15 hours ago, Bimbo said:

The AFL have for once gifted Melbourne a great mid-year break.  

We play Brisbane in Alice Springs on Friday 4 June.

We next play on QB, 14 June against Collingwood.

We have a bye the following weekend.  

That gives us nearly 10 day break after our NT trip.  Then we do not have to roll up the following Saturday after QB.  

I think this is a great spread of games over the three weeks.

Nice change of pace from what they used to do with scheduling our trip to Darwin with a 6 day break before and after the match. I could never understand why they didn't scheduled our Darwin match to be followed by the bye round. 

Edited May 11, 20213 yr by Pates

Don't disagree with King in the slightest.

Look at two of the most dominant teams of the modern era: Geelong of the late 00's and early '10's and Richmond from 2017 until last year (and potentially further).

Both those teams, after winning their maiden flags with the groups they had, went flat chat for a full year, trying to win as many premiership season games as possible. Richmond went 18-4 and the Cats went a staggering 21-1 (which is as good as Essendon's 2000 premiership season and Geelong in my eyes had a superior team). However, when they got to the pointy end of the year, they had used up all their meal tickets. Having Dusty hurt in the prelim didn't help matters, but that team should have beaten Collingwood with the cattle they had

It extends to other sports as well. The 2016 Golden State Warriors in the NBA spent all their chips before they got to the dance. Same with the 2016 New England Patriots in the NFL. 

Don't flirt with form

As regards "resting" Maxxy is his time in the ruck as distinct from on the ground that much more than those of other first rucks?

Watching the Swans game I got the impression that Jacko was rucking for significant periods and having a resting ruck in the fwd line as well as BB and TMac might not be ideal.

I could understand a resting strategy for selected players closer to the finals period might make sense but not this early.

On 5/11/2021 at 10:28 AM, Wrecker46 said:

Half of Demonland call for Melksham to be rested every week.

He has his 'rests' during matches !!!      ?

On 5/10/2021 at 8:05 PM, I'va Worn Smith said:

This morning, on Gerard Whately's segment, the "Means Test", David King suggested that Melbourne need to start looking at strategically resting players, with a view to cranking up again, in the last 3rd of the season.

Given that many of us on here, think that Maxy is either carrying an injury or is just tired,  Fritta, only just recently had surgery on a broken hand and by his recent standards, was ordinary against the Swans.  Gus is not going particularly well.  Both Kozzie and Dogga are young and almost certainly need a rest before the home and away is over. Despite word from the club to the contrary, Trac must be sore after collecting a corky right on the siren

Is David King right?  Should we tank.... sorry..."manage" our core group now, or wait a bit longer?  I want to beat Carltank more than anything this week.

After that, let's see.  Your thoughts?

 

Some people on this site have been suggesting this as being good business practice for about four weeks. This is nothing new and i am positive with Jones and Weideman along with our new and established mids, in fact all over the ground this would be being put into adhered to.

Aside from that King doesn't tell our Club Admin what to do, when while he was in his own backyard there was mayhem...

Biggest threat to  Melbourne is probably covid. Here in Bangkok the virus is sweeping through SEAsia and India.

A plane load of hi-so Thai people returned last week from India and brought the virus with them ontop of record rises in cases in April in BKK.

No one knows what devestation could be happening in Mynamar because of the military crisis.

Whole thing could blow up again in OZ if we dont stop everyone coming in from Asia. Tokyo Olympics should have been abandoned weeks ago. Westerners are being arrested for  having  small pool parties in Thailand.

 

Edited May 12, 20213 yr by siam juntaRus

I think we’ve got that well covered now. 

2 hours ago, Colin B. Flaubert said:

Don't disagree with King in the slightest.

Look at two of the most dominant teams of the modern era: Geelong of the late 00's and early '10's and Richmond from 2017 until last year (and potentially further).

Both those teams, after winning their maiden flags with the groups they had, went flat chat for a full year, trying to win as many premiership season games as possible. Richmond went 18-4 and the Cats went a staggering 21-1 (which is as good as Essendon's 2000 premiership season and Geelong in my eyes had a superior team). However, when they got to the pointy end of the year, they had used up all their meal tickets. Having Dusty hurt in the prelim didn't help matters, but that team should have beaten Collingwood with the cattle they had

It extends to other sports as well. The 2016 Golden State Warriors in the NBA spent all their chips before they got to the dance. Same with the 2016 New England Patriots in the NFL. 

The bold bit is a little bit  important.....

1 hour ago, dino rover said:

As regards "resting" Maxxy is his time in the ruck as distinct from on the ground that much more than those of other first rucks?

Watching the Swans game I got the impression that Jacko was rucking for significant periods and having a resting ruck in the fwd line as well as BB and TMac might not be ideal.

I could understand a resting strategy for selected players closer to the finals period might make sense but not this early.

Really do you think Goody is resting LJ now in the forward line has anything to do with managing him for Finals now?

If  I am a Test Captain I am not resting my opening bowler in the Second Test if I need to win that Test to gain a 2-0 lead in the series. ( Unless he was carrying a minor injury or niggle ) that needed managing.

So that is not the reason LJ was in the FPocket on Sat night. He was adjudged on form to be the best player on the Forward  line at that time  to give us a chance of winning plus also taking/ sharing. the boundary throw ins and ball ups.

Also it was only  the second  time this season that we have played Tmac BBB snd LJ together on the forward line.

Any one saving ( managing) players fir later in the season on a large scale is risking Upsetting the balance of the team as injuries and form will always be the best guide to selection EXCEPT where say youngsters in their early stages of career may be managed To ensure a freshness for all the season.

Kossie JJ LJ and Riv are all possibilities fir this even Fritta May be considered. 

But you don't flirt with form and certainly not at this stage of the season!!

 

16 minutes ago, jnrmac said:

The bold bit is a little bit  important.....

The aftermath is also important.

Upon realizing that they didn't need to go full blast for a full year, both teams went into the following year with the sole intention of peaking at exactly the right time. Sure, they needed enough wins to get there, and they exerted themselves to the point where they would be guaranteed a top three finish. But did they exhaust themselves every week in those years? They didn't, and premierships were the result. 

Perhaps a better example might be the Crows in 1997 and 1998, as they didn't have a premiership year followed by a year where they tried to dominate in every game. Their aim too was to peak at the right part of the year, and to put their foot on the gas when it was advantageous to do so.

Edited May 12, 20213 yr by Colin B. Flaubert
Needed to clean some points up.

37 minutes ago, siam juntaRus said:

Biggest threat to  Melbourne is probably covid. Here in Bangkok the virus is sweeping through SEAsia and India.

A plane load of hi-so Thai people returned last week from India and brought the virus with them ontop of record rises in cases in April in BKK.

No one knows what devestation could be happening in Mynamar because of the military crisis.

Whole thing could blow up again in OZ if we dont stop everyone coming in from Asia. Tokyo Olympics should have been abandoned weeks ago. Westerners are being arrested for  having  small pool parties in Thailand.

 

Cheers. Agree totally. Follow the Taiwan model. Though, having said that, cases are rising there, too, with air crew bringing it in from SEAsia...

1 hour ago, Colin B. Flaubert said:

 

The aftermath is also important.

Upon realizing that they didn't need to go full blast for a full year, both teams went into the following year with the sole intention of peaking at exactly the right time. Sure, they needed enough wins to get there, and they exerted themselves to the point where they would be guaranteed a top three finish. But did they exhaust themselves every week in those years? They didn't, and premierships were the result. 

Perhaps a better example might be the Crows in 1997 and 1998, as they didn't have a premiership year followed by a year where they tried to dominate in every game. Their aim too was to peak at the right part of the year, and to put their foot on the gas when it was advantageous to do so.

The interesting thing about our team is I don’t think we’ve played our best yet. The Richmond game was probably the closest IMO as it looked like finals intensity and the crowd was final-level noise. But every other game we’re just doing what we need to do. 

With our tricky run coming late I think there might need to be a flirt with form around rounds 15-16 before trying to push well into finals. 

18 hours ago, 58er said:

Really do you think Goody is resting LJ now in the forward line has anything to do with managing him for Finals now?

If  I am a Test Captain I am not resting my opening bowler in the Second Test if I need to win that Test to gain a 2-0 lead in the series. ( Unless he was carrying a minor injury or niggle ) that needed managing.

So that is not the reason LJ was in the FPocket on Sat night. He was adjudged on form to be the best player on the Forward  line at that time  to give us a chance of winning plus also taking/ sharing. the boundary throw ins and ball ups.

Also it was only  the second  time this season that we have played Tmac BBB snd LJ together on the forward line.

Any one saving ( managing) players fir later in the season on a large scale is risking Upsetting the balance of the team as injuries and form will always be the best guide to selection EXCEPT where say youngsters in their early stages of career may be managed To ensure a freshness for all the season.

Kossie JJ LJ and Riv are all possibilities fir this even Fritta May be considered. 

But you don't flirt with form and certainly not at this stage of the season!!

That is my point - you dont "rest" in the forward line - it isn't or shouldn't be a bludge you need to work up and down the ground to provide options for transition. B and TMac work up to the CHB area for the outlet kick. My point was more to the claim that Maxxy was overworked or tired when LJ is taking a proportion of the ruck work - what I am unclear on is what proportion of the ruck work is he doing? BB takes some ruck in fwd pockets.

19 hours ago, siam juntaRus said:

Biggest threat to  Melbourne is probably covid. Here in Bangkok the virus is sweeping through SEAsia and India.

A plane load of hi-so Thai people returned last week from India and brought the virus with them ontop of record rises in cases in April in BKK.

Hopefully it isn't the 440k India strain which seems to be a step up from all other strains.  Albeit early days and still more time/data/study needed before the science community can give a definitive idea.

Worry over the 440k strain was probably the main catalyst for the Fed Govt bringing in their controversial ban / fine / jail time on travellers coming in from India before it got howled down.

I may be off the mark but I reckon at this stage of the season its still a land grab. Do what you can within sense to win as many as possible.

At round 15 you can sit back and revisit this idea with hopefully enough points to have cemented a finals birth.

On 5/12/2021 at 2:21 PM, Colin B. Flaubert said:

 

The aftermath is also important.

Upon realizing that they didn't need to go full blast for a full year, both teams went into the following year with the sole intention of peaking at exactly the right time. Sure, they needed enough wins to get there, and they exerted themselves to the point where they would be guaranteed a top three finish. But did they exhaust themselves every week in those years? They didn't, and premierships were the result. 

Perhaps a better example might be the Crows in 1997 and 1998, as they didn't have a premiership year followed by a year where they tried to dominate in every game. Their aim too was to peak at the right part of the year, and to put their foot on the gas when it was advantageous to do so.

Helps in 1998 when North walk into open goals and miss, and kick something like 1 goal 12 in the 2nd quarter and blowing what should have been a 10 goal lead...

King is almost always wrong, however, I think he makes a valid point.

We need to find a way to make sure that we are a better side in 10-12 rounds time than we are now.

If that means managing players (Greg Popovich style), then I hope we're confident enough to do it.

19 hours ago, dino rover said:

That is my point - you dont "rest" in the forward line - it isn't or shouldn't be a bludge you need to work up and down the ground to provide options for transition. B and TMac work up to the CHB area for the outlet kick. My point was more to the claim that Maxxy was overworked or tired when LJ is taking a proportion of the ruck work - what I am unclear on is what proportion of the ruck work is he doing? BB takes some ruck in fwd pockets.

Resting  is an expression for a ruck or mid to go up forward after on the ball Rather than go to the interchange Bench.

Maxy seems to be doing about 60% of ruck work and LJ basically the rest.

BBB didn't do much rucking and is not suited yet IMO as Tmac and Weid are better.
I have full faith we will get it right unless we play a tall too many if it's very wet underneath rather than just showers.

On 5/10/2021 at 8:05 PM, I'va Worn Smith said:

This morning, on Gerard Whately's segment, the "Means Test", David King suggested that Melbourne need to start looking at strategically resting players, with a view to cranking up again, in the last 3rd of the season.

Given that many of us on here, think that Maxy is either carrying an injury or is just tired,  Fritta, only just recently had surgery on a broken hand and by his recent standards, was ordinary against the Swans.  Gus is not going particularly well.  Both Kozzie and Dogga are young and almost certainly need a rest before the home and away is over. Despite word from the club to the contrary, Trac must be sore after collecting a corky right on the siren

Is David King right?  Should we tank.... sorry..."manage" our core group now, or wait a bit longer?  I want to beat Carltank more than anything this week.

After that, let's see.  Your thoughts?

 

After the bye....