PaulRB

I think Weideman is in the team till Jesse comes back, Watts is unable to provide the physical presence and structural piece that we require, and playing TMac forward was starting to reduce our backline cohesion. If Jack wants back in it won't be at Wiedman's expense, but based on Jack pushing out another player ie Hannan, Harmes, Petracca, or ... and I'm not sure he'll do that based on 1 average VFL performance.

Questions - Is there a round of VFL on during the bye week before the finals? Can we play anyone i.e. Hogan over the bye weekend in the VFL if fit and in need of match practice before the finals?

Night games the thermos has Vodka, with a side container of olives if I'm organised. Not that that guy is me.

One down, 6 to go. My guess... Lions (G) - Pies (G) Port (Adel) - Tigers (G) - Adelaide (Adel) - Swans (G)

Watts not in our best, at VFL level. Ho hum...

Agree, while Clarry is awesome, he could be more damaging at times, but will quickly give it off instead (which is ok, but may not be as damaging). Amazing for a kid so young, as he further builds his confidence in his body and full skillset he will break games open.

If we can win the next three. I have it as a (theoretically) possibility we'd finish 7th and play the following finals... Elimination Vs Geelong (G) Semi Vs Richmond (G) Preliminary Vs Adelaide (Adelaide) Grand Vs GWS (G) So 7 wins from here gets the flag, with 6 possibly at the G. It all starts (or finishes) tomorrow.

Cats to lose today, opens up the likelihood of us meeting them in Elimination at G rather than going interstate..

Totally disagree. Finals, and the game tomorrow "will be high intensity tomorrow" . Agree. You then say "Why do we all look to him to provide fierce contests? Not his primary job." . This is total rubbish. Maybe we could ask the AFL to bring in the Jack Watts rule where if he finds himself in a fierce contest we can stop the game and substitute in a player with some ticker? No one disputes Jacks class as an outside reciever, deliverer or shot on goal. But the modern game requires that ALL players win contested ball when required, because the nature of Footy is that you're going to have situations when thats required, and in finals these contests will determine the winner. If Jack Watts doesn't provide fierce contests at every opportunity, he won't play finals for MFC, and nor should he.

GWS on route to their first flag. The evil empire has arrived.

Totally agree. And for Watts as an experienced player to not be "playing at the level he or we expect" in August with finals on the line shows how badly he's diminished his value to this team and currency going forward* as we need to trust the 22 each week will perform if we're ever going to have a serious shot at a flag. Unless Jack has a revelation at Casey and finds his mojo, I'd not be surprised to see him traded at years end. *Assuming not some injury management thing as some have speculated.

I take Jobe at his word when he says "he feels like his wife cheated on him". And have sympathy for his plight, loss and disenchantment. As someone who's (ex)wife did cheat on, sometime you can "know" but refuse to take it on. Time to move on. Good luck outside footy Jobe!

All we can do, aside from continuing to give Jack every opportunity to get the best out of himself, is to aggressively trade, develop and promote players who are capable and likely to go past him. To my mind one of the inditements on Jack is how quickly Hannan has come in and performed at a consistently high level. Or TMac moving forward to command the ball and kick goals in a way that Jack has struggled to despite approx 140 more games as a forward than either Hannan or TMac. Not sure what we can do aside from cross our fingers he has a good day and continue to grow our options and players.

We all know how this is going to go... we'll crush the Saints, then destroy the Lions... then lose by a point after the siren to the Pies. It's just how we roll.

Hannan has to come in. was "rested" for GWS and has been lively. Not sure who the out is...

The game has changed and the tackler is now held responsible if their tackle causes a head injury/concussion. Numerous examples this year for Grundy to have known better. Needs to be suspended 1-2 weeks at least. Head is, and has to be protected.

I agree, I used it so the hard nuts wouldn't get in a tizzy. Alway expected we continue to improve and 12-13 was a reasonable improvement... unfortunately it may not be enough for finals this year.

We rested Hannon this week.

We are undoubtedly improving, will most likely finish 12-13 wins so on that metric, tick. Missing finals would be a bummer and undoubtedly unacceptable. However, this year has thrown up many more challenges to the group than previous years (injuries to Maxy, Hogan, Jones, etc...) and is the first year of Goodwin's tenure. So we are developing and building maturity and resilience. In addition to injuries to critical players we've had several mature players who'd I'd hoped would have pushed us higher, namely Kent and Watts, who have languished, been injured, languished. On the bright side, players like Hannon and Maynard stepping into the team with aggression and poise is heartening.

While Jack was not alone in having a poor day on Saturday. I think with the emergence (and health) of Hannan, Maynard, Smith, Van den Burg and Weideman, all of which appear to show more competitive vigour and intent that Jack, that Jack's ability to stay in the team will be threatened. I've little confidence in his ability to consistently win contested ball in a one-on-one, and while he's undoubtedly a smart and at time sublime player, when the heat is on he appears to struggle in the contest (great on the outside, on the lead etc...). With Hogan out his contested ball and marking are even more exposed. At the moment I have Hannen, in his first year, ahead of him and would replace him with Van den burg in a heartbeat.

Now just Saints, Suns and Dockers to win and we're a chance for third spot..!

I reckon the Swans are developing a reputation of overlooking their own talent's development and compensation needs (Tom Mitchell) in preference to buying in big name talent (Buddy, Tippert), which might erode the loyalty of players like Zac, especially if the Swans are actually looking to acquire someone like Dusty...

Has Goodwin named a team and then changed it at the last minute yet this year? Why'd he start this week? Clarry has become an essential clearance player for us.

I'm with you Diamond, in general, and would also love to knock GWS out of the four and help them fall.. Mind you, seeing Dons get crushed by Doggies would tickle as well.