Pates

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.

I'm curious to know, since you're dropping Tommo and Langdon, what exactly has Hunt done in the last two weeks to warrant selection?

To be clear I'm not excusing his sub par performances. What you have said at the end there is exactly what I believe. The reason why I bring up Smith is that I felt we were a lot better balanced as a defensive unit with Oscar and May as our two tall defenders, and the way that Smith has come into the team (albeit Smith has improved in his role lately) Smith would run off his man too often and end up being the third one up and spoil Lever. I point this out because it may have affected AT TIMES Lever's decision on where to position himself for contests. This speaks more to the lack of trust and cohesion within the back 3 rather than Lever's form itself which hasn't been good enough. He also doesn't seem to have as much confidence about going for intercept marks instead choosing the kill the ball by punching it, again this to me points to a low confidence in the whole unit because he's worried one of his own teammates might spoil his mark attempts. He needs to be better than what he's doing, and the defensive unit as a whole needs to function better.

I feel like one of the issues with Lever is having Smith in defense as well. Smith isn't a Key Position Defender, if he is any kind of defender it is a floating intercept marker and that is the role that Lever plays. I feel like this creates confusion between them. For me, and I'm sure there will be many who disagree, but I feel our defensive set up makes a lot more sense with having OMac is the line up as the second tall behind May as the key defender. I feel like this creates clarity behind each role, rather than confusing who should be going up for the intercept and who should be providing the foil on the forward.

They look alike, that's where the comparison to Hunt should end. One gets his hands on the ball, the other doesn't. Langdon gets enough of the footy but isn't damaging enough, which was the same flaw he had back at Freo but clearly it hasn't been resolved in his first pre-season with us. With such similar (poor) ball use from his fellow Dees I'm not surprised. EDIT 16 disposals from his last two games is not a fantastic return from a winger with high raps, so I'd be expecting more from him plus first initial criticism to be more efficient.