Pates

AvB probably one I’d be looking at, possibly Jones or ANB comes in. If TMac doesn’t get up I’d bring in Brown, two tall forwards.

He must be close to being dropped, poor this week and having a poor year, can’t keep gifting him games.

Ah this is that winning feeling, I’ve forgetting how it feels. Things to like about tonight, but plenty still needing to be addressed. I’ll do the classic “good, bad, ugly” with a tweak at the end. The Good More kicks inside 50 with purpose, execution still needs work but A LOT better. Weiderman didn’t have a huge game but in the face of becoming our main tall he did some good things. Hopefully it gives him confidence. Fritta used more HFF than deep forward, it’s his natural position. He could’ve had a really good night with better kicking. Viney and Gawn having big influences at big times. Oliver kicking more and better, though still some shockers in there. Petracca having a poor night by foot but not letting it get him down. Kicked truly when he needed to. (Except for one obvious incident) Oscar playing mostly ok and Lever also looking better. Lever taking marks is a massive difference. Salem continuing to show his class, I’d love him to be averaging 20+ posies because he mostly doesn’t waste it. The Bad Brayshaw being quiet again, he just doesn’t seem to have much urgency about him. Looks flat footed. Dip in form from Pig, he’s been good the last couple of weeks but today wasn’t so good. Mostly poor day from AvB, first choice to get dropped. Possibly for ANB? EDIT or Jones Kicking is still awful at times and our players continue to handball to players flat footed putting them under pressure. It’s not keeping the ball moving it’s passing on responsibility. The Ugly May’s disposals and decision making, he looked way out of it all day. Amazingly clunked some goods marks but the kicking and handballs were awful. TMac’s eye, really hope he’s ok. I want us to continue using the 2 tall forwards structure so bring in Brown if Tom needs time to heel. Looked nasty. Petracca’s fresh-air, when there’s a kid up the other end kicking them from opportunistic chances out of nothing seeing Trac botch that gimmie seemed to deflate the team a bit. Rankin looks incredible but the ugly here are two ridiculous free kicks he got, one for taking on Langdon and clearly ducked his head and the other is the baffling one against Oliver. The Just Plain Awesome Bennell kicking the goal after the siren and seeing the players get around him. It meant a lot to him and here’s to many more!

Smith - Yes Lever - Right now, about the same OMac - Well Oscar played well in his one and only game, let's see how he goes this weekend Frost himself, not devastated he left. I had my heart in my mouth every time he got the ball, and defensively he gets caught out quite a bit. What exactly has he done at the Hawks so far to warrant your praise?

You aren't alone, the way the game is played is incredibly scrappy and low skilled, lots of stoppages and the free kicks at times just seem to be random. I don't know what happened to the footy that was played only a couple of years ago, maybe we can put a little bit down to COVID making things a little weird but it just seems like such a mess right now.

I think the're might be a little sharing of the load on dropping on Tomlinson. Hannan, Fritta, and Melksham may be asked to play a little further up the ground, which I don't mind as all of them (at least in previous seasons) have had pretty decent disposal. Melksham getting more involved in our entries for me is key as he put so many balls into great positions in 2018. It appears he's been playing a little deeper lately. For Bennell I would think they are wanting a bit of creativity inside and on the edge of 50, a bit of spark and hopefully a cool head. I'm just looking forward to seeing him and Kozzie play together.

Yeah how is that even possible? Clearly they have been playing better than us. Baffling.

Not having a go but is that sarcastic? I saw Chip twice butcher a 15m kick, and Frost has done his usual dash out of defence to nowhere and hand the ball over.

Sad for him if that's the case, hopefully it's not as serious as they initially think.

Mason Cox, who's been playing the game for only a handful of years, is a better kick of the footy than most of our side....

Jeez that would be gutting if he ended up stranded on 299.

It should be in one of the other AFL heartlands, either Perth or Adelaide. Concerns Perth could be too hot at that time of year but other than that I don't see a reason why not, Adelaide would be my pick as I think the Adelaide Oval is one of the best stadiums I've seen plus it has the advantage of being more central to everyone. The AFL will choose Sydney though because their eyes will light up with dollar signs and see an opportunity to promote the game in the northern states. Perth and Adelaide will quite rightfully feel screwed over.

I admire your positivity but I feel like it's almost a script we are following; good in patches, really good in patches, absolutely deplorable quarter to the point where it kicks us out of the game. I do wonder how much different the commentary would've been had Tomlinson's kick against Geelong floated through, but the simple fact is that it didn't and we are 1-3 and pretty much with our season on the line this week. Something that is really concerning to me, but I'm hoping will have been addressed this week with selection, is our goalless quarters. WC - first quarter, had 4 shots on goal, at least one should have sailed through Carlton - goalless 2nd HALF, Fritta should've nailed the one at the end Geelong - first quarter, scored a point Richmond - 2nd quarter, kicked us out of the game Even Adelaide, who have been deplorable this year, have only had two goalless quarters. They are becoming a regular part to our game and we will not win anything until this stops.

I honestly feel like we are the confidence building team. Teams comes up against us, the players in the middle give them enough of a tough run to make them compete hard but our skills and decision making is so bad that the other team ends up getting the win. They go on with confidence and play better, while we continue our trajectory of going nowhere. You watch Richmond will hit some form now.

Ah I see! With you now, yeah I wasn't jumping for joy with us getting Tomlinson. I thought he was a step up to improve our depth but I also didn't necessarily see him as a walk but best 22 player. I think he's an ok get, but not much more than that.

What exactly is your point? We got him based on a need for a winger with a tank, but he should be expected to perform to a higher standard and has been pretty damn average so far.

I agree that it's a touch ironic they choose to drop him after he actually probably plays his best defensive game. I feel it's a bit like how they dropped Oscar after he actually played well vs WC. I wouldn't go so far to say I'm a fan of OMac (certainly not your level!) but I think as a second tall defender he actually stacks up quite well. Those being critical of him last year need to remember he was playing as our NUMBER ONE tall defender with Frost taking the second key forward. He's not built for that but he is the right size and ability for the secondary position and I really think our structure works better with him in. As for Where Smith goes, I really do see him as a forward. He plays like a forward, he leaps like a forward (very much reminds me of Robbo and Smith Snr), if Melksham continues his poor form I'd like to see a Smith shift forward and give him a crack at it.

I think it was out of Rivers and Lockhart (for team balance). AvB has other gears he can go, we know it and we've seen it. Fingers crossed this will be the week.

I've been so fed up with the team and the selections that I told myself I wasn't going to watch this week. These changes are actually making me keen to tune in.

In a different idea, thoughts on Hannan being a winger? He's quick enough, got good hands, and usually good disposal. I just question his tank given the time off he has had.

I have often thought that Hunt could be a good winger for us given his pace but he just doesn't seem to get enough of the ball. Even when he's put into spots where he really should get it. I feel like Hunt is in a similar position to Spargo in that I actually don't know where he fits into the side.

Both are very lucky. I had Hunt or Melksham being dropped and AVB being on notice. Both should be told their spot in the 22 is on the line this week.

Tommo out is a big call but I like it, he hasn't done a hell of a lot except do some absolutely bog ordinary turnovers. Rivers is maybe a little unlucky but I'm ok with him coming out for Jetta who I still feel has much to give this year. In fact really I'm happy with all the changes. I think Oscar has deserved a recall and was actually hard done by to be dropped after playing quite well in the west. Bennell and Weid coming in had to happen, I think there would've been such a big outcry from the footy world that Goodwin wouldn't have anywhere to hide. For me all of these Ins/Outs address the issues I've been talking about: Hunt for Weid - Ineffective Mid forward for a tall (hopefully) marking forward Tommo for Bennell - Poor disposal inside 50 for good decision making and good kicking Smith for Oscar - Defensive structure which I think hasn't looked right since Smith came in Rivers for Jetta - Perhaps the only one hard done by but we regain experience and usually a good kick/decision maker I also think Rivers may be a victim of Pig returning to some form, hopefully Hibberd continues to play well. One thing I want to see now is Sam get a clean run at it, baring him getting 1 possie and giving away a 50m penalty (basically a Spargo WC game) I think he should stay in to be given an opportunity to gel with the picked 22. I would also like to see him only take forward 50 rucking duties with TMac being the chop out ruck (and rest Gawn in the forward line for periods). For me this is a lot more like what I think our best 22 should look like.

I think think the bigger thing about Max and the possible reason for this is that he has a cool head. If he takes a mark say 60m out he doesn't rush and bomb, he'll turn and look for a pass. This is one of the things that Jimmy Bartel was talking about during the coverage of the match on the weekend (while BT was trying to pump our chances up), he talked about how there is a tempo to footy where you have to know when to go fast and when to hold for a breath to sum up the situation. When we receive the ball we are one pace, manic. It seems to be about catching the opposition out to create overlapping runs and goals out the back (I actually remember that was a trademark of ours in 2018), but the trade off to that is that we are very vulnerable on the turnover and the opposition have also worked this out so when we don't have the overlap because they have got back in numbers we run ourselves into trouble. Max is one of few (Salem and perhaps Petracca being the only other two I can think of) who does take that half second pause to see what the other team has done a looks to place the ball in a position for one of our forwards to mark it.

Gary Lyon isn't happy.