1 hour ago, Deestar9 said:

It was interesting hearing Jono Brown on radio today “raving”about Jordan’s game....I believe Jones also “lauded” him in his presser.  In the  eye of the  beholder” I guess ?

It was a typical Lewis game, outstanding when we needed him in last quarter and a couple of stupid brain fades, wouldn't be Lewis

10 hours ago, Farmer said:

Can't believe all this!

we are paying a fortune for a bloke who can't beat an opponent, so we want to drop someone so our super recruit can play as a permanent loose man. Great get! I said before he was recruited that he never had to play on a decent opponent at Adelaide, and I got rubbished. . Malthouse made exactly the same point three weeks ago. He has to learn to play on, and beat , an opponent . Funny thing, but that's what being a defender  entails!

We have him for 10 years, not 10 weeks. 

Lever will pay back this club in bucket loads

Highly talented and fiercely competitive

 

Some seem to be suggesting jlt1 has no relevance to this game. glorified practice match and all that.

But riddle me this. Why would the club not trial the defensive unit they had in mind for a game for premiership points against the same opposition 4 weeks later?

Now im not saying they wont pick frost but given we won that game and limited the influence of brown it would seem a strange decision. Particularly given they have stuck with same back since

31 minutes ago, jumbo returns said:

Lever will pay back this club in bucket loads

Highly talented and fiercely competitive

 

Agree. On all points.

But as someone has noted a player coming to a new team for the price we paid and the draft picks we gave up will be under scrutiny and thw expecation will be they perform from the get go. And fair enough too.

In thinking about players coming to melbourne from other clubs with similar price tag and expectations i reckon there have only been 3 in the last 35 years. Clark, Moore and Templeton.

36 minutes ago, binman said:

 

In thinking about players coming to melbourne from other clubs with similar price tag and expectations i reckon there have only been 3 in the last 35 years. Clark, Moore and Templeton.

Jeff White.

11 hours ago, Deestar9 said:

It was interesting hearing Jono Brown on radio today “raving”about Jordan’s game....I believe Jones also “lauded” him in his presser.  In the  eye of the  beholder” I guess ?

 

10 hours ago, Satyriconhome said:

It was a typical Lewis game, outstanding when we needed him in last quarter and a couple of stupid brain fades, wouldn't be Lewis

The challenge for Goody is to keep him playing on the edge but eliminate the complete brain fade ill disciplined acts (at least one or two) pretty much every week that end up costing us a goal or two.

Lewis also needs to reduce the number of panicky tumble punts forward when under little (perceived?) pressure and instead try and look for a free target and kick it to advantage (or to him).  Has lost half a yard probably so my gut feel is he may think he's often under more pressure than he sometimes is.  Just an awareness thing that the FD and Lewis may well be working on already.

Aside from that he reads the play very well as one would expect.  10 intercepts and 4 score involvements on the weekend was pretty impressive from a defensive side and we know how much coaches (apparently) love intercept players! 

13 minutes ago, Petraccattack said:

Jeff White.

Yeah i guess you could include him. I know he was a number 1 drat pick but don't recall him being so well paid (relatively of course) when he crossed from Freo. But i guess the expectations were very high.

1 hour ago, binman said:

Some seem to be suggesting jlt1 has no relevance to this game. glorified practice match and all that.

But riddle me this. Why would the club not trial the defensive unit they had in mind for a game for premiership points against the same opposition 4 weeks later?

Now im not saying they wont pick frost but given we won that game and limited the influence of brown it would seem a strange decision. Particularly given they have stuck with same back since

100 %

I'm dumbfounded by some posters that choose to take little notice of genuine dress rehearsal games.

All teams have slightly different agendas depending on what sort of team they put on the park for JLT games. And it was said many times publicly that we'd be playing our best and fittest 22 available. Which also means we'd be playing the way we would during the season. We don't have a new game plan. We play the same defensive zone. Lever was the only new player in that back 6 in JLT 1.

Brown was completely ineffective that day due to the way we played as an entire team defence and the way we pressured them through the midfield.

Frost wasn't there. He is not needed as another tall. And unless he is a direct replacement for Hunt who has been really poor, he is not needed as a means to "stop Brown".

big difference is t mac was there in jlt1, and he was - from memory - a constant threat up forward, combining with hogan

pedo is a solid servant, but t mac is far more talented

from memory garlett didn't play?

7 minutes ago, DemonAndrew said:

big difference is t mac was there in jlt1, and he was - from memory - a constant threat up forward, combining with hogan

pedo is a solid servant, but t mac is far more talented

 

True enough. I'm not sure if your comment is in reference to the discussion about selecting frost, but if so i don't think TMac not playing is relevant. As you say pederson will play that role, perhaps not as well but still play it.

not relevant to the frost / no frost discussion, just a generalised observation

whilst i still think hunt was pretty poor, i've been convinced by others that salem 'did a job' on beams against brisbane, and was vital to stoppage blocking et al so will probably hold his spot to do a similar gig vs north

hunt must be under pressure to lose his spot

12 hours ago, D4Life said:

I knew someone would come back with they beat us twice last year. We got royally screwed at the “G” by the umpires, I recall Cunnington smashing Vince in the guts in front of the umpire & he got nothing, that was just typical of what happened. 

We play well and for four quarters we win, wins and percentage across the season are a good indicator of the difference in teams, and we won twice as many games and had a significantly better percentage last year, and I can’t see where they are better, we have Hogan and Petracca who have both stepped up significantly and even OMac.

Plus odds are we must eventually beat North!!

How times have changed. That would have been the strongest argument earlier this decade. Thankfully, now it's the weakest.

Below are the teams for JLT 1 against the round 2 side that NM fielded. Those in bold in the round 2 list are those that played against us. The only ones that failed to play against us were Simpkin and Anderson, so I would hope that we can get the job done. Most of this one for us will be above the shoulders.

JLT 1 v Melb

B: M.Williams, R.Tarrant, R.Clarke

HB: J.Macmillan, S.Thompson, S.Atley

C: T.Dumont, B.Cunnington, B.Jacobs

HF: B.Hartung, J.Waite, L.McDonald

F: N.Hrovat, B.Brown, K.Turner

Foll: T.Goldstein, S.Higgins, J.Ziebell

I/C: P.Ahern, M.Daw, L.Davies-Uniacke, S.Durdin, M.Hibberd, N.Larkey, B.McKay, A.Morgan 21, G.Narrier, E.Vickers-Willis, J.Williams, C.Zurhaar

Round 2 v St Kilda

B: Marley Williams, Scott Thompson, Ryan Clarke

HB: Jamie Macmillan, Robbie Tarrant, Ed Vickers-Willis

C: Ben Jacobs, Jy Simpkin, Billy Hartung

HF: Shaun Atley, Jarrad Waite, Kayne Turner

F: Jack Ziebell, Ben Brown, Luke Davies-Uniacke

FOLL: Todd Goldstein, Shaun Higgins, Ben Cunnington

I/C: Jed Anderson, Trent Dumont, Nathan Hrovat, Luke McDonald

2 hours ago, Eelesie said:

Below are the teams for JLT 1 against the round 2 side that NM fielded. Those in bold in the round 2 list are those that played against us. The only ones that failed to play against us were Simpkin and Anderson, so I would hope that we can get the job done. Most of this one for us will be above the shoulders.

100% agree, it was the same issue we had against them last year, all in their heads. In recent years we have given up early big leads in the first quarter giving them the perfect start.

2015 Round 19 - North kicked 7.4 to our 2.0
2016 Round 3 - North kicked 8.2. to our 2.2 (albeit with a strong Hobart wind)
2017 Round 9 - North kicked 6.7 to our 2.5
2017 Round 19 - North Kicked 4.4 to our 2.0 (again a strong Hobart wind)

Now I recognise the two games at Hobart provided them with the strong wind to start of with but we can't keep giving up those early leads to them. At the very least this week we have to make sure we've broken even, but if I was a part of the match committee I would be making this a strong focus for the players this week. To come out hard and fast against them to put them on the back foot.

6 minutes ago, Pates said:

100% agree, it was the same issue we had against them last year, all in their heads. In recent years we have given up early big leads in the first quarter giving them the perfect start.

2015 Round 19 - North kicked 7.4 to our 2.0
2016 Round 3 - North kicked 8.2. to our 2.2 (albeit with a strong Hobart wind)
2017 Round 9 - North kicked 6.7 to our 2.5
2017 Round 19 - North Kicked 4.4 to our 2.0 (again a strong Hobart wind)

Now I recognise the two games at Hobart provided them with the strong wind to start of with but we can't keep giving up those early leads to them. At the very least this week we have to make sure we've broken even, but if I was a part of the match committee I would be making this a strong focus for the players this week. To come out hard and fast against them to put them on the back foot.

They always jump us with good clean footy, and we are on the back foot. Geez there is some big starts in there.

A bit like what Brisbane face against us. By the time they drew level, they had given their all but then we ran away with it. Their defensive set up is always better than ours so im always prepared for the easy mark that goes to their key backs all day. i.e infuriating.

 

 

Majak a possible inclusion in Defence:

"He probably had his best game for North Melbourne in any position, whether it be VFL or AFL level, on the weekend," Scott said.

"He's very, very close (to senior selection), but we've got to continue to pick the side that we think provides the best balance.

"We want to get Maj to the point where regardless of balance, whether we go tall or small – because he is a great athlete and has great speed – he should play.

"We're pretty close to that point to be honest. Whether it's this week (against Melbourne) or in the next few, we'll wait and see, but (he's shown) really promising signs so far." 

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2018-04-04/big-roo-close-to-return-after-his-best-game

1 hour ago, Diamond_Jim said:

Majak a possible inclusion in Defence:

"He probably had his best game for North Melbourne in any position, whether it be VFL or AFL level, on the weekend," Scott said.

"He's very, very close (to senior selection), but we've got to continue to pick the side that we think provides the best balance.

"We want to get Maj to the point where regardless of balance, whether we go tall or small – because he is a great athlete and has great speed – he should play.

"We're pretty close to that point to be honest. Whether it's this week (against Melbourne) or in the next few, we'll wait and see, but (he's shown) really promising signs so far." 

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2018-04-04/big-roo-close-to-return-after-his-best-game

Please don’t play him at full back again against us, Mr Scott, please. He was so good against us in the JLT we will definitely lose. Please, do not do it. 

23 hours ago, jnrmac said:

That seems like a single plan that hasn't worked on the two previous occasions. North always seem to be a good contested marking side against us (which side doesn't). I think we need flexibility in defence and the air to get the ball to our runners. 

Last year's game at the G was a bitter hard-fought contest and there was no love lost. We lost the free kick count 21 to 10 because the umps were a disgrace.

We handballed ourselves out of it: 195 HBs to 178 kicks; they out-tackled us 94 to 78; and, we let them score 6g 7b in the opening qtr. They also had 85 marks to our 69 and like Geelong last week they controlled the ball for long periods.

Goodwin often says he doesn't look at history but us supporters know it too well and are far king sick of this mob beating us - AND us trying to play the same way to beat them.

And another thing, you can guarantee that Chris Scott will be speaking to Brad Scott about how to beat Melbourne. The Geelong game is the blueprint and that is how North plays us. Knowing that you would think Goodwin will set up different game plans to tackle it.

How we go will be a real eye opener as to whether Goodwin can really coach. There are really no excuses.

 

    

 

Pretty sure last year at the G key forwards were Weideman and Watts with Pederson rucking, should be a bit different this year. Also the game influenced by some diabolical umpiring. Regarding Jetta and Hunt didn't they both miss part of the pre season, carrying injuries?

20 hours ago, Hell Bent said:

I think Hunt goes before Wagner 

At this point of readiness, I tentatively agree. Hunt is struggling at present but this is short-term. Wagner is making real progress with the team, is agile and 'at the ball' with a physical presence, and kicks forward quite well to a man. 

4 hours ago, Pates said:

100% agree, it was the same issue we had against them last year, all in their heads. In recent years we have given up early big leads in the first quarter giving them the perfect start.

2015 Round 19 - North kicked 7.4 to our 2.0
2016 Round 3 - North kicked 8.2. to our 2.2 (albeit with a strong Hobart wind)
2017 Round 9 - North kicked 6.7 to our 2.5
2017 Round 19 - North Kicked 4.4 to our 2.0 (again a strong Hobart wind)

Now I recognise the two games at Hobart provided them with the strong wind to start of with but we can't keep giving up those early leads to them. At the very least this week we have to make sure we've broken even, but if I was a part of the match committee I would be making this a strong focus for the players this week. To come out hard and fast against them to put them on the back foot.

Strong wind and considerable umpire assistance, once again.

4 hours ago, Pates said:

100% agree, it was the same issue we had against them last year, all in their heads. In recent years we have given up early big leads in the first quarter giving them the perfect start.

2015 Round 19 - North kicked 7.4 to our 2.0
2016 Round 3 - North kicked 8.2. to our 2.2 (albeit with a strong Hobart wind)
2017 Round 9 - North kicked 6.7 to our 2.5
2017 Round 19 - North Kicked 4.4 to our 2.0 (again a strong Hobart wind)

Now I recognise the two games at Hobart provided them with the strong wind to start of with but we can't keep giving up those early leads to them. At the very least this week we have to make sure we've broken even, but if I was a part of the match committee I would be making this a strong focus for the players this week. To come out hard and fast against them to put them on the back foot.

They always come ready to play against us as they know they are a good chance of getting a win. We need to come out strong against them and not let them dictate the play and tempo of the game. If we let them come out hard without a response we will find ourselves down at quarter time again.

On 2018-04-01 at 10:33 AM, Rodney (Balls) Grinter said:

Yup.  That's really throwing the magnets around.

Tmac was used in short stints last season on ball when a bigger frame was required around the contest , lever could do the same 

On 31/03/2018 at 10:53 PM, DemonLad5 said:

In: Frost, Brayshaw

Out: Wagner, Bugg

Salem on thin ice. Hunt was good last week and has the points in the bank to stay in. Got to bring in Frost to take Waite, frees up Lever 

Not sure what game you were watching, he was not good. But as you say he has runs on the board. 

I’d be happy with those changes though, I feel we need a bigger body down there plus Frost can run. Bug I’m 50/50 on, he was on Hodge and I didn’t feel Hodge had a huge impact, in fact it felt like Hodge tried to stay accountable. 

I see Harmes being on the chopping block but it will be interesting to see who gets dropped. 

I know its early in the season plus every game for a team lauding itself  a finals contender is important...........it seems vital we win this one. 

Excited and nervous for this one. Rapped our fwd line is firing but sad a few players are down on form.

Angus and Frost in.

Lever looks a litttle shaky and Brown may kill us. Maybe bugg or hunt.