spirit of norm smith

What do you find in a paddock occupied by a bull ? This article in full of it

Aim for Gunston in exchange for a future 2nd round. He would add a lot to our firepower.

Age votes for Dees v Giants were May, Langdon, Gawn, Petracca, Kelly. AFL Website has Petracca as our 3rd best. He might sneak a vote especially with the goal he kicked to end the first quarter.

You don’t need a nomination to be a “rising star”. Riv is a rising star ⭐️ and won it for the Dees on the weekend. Very happy with our new number 24.

All practical and reasonable and strangely a sprinkle of common sense

Love to see Trac end the year on a high with a BOG effort this weekend. He’s had a great year. He might match Gus with a bronze medal in the Brownlow count. I think they have been managing his workload for the last 4 games and played him more as a forward/midfielder.

WE HAVE TO BEAT THE BOMBERS. WE HAVE TO. I couldn’t stand it if we didn’t. My bombers mates reckon Dees are soft and melt like butter. I really want to rip into them but have no confidence with our habit of losing the most winnable games or the most important. WE HAVE TO WIN

Head high contact. Reckless. Low impact. $1000 fine for Eddie. That’s loose change !!

Dogs also got a few handy FS players in Wallis, Liberatore, West. Cats got Scarlett, Hawkins, Ablett, Bews from FS. But the NGA was a strange one and glad to see it will change. I don’t actually think the Crows will bid for Ugle-Hogan. I think that will be left to the Kangas at pick 2. Dogs will get a huge boost from a biased system.

Applying the no DH RULE it’s a no from me

May is in career best form ... undeniably. Definitely should be AA this year. Back to the Tmac subject. He is now about to turn 28. He has certainly deteriorated in form and it might be time to offer him up in a trade. He might represent some value for a club looking at depth in a key position back or forward. Unfortunately his $$$ ask might scare some clubs away. What would we get? Not much I’d imagine.

I think they tried to turn a fast rebounding half back into an opportunist forward. It worked on occasion but should never have been the permanent switch. Hunt can still play a key role for us with his pace. Often we bemoan our lack of pace and we corner this bloke in the forward pocket. I would definitely like to see him return to a half back or wing role. He was a fast rebounding defender. His 2016 and 2017 years were excellent.

Agree. Need Weid or Fritsch or Kozzy to light it up and kick a bag. (ie. In modern day footy in 2020, 4 goals or more is a bag).

I think we all agree. He has the talent. It’s his intensity that can lift, improved goalkicking accuracy will help, and he needs to play smart footy starting with getting in front. I’d like to see him get a 3 or 4 goal game this week.

He’s not really a Smokey pick but I’d love to see grab Angus Baker as a late pick. 22yo ex Swans academy player who had a great season for Canberra in the NEAFL. Was the leagues best player and played very well against the AFL clubs aligned reserves teams. Tough running skilled half back. 189cms 83 kgs. Would take mid sized defender and probably fit into Hibberds role. I know we have Rivers but Baker also would be handy. One to consider.

Probably the most frustrating bloke this year. Real talent. Real absences. His goalkicking accuracy ? 19.20 this year is not good enough. Should be 26.13 with some of his poor misses. I went to the Bulldogs game and prior to the start, Fritsch must have had at least 30 shots at goal in 15 minute warm up. He nailed virtually everyone. I think he missed 1 out of 30. Shots were all roughly 30-35 metres out on 45degree angle left and right and straight in front. Only remember one snap close in a pocket about 10 metres out at the end. No one on the mark. No running shots or pickup running burst kick. In the actual game he missed shots under pressure. 1goal 2behinds 2onthefull The problem 1- his kicks are not always nice 30m out in front. There’s angles and sometimes in the pocket or pressure or a man on the mark. He needs to simulate match like Goalkicking. 2- he is so laconic. He missed a chance v giants to take off after one mark when his opponent had fallen over. His lack of urgency or intensity or slowness to kick or handball means turnovers. 3- his marking is very good BUT HE IS OFTEN BEHIND HIS OPPONENT AND SHOWS LAZINESS. He twice went for speccys v Haynes and then finally played the percentage shoulder into body move and mark in the space out the back. Result!! Fritsch can be good and a real danger up forward but he needs a rocket up him. He needs intensity. His skills are generally good. He needs to play the smart way. His kicking must be firm and direct , and not layback style.

What a joke!! Quaynor. 1- Rivers kicks the winning goal in a tough elimination finals type game and he misses out. Rivers kicks two crucial goals. Even Rivers spoil in the last 15 seconds showed his heart and toughness to match his skill and run. 2- Quaynor got 17 possessions against Rivers 16 possessions. Often running past for a handball. Trent Rivers got 8 contested possessions compared to Quaynor 4 contested. 3- Sexton kicks 3 goals in the first quarter on Quaynor who gets moved. Somehow that must have been missed !! There is bias in the decision. Just my opinion.

Exactly. We are not a premiership threat yet

I am always most nervous when we are clear favourites. For some reason we don’t win when we absolutely should. That’s why the bombers game is so vital. Remember 2017. We had it in the bag and blew it. Hope history doesn’t curse us again. If we beat the bombers I’ll be satisfied but still shake my head and groan at how we lost to Freo and the Swans !

Good call. The top 1st rounders are predominately a lock for good players. About 80-85% success rate now each year. Oliver was a lock for us by the September of his year. It’s the players in 30s and 40s (25-50) that can lift you up (Anb, Sparrow, Spargo, Fritsch, Hannan, Perry, Jordon) or be a bust. These blokes are okay but definitely on the fringe. Our your rookies like Harmes, Vberg, Lockhart, Wagners). Our blend of trade pickups has been excellent imo (May, Langdon, Melksham, Hibberd, Tomlinson, Lever). Trent Rivers was a great get at #32 (hard to see why others skipped him as he was expected around the 18-22 mark) and we jumped when he was still available. ?? I do like our no DHs policy. I didn’t care about missing on players like Charlie Curnow, Jordan Degoey or Sydney Stack. Good players but hard to manage. But I also am not quite after choirboys like Grgic, Morton and Weid. They have talent but no raw aggression and competitive streak to win. Martin Dangerfield and even Cripps have the ability but that desire to rip in and win it. Trac is showing signs of having the intensity to win and that’s the next step (I still laugh at the Saints picking McCartin. That was never going to go well and he lacked fitness and desire even before his unfortunate head knocks with concussion). 2020 has some good youngsters and we trust in JT despite a lack of picks (Only one) below 57.

Dons have nothing to play for. But we don’t do well in games that we should win. Pies in 2017 still haunts me. That was a shocker. Freo and Swans this year. It’s ridiculous. If we had won either game, then we’d have our destiny in our own hands.

Absolutely May ahead of Andrews. He takes the best forward every week and restricts them. He gets 15-20 possessions mainly contested every week. He spoils and inspires the defence. He is our defensive captain.

Agree. Brown did a very good job. At the ground you could see he was getting to contests and presenting. He’s not slow like Tmac. Jackson is not quite ready and 5 weeks away without match fitness wouldn’t help. Brown would like to show the bombers that he is still AFL standard.

That’s ridiculous really. Gabba will be preferred by the Vic clubs. Week 1 should see Power v cats - Adelaide Oval Thurs night 7:10 CST 7:40AEST Lions v Tigers - Gabba Fri night 7:40AEST Eagles v Dogs / Demons - Optus Stadium Sat afternoon 4.30AEST 2.30WST Pies v Saints - Gabba - Sat night 7:40AEST

Agree. Played a good first game. So over hyped. Then done zero since. Frustrating type who loves a trick shot but no pressure or hard running !!!