15 hours ago, Pollyanna said:

All except the ones who beat Richmond at Marvel just 4 weeks ago.  Just before beating GWS at Ballarat the week later and then losing to the rampaging Dogs by only 11 points.

You miss the point about lead up environment to the final decison to switch states. many in the team may not have known what time of day it was and it showed.

If they were so good as you say in reality, they would not have capitulated after 25 minutes of pressure from a team playing mediocre up to that stage. 98 point win in a national comp tells us something of their mindset.

13 hours ago, monoccular said:

Just for a little perspective, “poor team” that in the last 4 weeks pushed Footscray and Brisbane, and beat recent grand finalists Richmond and GW$?  
Sure that had issues this week, but MFC also had unexpected 7-8 hours travel the day before. 

But the Dees had days to mentally prepared to be on the road. Suns did not.

6 wins at 81%. 3 of those wins by 1 May. The other 3 over next 14 weeks.  What's not poor about that?

Regarding the Harmes & Viney debate, the other point to consider is the effect of having 2 of them! 

to have 2 of your key ball-getters both horrible by foot, poor decision-makers, ie holding the ball, fending off, when there was an easy first option:- potentially amplifies the negatives of each individual player..  ie if it was just 1 of them, they probably wouldn’t get the same degree of negative feedback. 

I have got my head around Viney playing as a defensive forward with a 5 mins run in the middle each qtr. Also acknowledge Harmes is an effective tagger when there is a match-up....but how do we stop them from thinking they are Dusty Martin and doing too much? If they could just accept that there is a role for them as defensive pressure players who get 10-15 possessions (taking first option, quick handballs etc) then there wouldn’t be a problem. 

Are the coaches encouraging them to try and get somewhere closer to trac/Oliver, or are they being told to just play their role? (which would be valued if they simplified things) 

 

I like the romance of bringing Jones into the side this week (see what the kid from Dandenong will do to keep his spot heading into finals). Worked his way back from a calf... finding the footy in 2's playing on ball... will stick to a role, similar to JJ's or Sparrow's and he is much safer with ball in hand than Sparrow, JJ and Viney. 

I'd leave Bowey, he was fantastic. Loved how clean he was. 

Sparrow needs time. That turnover in the 1Q will happen again and again against the good sides... not up to it yet. Goodwin needs to be aware of it. 

Out: Sparrow, Viney

In: Jones, VandenBerg

(Especially if the forecast is soggy for Monday. Remember that Anzac Eve game when it was pouring and Vanders became a man possessed. He is as tough as they come. LFL for Viney in a wet game)

 

59 minutes ago, leave it to deever said:

Jones or Jordan for Jack.

Jones stayed in Melbourne apparently, so won't be him.

If Viney does miss I think they'll go the extra big body in Vandenberg. I would have preferred Jordon, but gut feel in me thinks they'll prefer to freshen Jordon up for finals. Vanders actually played well in both 2018 games in Perth so could be another consideration. It's also meant to be a wet game so again the extra hardened body helps in these conditions. 

Salem is the obvious out it seems? Hibberd comes straight back in. 

I'm banking that the club will give McDonald every opportunity until the final minute. If he is ruled out this weekend then it's a coin toss between Melksham and Weideman. Again, it's going to be wet so maybe Melksham gets the nod.

11 hours ago, A F said:

If Viney and Harmes get their decision making right, they, along with JJ, compliment the offensive ball winning ability of Oliver and Petracca. Our midfield has better defensive cover than either of the Bulldogs or Geelong IMO. The Bulldogs are almost all offence, except Libba.

In the clinches, this could prove telling come finals. There's no doubt Jack and James have to tidy up their ball use, but they still have the next 3 weeks to sort that. And FFS play Jack majority forward. 

 

1 hour ago, Demon17 said:

I thought so too.  There was a patch in 3rd 1/4 I think where Jack was doing what he does best. tackiling , and then with the ball took the first options with low direct passes forward  less than 30m to a teammate in a better position.  he keeps doing that he's a lock to compliment our A-Graders

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The opportunity for a couple of changes might not be such a bad thing at this time of the year - although I would have preferred it in the last 3-4 weeks

We know Goody is stubborn and the chances of the exact squad he wants making it through finals is slim, this might give us a fresh look and open up some other options

Edited August 2, 20213 yr by BW511

16 hours ago, Lord Nev said:

Bit of a rumour Salem didn't travel to WA and won't play on Monday.

Not sure on this now, depends on if this vid from MFC is from yesterday or last week...

Sorry …….. moved to correct thread.

 

Edited August 3, 20213 yr by Deeoldfart

1 hour ago, Lord Nev said:

Not sure on this now, depends on if this vid from MFC is from yesterday or last week...

Video is from Yesterday. Hunt reposted it and said "bad start to Perth quarantine". 

Poor form from Fritta haha

Interestingly I do wonder whether Joel Smith could be a surprise inclusion for Salem?

44 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Interestingly I do wonder whether Joel Smith could be a surprise inclusion for Salem?

I've never been a J Smith fan. However, there is logic in him playing a senior game or two before finals in case we need him in September. On the other hand, playing Smith, Petty, Rivers and Bowey in the same side would be a really inexperienced backline quartet. 

Looking forward to seeing Jones in this week, wonder how fit he is at the moment

I'm sure somebody posted that Jones didn't even travel with the team on the flight to Perth, so he won't be playing on Monday given the players have to quarantine for seven days.

3 hours ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Interestingly I do wonder whether Joel Smith could be a surprise inclusion for Salem?

2 hours ago, La Dee-vina Comedia said:

I've never been a J Smith fan. However, there is logic in him playing a senior game or two before finals in case we need him in September. On the other hand, playing Smith, Petty, Rivers and Bowey in the same side would be a really inexperienced backline quartet. 

Why would we play J Smith as a replacement for Salem?

Why would we play J Smith at all?

Salem is a mid/small defender who rebounds. We have one of those on the sidelines in Hibberd. 

At any rate, doesn't sound like the Salem injury rumour is true, as he's not in this week's injury report.

1 hour ago, titan_uranus said:

Why would we play J Smith as a replacement for Salem?

Why would we play J Smith at all?

Salem is a mid/small defender who rebounds. We have one of those on the sidelines in Hibberd. 

At any rate, doesn't sound like the Salem injury rumour is true, as he's not in this week's injury report.

Because the club rate Joel extremely highly and he's been named emergency the past few weeks. He's also shown he can play on the smalls and do the job like he did against Papley last year.

I'm not a Smith fan myself, but Hibberd hasn't exactly been crash hot the past couple of weeks. Just seems to fumble at the most crucial time.

 

Well now that Viney is out, who comes in?

Vandenberg? Jordon?

39 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Well now that Viney is out, who comes in?

Vandenberg? Jordon?

Asked earlier - do we actually know who and how many flew over?

46 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Well now that Viney is out, who comes in?

Vandenberg? Jordon?

JJ and Sparrow or Vanders sub. 
JJ is going to be in our finals team. So if he’s not sore he comes straight back in. 

It would be handy to know who is actually in Perth to help us with our guess work.!!!

Out: Viney (susp)

In: Jordon

1 hour ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Well now that Viney is out, who comes in?

Vandenberg? Jordon?

JJ.

Jones a chance? Maybe sub. Played well in VFL.

25 minutes ago, manny100 said:

Jones a chance? Maybe sub. Played well in VFL.

Don’t think he went to Perth.