chookrat

If we are to seriously consider Ben Brown we need to stipulate I'm the contract that he changes his ridiculous hair. I don't care how many goals he kicks if so have to see him walk 80 metres when lining up for goal with all eyes on him with his hair bobbing around.

Picket Fence, we will only know if letting Frost go was the right move after his, Lever and May's playing careers are over and then would have to guess who we could have drafted with the picks to obtain Lever and May. Prior to bringing in Lever and May our defence was a liability, and is now functioning well but we have spent alot both in picks and $ to get it that way. Lever hasn't set the world on fire, having been poor in his first season, before his ACL and then missing the better part of last year either recovering or working back to form. This year he has been ok but a fair way off the level expected for what we paid. Lever has at least 5 years of his best footy in front of him and so has plenty of time to prove his value, although we need to see alot more from him next year. May was unfit and was in and out of the side due to injury last year but has performed at an elite level this year to both shut down the opposition's most damaging forward, both talls and smalls, while using his intercept and kicking to rebound aggressively out of defence. He is getting old I'm hoping he can play at this level for 2-3 years. While Frost is a decent key defender one on one and can provide some drive, he is nowhere flnear the level of May in these facets and his kicking and decision making is a liability in the way we move the ball aggressively out of defence. He is a role player and all of our role players in defence are skilled ball users. I think Frost simply does not suit our defensive structure.

Playing devil's advocate, even if Adelaide offer Burgess more money, why would he choose to move to the [censored] hole that is Adelaide? Unless he wants to live in SA then this is a rubbish story.

Fully agree with all of this Lucifer.

I could see North offering him $900k on a 5 year deal, but outside of this he is invaluable between wing and the goals square as well as being valuable as a spare in our backline.

Not sure why you would think Richardson is second in line. I don't think he would always to be a senior coach again and I see his role as more of a mentor to Goodwin and someone to provide some internal checks and balanceson how the coaches are performing in their roles. Yze would be an excellent pickup it probably depends on what role we could offer to him, his influence re game style, how he would fit into the coaching structure, and how that ties in with his aspiration to be senior coach. I would expect the Essendon role to be attractive because of the amount of input and influence he would have on how Essendon play.

Charlie Murphy has been very good this year. He looks to be playing with more confidence, sticking tackles, making good decisions, skillfully hitting up targets, and kicking goals.

With 3 kids in daycare, kinder and primary school I'd rather not have a public holiday and instead have the kids at daycare, kinder and school after the [censored] storm that has been home learning. On the flipside I can see the public holiday as providing some relief for people, provided stage 4 is lifted before then. To me it makes more sense to have a public holiday to celebrate coming out of lockdown.

Give him the nod, he was superb (has been all season) and to kick two goals off half back including the match winner.

My read on what Goody has said about being ruthless ties in with what he has been saying all year about showing maturity, and that it needs to be player driven. This means when we are on the field and things aren't going our way, the players need to crack in and overcome whatever obstacles are thrown up. Last year the language was around finding a way to win, this year it is about maturing and being ruthless which are all mindset related. To me this comes down to belief, discipline, trust and an uncompromising will to win and is as important for our bottom 6 as our top 6 players.

Weed has been quiet for the past couple of weeks because he isn't getting supply as we are getting beat up around the ball and our midfield and forward line are not working hard enough defensively. Sort this issue out and we should comfortably beat GWS and Druggies who are both struggling.

Agree we are similar to Richmond around the time the kept finishing ninth, but think it is more about continuity and confidence across the team, and everyone being on the same page with what is required during the match. Goodwin has talked about maturity for much of the past couple of seasons and his most recent language re developing a ruthless edge is that next step for our team, and I think one that must be player driven. Personally I think we are in good hands and will look back on the first 3-4 years under Goodwin as a period where the list, coaches and admin established our culture on the foundations set by Jackson and Roos.

Goal umpire was in the perfect position to make call that ball was touched after crossing the goal line, so can't see the controversy.

Classic Skuit!! I almost spat out my coffee reading this ???

Understand the sentiment but disagree with using tax returns to means test fines. Income and means are not the same thing. If you were to construct a means test then wealth (assets) is a stronger indicator of someone's means than their income over a year. Also, if I'm Tom Lynch and on $1 million per annum over 5 years I'd still be annoyed about a $2k fine, but agree that suspensions should be on the table for this sort of behaviour. I think an underlying problem is that any suspension renders a player ineligible for the Brownlow and with betting it places the AFL under pressure to not suspend players where it impacts on Brownlow ranking. I'm not convinced that serious impact, non-intentional football acts that result in a suspension should render a player ineligible for the Brownlow, while at the same time acts similar to Tom Lynch should render a player ineligible as the are deliberate, non football acts that fit the very definition of unsportsmanlike behaviour.

He's a beauty and can see him being a really important player for us heading into October.

Thought I'd bump this back up. Were sitting at 6-5 and a healthy percentage and over the past 5 rounds (ignoring Port match which was horrible) we have improved game on game in how we move the ball out of the contest and convert in our forward half. With big matches against Doggies and Saints I don't think we will be troubled too much by Sydney, Fremantle, GWS or Druggies, we could be playing for a top 4 spot. Also worth noting we were within a kick of Geelong and Brisbane. We need to keep healthy and if we keep building on the way we have been playing could have a dream run into finals. Dees!

As if he'd leave Melbourne to join some mickey mouse European soccer team. He's with the big boys now, in the AFL, and working for Melbourne the first and biggest club in the land. My good money is that he's not going anywhere.

It will be interesting to see the modelling on what the threshold is for herd immunity. E.g. if 70% of the population has antibodies either through recovering from the virus or being vaccinated is this enough to isolate any community transmission. Also, is there any medical reason why the movement of those who have recovered from Covid-19 should be limited if they lose no risk of transmission? Personally I'd rather not contract the desease, but it will be fascinating to see how countries that adopt an elimination v suppression v herd immunity strategy fare.

I think it offers an advantage. We can plan according to our internal knowledge on whether Gawn will play while Collingwood has to plan contingencies. This game is massive in the context of our season, with Collingwood going only ok, and if we can keep improving each week could win our final 8 matches and finish top 4.

I reckon this could be right as Jones/Sparrow are competing for same spot and with Jackson playing well and looking better every week, I reckon he offers more than Tom MacDonald on current form. Who would have thought 3 - 4 years ago we'd have such depth that Nathan Jones and Tom MacDonald would be in and out of the side. I thought Pickett and Spargo offered alot as half/small forwards with smart kicking in our forward half. Another one I'd consider is whether to play Harmes or Tomlinson as a half back/utility based on team balance.

Agree, the frees are there even if a few are pretty soft. Tidy up this part of our game and keep moving the ball quickly and directly a x we will smash them.

North look horrible. What's the go with us giving up frees every time the my have the ball? Tidy this up and we win by 6 - 8 goals.

Jacko has been super impressive. It's hard to believe he is an 18 year old who is 200cm and had played only a few games at AFL level. He does the basics well combined with athletic ability both in the air and at ground level, has a health degree of self assurance and just slots into the team beautifully. Really enjoying seeing him develop each week.

Lloyd should go and grow his flat top and sprinkle blades of grass.