DeeSpencer

I'd love to ask our coaches about this. Because really the Saints aren't a great kicking side. Webster and Savage have moments at half back. Newnes is a good long kick. Montagna obviously. Riewoldt kicks lovely to a lead. Not sure about most of the rest. We have Salem, Vince, Jones, I like the way Wagner kicks, Dunn can spin it, Watts, Garlett. We've got some guys who can kick a footy now. I just don't think we are using them.

Oliver, Matt Jones, ANB looking likely. I'd be keen to give Trengove more time to keep building and building, I want him to believe he's going to dominate before he's back, but if they pick him I'll be pumped. Oscar a good chance, need a tall match up for Peter Wright. Stretch and even Brayshaw possible. I'd suggest Salem needs a rest regardless of the concussion. Frost out. Dunn easily could be dropped. Harmes if his cork is no good. FB: Wagner Oscar Jetta HB: Vince T Mc Lumumba C: M Jones Jones Bugg HF: Kennedy Hogan Petracca FF: Watts Pedersen Garlett Foll: Gawn Viney Tyson Int: Oliver Hunt Kent Harmes/ANB/Trengove Vince to half back is probably the biggest change I want. Just to get an experienced head back there. Everything else is mainly shuffling things around. I don't want to throw out too many guys on the back of one disappointing day, and particularly I'd like to new young defenders in.

Anyway, Dawes would replace Pedersen not Frost. Or compete with Pedersen. I'm yet to be convinced one is better than the other. Frost is a different question. He brings us something on a big ground at the G as he can run in to space and win contests, but was a liability at Etihad. Too much pressure on him to impact and his speed hides that he's still a big man when it comes to agility and he can't turn like a small man. Unfortunately with Vanders out/inj, Brayshaw out of form/fitness and so on we seem short on forwards.

Richmond on the back of 3 finals couldn't sign a big fish. Dawes is propping up our salary cap getting us to the minimum. He'll be playing for a new contract this year with little leverage, don't worry about the money.

We aren't that good, we aren't that bad. Saints are good. Home ground. Vintage Nick Riewoldt who's a zone defense destroyer. Inside mids won the ball, but we lack outside talent to capitalise. We lack forwards who can impact on the scoreboard and defend. Garlett had his head in the clouds. Too many of our other forwards are good in space but don't have the short space smarts that the best players do. Plenty of work to be done there. Backline is a mess. But hey, we kind of new that. Dunn got left out for Oscar Mc in round 1. Tommy Mc is Tommy Mc, take the good with the bad. Lumumba is a head case. Salem needs more time to handle teams who can run him up and down the ground. Wagner and Hunt have 5 games between them. You can't love the extra scoring the zone system has given us this year and hate when it goes balls up. If we don't bring forward pressure and pressure around the ball it's going to happen.

Salem and Wagner are two who looked a bit sore down back, but if they are right you probably play them, or at least 1 of them. Hunt is young but has only played 2 games at the top level, he shouldn't be too fatigued. Sounds like Brayshaw is out but the rest of the midfield and forward group are mostly 4th year + and hopefully can cope with a quick back up. I'd certainly have Matt Jones and Oliver ready for anyone sore but from the way we finished the Richmond game I'm not sure anyone will be putting their hand up for a rest. I want him back in but I think the club were smart to rest Clarry when they did. Better a week early than a week late.

Salem and Wagner are two who looked a bit sore down back, but if they are right you probably play them, or at least 1 of them. Hunt is young but has only played 2 games at the top level, he shouldn't be too fatigued. Sounds like Brayshaw is out but the rest of the midfield and forward group are mostly 4th year + and hopefully can cope with a quick back up. I'd certainly have Matt Jones and Oliver ready for anyone sore but from the way we finished the Richmond game I'm not sure anyone will be putting their hand up for a rest. I want him back in but I think the club were smart to rest Clarry when they did. Better a week early than a week late.

Floated kick in to Kent up forward. Silly handball to Viney in the middle. He made a couple of mistakes. I think the grind of AFL footy is starting to slow him down a bit after a great first few weeks, but the good news is he's still playing his role and he might pick up again soon. If he has to go back to Casey at some stage that'll be ok too. His ability to get to good spots has been his highlight the last couple of weeks. Just knows where to go to find the footy/be an option for team mates. When you combine that with speed it opens up the ground for everyone else.

Wasn't winning it in the middle, had his usual spell forward (which is where he should play more often in a good team) and then they tried to play him down back to get him involved in the game. Very cleverly whoever he was matching up on (I think it was Harmes) took him back to the goal square and out of play. Our players and coaches cop it for mistakes, I'm as guilty of that as anyone, but they handled Dusty very well.

Yep exactly. And not like I'd anchor him to the goal square. Just at Etihad there's less space for Watts to lead up from a deep position and more chances to get quick one on ones. That NAB challenge game is the template and not only should Hogan have kicked 5 or more but Watts was probably top 3 best on as a half forward. His ability to lead out to the far side of the ground and to use the ball aggressively was a standout.

Yep was the kick to Hogan, one of the best kicks to a lead we've had in a long time, probably since Davey retired.

The Etihad factor is why I'd drop Frost. There's not the same space to need as many tall options and you need guys good in small spaces, where as Frost is at his best with room to run in to space either to attack or defend. I think Watts should play up the ground this week to get more involved in general play. Hogan usually plays deep at Etihad and I like that game plan. It's a ground where you can be creative at half back and get the ball through the middle then to your best forward one on one deep inside 50. I'd like Oliver back to have that extra clearance and creative player to help get the ball through the middle of the ground. The question will be whether the club has faith that Oliver and Petracca can play together in the same side. I think they can. 65-70% game time each. Oliver probably doing a fair bit in the midfield with some time forward, Petracca the opposite.

He just has to be careful not to over use that kick now. It's like he's found a weapon and wants to fire it off repeatedly. His kick to Bugg for the mark ended up well but probably could've had a little more 'fluff' on it. Can't see him getting dropped though, he's doing exactly what the coaches want and working on improving as well.

Malthouse: 'you can't be lenient on an all star' then next sentence 'should just let him off, give him 4 if he does it again'. He really has lost the plot. That said, it explains why he was always so reluctant to punish his good players caught in trouble. He was the king of double standards and it's been played out at Collingwood ever since.

He really should snap everything within 30 of goal and not directly in front. Outside 40 he's pretty cooked anyway! Should've nailed the snap he got at the Punt road end from a free kick. Didn't go back far enough from the mark and therefore didn't run out far enough to bend it around. He's such a nice field kick and so dangerous running forward, I'm still not sure we've got the best of him, last year the supply wasn't there full stop, this year it's just early days in a new set up. He hasn't reunited his partnership with Brayshaw just yet on the long bomb over the top. We've given him too many aerial contests and I'm not sure he's found the best relationship with our talls yet either. Plus I reckon there's a few set up and coaching tips to really maximise his talent. Probably a strength of Roos so far though has been to take the best attributes of players and not focus on the negatives too much. I'm excited Kent gets to work with Garlett as well. He can learn the tricks from a natural. That ability of stalking your prey to tackle with a burst of speed that Garlett can do could be a real weapon for Kent. Similarly how to efficiently find space to snap cleanly. Plus they can combine like they did for a Kent goal.

Usually enough free 2 or 3 hour parks up the hill of Anderson St South Yarra, next to the Botanic Gardens. 200m walk down the hill and across the river and freeway on the bridge at the bottom of the street and you're there. Otherwise it's 80 c per hour (or was in case it's changed) to park in Alexandra Ave at pretty much the same point and walk across if paying a couple of bucks saves the walk up or down the hill. Things that may only interest me - Last year the boys did quite a bit of Anderson St hill sprinting, something to keep in mind if you park there. Not fun. And last time I was there I saw Thanasi Kokkinakis doing the same.

I don't mind the apology and reaffirming his dedication to the team. Helps kill the story off. It's good to have a guy who's unsociable and can get under the oppositions skin when required. But 3 goals up at quarter time isn't when required. Pushing an injured player isn't required. There will be moments when Bugg's niggle comes in handy, but most weeks he has to play a good team game and not become the focus of the umpires and opposition. It's hard to play well with a target on your back. I'd rather he be Tom Bugg - reliable hard running wingman and part time niggler not the other way around. Jones, Viney, Kent, Harmes, Dunn - there should be plenty of options to take up the unsociable football mantle.

I saw it as just letting him get an extra step on him and then missing a tackle. But it's possible as well. Although Chaplin, Vickery and Riewoldt would've been the 3 players Dunn studied on tape prior to the game. Should be easy enough to remember which is the left footer. Dunn last year often played the goal keeper role too much. Trying to get back in case kicks fell short instead of pushing up and stopping a man. So if that's part of his style it might explain some resistance to embracing a zone role. His foot skills and strength in the air and on the ground are really exciting when he's an attacking player, so I hope he starts to get involved more. The way he weaved out of trouble deep in the back pocket early in the first quarter was as classy as any tall defender in the comp.

You didn't say 'if he keeps up this form' you said 'will'. I agree, if he has 30 and 2 each week he'll be a star. If he plays like he did in the first two rounds he'll be a depth player. I think he'll be somewhere between the two and a consistent top 10 in the B+F type in a very good side.

Vince to half back for Salem. Matt Jones to the wing. Probably Oliver/Petracca/ANB for Brayshaw. Probably Petracca/Oliver for Frost.

Maybe. But he's 28. Should be plenty of time left if his body is right. Which is key for both him and Garland. I don't think Garland's body has been right for a long time and I also don't think he suits modern footy. He's a man on man 3rd tall who's lost his rebound. I can imagine this new zone system takes a fair bit to get confident in for senior players used to different methods. Frawley and Lake both took a long time at Hawthorn. Dunn's a little shorter and not as good overall but I think he can do the Lake role pretty well, just needs time in the system and to build match fitness.

Once he gets back to Casey I expect Oscar will push for more games. In weeks we have to play 3 talls they might give him chances. It will be interesting to see what they do with Weideman, Hulett and Frost. Any of them could be reassigned as defenders if they aren't great ruck options and Hogan/Watts hold down the key forward spots. I know he just kicked 4 on the weekend but for list balance when Dawes comes in to the Casey side I'd be tempted to play Hulett at CHB to see how he goes there. Isn't finding a heap of the footy forward and is a very nice kick. He could be a key defensive option.

Beautiful long kick to break open zones, can run and carry the ball as well, can intercept mark. He's not exactly Zac Dawson old fashioned. I can see why they left him out at the start of the year. I'm not convinced he's at top fitness and he's certainly not in peak form. Top form Lynden Dunn doesn't get turned by Troy Chaplin. But I've got no issue with his game style adapting to the change in the game. He might not be used to the zone positioning and needs to improve that, but I think he can. He's certainly the best full back on our list and 2nd best tall defender.

I'm loving Dom's last two weeks. Clean hands, tackling very well, spreading hard, taking marks and kicking goals. He's rotating with Ben Kennedy at half forward more and I think it's good for both of them. Ben Ken brings a bit more speed to the midfield. Tyson brings some smarts and spread as the high half forward.

Don't want to even hold the middle ground. Dropped to elite in a few weeks?