bing181

Fine if that's the case, but Bowey (I presume?) would be stiff.

Yes, keep up with them for speed ... but that's only half of "go with", and for the moment at least, Smith doesn't have the smarts.

Agree with your point, but Smith is a fringe player because of injuries, not necessarily because of ability. He just hasn't been able to play much footy over the last couple of years. The difference with Bowey, who has been able to put together a season's worth of matches (Covid notwithstanding) is fairly marked. Not a justification for playing Smith in the finals when both Hunt and Hibberd are available, but he's worth persevering with, at least for another season.

Not sure about Hibberd. He's out of the side for a reason, and it's Bowey who took Hibberd's place, not Smith - Smith came in for Hunt. From what we've heard, Hunt will probably be good to go, so presumably would come in for Smith. I do think we have the easier path to the Granny, would rather face Cats/GWS than either of the other two. Hard to see it not being a Port/Dees GF, whoever gets through next weekend is going to be cooked and coming up against a fresh/rested side. Port at home would be impassable I would have thought. And don't mind playing twice in the West, gives us a chance to build a temporary fan base. Need a few front page photos of the boys down at Scarborough beach, or posing with Dennis Lillee.

You''d think Hunt for Smith the only likely change (if Hunt ready). Though perhaps depends on whether Toby Green plays or not. Not sure about Tom Mac - Melksham has been a serial under-performer of late so not exactly banging the door down, and Weidemann would be a bit of a gamble I would have thought. Equally, got to think about who we might take into a grand final (yikes!), so would be the last chance to make changes. Speaking of grand final, if we make it suspect it will be against Port, so perhaps even that comes into play when thinking about lineups.

Decent player-by-player ratings here, hard to disagree. Tom Mac the only real non-performer, perhaps Smith but what do you do with Cameron? https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/teams/melbourne-demons/afl-finals-2021-melbourne-demons-player-ratings-vs-brisbane-first-qualifying-final-reviews-stats-best-and-worst-players/news-story/2de934808b2d6d893f6d98f7e3b4d5d0?recommendedCount=0

Not sure it would have helped. Smith at least has the speed. Can't help but feel that some of these selections are for the long term, getting experience into the younger players.

Just gaslighting of the first order from Gladys, you don't have to look very far to see the reality of what she's proposing. e.g., I'm in France where we have 80% of the over-50's and 60% of the rest of the adult population fully vaxxed - currently running at just under 30,000 cases per day with over 100 deaths. The health services are running at their limit, including intensive care. Just don't have a serious car crash. That's what "living with Delta" means. Comparing relative populations, that 30K would translate to around 11 - 12K cases per day in Australia. (Also, there are still plenty of restrictions here as well, especially inside, large gatherings etc.).

Not if you're one of the 100 who gets seriously ill, suffers long-term effects, or dies.

Yes. Name-calling and abuse is but the tip of a deep but insidious iceberg.

Fatality rate from TTS is falling as doctors etc. become more aware of it and better able to treat it. Rates are approaching 10% from what I've seen: i.e. fatal in 1 in 10 people who get TTS post AZ vaccination. People with more time on their hands than me can compare that to the risk of death from lightning strikes, car accidents or daily aspirin use. Tragic of course, but Covid takes no prisoners.

Great win, but not good for anyone that the Suns were so poor. They had a few good wins early on, but have really dropped away.

Looking forward to seeing Jake Bowey out there. They say a first-gamer always perks a team up, so hope that's the case.

Messiah syndrome.

Max provides some great insights into match play and structures, especially around centre bounces and clearances.

This.

Don't kid yourself.

Dogs very very good, will go close this year, especially once you add Dunkley and Treloar to that mix. We're missing at least one more decent mid/small forward. Melksham in his prime would have been useful tonight. Still don't think this is going to be our year, still too inexperienced for mine. But building nicely for the next few years.

No idea of the changes, but at least in the forward line we need more potency. OK, I get it with the pressure and all, but ANB and Spargo are just not turning that pressure into many goals. They just never feel dangerous. Was scary watching some of the Dogs' mid/small forwards, always felt like something could happen every time they got near it. Perhaps time to give Melksham another run? I'm also in the Weideman for Jackson camp.

Jesus, this is doing my head in. That's not what he's saying. He's saying that if the grand final was only open to people with confirmed cases of Covid, +/- 3000 of them would die. As opposed to, say, a grand final attended by people who had the flu, where the figure would be less than 10% of that. (Though dying is only part of the story, as the long-term symptoms/consequences of Covid are turning out to be life-changing for a lot of people.)

No real problem with vax rates in the UK, they're one of the leaders in getting needles into arms. As to everything else re Covid, the populist Brexiteers at Downing St have been a disaster. We in the rest of the world largely have them to thank for first up the Alpha variant (also known as the UK variant) because they didn't close down early enough last winter, and now the Delta variant because they dragged their feet on closing their borders to their populist mates in India. Meanwhile, they're forcing everyone coming in from France to quarantine, regardless of their vax status, because of a rise in the Beta variant - though there is effectively no Beta variant in mainland France. They're doing it because anything anti-French plays well with their jingoistic supporters, also because they're very bad at geography and haven't grasped that the Beta variant rampant in the Reunion Islands shows up in French figures. It's a bit like closing the door on the UK because of an outbreak in the Falklands.

So, nothing to do with the coaching then. (agree with this of course).

* in the VFL.

Maybe, but you'd better buckle up, going to be a bumpy ride if that's the case.

One of Demonland's meaningless platitudes, trotted out every time we lose.