deelusions from afar

I think this is great - if we play Collingwood in finals he will take responsibility for De Goey (unless Harmes does) and will get it done. Just like he did with Bont in the granny last year.

If Jackson goes we offer North what we get for him in picks and offer Larkey the same contract we would offer Jackson. Definitely a long shot but if Larkey stays he has to play through 3-5 years of rebuilding before they're at our level. Come to us and he'll play finals every year (we hope). Surely more chance of getting him than Noughton / King bros etc

Not the only great highlight that includes a scrubber kick from O Mac. Pretty sure he did the same in that game we beat Hawthorn in 2016 - think it was part of the play which Billy Stretch put us in front in the last quarter.

My initial reaction was no way... but it got me thinking. Last year we had two tall forwards but this only really clicked late in the season. If you subscribe to the loading theories, perhaps we can't afford to have the two tall forwards unless everyone is 100% fresh? Is that why it doesn't work so well during the season? If that is the case, then you may be right. Although my gut feel is that Goody is not happy with Weid's output and so has Melksham taking the other "tall" position. Once BBB is ready Weid will be out.

Hopefully not. For mine Jack and Lever are great leaders and players but do not inspire when they speak. It's just cliches and platitudes! Whenever Max finishes up, I'd rather have Petracca or Brayshaw as the captain. Viney and Lever can still play an important role as vice or in the leadership group.

Yeah I agree he's not going to be the next Schwarz. But if he continues at the rate of improvement he is going at since debuting then he could end up as a genuine superstar of the comp. I mentioned Goodes and Kouta because they could play anywhere and troubled teams due to their unique assets - too tall, agile, strong - for anyone to go with them. But I agree that I think he's unlikely to be able to do this solely as a ruckman. Obviously everyone has their own opinions but I think he's likely to be a better player than White or Martin - White might have him covered at Centre bounces but I think Jackson would have him covered once the ball hits the ground and with his ability to work in traffic. And while Stefan Martin has been an incredible player with unique abilities (strength and speed for a big man) I don't think he has the natural ability / game sense that Jackson has - certainly didn't at the age Jackson is now! But my main point was, all of this is hypothetical. It's still so much for Freo to pay when you don't know if he will reach those heights.

I'm hoping Dogga stays as he is likely to be a very special player. He's showing all the signs - particularly given his age - but he's not there yet. He could be anything - the next Schwarz pre knee, Kouta, Goodes or something unlike anyone else that has played - or he may end up as a talented tall utility that can play anywhere but never masters a position. It makes me think if I were a Freo supporter and we were giving up this year and next year's first round picks and Meek (as an example) and potentially losing some other players who think Jackson will take their spot or eat up too much of their salary cap... is this deal worth it? Isn't this selling the farm? Are they really just Jackson away from a premiership or do they need a few more young talented players coming through? I'm not doubting his value particularly when you see what the biggest trades have netted in recent years... but I feel like if it goes ahead, it could blow up in Freo and Luke's face. There will be a lot of pressure on the kid to perform if this is what they have to give up.

I think this is a tough thing to balance... if some of Kozzie's shots on goal didn't go through yesterday would we be saying the same thing? I think it is important to have players who want to take the responsibility and kick the goal (even if they miss sometimes). But if they continue to miss (and are burning team mates in the process) then they lose their licence to take their shots. I think Fritsch has enough runs on the board at the moment.

I might be out on my own here but this is how Fritsch plays. I remember thinking often last year that he would often run around an opponent to get a clearer kick for goal that if he got caught it would look pretty bad - but he never really did. I suspect the opposition have woken up to his movements. While a number of these in recent weeks have looked awful, I fear that trying to take this out of his game might also curb his natural flare.

Thought Laurie would've been a chance after last week's game - maybe he's out due to covid protocols too?

That was my recollection too. I remember being pretty upset as he was about to explode as a player. I think the club used the pick we received and trade to Geelong to get Moloney as a ready made replacement? (While Geelong used the pick with another to get Brad Ottens and win a premiership!)

I think the idea that you have to have done X as a player to be able to teach players to do X is outdated. Surely it's more about their knowledge, analysis, ability to problem solve and communicate? I don't know if Stafford is a good forward coach or not but I have heard players talk about how his approach has been really helpful with their goal kicking.

Can he take a contested grab? I think that's almost more valuable a skill than any other as it means they can be a reliable kick in target, a threat forward and can float back and take marks in defence if required.

Though I think Clarkson would be a good fit in turning around their culture, the word is he doesn't want to have to rebuild. So this surely means that Yze and Williams would be in the running if they decide to go for it.

Yeah I agree. Geelong have definitely gone up a level this year... but they've shown a lot of their cards in that game. At the end of the day Thursday's result doesn't matter. All that matters is that you qualify and are able to play your best in September. Given where we were this time last year, it's fair to say we're still on track. But if we get similarly beaten by Collingwood, Carlton or Brisbane in the last three rounds then that would be cause for concern.

Interestingly 3rd or 4th probably has little difference to 1-2. i.e. - if our opponent is Geelong (or even Collingwood or Carlton), the game will be at the MCG in any case. If it is Freo - we'll see how we go against them in a few weeks on their home deck... but its not as if that ground is a bogey ground. We played our best 2 games of football there last year! Would be surprised if Brisbane finish above us given their injuries and form. If it were somehow Sydney, they've got a poor record at home compared with the MCG.

We've been doing this for years - it surprises me that other clubs haven't tried to exploit this much before. When Max is your ruckman, it makes sense to kick to him. But surely we need to get better at capitalising on the spares if a team like Geelong send extra players in to contest with Max? I actually like that Geelong have done this - it is easier for them to do this on a skinny ground like GMHBA and surely we will be ready for it next time.

Was a very disappointing game but I think some of the suggestions for changes are a fair way off the mark. Eg Spargo didn't get much of it - but we did struggle to get it out of our defence. He's one of the few that is reliable with ball in hand. Equally Bowey got caught out a few times but our defence was under enormous pressure. For me it is not about the personnel, it is about the effort. Geelong came to play and their tackling pressure was very impressive. Trac, Clarry and Viney all played well individually but Geelong killed our onball brigade as a whole. If this were round 20-23 I'd be concerned but it's not. Maybe it's fools hope but we timed our run to perfection last year and there's no reason we won't be doing the same this year. The Brisbane game showed we still have it. Our game relies on significant effort and pressure. Clearly it's not possible to bring it every week of the season. If we don't bring it, we are just an ok side. But when we bring it, we are almost invincible.

Isn't more about how many of these can we convert into full /proper memberships in the following seasons? Other than the first pandemic year in 2020, the club has increased it's membership numbers every year since 2013. So it's not just a matter of selling more of these gimmicky cheap memberships after the half-way point. If we managed to achieve the same growth in membership next year, we would reach 75k - which is the number that Pert had in the strategic plan. I thought it was laughable at the time... and yet we might get there despite the four years being hampered with a global pandemic. Enormous effort by so many involved!

I kind of agree with Jake here - It's going to take a mammoth contract to get Jackson to leave... but as we've seen in the past that can be a bit of a noose around the neck of the player and club. Jackson is a freak - no doubt. But if he is on $1M at 22 years of age (and the club has given up two first rounders, or one first rounder and a decent player) then the pressure is on him to perform. He seems to handle pressure well but he's not regularly tearing games apart like most that get paid that amount. I often wonder how these things work. Would a player manager ever say "You could get $X from Y but it's not all about the money. That's going to put a lot of pressure on you and we don't want another Boyd situation." Given that's against their own self interest I'm guessing not

Like Gosch's?

I'm happy for them to. They are a living demonstration that success in the H&A does not translate to finals / premiership success (despite getting close). I think the more games they play there, the more trouble they will have at the MCG.

Great post @Vipercrunch! It's a strange year with North and WCE performances skewing the points for a bit as well. As others have said, our scoring tends to rely heavily on solid defence and manic pressure around the ball. This style is exhausting but we've shown we can bring this in big games (eg in finals last year) and that we still have it (Bris two weeks ago). Having said that, there are some tactical moves that teams have made to curb our strengths - particularly our use of May, Langdon etc. Scott is seen by many as a great tactician and Geelong have clearly set themselves for this game (resting Selwood, De Konig last week). I think Thursday night will be a good indication as to whether well coached teams can will cause us trouble.

Out of interest, if another club were looking for depth in those areas, could they select Chandler or Disco before us in the draft? Or because they are rookies they are off limits.

I think this is why it's worth giving Petty a run forward - but that's more of a next year problem. It would be unlikely that they will bring in Disco again this year once he recovers unless one of the other three are injured.