53 minutes ago, scarlett said:

Oliver paying $10 for the rising star this year, might sneak a $100 on him

He was $16 so get on !! 

Brilliant last quarter. Absolutely stoked. 

I just saw some interesting footage from the MFC coaches box, just after the final siren sounded. Anyone see that? Roos fist pumping and Goodwin fist pumping. Awesome.

Can we talk finals yet?

15 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Btw the umpire can lick my left one.

Tried to take the game away from us and failed miserably.

What was going on out there today. Felt like Razor Ray's objectivity was left in Gills pocket. Either that or the guy needs to see out the rest of his days pulling frozen chooks out of a barrel in a retirement home somewhere. 

Enjoyed being at the game but nervous at three quarter time due to the fact that they were not only ahead in the score but had so many extra scoring shots.

One negative that I noticed today was that whenever there was a pack going for a mark, Gawn persisted in punching the ball instead of using his height to clunk the mark. It happened too often and he has shown at training that he can take these contested marks.

Only negative is I think Garlett is gone for a week or two for the hit on Davis in the first quarter.

Those thinking that we will struggle to fit in Brayshaw and co are kidding themselves. Harmes, Bugg, Tyson, Frost didn't set the world on fire. 

Only negative is I think Garlett is gone for a week or two for the hit on Davis in the first quarter.

How good was Oliver contested mark against a more senior and bigger Callan Ward.

Great win today, even if it was far from perfect. That first 10 minutes of the final quarter should be constantly playing at AAMI, with a soundtrack overlaid saying "Look what happens when you move the ball with speed and self-belief". Also good to note that we successfully "flooded" the backline after GWS's last goal for the last minute or whatever. I noticed we also did this at the end of a previous quarter (third?). Look like we have at least learned something from that infamous loss to the Saints last year. 

Also loved how Oliver is already a crowd favourite, getting cheered each time he went to the bench. 

And also (sorry I'm excited! ) loved the crowd noise after the first goal in the last quarter. It was almost as if the entire crowd woke up and said "We are in this!"

1 hour ago, Nasher said:

Viney.

OMac ankle. On crutches at end of game. 

Hogan slept through the first half. Moved on to the ball in 3rd. Forward again in the last and came alive. Bloody star.

Oliver 17 touches in the first half, 1 in the second. Faded but very bloody exciting.

I'd wait a bit for the tix.

It must be said though, Nash, that he spent most of the third on the pine. They were obviously managing him through loads in this match. I expect they'll do the same next week.

31 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Btw the umpire can lick my left one.

Tried to take the game away from us and failed miserably.

That no.18 umpire has a severe case of small man syndrome.

1 hour ago, Nasher said:

Viney.

OMac ankle. On crutches at end of game. 

Hogan slept through the first half. Moved on to the ball in 3rd. Forward again in the last and came alive. Bloody star.

Oliver 17 touches in the first half, 1 in the second. Faded but very bloody exciting.

I'd wait a bit for the tix.

Oliver finished with 22 touches actually, and he did it in only 60% game time.

 

Most of the first quarter was great and the last quarter was exactly how we want to play this year.

We were hopeless in the middle half. We let GWS play on their terms (flooding back, using the space in their half to stream forward). But to Roos'/Goodwin's credit, we made some key changes in the last to get the spark back and it worked. Jones to half-back, Garlett to the wing and Vince into the middle were key moves. Pedersen to CHB fixed two problems (filling in for OMac and making space in the forward line).

We can't play Pedersen, Frost and Hogan in the same forward line, with Gawn continually floating in front of them. Fourth quarter was down to just Frost and Hogan and with the faster ball movement made all the difference.

Oliver's debut was stunning. I can't wait to watch this kid grow into a star of the AFL.

OMac was lost and shouldn't have played. Frost was largely ineffectual and I remain unconvinced that he is a forward. Harmes was poor today as well I thought.

Kennedy added a heap of value across half-forward and his fourth quarter was spectacular.

Watts, Viney, Gawn and TMac all played great games as well.

Overall, we got lucky in parts but we took the game on when we needed to. Good sides use the opportunities provided to them and GWS kept the door open. We found away to barge back in and that should be celebrated.

A game of 2 halves. Really enjoyed being at the game today despite being outrun in the 2nd &3rd. 

Oliver had an amazing debut. He looks a class above and I was surprised that they gave him centre square responsibilities. I don't recall Brayshaw starting in the middle at the start of last year. I had Watts BOG closely followed by Viney. Kennedy was outstanding in the last however went missing for parts of the game.

The umpiring was extremely poor and Ray had a shocker. The Viney tackle was right in front of us and looked to me like a well executed tackle. 

Overall I think we were lucky with the win as GWS were killing us on the transition and appeared to always have more players around the ball. While we have added some speed, GWS are scary. 

I'm in Melbourne for the week so looking forward to round 2 before we head home. 

 

I feel especially chuffed about it because it took the whole team doing their jobs to get there. I think pretty much all of our players will be feeling like they deserved to be a part of the win.

Possibly the best feeling out of this is that we are right on the cusp of fielding a complete 'good AFL-standard' best 22, week in week out.

---

You've just got to laugh that Jesse Hogan was having a really terrible day yet finished with 17 disposals and 3 goals.

Phil Davis had an absolute blinder of a game - I just can't help wondering what happens if the opposition simply doesn't have a serious tall defender capable of going with him? Will we see four quarters as effective as that last quarter? Scary.

Y'know... like... what if he's matched up on someone like... say... Patrick Ambrose?

---

The other question is, where are we going to fit all of Brayshaw, Petracca, Trengove, Dunn and Lumumba?

---

Oliver was game-high for clearances. A beast during the game, and then adorable in the after-match interview.

2 minutes ago, titan_uranus said:

Pedersen to CHB fixed two problems (filling in for OMac and making space in the forward line).

I really like Pedersen in the backline.  He played a bit for Casey there a while ago and was very good, not sure why it hasn't been used more.

Enjoyed being at the game but nervous at three quarter time due to the fact that they were not only ahead in the score but had so many extra scoring shots.

One negative that I noticed today was that whenever there was a pack going for a mark, Gawn persisted in punching the ball instead of using his height to clunk the mark. It happened too often and he has shown at training that he can take these contested marks.

Forgot to mention: our improved fitness came to the fore again today. Clearly ran out the stronger over GWS.

1 minute ago, Little Goffy said:

Phil Davis had an absolute blinder of a game - I just can't help wondering what happens if the opposition simply doesn't have a serious tall defender capable of going with him? Will we see four quarters as effective as that last quarter? Scary.

Whilst I thought Davis did well, he manhandled Hogan in most marking contests and got away with it, plus we did ourselves no favours by consistently allowing Gawn to float back in front of Hogan. Pedersen/Frost clogging up the forward line also did not help.

Will need some tweaking for next week.

2 minutes ago, Little Goffy said:

The other question is, where are we going to fit all of Brayshaw, Petracca, Trengove, Dunn and Lumumba?

OMac's injured whilst Harmes, Bugg, Frost and Tyson all played pretty poorly IMO.

1 minute ago, Clint Bizkit said:

I really like Pedersen in the backline.  He played a bit for Casey there a while ago and was very good, not sure why it hasn't been used more.

Me too. He looked comfortable there in the last (despite it being quite a pressured situation with the close margin). He was certainly a major upgrade over OMac and, simultaneously, freed up space in the forward line.

I'm not sure we'll see all three of Hogan, Frost and Pedersen in the same forward line much again this year (especially given Watts' improved ability to play as a genuine third tall).

I think the tackle free against Viney was there. I have a big issue with Wilson driving his head into N.Jones' torso in the third quarter and receiving a free kick. This is literally nothing else Jonesy could have done, terrible decison. The push in the back against Frost was probably fair enough, but I dunno, I think most people would have rather seen that paid HTB.

1 hour ago, Gorgoroth said:

Should have been 10 goals down at 3/4 time. 

Got out of jail.

Sure we were lucky that they couldn't kick goals to put us away, but in previous years we would have capitulated at ¾ time 

I must say I didn't see any of the young Robbie Flower, but Clayton Oliver was by a long way THE best debut I have ever witnessed  

His ability time and time again to effectively dispose when tackled is a hallmark of a far more seasoned player   To paraphrase Bruce, he is seriously "something special"! 

 

1 hour ago, Gorgoroth said:

Should have been 10 goals down at 3/4 time. 

Got out of jail.

Agreed.