Well, I was there on Sunday, and I don't agree that Sandi's ruck knocks were either predictable or all that bad.

He has introduced much more variety into the taps just lately, with a number of Jeff White-esque forward bashes and sideways knocks to advantage (usually Palmer).

What absolutely killed us was the fact that Solomon, Bell and Palmer were working overtime to win the ball - but this would only result in a stoppage. Several bruising stoppages. Eventually, Melbourne would clear from the stoppage and our exhausted midfielders couldn't tackle them.

As for Gilmore - I think the inclinations of our chook are always to grab the ball out of the ruck, not be tackled and quickly kick forward to just inside 50. It does work a reasonable amount of the time, but his tap work is indeed straight down and not terribly helpful.

What I want to know is why he isn't actually in there with Sandi at centre bounces to grab the superior tap and heft it into a non-flooded 50...