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Around The Grounds - Round 17

Ethan Tremblay
Ethan Tremblay
in Melbourne Demons

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  On 17/07/2016 at 03:43, johndemons said:

Carlton v West Coast at the MCG today. What a [censored] up. Clearly the AFL has done this to appease the WCE request for a game at the G pre-finals and put their interests ahead of ours.

In 2014 Carlton requested more home games at the MCG instead of Etihad.

Of course, that wish was granted, and despite them turning in one of their worst seasons in years, it continues.

The result? We're forced to have a home game against St Kilda at Etihad, amongst other stupid decisions (e.g. Essendon hosting Geelong at the MCG), so that Carlton gets what it wants.

Carlton is not an MCG tenant and should not be hosting so many home games there. Leave the MCG for its tenants (Melbourne, Collingwood, Richmond, Hawthorn). Let them host their home games there (subject to Melbourne and Hawthorn selling them as they choose to). Stop forcing MCG clubs to host games at Etihad when they don't want to (we had one again, Collingwood has two I think, Richmond had one as well, Hawthorn had one last year) and make the teams who signed up for Etihad (Carlton, Essendon, St Kilda, North, Dogs) fill the quota.

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    Is Dangerfield 'Too' Good?  Seriously!  There is a reason that Adelaide are as good as or even better without him.

    He is soooo good that he plays as a one man band and leaves his teammates as spectators.  There were a few times at Adelaide when Compreale called him out for not following instructions at centre bounce, specifically going for the ball and not minding his opponent.  And in a few Geelong games I've seen on TV he has blasted his way to the ball virtually knocking over teammates that were closer and better positioned.  And I haven't often seen him try to bring teammates into the game which makes me wonder whether he follows team rules or whether he has a free licence to do as he pleases.

    His absence from Adelaide has allowed others to flourish and his inclusion at Geelong seems to be stifling teammates, even Selwood is subdued at times.  And he certainly doesn't look for his tall forwards like Hawkins, preferring to try and kick goals himself (which he often does). 

    I wonder whether he is so desperately chasing a Brownlow that he has become myopic about his own performance.

    Having said that he is a Champion but as we all know that doesn't make a Champion Team.

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    How to stop Lindsay Thomas getting high frees?

    He has a standard mo when he gets the ball.  He tucks it under his right arm, waits for op player to start the tackle, leans back and low then always raises his left arm to take the tackler high.  Free kick.  Commentators say they should tackle him lower but given Thomas's technique they can't under his left arm.

    To stop those frees?  Don't try to wrap him in a tackle from the back, tackle his right side/right arm to dislodge the ball or throw him off balance.  Or spin him around from his right side.  These won't work every time but the way he is being tackled is playing right into his hands. 

    His free kick technique is one reason I dislike watching North games.  Hope other teams find a way to force him to change his technique because tackling him from the back is not working.

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    Regarding the MCG-Etihad debacle, I am fairly certain that each Victorian side has to play at least one home game at Etihad a season. From a financial standpoint, it's better for the club's bottom line to play an Etihad tenant in our home game there than a GWS or WC or Freo or Brisbane as we have in past years. We got 28k in our home game there, which was more than our match there yesterday. 

    Anyway, let's not pretend like playing at the MCG would have made a difference. The Saints smashed as there in the corresponding game last year, and it wouldn't have made much difference yesterday. 26k vs the Eagles is probably the same figure we'd have gotten against the Saints had we played them there.

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      On 18/07/2016 at 01:05, Lucifer's Hero said:

    How to stop Lindsay Thomas getting high frees?

    He has a standard mo when he gets the ball.  He tucks it under his right arm, waits for op player to start the tackle, leans back and low then always raises his left arm to take the tackler high.  Free kick.  Commentators say they should tackle him lower but given Thomas's technique they can't under his left arm.

    To stop those frees?  Don't try to wrap him in a tackle from the back, tackle his right side/right arm to dislodge the ball or throw him off balance.  Or spin him around from his right side.  These won't work every time but the way he is being tackled is playing right into his hands. 

    His free kick technique is one reason I dislike watching North games.  Hope other teams find a way to force him to change his technique because tackling him from the back is not working.

    Sorry to quote myself. 

    Coincidentally, here is a an article describing how the Hawkes dislodge the ball from small forwards instead of tackling.  Its exactly what I described above and is being called a variation of the old 'chicken wing' technique.  http://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/how-the-hawks-have-become-the-chicken-wing-kings-to-produce-the-afls-best-forward-half-pressure/news-story/02be83f75c2665a22bd226785f9a2256

    Jack Viney executed it perfectly in his Tackle of The Year on Weller.  It is a perfect way to stop Lindsay Thomas and others like him from getting all those (cheating) high frees and as the Hawks do, keep the ball in play or get a free for the tackler ala Jack Viney.

    Maybe the Hawks learnt it from Jack :cool:

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      On 18/07/2016 at 01:54, praha said:

    Regarding the MCG-Etihad debacle, I am fairly certain that each Victorian side has to play at least one home game at Etihad a season. From a financial standpoint, it's better for the club's bottom line to play an Etihad tenant in our home game there than a GWS or WC or Freo or Brisbane as we have in past years. We got 28k in our home game there, which was more than our match there yesterday. 

    Anyway, let's not pretend like playing at the MCG would have made a difference. The Saints smashed as there in the corresponding game last year, and it wouldn't have made much difference yesterday. 26k vs the Eagles is probably the same figure we'd have gotten against the Saints had we played them there.

    Hawthorn doesn't have a home game there this year.

    I don't think there's any rule which requires all Victorian clubs to have at least one home game there. I think the only relevant rule is that there is a minimum number of games that the AFL has to schedule at Etihad. For every game Carlton or Essendon get to host at the G (St Kilda had one this year as well), that's one more they have to find from someone else to get to that minimum.

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      On 18/07/2016 at 22:00, titan_uranus said:

    Hawthorn doesn't have a home game there this year.

    I don't think there's any rule which requires all Victorian clubs to have at least one home game there. I think the only relevant rule is that there is a minimum number of games that the AFL has to schedule at Etihad. For every game Carlton or Essendon get to host at the G (St Kilda had one this year as well), that's one more they have to find from someone else to get to that minimum.

    Interesting. Although I suspect that with Hawthorn playing so many games in Tassie (more than we play at NT), we get the short-end by being forced into an Etihad game. To be honest I'd rather play a third home game in NT than a home game at Etihad. 

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