Great individual awards haul last night and well deserved by all Dees. Thought the team was a good reflection of the year granted they need to start respecting the wing as a specialised position and would have had Weitering over Alir. Brisbane are a quality side and will give us a shake on the weekend but I can guarantee from watching the steel on our players that it wont be from getting ahead of ourselves or being wrapped up in individual accolades. 

Edited August 26, 20213 yr by Lil_red_fire_engine

So, if it was a real team instead of one with midfielders masquerading as wingmen and forwards, who would go out and who would come in from the 40 man squad? Assume for a moment that all the true defenders selected (ie, Lever, May, Allir, Stewart, Rich etc) and forwards (Hawkins, McKay, Greene, etc) remain in the team. Would Petracca miss? Would Salem get in? Fritsch?

14 minutes ago, La Dee-vina Comedia said:

So, if it was a real team instead of one with midfielders masquerading as wingmen and forwards, who would go out and who would come in from the 40 man squad? Assume for a moment that all the true defenders selected (ie, Lever, May, Allir, Stewart, Rich etc) and forwards (Hawkins, McKay, Greene, etc) remain in the team. Would Petracca miss? Would Salem get in? Fritsch?

Reckon They'd put Stringer over Fritsch in a 'true position' lineup. 

If Salem kept up his form throughout the season (and no soreness) he'd probably have pipped Rich.

Would be interesting to see which Mid would fall out if they did place Bont/Trac in Mid tho

12 minutes ago, roy11 said:

Reckon They'd put Stringer over Fritsch in a 'true position' lineup. 

If Salem kept up his form throughout the season (and no soreness) he'd probably have pipped Rich.

Would be interesting to see which Mid would fall out if they did place Bont/Trac in Mid tho

there again stringer has been playing more midfield lately, so is he a true forward or a mid?

11 minutes ago, daisycutter said:

there again stringer has been playing more midfield lately, so is he a true forward or a mid?

Yeh valid point. They'll never do it but reckon they should have a minimum ToG % in a position to be eligible for it. Also think they need more variety on the bench instead of just pandering to the mids. Make it mean more to be selected etc

"O Captain! My Captain!"

King reckons not picking Stringer is the “greatest selection error in years”. He had a good second half of the year but 39 goals and average of 17 touches is hardly amazing form

correct call leaving him out imo

 

May and Lever are the ones I really feel happiest for.

May came to us with a lot of pressure on him and his first year was a write off largely due to poor preparation on his part in the off season. But he knuckled down hard and put in the work to make himself one of the most dominant defenders in the game and frankly was jibbed by not being put in the AA squad last season. He went back to the drawing board, and has made himself even better. If Max and Jack were unavailable, personally May would be the one I’d want to named as captain. 

Lever also came with a lot of pressure and unfortunately for him he did his knee first year with us. It took him a while to gain confidence in that knee again and all the while people were potting him and fans were questioning whether he was worth it. He has had such an incredible year, record breaking in fact. He has owned the role he’s in and is such a general down back. I got the number 8 on my back way back when Chip was the best defender, but number 8 will always and forever have a special place at the club because of Jake. 

Edited August 27, 20213 yr by Pates

2 hours ago, DubDee said:

King reckons not picking Stringer is the “greatest selection error in years”. He had a good second half of the year but 39 goals and average of 17 touches is hardly amazing form

correct call leaving him out imo

100% agree on this, he had 6 unreal games and about 4 ok ones. Fritsch would have been ahead of him easily. 
Weitering couldn't get the nod with how bad Carlton have been defensively this year. They leaked goals all year. 
They are not stiff at all, Both players need to be better for longer

Still no sign of Picket Fence? Love to hear his opinion on Max as the Captain of the All Australian side……

I must admit I have not been a Lever fan, but fair enough , the writing is on the board so really good for him and reflects the work he has put in.

Stephen May has been our Defence Leader and is a gun. He and Jake combine really well PLUS he provides terrific support for our young defence. We forget that Trent RIvers is a second year player, Petty is realistically only in his first/second year of playing and young Bowey is a beauty but still a first year player.

Christian Salem was a bit stiff, would have only come down to how far he kicks the ball cf Rich. I will accept the decision there without rancor.

Oliver's mini highlights indicate how far he has improved this year (and he must put in a power of work  to maintain his workload) Trac is class.

Everyone at Melbourne looks up at Maxy. He has the group humming ( If only he could kick straight !!!(under pressure))

 

The thing about the AA nominations from MFC was that there are a lot of players not mentioned & who will never be mentioned BUT ARE INTEGRAL TO THE SIDE. And at times we are a little/hugely critical of some of them, but they provide the glue to enable the more gifted players to shine. Just think of Harmesy efforts against Libba the first time around, the cameos of Spargó & Kossie, The improvement of Jackson, Rivers , Jordon,Sparrow. Tmac's form has been a bonus this year because he and Fritsch carried the big blokes role in the fwd line for the first half of the year. The wingers club where Gus has put his ego to the side to be part of a special team and Langers has been a revelation.   

Can people remember ALL the players in the great Hawthorn , RIchmond and Brisbane sides !!!

You could pick another AA side which would still be a sensational side. What a reward for Aliir Aliir and Bayley Dale who have made the big jump into "big kids"Territory

6 minutes ago, MrReims said:

Still no sign of Picket Fence? Love to hear his opinion on Max as the Captain of the All Australian side……

Absolutely Grouse!

54 minutes ago, picket fence said:

Absolutely Grouse!

Much better from you, see if you can keep it up

Silly b-ggers!  Glad they aren't taking the accolades too seriously.  They have a big job to do tomorrow night.

Taking the micky out of school boy blazers perhaps?   Or maybe they are ACDC fans!  Would they be that disrespectful to the occassion...

Must admit the blazers remind me of the Cameron Schwab days.

From mfc instagram.  

 

Wonder where May and Lever are.

The location doesn't look very salubrious!

Edited August 27, 20213 yr by Lucifer's Hero

16 minutes ago, Lucifer's Hero said:

Silly b-ggers!  Glad they aren't taking the accolades too seriously.  They have a big job to do tomorrow night.

Taking the micky out of school boy blazers perhaps?   Or maybe they are ACDC fans!  Would they be that disrespectful to the occassion...

Must admit the blazers remind me of the Cameron Schwab days.

From mfc instagram.  

 

Wonder where May and Lever are.

The location doesn't look very salubrious!

All and we are not just three bricks in the wall

6 hours ago, La Dee-vina Comedia said:

So, if it was a real team instead of one with midfielders masquerading as wingmen and forwards, who would go out and who would come in from the 40 man squad? Assume for a moment that all the true defenders selected (ie, Lever, May, Allir, Stewart, Rich etc) and forwards (Hawkins, McKay, Greene, etc) remain in the team. Would Petracca miss? Would Salem get in? Fritsch?

Good call.  Salem get's in, so does Langdon, Fritsch maybe. Rivers possibly, 

Just rapt theat Steven May has AA Full Back now on his CV.

7 hours ago, Lil_red_fire_engine said:

Great individual awards haul last night and well deserved by all Dees. Thought the team was a good reflection of the year granted they need to start respecting the wing as a specialised position and would have had Weitering over Alir. Brisbane are a quality side and will give us a shake on the weekend but I can guarantee from watching the steel on our players that it wont be from getting ahead of ourselves or being wrapped up in individual accolades. 

Great post. 

Was having a conversation with mates about that last night and today. Choco Williams knows all too well that winning the minor premiership doesn’t always equate to the ultimate success. Port finished on top at least 3 or 4 times for just the 1 flag.
 

Single biggest takeaway for me is this.

At the start of the year the team committed to team first football, and look at the individual accomplishments that followed.

Truly deafening positive affirmation.

It was just an excellent night last night. but obviously bigger fish to fry tomorrow.

Stringer correctly wasn't picked. It's a side based on a season of form, not half a season. If it were half a season, Salem would have made it off his first half.

10 hours ago, titan_uranus said:

Stringer correctly wasn't picked. It's a side based on a season of form, not half a season. If it were half a season, Salem would have made it off his first half.

And Langdon