poita

I can't believe people are having a serious conversation about Brodie Grundy. Toby Nankervis is the perfect example of letting someone else do the work developing a ruckman and then bringing him in at a low price. See also Darcy Cameron, Marc Pittonet, Oscar McInerney. Not necessarily superstars, but all capable ruckmen in top 8 teams who make a contest and bring the ball to the ground for their midfielders. If (when) Jackson leaves, this has to be the way forward. No point spending truckloads of money and high draft picks on a bloke in the second half of his career. Find a ruckman in the AFL system seeking more opportunity and then pick up the best state league ruckman as a mature backup.

The number one factor in Geelong's favour is the lower cost of living. The cost of buying a house in a nice area 20 - 30 mins from Kardinia Park must be significantly lower than the cost of buying the same house 20 - 30 mins from the MCG. Of course you will play for less money if your living costs are reduced by the same (or greater) amount.

There's no doubt in my mind that part of Weideman's role in this game was to restrict Pearce from getting to contests and taking intercept marks, and he did a good job in that respect. But for a guy who is clearly low on confidence to be so reluctant to tackle and chase and generally impact the game is just bizarre. The easiest way to get involved in the game is to lay a tackle or make a block that helps a teammate.

The only positive from Neeld's time was that we knew for certain where rock bottom was and that the only way we could head from there was up.

We already have Dunstan on the list, and have been reluctant to play him even when there have been clear opportunities to do so. I don't think we need Crouch as well, but we definitely need to add some quality young midfielders to the list. Zero chance Balta leaves Richmond.

This year has been a bit of a struggle in a lot of ways. I'm not a fan of night games other than on big occasions, and I don't like the match day "experience" that is forced upon us. It feels much harder to get to and from games at night, and this affects my enjoyment. Crowds are down and there is a lot of noise around football these days that is unconnected to the game itself. The team is largely playing dour, contested football which, while generally effective, is not always attractive to watch. The Brisbane game was excellent, but other highlights have been few and far between. Part of the attraction of last year was seeing young kids debuting and thriving, and the side stepping up to meet each new challenge. This year it is a far more seasoned group, and there is less to be enthused about with a number of individuals. I believe that we are capable of turning our form around in the next month, but am becoming increasingly less confident of it happening. The fear of an early finals exit after last year's success is eating away at me at the moment.

We'll be lucky to kick 10 goals this week if we go in with the same personnel in the forward line. Another big body is a must, which presumably means JVR to come in as virtually the last man standing. Relying on Daw to be our entire ruck / forward depth looks more stupid with every passing week. Spargo has kicked 1 goal 3 behinds since round 9, so he is the obvious man to come out. Only 5 goal assists in the past 8 weeks as well. I don't care how many touches he gets on the wing, he has to kick goals and make forward 50 tackles to hold his spot. Hunt to HBF, Brayshaw to the wing, Jordon to VFL. Should free up Salem a bit as well. Lever in for Tomlinson. I'm yet to be convinced that Tomlinson wasn't largely responsible for Ugle-Hagen's goal feast. Very tempted to bring in Dunstan for either Sparrow or Harmes, probably Sparrow, because I have no idea what he contributes when he is not in the midfield. If Rivers is out as mooted, Bowey to return. On notice: Jackson, Salem, Harmes.

Watching Collingwood win the game against Essendon in the last 20 seconds, I wondered whether our players would have had the necessary dare and courage to go away from the predictable kick in strategy that has become so ingrained in their game over the past year. Clearly Collingwood were helped by Essendon's woeful defensive set up, but they still had to pick out the loose player and move the ball the length of the field without stopping. Interesting that Pendlebury was already planning and setting up the next play whilst the Essendon players were watching Jones line up for goal. That's the type of leadership that separates the good clubs from the rest. As an aside, Elliott's contest and mark against two opponents was outstanding, and the kick for goal was a thing of beauty.

I was so disappointed in Sam after quarter time on Saturday. After two goals in the first quarter, he should have been feeling great about himself and his chances of having a big game against ordinary opposition. Thereafter he simply failed to compete. After seven years, how is it that we can't get him to attack the ball with any degree of intensity and desire? I thought Melksham's ability to nullify contests on Saturday when outnumbered or outsized was infinitely better than Weideman's.

Our biggest problem is continually playing injured or unfit players. The reason we drop away late in games, or are unable to provide the required level of defensive pressure, is because the players simply aren't capable of putting in the effort required. Of course I would prefer to have guys like Salem and Jackson in the team, but if they can't run for four quarters, they're a liability. Given that Casey is 15 - 0 there is really no excuse for not playing some of those guys. Otherwise, what is the point of keeping them on the list?

Cool, happy to let him walk.

The only justification for a 8 team final series is money. As it is we're already rewarding teams who win barely 50% of their games with finals. A 9 team final series would just be ridiculous. As an aside, I hope we never see more than 18 teams, and would rather we cull some Victorian teams to get back to 16.

Except for 2019, 2021 and 2022. Averaging 1.8 goals a game this year, which is a 40 goal season if he plays every game.

Yikes, that is not a great start to the pre season between Colvin & McNamara. We're going to need some of the players on the fringes to really step up this year.

Absolutely laughable changes. No replacement for Oliver, Bedford gets gifted another game, Melksham has done nothing to deserve a call up, Sparrow and Spargo are undroppable for some reason, no change to the forward structure to fix last week's problems. By the time we wake up and realise we have some serious issues to resolve, it will be too late.

I don't see how either is close to being AFL standard. Aside from being too short and light, they both have the uncanny knack of being where the ball isn't at AFL level. Bedford at least has some leg speed, but he rarely gets to use it unless we are dominating out of the middle.

People overstate the value of ruckmen. Gawn is the exception because of his marking ability both forward and back, but he is a one in a generation type of player. We're not going to be able to replace him when he finishes up, but hopefully we can squeeze an extra year or two out of him by being sensible with how we use him. All we need is someone in the Darcy Cameron mould who can crash in hard at centre bounces and have some sort of presence around the ground. If Meek can play that role, I would gladly bring him in (with or without Jackson).

Yes. https://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/1166931/vfl-stars-in-for-friday-night-footy

In contrast, I'm not sure that we held up Geelong on any of their kick outs last night. They seemed to be able to stroll to 40 metres without any pressure and then hit up a target near the centre.

Jackson is a good prospect, but nothing more at this stage. If the asking price is any more than $500K per season, then let him go. Unfortunately we are not in a strong bargaining position. We'll be lucky to walk away with a top 10 pick and a developing ruck / KPP. We definitely need to find a key forward in the trade period though and a backup ruck.

Playing a forward line of midgets against a team like Geelong was just plain dumb, but it didn't help that Spargo, Sparrow, Bedford and (for a half a game) Pickett were determined to position themselves in the least dangerous spots possible. We are forced into bombing the ball long down the line because our half forwards don't work hard enough to find space and make themselves a genuine option. It shouldn't be Brown's job to contesting the football in a pack situation eighty metres from goal, but it is forced upon him by our cruddy game plan and his lazy teammates. I'm glad to see that most people have finally woken up and realised that McDonald's work rate and selflessness were the best things about our forward line. He doesn't have to get a lot of the football, or kick a lot of goals, when he is creating opportunities for others. It is Weideman's inability to provide this skill set that costs him a regular game. That said, he would have been a better target last night than either ruckman. If we're not willing to play another tall, the next best option has to be a mid sized player who can lead and mark. Hunt is clearly an option, and possibly Melksham if he can ever regain his 2018 form.

In: Hunt, Rivers, Dunstan, Weideman / Van Rooyen. Out: Salem, Bowey, Sparrow, Bedford.

Really ordinary performance from start to finish, very disappointing. Final margin 28 points, but could have been 60+ if Geelong had kicked straight. Full credit to Geelong, they have improved their team since last year by bringing in new players and redeploying others, and their game plan is much improved. Meanwhile we persist with the same, tired old plan that has been worked out by every club in the competition. Further, we continue to gift games to players who are either carrying injuries or underdone, or horribly out of form. If I didn't know better I would have assumed that our game plan in the first half was to have chains of handpasses going sideways and backwards until Viney or Harmes tried to run through a wall of opponents and were caught holding the ball. After half time the only tactic seemed to be bombing the ball down the line to a pack of players where we were horribly outnumbered. On the rare occasions that we moved the ball quickly through the middle we looked quite dangerous. May - contained Hawkins reasonably well, but was fumbly, indecisive and erratic in possession. A poor game overall. Salem - has given nothing defensively or otherwise since his return. I would drop to Casey to find form. Hunt or Rivers would give more. Harmes / Viney / Neal Bullen - A for effort, but F for execution. Please take the first option and, if in doubt, clear the area instead of taking on the tackler. Jackson / Gawn - Jackson shouldn't have played, gave absolutely nothing. Gawn only marginally better. Weideman would have contributed more. Bedford - nowhere near AFL standard unless he has acres of space to operate in. Happy to delist at year end. Spargo - playing far too wide and too far from goal (again). Rarely accountable defensively. Sparrow - not sure what he is contributing at present, exceptionally poor. Any number of Casey players could replace. Langdon - showed no respect to Holmes, and allowed himself to be hemmed in against the boundary the entire game. Jordon - season worst game, and the sooner we replace him on the wing with Brayshaw, the better. I'll give a bare pass mark to Oliver, Petracca, Petty, Lever and Hibberd, but overall a very poor team and coaching performance.

Any indication given as to whether he will stay on the rookie list for another year? I'm assuming we won't have a huge number of available spots on the main list unless there is an exodus at year end.

I can't believe this competition is still a 10 week season. Don't pretend that you are providing a serious, professional competition when teams are only playing 50% of the other teams each year. Why do we only have four home games, and just one in the first six weeks? How is that fair? Late Sunday afternoon games at Casey Fields are going to reduce crowds significantly as well. It would be really nice to go to Adelaide in round 1 and get the win, otherwise the Crows become a very big hurdle for us to jump as the losing streak continues.