bing181

Re Stretch, suspect he was underperforming and dropped/rested because he was a bit cooked. He's still young, not all that big, and it's a physically demanding style that we're playing. Of course, I could be well wide of the mark.

We have some old heads as well, but the likes of Jones, Hibberd, Lewis and Vince have now played how many games together ... is it 2? That core group of Hawthorn senior players must have 100's of games together.

Liked Sam Frost's game today. Yes, he butchered it a bit, and got caught out a couple of times, but he's starting to regularly get his hands on it. Give him a year or two - though feel like you could say that about half the team. Petracca having a quiet(ish) day didn't help, and getting hard to see how we can have both Hannan and JKH in the same side - that's one "project" player too many. I was happy for JKH to be given the chance, but after 3 games, time for him to develop his craft in the magoos. Hannan feels like a limited player to me, certainly once the ball hits the ground. But I don't really see that changing those two does more than shuffle the deck chairs, and we didn't lose just because of them. Main issue is that it's going to be a slog without Gawn or Spencer. Pedersen just isn't tall enough, and opposition teams will just play to exploit that weakness. As we saw today.

Can't be underestimated. We lost to a vastly more experienced and composed team. They may be getting a bit rusty round the edges, but there's so much shared experience in that team, they read each other's play so well, they just seem to know what their team mates are going to do with the ball in any given situation. Us on the other hand, are the reverse. People complaining about those handballs to players standing still or out of position -often, it's not the fault of the handballer, but the handballee: time and time again I just felt that the ball was handballed to someone who wasn't expecting it, or ready for it, yet alone thinking about what they were going to do with it once they'd received it. It isn't a question of competence of ability, it's a question of experience. Which will come in time. Just going to be frustrating along the way.

Agree - but in spite of all the negatives, we still managed to kick 14 goals, which is a winnable score. I don't know that our forward line is all that dysfunctional. Petracca was really down/off today, if he'd managed a couple of goals, totally different story. But the (forward) player I found myself wishing was out there was Vandenberg.

1. Inexperience, both individually, but moreso together. 2. Lack of Gawn or even Spencer. Their talls did what they wanted.

Bummer for Brayshaw.

First live match for 3 years for me ... any suggestions on best public seating at the MCG today?

Decision-making under conditions of uncertainty yields uncertain outcomes.

That's also what they're saying over at Hawthorn.

I don't disagree, certainly on JKH, but Kent has had more of an opportunity to prove his worth than JKH. Kent has had a year extra in the system, and fewer injuries - though both have had their fare share. But the fact that in his 5th season, Kent is still being dropped to Casey to work on elements of his game makes you wonder though. FWIW, Kent has another year on his contract, JKH is only contracted till the end of this season.

Good luck with that.

No he won't. Because you're judging him based on what he's getting wrong. The FD are judging him on what he's getting right.

He's 31. There aren't all that many AFL footballers who last much past then. If he's no longer in career best form, it's as much to do with the fact that he's getting on as anything else. Except for short spurts, his days in the engine room are almost certainly behind him. Which is why he's being played down back.

It may be a load/management decision. We're playing a high intensity/high pressure style, and it's going to take its toll. We may see players being rested, just as we may see players unable to keep it up. (needless to say, I have no idea if either is the case with Stretch, or there aren't specific reasons for his omission)

Yes.

Just the AFL site, Advanced Stats.

Early days yet, but we've won every match that Lewis played. Coincidence?

2 takeaways for me from today were: - we finally managed to not go AWOL for parts of the game. No easy goals out the back at the end of quarters, and really managed to keep the match on our terms when we got in front (most of the last half). The players felt very deliberate and clear in keeping control at those critical moments. - not unrelated to the above, but we look such a better team with Lewis and Hibbard. Add Gawn and Hogan to that side, and when the story of this year comes to be written, it's going to be one of "what might have been". It's easy to see how we could have been 6 0 at this stage had we had those 4 players every game.

Wrong column. They were marks.

And many weren't.

Hard to see O'Mac being dropped: not a huge number of disposals, but highest efficiency on the field. Plus 8 marks and a huge 14 1%'ers (if not a misprint ...). The other plus with Oscar is that he seems to be able to play all day: 99% of game time is almost like having another player on the bench. Also, to state the obvious, having Oscar there frees up Tom to take the ruck when the ball's in the back half.

Josh Wagner: 12 kicks 8 handballs 20 disposals 5 marks 6 tackles

And even when he's replacing a crumbing forward.

Neeld has the runs on the board as an assistant, and from what I've heard from a couple of Essendon-supporting mates, he's appreciated at the Dons, as he was at Collingwood. OK, he was a out of his depth as a senior coach, but no shame in that. You could make the same argument re Brendan McCartney.