What to do with Petracca?

[dimmy 1,145]

I feel that he has enormous potential as a mid fielder at centre bounces hwere the heat is really on. He has demonstrated many times the capacity to get the ball to our runners. This works to his strength of good decision making in close ( basketball background). This buys time for our runners wh owill then be able to deliver the ball better to our fwds. Do not give up on him yet.

 

[BAMF 3,809]

18 hours ago, picket fence said:

BOTH need Casey time! Time for Goody to exert some nerve and send the message out that Both are playing Shizzzen!

So does Sparrow, Lockhart, KK, Jones, Hunt and one of Frost or OMac.

The problem is.... the cupboard is bare. We can bring in Stretch, Corey Wagner, Spargo and Hore but will that make any difference? Not in my opinion. We are in trouble here. 

We desperately need some of the more experienced players to find form and for a few to come back from injury. 

[Dockett 32 1,213]

Lockhart and Sparrow have more goals than Jones and ANB in , yet Petracca is the bad guy?

Up to forward coach, Goody and selectors to fix it.

 

[DV8 2,271]

1 hour ago, scarlett said:

I wouldnt call him lazy, he trains at full intensity and still chases when hes stuffed out on the  ground.

You may think he's lazy or bad attitude when an opponent zips past him, but I'd argue he's got nothing left. There's improvement to come with his endurance even in the short term he'll get more match fit. The problem is a lot of our midfield is on managed minutes, which means tracs probably  doing a bit more in the midfield which would burn through his tank quicker, and the goid things he does become harder.

It's lazy not working diligently enough off season and preseason,  to be fit for purpose.

If he has nothing left, he is unfit and too heavy.  And so,  is lazy and not committed enough to be in the right condition.  And right headspace.  It's all the same cycle. He should be running midfield as R/R.

Not a permanent Half-forward.   He is not quick or agile enough to be a great Half-Forward.   Which brings us straight back to his weight again.

[picket fence 15,553]

50 minutes ago, BAMF said:

So does Sparrow, Lockhart, KK, Jones, Hunt and one of Frost or OMac.

The problem is.... the cupboard is bare. We can bring in Stretch, Corey Wagner, Spargo and Hore but will that make any difference? Not in my opinion. We are in trouble here. 

We desperately need some of the more experienced players to find form and for a few to come back from injury. 

Cupboard is bare because some of our recruiting has been not of standard

We are still addressing needs 

Outside Run?? 

Lets face it our skills are still very questionable!!

[DV8 2,271]

1 hour ago, dimmy said:

I feel that he has enormous potential as a mid fielder at centre bounces hwere the heat is really on. He has demonstrated many times the capacity to get the ball to our runners. This works to his strength of good decision making in close ( basketball background). This buys time for our runners wh owill then be able to deliver the ball better to our fwds. Do not give up on him yet.

 

This,  Is what he should be doing...  but he's not fit enough to cover enough kilometers.   He should be.

We need him to be a ruck-rover.  He is about the size of what Timmy Watson was    Apart from Tracca's weight.  That Watson role...  is what Tracca is capable of.  He's not a half forward. He's not good enough overhead to dominate at half-forward.   And too slow at ground level, & on the turn.

 He needs fitness and running ability or he's a liability.

[scarlett 247]

58 minutes ago, DV8 said:

It's lazy not working diligently enough off season and preseason,  to be fit for purpose.

If he has nothing left, he is unfit and too heavy.  And so,  is lazy and not committed enough to be in the right condition.  And right headspace.  It's all the same cycle. He should be running midfield as R/R.

Not a permanent Half-forward.   He is not quick or agile enough to be a great Half-Forward.   Which brings us straight back to his weight again.

Some athletes are blessed with a large endurance base, others have to work for years to get to an adequate base. Dustin Martin is the first one that comes to mind. He still spends more time forward than other mids, and it benefits the tigers with dusty doing dusty things at a high level rather than the alternative.  AVB is one closer to home, when he moves into the midfield watch his disposal drop drastically after a few contests. Is he fat and lazy too?

Crossy would be all over improving his endurance and so would  christain. But until he has a sufficient base, i would rather him be managed between forward and midfield (preferably a bit closer to goal but then we lose him delivering inside) and doing his best and making a defender defend rather than attack, over exhausting him through the midfield and not doing things well and poor second and third efforts and watching his opponents run off him after a couple of contests. 

[Vineytime 784]

1 hour ago, picket fence said:

Cupboard is bare because some of our recruiting has been not of standard

We are still addressing needs 

Outside Run?? 

Lets face it our skills are still very questionable!!

To many players recruited out of the VFL, yes a couple have worked but big question marks on a lot...

[rjay 24,046]

2 hours ago, dimmy said:

the capacity to get the ball to our runners.

The trouble is we don't have runners to get the ball out too.

Our current game is numbers at the contest, we are drawn in like bees to honey.

We've been killed on the spread from the Prelim on...

When you've got a player of Olivers (and Trac when he's there) ability to get and give surely you play a lot smarter than we have.

[What 18,810]

So the training attendees who said Trac looked overweight and unfit over summer were right.    Those who attacked them look silly now.

[DV8 2,271]

39 minutes ago, rjay said:

The trouble is we don't have runners to get the ball out too.

Our current game is numbers at the contest, we are drawn in like bees to honey.

We've been killed on the spread from the Prelim on...

When you've got a player of Olivers (and Trac when he's there) ability to get and give surely you play a lot smarter than we have.

Our mids got sucked in too close to our ball winner, on the weekend...  flippin' the ball from one to another like a hot potato.  Cats couldn't get it off us, but all they had to do was wait outside us,  for us to spill it to them... which is what happened in 1st Qtr.   

Then, they had the space to run the ball for their next disposal forward.   We had all our insiders in tight.   Allowing them plenty of space outside the contest.

[DV8 2,271]

43 minutes ago, scarlett said:

Some athletes are blessed with a large endurance base, others have to work for years to get to an adequate base. Dustin Martin is the first one that comes to mind. He still spends more time forward than other mids, and it benefits the tigers with dusty doing dusty things at a high level rather than the alternative.  AVB is one closer to home, when he moves into the midfield watch his disposal drop drastically after a few contests. Is he fat and lazy too?

Crossy would be all over improving his endurance and so would  christain. But until he has a sufficient base, i would rather him be managed between forward and midfield (preferably a bit closer to goal but then we lose him delivering inside) and doing his best and making a defender defend rather than attack, over exhausting him through the midfield and not doing things well and poor second and third efforts and watching his opponents run off him after a couple of contests. 

He's too slow and too heavy...  he's not going to develop his tank coming in at 96 + Kgs.   He simply does not cover enough game kilometers, to improve fitness.

 

He's heavier than Joel Smith.   Joel Smith is 2 inches taller than Tracca, and is  8 Kgs lighter.

Joel smith -   6'-3" tall  & weighs  88 Kgs

Tracca -  6'-1' tall  & weighs  96 Kgs

Vandenberg  -  6'-2" tall  & weighs in at  90 Kgs

https://www.footywire.com/afl/footy/tp-melbourne-demons?year=2019&sby=8

.

[Beetle 4,323]

It’s pretty simple really.

Jordan Lewis rings his good mate Luke Hodge and says “Hey Hodgy do you reckon you can hook me up with some Lite and Easy?”

Hodge replies “this isn’t for Petracca is it?”

”no mate, it’s for me, the kids have made me pack on a few lately”.

..and voila Christian is all set with meals for the next 21 weeks.

[Mazer Rackham 14,970]

I was walking past AAMI stadium tonight and, passing by an open door, I heard raised voices inside. I shouldn't eavesdrop but I couldn't help it. I overheard what seemed to be a crisis meeting in progress. It went something like .... this ....

 

Goodwin:
He shoots for three and breaks his knee
Misson:
His quad has got a tear
McCartney:
He waltzes to the 50 arc
Plapp:
And trips when in the square
Misson:
And underneath his lettuce
He has chips and gravy there
McCartney:
I even heard him singing in the dunny

Rawlings:
He's always late for training
But his X factor is real
Chaplin:
He's always late for everything
Misson:
Except for every meal
Goodwin:
I hate to have to say it
But I very firmly feel
ALL:
Petracca's not an asset to MFC

Pert:
I'd like to say a word on his behalf
Goodwin:
Then say it, chief executive officer
Pert:
Petracca ... makes me ... laugh

(all laugh)

ALL:
How do you solve a problem like Petracca?
How do you make him play like Bont or Betts?
How do you find a word that means Petracca?
A lair! A star! A flop! A clown! A jet.

Many a thing you know you'd like to tell him
Many a time you wish he'd be intense
But how do you make him play
In front of the goals all day
How do you get him fooling the defence?

Oh, how do you solve a problem like Petracca?
Why does he keep us all in such suspense?

 

[DV8 2,271]

Send him to the US on a major fitness camp, asap.  For 3 or so weeks.  fitness and conditioning.

If Only.

[What 18,810]

13 minutes ago, DV8 said:

Send him to the US on a major fitness camp, asap.  For 3 or so weeks.  fitness and conditioning.

If Only.

Pretty sure he can get fit right here in Melbourne, why the hell would he need to go to America.

[dbj1983 138]

Maybe if the delivery to our forwards was up to AFL standard, we wouldn’t even be talking about him.

None of our forwards have played well in both games. Fix the bigger issue and see if the problem remains.

Goody has some serious quick learning to do before the season is derailed.

 

[BAMF 3,809]

1 hour ago, Vineytime said:

To many players recruited out of the VFL, yes a couple have worked but big question marks on a lot...

The problem for me is that they are competing for the same spots as Maynard, Josh Wagner and JKH who are all players of similar levels.

We have about 6 VFL guys competing for the 30th best position on our list.

We have a lot of injuries right now. We have a lot of players out of form right now. We have some guys on the list who have played a handful of games, are quite old in terms of a footballer, who are getting overlooked by kids who have been on the list for 15 days.

Bring in the VFL players but sweep the broom at the same time.

[deehughman 10]

We need to accept some stuff about him and then move forward.

1. we weighs 100kg. So he cant run long distances. So no midfield.

2. He is mentally a bit of a sad sac. He drops his head.

He has to play as a lead up forward and tell him your job is too kick goals!. His unselfishness is brainless. Good players are selfish mongrels. 

My favourite bit of the game is when Oliver yelled at him after he did that stupid nothing Chip quick when 70 m out. I could see the look on Olivers face....'Its F'gn wet you D, go for goal'

VFL is a stupid thing to do. Because he will dominate at that level. 

[Demonland 66,454]

? | https://www.sen.com.au/news/2019/03/31/lyon-questions-petraccas-development-he-is-not-a-great-player

Talk about the Dees from 14:27

[stevethemanjordan 6,952]

22 hours ago, Lucifer's Hero said:

Given that 11 of his 16 possessions last night were contested, I guess he won 11 possessions when it was 2:1 or 3:1?  Not a bad effort then seeing off 2 or 3 opponents rather than just 1, don't you think?

Winning a contested possession does not equal winning a one-on-one FYI.

It means there are opposition players in the area.

Edited March 31, 2019 by stevethemanjordan

[Rodney (Balls) Grinter 10,588]

13 hours ago, Vineytime said:

To many players recruited out of the VFL, yes a couple have worked but big question marks on a lot...

I don't have a problem with us recruiting some of the top notch ones like Hannan, Freitch and AVB, it's some of the more speculative ones like T Smith, Hore and Keilty that I wounder if they are taking the spot of a younger player with more potential, but under developt/under achieved during their U18 time, like a fast outside version of James Harmes.

I think at the moment we are particularly missing the pace, marking ability and opportunist goal sense of Hannan.  Contrary to my concerns about Keilty, from what I understand, he is about the only key position type we have a the moment that is showing any real form.  Sometimes you are dammed if you do and dammed if you don't.

The one I'd question the most up to this point is Hore.  A VFL best and fairest suggests that he could well be at or close to league standard, but we have a realitive abundance of backline talent, when you consider Lever on the comeback and Petty quietly developing into a quality player.

It's all good to recruit the best available player in the draft, but if you rarely/never recruit based on need, then sooner or later you will have needs that are unforfilled.

[Sydee 3,668]

12 minutes ago, Rodney (Balls) Grinter said:

I don't have a problem with us recruiting some of the top notch ones like Hannan, Freitch and AVB, it's some of the more speculative ones like T Smith, Hore and Keilty that I wounder if they are taking the spot of a younger player with more potential, but under developt/under achieved during their U18 time, like a fast outside version of James Harmes.

I think at the moment we are particularly missing the pace, marking ability and opportunist goal sense of Hannan.  Contrary to my concerns about Keilty, from what I understand, he is about the only key position type we have a the moment that is showing any real form.  Sometimes you are dammed if you do and dammed if you don't.

The one I'd question the most up to this point is Hore.  A VFL best and fairest suggests that he could well be at or close to league standard, but we have a realitive abundance of backline talent, when you consider Lever on the comeback and Petty quietly developing into a quality player.

It's all good to recruit the best available player in the draft, but if you rarely/never recruit based on need, then sooner or later you will have needs that are unforfilled.

Spot on you’ve nailed it 

[Rodney (Balls) Grinter 10,588]

11 hours ago, BAMF said:

The problem for me is that they are competing for the same spots as Maynard, Josh Wagner and JKH who are all players of similar levels.

We have about 6 VFL guys competing for the 30th best position on our list.

We have a lot of injuries right now. We have a lot of players out of form right now. We have some guys on the list who have played a handful of games, are quite old in terms of a footballer, who are getting overlooked by kids who have been on the list for 15 days.

Bring in the VFL players but sweep the broom at the same time.

Totally agree.  Like you, I don't nessasrily think the solution is to drop Patracca, which will just shift one of the opposition's best defenders onto one of our even lesser capable and lesser experienced players. 

The other point I'd make is that why is this conversation focused just on Patracca, when the output of guys like T Mac, Weid, ANB.  Melksham has been just about our only forward to provide good output.

I think part of the answer is that our whole forward system is a shambles at the moment and the other part is that it's not just Patracca.

[dieter 3,325]

14 minutes ago, Rodney (Balls) Grinter said:

I don't have a problem with us recruiting some of the top notch ones like Hannan, Freitch and AVB,....

AVB wasn't a VFL player. He came from Canberra/NSW...(Just for the record.)