Rogue

My 'angle' is that they have won more than triple the amount of games than we have for a reason - they're a far better side than us. Sure, we could beat Carlton. We could beat St. Kilda. You could buy a lotto ticket and hit the jackpot. Is it probable that any of those things will occur? No.

If the AFL took away the PP for this year it'd be giving support to those who suggest AFL teams do 'tank' games. There's no way the AFL would do this.

Yep.

Yeah, there was a very nice kick from the centre out towards the MCC stand.

Let us be realistic - it was a loss, like every game bar three have been this season.

He's not a great mobile athlete and he doesn't have the build for a Roughead/Kosi type. He might have the build if/when he fills out more and then his athletic ability would be okay for his type.

Yep :<

Have they been playing Melbourne? Carlton are far above us on the ladder for a reason. North is a bona fide danger game though.

+1

Same. Whether or not McMahon kicked that goal has no bearing on our prospects for our future [edit: with regards winning culture etc] and finishing with an extra four points this year is of no benefit.

You're kidding. There are four games left and one of those is against St. Kilda and another versus Carlton. Even if we won versus Richmond we'd need to beat both those sides. If you think we could have beaten Sydney then you'd need to make a convincing case for why we're favourites versus Carlton.

Nice article - tough on the fringes. I wouldn't be shocked if they both got cut at the end of the year.

So it is in our hands...

Good luck finding opponents as bad as Richmond. The game was atrocious. Is Miller the next Ablett or Judd? I was going to make note of the same positional moves. Valenti was also deep in defence (along with PJ) at one stage! Oh, and when we kicked one of our last two goals guess who was in our goal square - Warnock and Wheels... PS. Same...

I can see where you're coming from with McLean but characterising Matthews' comment regarding Watts as an attack is over the top (just like the over-reaction when he made the comments). That'd be fine if games late in the season were played out on their merits, but some clubs - particularly WCE - have put the cue in the rack. Have you seen the team selections the past couple of weeks?

Reckon? I don't think 2:10 (4:45 finish) is too late for many. On the other hand, a 1:10 start might be a struggle for some. Any kids playing footy on Sunday will be lucky to make it.

...and didn't star either. Unless we're determined to play Martin/PJ up forward a fair bit to retain our tall/small structure I can't see him playing this week. If Sylvia really is playing at Casey that leaves only one more to cut from the extended bench. Given Bennell is also playing I'm not sure we need Wheels.

Indeed. Three games away from a milestone, just that it's the 150th. I assume that's why they were listed in the 18 This week would be his 148th, so it'd be another two for 150 - that'd make it the Freo game! Our midfield (at least in the 18) looks pretty weak, so they should win that battle. We could be bolstered by guys from the extended interchange like Sylvia, Moloney and even Morton though.

It's a shame McKenzie's injured. If the starting 18 is a good guide of who's definitely in it seems Frawley and Grimes are going to slot back in, which is probably justified. Which three do we drop from the extended interchange? I'd like Wheels to get to his [edit: 150] games. No quick defender there, although I'm not sure Richmond are the ones to exploit it. Anyway, look at the rest of the team

:D If you're talking about a direct swap, we picked up Grimes with that pick. If you're talking about role, even Buckley's most ardent supporters haven't suggested he's a keeper because of his elite foot skills.

I think Newton and Watts can both get games, particularly if Robbo and/or Miller aren't around next year. I also wouldn't be too optimistic about next year. Again, I expect us to be more competitive and this should be reflected in our percentage, but I think we'd need to be very fortunate to get 10 wins (let alone finals). We're going to have a pretty inexperienced side and we're going to have inexperienced players playing leading roles. Hopefully we get a decent run with injuries - we're due for it!

I think Jarka was referring to our salary cap breach penalty. It would have been then.

One clearly injury-plagued season - after he was a favourite to win our b&f halfway through last year - and McLean's stocks have dropped dramatically.

Surely that's his stand-out positive attribute. As you say, kicking isn't his forte and that's where the concern is for me. He showed he was able to work on his accountability after being dropped, which was good, and he takes the game on. However, it's no use if you can't use it. We'll have to agree to disagree. Contracted players very rarely get paid out, so unless we get a trade for them they're going to be on our list next year.

It does somewhat make sense because then there's no issue of whether the 'line' (say at 16 or 18) is in our out of PP range.