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The Tom McDonald dilemma

david_neitz_is_my_dad
in Melbourne Demons

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36 minutes ago, A F said:

ANB. I felt ANB was one of our weakest. I'm watching the replay right now and he's was terrible in the first quarter.

Yes, he was. But keep watching. Then when you finish, go to AFL 360 and hear Goodwin mention his name as one of the core group around Max who has helped drive the selfless attitude and standards at the club. Others mentioned were Viney, May and Lever. So ANB is in good company as well as in Goodwin’s good books.

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    25 minutes ago, Fanatique Demon said:

    Yes, he was. But keep watching. Then when you finish, go to AFL 360 and hear Goodwin mention his name as one of the core group around Max who has helped drive the selfless attitude and standards at the club. Others mentioned were Viney, May and Lever. So ANB is in good company as well as in Goodwin’s good books.

    Deep into the third quarter now and ANB has really struggled.

    I heard that on 360 and ANB might drive standards off the field, but his skill errors and poor tackling in the Hawthorn game should put him in the gun, particularly with the likes of Bedford banging the door down.

    I think ANB has done enough this year to earn another week, but we'll be in big trouble if he serves that up next week. Can't have any weak links against a side that has three flags in four years.

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    46 minutes ago, A F said:

    Deep into the third quarter now and ANB has really struggled.

    I heard that on 360 and ANB might drive standards off the field, but his skill errors and poor tackling in the Hawthorn game should put him in the gun, particularly with the likes of Bedford banging the door down.

    I think ANB has done enough this year to earn another week, but we'll be in big trouble if he serves that up next week. Can't have any weak links against a side that has three flags in four years.

    That said, watching the 4th quarter now and ANB is having a cracking quarter.

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    15 hours ago, Fat Tony said:

    .......

    Another experiment worth trialling is Jackson as an onballer in the Blicavs mould.

    Just as the great Norm Smith decided to try a radical experiment - Ronald Barassi (Jnr) as a “ruck rover”.    And the rest is history. 

    13 hours ago, Sir Why You Little said:

    Who matches up best against Richmond 

    That is what i want to see

    What I look forward to seeing is oppositions thinking “who matches up best against Melbourne “

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    14 hours ago, Flower Magic said:

    Tom was genuinely hungry for the ball on Saturday. I thought he played a fantastic game, our second best behind Gawn IMHO. He covered a massive amount of territory, one minute he was down forward, I looked away and suddenly he was in the backline. One of the great things about being at the game is that you see things not obvious on TV. He just kept running all day, either clunking marks or making a contest. As one who thought he might be past his best last year, I'm delighted to see the real TMac standing tall. I'd back putting him on the wing, moving Brayshaw into the middle and giving Jordon a rest. 

    I have often seen the media reporting how many kms a specific player runs in a game. Is that data publicly available anywhere? It would be interesting to look at and compare various players, such as Tom McDonald, ANB, Melksham, Langdon and others. 

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    12 hours ago, Cheesy D. Pun said:

    Not taking anything away from TMac and his willingness to tackle but I think he is the beneficiary of the work of our smalls. Spargo and Kozzy in particular generate tackles by running the opposition into trouble.

    The big guys can tackle but they aren't generating tackles. We need as many guys harrassing as possible. Corralling a player is more important than the tackle itself and this can make tackle stats slightly misleading.

    Locking the ball in your front half is about speed, agility and positioning. Fwiw, I think three smalls in the forward half at all times is the golden ticket. It's why I think Melksham needs to find a new role - he breaks our system because he doesn't have the agility to corral.

    Jackson resting forward with Brown and the Weed just doesn't feel right to me. I imagine that's where we'll end up, so I hope I'm wrong!

    Yeah, I agree, but it shows the willingness of both TMac (he has 10 Fwd50 tackles) and LJ (5 - which would put him at the top of the list at the Tigers) to stay in the game. Something I hope both Weid and BBB are shown when they come in. Don't let the great work the small pressure guys are doing go to waste, letting the opposition get the easy kick out through their big defenders dropping back, make them always earn it. That then hopefully either locks it in or creates a contested ball/turnover situation so the ball comes straight back in even if it does get out.

    I've put it in the changes thread, for inside 50 tackles we've got Tmax & Kozzie (both with 10), Spargo (8), ANB & Jordon (7), Viney (6) and LJ & Fritta (5), while Richmond who've been the standout pressure team over the last 4 years only have 5 guys who have 5 inside 50 tackles, but that's it. M Brown also laid 3 on the weekend, so the talls have been willing to help out. 

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    19 hours ago, Sir Why You Little said:

    Who matches up best against Richmond 

    That is what i want to see

    Yeah, good point.  Unfortunately I don't watch other teams much as I hope they all die from horrible accidents, so don't really know.

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