved with Gold Coast, Hawthorn and Freo and then Melbourne can deal with GC. The bones of the deals might be lined up but then Port might feel they are being slightly undervalued so might ask Freo for a little more, who then might get that little more from Gold coast who then might pass it on to us. Suddenly a team asks for pick 25 instead of pick 20 and then all of a sudden that pick 20 which was going to be used in the next 3 deals doesn't exist any more and it's back to the drawing board.

Where's the evidence of that? One comment from Craig Cameron with no real backing from anyone to do with May. Meanwhile the Jake Niall article lays out the deal that will have him as a Demon.