DEE fence

His ability to take a mark around the ground and is an elite field kick makes him better than at least 8 on our current list even with some of the baggage. He also doesn't sook so much outside of the forward line, I have to agree I never liked the sooking.

I have often thought the complaints that we don't get a fair go, as the product of one eyed passionate support. With Langdon getting his fine upheld and ANB getting four weeks, I really feel that natural justice has been denied. I am filthy at the conduct of the tribunal and the MRO.

9 hours ago, Trisul said:

There was another camera angle.  They only showed it once, iirc a least a quarter later.  Shows Long lining Simmonds up from 20-30 metres away charging full tilt for the hip to the top of the head.  An absolute disgrace.  Never cared what anyone said since - despise Long.

Couldn't agree more, he did a dog act that day and deserved to be cleaned up. Schwartz and Dimma. You'd have to think Dimma is fitter but I God 20 years later I still want him to smash half the Essendon team. 

18 hours ago, Watts the matter said:

Hardwick has become my least favourite coach bringing what those dirty flogs did in the 2000 grand final into this.

I have certainly lost some respect for him, Chris Scott is still ahead though.

Rock star post, players spoken of with respect and humour, I like it and want to use 3 different emoticons. Read it twice to see if there was anything I could comment on or disagree with... but nah, you nailed it.

OUT: AVB He needs to fix his disposal, I’m not sure whether I am looking to find fault but every frigging time, his best effort is kicking to roughly 50/50 (which we then lose), I know better teams will capitalize on this. Like many others (E.g. ANB and Oscar) he plays with heart. That said if we were in a GF (and with 2000 firmly in mind) I would play him for ‘protection’.

Tomlinson, disposal still needs work, coach was right to drop him previously.

IN: Bennell, another chance to see if he can do what is required (fitness wise), before we get to finals.

Gawn, (with Preuss remaining, time to see some ‘coaching’, how can we turn Max into more of a weapon up forward.

Banging on door, Jetta, Rivers, Hunt, but at this stage Jones, Sparrow, Lockhart and doing their jobs well.

Just cannot agree with the criticism of Tmac, he is getting to the contest and doing a power of work, his mobility issues exaggerated, how brilliant was that one handed mark in the wet? That will give him a lot of confidence. He would have kicked a 2nd but for Spargo picking his pocket. He also looks ‘on’ I don’t see a confidence issue that was there earlier.

Frtisch will come good with his kicking, and he is super dangerous and still marking, I think he looks like Gunston when presenting for a mark.

Harmes to tag Bont.

With Preuss remaining in we have a tall to rest back/ Kick ins, Tomlinson has not been the aerial target I was hoping for. Preuss while still lumbering has improved his cardio 15-20% on what I remember.   

6. Oliver

5. Langdon

4. Petracca

3. May

2. Brayshaw

1. Spargo

His 65 m kick to the top of the square was a ripper. He is a different player lean, and was hungry as, hugely and happily surprised. He lasted alot longer and had obviously done huge work on his endurance. Don't trade him out yet, I see Jackson as a young Paul Salmon type for now.

8 minutes ago, Swooper1987 said:

Grundy is barely going at the moment.  O'Brien comfortably beat him tonight.  Unless Gawn is near to fully fit I'd give him another game off.

He deserves a break but I feel like Gawn can kill the corridor for us, we need this win, I also think we need to find other roles for Gawn to vary our style, we are a bit predictable at centre bounce for some reason.

However if he is really not right, then you are right and don’t play him.

47 minutes ago, Pates said:

On tonight’s game, Dunn’s haircut is the worst seen in the AFL for years. Absolutely awful. 

Also welcome back Lynden!

Makes the man bun look like a model of restraint.

20 minutes ago, Pates said:

He was good against us, but his deficiency still exists and always will. There are games his “Frost Ball” will look amazing and create something, then 5min later it will cost goals. 

It’s why I wasn’t gutted about him leaving (though still a little disappointed). 

Yes it does, I still think he has tidied up a bit with Clarskon's coaching.

But your thoughts please, the game is so micro managed now, that anyone choosing to take the game on and making a boo boo, is super exposed with the media making a meal of it, I actually think it takes a fair bit of courage to not be a conservative down the line defender,  it is one of the things I like about our footy and dislike the way the game becomes all about the percentages.

While sure we could drop any or all of these games, the only real concern I have are the Dogs and Giants, our form is the most diabolic to pick and we will not be a sure thing or no chance for the rest of the year, regardless of what Titus tips.

1 hour ago, buck_nekkid said:

Interesting there is little love for Harley to be shoehorned back in to the team....

I was thinking about this as well, I was wondering if he broke some sort of team rule last game? He did look like he was 'choosing' when to go. On the other hand every club is racking up injuries, if we sneak into the 8 then his silk might be a perfect fit.

That said, I don't think anyone outside the selection committee has a grip on the best 22, we have Tmac, Sparrow, Rivers, Hunt, Omac, AVB, Bennell, the great man Jones, Spargo, ANB, Jackson, Tomlinson, Hannan, Hore, Brown, and Lockhart all with reasonable arguments to be in the best 22, and it being very hard to draw a line through any of them because of the collapse of the VFL.  

Personally I think alot of flexibility has been built into the team, and apart from the where do you play Brayshaw saga, it's a good place for the club to be.

9 hours ago, The Lobster Effect said:

For those Frost watchers...

Watching Frost for the Hawks this year, I disagree, he has consistently been good for the Hawks this year, was good against us and I reckon Clarkson would be happy with the trade, he also hits others quite hard, doing more than Frawley on probably a third of the money.

God I hate both these teams, but want the candy cane rice burners to get up. 

LOL The Tiger King look, but like others, have a soft spot for his torps. I know he could be annoying but compared to the bruise free footy we were playing in the dark years I at least felt like he was trying.

Agree with many, if the AFL wants to be the law then they do something about it, otherwise we should, better yet tell the opposition it is coming. Goodwin at a media op before game, "We've instructed AVB to run through whoever targets Max."

The thing about Max (and why he is such a champion) he doesn't need to tell people anything, because he is a champion, others will do it for him.

Watching again on 'First Crack'  (I know I want to vomit at Tom but no 360)

Club has missed a step in it's handling of this, the guilty plea was a mistake, 4 weeks is 'Dog Act' territory and it was clearly not.

1. Hamill was clearly still trying to kick when he could have turned his body to protect himself, he was careless to his own safety, this to me means ANB could argue for a reduction. 

2. Hamill trying to kick is what upset his balance and caused his head to go to ground, i.e. ANB was not trying to put him head first into the turf, this makes it more of an accident.

3. Bloody oath the AFL will roll over for a name player doing the same thing.

Lastly all the peeps potting ANB because he is not a gun player on our list; saying don't bother/doesn't matter, I seriously wonder if you know what team means? Looking after the team, makes a team strong, anything else is fake and BS. Get behind our man.

Could quite easily take out best special comments media person as well. Demonstrates thought in her words as well not just chasing a pithy hysterical soundbite like others in the TV/Radio cohort.

Power to you Daisy! 

Lots to like, albeit against mediocre opposition, even if belting North is always satisfying, some comments...

Fritsch and Weid, I believe in the Weid, I know a bag is coming, his one on one work has improved out of sight, and the hip he uses for body position is perfectly timed. With so much scrutiny now having an exciting FF who can body and not infringe is super exciting. And also while he wears his misses he is not a sulker and kept on presenting. Fritsch, God Damn, the week he kicks straight we will kick a cricket score. Out of petulance I didn't give votes but should have, loved the ariel work.

Our contest was as good as it is rumored to be but I think that was also North being Merde, lets see us do that against the pies. Clarry Truck (the new Kouta) and Gus just looking like men against kids. But let's not forget, Viney has been huge this year, I feel like people fail to recognize that he has come back strongly from a potentially career ending foot injury. Don't people remember when Hodge was beating us off the park? Viney is that player for us. He will be there when we are playing the strong teams not the cellar dwellers. I prefer that Viney is 1st touch and Oliver is 2nd (others have mentioned this) He and Gus can take turns, we need both, in the same team on the same day. He never sooks, the man is a Viking. Truck is just wow, but then everyone knows this, I particularly liked his throwing the ball in the air to kick it and avoid a ball decision. I also like that the umps know that he is not tackled, until he stops moving continually demonstrating a core strength that is off the charts.

Jackson, reminds me of a young Paul Salmon perhaps? Kid is going places. I like the call to mix it up with Gawn, if they both rotated through the forward half other coaches would lose their minds trying to cover the marking threats, (I would still want Gawn filling a hole down back when we are not 'on'). My hamstrings shriek with pain watching a 200cm kid bend over like a rover and smoothly recover the ball and feed it off, it is like he is defying a law of nature, a balletic baby giraffe. 

Pickett is learning his craft still, some raw moments to go with the speed. He is like a GT 40 Ford before they ironed out the wrinkles, (I just watched Ford vs Ferrari), just to put a good solid moz on him, Cyrill who? is what Bruce will be saying in a year if dementia doesn't get him first. 

Coaching: I liked Jackson in the ruck, with Tmac roaming CHF, I wouldn't mind seeing this developed as an alternate to the Gawn model, we need two speeds (approaches) other teams are showing they will body Gawn and impede him, fairly or often otherwise, being able to use Gawn's ariel strength elsewhere could make us more and not less dangerous.

Sparrow has showed some touch. Spargo, glad he had a good game, many would've been cruel otherwise to him and the coach. Wearing Goldstein's bump was a serious moment. Rivers is a brave man flying for the mark, had my heart in mouth that he would get cleaned up. The future is so bright with our age profile.

I am a Lever fan and on record backing him and today's game was very solid, but I am not gushing, I feel like more of his kicks 'float' and are slower through the air than they used to be. I feel better/more motivated teams will get to the fall of the ball and pressure the receiver. He needs to fix this post haste, he used to have flatter/faster disposal, I hope this game builds his confidence and that he will improve the execution. I had no problem with him leaving his man today, it went wrong but he was doing exactly what we want him to do.   

My biggest concern is AVB, again numerous turnovers, has big heart and obviously a hammer looking for a nail, but against good sides when we are desperate for momentum I do not want him touching the ball.

Jones played his cameo role well today, please could this giant of the footballer club be spoken of respectfully by other posters.  I am finding the criticism of Harmes a bit OTT, he seems like he is playing a role/following instructions, and he does seem to upset the opposition he might not win the ball/silky disposal but he does seem to disrupt opposition attacks and create the pressure that allow our midfield to win the ball back. I am going to watch the game again because I am not seeing Harmes the way others are.

Also I think we are a brutal (in a good way) team, North is not the first game where we leave a significant body count, we are the New Orleans Saints of the AFL, only a matter time before the media notices this, that was why Port hurt so much, I want one of these devastating wins against a top 8 side, then I will believe.

6, Oliver - impossible to split that checkside goal vs Petracca's burst goal from the ctr, Clarry shades Petracca just.

5, Petracca

4, Langdon, runs as much as ANB and that's a compliment. Better decision maker.

3, Brayshaw, built all night

2, May, the reason Lever gets to do his stuff, and he hit some booming passes.

1, Lever, I actually thought his intercept stuff was huge but his disposal a bit more iffy, he floats too many kicks 

Stiff; Many, Salem was much better today, Weid and Fritsch (I'm leaving them out for the 9 goals they left on the table... joke) 

Really not liking the trade news with the following going: O'Dea, Smith, Cordner & Guerin, I feel like we have been stripped a bit. It feels like more than the draft is going on. 

Harmes has been part of the coal face, not the same week as last week (which was better) but I am watching a different game, his pressure acts and bravery are ace. We have a win and people need to find a new whipping boy because Spargo went ok?? FMD

Oliver

Viney

Petracca

May - Monstered the Crows, also loved the big brother moment with Lockhart

Harmes - no love here, but was in everything, absolute warrior 

Langdon

 : Lever, Bradshaw (prob better than Langdon, but Langdon ran 4qtrs), Jackson and Weid, also Melksham if he had snagged the last 

Will lose my merde if he goes for this, while the impact was severe, he only had hold of the jumper, he did not drive the head into the ground, and the way he had the arm pinned was not a causes of the head going into the ground. Lastly the other bloke still had the ball. There was no reckless in this.

PS Radar defective, get a clue, he had a solid game, laid heaps of tackles and put his body on the line consistently, was a good in.