Young Blood

i dare say he has the best timing and reading of the ball in our side right now.

Hasn't had the chance to prove himself at senior level after getting a punctured lung in his debut last year. Thought this was his best. He rarely gets beaten in the air bringing the ball to ground and loves the contested ball. Apparently been doing it for quite a while down at Casey so forced Dees to pick him up. Nice stuff. Our tall forward depth is pretty great at the moment.

6. Brayshaw 5. Hogan 4. Hibberd 3. ANB 2. Viney 1. Lever

If Spargo were to be rested it would be so nice to see Garlett replace him and really fire like he did last year up in Alice. Be great to see him run our in the jumper designed by his auntie.

You referring to Tyson? He was the carry over emergency last week so couldn't play for Casey. I'd imagine he's been named as insurance if a mid was to go down up there. He'll be named as emergency again. Could be for his morale too who knows.

Gawny then pats Viney on the head.

Dang was hoping for a Crouchless Adelaide midfield. Hope we can keep Matt's influence down as much as possible. Hopefully he might be a bit rusty first game back.

Also going by the stats on that page looks like we're second behind Collingood for total team distance. Team distance: 2613.1 km

Really goes to show we are definitely a forward half team. Oscar would be running from deep full back right up to almost half forward most games. He also does play on the best lead up forwards who would be leading further up the ground often as well. Would love to know how Jesse compares to other forward his size over a 50m sprint. Shows his work ethic in preseason really paid off being in our top three runners. He also wouldn't be too far off in our top 'distant kings' as I've noticed him leading all players for distanced covered quite a few games this season.

Will be interesting if he goes back to the Saints after they traded him for what? Pick 37 was it? Ouch

Hopefully it might just mean that we are more of a destination club then we use to be. With success we might be mentioned more along with the usual Richmond and Collingwood's. It's probably more likely we've been mentioned as I'm fairly sure we had strong interest in him in the past so would naturally put us in the conversation. But then guys like Tmac, Hoges and Petracca arrived!

I don't know if Harmes is quick enough. You need someone who can burn off opposition with ball in hand when they need to.

Gee would love to see AVB play some football this year. Has had an awful run with injuries. You would think they would probably bring him on slowly and it would be predominantly VFL football for the back half of the season. Missons's comments on his tank and that he's still got all his attributes is really promising. On a side note I was thinking if Vander's does eventually come back for AFL call up at some point our tall forward depth is pretty strong in: Hogan, TMac, Weid, T-Smith and Pederson. If Lever and/or Oscar were to get injured our tall backline depth is a little thinner and certainly less proven. Keilty, J-Smith and Petty would be the backups with Wagner being a tad undersized but decent in the air. I wonder if worst came to worst whether they would swing Tom Mcdonald back if they had to. I think the ruck and key back development at Casey is going to be crucial this season for added depth in the near future down back.

Yup definitely in the forward line. I was meaning more around stoppages in the middle of the ground for bringing the ball in as opposed to tapping it on.

Firstly 'mist footballers' is a nice term. Trying to think how best it could be used haha. But in regards to tapping it on I made the point earlier in this thread that with high levels of congestion around the ball players might be trained get tackled and bring the ball down to create a stoppage with there being potentially less risk of turning the ball over to the opposition. I think Melbourne being the best (currently) contested ball side in the comp do this often to restart and try to win a clearance.

Demon fans watching Trac's goal assist:

I have always thought exactly the same thing. If the ball is in the air and you have grabbed it with your feet off the ground with an opposition player just about to tackle you why not tap to an open team mate? I think one reason they don't do it often is because of fear of turning the ball over. If there is no clear player to tap to (which is often with how many players are around each contest currently) then it might be better to possess the ball and if you can't get your arms clear simply wait for a ball up and try to win it from a stoppage. I think the best contested ball teams like Melbourne have possibly be trained to do this. At least thats what it looks like the tactic is to me. But yes if there is more space and a player clear definitely tap like Trac did in that instance.

He's starting to show some real versatility. He's working really hard on the wings with his running and his decision making and disposal has been excellent. Knows how to spread and find space. Playing his role perfectly.

Harmes has been one of my favorite players the last few seasons. I thought he starting building up form well last year. Has always had the hard edge as one of our most physical players but has added polish and the game seems to have slowed down for him this season (similarly to Brayshaw) he's one of a few players we have that doesn't panic in a tackle and knows how to get his arms free and wait for the right disposal. He's a solid mark too.

Yes please bring on the big statements this week! Who will it be from i wonder.

I agree but weirder decisions have been make from both MRP and Tribunal this season....

I have zero idea but google says Daniel Boone

Yup he'll have one bad kick and at the same time be the player willing to take the risks successfully kicking down the corridor when our backs are against the wall. Really important player at the moment. Was more worried about him trying to take players out again rather then the one errant kick.

Richmonds next two will be a walk in the park - Essendon then Saints. After that though it gets more interesting - Geelong, Sydney, Adelaide and GWS. Although the only one of those not in Melbourne is against GWS. Don't know why they get to play Sydney at Etihad....

lol well technically essendon were top 8 last year ?