Young Blood

Rarely gets beaten in the contest. His ability to use his length to spoil an opposition mark attempt and bring it to ground in dangerous spots has been terrific.

Anyone else feel that Petracca is a good chance? Even thought about putting something down with his odds today. I know the two midfield studs are going to steal votes off each other (along with ol Rick and Gawn as well). But I just feel Trac sticks out more with is explosiveness. He accumulates a lot of ball and how he uses his body to break games open is just incredible. Anyway its unlikely but I just have a feeling he's closer then others think

Keep it coming I say. A lot of media is hyping up the dogs given they have the bye and belief. Thing is I think the bye suits us more as we've just been through it. We know exactly what to do to prepare and it worked incredibly well. Keep the same routine and structure. Dogs might be the ones to come out flat I reckon.

Can we just have a giant projector screen going outside somewhere where we can all walk in pairs socially distanced in a circle watching while sipping latte's?

Paul Roos would have been my pick. I can see them convincing Gaz. Yeah he did say that in those interviews but I also thought he looked to be embracing it. Knowing he's one of the few club greats available and how much he cares about the team I can see them convincing him. He's still got such a strong relationship with the club and a lot of the players. Would love to see him hand it over to Max.

Same here. Fox have been playing previous contests between Melbourne and Geelong starting from a while back until now. I've been sucked in to watching them all. My main take was a reminder just how much Selwood CAN step up in big games.

If adding Narkle in late to the emergencies is a tactic of Scott's its a strange one. If he was fit or even close to you would think he would already have been in there. Unless they have more late outs you would think this means Narkle will be the medi sub. Interesting...

The fact that he wasn't named as an emergency makes me think the same. He's not fully fit just yet. Interesting to see Chandler named as an emergency. Hoping that one of the small forwards isn't under injury concern. I'm sure I'm over reacting and he's just listed there as he's been a sub before and another decent option behind the other three.

Can't read the story because of pay wall but I'd imagine the timing of this would be deliberate from Gaz. Give the group more reason to dig really deep tonight. If we're down at any point think of guys like Jim and Neil who are two of the most resilient people on the planet. Think about how much this means to them and the supporters. Go the mighty demons.

Would love to see Clarry win it. Deserving IMO. But I think it will go to Wines. Apart from Boak he doesn't have the level of competition for votes that Clayton has with Gawn, Trac, Lever etc.

Scott's 360 interview was interesting. When asked about how he felt about the bye week being before the GF if they were to get in he responded by saying it would be great as Tom Stewart might have more of a chance to be fit for the game. There's a number of things to take from this for me. - Could simply be tactics getting in nice and early. If they were to make it through teams would have to consider Stewart playing and how they matchup/game plan against their most important player... As ridiculous as that sounds. - Main and positive thing for us is that this is nearer the front of Scott's thinking when considering anything currently. Solidifies just how much they miss him as a player and how we must exploit this loss of their key weapon down back.

Thank god we have great backline depth ey. If it were one of the three true tall backs I would be worried. Will be interesting you would think Hibberd comes in. He is slightly undersized but uses his big body so well. He will take Danger when he goes forward. He's been well rested and hopefully comes out with that ferociousness we've seen him have in big games. Much less of a liability with ball in hand then Smith. The Ratugolea factor is really interesting. Statistically he's done practically nothing (6 marks in his last four games...) but obviously gives them a different look structurally. It gives them more big bodies to throw at forward half contests reducing the likelihood of our biggest weapon being our intercept marks and ability to score of turnovers. We're just going to have to be that bit better at the contest in the air and ground especially in the back half. I said it last game that guys like Rivers, Harmes, Salem and Sparrow would have to really step up. They will have to do the same once again to ensure those ground balls don't result in goals.

I doubt Bowey gets dropped for Hunt and as others say the matchup would suggest one of Smith or Hibberd are needed. I wonder what would Hunt as a sub look like? I think with versatile players like Sparrow and Harmes being able to be swung into different roles that Hunt could come in as the sub. Pretty interesting weapon to have Hunt come on late in a game (hopefully if at all) to give us some burst speed and energy. I still think it will be Jordan the sub but will be interesting. The preparation and build up with training competing for spots must be fascinating over there in the hub.

This is one of a few current threads I'm less anxious about reading as there's no assuming we make it past the prelim let along grand final. The hype is really getting to me in a negative way. I think IF we make it past the prelim I will try to ride the wave more.

Loving the Nathan Jones romantics. Bless

Does he? Thats a great question. I would say other then experience in the case where both were playing a similar roll that Jordan is the superior player for finals as it currently stands. This team thrives off team defence. Pressure acts and winning contested ball would be the some of the KPI's for players who are on the fringes of this side especially for a flank/mid rotation type player like these two. JJ has been in the upper echelon for pressure acts in the comp at stages throughout the season. He ranks 6th in this stat in the side and 5th for total tackles. He plays on the edge and like Bowey has an older head when it comes to decision making with terrific foot skills. I fear Jones' lack of power in the legs due to injury set backs this yeah might hinder his ability to create that overwhelming team pressure needed for a hot prelim/grand final. I prefer JJ as the sub as it stands currently but who knows.

You need to read my statement. I said we were poor 'at times', that's all. You backed this up by stating the games we were poor. There weren't many of them yes but they were crucial games for us making the finals. I think we had an underrated year last year especially the way we built up form through the back part of the year. Internally the club was pleased with the performances especially in the hubs.

He's both the Messiah and a very naughty boy.

As have GWS's chances of beating an (overall) better side in Geelong. Would like to see Hibberd come in for some versatility against their bigger potent forwardline if Geelong gets up. When Danger floats forward or there's handover of a player like Cameron I'd much prefer Hibberd. But this would be for Smith. Probably not part of the Hunt/Bowey debate as he plays more as a medium/tall back less as a small rebounding one.

haha thanks for solidifying my statement that we were poor 'at times' last season. 🙃

To be fair they're just football journalists... Calling them experts is flattering. Most of them wont mind getting us wrong too much if Port win the flag. I had us around the 6th-8th mark. The season has been terrific at helping us forget just how poor we were at times last season and horrendous the year before. Feel like we've only just won the full trust of all AFL media in the last month.

I used to go to games with Dave. Old school mate. Always hoped we'd have a look at getting him come back home. He's been such a consistent player for the Crows.

It's a nice thought but I hope for the team's sake and best chance of getting through to a grand final that Jones isn't in the side. I'm sure everyone at the club realises this including Jones. He is a compeditor and I'm sure pushing at training to try and get in the side but unless there are injuries to utility types like Harmes, Sparrow or JJ I don't think we'll be seeing Jones in the red and blue this year. Love that he's playing a part behind the scenes though. I've had day dreams of a Bob Murphy type moment where we win a the flag and Jones is invited on stage to hold the cup. Bring a tear just thinking about it. I know this is getting ahead oneself. It's just a nice day dream to get me through the day.

God seeing the above posts of the scoreboard dating back to the second worst loss in AFL history, which resulted in the sacking of Dean Bailey, RIP. It made me realise how much recent history we've had at this ground. From Gawn's coming out party and huge upset win down there in 2014. The horrible loss in Roos' last game, the more recent loss after the siren when Touhy kicked it after the siren, and now this..... Incredible.

I agree with you although it would depend on how you differentiate between tired and fatigued. Seasoned players with several full pre seasons are always going to fair better towards the end of the season due to build up of match fitness over a period of time. As you say unless they are sore or have niggles rest is unnecessary and form continuity is important. Younger players with less preseasons or limited ones will tend to fatigue towards the end of games more often especially in the back half of the year. It's definitely something to be cognisant of for us with quite a few key players under 22. That being said I feel we've run out games relatively well the last month (West Coast being an abnormality). So as you say should't be a factor for us you would think.