8-0

8 Rounds played….. 8 wins….. 32 points in the premiership bank. Hate to think how many times in the last 20 years that we have not managed to accumulate this many points in a whole season.

Firstly, let me just address the umpiring, not just in our game but the whole season. Opinion on the umpiring is split. Some people think that the umpires are dumb, blind maggots. The rest think they are bias bunch of numb nuts. I am undecided between the two. Both could be correct. What is the collective noun for AFL umpires? A confusion of umpires? A blunder of umpires? An omnishambles of umpires? Personally, I think I will go with a Magoo of umpires. I think if you gave a troop of monkeys a shrill of whistles each and let them loose at a game they would make as many correct decisions as the Magoo of umps that were ‘in charge’ of our game last week.

If you are too young to know about Mr. Magoo, google it.

I was casting around in my mind trying to find a way of describing the Sydney game. Bear with me here.

When I was a kid, I used to love going to the show and the best part for me was side show alley and the best bit of side show alley was the Jimmy Sharman’s Boxing troupe. 8 or 9 hard men lined up on the gallery, one pounding a big drum and Jimmy up there spruiking for challengers. I would sneak in and watch the show. A majority of the bouts were the local brawlers taking on one of the troupe and coming up short. These bouts seemed to always go the same way. The tent boxer would take half a round to assess the local, the next round or so to put on a show and then he would put him down. A bob or two to the nose, a couple of slowing shots under the ribs and then the stopping shot. Usually a hard one in the solar plexus. These bouts were always fun to watch but the ones I really liked were when the unexpected happened.

A local would step in and as soon as the opening bell went you understood that he knew what he was doing. He had the discipline and defence to keep with the trouper, took his shots and landed a few. It was not a slug fest and in the end the tent boxer won on points. The challenger was still standing and at the final bell he slipped the boxer a grin and a wink as if to say… “See you next time….” The boxer commits him to memory and vows to keep an eye on him.

That about wraps up my feeling over last week. Sydney can handle themselves.

And so, to the Round 9 encounter with the Carlton at the MCG on Sunday. Carlton, a great place for an Italian meal or a cup of coffee but an ordinary footy team these days. They have won a lot of flags in the past but come the 21^st century, they have more wooden spoons than anyone else. I like that. Let me remind you that this was the club that had John Elliot as president. Just go back and remind yourselves of the wonderful impact that cheating [censored] had on the club and footy in general. I do not care if they languish in the basement of the AFL ladder for a couple more generations. They deserve it.

You do understand that I have very little love for them, don’t you?

The facts:

We are coming off a tight win over the 4^th placed Swans, - Advantage us

Nobody likes them – Advantage us

They were run over in the last by the fast-finishing Dogs – Advantage Us

Not sure I can find any advantages they have…. A very good defensive key position player in Weitering? – minor advantage them.

We have one day extra rest and will need it – Advantage us?

Problem areas of the game for us.

Coming up against Carlton this week we will need to ensure that we have the right approach to the game. No matter what the opposition, we cannot afford to drop the pressure on the ball.

Defence Was not too bad last week. Petty will improve week on week the more games he plays. With The rest of the defence around him he will learn where to be and when to go. Carlton’s main tall threats seem to be McKay and Owies with Betts at their feet dangerous. Betts is getting to the age where his legs are not moving as they did but he still has the experience and tricks to cause a headache. Rivers to mind him? That would give Rivers a chance to run off him on the rebound. We have them covered here.

Petracca was down a bit on his usual standards. Seems harsh, I know, but he has set himself such high standards. I hope he recovers from the last second corky and can take his place next week. Oliver was excellent in the second half as was Jordon in the first. I would like to get Sparrow’s grunt onto the ground but not sure it will be this week. Cripps looks shot… that is  bit like poking a stick at a sleeping tiger, I know. He will most likely come out and rip us a new one.

Max! Max! Where are you???? Pittonet and Sweet rotating in the ruck against Max and Jackson. I will back our duo to win out but we need to find a way to at least break even in the center bounces. At the start of a quarter we line up with Petracca and Pickett with Oliver standing 10 m defensive side and it aint working…. Find another plan or two guys.

Now for the forwards…….

The good; we kicked a winning score last week. 

The bad; the fact that between them Brown and TMac only kicked 7, I wanted more

The ugly; Fritsch got off the week suspension and still took a week’s holiday

TMac starred and I can see the structure between Brown and TMac beginning to work. I had the impression that our forward line was very crowded last week and I would like to see the ball come in a bit faster and with a bit more space at the talls feet. I think our smalls lacked the space in which to work.

Could be a short night for the selectors if Petracca comes up. Anyone sore? Want a rest? Want to visit dad in NZ?

The new Swan feather stuffed cushions on the Bathwater Express look good. When I ordered this fine vehicle I dropped off a few options. Had all the driver assists removed along with the mufflers. Want to make sure people hear us coming and we turn a few heads. I also had the brakes removed I like the dangerous edge that gives us. Besides, when has a bandwagon ever had the need to slow down. All Aboard!!!

My prediction last week sort of worked out… I said 8 goals and the margin was 9 points…. Only one number out. Dees by a lot this week. 8 goal margin… believe me…. 8 goals.

we have to make these home games a couldron, and make it very difficult to beat us. 

If May can curtail McKay who is the in form forward of the comp then we should win comfortably. If he doesn't, well we will still probably win. 

Doggies did it through winning the contest, they seem to a hard defensive system and gave up a lot of points to the Blues.

If we can win (even halve) the contested possessions and clearances, then we can build through intense pressure.  Blues only look good when there is no pressure.  If we bring our game, they don’t get a look in.

I am looking for at least 2 quarters of no Blues goals.  I am looking for us to break them open and break their hearts.  CHF says 8 goals - I’ll take that but reckon we can go bigger.

8 minutes ago, buck_nekkid said:

Doggies did it through winning the contest, they seem to a hard defensive system and gave up a lot of points to the Blues.

If we can win (even halve) the contested possessions and clearances, then we can build through intense pressure.  Blues only look good when there is no pressure.  If we bring our game, they don’t get a look in.

I am looking for at least 2 quarters of no Blues goals.  I am looking for us to break them open and break their hearts.  CHF says 8 goals - I’ll take that but reckon we can go bigger.

I agree with the idea that we need to bring our 'A' pressure game to this one. I really like the way that the players seem to have trust in each other. No longer do they feel like they have to step in every single time to help a teammate in a contest. They give him a chance to win it and step in if required. 

The pressure we exert looks to cover a wider area around the contest than it used too.

17 hours ago, CHF said:

8-0

8 Rounds played….. 8 wins….. 32 points in the premiership bank. Hate to think how many times in the last 20 years that we have not managed to accumulate this many points in a whole season.

Firstly, let me just address the umpiring, not just in our game but the whole season. Opinion on the umpiring is split. Some people think that the umpires are dumb, blind maggots. The rest think they are bias bunch of numb nuts. I am undecided between the two. Both could be correct. What is the collective noun for AFL umpires? A confusion of umpires? A blunder of umpires? An omnishambles of umpires? Personally, I think I will go with a Magoo of umpires. I think if you gave a troop of monkeys a shrill of whistles each and let them loose at a game they would make as many correct decisions as the Magoo of umps that were ‘in charge’ of our game last week.

If you are too young to know about Mr. Magoo, google it.

I was casting around in my mind trying to find a way of describing the Sydney game. Bear with me here.

When I was a kid, I used to love going to the show and the best part for me was side show alley and the best bit of side show alley was the Jimmy Sharman’s Boxing troupe. 8 or 9 hard men lined up on the gallery, one pounding a big drum and Jimmy up there spruiking for challengers. I would sneak in and watch the show. A majority of the bouts were the local brawlers taking on one of the troupe and coming up short. These bouts seemed to always go the same way. The tent boxer would take half a round to assess the local, the next round or so to put on a show and then he would put him down. A bob or two to the nose, a couple of slowing shots under the ribs and then the stopping shot. Usually a hard one in the solar plexus. These bouts were always fun to watch but the ones I really liked were when the unexpected happened.

A local would step in and as soon as the opening bell went you understood that he knew what he was doing. He had the discipline and defence to keep with the trouper, took his shots and landed a few. It was not a slug fest and in the end the tent boxer won on points. The challenger was still standing and at the final bell he slipped the boxer a grin and a wink as if to say… “See you next time….” The boxer commits him to memory and vows to keep an eye on him.

That about wraps up my feeling over last week. Sydney can handle themselves.

And so, to the Round 9 encounter with the Carlton at the MCG on Sunday. Carlton, a great place for an Italian meal or a cup of coffee but an ordinary footy team these days. They have won a lot of flags in the past but come the 21^st century, they have more wooden spoons than anyone else. I like that. Let me remind you that this was the club that had John Elliot as president. Just go back and remind yourselves of the wonderful impact that cheating [censored] had on the club and footy in general. I do not care if they languish in the basement of the AFL ladder for a couple more generations. They deserve it.

You do understand that I have very little love for them, don’t you?

The facts:

We are coming off a tight win over the 4^th placed Swans, - Advantage us

Nobody likes them – Advantage us

They were run over in the last by the fast-finishing Dogs – Advantage Us

Not sure I can find any advantages they have…. A very good defensive key position player in Weitering? – minor advantage them.

We have one day extra rest and will need it – Advantage us?

Problem areas of the game for us.

Coming up against Carlton this week we will need to ensure that we have the right approach to the game. No matter what the opposition, we cannot afford to drop the pressure on the ball.

Defence Was not too bad last week. Petty will improve week on week the more games he plays. With The rest of the defence around him he will learn where to be and when to go. Carlton’s main tall threats seem to be McKay and Owies with Betts at their feet dangerous. Betts is getting to the age where his legs are not moving as they did but he still has the experience and tricks to cause a headache. Rivers to mind him? That would give Rivers a chance to run off him on the rebound. We have them covered here.

Petracca was down a bit on his usual standards. Seems harsh, I know, but he has set himself such high standards. I hope he recovers from the last second corky and can take his place next week. Oliver was excellent in the second half as was Jordon in the first. I would like to get Sparrow’s grunt onto the ground but not sure it will be this week. Cripps looks shot… that is  bit like poking a stick at a sleeping tiger, I know. He will most likely come out and rip us a new one.

Max! Max! Where are you???? Pittonet and Sweet rotating in the ruck against Max and Jackson. I will back our duo to win out but we need to find a way to at least break even in the center bounces. At the start of a quarter we line up with Petracca and Pickett with Oliver standing 10 m defensive side and it aint working…. Find another plan or two guys.

Now for the forwards…….

The good; we kicked a winning score last week. 

The bad; the fact that between them Brown and TMac only kicked 7, I wanted more

The ugly; Fritsch got off the week suspension and still took a week’s holiday

TMac starred and I can see the structure between Brown and TMac beginning to work. I had the impression that our forward line was very crowded last week and I would like to see the ball come in a bit faster and with a bit more space at the talls feet. I think our smalls lacked the space in which to work.

Could be a short night for the selectors if Petracca comes up. Anyone sore? Want a rest? Want to visit dad in NZ?

The new Swan feather stuffed cushions on the Bathwater Express look good. When I ordered this fine vehicle I dropped off a few options. Had all the driver assists removed along with the mufflers. Want to make sure people hear us coming and we turn a few heads. I also had the brakes removed I like the dangerous edge that gives us. Besides, when has a bandwagon ever had the need to slow down. All Aboard!!!

My prediction last week sort of worked out… I said 8 goals and the margin was 9 points…. Only one number out. Dees by a lot this week. 8 goal margin… believe me…. 8 goals.

CHF I love your Magoo of Umpires summed them up perfectly, jeez 8 goals is a big call but I am on your Bandwagon and anything is possible. My wife reckons we should go with virtual umpires watching a screen and advising the umps on the ground.!!!

1 hour ago, DeeZone said:

My wife reckons we should go with virtual umpires watching a screen and advising the umps on the ground.!!!

It’s not a ridiculous suggestion and no doubt one day it will happen.
 

PS. Sounds like your wife is smarter than the umpires.

20 hours ago, CHF said:

, I think I will go with a Magoo of umpires. I think if you gave a troop of monkeys a shrill of whistles each and let them loose at a game they would make as many correct decisions as the Magoo of umps that were ‘in charge’ of our game last week.

Thanks for this.

I know I go on about them more than I should but that number seven set new standards of incompetence.

On one instance a Dees player kicked the ball of the ground and the muppet immediately started to yell not 15 before he stopped himself. Just as well as the kick travelled about twenty five.

I cant believe we are shooting for nine and zipp.

 

Edited May 11, 20213 yr by leave it to deever

Our game against the Swans was the most challenging so far.
The coaches turned the game plan on its head. Minimal centre clearances and repelled from the half-back when they kicked it to us.
I wonder what style MFC will play against the Blue's?
The Blues have good players in the forward and back line taking marks, and a midfield that can move the ball quickly. Though, not a full side, as they have some passengers who aren't up to AFL standard yet, but since they are young must still be seen as possible threats. Furthermore, they will miss Silvagni's drive and composure.
I can see us getting our centre clearances right and giving our marking forwards the best chance to strut their stuff. I hope we blast them away with 4 quarters of effort and skill. Would love to see us put a master class together. Though expecting, the same as before. We will stay in touch, if the Blues get rolling, catch them on the scoreboard and then proceed to slowly accumulate a good lead.  
I want to see, a few more breaking the line runs from Hunty, Fritta to pick himself up after a bad one last time, Tracc and Gawn to be in competition for BOG, and Petty to take some contested marks.
Go Dees

We are 8 wins and zero losses, I honestly have no idea what is going on. I feel like i'm in a cruel dream that I will soon wake from

So sure, we'll smash them.  why not?

I do know one thing being serious - we need the 8 day break and I reckon we'll look a lot better for it.