Well.

Well.

Round eleven of the AFL season had absolutely everything.

Round eleven of the AFL season had absolutely everything.

We had another draw. Can you believe it?

We had another draw. Can you believe it?

We've seen more draws than we can remember in recent times. Unbelievable stuff we had. This nation's I guess, number one broadcaster, some say, or many say, he's the number one broadcaster across most sports. Jered Witley on sc and he went the early crow and said, this thing's all over.

We've seen more draws than we can remember in recent times. Unbelievable stuff we had. This nation's I guess, number one broadcaster, some say, or many say, he's the number one broadcaster across most sports. Jered Witley on sc and he went the early crow and said, this thing's all over.

Collingwood are going to win the game.

Collingwood are going to win the game.

Fremantle said not quite and they clawed their way back, had a chance to win the game, could not do.

Fremantle said not quite and they clawed their way back, had a chance to win the game, could not do.

So it ends in a draw.

So it ends in a draw.

I'll tell you what those ten past eight starts on a Friday night out west.

I'll tell you what those ten past eight starts on a Friday night out west.

They are a long night. They make for a long, long, long night.

They are a long night. They make for a long, long, long night.

I'm going to talk about a team that we can trust and a team that we can no longer trust. They may make the eight the team that we can no longer trust for a lonely scraping and I'm not sure they'll do much damage. You're looking forward to talking about that, of course. This week on the seven AFL Socials, I had a look at Steven May. He's a demon by name and he's a demon by nature. His ability to defend his man to defend and help his teammates and use the footy. That's why I think he's the best big man in the competition. Also keen to have a quick chat about Lloyd Johnston, the man who punched out the backflip after kicking a nice goal. Wondering whether someone or anyone will criticize them move the Cats? What's going on at Catland? They won their first seven, they've dropped their next four. Not sure what's happening there. And the Bombers they are flying hi, So looking forward to having a quick look at them. And one of the reasons, They've got an awesome forsome down back and that could be the secret ingredient for the Bombers if they're to make a big push this season. So looking forward to getting stuck into all of those things. But let's start with the team that we can trust and the team that we can no longer trust. The team we can trust, the team we can trust. Blues fans is your Navy Blues. We can trust the Carlton footy club. I thought going into the game against Gold Coast. Yes it was at Marvel, but I had faith and I had belief that Carlton would get the job done and that was a beatdown. It was a beatdown around the footy. Some of the numbers were unbelievable in favor of the Carlton Footy Club, the boys around the foot He absolutely got to work.

I'm going to talk about a team that we can trust and a team that we can no longer trust. They may make the eight the team that we can no longer trust for a lonely scraping and I'm not sure they'll do much damage. You're looking forward to talking about that, of course. This week on the seven AFL Socials, I had a look at Steven May. He's a demon by name and he's a demon by nature. His ability to defend his man to defend and help his teammates and use the footy. That's why I think he's the best big man in the competition. Also keen to have a quick chat about Lloyd Johnston, the man who punched out the backflip after kicking a nice goal. Wondering whether someone or anyone will criticize them move the Cats? What's going on at Catland? They won their first seven, they've dropped their next four. Not sure what's happening there. And the Bombers they are flying hi, So looking forward to having a quick look at them. And one of the reasons, They've got an awesome forsome down back and that could be the secret ingredient for the Bombers if they're to make a big push this season. So looking forward to getting stuck into all of those things. But let's start with the team that we can trust and the team that we can no longer trust. The team we can trust, the team we can trust. Blues fans is your Navy Blues. We can trust the Carlton footy club. I thought going into the game against Gold Coast. Yes it was at Marvel, but I had faith and I had belief that Carlton would get the job done and that was a beatdown. It was a beatdown around the footy. Some of the numbers were unbelievable in favor of the Carlton Footy Club, the boys around the foot He absolutely got to work.

Sam wal she can trust him.

Sam wal she can trust him.

Yes, he's been tagged once or twice this season and being quelled, but he had thirty plus more than five hundred meters gained on the day. Patrick Cripps went to Matt Reel or vice versa, or they just met in the middle and said good luck and let's go. Well, he was dominated young Patty Cripps turned back to clock thirty one disposals, thirteen clearances. I think it was ten clearances to one Crips versus Row at halftime. I reckon he picks up the three votes Paddy Cripps. Blake Akers keeps doing his thing out on the wing. He just burns up the turf. He was fantastic and we mentioned this on the field a few weeks ago. There's no doubt Mark Bittnet is an AFL ruckman and he's really serviceable, probably more than serviceable for his footag club. But Tom Deaconing is the future. Tom Deconing is the number one ruckman at the Carlton Footy Club. It's just about keeping him fresh, keeping his body and he's load under control. But when he breaks out like he did on the weekend, there's no doubt he can be one of the better ruckman in the competition. Twenty five disposals, twenty seven hitouts and ten clearances if you don't mind, he was absolutely outstanding.

Yes, he's been tagged once or twice this season and being quelled, but he had thirty plus more than five hundred meters gained on the day. Patrick Cripps went to Matt Reel or vice versa, or they just met in the middle and said good luck and let's go. Well, he was dominated young Patty Cripps turned back to clock thirty one disposals, thirteen clearances. I think it was ten clearances to one Crips versus Row at halftime. I reckon he picks up the three votes Paddy Cripps. Blake Akers keeps doing his thing out on the wing. He just burns up the turf. He was fantastic and we mentioned this on the field a few weeks ago. There's no doubt Mark Bittnet is an AFL ruckman and he's really serviceable, probably more than serviceable for his footag club. But Tom Deaconing is the future. Tom Deconing is the number one ruckman at the Carlton Footy Club. It's just about keeping him fresh, keeping his body and he's load under control. But when he breaks out like he did on the weekend, there's no doubt he can be one of the better ruckman in the competition. Twenty five disposals, twenty seven hitouts and ten clearances if you don't mind, he was absolutely outstanding.

And then you've got really.

And then you've got really.

Solid performances, rock solid performances from guys like Newman and McGovern. Down back, Kennedy was good through the middle part of the ground, as was Hewitt and Jacob Wedding. He's always rock solid. There's been some criticism around for him. I can understand it, but I think he's been a really really important player this season. Maybe not at his absolute best, but certainly on the weekend he was very, very good. And then you've got Charlie Kurerono. Now though there was a lot of chatter about mac Andrew's role and performance on him in the first half and why you'd go away from that, and I think that's valid. If you've got a superstar under control, then keep him under control. But that's not Charlie's concern. He's just playing the game. If they change his matchup and move someone else onto him, so be it. What he can do and what we know and have seen from him, and he may have done it on mac Andrew anyway, is he only needs small periods in the game to take over, to kick two, three, four goals in a quick instant and really win the game for his forty club.

Solid performances, rock solid performances from guys like Newman and McGovern. Down back, Kennedy was good through the middle part of the ground, as was Hewitt and Jacob Wedding. He's always rock solid. There's been some criticism around for him. I can understand it, but I think he's been a really really important player this season. Maybe not at his absolute best, but certainly on the weekend he was very, very good. And then you've got Charlie Kurerono. Now though there was a lot of chatter about mac Andrew's role and performance on him in the first half and why you'd go away from that, and I think that's valid. If you've got a superstar under control, then keep him under control. But that's not Charlie's concern. He's just playing the game. If they change his matchup and move someone else onto him, so be it. What he can do and what we know and have seen from him, and he may have done it on mac Andrew anyway, is he only needs small periods in the game to take over, to kick two, three, four goals in a quick instant and really win the game for his forty club.

And that's what he did.

And that's what he did.

Now he ends up with thirteen disposals, he kicks his four goals. He doesn't take a heap of marks. He doesn't consistently dominate the game, but he can stand up when you need and he can kick goals from almost any type of situation. We know we can jump up in the air and take a fantastic mark. We know we can get it at ground level. We know that he can win it in a contest, and he can certainly play around the contest and around the stoppages when needed as well inside forward fifty. So the Blues, we can trust them. They get to seven and four, they've got a mammoth game on Channel seven this Thursday night. That one's over in Adelaide at the Adelaide Oval the Portress against the eight and three Port Adelaide Footy Club. Now Port are only one game ahead in terms of the win loss factor, but they're five places higher on the ladder. So this is a gigantic game of footy. It's not an eight point game, but it's certainly a big game of footy.

Now he ends up with thirteen disposals, he kicks his four goals. He doesn't take a heap of marks. He doesn't consistently dominate the game, but he can stand up when you need and he can kick goals from almost any type of situation. We know we can jump up in the air and take a fantastic mark. We know we can get it at ground level. We know that he can win it in a contest, and he can certainly play around the contest and around the stoppages when needed as well inside forward fifty. So the Blues, we can trust them. They get to seven and four, they've got a mammoth game on Channel seven this Thursday night. That one's over in Adelaide at the Adelaide Oval the Portress against the eight and three Port Adelaide Footy Club. Now Port are only one game ahead in terms of the win loss factor, but they're five places higher on the ladder. So this is a gigantic game of footy. It's not an eight point game, but it's certainly a big game of footy.

We can trust the Carlton footy Club. A team we can't trust. We can no longer trust.

We can trust the Carlton footy Club. A team we can't trust. We can no longer trust.

A team OFF trusted for a long time, a team I tip to win the premiership last year and this year, but I'm done with them. They can no longer be trusted. The Brisbane Lions, last year's Grand finalists. About twenty eight minutes into the last quarter on the last day last year, they were the premiers. Fast forward a couple of minutes and they were the runners up. And this season just has not gone at all how they expected it to go. We know they started the season off really poorly. They've been behind the ledger throughout. I didn't expect them to walk all over the Hawks because the Hawks form since their first month of the season has been really good. I did an interesting exercise on the weekend where I went back and did the ladder based on the past five weeks. I left the percentage out of it, which I guess probably doesn't allow me to tell the true story of the full story about the ladder. But the Hawks are right up there in terms of what they've done lately, as are a couple of other teams. But Brisbane at Marvel they've had a really good record at Marvel Stadium. They've beaten some good teams there over the past couple of years. I thought they'd go there and get the job done. I thought they win the game by three or four goals. And it was the same old story, the same old issues, the same old nagging problems for the Brisbane lines, finishing and the ability to stay composed, remain composed and take your chances. It was inefficiency and inaccuracy in the Brisbane forward line. They either won or equaled clearances, center bounce, clearances inside fifties, contested possessions, marks, tackles and tackles inside fifty All of those key metrics were either in favor or equal in favor of the Lions, so break even or in favor of Brisbane. Yet they lose the game because once again they failed when it comes to the most important aspect of the game, and that's conversion, that's goalkicking, that's accuracy. You hear guys like Jason dunstill bang on about it forever, and there's a good reason for it, because you can dominate all the statue like but if you can't put the ball through the big sticks, then you have a massive problem. The Hawks kicked fifteen goals ten the Lions kick ten goals fifteen. Simple as that twenty five point margin, and we can no longer trust the Brisbane lines. Some of the guys who were culpable for the misses basically everyone. Ky Lowman, who's shown a bit over the past few weeks and he'll be a player, kicks two goals three. Charlie Cameron, my little mate from the Crows back in the day, kick one goal, three missed, a couple of absolute cit has put one on the full, and then eight individual Lions aside from those two kicked behind as well. So just ugly, ugly, ugly, it's one that they let slip. There are other elements in the game. Some of the center bounce goals and stoppage goals that the Hawks were able to kick were just not becoming of a team who has aspirations of finishing in the top eight, let alone the top four, which is where they expected to be. So I'll say it one last time before we move on. I can truss Carlton. I cannot trust the Brisbane Lions. Our quick one, a really quick one, gol co Son Lloyd Johnston. In that clash between the Suns and Harlton, he does a backflip. He kicks a goal from a set shot and then he just goes whoop straight over the back, a quick backflip. The Fox Footy cameras actually missed it. They had to show it on replay. Thankfully, Thankfully they called it on replay. Imagine if the commentator's picked it up and the cameras missed.

A team OFF trusted for a long time, a team I tip to win the premiership last year and this year, but I'm done with them. They can no longer be trusted. The Brisbane Lions, last year's Grand finalists. About twenty eight minutes into the last quarter on the last day last year, they were the premiers. Fast forward a couple of minutes and they were the runners up. And this season just has not gone at all how they expected it to go. We know they started the season off really poorly. They've been behind the ledger throughout. I didn't expect them to walk all over the Hawks because the Hawks form since their first month of the season has been really good. I did an interesting exercise on the weekend where I went back and did the ladder based on the past five weeks. I left the percentage out of it, which I guess probably doesn't allow me to tell the true story of the full story about the ladder. But the Hawks are right up there in terms of what they've done lately, as are a couple of other teams. But Brisbane at Marvel they've had a really good record at Marvel Stadium. They've beaten some good teams there over the past couple of years. I thought they'd go there and get the job done. I thought they win the game by three or four goals. And it was the same old story, the same old issues, the same old nagging problems for the Brisbane lines, finishing and the ability to stay composed, remain composed and take your chances. It was inefficiency and inaccuracy in the Brisbane forward line. They either won or equaled clearances, center bounce, clearances inside fifties, contested possessions, marks, tackles and tackles inside fifty All of those key metrics were either in favor or equal in favor of the Lions, so break even or in favor of Brisbane. Yet they lose the game because once again they failed when it comes to the most important aspect of the game, and that's conversion, that's goalkicking, that's accuracy. You hear guys like Jason dunstill bang on about it forever, and there's a good reason for it, because you can dominate all the statue like but if you can't put the ball through the big sticks, then you have a massive problem. The Hawks kicked fifteen goals ten the Lions kick ten goals fifteen. Simple as that twenty five point margin, and we can no longer trust the Brisbane lines. Some of the guys who were culpable for the misses basically everyone. Ky Lowman, who's shown a bit over the past few weeks and he'll be a player, kicks two goals three. Charlie Cameron, my little mate from the Crows back in the day, kick one goal, three missed, a couple of absolute cit has put one on the full, and then eight individual Lions aside from those two kicked behind as well. So just ugly, ugly, ugly, it's one that they let slip. There are other elements in the game. Some of the center bounce goals and stoppage goals that the Hawks were able to kick were just not becoming of a team who has aspirations of finishing in the top eight, let alone the top four, which is where they expected to be. So I'll say it one last time before we move on. I can truss Carlton. I cannot trust the Brisbane Lions. Our quick one, a really quick one, gol co Son Lloyd Johnston. In that clash between the Suns and Harlton, he does a backflip. He kicks a goal from a set shot and then he just goes whoop straight over the back, a quick backflip. The Fox Footy cameras actually missed it. They had to show it on replay. Thankfully, Thankfully they called it on replay. Imagine if the commentator's picked it up and the cameras missed.

It but absolutely loved it.

It but absolutely loved it.

Lloyd, keep doing it, john Oh, I'm not sure what your nickname is, al J Johno. Whatever it is, keep doing it every time. Make it your signature. Every time you kick a goal, you go and do a backflip, unless you're down by ten goals late in the contest. Because we are in an entertainment business, sometimes we forget about that inside footy clubs and outside footy clubs we forget this is an entertainment business and that was very, very, very entertaining. Now let's talk about the Geelong footy club and why perhaps shouldn't be surprised with what's going on. There's seven and four as we get to the end of round eleven, so basically halfway through the season. Close enough too, it's an uneven season these days. But there's seven and four. I'm not surprised. If you had have said after eleven games, where would the Cats been? Told me they were seven and four, So that's pretty good, maybe a game or so ahead of where I thought they'd be, but I did tip them to finish sixth on the.

Lloyd, keep doing it, john Oh, I'm not sure what your nickname is, al J Johno. Whatever it is, keep doing it every time. Make it your signature. Every time you kick a goal, you go and do a backflip, unless you're down by ten goals late in the contest. Because we are in an entertainment business, sometimes we forget about that inside footy clubs and outside footy clubs we forget this is an entertainment business and that was very, very, very entertaining. Now let's talk about the Geelong footy club and why perhaps shouldn't be surprised with what's going on. There's seven and four as we get to the end of round eleven, so basically halfway through the season. Close enough too, it's an uneven season these days. But there's seven and four. I'm not surprised. If you had have said after eleven games, where would the Cats been? Told me they were seven and four, So that's pretty good, maybe a game or so ahead of where I thought they'd be, but I did tip them to finish sixth on the.

Ladder, so thereabouts.

Ladder, so thereabouts.

What is surprising and what has been surprising is they peeled off seven in a row and then they dropped four in a row.

What is surprising and what has been surprising is they peeled off seven in a row and then they dropped four in a row.

So they've gone from.

So they've gone from.

Looking all conquering and a premiership a genuine premiership contender, and media pundits are saying, well, here we go again, do not right off the Cats. We've done it ten, eleven, twelve times in the past fifteen years and we're going to be made look foolish again. And then the past month, so they win seven straight in the past month, They've looked absolutely pedestrian, blown away by the Gold Coast Sons, absolutely blown out of the water against Port Adelaide, only to make a late rally that've been beaten again by the giants in Geelong, and a couple of players are starting to me to show some real genuine fatigue and some concern for Chris Scott. So does he now lean on the older guys like he has in the past and they've been good to him and he's been good to them, Or does he play younger guys? Does he keep Jie Clark in the team? Does he keep playing Toby Conway in the ruck? Does he keep playing Shannoneel up front? Or does he bring back a Gary Rowan if he's healthy? What about as Shane Mullen. These are the questions I think Chris god and the coaching staff will be asking themselves. Is it Rowan and Towey and Duncan and these guys who are going to lean on or will we hope to still get the same output and the same productivity from a win loss perspective, but still playing these young guys Because Mark blitzalvs to me Superman, Now we will miss this week with a suspension which they've accepted.

Looking all conquering and a premiership a genuine premiership contender, and media pundits are saying, well, here we go again, do not right off the Cats. We've done it ten, eleven, twelve times in the past fifteen years and we're going to be made look foolish again. And then the past month, so they win seven straight in the past month, They've looked absolutely pedestrian, blown away by the Gold Coast Sons, absolutely blown out of the water against Port Adelaide, only to make a late rally that've been beaten again by the giants in Geelong, and a couple of players are starting to me to show some real genuine fatigue and some concern for Chris Scott. So does he now lean on the older guys like he has in the past and they've been good to him and he's been good to them, Or does he play younger guys? Does he keep Jie Clark in the team? Does he keep playing Toby Conway in the ruck? Does he keep playing Shannoneel up front? Or does he bring back a Gary Rowan if he's healthy? What about as Shane Mullen. These are the questions I think Chris god and the coaching staff will be asking themselves. Is it Rowan and Towey and Duncan and these guys who are going to lean on or will we hope to still get the same output and the same productivity from a win loss perspective, but still playing these young guys Because Mark blitzalvs to me Superman, Now we will miss this week with a suspension which they've accepted.

He looks weary. He looks worn out.

He looks weary. He looks worn out.

To me, he carries as big a load as anyone in the competition because he plays back up ruck. He tags the best midfielder from at different stages. He plays as a genuine mid he plays in the wing, and we've seen twice this year the Cats have subbed out their number one ruckman and asked Blitzalvs to do the rest of the game. So against Port Adelaide they subbed recently before halftime and said Blitz we needed to ruck the rest of the game. And they did it again against the Giants on the weekend, Young Conway was subbed from the game and Blitzalvs was asked to do the rest by himself. He's thirty three and as I mentioned, he's got a lot of k's in those legs. He's got a lot of wear and tear on that body. He does endless amounts of witnessed at firsthand, the amount of injury prevention that he does, which is a test to the way he goes about it as a professional. But he really has to look after his body, and I reckon we was starting to see signs of him slow down. He can no longer match it with those fast Those guys around the midfield have got fast feet. So I reckon, I reckon they might need to continue to lean on Conway and or Stanley in the ruck and try and limit what Blitzabs has to do. A suspension is probably a blessing for him because he gets a rest. The other one, the other one is Jeremy Cameron. Now, we spoke earlier in the year about roaming Jerry and the roaming element to his game and his disposals per game career high across the board, and we know that he's been so damaging in certain games creating and setting up scores. But they need him inside forward fifty, There's no doubt about it. I saw some stats on the AFL Instagram page of the players that have been targeted inside fifty the top three from each club, and Olie Henry was up in the low seventies, whilst Hawkins and Cameron were in the forties. I believe Jeremy Cameron's number was forty times targeted inside fifty, whereas Oli Henry, who's a much smaller, shorter key forward if you like, was up around seventy two times targeted. That number doesn't work for me.

To me, he carries as big a load as anyone in the competition because he plays back up ruck. He tags the best midfielder from at different stages. He plays as a genuine mid he plays in the wing, and we've seen twice this year the Cats have subbed out their number one ruckman and asked Blitzalvs to do the rest of the game. So against Port Adelaide they subbed recently before halftime and said Blitz we needed to ruck the rest of the game. And they did it again against the Giants on the weekend, Young Conway was subbed from the game and Blitzalvs was asked to do the rest by himself. He's thirty three and as I mentioned, he's got a lot of k's in those legs. He's got a lot of wear and tear on that body. He does endless amounts of witnessed at firsthand, the amount of injury prevention that he does, which is a test to the way he goes about it as a professional. But he really has to look after his body, and I reckon we was starting to see signs of him slow down. He can no longer match it with those fast Those guys around the midfield have got fast feet. So I reckon, I reckon they might need to continue to lean on Conway and or Stanley in the ruck and try and limit what Blitzabs has to do. A suspension is probably a blessing for him because he gets a rest. The other one, the other one is Jeremy Cameron. Now, we spoke earlier in the year about roaming Jerry and the roaming element to his game and his disposals per game career high across the board, and we know that he's been so damaging in certain games creating and setting up scores. But they need him inside forward fifty, There's no doubt about it. I saw some stats on the AFL Instagram page of the players that have been targeted inside fifty the top three from each club, and Olie Henry was up in the low seventies, whilst Hawkins and Cameron were in the forties. I believe Jeremy Cameron's number was forty times targeted inside fifty, whereas Oli Henry, who's a much smaller, shorter key forward if you like, was up around seventy two times targeted. That number doesn't work for me.

Now. Jeremy Cameron, of course, as we've come to love, is not a stand deliver, compete on the ball type of forward. But he can't do it.

Now. Jeremy Cameron, of course, as we've come to love, is not a stand deliver, compete on the ball type of forward. But he can't do it.

What he excels at when he's inside fifty is having space. He can get on the lead, he can hit up, he can get back to goal with his supreme athleticism, the ball can be kicked in space, and he can make things happen along the ground. But when he's not inside forward fifty enough and when he's not ahead of the ball enough, he can't be a threat. So his season's been really interesting. Twenty one goals from ten games this year, he's missed a game. That's the lowest output for him since twenty fourteen, aside from the COVID season where the games were a lot shorter, and we know that he didn't necessarily have his best individual season, So that's his last output in terms of goals per game since twenty fourteen. And he kicked six of the twenty one against the Kangas and then he had another bag of five when he was really good against Carlton, So in the other games, in the other eight games, He's only kicked ten goals, which is a really really low return for someone of his stature and his ability to kick goals. We know he's been a sixty pluser on a handful of occasions, and he is being paid.

What he excels at when he's inside fifty is having space. He can get on the lead, he can hit up, he can get back to goal with his supreme athleticism, the ball can be kicked in space, and he can make things happen along the ground. But when he's not inside forward fifty enough and when he's not ahead of the ball enough, he can't be a threat. So his season's been really interesting. Twenty one goals from ten games this year, he's missed a game. That's the lowest output for him since twenty fourteen, aside from the COVID season where the games were a lot shorter, and we know that he didn't necessarily have his best individual season, So that's his last output in terms of goals per game since twenty fourteen. And he kicked six of the twenty one against the Kangas and then he had another bag of five when he was really good against Carlton, So in the other games, in the other eight games, He's only kicked ten goals, which is a really really low return for someone of his stature and his ability to kick goals. We know he's been a sixty pluser on a handful of occasions, and he is being paid.

I really try to stay away.

I really try to stay away.

From how much someone gets paid in what sort of reflection that needs to have on their performance.

From how much someone gets paid in what sort of reflection that needs to have on their performance.

But he is being paid, and he's been.

But he is being paid, and he's been.

Brought to the club as the successor to Tom Hawkins in terms of who runs that forward line, and we know Hawkins's form has been up and down and wavering at different stages. The man is about to turn thirty six. I think Cameron needs to be left inside forward fifty park the roaming stuff for a month. He needs to kick fifteen or so goals for the month and absolutely return to being that Coleman Medal winning forward that we know he is, and it'll help Geelong get their season back on track. One team who has their season fully on track is the high flying Bombers. They sit out right second on the ladder. They dealt with a plucky Richmond during dream time at the g They got it done. Jake Stringer was absolutely airborne in the first quarter. He got the job done, and Jordan Ridley returned off a long layoff and was the best a field. He was the medalist on the weekend. He was the best player on the ground as adjudicated by most and his return to that lineup gives the Bombers a quartet who I think are unmatched when it comes to this part of the game and this element of the game.

Brought to the club as the successor to Tom Hawkins in terms of who runs that forward line, and we know Hawkins's form has been up and down and wavering at different stages. The man is about to turn thirty six. I think Cameron needs to be left inside forward fifty park the roaming stuff for a month. He needs to kick fifteen or so goals for the month and absolutely return to being that Coleman Medal winning forward that we know he is, and it'll help Geelong get their season back on track. One team who has their season fully on track is the high flying Bombers. They sit out right second on the ladder. They dealt with a plucky Richmond during dream time at the g They got it done. Jake Stringer was absolutely airborne in the first quarter. He got the job done, and Jordan Ridley returned off a long layoff and was the best a field. He was the medalist on the weekend. He was the best player on the ground as adjudicated by most and his return to that lineup gives the Bombers a quartet who I think are unmatched when it comes to this part of the game and this element of the game.

They've got four guys now. They've got Ben mcchaye, who.

They've got four guys now. They've got Ben mcchaye, who.

They picked up in the offseason as their big key defender, their primary defender. But they've got four guys now who can do it all for the Bombers, and they create so much, they win so much of the ball, and I reckon a stat you can track particularly Bombers fans, is when these four guys get one hundred plus possessions between them, I don't think the Bombs will get beaten much at all. So you've got Jordan Ridley, who's the hybrid intercept marking, creative defender who's already a Best and Fairest winner. You've got Annie McGrath who can play as a dashing but really good lockdown small defender who plays on the small forwards, the dangerous small forwards, but also runs off them and gets stuff done the other way. You've got Nick Martin, who's move to the back line has been absolutely sensational. He runs all day, he creates and he's a good kick and that's why he's back there. And then you've got Mason Redmond who's a bit of a combination of Martin and and Ridley. He's a rangey type, he's got long arms. He can get up and defend against bigger forwards, but what he can do also is run meet his game, kick the ball nice and long and get quite aggressive. So Ridley, McGrath, Martin and Redmond, you've got four guys who can do a bit of everything. They can all get the ball twenty plus times, some can get it thirty plus. They're creating, they're good kicks, and they can mark the ball and win the ball back off the opposition. It's a weapon that Bombers have that I don't think any other team has in the competition, and that's why maybe they're up at about sitting second on the ladder. They'll get a good test this weekend against the Gold Coast Suns and then some big games in the back half of the season. For the Dons and now worked Sunday on Radio. I did the Melbourne and since Kilda game and I saw another cog for Melbourne that I really enjoyed. So I've been low on Melbourne and slow on Melbourne as a team who will potentially drop out of the eight. Now that books an in that inaccurate call, I should say, but I still I will say I'm warming to them being a premiership contender, but I'm still a no at the moment. What they have shown me against Geelong was the ability to kick goals from set shots when you really need them, and that's what they struggled with at times last year and the year before. They showed against Carlton, albeit in a loss, that they could kick goals in bunches in a flurry to get themselves back into a contest, and then what they showed against the Saints.

They picked up in the offseason as their big key defender, their primary defender. But they've got four guys now who can do it all for the Bombers, and they create so much, they win so much of the ball, and I reckon a stat you can track particularly Bombers fans, is when these four guys get one hundred plus possessions between them, I don't think the Bombs will get beaten much at all. So you've got Jordan Ridley, who's the hybrid intercept marking, creative defender who's already a Best and Fairest winner. You've got Annie McGrath who can play as a dashing but really good lockdown small defender who plays on the small forwards, the dangerous small forwards, but also runs off them and gets stuff done the other way. You've got Nick Martin, who's move to the back line has been absolutely sensational. He runs all day, he creates and he's a good kick and that's why he's back there. And then you've got Mason Redmond who's a bit of a combination of Martin and and Ridley. He's a rangey type, he's got long arms. He can get up and defend against bigger forwards, but what he can do also is run meet his game, kick the ball nice and long and get quite aggressive. So Ridley, McGrath, Martin and Redmond, you've got four guys who can do a bit of everything. They can all get the ball twenty plus times, some can get it thirty plus. They're creating, they're good kicks, and they can mark the ball and win the ball back off the opposition. It's a weapon that Bombers have that I don't think any other team has in the competition, and that's why maybe they're up at about sitting second on the ladder. They'll get a good test this weekend against the Gold Coast Suns and then some big games in the back half of the season. For the Dons and now worked Sunday on Radio. I did the Melbourne and since Kilda game and I saw another cog for Melbourne that I really enjoyed. So I've been low on Melbourne and slow on Melbourne as a team who will potentially drop out of the eight. Now that books an in that inaccurate call, I should say, but I still I will say I'm warming to them being a premiership contender, but I'm still a no at the moment. What they have shown me against Geelong was the ability to kick goals from set shots when you really need them, and that's what they struggled with at times last year and the year before. They showed against Carlton, albeit in a loss, that they could kick goals in bunches in a flurry to get themselves back into a contest, and then what they showed against the Saints.

Now the Saints and nowhere at the moment we should say that.

Now the Saints and nowhere at the moment we should say that.

But they got goals and scores from various different sources. Because McCadam and Peddy did not hit the scoreboard, both were basically unsided. On Sunday, Ben Royan was quiet and did end up with three goals, so that's a good return for him. But they got two from Vinny, two from Petrarca, they got a goal from Cosey, from Kay Chandler, from Lockie Hunter, Big Max kick one, Stephen May kicked one.

But they got goals and scores from various different sources. Because McCadam and Peddy did not hit the scoreboard, both were basically unsided. On Sunday, Ben Royan was quiet and did end up with three goals, so that's a good return for him. But they got two from Vinny, two from Petrarca, they got a goal from Cosey, from Kay Chandler, from Lockie Hunter, Big Max kick one, Stephen May kicked one.

He celebrated accordingly as mentioned.

He celebrated accordingly as mentioned.

But they're getting goals from different sources and that's important for them. I do think at some stage it will come to the crunch where they need some goals from Petty or from McCadam, and they'll need two a week from ven Royan Bailey Fritch. When I was a reliable goal kicker, he kicked a couple on the weekend. But when that core group of three or four forwards so primary forwards are not kicking goals, it is a good sign to see Melbourne still be able to put up one hundred points because it's not something they've been able to do much in the past couple of years, particularly since they picked up that premiership. So another little, another little string to the bow for the D's. The ability to kick a score without your forwards doing much of anything, the ability to kick goals in a hurry, and the ability to kick goals when you really need him. So the D's are up in a and the Saints, so less said about them the better.

But they're getting goals from different sources and that's important for them. I do think at some stage it will come to the crunch where they need some goals from Petty or from McCadam, and they'll need two a week from ven Royan Bailey Fritch. When I was a reliable goal kicker, he kicked a couple on the weekend. But when that core group of three or four forwards so primary forwards are not kicking goals, it is a good sign to see Melbourne still be able to put up one hundred points because it's not something they've been able to do much in the past couple of years, particularly since they picked up that premiership. So another little, another little string to the bow for the D's. The ability to kick a score without your forwards doing much of anything, the ability to kick goals in a hurry, and the ability to kick goals when you really need him. So the D's are up in a and the Saints, so less said about them the better.

Stephen May was the focus staying with the Demons.

Stephen May was the focus staying with the Demons.

He was the focus of the seven AFL video on the Socials this week on Instagram and x some great vision from down the ground. You can see him willing to come forward off his direct opponent and he played a Max King for the most part. He's willing to come forward and impact the game. He's a great individual defender. He's a great help defender. He comes up and helps and plays in line with the game. And he's also a really, really potent kick and he's a prolific ball win of these days as well. I know he takes a few kickouts, but he's getting the ball twenty to twenty five times consistently as well. Some people say Sam Taylor's the number one key defender in the game. I know Phil Davis on Trade Radio was strong on that last year, and he'd expect him to be strongly in Sam Taylor's camp. Some say it's Jacob Whedering, and I've been in the weeder in camp, but I have to say Stephen MAY'ST one two three combo. His ability to defend man, his ability to go and help his teammates and then his ball use off the defensive fifty is what separates him and stands him out as the best key defender in the game.

He was the focus of the seven AFL video on the Socials this week on Instagram and x some great vision from down the ground. You can see him willing to come forward off his direct opponent and he played a Max King for the most part. He's willing to come forward and impact the game. He's a great individual defender. He's a great help defender. He comes up and helps and plays in line with the game. And he's also a really, really potent kick and he's a prolific ball win of these days as well. I know he takes a few kickouts, but he's getting the ball twenty to twenty five times consistently as well. Some people say Sam Taylor's the number one key defender in the game. I know Phil Davis on Trade Radio was strong on that last year, and he'd expect him to be strongly in Sam Taylor's camp. Some say it's Jacob Whedering, and I've been in the weeder in camp, but I have to say Stephen MAY'ST one two three combo. His ability to defend man, his ability to go and help his teammates and then his ball use off the defensive fifty is what separates him and stands him out as the best key defender in the game.

Do you agree? Do you disagree?

Do you agree? Do you disagree?

Let me know, leave a comment or jump on the socials and let us know. Because that's about a wrap four. Round eleven, it's in the rearview mirror. Round twelve. We've got two more Thursday night games for the season, both in Adelaide, so make sure you enjoy those.

Let me know, leave a comment or jump on the socials and let us know. Because that's about a wrap four. Round eleven, it's in the rearview mirror. Round twelve. We've got two more Thursday night games for the season, both in Adelaide, so make sure you enjoy those.

The foot is not far away, so thanks for watching.

The foot is not far away, so thanks for watching.

Keep watching, make sure you have subscribed, and make sure you tell someone else to subscribe as well, and keep it absolutely locked into the footy all year long.

Keep watching, make sure you have subscribed, and make sure you tell someone else to subscribe as well, and keep it absolutely locked into the footy all year long.

We'll catch you again next week.

We'll catch you again next week.