Our crack (pot) panel returns to run the rule over round 12 of the 2015 AFL season.

The panel:
Brendan Foster (WAtoday's resident grumpy old man); Claire Siracusa (The Age online producer, Carlton tragic); Ben Cameron (Radio 6PR Sports Today producer; token young dude on the panel); Steve Allen (Radio 6PR producer, The Interchange podcast); Simon White (WAtoday chief puppet hater); Nick Alviani (Radio 6PR producer).

Fossie:
1. Dockers giant Aaron Sandilands, North Melbourne's Todd Goldstein and Eagle Nic Naitanui are getting a ridiculous amount of tap outs each week. Are the trio that good, or is there a serious lack of quality ruckmen across the competition?
2. If there was an All-Australian "man bun" team, Cartlon's Bryce Gibbs would be captain. But he must have tied his bun too tight and cut off the circulation to his brain when driving Robbie Gray's face into the MCG's turf.
3. It is still highly unlikely the Eagles will finish second. But the AFL hierarchy must feel some faint churning of the stomach at the prospect of two preliminary finals being played in Perth.

Claire:
1. I've been seriously underestimating the Eagles. Even mid-match on Friday night I kept expecting Richmond gain the upper hand. Maybe it's a symptom of being in Victoria and not watching the Eagles week in, week out. But it's time to jump on the West Coast bandwagon.
2. The Blues are back! OK, not really, but their output has improved almost out of sight in the last few weeks. Whether or not a change of coach is the reason, I can't say, but you can't deny there has been a marked improvement in Carlton's tackling, pressure and run in their last couple of games. And Patrick Cripps is a gun.
3. You can expect the unexpected in football, and the underdog wins are some of the best. The Cats played some lacklustre footy on Sunday, especially in the first half, and the Demons gave it everything they had. Who would have tipped the Dees to travel to the Cattery and come away with the four points? Not me.

Benny:
1. There's no method in trying to pick winners based on the bye. Of the four teams  coming off the bye against teams that featured in round 11, the results were split 2-2.  
2. I dislike the three-week bye rounds. The round started on Thursday and finished with a twilight game on Sunday. It felt like it lasted forever. I know TV stations wouldn't allow it, but I'm not totally opposed to just one week off football. 
3. Some numbers. Sandy Roberts' math isn't great. Melbourne hadn't won in Geelong since 2005, which led Sandy to claim Billy Stretch was five years old back then. We're in 2015, there are no 15-year-olds running around in the AFL. Also, this:

Approximately 117,028,800 babies have been born since @CarltonFC last won in Australia #onthecusp #AFLBluesPower— Joshua Kay (@js_kay) June 20, 2015

Steve-o:
1. The game is chock-full of stoppages. Ten years ago there were an average of 48 stoppages per game. Todd Goldstein had 80 hit outs alone on the weekend. An AFL record broken a third time in three weeks after standing for 33 years prior to that. Could it be broken again?
2. There's no doubt that Jake Stringer can play. I've never been big on nicknames but "The Package" was worn out as soon as it was unwrapped. Sorry, BT.
3. Dom Cassisi is a humorous man. Tweet on point. And seriously. Bryce Gibbs shouldn't tackle with the assumption that all AFL players have man buns for air bags.

It's only taken 8 years for Gibbs to lay a tackle. Well done.— Dom Cassisi (@DomCassisi) June 20, 2015

Whitey:
1. Not weekend-related but for all the Freo fans hoping Matthew Pavlich's testimonial this Friday night doesn't mean the end is nigh for the Dockers skipper - there is a historical precedent. Shaun McManus had a testimonial lunch in 2006 and didn't retire until 2008.
2. Unlike Steve-o, I'm a big wrap - get it? - for Brian Taylor dubbing Jake Stringer "The Package". We need more random nicknames in this sport and I'm still dirty another BT invention Nat "The Knife" Fyfe never quite caught on.
3. I don't pretend to have any (or all) of the solutions. But that touched-ball, no-mark, we'll-bounce-it-down situation at the end of the Carlton-Port game was a debacle. If an umpire can blow his whistle for a free kick, then call "advantage", why can't he also yell "play on" after whistling for what wasn't a mark?

Nick:
1. Hawthorn is building towards September. Only Grant Birchall is missing from its best 22 through injury. The Hawks will also be pleased with their spread of goal-kickers on Thursday night - 13 different players with no majors from Jarryd Roughead or Jack Gunston. 
2. Patrick Cripps has one hand on the NAB Rising Star award. He is averaging 23 touches and 5.5 tackles a game and is one positive to come out of Carlton's season. 
3. Clubs will want to avoid big milestone matches this season: 
Dustin Fletcher 400th - loss
Michael Johnson 200th - loss
Kane Cornes 300th - loss 
Corey Enright 300th - loss
Brent Harvey 400th - ??? 
 

• Follow WAtoday on Twitter