Wunders

I don't mind the talk, i don't think he will be going anywhere and if someone wanted him, then it would be two top 10 draft picks (or like brayshaws brother and Freo's first round draft pick as an example). One thing that was discussed on the radio i think was that melbourne was playing 5 forwards a lot of the time when hogan was in and his pressure wasn't the best. When weid came in we started trying to play more traditional 6-6-6, hence 1v1's all over the place. So our game style has changed and this has also contributed to the Weid's success (may not be everything). Hogan being a more physical player would no doubt love this sort of game plan (1v1). In fact i think jeff Garlett would too. Both, to me, were hurt by the Lever inclusion and our desire to play him as a lose defender. Given that we have the best ruck and midfield combo in my mind, we should be playing 1v1 all over the ground for the rest of the finals to take advantage of our midfield dominance (and lack of perceived outside classy run - like smith for hawthorn this week).

It's funny that our strength is our ruck/midfield dominance/ability to clear the ball forward, yet we love to play a lose behind play somewhat limiting our dominance by allowing the opposition to outnumber us in our forward line. If i was a coach i would be evening the numbers up in our forward line most of the time, to give our dominance the best chance to be successful (i.e., quick tap to a midfielder at a center bounce and long kick long to an even numbered forward line).

Funny i noticed the new strapping on Gawn's calf at the game and watching hte replays again, his decreased ruck output (suns ruckman had more hitouts; which i found really odd) and that Gawn wasn't really rucking any contests inside our 50 (McDonald/Hogan did most). I presumed that this all meant that the coaches had decided to give him a lighter game load as we were playing the suns and i was thinking how smart we were (and how selfless Gawn was with the possibility of a brownlow etc.). But with this news i see that this was not the case. Hopefully it is more of a corkie than a minor strain and can be overcome. :)

On a cheeky side-note, Gaff would fit in at Melbourne after the punch if we go back to last year and Hogan and Lewis' little taps (perfect fit? :P). I still want him, even if he gets 12 weeks. I think it has to be over 6 weeks though as other posters alluded to.

Agree and worried as i don't know which melbourne will turn up (or if we will dominate i50 with crap kicks and then they go swosh and easy goal to franklin etc etc. On other posters adn Spargo, one thing he does do is gut run. and it's that gut running and 10 possessions that opens up chains. I can't see melksham (because of injury) or VDB (have not seen him do it before + plus think he's more explosive) being capable of that. So if we do drop spargo i wonder if our ability to run the ball is hampered on the wide MCG.

Completely agree, If we want to have a lever type lose in defense in front of franklin i'd much prefer pedo than wagner. Plus we know Pedo gut runs and if we turn it over we'd have the effort from him. On the downside hes not explosively fast, but if he positions well he can cut off any thrusts.

Lovely to see him back playing. If Melksham comes back it almost feels to me from outside that goody wants vanders in and someone else goes (Spargo most likely). I remember loving vanders speed and ferocity when he first came in, but i also remember that he was a poor field kick. So that is something that the coach will have to weigh up (another player who can't kick in a team not renowned for kicking skills).

I can't believe Gold Coast's outs.. i think thats a bigger story than our ins. Plus Lynch saying he's leaving might knock the stuffing out of them before it's even bounced.

Put Vince on dangerfield - as a hard tag. Remember that adelaide game where he tagged danger and absolutely rode him hard all day and danger had 12 possessions. I'd do that. Middle of Oliver, Brayshaw and Vince when danger is there :). Brayshaw & Vince Duel sided, Oliver a freak = a very hard to match up midfield :)

As a side note, from the WB game i felt the team balance was the best it has been all year. 2 KPD (frost and McDonald), 2 KPF (Hogan and McDonald) and one less contested ball player (Viney) and 1 extra runner (Hannan). I would like to stay with this for the rest of the year, if hannan or any other outside like player is to be dropped then bring in another runner. aka play the best players in our team in the best position, don't toss and turn the team around every 2 minutes to be flexible. Gawn, Oliver, Brayshaw and ____ at the majority of center bounces please :).

I actually wonder if bont out really helps that much? Bont is slow and we are slow. If they bring in a fast player i will worry a bit. Sure we will get our hands on the ball first and turn it over.. what happens then. Hopefully we are clean this weekend with our skills!

I actually thought Frost played well and i know he can be a bit meh at times, but i actually like the look of our backline a lot more now that hes in (i.e. since Lever went down i haven't liked it). I'd happily play him the rest of the year.

Agree with everything said. One thing i wish would happen is that if we bomb it long, we have set-up in a way that if we do turn it over (say a defender marks the ball) they can't clear the ball to a lose player on his own. The amount of long bombs we kicked to then have them go uncontested one end to the other [censored] ed me off to no end. Stop that first easy kick (get it out of bounds or ball up, or get a turnover). Instead we bomb it long and then there are no melbourne players anywhere and only stkilda players (1st quarter i was literally shouting at the TV in front of my mates watching melbourne guys just stand in the middle of the ground while st kilda guys ran forward/to wings - when i think oliver kicked long to 3 lose st kilda guys by themselves yet they went end to end (with us having 3 more players than them in front of them when they kicked the first kick)). I lost faith in our finals credentials when lever went down and every week has crushed me more and more to the point that i don't believe we will make finals - which is heartbreaking (only way we will is if other teams fall down around us, rather than us paving the way). Vent over for now, but extremely frustrated like many.

Apparently we have a candidate this year we get first crack at. Toby Bedford, a small forward. This is what was said after his game recently (https://www.afldraftcentral.com.au/tag/toby-bedford/? #3 Toby Bedford (Dandenong Stingrays) Starting the game inside 50 as a small forward, Bedford showed some fancy footwork on occasions but struggled to get into the game in the first half. Although late in the third quarter he was moved up the ground to the stoppages and created a real spark. He won a couple of hard balls in traffic and released each to advantage, before his defensive efforts were rewarded with a holding the ball free kick. He broke from a centre bounce in the final term and almost set up a goal with a long kick inside 50. AFL link to where it links him to us: http://www.afl.com.au/news/2018-06-27/u18-the-fatherson-candidates-linked-to-your-club

I agree too, his fantasy scores the two weeks prior were ~100 both weeks, and then with the ankle/neck last week he was down at ~30 and dropped... Against Adelaide his aggression at the ball was Viney like. Hopefully Pedo can provide a similar role for us (if not Smith back in).

One thing a few are not discussing is that Collingwood may decide to 'tag' Hibbo (if i was an oppo coach i would to try and stop his run; i.e. Carlton game with Jed Lamb i think trying to get into Hibbo for the first quarter and a bit). So say Collingwood do this, then he probably couldn't play Lever's role (plus i love Hibbo and Jetta as 1v1 kings, but with attacking flair once they win it). Similarly, I'd be putting ANB on that Collingwood wing/backman (Tom Phillips; like hibbo) to stop his damaging run and meters gained. Interesting to think about anyway. I'd bring in someone fast and hard, who can repeat gut run at a high intensity to cover any potential fast breaks.

I can't help but feel that we lost those early games because we had people like Wagner, Frost & Hunt in the team. I think we struck gold by dropping them all and going on this 6 week winning run. I'm not saying they are bad, more that they all have a weakness compared to Lever & the way we play (i.e. Playing them attenuated the way we play now - although maybe it was all T-mac coming back). I'd personally like to see Petty (early season reports said he reads the ball really well and takes some nice intercept marks), Smith (i think he will get the game & i'm excited to see what he can do) or Weid (played down back - because i like weid but don't want him back in the forward line as its functioning atm). Even pedo to the defense would work (i could see pedo as a McGovern marking type - but poorer in quality). In the end, if we set up well and dominate the middle then the defense won't have to do much (hence it won't matter as much who we bring in). Go Dees!

It's almost boring for us all the sudden on selection night these days :P (not that I'm complaining as i love our side). Even if we played West Coast i wouldn't change it as I'd back our team.. Hopefully play well again :)

Really happy with Bull in our team, he's really added to that hardness that the team exemplifies. Although i really love the idea of Weid, on the seasons form so far i much prefer Bull for our chances to make and win finals.. But it's nice to have a Pedo/Weid in reserve just in case!

Yes, some weird statistics... I did like that as a team we are second for distance covered behind Collingwood (and GWS is almost the same as us). Should mean that we are all working harder as a team - well i hope it does! Against Gold Coast jessie & weid were close to 8km at half-time, so i would've thought someone like that would be up there..

Happy for no change (even if weid is ready, send him to the VFL for a match and see how he goes), wasn't happy with how Bull started the match (holding the ball, not killing contest, etc.), but he adjusted to the tempo of the game and ended up having a statistically nice game. Anyone have thoughts on us flying up the day before the match? I personally like the idea of going up 2+ days before (as any flight exposes the body to radiation due to thinner air and less molecules to deflect incoming cosmic rays, and i think that's an additional stress on the body that can have a small effect on performance; might only be 0.5% - but i want to be in peak physical condition). Example article looking at endurance performance and dose of radiation (greater exposure = poorer exercise time to exhaustion, hence performance is decreased). https://atlasofscience.org/solar-radiation-reduces-endurance-exercise-performance-in-a-hot-environment/

In retrospect, it's really Brayshaw who has taken Dom Tyson's spot this year (not Viney) and it seems to be for the better. I like Dom, but i like our current set-up more.

And thus Charlie is up first!!! http://www.afl.com.au/news/2018-05-15/tribunal-live-curnow-brothers-ziebell-from-5pm-aest

May Gets off, can they get off? Although may was talking to the umpire, whereas both curnow's don't seem to be.. interesting

twitter gif of the touch https://www.zerohanger.com/new-footage-shows-charlie-curnow-make-contact-with-an-umpire-19922/