Rogue

Although I'd hope that you could find one tackle like this in everyone's highlight reel, I did love that chase at the end.

I think rucks are done a real disservice by being instructed to always dish off by hand - if you never kick in games, you're never going to be able to kick in games. I get that you don't want your less skilled players constantly turning it over, but it really stymies players' development if they're not trusted to every kick the footy in matches. Maggie's young and I imagine she's a long way off her pootential, so I'd definitely be stripping her technique right back to basics and teaching her how to kick the footy. I reckon you can turn just about anyone into a serviceable kick.

My Grandma is quicker than 2020 TMac. (She's six feet under).

I don't actually think Max had a stellar year. Shocked May missed though. Would have had him and Trac nabbing AA jackets.

Honestly, the only Blues game I've watched in full this year is the game against us, so I couldn't say.

Putting aside what McKay is worth, I reckon it's too cute for a ninth placed team to say they're not going to improve their list because it will also improve the list of another team that missed out on finals.

I'd swap a mid for a KPF. You need to give to get, or you go to the draft and wait years to see if a 17 year old turns out to be the answer. I don't actually think we need a gun key forward though, we just need a guy who can consistently get to contests and bring the ball to ground. For those who said Weid was strong in the contest today, how many times did he not even make it to the contest?

Some of Baker's disposal was far from 'neat', IMO - in fact quite a few disposals were diabolical. Agree with 1.5 of your cents though; on the money re: Fritsch, Brown and Smith though. Smith is not a defender, and neither is Harmes, whose season we've cruelled by making him play in defence. I've said it before, but I think Smith's defensive IQ is terrible - must hope that Petty can get fit and firing next year. Can't understand why Brown didn't play more footy for us this season, particularly with Tom Mac's form falling off a cliff. Picking Preuss as a KPF was a ridiculous call, but I do think he should look for a trade to a Club that needs a ruck as he could do more than some of the blokes getting a game elsewhere. Also think we were in control for the first three quarters, and should have been further in front if not for some terrible kicking - it wasn't just Fritsch that could have been more accurate today. You're never going to get it all your own way, but thought we were well on top in the first, despite being behind at the first break, and also in the third.

RE: Weideman, I think the real problem is that he doesn't move with intensity - just can't (or won't) get into top gear. It explains why he gets so easily blocked/shoved away from the contest. If you look at other forwards who consistently create a contest, they see where the flight of the ball is taking it and are then moving towards that point with real intensity - not just loping around. The difference between him and Hogan in this regard is stark, and it has nought to do with talent IMO. I think there are a lot of issues with our play that come down to effort and poor habits, and I think you can blame coaches for letting players get away with substandard efforts. As others have pointed out, it's the little things like making legitimate shepherding attempts, and running hard to man up the opposition before they get the footy, rather than jogging along until they have the footy and it's too late.

Yeah, it's tonight at 6:20PM.

I'd bring in Jackson, Hibberd and Lockhart. If Jackson is fit, he plays. I understand that three talls hasn't worked well for us at times, but it's a very different look with two of those being Jackson and Brown, so I'd replace one of the smalls. You could make a case for Hunt, ANB and AVB. I've been critical of Spargo in the past, but he's done enough to warrant a spot (and so does Baker). Hibberd is also in my best 22, so he comes in if fit. I think we should consider playing a legit small defender, so in that case it wouldn't be a swap for Jetta - probably Smith instead, who I'm not sure has a great defensive footy IQ; otherwise, it'd be Tomlinson given he's been playing as a tall defender. I'd also look at swapping Lockhart for Jetta. I've been a fan of Jetta since he started playing down back, but I reckon he's been on the decline since 2019 and - particularly if Hibberd is playing - we can have Lockhart just playing a lockdown role. Three changes might do it. I rate Harmes, but I think we've ruined his 2020 playing him down back, and it's a big ask to play a come back and play a different role, particularly if Melksham is playing as a defensive mid. I actually also rate Hannan, but has looked hampered by his knee lately and probably doesn't warrant a spot.

Ridiculous. If we lose to a couple of bottom sides and still make it, it indicates we've beaten some decent teams we didn't 'need' to beat to make finals. If we'd beaten Freo and Sydney and dropped games to Saints and Pies, people would say we didn't deserve to make it because we'd only beaten average sides. If you make it, you deserve it*. Teams around the fringes always drop games they 'should' win and win games they're expected to lose - that's footy, and sport in general. *Except maybe Carlton, when they snuck in due to the Bombers being stripped of premiership points.

I always thought Hogan was the type of player who could carry us into finals, and I reckon he might just do it this week versus the Dogs.

Maybe. Freo's been playing some decent footy lately so they're probably just as likely to win as we are to make up an ~8 goals worth of percentage on St Kilda after they lose to GWS.

So when are you playing him? Into a final off the back of a 7 week layoff? Or are you writing him off for the year?

OP: 'Very open and frank'. Everyone else: 'Nothing revealed - straight bat/spin only'. ... Anyway, apart from reiterating that we're set on finding a base somewhere close to the 'G, did he mention anything else of note? Pert's never going to reveal anything major re: the Coach etc, but any tidbits about strategy etc? Doesn't sound like it's worth listening to the whole thing, so appreciate any info!

GWS says hi.

Finals. (Maybe. Thanks, GWS).

The WB upset over Eagles is a blow.

Curious about Preuss for Brown. Are we going to do something different with Gawn? Maybe Preuss tasked with crashing packs for the smalls, and perhaps Gawn to do the same up forward.

The top five are clearly a cut above the rest, and we're 0-5 against them, so let's compare apples with apples. Looking at the teams 6-10, what you're telling me is that 3/5 have lost to the bottom six in recent times. As for the other two, St Kilda got knocked over by Freo two months ago and fell over the line vs the Suns last month. WB have only played two bottom six sides in the past two months - beating Suns by less than a goal - but did get absolutely belted by Carlton. If anything, I think this bolsters my argument that we've done what average teams do - it's not rare, it's the norm.

Lloyd: 'No other top [his word] team is losing to bottom sides' ...except if you cast your mind back three weeks, Sydney rolled the Giants by 41 points. The day before, Essendon escaped with a draw versus Gold Coast. Oh, and about a month back, Freo knocked over Collingwood. Mentally weak, or have they done what average teams do and occasionally wobbled vs lowly sides?

We can be trusted. Our results vs the top five, who IMO are a cut above the rest of the comp, are 0 wins and 5 losses. The rest of our season has been 7-2. That's basically bang-on for a team fighting for a spot in finals, which is exactly what we are.

I suppose the same supporters would talk about the 'shinboner spirit' too. Lazy stereotypes are hard to kill and if you've got a little too excited about where we're at, it's easy to blame losses on 'mental weakness'. How are North going? The reality is that we're performing on par for a mid-ladder team around the fringes of the top eight. We've won 5/7 games vs teams currently below us on the ladder, but lost 5/7 vs teams currently above us. Our record is 0-5 versus the top five, and 7-2 versus the teams from 6th down. I reckon the results are a reasonable reflection of where our side is at, and not a surprise that a team of our calibre would drop a game to a bottom six side. It's not 'mental weakness', it's that we're just not that good, and teams that aren't that good drop games they 'should' win. 1 Port - loss 51 points 2 Brisbane - loss 4 points 3 Richmond - loss 27 points 4 Geelong - loss 3 points 5 WCE - loss 27 points 6 Collingwood - won by 56 points 7 Saints - win by 3 points 8 GWS - *** 10 WB - loss by 28 points 11 Essendon - 12 Carlton - won 1 point 13 Suns - won 17 points 14 Freo - 15 Swans - loss by 21 points 16 Hawks - won 43 points 17 North - won by 57 points 18 Adelaide - won 51 points

Jones' role is probably the most easily replaced on our list, and for that reason it's a struggle to think of why we'd want to keep him on the list if he's pretty clearly just a depth player. In that circumstance, I reckon it's hard to justify keeping him on the list when you could have a young guy filling a depth role who will give similar output, but has bigger upside.