binman

Thanks Ditcha, I have been waiting for this - and so has my son - needs school shoes (he wears black NB runners)!

Maybe mix it up. For example you could do the best 22 from the 70's, or the best 22 of a team of players recruited to Melbourne or the bets 22 from our premierships or what about our best 22 of NQRs and delisted players since 2000 (so many to choose from!)?

I liked drunkn's vfl analysis. Very balanced and informative. Good idea andy for it to be regular thing if he is up for it.

Agree. Close to my fav acadaca song and it is plain rude to cut it so short. we should protest!

Oscar must be approaching afl standard.....

and pay packet

I don't really care but we were tipped by many pre season to be a top 4 chance and the pies to struggle to make the 8. The response has to be seen in that context.

Starting to look more settled. And the back six looking more in sync. i would'nt say he wad outstanding against ess gnf (made too many kicking errors) but it certainly was his best game for us. I suspect erhiad suits him as like adelaide oval the pockets are smaller than rhe g His kicking is a worry and i fear won't improve much as he has a poor technique. But you can see how well he reads the ball and i look forward to him going up a level from here on in.

The pools will be biggest in the oaks and the Hollindale. And i reckon sprints can sometimes throw up a bolter because bad luck can scupper a favorites chances where at longer distances horses can better recover from a bad start, tricky barrier, check or get out of a pocket (sometimes). Also i like the big field in both races as sometimes in such races (particularly in Autumn i reckon) you can draw a line through many of the horses and there are usually on a handful of legitimate chances of winning. Not a bad race the Hollindale, but i would be leaning to the Oaks, mainly because the Morphetville track races predictably, is usually good and gives all runners their chance. Always wary of regional tracks like Gold Coast. If we go the Oasks i'll jump early and take Savacool. A terrific win last start and i just love horses that have that will to win as you always get a good sight. Six starts for 3 win and 3 seconds is testament to that spirit.

Great.Yep, his tackling was scary. In the post Richmond era forward pressure is king and he is perfect for it.

Just watched Mitch's involvements on stats pro. He was really influential and involved in a number of goals. A terrific game. I have to say i wish he had played in the tiger's game. His ferocity would have been valuable as would have been ability to kick a goal. Perhaps could you ask about the tigers game and missing out if it seems appropriate.

I am loving the stats pro tool on AFL.com. Fantastic innovation. Watched Hannan's involvements and he was really influential. They have video of every time a player is involved in the play - whether that be free kick against, a spoil, a marking contest, goals, one on ones, one per-centers, kicks, etc etc. Had to laugh. Oscars package didn't include the Smith goal, presumably because it wasn't defined as an involvement. But apparently Smiths's goals was Oscar's fault.

Agree. The third man in rule is a no brainer. Most, but not all of the time, it is clear who the third player in is. If there are only two players scrapping for the ball it is really clear who is actually holding it in (so you might even get a free paid against the second player in, who so often is the one trapping the ball in). The ball would usually come free, so less stoppages. And crucially it isnt really a major change to how footy is played.

Good post, with some excellent points, one being that it will be nigh on impossible to engineer one on one battles, particularly of the marking variety.

Funny you should say that. I heard a fella on SEN radio yesterday arvo (a professor of biomechanics or some such) that has been advising the AFL for years on issues related to interchange numbers and a fatigue. Really interesting. He made the point that with all the congestion and the ball being trapped in forward lines players are in fact resting on the ground more now than when the interchange cap first came in. He also mad the point that the fitness of the players has out paced the impact of reduced interchanges. He said he would go to 40 but cautioned that the impact of going to 40 in terms of players fatigue would be short lived. I actually don't mind the congestion and intensity.

More on the Guys that make stupid mistakes aren't AA defenders theme. As i noted in the post match thread there is a brilliant (i think new) part of AFL.com that Telstra live pass holders can access called Stats Pro where you can watch edited video of every involvement in every game of every player (for all of last years and this years games0. I watched Oscar's video of his involvements in the Ess game. Steady as rock and barely an error. I then watched Jake Lever's video. His first three involvements were a silly free to laverde from a one on one contest, a kick from deep inside their 50 that he shanked (albeit under pressure) straight to a bombers player and the third was a kick on the full under no pressure. To be fair things picked up after that but he has made any number of stupid mistakes this year (as i have said imagine if those mistakes came from Oscar!). But my point is not that he is average. My point is that some posters have already anointed him a star who is a future AA lock., which to be fair is not crazy given he was in the squad last year. Yet he we have seen in six games Lever make many stupid mistakes. Hibberd did make AA last year. And guess what he made stupid mistakes too. It happens. But some players get criticised more when it plays into an existing confirmation bias.

Good get. More from that article: Hardwick lauded Rance as perhaps the best one-on-one player in the AFL, but also acknowledged that the defender’s occasional costly brain fades, among others from teammates, was an area the Tigers needed to address if they were to improve. Rance limited the influence of Saints skipper Nick Riewoldt (one goal) and collected 19 disposals himself to be one of the best players afield. However, one passage of play summed up the Rance package. Late in the last quarter, he beat Riewoldt in another duel deep in defence only to send a short pass straight into the arms of Saints substitute Darren Minchington, who slotted his second goal. It was another inexplicable "Alex Rance Moment". Alex is an outstanding athlete as well but the decision-making under duress when you're tired, (he) comes a little bit undone. "You've got to take the good with the bad (with Rance). "I'm going to put a huge wrap on the bloke – I don't think there's a better one-on-one player in the comp at the moment than Alex. He wins the majority of his contests. The other stuff we'll probably take now and then, but I think he's a great talent." That article was written in June 2014. Rance was 24, nearly 25 years old at that point. Oscar has just turned 22.

I see what you did there....

Saty it is irkesome for you to so frequently point out that you speak to players and coaches and pass on what you get permission to pass on. And that you don't share everything. We know. it is irksome not just to those who critice you but i assume others like myself who don't (or rarely do). What i dislike is that given every one who posts semi regularly knows you speak to players and coaches - and assuming you don't need constant affirmation - i suspect you repeat it over and over to wind people up, to get a reaction, to annoy certain posters. Which is not too far removed from trolling. So please stop.

Didn't want to start a new thread and this seemed a logical spot. I'm not sure how long it has been there but on AFL.com stats pro has video of all involvement in each game for every player for Telstra mobile customers with the live pass. Brilliant

What on earth are you talking about? I never said a a player doesn't have to tackle or chase someone if it isn't his man. That would be stupid. In any case as i (actually) said Oscar did pretty well to get back. He did chase, hard. Just didn't catch him. He wasn't the one who put a 'lame arse effort in'. His mid field teammates are guilty of that but not Oscar. But this is why is stopped debating you about Oscar. There is no point. Your views are etched in stone. And before we fall into into silly name calling lets stop here and agree to disagree.

That is so funny Jnr. Dunstall is wrong in his call (unsurprisingly because he is clueless) and you simply repeated his mistake. No way could he hold him up. Smith was running full tilt and is twice as fast as Oscar. Gary Lyon did not agree with Dunstall (he agrees about reward for effort for the bombers) and no other commentator made a comment about it. Biased? me? Again that is so funny.

His man? His man was Daniher not a small forward. So i assume you are serious then. you honestly think Oscar made an error in that case? I have heard everything. I don't want to be rude but i have to say i can't help but judge your football nous more harshly that i previously did.

You honestly cannot be serious. A howler? You honestly think he made errors in that video? No i don't believe it, you must be having a lend. In no way can Oscar be blamed for that goal. No way. If you watch this video from the 14 second mark you will see that the culprit is initially Oliver for coughing up the ball on the wing, then the midfield for allowing an easy handball to Zaharakis who is all by himself in the corridor and is allowed to take a few steps and under no pressure boot the ball 50 metres to Smiths advantage over the back. And when Zharakis kicks it Oscar is about 10 -15 metres from the spot where it is marked and the same distance parallel from Smith. he had no chance to cut that off. He did pretty well to get back actually. I can't make out the dees player on the half back flank but whoever it is makes no effort to pressure Zaharakis, for instance by diving to smother. Pathetic and the an example of the very thing that causes us to leak goals. Though some still prefer to blame defender in such scenarios as if it is still 1992 and the zone hasn't been invented and only a handful of players players get multiple tackles. But you think Oscar made a howler? Beggars belief. But hilariously provides a concrete example to illistrate my point about confirmation bias.

Is Lan glands the name of the condition?