Young Blood

I hope that the delisting of Spencer means the club has some confidence in the development of Lachie and Mitch King.

Apart from Tmac moving forward if we were to pick up Lever the only other player I can see moving up the ground is Hunt. I think the football department would be looking to see how they can get more out of his run and carry to get deeper forward entries in transition.

I think Dom's biggest issue in the last two seasons has been fitness. I think he plays injured often which doesn't help his development. I agree with others that we've probably seen Tysons ceiling in terms of his best football and what he can bring. I think he gets another season to see if he can improve his consistancy and as others have said if we can get more outside run in our midfield then I think Tyson's role as a release player will be really effective. Clayton with the short handball to tyson for the longer handball or kick to runners etc.. I don't know what we would get for him as I don't think other clubs would rate him too highly. Would like to see guys like Trac and Brayshaw really work hard to take Dom's spot in the side eventually.

Jeff would really have to make a jump in fitness if he were to spend more time further up the ground. He might be great at repeat sprints but thats over a shorter period most of the time in forward 50. I've watched him with hands on knees a lot throughout the season after chasing backs and going on longer runs to push forward. I think playing him through the middle when the team needs some speed and spark in short bursts is great but his position is forward creating pressure deeper on opposition defenders to create opportunities. There aren't many small forwards like him.

What a disappointment. We got completely [censored] by injuries this year. GWS had the depth to deal with it. We did not The two rucks, Viney, Jones, Brayshaw, Hogan. You just can't afford to have any of your best players out for longer periods in such an even competition. Having depth guys like Garland, AVB, both Smith's and more out for practically the whole season meant we relied to much on our fringe players like Harmes and Stretch. Hoping next year we can add to our list and guys like Smith and Maynard can step up to the next level.

I totally agree with this. There is a significant difference between the on field play and leadership of Jones and Lewis. Bar one game I felt Lewis was definitely out most consistent player this year. His ball use and decision making is elite and you can see him in every game making his team mates better with his communication and leadership. I can't say the same for Jones. Jones still racks up possession and does put his body on the line in and around stoppages but he just doesn't make the most of his disposals. Jones will never be traded and even if he was i don't think we would get much for him. I would like to see Viney as soul captain next year and maybe see Jones play less midfield and more as a half back/wing. I don't know if Jones is a smart enough footballer to play into his 30's. Lewis and to a lesser degree Vince are able to position themselves and play smarter football making pace less of an issue. Jones is simply too slow.

Will there be fire and fury though?

Wagner and Stretch out for Viney and Salem is pretty simple. But who comes out for Watts and Frost? Harmes has had a good month of football and I just can't see them dropping Vince. Yes he mucks it up but his toughness around the contest and ball use is still very good. Generally steps up for the big games too. Although today was ugly I think the team has good balance.

Interested to know why drop ANB? Apart from a few clangers and down on scoring I thought he was solid. Was down on tackles but his pressure was good. He is our best user of the ball in the forward half this season along with Trac. Had 5 inside 50's today and has played his role consistently.

Would have to be most improved player on the list right? He has gone from an in and under high possession VFL player to a versatile half forward who makes the right decisions at AFL level. He is so valuable because he can also roll into the midfield where he's comfortable with contested football.

All the talks of his football career at Melbourne being over or should be over is just crap. The whipping boy isn't ever going to be a consistent star forward. He is a third forward whose best football is really valuable and the club has invested in him to keep working on his intensity because he does so much well when he is in form. Too valuable to trade. Roos said on League Teams this week exactly what FD says here above. He is simply lacking the intensity. Hasn't played well since returning from the injury and just needs two solid weeks in VFL. Roos said two weeks is usually the standard to get guys back into form. He expects Jack to play well again this week and lineup against Collingwood.

Hasn't he been playing through and working around his foot injury? Misson stated that he can't do further damage. It's just about managing the pain. I think he will definitely be playing against the Pies and/or finals.

Jeez having Viney out for this one hurts. Even though he wasn't as effective last week, his inside work to win the ball in close and wrestle his way to releasing the ball for the next clearance was crucial throughout the game. If they tag Oliver it will be interesting to see who plays that role. I actually think Kennedy will play. I think we'll be looking for some pace with some of our younger quicker players tiring of late (eg Hunt). They can use him for some outside run, his inside work at Casey has been pretty good and we know he can be used as a crumbing forward pretty effectively. Will be interesting to see if they roll the dice with him. Stretch would be the most reliable of the three that could come in for Viney. Generally uses the ball well and gets into the right positions. I think thats where we will need to be better then Brisbane on Sunday with our composure and keeping structure.

I think we've really missed him as a depth player this year. Has terrific toughness and size around the ball as we as good marking which we've totally lacked up the field especially. Hope he can get his body right well before pre-season. The only fault for him is I found him a bit slow but I definitely think there is a role for him leading up high half forward/wing with his ability to mark and win the ball around the contest. Hope he stays.

Regarding Salem if he was injured they wouldn't bother having him as omitted. I know he hasn't found form yet and had a bad game last week but I thought his ball use and touch of pace off half back would be pretty key against this faster side who really feast off poor ball use coming out of the oppositions backline. As for Frost I thought he would potentially be the best match up (in tandem with the Macs) for Roo with his closing speed. So I'm sure its probably not true but would the club know that Reiwoldt is out?. Anyway I guess they're wanting more from Sam which hopefully he can achieve with a week at Casey.

cool

Or create some opportunities to kick goals. I didn't watch the whole game but did Watts play up the ground much on Saturday? When he's at his best is when he is the link up player across half forward while alternating that with running deeper to switch the defenders. I know we've had injuries so he's had to player deeper as a marking forward but surely he can spend more time up HF with McDonald and Weed/Pederson playing forward this week.

Without Hogan now I would think this would be the best 22 we would want in form for the remainder of the season: B: Jetta Frost Hibberd HB: Hunt Omac Salem C: Tyson Oliver Lewis HF: Hannan Watts Melksham F: Garlett Tmac Petracca Fol: Gawn Viney Jones Int: Vince Harmes ANB If we need the extra tall so Tmac can play deeper fwd obviously Pederson would come in with backup ruck duties where he was successful earlier in the season.

A few people calling for ANB to be dropped. He definitely had a poor game yesterday but he has played pretty consistently over the past few weeks. I think considering he's in our best 22 and has only missed 4 games this season it seems a bit odd to drop him in the most critical part of the season.

Look forward to seeing the over the top reactions of some temper as the week goes on. We looked flat at times throughout the game and turned the ball over but North won this game. They played better for four quarters, had a better game plan with their forward structure and played the ground far better especially in the last quarter. They were so much more composed then us. Kudos given to North. This team is going to continue to drop games as they're still young, (missing some experience yesterday which might have helped). It's just a reality. I hope the team can move on quickly and realise they're every chance to beat GWS who looked shaky once again against Freo. I think if we can make the 8 this season it would be a terrific accomplishment. Clearly we not quite ready to have a greater impact. We can build from there for years to come.

Hawks are starting to cough it up. Sydney are trying to shut down their short passing game. Hawks will needs to take more risks through the corridor and counter attack if they want to stay in it. Been very impressed by hawthorns tackling. They're sticking tackles and removing the ball from Sydney possession causing turnovers Sydney haven't been used to. Gotta keep that scoreboard close. I think they could win this if they can keep it close.

Hawthorns game plan certainly worked really well that quarter. Controlling the ball and tempo of the game nicely as they did when they beat them last game. Some of their young guys a super impressive. Just need to make sure they can get players back quicker when they turn it over. Getting caught out the back quite a bit.

Really hoping we get a good start especially on this ground. Also hoping North come out a bit flat after a disappointing loss. They played really well last week for three quarters and really could have won it if not for some Essendon fast ball that their younger players were too tired to defend. Always dislike playing against North as they're a difficult team to beat. Kind of like Collingwood they always hang around. They're also a great scoring side which makes it even more difficult to get a substantial lead on them. They don't go through significant periods without scoring like a lot of teams do. A real challenge tomorrow. Go Dees!

Looks to me like Charlie Dixon is 22cm taller and just grabbed to high. It's possible Nev might have ever so slightly dipped his shoulder at the last minute before he went to ground (I've seen him do it before) making it look worse then it was but either way a clear free kick with no obvious duck.

thanks wobbles.