Match Day Rnd 8. North Melbourne V Sydney. 16.40 pm. Etihad Stadium.

[stevoswan]

I would think nainsmith is more likely to make way for tippet than Sinclair. Tippet/Sinclair is a better combo IMO.

I think we can put to rest that we need McVeigh in the backline pointing to win. Unless he was doing some serious long range pointing, including some monster 150m points.

So far we've beaten 16th and 18th. Saints are our first real test of this mini revival.

To be fair, Norf are better than 16th but there are two Norf's. Against Adelaide, we saw good Norf, against us, we saw bad Norf, so you may have a point. Agree that this week against the Saints is our first real test.......

[Billericay]

As strange as it may seem, I think Towers' best role is an inside midfielder. There's not enough time to think about anything, just try to win the ball, kick it or run with it, and if the other side gets it, then tackle. He does this quite well... [removed references to Towers in the ruck]... He's been trying hard and there is improvement there, but still has a way to go.

My thoughts exactly. A quick, evasive inside midfielder would be quite handy too.

[Doctor]

I was a little surprised Reg didn't feature in the coaches votes. I thought he did a superb job on Brown yesterday. He only kicked two, one of which was for the ruck infringement right in front, which Reg had nothing to do with.

[Nico]

Just watched the replay. Newman was even better than I thought. He had a lot of 1%ers. After his 35th possession he looked genuinely shagged. Can't possibly see him going out.
That was as good as Hanners has played for a long time. I don't think he had a turnover by foot.
I can only wonder that up until last week we may not have been fully fit. The 3 big mids found yards in pace. The whole team looked fast. There was no dwelling on a contest. Up and at them for a 2nd and 3rd effort. Lloyd's running was a treat. It looked like he had a free hand to just roam around the ground.
Tarrant beat Buddy? I don't know about that. Buddy only had to kick a couple more goals and he was BOG. He played in front, moved around the forward line relentlessly and created so much. He had 8 marks, mostly on the lead. I'd love to know how many kms he ran. It just showed the value of winning centre clearances with a bloke like him reading the play a treat. He just watches the footy, pretty simple.

[Mug Punter]

As strange as it may seem, I think Towers' best role is an inside midfielder. There's not enough time to think about anything, just try to win the ball, kick it or run with it, and if the other side gets it, then tackle. He does this quite well. He certainly can play a 2nd ruckman against other 2nd ruckmen, like we will see this week with Josh Bruce.

He's been trying hard and there is improvement there, but still has a way to go.

Bizarrely you may be right....

I know he cops a lot of flak here but I really think based on the last couple of performances he may come good. It must be very difficult playing every game knowing it could be your last and I do think that lack of confidence is a huge part of his issues. I really would like to see him carve out a good AFL career for some reason

[MattW]

Just watched the replay. Newman was even better than I thought. He had a lot of 1%ers. After his 35th possession he looked genuinely shagged. Can't possibly see him going out.
That was as good as Hanners has played for a long time. I don't think he had a turnover by foot.
I can only wonder that up until last week we may not have been fully fit. The 3 big mids found yards in pace. The whole team looked fast. There was no dwelling on a contest. Up and at them for a 2nd and 3rd effort. Lloyd's running was a treat. It looked like he had a free hand to just roam around the ground.
Tarrant beat Buddy? I don't know about that. Buddy only had to kick a couple more goals and he was BOG. He played in front, moved around the forward line relentlessly and created so much. He had 8 marks, mostly on the lead. I'd love to know how many kms he ran. It just showed the value of winning centre clearances with a bloke like him reading the play a treat. He just watches the footy, pretty simple.

Spot on re Buddy. The analysis, including from Scott, that he was beaten by Tarrant is a fiction. As you say, dominated on the lead. Game high 8 inside 50s, 8 score involvements, 21 possessions.

[liz]

Spot on re Buddy. The analysis, including from Scott, that he was beaten by Tarrant is a fiction. As you say, dominated on the lead. Game high 8 inside 50s, 8 score involvements, 21 possessions.

Everything is relative for North when it comes to Buddy. They will never forget the day he kicked 13 goals against them, as a Hawk. I reckon he could kick half a dozen and they would consider his opponent had "won" the contest.

[ScottH]

Just watched the replay. Newman was even better than I thought. He had a lot of 1%ers. After his 35th possession he looked genuinely shagged. Can't possibly see him going out.
That was as good as Hanners has played for a long time. I don't think he had a turnover by foot.
I can only wonder that up until last week we may not have been fully fit. The 3 big mids found yards in pace. The whole team looked fast. There was no dwelling on a contest. Up and at them for a 2nd and 3rd effort. Lloyd's running was a treat. It looked like he had a free hand to just roam around the ground.
Tarrant beat Buddy? I don't know about that. Buddy only had to kick a couple more goals and he was BOG. He played in front, moved around the forward line relentlessly and created so much. He had 8 marks, mostly on the lead. I'd love to know how many kms he ran. It just showed the value of winning centre clearances with a bloke like him reading the play a treat. He just watches the footy, pretty simple.

At one point late in the game he just stopped moving and stood still after a couple of long leads, and did not try and get involved in the ensuing contest.
I said to my daughter there is something wrong withe Buddy, he's not moving. He headed walked to the i/c bench and 5 minutes later was back on, so I can only assume he was spent, rather than injured.

[Scottee]

Spot on re Buddy. The analysis, including from Scott, that he was beaten by Tarrant is a fiction. As you say, dominated on the lead. Game high 8 inside 50s, 8 score involvements, 21 possessions.

Could it be that despite all the claims that Horse is predictable, using Buddy as a mid and letting other players kick the goals was a tactic to throw off the opposition game plan?

[MattW]

Could it be that despite all the claims that Horse is predictable, using Buddy as a mid and letting other players kick the goals was a tactic to throw off the opposition game plan?

If so, it works a lot better with Papley and Heeney back and Parker up to speed. We could still get a little more from our resting ruckman, too.

[caj23]

Was it just me or did Buddy have a touch of the Mr Magoo's on Sunday.

I know he worked his butt off and kicked the special goal, but there were a few instances where he missed a couple of easy marks and fumbled a few balls he would normally gobble up.

Even the champs can have one of those days I guess

[YvonneH]

We expect so much from Buddy (due to past performances) that when he has an 'ordinary' day (equal to a lot of players' 'best' days) we comment on that. What happened to 'playing your role'? Does this not apply to Buddy? With Buddy 'playing his role' on Sunday, it enabled Sam Reid to bob up.

[Velour&Ruffles]

Probably something along the lines of, "I will never forgive you David King for that gutless act you committed on Craig O'Brien in the 1996 Grand Final. Only a coward would do something of that nature."

Yes, I always think of this whenever King pontificates now. He was a piece of filth on the field, and I just cant see him any differently now

[CureTheSane]

At one point late in the game he just stopped moving and stood still after a couple of long leads, and did not try and get involved in the ensuing contest.
I said to my daughter there is something wrong withe Buddy, he's not moving. He headed walked to the i/c bench and 5 minutes later was back on, so I can only assume he was spent, rather than injured.

Yeah, I just thought he was spent. He acted that way, hands on knees, and like he just couldn't be stuffed.
Probably mentally spent as well, given the day he had.

[Plugger1300]

Spot on, he is not AFL standard. Can kick the ball and that's it, cannot win a ball at AFL level to save his life.

Directly responsible for two of the three NM goals, he'll be out next week when Rampe is back thankfully.

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Good to see our mids playing better, think that Towers has had a decent first quarter.

McVeigh clearly crocked, again, we cannot keep on carrying him, surely a matter of time until an early retirement

I think Newman saved his life on Sunday Afternoon........true
We all say things in the heap of the moment.
One think is for sure Nic can find the ball in the NEAFL and AFL

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Thought Melican played well especially since he had not had a kick or handpass at halftime
His spoiling and physicality was important.
Just needs to learn how to win the ball