Cheesy D. Pun

Totally agree with this. We haven't had one great game this season. We've gotten by with hard two-way running and a fantastic structure but we haven't had a game where everything has clicked offensively for four quarters. It will be fun to watch when/if it happens.

This needs one those cringy smile reacts. I so want to go with you, but I just can't bring myself to that level of confidence.

I don't know about this one. When all of their mids are in, they are very difficult to stop. They have issues behind the ball but that midfield is clearly the best/deepest in the comp and I'm nowhere near as confident as you that we're a better team. More balanced maybe, but midfield strength is fair indicator of overall success. I genuinely hope you're analysis is more accurate than mine.

Thanks for this - saved me some effort. Spot on.

Not much has changed from a coaching perspective in his time. The players have started to execute the plan through a combination of fitness and speed of transition. The goalkeeper position is the only significant change in what we've been trying to execute that I can see.

I'm not against them getting some kind of draft concession but we need to see more transparency and consistency with the way this issue is dealt with. North don't have much going for them list-wise and it's difficult to see where their wins are going to come from. If we were in their position, I would hope we'd be supported in some way to dig our way out of the hole.

I reckon 20 contested possessions just about qualifies as fantastic.

I thought we had the rub of the green for the duration but there was some pretty ordinary decision-making from the umps.

I was grinning from ear to ear when he was main ruck towards the end when the game was up for grabs. Absolutely nothing phases that kid - already a star.

6 Clarrie (Willed us to victory in the final qtr) 5 TMac 4 Max 3 Harmes (was tough and clean over the ball) 2 May 1 Langdon

Yep, no doubt. It wasn't a dig at his performance just that I thought there were some pretty special efforts tonight that were ahead of him. Clarry, TMac and Max come to mind but on reflection, Maysie's probably not far off those three.

Maysie was good but not sure he was even top 5.

Sydney are inconsistent but when they play well, they are hard to stop. I suspect they'll be up for this one and it's going to be a tough task. I'm hoping for four points any way we can get them.

This is the key. He looks slow on the lead. He's never been a great contested mark. He might need a bit of help from our other forwards to get that separation. Did anyone see the block Charlie put on for Fritta to take an uncontested mark? It was absolute genius and exactly what we need to get Brown going.

If he doesn't play, it won't be our choice.

Yep. Even I earn more than that.

Having been able to watch a fair bit of VFL this season, I like both of these guys. Chandler is a footballer in the true sense of the word - he has good judgement, skills and decision-making but no stand out attributes. What excites me about Bedford is his first 5-10 metres after he gets the ball. There are very few players, if any, in the AFL with that level of acceleration. If he knuckles down and learns to use that acceleration defensively, he and Kozzy could form one of the best one-two punch small forward duos in the league.

Love it but I do think injury and some significant line up tinkering (some forced) is going to bite us very soon. A forward line that includes Brown and Weideman is a massive change. The best teams design game plans for the players they have. We found something that works and we're now about to partially abandon it. It might sound as though I'm unhappy about this but I'm not. I think trying Brown and Weid is almost a must, however, if it doesn't work over the next couple of weeks, I hope we're bold enough to go back to what works and that is TMac and Jacko surrounded by smalls and Max pushing forward.

I probably lean towards preferring TMac stays forward but your comments are ludicrous. This is elite level football. You don't fail for 7 years. He was very close to All-Australian as a defender in 2014, achieving that as the number 1 defender in an awful side. Don't get me wrong, his move forward was a stroke of genius, but calling him a failure as a defender, is just blatantly wrong and fails to take into account how difficult playing in that defence would have been.

Yeah, that's fair. Tomlinson is a big out. He's been beaten once this season in a 1v1, winning 21 of 22 contests - that is elite.

Like all of us here, I want Fritta to play and I don't think he was intending to hurt the guy, but he was certainly intending to make contact, so you couldn't call that an accident. That said, I have the feeling he'll escape penalty. There are a few precedents that should help.

TMac plays like an interceptor. It might work while the opposition has no bigger bodied forwards to worry about but Tomlinson was excelling in those 1v1s, so it's certainly debatable whether having TMac back is sustainable.

Yep, I'm with you.

I agree with the general premise (more pressure players) but I'm not sure that combo failed. We were beaten at the contest and had a pretty good conversion rate going forward.

Despite putting forward changes to the contrary, I think this is what will happen and it makes sense. Petty was scratchy in his one start this season but he's the right type. Hopefully, we can get him going.