Rogue

The frustrating thing is that he was probably on an upward trajectory in the AFL team before the Weagles match but still not hitting top form, got dropped, and then was so bad at Casey that he wasn't in the frame for selection v GWS.

Unfortunately I can point to a similar moment out on the southern wing with a completely different result. GWS were taking the ball from the city end of the ground towards Punt Road and had the ball defensive side of the centre. Trac was either ball-watching and/or lazy and left too far a gap between him and his man, allowing GWS to kick over his head to the guy he was marking. He was the one weak link in a team of Demons leaving GWS with nowhere to go.

What? Garlett has been stinking it up at Casey until this weekend. He was so bad last week that it was impossible to select him after he was dropped in the lead-up to the WCE game. As for Bugg, I don't even consider him coming into the side. In fact, I would put money on him being delisted at the end of the season. So, we've just finished the season in fifth place, despite significant injury lay-offs to important players. Where are all the 'the sky is falling' posters who were virtually threatening to rip up their memberships a few weeks ago..?

Much will depend on what what happens with injuries - hard to know for sure whether Viney, Hannan, Tyson and Kent will be fit, and how Joel Smith and Hunt will come back from injury. Ideally, Viney and Hannan come into the team. Viney is an obvious in, and Hannan is probably in my best 22, so I'd definitely select both if fit. @DeeSpencer, I wouldn't play Hannan in the VFL this week. He played last week and was in good touch after a long lay-off, so he's shown he can come slot straight in. Better to give his knee a rest, I reckon. I'd prefer to see Fritsch play further up the ground, so I'd consider bringing Joel Smith in if he has a good VFL final. I reckon Hunt's a fair way off playing AFL right now though, but you never know what could happen if we win a couple of games but pick up some injuries. I don't think Spargo is up to it at the moment, and I had basically written off JKH - but think he had his best game vs GWS and depending on who else was fit, I would probably select him before Spargo. @Nasher, I reckon you 're right re: JKH. How about if Kent is fit - where does he rank versus JKH and Spargo? @deefella, Garlett has some traits that I'd love in the team. However, he's been pretty poor this season and after we dropped him in the lead-up to the WCE game I reckon that might have been just about it, unless he has a stellar VFL finals series.

How good was Frost? A stellar game today. Some of his kicking was exceptionally good, and he's just so damn quick. He was great to watch. Gawn continues to have a huge impact and I'd love to see him win the Brownlow this year. I've thought Harmes has been really good since getting more time in the midfield, and I love that he's getting some accolades. Trac continues to infuriate me with his inconsistent disposal and his at-times lazy and/or poor decisions, but did some really good things and I want him to set the finals alight. Really disappointing that Tyson was injured, because in the past 2.5 games I reckon he was in the best form I've seen for him in about two seasons. I must have been watching a different player to you. Even though he had some good moments and it was a better game than versus WCE, I thought he was probably our worst player for the day. I'll be interested to see whether I see it differently on the replay. Unfortunately he's visibly spent during the games much of the time, and can't fulfill his role in the zone/chase his man. Maybe the fact he's running his guts out effects his kicking, because it's diabolically bad at times. I don't even know if he'll carve out a 100+ game AFL career, let alone be a huge asset, so we're a fair way apart in our views. I'm glad I'm not the only one who sees it like this. I reckon he's been struggling for a month+.

Only sometimes. Sure, he had that horrible telegraphed short kick when he should have had a shot. However, on the other side of the coin was the disgusting rushed snap when he had multiple options. Although there was a fair bit to like, there was also a lot not to like. However, I feel like he could be a game-changer if he could put together a complete game. Frustrating player in that his potential seems to be far greater than his output, and does some stupid things, so I get the Sylvia references.

Might have been JKH's best game, but I reckon the big win has led to some rose-coloured glasses. Spargo was very ordinary again, despite a couple of good things. Gotta be in doubt for our first final on form, but the injuries are mounting up.

I don't think Spargo just 'needs a rest', I simply think he's been playing poorly, isn't at the level required yet, and in an ideal world would have been dropped 3+ weeks ago.

Pretty easy to set the fine at a percentage of income. (It could even have a floor or ceiling if you like, or be a progressive 'tax', but I wouldn't bother). Trivial to implement if the AFL has access to salaries, which they do. eg. A 0.005% fine instead of a $2000 fine. It equates to $1500 for a player on $300K, $5000 for a player earning $1M, and $355 for a rookie on $71K. Might be a little tricky for Average Joe to get his head around a 0.005% fine, but it's pretty easy to implement.

Didn't realise he was a chance for this week, but just read that he's a test (as is Hunt). I reckon it's an attractive option.

I agree. He was clearly hampered vs Sydney, but looked great against West Coast. I reckon Spargo has been cooked for weeks. I'm certainly not writing him off permanently - it's his first season so I'm reserving judgement, although I don't think he has great forward craft and don't see elite midfield potential yet either - but I don't rate him at the moment. However, we have a bunch of injuries (Lever, Hogan, Vince, JSmith and Viney), I can't see how Garlett gets back this week - even though I would have kept him over Spargo - and the cupboard's looking a little bare otherwise. I'd delist JKH and Bugg at season's end and wouldn't play either unless we're struck down with further injuries, while Pedo and Tim Smith aren't the right type to bring in. Interesting suggestion from @Whispering_Jack regarding dropping Spargo for Wagner. It'd allow Fritsch to play further up the ground, which I'd like, but I'll be surprised if we bring in Wagner.

Exactly right.

Based on the last couple of weeks, pretty easy selection choice - Spargo out; Viney in. Given many of our small-medium forwards play midfield at times, it'll just modify the midfield minutes for a few players.

Hannan is criminally underrated on Demonland.

I rate Garlett over Spargo, but I can't see how we'll now choose Jeff after we dropped him for round 22. By all reports Garlett put in a stinker at Casey, while Spargo was better than in the Sydney game. Hibberd is a worry. Who's left? I don't rate Wagner very highly, but he's the next man in and I reckon we need Hibberd for finals, so if he needs the two weeks off we've got to give it to him.

Take your chances when they're there

I reckon Spargo's been pretty poor for weeks, although not to the horror show-level that we saw vs Sydney. Obviously Garlett's been off the pace, but I thought he'd been improving since getting back in and agree with you re: Garlett being far more dangerous.

Apart from Garlett being dropped, I was basically on the money for this week (although I did have a bet each way with Pedo v Weid as the KPF, since I haven't seen Weid at Casey). I would have taken Garlett and dropped Spargo instead, but I'm pretty happy with the other ins and outs.

Lever, Viney and Hogan are out, and other important players are underdone - Gawn was clearly playing injured last week, while Hibberd and Melksham are straight back in after significant layoffs. ...and yet I still reckon we're a chance of knocking off the #2 team away.

This x1000.

I'll be fascinated to see how many changes we make this week. I've read a stat about teams having a very low chance of winning if they have more than three changes. I reckon there's something to keeping the team together for chemistry reasons, but on the other hand most good sides/teams in good form simply don't need to make more than three changes, so I don't know if the link is causal. Hogan and Hunt are out with injuries and Hibberd and Melksham are best 22, so there are two easy changes. Surely Spargo must be dropped, and that takes us to three changes. He had an absolute 'mare on the weekend, and I blame the selection panel - he should have been omitted weeks ago. Hannan and Kent are waiting in the wings, and although Hannan was the 'carry over' emergency it's now been a while since he's played and Kent seemingly had a good game at Casey. I also think JKH was horrible on the weekend, and I reckon he has been on thin ice since he nabbed a spot in the team due to injuries, so I'd say bringing in the other of Hannan or Kent for JKH would make us stronger. There's also what we do with Pedo, and whether he takes Hogan's KPF spot. If we bring in Weid (who, based on Casey match reports, is ahead of Tim Smith ATM), I think Pedo gets the chop and then there's at least three changes - but quite possibly four or five. Isn't Optus Stadium pretty much the same size as the MCG? Anyway, Hunt's out injured. He was out of the side with a 'jarred knee' a few weeks back and due to injury he hasn't played any footy since then. This week he was fit to play, but we elected to make just two changes to a side who had a big win last week. He didn't play at Casey, because he was the 'carry over' emergency. I also think that what we might see as 'go missing' is actually 'playing injured'. I'm keen to see what he can do next year, if he can get his body right.

What I find difficult to fathom is that you cannot acknowledge the fact that if we had kicked at our usual goal-kicking accuracy, or the league's usual goal-kicking accuracy, we would have won

Not a fan.

So if you are not suggesting they were out too late (whatever that time is) and/or boozing, why are you even bringing it up? The backpedal when someone else challenged you about this was pretty amusing. Either you're suggesting that they did something wrong - like getting drunk or being out 'too' late - or it's of no relevance to the match. @praha: If we'd had half-decent goal kicking accuracy we would have won. That's not clueless - it's bleedingly obvious. Any other criticism of our game is still valid...unless you simply judge the team on the result of the last game (like many emotional 'the sky is falling' supporters).

Exactly. With Lever, we'd already have locked in top eight. In fact, we'd be talking about locking in top two and a home prelim.