Jaded No More

Wow. Melksham must have had a killer week on the bench.

For me it's less about who is the most important player, and more about who is irreplaceable. We have nobody on the list who could replace May if he goes down, because Tomlinson is already out and Petty is his replacement. Likewise if Langdon is injured we are stuffed, as nobody on our list holds a candle to his name. On the other hand, Viney who is arguably one of our best midfielders, is someone we can cover with the likes of JJ, Sparrow or even Gus because the rest of our midfield is so strong. On the other hand, replacing Oliver would be almost impossible. You'd argue we would be stuffed without Ben Brown pre season. But now we have loads of depth. If McDonald is injured we can cover for him with 2 very solid tall forwards. Systems and defence will get you a long way, even if you are missing some players. But there are certain players on every list that cannot be replaced and their absence would make an enormous difference to the fortunes of their team. It is also about weight of numbers. Losing one defender or one midfielder is very different to having a lot of injuries in one part of the ground.

I will never forget that game. I snuck away from a Passover dinner to watch the last quarter ?

Yep. Thank god it flared up at training and not during a game. Seriously his feet are never not going to be a problem. That he can’t get thru training is a major worry.

Mate my 20 year membership certificate is signed by Mark Neeld. It could be worse.

Any 17 year old who gets told to lose weight to make his AFL dreams come true, and does it no questions asked, is someone who you know has all the right motivation and drive to succeed in this industry. Most 17 year olds would have told the recruiters to get stuffed. He found himself being picked at the top end of the draft not because he had freakish skills, but also because he did what Melbourne wanted him to do even before he was a listed player. For someone his age to come in, miss barely no games through injury (knock on wood!) and play such high TOG consistently every week, you know he is working his [censored] off and is very diligent about his fitness and recovery.

The difference is, if it fails him during a VFL game, the consequences are minimal. If he has to be subbed out against the Dogs in the first quarter, the consequences are massive.

See also: Michael Juice Newton

We will never lose again.

Christ that’s a blast from the past. We are so old.

It’s less about match fitness in the VFL and more about seeing how the foot pulls up after a game.

Premierships aren’t won in May. Just ask Norf.

Can we talk about Rivers just casually killing it in the best backline in the competition at 19 years of age?

Another week another MRP [censored]. Meantime you can throw Ed Langdon on his head and get off ?

No point risking him. I would be happy to give him half a game at Casey and see how he pulls up. These feet of his are an endless issue and we can’t afford flare ups in finals.

He is a freak. Best hands in the competition in close.

Having Brayshaw play the defensive wing allows us to play through Langdon, who is our real weapon. Teams have started kicking down the Brayshaw wing to avoid Langdon killing them on the turnover, but then they have to deal with Brayshaw, who while his disposal can stink, can read the ball very well, is very brave and makes great decisions (even if sometimes the brain and the boot don't work together for him). If we can find an Ed clone in the off season, or someone as good as say Merrett, then of course I would advocate pushing Gus back into the guts. But there is no doubt that Gus on the wing is working really well for us at the moment and even if he fluffs a few kicks, he is not going anywhere. Who are people suggesting we replace him with? Baker? Vanders? Jones?

Strong no. A soft downhill skier.

Carlton got some absolute rubbish frees yesterday. That deliberate out of bounds call... oh boy.

You underestimate Jackson's ruck work. Twice he turned our fortunes around in the middle when he was rucking. He brings a lot more to the table than Weid right now, and is someone we absolutely must get back into the team going into finals. If we run into say the Dogs in a final, who have two very good ruckmen, Jackson becomes pivotal. Weideman needs to hold his marks consistently if he is to stay in the team. He is competing only with Ben Brown on current form. McDonald is our best tall forward, followed by Fritsch who plays tall-ish, and then Jackson is the third tall you bring in for the ruck rotation. That for me leaves one more spot for a tall. Brown has runs on the board, so Weideman has to get going with his contested marking and his goal kicking. It's a hard position to be in, because he is competing with experienced players for one spot, but that is where we are at. He has to get on his bike ASAP if he wants to stay in the side.

We have some very tough games coming up, and we have a short break off a trip interstate against the Dogs. I would keep the team the same against Adelaide and then make some changes ahead of the Dogs game. Viney, Jackson and maybe Sparrow or Melksham can come in to give us some fresh legs. To have a fresh Viney and Jackson come into the midfield rotation against the Dogs will be fantastic. And if we have the luxury of doing that, then we should.

It is the only way I will avoid a heart attack.

I love how he tackles. So much intent. And he’s not slow either. Also we can never drop him or we might never win a game again.

Smart. I like it. Oliver May and Lever need to go too. This level of excellent is disorienting and may cause you to not get any better. Off to Casey.

I love him, but his set shot at goal is utter trash. Don’t tell me this kid can curl a ball 189 degrees from 87 meters out in torrential rain over his right shoulder but he can’t kick a regulation goal. Choco has to sort that out quick smart.