bing181

He's a fringe player, and not a very good one at that. If we get a third round pick we'll be laughing. This has "traded for pick 78 and a future 5th round pick" written all over it.

Regardless of what happens here on the football side, just hope Harley can (continue to?) get the support he needs. Self-destructive behaviour like this can take a lifetime to learn to manage. And even then ...

Confirmed. You can't back up your claim.

When the facts don't fit your agenda.

The lack of a strong KPF target - yes, Tom Mac, looking at you - is the single biggest factor in why we haven't gone further. We haven't been able to replace his 53 goals from 2018. Next biggie for me is the falling away of Nev Jetta. He was close to AA in 2018. While May, Lever etc have managed to keep the big boys quiet, we don't have a solution to cover opposition small forwards. Apart from that, improving 8 places, getting a few decent wins against top 8 sides, and never really being annihilated by anyone are all positives to build on. Let's not forget we were close to wooden-spooners last year, and never really looked like it.

All you need to know. We finished about where we should have. Higher would have been a fluke, lower would have been under-performing.

"I understand Melbourne will be fined 50K, none of it suspended and Bennell be suspended for four weeks. Will be told to leave the state as soon as possible" "Bennell left the club's hub and went to a friend's place when not authorised. Four weeks at least gives the Demons a chance to re-sign him next year if they see fit."

https://twitter.com/RalphyHeraldSun/status/1307629635060998145?s=20

50K fine, Bennell 4 match ban.

Our list is a mid-table list at best, nothing to do with the coaching that we're not in the eight. We don't have the cattle, or anywhere near it. Bulldogs are in the finals because they're a better team (= better players, and more of them) - and watching this only confirms it.

Apparently in the hub with him. Or now they are and he isn't.

Perhaps. But the 7 players who could replace them are in the same boat.

Hard to argue with.

a) Tom McDonald. We've lost his 2-3 goals/7 odd marks/15 odd possessions per game b) Jordan Lewis. Hard, ruthless, experienced. Just having him out there made a difference and the players walk taller. c) Bernie Vince. See Lewis (though to a lesser extent.) d) Nathan Jones. See Vince

The logical extension of this is that you could put out a VFL-level side with great "attitude and instructions" and have them compete. Sooner or later you need good players, and to go deep into finals you need a lot of them.

Oh no we don't. Not past the top half dozen or so in any case. It's one of the problems here, supporters are constantly over-rating the quality of the team. We're a long way off it at the moment, and each week we're playing a handful of players who would not get picked up by other clubs if we delisted them.

Can someone perhaps start a thread following all this, together with info on percentages etc.?

Only in hindsight. Brown was poor against Swans, and has been mediocre all year. Still, hope he can back it up against his old club, hard to see him getting dropped on that performance.

If Harmes is available, worth including. In the absence of Brayshaw, he's a better mid than VDB or Melksham. Hopefully Hibberd as well. Hard to see any other changes, especially with injuries limiting availability.

Not really. Lockhart really ran out of puff at the back end of last year, and not hard to imagine the same thing here. Still a young player, and this is his first full season + pre-season. Not sure that Jetta is the answer, but with the injuries we have, hard to see what the choices are.

Injuries are starting to add up, so not many alternatives.

Also let's not forget that we're playing most of those games with shorter breaks between them.

There will not be a change of coach.

Woah. Hold everything. We can just sign up a heap of VFL players and other clubs' rejects, get them "in the system", watch them improve, and then stand back and wait for the premierships to roll in. This is going to save us a fortune on recruitment.

Not out there tonight, and players who were a big part of our 2018 success: Tom Mac, Jetta, Jones. Also, don't underestimate the loss of Lewis. That's a lot of experience/talent that has not been replaced.