poita

It would be great to get Tayla Harris back to Melbourne, but not sure how we could trade for her. I don't imagine that draft picks will have much, if any, value given that there will be very few decent players in the draft. Do we have any Brisbane locals on our list who might want to return home? I would also expect to see some teams stockpiling talent ahead of the looming expansion (eg Geelong hides some players in the depths of the local league before swooping next year).

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/more-news/could-1-million-tempt-a-victorian-afl-club-to-play-in-china-in-2018/news-story/9deeddcbc46ce2db1ec889b45ffc60cc?utm_source=Herald Sun&utm_mediam=email&utm_campaign=editorial The money would be nice, but at what cost? I assume we have deals in place for 2 NT games next year, but 1 China game (with FTA coverage) followed by a bye, might be better than two trips north for less reward.

I'd rather a gun midfielder or a key position player than a HBF, no matter how good he is. The dogs need to work out who the keys to their success are and pay those guys accordingly. You would hate to pay $800K for JJ & lose a Macrae or Dalhaus down the track.

I'd be very interested to see Brayshaw in the role occupied by Vince & Melksham so far this season - I would suggest his disposal and decision making would be a step up from those two, but not sure how he would go in one-out contests against quality small forwards. He is too good not to be playing at AFL level, particularly when you see guys like Bugg & JKH in the team.

There is zero evidence that that has worked for Weideman to date. And King is coming from much further back than Weideman. The reality is that we have erred by having two developing rucks on the list (instead of another experienced ruck) and we are going to have to suffer the consequences for a fair bit longer.

Until we play four quarters on a regular basis, finals are a fantasy. It is more likely that we will finish bottom 6 if we keep going to sleep for a quarter here and a half there. That would be a massive disappointment and a big fat fail. Our list is good enough, but our players still pick and choose when they play. It's lucky that the Bulldogs didn't decide last year that they had the wrong profile to win a premiership, and accept that being mediocre was okay because that was the prevailing view.

In: Harmes, Stretch, Kent (with extreme trepidation) Out: Kennedy-Harris, Wagner, Bugg. I would still like another marking option up forward, but nobody warrants selection.

Yet some of our most experienced players are the biggest culprits. Jones' first quarter was appalling, fumbles and turnovers galore. Vince had lots of touches for no impact. Lewis arguably the same. Nobody makes a statement with a big tackle or block. They just run round calling for cheap handpasses while Oliver and Viney get their hands dirty.

We became far too reliant on Gawn last year. We've shown this year that we can be competitive without him (or any genuine ruckman for that matter). That is a massive positive for us long term. The big plus with Gawn is the 3-4 clean clearances that he gives us each week and the 3-4 clean clearances that he prevents the other way. That is huge in a close game. Plus McEvoy wouldn't have taken two clean marks in the goals square if Gawn was playing.

Dumb footballers playing dumb football = yesterday's performance. Chains of handballs to teammates in ever worsening positions, allowing Hawthorn to take uncontested marks in dangerous positions, 4 up and no one down, and so on. Credit to the team for fighting back in the third quarter after a truly woeful first half, but we never looked like winning that game. You can't keep burning all your energy in one quarter, and having nothing left in the tank at the end. I don't expect to win every week, but we have had five games in the balance at 3/4 time so far this year, and have lost four of them. That will be the difference between finishing in the top 8 and the bottom 6. We should clearly be at least 5-2. We got absolutely nothing from our bottom 6-8 players on the day: Kennedy-Harris, Hannan, Petracca, Salem, Wagner, Bugg, Vince. Some of those had plenty of touches, but did nothing of value with them. Kennedy-Harris, Bugg and Wagner should be back to Casey next week. Petracca looks injured to me - why risk such a valuable player when he is not right? I love Clayton Oliver, but why won't he kick the ball? He undoes so much good work by not pumping the ball forward occasionally. Vince had the same disease yesterday. He shouldn't be playing if his foot is bothering him. Wagner proved yet again that he is not a defender. His positioning and his reading of the play is just laughable. He might be okay on a wing, but he is a liability in defence. Viney was back to his best, but he had very little support. It is hard to recall too many valuable touches from the likes of Jones, Hibberd, Vince and Lewis. And finally, I find it very hard to have respect for Simon Goodwin whilst he can't / won't fix this issue of four players flying against each other leaving opponents free on the ground. You get taught one up, one down in under 12s. Why is it so hard for professional footballers to work out? Jetta, Hunt & Wagner are the worst. It's pretty simple - if you are under 6 foot tall, and there are four talls in a contest, stay the **** down.

Hogan IN = tick; Melksham OUT = big tick. McDonald needs to play, as we are in a world of trouble if a tall goes down (see Geelong & Richmond games for what happens). Plus I like him in the team because it frees up his brother and Frost. I assume one of Stretch & Neal-Bullen will play, alongside Tyson, Salem & McDonald. Maybe Stretch plays, and Neal-Bullen has a week off as the player held back from the VFL. No great need for Wagner, especially not until he builds some decent match fitness. I'll be interested to see what hoops they make Melksham jump through to get back in the team. Hopefully it is not a Dawes-style omission where you don't have to earn your spot back. His tackle count and contested possession numbers will make interesting reading.

Yep, definitely need more small forwards who go missing when the going gets tough. Soon we'll have a whole list full of them. Next.

Our key position depth is basically non existent at present, so I'd be interested in anyone who can give us a boost in that respect. Is Reid the best option? Not sure, particularly given his injury history, but his best football is very good. I don't see Weideman being a regular contributor until at least 2019, so there is plenty of football to be played before then. Tippett? He ticks a lot of boxes, but he goes missing far too often. You'd certainly want the Swans to pay half his salary.

I didn't see the game, but it seems pretty clear to me from reading the reviews that the following statements can be made: We are a better side with Pedersen in. It is not just his possessions or his willingness to make a contest, it is his ability to put himself in the right positions, including creating space for teammates. We are a better side with Oscar McDonald in. He frees up his brother and Frost to be more adventurous. He is doing enough things right to be persisted with, even if he makes a few errors. We are a better side with Vince in the middle. He is not, and never has been, a defender. Give him a job in the middle, he thrives and those around him look better too. Hibberd is a class act, a pity Melksham can't step up to the plate as well. Getting the right team balance is more important than the names on the team sheet. You can replace a ruckman with another ruckman, but you can't replace him with a small forward. Hawthorn at their peak would replace like for like, regardless of the player, and trust them to fill a role. We need to do the same. Our effort and workrate are far more important than our skills. It is why guys like Kent are not in the side. Of course, it causes problems when we lose players early in games, but hopefully we will avoid games like the Geelong debacle last year where we just don't turn up at all. Etihad is still a giant hole.

Weideman needs to understand that Pedersen's work rate and intensity is the absolute minimum that Sam needs to bring each week. Anything less and he is a liability. Hopefully he realises this before too much more time passes.

I wonder how many of Kennedy, Hannan, Johnstone, and McKenna would have made it on to the list if we had picked up Greene. Probably none, which would have solved a number of our current list problems.

Difference being that Hibberd won the football and used it well. It is hard to lay a tackle when you have the ball. Not only does Melksham not tackle, but he doesn't get many possessions and gives half of those straight back to the opposition.

Hmm, just imagine if we had a couple more talls on the list, instead of having a dozen NQR small / medium forwards, most of whom are stinking it up at Casey or on the injury list. Oh well, I'm sure Weideman will kick 5 goals from his regular 5 touches, Lewis will pay us back for the three losses he has cost us, Pedersen will dominate after receiving so much support from the coach in recent weeks, and Melksham will finally show us why we was recruited. Dees by 50.

Daniher has his one good game of the year and he has gone past Hogan? Hogan is still a year behind Daniher in development and his stats are every bit the equal of Daniher. Jesse needs to get his head on straight, but I'll still back him over Daniher. Player Statistics Comparison Jesse Hogan Name Joe Daniher Melbourne Demons Team Essendon Bombers Forward Position Forward 44 Career Games 75 Claremont Origin Calder Cannons February 12, 1995 Date of Birth March 4, 1994 22yr 2mth Age 23yr 1mth 195cm Height 200cm 100kg Weight 95kg 2012 Mini Draft Last Drafted In 2012 National Draft Round 1, Pick #2 Last Draft Position Round 1, Pick #10 Melbourne Demons Last Drafted By Essendon Bombers 2017 Stats for Season 2017 3 Games 5 13.0 Kicks Per Game 9.8 4.7 Handballs Per Game 5.6 17.7 Disposals Per Game 15.4 6.3 Marks Per Game 7.2 2.0 Goals Per Game 2.4 1.3 Behinds Per Game 2.0 1.7 Tackles Per Game 0.6 0 Hitouts Per Game 4.0 3.7 Inside 50s Per Game 3.0 0 Goal Assists Per Game 1.0 1.0 Frees For Per Game 0.8 1.0 Frees Against Per Game 1.0 6.3 Contested Possessions Per Game 4.4 11.3 Uncontested Possessions Per Game 10.6 11.7 Effective Disposals Per Game 10.4 66.1% Disposal Efficiency % Per Game 67.5% 2.3 Clangers Per Game 2.2 1.3 Contested Marks Per Game 1.0 2.0 Marks Inside 50 Per Game 3.0 1.0 Clearances Per Game 0.8 0.7 Rebound 50s Per Game 0.6 1.3 One Percenters Per Game 1.4 0 Bounces Per Game 0.6 91.3 Time On Ground % Per Game 90.6 $495,000 AFL Fantasy Price $448,000 85.3 AFL Fantasy Score Per Game 82.8 $423,100 Supercoach Price $376,800 85.3 Supercoach Score Per Game 82.2

What a stupid comment. If we had won on Monday night and Dom was best on ground nobody would be questioning his contribution. But we didn't and he wasn't, so it reasonable that the performances of senior players are scrutinised. For me, Dom is one of several key midfielders who is below his best. We can afford to carry one of them, but not three or four as was the case on Monday.

We have some very young, very inexperienced players in key roles (eg Oliver, Hunt & Petracca). Plus we have Watts playing in a role that he is not suited too. They are going to tire at some point, and we need to find a way to better share the load (decent team selection would help). We could win five of the six (we won't get close to Adelaide), but could easily drop the majority as well. Most likely we will be 4-7 or thereabouts by the half way point.

Our ruck stocks have a been a glaring problem for years (probably ever since Jamar & Martin were both in form in 2011), mitigated only by Gawn's stunning form and durability last year. Gawn's injury history meant that he was bound to miss games at some point this year. Obviously it is less than ideal that he is missing 12 games, but there was next to no chance of him playing 22 games again given the way he plays. Spencer himself misses far too many games, and is only a battler any way. Having two developing ruckmen on the list is just plain dumb. Are we planning on carrying both King & Filopovic for another three years until they are capable of playing at AFL level? And then they are still behind Gawn in the pecking order. Absolutely ridiculous. Even more so given that King is taking up a spot on the senior list. Taking Filopovic, Hannan & Johnstone instead of a ready made ruck in last year's draft was a big mistake, and it is costing us big time now. We have to make the best of what we are left with, and that is clearly not playing Jack Watts in the ruck each week. I would rather see Pedersen and Frost do the bulk of the work, with Watts to pinch hit.

So far Lewis has played one very good game against St Kilda, one very average game against Carlton, and has spent the past three weekends scratching his arse. I can't see how you can judge his importance on that sample. I was thrilled with his recruitment, but he has let us down badly so far.

Wonderful fixture - full credit to RFC & MFC for making it happen. We must keep this game at any cost, even if it means losing QB. I thought Richmond comfortably had 2/3 of the crowd. Hopefully they get some early wins next year and come along in huge numbers when it is our home game.

Pedersen, O.McDonald, Lewis & maybe Bugg to come in. I wouldn't be upset to have another tall on the bench either, but certainly not King who has barely played - is anyone else left? Spencer, Smith, Melksham & our most tired midfielder to come out. JKH, Stretch and Harmes all very lucky. Pedersen to ruck, supported by Watts & Frost. Happy for Tommy Mac to spend time forward to cover Watts. We saw how badly Tom did against Daniher last year, so prefer Frost to get first go this year. Oscar to Hooker. Hogan, Watts / Pedersen & T.McDonald to play forward. Lewis needs to dominate this match - he owes us massively.