BB made a difference

[leave it to deever 15,150]

Didnt kick a goal but we had less inside fifties to most of our games and did very well

Bb clealy made a difference.

Even small things like running down the clock at times

He could well be the missing link and help us win a flag.

Its early days but he moved well and clunked more than weid.

Watch this space I reckon.

[Dee*ceiving 860]

Agree, freed up Tommy with a less qualified defender. Came up the ground at the right time and was effective enough when the ball hit the ground. 

He even turned well. His gather, turn and kick to a team mate inside 50 from close to the boundary was class. 

[Tricky 337]

Agree. Leave him in. 

[Arrow 1,257]

Two things for me:

- he was much better when the ball hit the ground then I gave him credit for. He isn’t Luke Jackson but he isn’t hopeless. Much better than anything Weid has showed this year once the ball hits the deck

- he was fantastic with palms and touches when he felt he couldn’t mark the ball. I’m going to say at least 5 times when out of position he did either punch or deflect the ball to the crumbers to a dangerous spot. 
 

he did get out marked a few times but a number of times our mids simply put it on his head and he was nudged under it. If you’ve ever watched BBB his strength is running and jumping at the ball, not sitting under the high one. I thought he was much much better then his stats and so glad to see he made us a better side 

[SPC 2,770]

We needed a real marking forward. Someone to draw 2-3 defenders and give us a contest. Ben is that guy. Needs to stay in now for the year. 

[Smokey 4,112]

I thought he was really good. Its pretty clear to me that Tmac and our smalls are a lot better off when we have Ben to drag away their best defender. Thought Brown did excellent work up the ground presenting a really strong target with clean hands. BB is definitely part of the equation now, can't see him getting dropped unless he has multiple mares in a row. Sorry SW 

[Lord Ivanhoe 311]

Agree with all above. 

Last night he didn’t play the stay at home full forward and followed his man. I am sure he marked a ball close to the half back line at some stage. 
To fit into this defence first ethic, maybe the role the coaches required for him, he needed to build his tank first, in order to play the predetermined way for this role(multiple mobile goal kicking options??)
 

Either way, the Jackson mark n goal and also one of McDonalds, were assisted by Brown taking the defenders. He has a footy brain and has to stay. Go Dees!

Edited July 8, 2021 by Lord Ivanhoe

[Guest]

A great example of how you can still contribute even if you aren’t getting clean looks. 

Whether it was when he forced Aliir (?) to give that free away on the wing, dropping a chest mark but keeping his composure and kicking cleanly into fifty or even we he tried that flying kick 2 minutes in, BBB stayed involved from go to whoa.

At first glance, you would say Weed’s games were better against the Dogs and Lions. And if you did, you would be wrong. It’s not ‘let’s s*** on Weed time’, (and he desperately needs confidence back) but he only got involved in junk time; not when the game was still hot.

Keep BBB in because while he didn’t get the chances to hit the scoreboard last night, trust me, those chances WILL come if he shows that type of effort on a weekly basis.

Edited July 8, 2021 by Colin B. Flaubert

[dazzledavey36 48,641]

He was incredibly stiff not be paid 2 decent marks.

Umpire was absolutely rubbish. 

Brown will only get better. He makes our structure so much better.

[Redleg 37,470]

2 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

He was incredibly stiff not be paid 2 decent marks.

Umpire was absolutely rubbish. 

Brown will only get better. He makes our structure so much better.

Agree. Funny how we are all praising the game of a key forward who didn’t score.

[Straight Sets Simon 23,113]

We win last week if he’s in the team.

[John Crow Batty 8,221]

Still looks rusty but most of his touches were good and clever. Played like a player with two interrupted seasons under his belt. He is a target that key defenders will have to give a lot of respect to. Once he starts to clunk marks again I expect to see a lot of goals.

[Tricky 337]

2 minutes ago, Clint Bizkit said:

We win last week if he’s in the team.

I'm with you on that too. Unless his body wasn't right as Goody has suggested, I can't understand why we went 2 weeks without him. 

[roy11 2,912]

Funny one with Ben Brown if you look at Twitter you see some very different reviews. 

Positive

• Ben Brown was great tonight. This is the forward structure we must go with from now on
• Forward structure looks so much better with Ben Brown in the side. Also helps McDonald and Fritsch taking the 2nd/3rd best defender.
• Ben Brown didnt kick a goal but he played a bloody good game. No intercept marks.
• Do not drop Ben Brown again this year. In the side. Makes everyone better
• Ben Brown has had a really good game
• We look so much better with Ben Brown.
• Ben Brown has been perfect for our structure. Ive been pretty pleased with how we’re playing
• No goals so far but Ben Brown’s definitely been useful tonight structurally for Melbourne
• Ben Brown may not be credited with a score and still will have played a fantastic game. Didn't see this coming
• Melbourne much better side with Ben Brown

Negative

• Ben Brown getting too much praise, I thought he was garbage tonight. Ran under the ball on so many occasions, I thought he would have learnt by now
• Ben brown offers nothing
• Ben Brown is done at AFL Level
• I’ve seen mountains move faster than Ben Brown.
• Ben Brown is finished
• Ben Brown is not an AFL level Senior Player.
• Not sure Ben Brown is a seniors footballer anymore. Really fallen off
• But didn’t Ben Brown make Dixon look good
• Funny how a mediocre performance by Ben Brown. Until half time being classed as a great contribution If he was at North and had kicked 3 until half time wouldn't rate a mention

[leave it to deever 15,150]

37 minutes ago, Tricky said:

I'm with you on that too. Unless his body wasn't right as Goody has suggested, I can't understand why we went 2 weeks without him. 

Agreed. It was strange we thought we needed three talls and played Weid for five weeks only to drop him without a replacement. But Im glad common sense prevailed and bb is in.

He could be a real Smokey leading up to the finsls. He seemed quite agile and fit and was stiff not being paid a coupke of marks.

He hit up his targets too. Loved his post game interview.

Edited July 8, 2021 by leave it to deever

[chook fowler 18,170]

He made a huge difference to our structure and competed well. His reach will have defences worried and will demand the attention of one of the main tall defenders. Was robbed of 2 marks by the maggots.

[Bring-Back-Powell 13,100]

40 minutes ago, Colin B. Flaubert said:

At first glance, you would say Weed’s games against were better against the Dogs and Lions. And if you did, you would be wrong. It’s not ‘let’s s*** on Weed time’, (and he desperately needs confidence back) but he only got involved in junk time; not when the game was still hot.

Without hesitation I would say BBB's performance last night was better than Weid's performance against Brisbane.

[P-man 13,154]

32 minutes ago, roy11 said:

Funny one with Ben Brown if you look at Twitter you see some very different reviews. 

Positive

• Ben Brown was great tonight. This is the forward structure we must go with from now on
• Forward structure looks so much better with Ben Brown in the side. Also helps McDonald and Fritsch taking the 2nd/3rd best defender.
• Ben Brown didnt kick a goal but he played a bloody good game. No intercept marks.
• Do not drop Ben Brown again this year. In the side. Makes everyone better
• Ben Brown has had a really good game
• We look so much better with Ben Brown.
• Ben Brown has been perfect for our structure. Ive been pretty pleased with how we’re playing
• No goals so far but Ben Brown’s definitely been useful tonight structurally for Melbourne
• Ben Brown may not be credited with a score and still will have played a fantastic game. Didn't see this coming
• Melbourne much better side with Ben Brown

Negative

• Ben Brown getting too much praise, I thought he was garbage tonight. Ran under the ball on so many occasions, I thought he would have learnt by now
• Ben brown offers nothing
• Ben Brown is done at AFL Level
• I’ve seen mountains move faster than Ben Brown.
• Ben Brown is finished
• Ben Brown is not an AFL level Senior Player.
• Not sure Ben Brown is a seniors footballer anymore. Really fallen off
• But didn’t Ben Brown make Dixon look good
• Funny how a mediocre performance by Ben Brown. Until half time being classed as a great contribution If he was at North and had kicked 3 until half time wouldn't rate a mention

“Offers nothing” lol

Jesus there are some clueless dopes out there. His value to the side last night was both obvious and significant.

[bluey 882]

Funny game isn’t it? If the Weed didn’t kick a goal you would all be crying blue murder!

 

 

[Fat Tony 4,350]

Don't mistake correlation and causation. Our forward line worked well last night because we got out the back of the Port press and Petracca, Kossie and TMac starred.

Brown was OK. Not good, but not poor. He had zero goals, 10 possessions and just 3 score involvements. These are not the numbers of a good game for a full forward. He would have had a decent game if he had have held on to the two marks (which both could have been paid) and kicked the snap in the second quarter.

Also, Brown replaced Sparrow, who had a big impact against Essendon and he also kicked a goal against GWS.

 

[Little Goffy 12,507]

I'm not going to get carried away but what I liked the most was that he, for want of a better expression, looked like Ben Brown.

As in, he wasn't out of sorts, wasn't hesitant and second-guessing or only half-competing, didn't rush.

Throw in some examples of very composed and immediate ball movement with competent kicks, and I feel very confident about his coming contribution.

And there can be zero concern about his effect on McDonald's game, that's for sure!

[Tricky 337]

36 minutes ago, Fat Tony said:

Don't mistake correlation and causation. Our forward line worked well last night because we got out the back of the Port press and Petracca, Kossie and TMac starred.

Brown was OK. Not good, but not poor. He had zero goals, 10 possessions and just 3 score involvements. These are not the numbers of a good game for a full forward. He would have had a decent game if he had have held on to the two marks (which both could have been paid) and kicked the snap in the second quarter.

Also, Brown replaced Sparrow, who had a big impact against Essendon and he also kicked a goal against GWS.

 

Do you have a stat for how many times he drew key defenders?

[Fat Tony 4,350]

3 minutes ago, Tricky said:

Do you have a stat for how many times he drew key defenders?

There is no stat for that. BTW were Demonlanders asking the same question when Weideman was in the side?

Brown was ok. Not good.

 

[titan_uranus 22,219]

2 hours ago, Arrow said:

Two things for me:

- he was much better when the ball hit the ground then I gave him credit for. He isn’t Luke Jackson but he isn’t hopeless. Much better than anything Weid has showed this year once the ball hits the deck

- he was fantastic with palms and touches when he felt he couldn’t mark the ball. I’m going to say at least 5 times when out of position he did either punch or deflect the ball to the crumbers to a dangerous spot. 
 

he did get out marked a few times but a number of times our mids simply put it on his head and he was nudged under it. If you’ve ever watched BBB his strength is running and jumping at the ball, not sitting under the high one. I thought he was much much better then his stats and so glad to see he made us a better side 

I noticed the palms/touches too. I'm sure he had a big message from the coaches to be mindful of getting it front and centre and the moment he felt he wasn't going to mark it, he did his best to make sure that's where it went.

It's hard to tell whether the kicks over his head were bad kicks or bad judgment from Brown. It happened a lot. With our recent kicking woes I'm inclined to think it was the kicking more than anything, but not necessarily.

38 minutes ago, Fat Tony said:

Don't mistake correlation and causation. Our forward line worked well last night because we got out the back of the Port press and Petracca, Kossie and TMac starred.

Brown was OK. Not good, but not poor. He had zero goals, 10 possessions and just 3 score involvements. These are not the numbers of a good game for a full forward. He would have had a decent game if he had have held on to the two marks (which both could have been paid) and kicked the snap in the second quarter.

Also, Brown replaced Sparrow, who had a big impact against Essendon and he also kicked a goal against GWS.

You're absolutely right to distinguish between causation and correlation, but you're assuming Brown being in the side did not help TMac and Pickett star.

It's only one sample size, so we need to see more, but against a side with Jonas, Aliir, Clurey, McKenzie and Burton, I'm inclined to accept that another marking forward helped take pressure of TMac.

Also define "big impact" re: Sparrow vs Essendon - in that game Sparrow had 11 touches for 126 metres gained, 10 pressure acts, and 1 score involvement (presumably his own goal) from 50% TOG. 

[Demon Dynasty 15,189]

1 hour ago, Clint Bizkit said:

We win last week if he’s in the team.

Absolutely