Roger Mellie

Jeeesus! What's going on? There's hell of a lot of players heading out the door: https://womens.afl/news/51677/trade-period-preview-dees-bracing-for-exodus-tigers-eye-reinforcements O'Dea (Good pick-up Dees In Oct), Newman (poor year), Jakobsson (sold out on us twice or expendable?), Cordner (should only ever be allowed to play for MFC with that name), Guerin, Katherine Smith Cant we afford to pay them?

Ditto and that's just a start but: Tom - plodder. Is it a coincidence we played pretty well without him? Oscar - two shocking games, one of them particularly cringe worthy against a first gamer

When the pressure's on revert to type: - don't think, fall over - bomb it to port players or noone - all go for the same mark - forget the gameplan - let the structure fall to bits - look for frees - get sucked in by a second gamer into thinking you can forget them and spectate - confuse tackling with falling on players - dispose of ball in random directions - fumble

If we had the luxury of dropping forwards, Fritsch deserves to be dropped for one of the worst acting displays of all time - resulting in a much deserved 50 metre penalty.

These players need to managed - Jetta, Bennell, Jones, Pickett, Jackson. I can't see Bennell playing this week with his history - way too risky. Risky too, playing Jones in 4 days. Jetta's conking out. Pickett needs a break this game or next. Hannan was [censored] and didn't look to handle the conditions. Brayshaw bollocks and Harmes horrendous. Out: Bennell, Jetta (managed or head knock) Brayshaw In: ANB (not a fan but fills a need ), Tomlinson (ditto), Rivers or Smith Harmes can tag Gray and stop taking on the god dam tackler.

I like Lockhart and I presume Goodwin's giving him an extended run. He's making mistakes by getting caught with the ball but I think there's already improvement. He looks for and hits targets, has vision and is creative. I like that he looks inside and doesn't do the auto bomb down the boundary line. His lack of stats might be because he's given a job. I don't like that he gets caught with the ball and that he has no (or less of a) tank but both are improving. Smart footballer, quick enough and not afraid to tackle.

I'm not that fussed if it's Jackson or TMac. Perhaps the best wet weather footballer if it's going to be wet. Jackson will be a gun. His ground ball work is already better than TMac's but he's not really clunking them yet and a wet slog wont help. I think we'll need Jackson over the next month to give Gawn a decent chop out - not just a couple of minutes here and there. So, I'm happy if Jackson misses and comes back in on Thursday.

Interim Coach?

The positive (note the singular): A big shout out to Michael Hibberd. The guy is under way more duress than any other player in the team and still managed to shine.

We are also hopeless at guarding space. Geelong showed how easily they could zig zag their way through it. Zone defence is utterly futile if you cant guard space.

Out: Melksham - slow, out of form and tries to be too cute. AVB - too underdone. Rivers game was riddled with errors but he's worth persisting with. Lockhart did some absolute howlers but I like what he otherwise brings to the game. His replacement would be Jetta and he's too slow and plodding at the moment. In: Wiedeman. We need someone else for the bombs into the forward line. Brown doesn't take contested marks so it's either Weed or Jackson. I'm not that fussed which, but Jackson hasn't quite put it together yet. As mentioned earlier, Alir will have a field day if without a second tall. Bennell - need his class and precision although I don't know if the SCG will suit. Otherwise maybe Bedford (pressure and speed) or Jones (experience).

Yeah, pretty sure he was a development coach here for a year or two.

If Max plays 95% of game time, it will still be less than what he would've played in last years full length quarters.

Hopefully shuts down Stringer

Possibly a Kent Kingsley Award nominee. Having said that, he does manages to scrape back onto the Essendon list every year on a one year deal or rookie contract.

Bummers have gone for a short forward line too. Their full forward line is an out and out lol: [40] Will Snelling, [44] Shaun McKernan, [20] Jacob Townsend If we cant get on top of that forward line, we deserve to lose (yes, I know they don't necessarily line up that way) They may send Hooker forward given their short forward line. We may do the same with May, maybe (trying to break the record for using 'may' in a sentence). If Zaharakis plays like he did last week, Langdon will give him the mother of all baths. Managed minutes of Bennell, Hannan and AVB is a slight concern. Go Dees

Looks like the forward line-up for this weeks game (in - Kossie). Hoping for the Weed but looking less likely.

Up to 2018, the game plan suited Brayshaw and served him very well - chaos ball and get the ball forward. It was perfect for him - just bang the ball forward and rely on the frenzied contest.... That's changed and he can't. Unless he's 5 metres in the clear and running with the play he never, ever looks where he's kicking. I cant think of too many times he's looked for a player outside the contest and he routinely ignores an open player to bang it the boot to no one. Unlike others, I like his skill set and think he's a smart footballer (apart from the defensive running) but he's stuck in chaos ball play (IMO) and doesn't seem able to adjust. I hope he can because he has a lot to offer.

If you loose an emergency player, aren't you allowed to replace them with another?

Happy with the changes. Like most, surprised at Hunt but who doesn't love more speed. I assume he plays forward, where he's trained (?). Surprised by Lockhart and hope to see him back there soon. Hope they smash 'em Hate Carlton - Go Dees

Here's my guess with all those ins: Jetta OMac May Salem Smith Lockhart Tomlinson Viney Langdon Petracca Jackson Bennell Pickett TMac Fritsch Gawn Oliver Brayshaw Jones Rivers Harmes Melksham Lever (Knee)

Surely it's pork terrine!

He was the first player I looked for on the chart too

No, Jordon's been moved to the midfield

I'm a bit stumped why Joel Smith is now training with the backs. Why would you scrap the forward idea after one preseason game when he kicked 4 goals on one leg? I get that he's a fringe player but, with speed to burn and an excellent leap I see him as a better forward prospect. If he manages to start clunking some of those marks when sailing over packs then lookout. To me, his weaknesses are his kicking and his footy nouse. Without a lot of games, he might get more exposed in the backline.