Pates

So I'm a little annoyed about Weid not getting picked this week but it could be they are thinking about the conditions and one wrap on Jackson that I will give to the FD is that his is good below his knees. But if Weid puts in another strong showing and gets overlooked again they might as well start to paint over his locker because whether we would want him to remain would be moot. He'd go. As for who comes remains on that bench, personally my choice would be: Pickett, Jackson, AvB, Smith ANB unlucky but Pickett is the similar sort of player and runs hard while providing a spark. If AvB is fit enough to be picked as an emergency then he's fit enough to be played and Jones was poor last week, a swift kick up the bum could be good for the former captain. Jackson stays as a back up ruckman and because this appears to be the route the FD are taking with him, he needs to show more than last week though. Smith stays as another lucky one. I feel like conditions helped him to keep his spot, OMac can be quite lumbering in the wet, this gives Smith a second opportunity to prove he deserves a spot. If he keeps flying at the ball and TMac is having another stinker then I would really like to see them swap positions.

All for this, what has Jackson done to earn his spot? Hardly set the world on fire in the pre-season games, I'm bemused that we are pushing him so early in his development on the back of what exactly?

I have feeling Oliver could have a day out against Essendon, this isn't based on anything in particular but Oliver has proven he hasn't lost his ability to find the ball. Petracca is turning heads now, which means the tag will comes. Instead of dragging the tagger away from the ball and playing Trac in the forward line I'd like to see him say to Goodwin, "leave them to me" and back himself to beat the tag.

The one thing I would point out is that we were absolutely murdering Carlton in the first quarter, if that had been full length I honestly feel like we would've been 10 goals in front. Quarter time was a massive blessing to them as it gave Teague a chance to talk with them to restructure and restart. Impossible to know how they would've reacted to being that far behind at that stage.

The interesting thing right now is that we really have a close to full list to choose from so this should be an opportunity for players to push pressure on their peers to force their way into the team. Interesting the Oscar wasn't mentioned in that article, might indicate that they will persist with Smith (god help us if he keeps going for stupid speckies). AvB is in our best 22 if fit, so the question comes when do they decide he's fit? I agree with the idea that we can't carry two players who will be on half game time so until AvB is up to being able to play closer to 70% he might not find a way in.

I think Fritch could be looked at to fill what Melksham was doing a couple of years ago should Jake continue to produce low results. Still I'm also happy for us to persist with him deeper, should've had at least two more goals.

It shouldn't be Smith's role to be going up as the third man there, Lever is the intercept defender, if May is bollocking his player properly to keep him out of the contest (legally of course) then it should set Lever up for an easy mark. Smith is then at ground level in case the ball goes to ground to mop up. Those shots I hope were very highly looked at by the backline because it's just laughable seeing our three KP defenders spoiling each other.

And I'll just add I'm not saying what I said to be callus, I really wish the best for him but as you've said his health is so much more important and it looks from the outside as though the club is doing all they can to help him with this.

The silence is deafening with KK, I honestly think we’re keeping him on the list because it makes little difference either way to us and at least he then has access to doctors who can help him. No updates at all over the last 6-8 months surely means little progress is being made.

If Tom puts in another woeful performance he can’t escape the chop or at the very least a positional change. I’d like to see him play much more mobile this week, do the classic of “getting him into the game” by getting higher up the park. The problem with that is that it leaves us short which is why I think Weids needs to come in a play as a natural forward, very minimal if any ruck time. If Tom is putting in a stinker, I’d really like Goodwin to swing a change with Smith going forward and Tom into defence.

Might not be on the same extreme as you but I wouldn't disagree, if we're picking with a ruthless attitude than Jones shouldn't be dropped in front of ANB. Jones is another player like any else, and has to contribute or expect to be dropped. Melksham I think is just ahead of Jones because he provides a little more structurally.

It looks awkward, I think at some point one of the players was doing a cheer of some kind and someone else got excited thinking it was the start of the song and it rolled from there. Really though they shouldn't be leaving the ground without Gawn leading them off. He's the captain, surely that's obvious to them. Hopefully it won't be long before they have an opportunity to do it properly!

So I just had a look at the footage off the website, it's still not the greatest look but Gawn doesn't look too unhappy about it. Aside from it not being sung with as much gusto they all sang it together. Let's move on.

Was just about to ask the same thing. Maybe he felt he was forced to retire early, I know there were a few that felt that way in that period. I was as unhappy with everyone with the way we capitulated after half time (and you could see the signs in the second quarter), but I can't see Goody not seeing out his contract until at least mid-next year regardless of the results for the rest of the year.

Interesting Salem got a vote, surely must be from Goodwin. Clearly he did something we didn't notice. Well done to Trac, well deserved. This will be a year he has complete games, this one wasn't it but that first quarter was a blinder.

Absolutely spot on, the one thing our club seems to be consistent with is taking promising players and throwing them around into different roles that don't work for them to the point they lose confidence. Playing Jackson in front of Weiderman on the back of what I'd say was a couple of good signs just smacked of the old Melbourne attitude of "he's a top 3 draft pick so we have to play him", he's raw and got talent but jeez can we just let him develop his body first? And meanwhile I can't actually think of the last time where Weids was just given a simple role as forward target, why does he have to be used in a hybrid ruck/forward role? If we swap JL out for Weids I'd like to see the match committee use TMac and Thomo as the chop out rucks.

Yeah can't see what people are going with on Hunt, he faded like many but he actually did some important things late to help us scrape over the line.

They shouldn't be going to location with multiple other people, I would imagine that this was something made pretty plain and simple to them. It was a silly breach by Spargs and Kozzie, I didn't realise that it was Spargo that initiated it so his higher suspension makes more sense now. That said I also think it's double standards that he gets two weeks and Wines (who is much more senior than either of them) invites media over to his house to do an interview.

There shouldn't be a rule tweak here, the players know what they are not allowed to do. The AFL should be retrospectively be appealing and he should get one week. Honestly such a joke and every player that gets done for it now (what's the bet Viney will next week) should feel rightly p****d off that Burgoyne got away with a suspension.

Would not be against this, TMac really seems to have lost confidence in himself as a forward, perhaps a return to defense may help him. Play Weid as our number one FF target and give him that responsibility. Not as a second ruck or anything else, only play him as a forward. Brown vs LJ is definitely a tough one, experience vs development. Plus some times players just find another gear against former clubs. On form I'd marginally give it to AvB, two games of low output and I don't really recall Gus doing a lot in the pre-season either. On the back up ruck side of things, Thomo has done that in the past at GWS. Just a thought.

Sounds like we dominated, good sign in terms of depth and it puts pressure on the players in the 22.

Not sure if this is the thread for this but Tomlinson is a genuine concern. His run and carry is good, but blimey he can butcher the ball and/or just blindly kick. Hearing the commentary it didn't sound as though the players were using him correctly but can you blame them if the first thing he is going to do is just blindly kick the ball long because he can't think of anything else to do?

May not have been our worst player but he was our most costly defender. We looked more organised and settled in defence against WC with the trio of OMac, May, and Lever because they all play like defenders, Smith plays like a forward so play him there. I don't know if it's the coaches trying to get too cute but they seem determined to take players who have natural positions that work for them and mould them into something else. Fritch, Harmes, Brayshaw, and now Smith all players that they seem to want to turn into something rather than use their natural gifts. I don't mind Smith being played again, but we play Smith as a defender and we will lose games. He makes Frost look like a defensive genius.

My thoughts exactly. Jackson isn’t going anywhere and has a bright future with us, Weids hasn’t had consistency in a single forward role. I’d even be up for TMac moving to a mobile forward role with him being the second ruckman instead of Weids. He kicked 5 goals in the scratch match, he has to come in.

What did Jackson do against the Blues that makes you think he earned another game? For that matter what did he do in the preseason? Weids played ok (not great) in windy conditions at Casey in a main ruck role, right now we aren’t crying out for a second ruckman we are crying out for forward options which Weideman has shown he’s capable of doing but I feel like he hasn’t been given that as his pure role. He’s always been a bit of this and a bit of that, I want him to be given the FF role, nothing else. If he fails at that then fine but so far Jackson hasn’t shown enough as a forward. I get what you’re saying about Jackson but to me what I’ve seen so far Jackson hasn’t earned being in the 22, gone are the days we give out first draft pick games just because the have exciting potential.