binman

You're really gonna enjoy the hawks game. Nibbler's 150th. And remarkably, for a player we apparently need an upgrade on, his 70th of the last 72 games the dees have played, inclusive of 5 finals and a premiership medallion. Quick quiz. Do you think any other dees player can match that record? Hell, is there another player in the AFL who can match that record? Impressive for a momentum killer. Goody must be trolling you. Methinks you might have to wait a while for your upgrade.

Fair call. And really, if BB isn't ready, what other options are there (I'm not including brody - he'll come back in but as a forward he makes Petty look like Tony Lockett).

I agree. Don't like him as a forward at all. At least not a leading, goal kicking forward like brown That said, he could i wonder if he could take melks role as the defensive forward and say blanket vlastun - and if that works, players like weitering, Moore and Alir. He certainly has the defensive chops for the role. And that would free melk up to play fritters role and be more a pure attacking forward.

As opposed to the team going for its fourth win on the trot?

Well, i can't see Mcvee getting dropped. And they seemingly have announced Petty (i think) - and i'm assuming he is playing forward. Spargo is best 22. so he comes in. But you're right, Hibbo is perhaps surplus to requirements - though they could put him on Dusty and free up Mcvee to be more offensive and rotate with bowey, salo and rivers (and perhaps also small bursts on the wing to give Hunter or langers a chop out). I guess part of my thinking is i wasn't impressed with Harmes' game against Coburg, but he a logical replacement for Sparrow. If harmes does come in it would have to be at either hibbo or spargo's expense (or maybe mvee if they want to manage him).

For the sake of argument, let's say you are right and he is not AFL standard. By that logic Harmes isn't either - or at least based on his performance against Coburg. Even if an AFL listed player doesn't have a great game in the maggos, you can usually see they are above VFL standard. I went to the game solo and watched intently. I thought Spargo didn't have a huge game, but worked super hard all game with his up and down the ground running (whcih is his role). I thought Harmes had just an ok game, and his work rate was was also ok. The difference to my eye is that Charlie clearly looked a cut above VFL level. To be honest, i can't say the same thing of Harmsey. And Dunstan had way more impact in the game than both Spargo and Harmes. And his disposal was generally first class too i thought. I'm no talent scout, but i think Dunstan is def AFL level. The problem for Dunstan is that he is a pure inside mid, extractor type. Libba and Viney are the two such players that come to mind when thinking of the best in that role. Critical players as they win the hard ball and feed it out the runners. But unlike say 4 years ago, clubs can only run with one pure an inside extractor type, with a back up player to give them a chop out, because outside run has become so important. Previously you might have 2 or 3 such players, but teams can't carry more than one such player, partic if a bit slow. We have Viney, with Sparrow as back up. So really Dunstan is back up for Viney. Every club needs an inside extractor now. So i think there is def an AFL spot somewhere for him. In fact i reckon he is exactly the sort of player a club like Freo needs as they are rubbish at winning the hard, contested ball at clearances.

If they don't replace him, they'll be a player short.

I don't think Harmes will be picked. My guess is the interchange bench will be Charlie Spargo Michael Hibberd Harrison Petty Judd McVee And Smithy will be the sub.

Like us in 2019, Freo are in a rebuilding phase - players in for surgery early , experimenting with players in new roles, trying new strategies, giving some young players a run, working out who to cut etc etc. Clever, as its not really tanking as such, but has the same benefit of ensuring a high draft pick to bring in a gun or package up draft picks to say to do what we did and trade in a player of Ed Langdon's quality to fill a clear need and a grab a second round gem like Bowey. Well played Freo. Oh, hold on. I think I've got that wrong. The dees get all the same benefits of our 2019 season, but none of the pain of finishing 17th - and in addition to freo's first and second round draft pick, we get our own first and second round draft pick! Sorry, not sorry Freo. If it is any consolation Freo, i will be forever grateful and you will always have special place in my heart for the joy you have brought dees fans. Also, as further consolation my purple friends, pick four has terrible record of producing decent players. Oh, hold on. I think I've got that wrong. Nick Daicos went at four in the 2021 draft as did George Wardlaw in 2022. But don't fret my little anchors, both have probably hit their ceiling. And yes, we might trade up to get the most promising forward in the draft for many a year, but again don't let the angst overwhelm you - number one draft picks have mixed record of going on to be superstars. And whilst a forward line featuring JVR, Jefferson and Reid is simply a mind blowing thought, it is a few years away from being a reality, which gives you, my darling dockers, several seasons of fully bottoming out to grab some high draft picks you can actually keep (unless of course Bell decides to trade them for English because you need an elite ruck with Darcy heading East because Bell brought in a young, not yet proven ruck to take his minutes and salary).

As much as I like Smith, I couldn't have him in ahead of petty - regardless of where petty plays

You've convinced me. Mcrae def a better coach than Buckley. Never liked Buckley. Dislike him even more as a footy media type.

I went to see the Casey game live. Was not particularly impressed with harmes' game. His effort was good, but I thought he had very little impact. Dunstan was not only prolific, he was more damaging than harmes. If I was doing the selecting, I would def have selected him ahead harmes.

I over thought that joke. Back in the day a twist was Mary Jane or the dragon in some paper twisted to secure it. I don't think Dickens was talking about that when he called his character oliver twist.

Deep man. You think mcrae is a better coach than Buckley. Got it. How will you assess him if the pies don't win the flag this year, given every person and their dog think it is pies and then daylight and they are a lock for top spot with 5 games to go? On him or the players? Ps - I guess circle work is supposed to be a clever retort of some sort? But I've got zero idea what it refers to, so if it is some sort of attempt at a clever sledge, a heads up, it hasn't landed.

Do you think the team goody will pick, assuming no injuries, would be different to your team? And if yes, who comes in and who goes out? (Note: I'm not trying to be cute, it's just that they are two different questions ie who I would pick versus who I think goody will pick).

Many would no doubt agree. But the key question is where goody stands on that front.

Buckley was one kick away from winning a flag. Get back to me when mcrae has even made a gf.

100%. In particular not having A grade mids really hurt I reckon. Personally I think the impact of coaches is overrated. The talent on the list is the critical element in my opinion. Just look at clarkson's record at the hawks once he didn't have buddy, roughly, rioli, Lewis etc etc at his disposal.

I dont think we have always evened up at stoppages since clarry has been out, but you're right we hardly ever did so prior and have regularly evened up since clarry has been out. It's right to say our clearance work has been terrific since clarry had been out. And a huge positive is it has created an opportunity for Viney to go up a level and Sparrow and JJ to shine. Incredible too that tracc has been able to play forward. But evening up at clearances impacts us defensively because it means we can't have the spare behind the ball. It is a big reason why our intercept numbers have dropped off and it has also impacted our ability to stop teams scoring on transition. And deeststar9 is spot on about Gus. Playing as a pure mid we really miss his defensive nous - in particular his ability to read the play, drop back and intercept (which is in part supported by not evening up at clearances). And on Gus, he doesn't really have to take a defenders spot to play a defensive role. He can just go into the rotation of the half back flankers and wingers and to a lesser extent the mids - ie rotate between those positions and the bench. Goody has been much more tactically flexible this season. In part that has been possible because of all the work he has done with this group to cement his foundational sytems and structures. One less at stoppages was almost a fixed rule up till this year. The pies bring an extra, as do other teams and goody has responded by occasionally matching that, even when clarry was in the team. It will be fascinating to see what he does at stoppages when Oliver comes back. I hope he mixes it up - sometimes even up, sometimes not and have the spare behind the ball.

Theiren lies the cognitive dissonance so apparent from many demonland critics of Goodwin. Pick any point in time in that ridiculous is goody the right coach thread and note who his most vociferous critics are. Many such critics were/are also vociferous critics of our playing list. So, a woeful coach who plays favorites, regularly gets outcoached on game day and has the fatal flaw of being boring (entertain us goody!, his pressers are so uninspiring! No wonder his players aren't inspired!) takes an average list to a flag. You'd think taking an average list to a flag makes him a genius coach. By the by, on teams with generational talent, I agree in oliver, Max and tracc we have three players who could be considered 'generational' talents. I don't mean really good, occasional AA selected A grade players, I mean players up with say the top 50 players in their era/generation. Am i missing any? No? So that's three generational players goody has been fortunate to have in his team thus far. Leaving aside the fact those three players didn't reach their potential until at least 3-4 seasons into goody's tenure, goody has in fact won a flag in his six full seasons as senior coach. How many generational talents has Scott had at the cats? Ablett, Selwood, Danger, Hawkins, Stewart, and perhaps more recently Cameron? So 5 or 6 generational players. And Scott had won just the two flags. And his first was in his first year of coaching when he inherited a premiership list. Flags are hard to win. And goody won one in his 5th season of senior coaching after taking over a team that had been moored in the bottom half of the ladder for more than a decade, and was bereft of talent, other than a handful of future stars. It is mind boggling that some dees fans still refuse to give the credit he is due. It is mind altering that some dees fans actually consider he has under achieved.

Where melk might have an edge is his ability to play as a defensive forward and negate key oppo intercept defenders like Moore/Murphy or even Quaynor (who is so important for the pies) at the pies, Andrews at the lions and Alir at Port. That intercepting defender role has never been more important. So you're right melk must have a shot. If goody does go with melk, I reckon spargs will be the unlucky one as we need a small, crumbing forward who can apply good pressure and kick goals. And on that front, Chandler has spargs covered.

Completey different roles. But if they want melk in, and spargs is the out they could rejig things to cover off elements of spargs role - for example use the utility types like sparrow to help cover the defensive, up and down the ground clicks spargo has to cover.

Assuming a full squad to pick from, and no inury concerns, this is my best guess at the team Goody will run with come finals (as opposed to what i think should be the lineup): FB Lever May McVee HB Rivers Petty Salem Centre Hunter Oliver Langdon HFF Neale-Bullen Brown Spargo FF Pickett Fritsch Chandler FOLL Gawn Viney Petracca INT Grundy Bowey Sparrow Brayshaw SUB Smith The obvious players missing out in that line up are Hibbo and JVR. Hibbo is an interesting one. On one hand his toughness, work rate and leadership would be super important in finals. But his short kicking to a target is a weakness, and turnovers in the back half are killers. May is a lock, but with him in the side we already have one sketchy short kicker - can we have two? And if Hibbo is selected, who comes out of the 23 listed above? I reckon Hibbo is competing with Mcvee for the lock down defender on the oppo's best medium forward. Mcvee has hibbo covered for kicking skills. Hibbo has Mcvee covered for strength, experience and leadership. I put a lot of stock in the importance of kicking skills, particularly in the back half. Perhaps it will come down to who we are playing and the likely match up. It would be a big call not to play JVR, but atm, for all the excitement he brings, he is not impacting games enough and he's still a fair way off being able to hold down a key tall forward role in the heat of, say, a prelim final. Which by the way is perfectly fine - he has only just turned 20 and he is at least 3 or 4 seasons away from being the finished product. If Brown isn't where he needs to be come finals in terms of fitness, strength etc then JVR comes in.

I have never been a draft pick watcher. Until this year. Freo's pick four, plus our own first rounder?

To illustrate this point, after round 19 last year we were in second position on the ladder. After round 19 this season, we are fourth on the ladder. In simple terms you might argue were were therefore traveling better last season at the corresponding point in the season. Second is better than fourth right? Well, leaving aside the fact we were beaten in round 19 last year by the Dogs (interestingly, like this years round 19 game it was also a high scoring game - 110 to 100), whilst we were in second, we were only 2 points clear of Freo in fifth spot and only 4 points clear of the blues in 7th spot!. This season we are fourth after round 19. But we are 8 points clear of the Dogs in fifth spot. Which position would Goody rather be in after round 19 - this year where a top 4 is all but certain or last year where it most certainly wasn't?