Sydee

Maybe there are quite a few AFL fans that just got used to watching in the comfort of their own homes during COVID lockdowns Not judging them but lets be honest its been a crazy couple of years - its led to thousands of people selling their city homes and moving to regional locations There is no substitute for being there live at games but it might take a bit of time to get back to where it was

I thought I read 21k somewhere - apologies if that's incorrect

Good luck Disco - he has earned a chance - hopefully performs well in what will be a pressure cooker atmosphere

I'm also an advocate of Smith being player forward and I do not agree that time is passed I believe it has to happen through necessity - our tall forwards are either serial non-performers or close to or past their prime JVR is a future prospect for 2nd or 3rd tall - Smith has the weapons to be difficult to stop if trained properly as a forward

We may never know what exactly was said and it probably doesn't really matter but we have heard Max joke after a game previously about May being critical of Joel Smith (it was portrayed as a joke at the time) If true May needs to STFU and just play good footy instead of judging other players - the huge irony of course is that if Smith was fit he would more than likely be taking May's place this week

This week is going to tell us quite a bit about just how good this team is Coming off two disappointing losses, a week a utter stupidity and juvenile behaviour, players missing and out of form I'm waiting for a big response - this week could be season defining - roll over like the Melbourne of old and it might be an ugly second half of a season that only a few weeks ago promised so much The memory still burns of a club and its playing group who were best known as talking a big game and rarely if ever delivering - I really hope we aren't heading back to that place

Actually to be fair he played rounds 1 through 4 this season so it hasn’t been 14 months - he was really poor last week and is very lucky if he holds his spot

It’s been a very long time since we have a big forward that’s a match winner - they are few and far between Fritta on his day is v v good but not a Cameron, Franklin, Lynch type its an area we are weak in and it needs to be addressed - Weid isn’t going to tick that box and I don’t (and never have) think BB is the answer

I suspect you’re correct but Tomlinson is very lucky May and Smith aren’t available - if they were he’d be Casey bound based on last week’s performance

I think he has a future but no way he is ready for QB

Good point but Turner is way ahead of where young JW was if you ask me

Have you watched any Casey games? Turner has actually marked the ball and spoiled as well if not better than Tomlinson imo Is he ready for a QB debut ? - big call and you would need to be sure there is a fair match up for him - but he is closer to being ready than most give him credit for

what about this one

If Petty doesn't get up - almost a lock I'd say

yes but Wallace was a dog

Part of being a “big boy” is setting your own standards - Weid should be telling himself min 1 goal per qtr and do anything to achieve that - I suspect that’s as simple as it needs to be but like our back six have a target of no more than 15 points per qtr conceded

Get BBB about and rotate Max and LJ at FF they can’t do worse bring Daw in to help in ruck

BBB out - Max permanent forward Turner in - for Petty if not fit, or Tommo Daw in - to support Jacko in Ruck

Was hoping Smith was closer - would be extremely handy atm

In discipline out stupidity

Can't remember the last time I had dinner with friends and got into a fight after it Clearly not drinking enough

You can see the number is special to me but don't agree with this idea let it shine on somebody else's back

Agree re Turner he is putting together some solid form He looks like a very solid defensive option in time and can’t be too far away from getting a chance in the AFL When he does I hope he has the other generals around him (May, Lever, Salem) etc to help ease him into the higher level

It’s either a rule or it’s not Now we seem to have the makings of Russian roulette - sometimes it’s going to be paid sometimes not Common sense eh - for something that’s supposed to be common it’s a rare commodity

I think Turner is also pretty close to getting a chance - would he have performed worse than Tomlinson against the Swans - personally I doubt it I'm slowly going off the idea of Petty forward purely because the sooner we get a settled back six the better. Bowey has been a bit disappointing but I'm confident he will come good I'd be very tempted to drop BBB and let Max spend a week in F50 - the big fella does like a goal and a few less kms might be good for him. Ruck duties could be shared between Dogga who really needs to lift and Daw who while not quick does not get pushed off the ball and does get used as the bail out kick down the line at Casey with reasonable success - if they could halve the ruck contests I think we'd be better off overall. Would we lose too much by not having Max around the ground and at centre bounce - that's something the coaching staff have to weigh up