Ted Lasso

I'm pretty confident he will Daz, i think the bye has probably helped a few players dealing with Niggles (I'm assuming that's the case with Max)

Max Gawn and Luke Jackson are going to make the Bombers rucks really work hard. it'll be interesting to see if they're able to go with them around the ground. I quite like the mix that's going on without the extra tall, i'd imagine there is a likelyhood that Viney spends a good amount of time forward

Geelong need to settle down and not get sucked into the fight. they are getting enough field position to be much closer than they are

Mark Neeld that one, he's got his eyes on a return to coaching, passing messages to his old mates at the Bombers

Oh god ?

Caddy is an awful footballer. my 5 year olds fish has a higher footy IQ than Josh Caddy

I'd give him another year i reckon OD, mostly because i can't imagine we'd get enough in a trade to make it worth moving him, his value was a lot higher when we weren't giving him a game haha

Sounds like GWS and GCS are going to get raided, teams eyeing off players from both sides already, not sure who we'd want from those teams but i imagine both will lose a couple this off season

I certainly wouldn't be offering Weid up for trade unless he's desperate to leave, i don't think he's best 22 right now but i think he show's enough to persist a little while longer on the list if possible

With you Dazzle, if the Pies agreed to less than a first rounder i'd be worried they knew something we didn't.. he's a gun, and would cover the loss of Hibberd when he retires perfectly, but i'd imagine we'd have to be very crafty at the trade table to get it done.

What on earth are we going to trade for Brayden Maynard?

Jake Lever will be our next captain in my opinion. Max probably holds it for a while yet though. It's great that Tracs leaderships is developing to the point he's in the conversation though

It's pretty ordinary. especially given they aren't a serious finals contender or anything, you'd definitely hope to see a bit more care shown for players, especially because every player always wants to play, but the club has a bit of a responsibiltiy to pull the pin if they're pushing through too much

I think Billings would improve in our system and definitely be in our best 22 based on his best football. he's down this year, but so is basically the Saints entire club. my sense is though, his name being floated is purely about assessing his potential worth, and if they couldn't get a top 20 pick, it's probably not worth the trade from the Saints end.

Ruck depth is an area i'd like to see us build in, there are some very good young rucks around the league developing in the 2's who'd potentially see a real opportunity, with Gawn getting older to learn off the best for a year or 2 with the view of taking his spot I'm not sure of his contractual status but Sam Hayes is someone i really rate from the Power, he's a very big lad, and very strong contested game, i reckon he can become a really really good player. his ruck craft probably needs some work but i'm sure Gawn and Stafford could help that alot. Port rate him so it wouldn't be a freebie, but realistically i'd expect the asking price to be reasonable

That's the thing, it's a little bit of a buzz word in AFL circles i find, a high percentage of interstate players would experience a level of homesickness during their careers, some more severe than others, but it generally is fleeting and the players are able to manage it with the support of the club

Not too worried about either to be honest Dazzle, i just think it's something that happens, sometimes it gets reported and sometimes it doesn't.

I know for a fact Trent Rivers is also expereincing mild homesickness, no concern either will leave, but a reality of recruiting interstate players, most go through it to a degree

I also think part of our clearance struggles has been the expected dominance not being met at times, because as you say Gawn isn't at his absolute best. when Jackson goes in there the mids just read the ball and we do seem to win it a bit more regularly. definitely something the coaches could play with. even a 50/50 split in the ruck between the two could change the look of the game.

I understand how big an asset Gawn is, but i'd love to see, for one game we just plonk him at Full Forward for a game, Jackson could take the ruck. i've got a feeling he'd be almost impossible down there over the course of 4 quarters.

It doesn't, but senior figures of the club have said they expect 3 key forwards to be a thing we stick with throughout the year, so i suspect if Weid goes out he'll likely be replaced with a tall. However as you point out, nothing is guaranteed. i don't mind the idea of going smaller. Jackson, TMac and Fritsch are 3 good marking targets

to this point, various interviews on the website suggest Ben Brown is training extremely strongly, looking much more aggressive and moving much more freely, i believe it was Richo? who said that. so with that in mind i don't think Ben Browns form as such is an issue for his selection, it'll be more to do with if they think Weid is filling the role they've got him there for, or not.

I do wonder if Weid would have been given as much time if we were say 6-6 rather than 11-1 coming into this game

In: Ben Brown, Jack Viney Out: Sam Weideman, Tom Sparrow

I think the other serious option in this is Mitch Brown. in the one game he played he performed strongly, i think offensively he offers more than Weid is currently, and defensively is a similar type of player. he may compliment our forward line better in the short term. However i think realistically in terms of winning the 2021 premiership, Ben Brown is the better player and potentially should be given a few weeks to see if we can make things click with him in there.