Young Blood

urgh modern-day media strikes again. Obviously separate issues but some will muddy this up by bringing the two wrongs (incidents) into the equation. 1. Pretty simple to me. Bevo gets his big fine (SEN saying six figures... ooof) He'll come out at some point and give a round about sort of apology to media people who took offense indirectly towards Tom of some kind. 2. Tom Morris will or at least should lose his job after this leak. If it was about a member of the public he might have got away with suspension but in pretty much any professional workplace this is a straight up sacking now when reffering to a fellow employee this way. Fox will be silly to try and tuck this one away...... Then again its AFL football media we trying to forecast. The greater AFL community and media knowingly allow guys like Wayne Carey not only come back into the media but put him on a pedestal regularly after everyone is aware of the guys horrible reported history of behavior including glassing a woman in the face. Apologies the rant went a bit off track there.

I thought our two most important players last night were Jordan and Spargo. Their positioning and contested work in predominantly one and one situations were excellent. Their decision making under pressure is elite IMO. At 21 and 22 years old they both play like 200 gamers with their footy IQ and understanding of the game.

Mt Bulla or Hotham?

Does anyone know if theres a chance someone uploads a replay with different commentary? I really want to watch sans BT's over the top drama. Any angels out there willing to sink up a SEN or 774 call to the game? Apologies if this has already be queried

James Jordan will be the sub. Why change a winning formula now? Why bring in a guy who hasn't played an AFL football game for 6-7 weeks to a role as a sub which he hasn't played all season long? Most importantly our game (and especially this one) evolves around contested ball and pressure. Jordan provides both of these at a pretty high standard across the ground. He is smarter and more reliable with ball in hand. We can cover for a smaller back or forward going down most likely. But if one of the three starting mids/ engine room guys go down in the middle I'd much rather see JJ at centre bounces more often then Sparrow and Harmes. I totally get others wanting to bring in more spark off the bench with the run and carry of Hunt. But I just don't see Goodwin risking it. Hunt's ball use has been better this year sure but JJ is so much more reliable.

Interesting that Langdon isn't being thrown into the mix of our most important players heading into Saturdays game as much as others. He's crucial to us transitioning the ball out of defence and any time we switch of turn the ball over. I would have thought if the midfield battle is tight in terms of contested football that players like Langdon with his outside run might be the difference in the two sides. Not sure it means much but statistically his worst two games of the season were against the dogs. Hope that changes this weekend!

Brian Eno - Ambient 1: Music for Airports

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.