DeeSpencer

I think as a general rule for every week you miss being unable to run you have to add an extra week of training before you play. So if Vanders can't run next week that's 2 weeks without running, which means 2 weeks of training before he can play. If he misses 3 weeks off legs then it might take 3 weeks of training to get him back. The major delay will be if they bring him back too early and he then has to stop running again before restarting.

It would be the centre bounce to end all centre bounces. Do you put a man at half back running through? Do you stack one side of your forward line, direct the kick in there and hope you can then scrum it through for a point. Can you imagine the umpires and how much the whistle would be pretty much swallowed. Almost no chance to get a free kick as a forward with the ball inside 50.

One thing we should be aware of is Salem and Kent's hamstrings if it's a cold night. I wonder if they were on restricted duties today at training with that in mind.

Jones hasn't got forward much at all, and doesn't offer much when caught around the ball, but he's been nearly impeccable with his defensive work rate and very reliable as the outlet kick for defenders. Plus he's yet to be torched the other way by a top wingman I think - Scully's first quarter seemed to be more on Bugg's wing. We probably will be ok, I just think Matt Jones' (and Bugg's) hard running on the wings has been crucial to allowing us to play more attacking football. So the question is what is better? Giving Harmes the chance to take up the role which he should be able to do or switching in Grimes who's trained all summer to do the role and is doing it at Casey. Time will tell. Neither is ideal. Ideal is Hawthorn bringing Billy Hartung up from the 2's. But neither should be fatal.

My question is who plays wing if Matt Jones goes out. Presuming Vince plays 7th defender/mid. Harmes then probably plays wing. Which means Garlett, Frost, Kennedy, Kent and Brayshaw, the 3 talls and a resting Oliver have to bring the defensive forward work. Harmes might be our best pressure forward. His tackle numbers have been great the last two weeks. And I don't think he's as good on the wing. I get the feeling if Matt Jones goes out we'd be better served bringing in a lesser player (ie. Grimes or Stretch) to fill the wing roll, playing Harmes forward and making a tough call on which of the forwards miss out.

Kent's bad game was particularly bad though. Where as he's been above average in his other 3. I don't think Kent's been playing as a deep small forward either. Yes he hasn't gone through the middle with Garlett out, but he's been getting up the ground and back. And we've had Harmes, Brayshaw and even Frost doing similar. I'd suggest Frost is the unlucky one to come out unless someone (M Jones) is injured or needing a rest (Oliver). As far as midfield time, I suggest Kent spends some time on the wing. Harmes too (as he has been). Garlett can be used in either the centre or on a wing depending on match up.

Why? Robbo and Gerard and many others have been saying this as well. I don't see the logic. You need a win/loss result after finals. Hence it existed after other finals and now this change. You don't need a win/loss after a home and away round. 2 points each is a perfectly acceptable way of splitting the result. I really like draws. They produce interesting ladder permeations. They leave you with that horrible half full/half empty feeling. They cap every game at the 120 odd minutes and you share the points and move on.

I was thinking golden point without a siren was unfair, but then I thought, if there is a wind favouring one end then the team that had it first had the chance to put up a big 3 or 4 goal lead and then get that scoreboard pressure. If they can't come out 1 point infront after the OT periods then to counter the scoreboard advantage the other team gets to play with the wind. I'd still have a siren and the ball coming back to the middle. But I don't think it's as unfair as some are suggesting.

Yeah Clarko has never really been a fan of players who can kick the ball really well and are quick. The million dollar question is who to blame for Watts' slow development, him or us, but his talent has been on show for a long time now. All about making sure it he keeps playing well.

Take out his nightmare game against the Bombers and what is Kent's average disposals, and then compare to half forwards across the league (and in the same team). Or just watch the replay and look at the coaches votes. He's not getting dropped this week.

No Vanders, no Oscar, no Mitch King. Spencer out there training which is good, getting towelled by Gawn though so don't expect much if we need him. Matt Jones I only saw briefly before he left. Unsure if he did much more than walk laps. Everyone else was there. Lumumba, JKH and Joel Smith doing some handballing, the 4 mentioned above doing their lighter stuff and despite only doing kick to kick and some other stuff with Cross it looked like Jeffy was moving pretty well to me.

Yep I'd agree with that. Although Hunt has the speed to run out of trouble and balance up which could be his way of playing half back. Needs to be reliable on the slow play kicks though. I also think he's more physical and competitive than I've given him credit for and could be a lock down back pocket in time. I'm hoping we've just scratched the surface of development of Hunt so far.

Left him out as I think he's more of a specialist small forward than in the half forward mix. But yeah, throw him in, adds even more to point that we need defenders more than forwards at this stage.

I don't think any of them have reached the level that Hogan and Cripps did last year but Weitering, Schache, Mills, Oliver and Parish are all playing amazing football for first year kids. Not sure a top 5 as a group have come in and looked so good. Caleb Daniel might be the best of the 2nd year kids. Weitering, Parish and Mills are where I think the winner will come from. Top quality juniors who are really ready for AFL and entrenched in their teams best 22. Being the fat country kid who didn't think he was good enough for AFL 12 months ago will catch up with Clarry I think. But I'd be surprised if he wasn't getting votes at the end of the year. Similarly for Petracca, he could do very well in 16 games, he has the talent, but he didn't have a full preseason or a big endurance base to start with and he looks like the type of player who will be very hot and cold in his early games. He isn't going to just play his role like a Weitering or Mills from half back. He's going to take the game on and back himself.

The replay was archaic, had to go. I'd rather just have continuous periods of 5 min each way extra time than golden point (or golden goal). But I don't think the golden point after 1 set of extra time each way is all that bad. It definitely needs a siren and reset from the centre of the ground. Can't just call it after the 5 minute periods finish.

We've all come up with crazy ideas to help the team when struggling. Some of them even happened, remember Sylvia in the ruck? Most Tigers fans I know are pretty well balanced. Like us, they are well acquainted with bad footy so they know it when they see it. Richmond have had the ability that last 3 years of turning in to a good side when you least expect it. So I'm nervous.

Doesn't have the fitness to play on the wing. He'd be gassed by half time. I think he should rotate on to the wing at times but mainly he's either a half forward or half back at this stage. Is he a defender? That depends on what a defender is. I think you can play half back despite being only an acceptable defensive player. In a zone and team style defending it might be more important to have better defensive players at half forward than half back!

Got turned and burned by Varcoe on the southern stand wing. Otherwise does very well in one on ones, is composed with the ball and has been an important part in getting balance to the side. Sticks key tackles when required. I'd love him forward but consider at half forward we have: Kennedy - going really well Harmes - great tackle and pressure player doing his job Kent - up and down but the ups the last 6 quarters have been really good Brayshaw - just getting back to fitness but is a class player Petracca - building fitness in the VFL and ready to impact when he gets a chance Vanders and JKH - injured, both shown promise at AFL level At half back we have: Vince - gun, but needed to rotate in the midfield Lumumba - playing pretty well but always a lottery what he'll do with it Wagner - 2 career games from the rookie list Hunt - 1 game

She's not usually so heavy on speculation, which is why I don't mind Caro. She's doing a fantastic job of negotiation for Clarko though. Not that they can't afford it but he can almost write whatever number he wants to get paid now. He's shipped off his best assistants so they can't even turf him for one of them either.

Tigers - Punt road end. Demons - city end (Ponsford stand) Surely?

Smart players never trust umpires. Plus you never know if someone's cheating and yelling out touched anyway. Spoil the ball through and worry about the call later. If the goal umpire called the touch 30m away then review it, but if a field umpire thought it was touched then unless they were hallucinating then I agree, just get on with the game.

He was flattened in the 3rd Q. Did a concussion test and was back on in the 4th. So I don't think he's actually had a concussion, just more that he missed time during the game being evaluated for one.

No need to make it about Garland. We only played 2 key defenders against Essendon and again the last two weeks, Dunn has replaced Garland, not Wagner. Both Wagner and Lumumba have taken turns on the 3rd tall forward as the medium options. They compliment each other well. Lumumba has run and athleticism, Wagner has intercept marking and skills. If the zone can be set up right and teams don't have 3 dominant talls then we will stick with 2 key defenders and using mid sized guys. Dunn was solid one on one, and good with the ball when he made smart decisions, his kicking can be a weapon. But he was all at sea in the notion of zone defending and when to be aggressive and leave his man. He'll always be the right match up for teams who have a big marking option deep, he just needs to adapt to the new game plan and also looks a bit short of confidence and fitness.

Ben Ken played a heap in the midfield and doesn't have the tank to do that for long periods, I think explains the drop in TOG. Oliver and Tyson played a lot forward. Kennedy in the midfield is interesting. It's nice to have another player with some burst speed in there, especially up against quicker midfields. Good to see him rewarded for his good form as well. I agree that Oliver wasn't especially tired and there were several times where he was providing great run through the middle in the last quarter and wasn't used by his team mates. If he was to go out of the team I think it would just be for more versatility with options to play everyone without game time limits. And for him to develop more intensity to his two way running. His tackling stood out on the replay. I guess some weeks you are first to the ball and get clearances, other weeks the ball doesn't come your way and tackling is a huge part of the game.

I'm presuming he just hasn't been 100% (or even close) in any game he's played this year. So we are going off about 15 games last year to judge him. He definitely shouldn't be an automatic inclusion but I'd still back him to get back in the side reasonably quickly, I really thought some of his defensive efforts were a clear step above his team mates and his height gives him an added bonus. That said, half forward seems our strongest spot for competition for spots. Kennedy, Kent, Harmes, Petracca, Brayshaw, Vanders, plus Frost can be used as a defensive half forward like he was today.