The biggest standout feature of our rise is how so many of our players now play in front of their opponents.  And how we fight for the front position

All over the ground but especially our forwards

We're giving ourselves so many more opportunities to win the ball.  Ball falls short we're in front and a large majority of frees are paid to the player playing the ball (think about how hard it is to win a free kick playing from behind)

But free kicks are only a small part of the sport when factoring in the 1000's of football acts in any game of footy.  Where we are winning out is when the ball is in dispute, we are playing in front.  It is a huge advantage and can't be downplayed

And our backman read the play so well that they are often playing in front by default

So do all that and then break even or win the clearances and you're half way home

By contrast, the Lions were caught out playing from behind too much so they paid the penalty

As complicated as the game can be these days it's also a simple game as well

Edited August 29, 20214 yr by Macca

6 minutes ago, Macca said:

The biggest standout feature of our rise is how so many of our players now play in front of their opponents.  And how we fight for the front position

All over the ground but especially our forwards

We're giving ourselves so much more opportunities to win the ball.  Ball falls short we're in front and a large majority of frees are paid to the player playing the ball (think about how hard it is to win a free kick playing from behind)

But free kicks are only a small part of the sport when factoring in the 1000's of football acts in any game of footy.  Where we are winning out is when the ball is in dispute, we are playing in front.  It is a huge advantage and can't be downplayed

And our backman read the play so well that they are often playing in front by default

So do all that and then break even or win the clearances and you're half way home

By contrast, the Lions were caught out playing from behind too much so they paid the penalty

As complicated as the game can be these days it's also a simple game as well

Good analysis, I think you’re spot on

7 minutes ago, DeezNuts said:

Good analysis, I think you’re spot on

There's a lot more to it DN but we're winning out in one of the fundamentals of footy

Our zoning,  positioning,  2-way running,  formations,  pressure acts, 1%ers,  tackling and all sorts of other aspects are very good as well

And we consistently kick the footy to the right spots to give ourselves greater opportunities.  And we're highly disciplined.

There's a lot to like to a point where if we bring that type of total football, it's then up to the opposition to stifle us

So I'm not concerned about other teams per se, more so wanting our team to bring our best

How good are Bowser and Tommy Spaz travelling?

Action Jackson just WOW👀, played a game beyond his years.

All year we have proven that we are far and above the rest of the AFL in games once we are able to establish numbers behind the ball. Goodwin has developed an incredible defensive system which is based around Gawn, May and Lever. Brayshaw is also crucial, effectively playing a Lever type defensive role on one side of the ground.

We are a bit more vulnerable when the ball hits the deck but this is really a low probability way for the opposition to win because it opens them up to the counter attack led by Langdon, Hunt, Petracca, Fritsch and Pickett and means that we can move the ball into a vacant 50. But it can work as Adelaide and Hawthorn showed in the season if the crucial 50/50 balls go their way.

The other way we can lose is if we get beaten too badly at centre clearance and stoppages. Our losses versus Pies, GWS and Dogs were examples of this. We also nearly lost to the Swans due to losing centre clearance 17-4.

If we can neutralise centre clearance, kick straight and have a reasonable run with injury from here the opposition will need to find something new to beat us.

If someone said to me players like ANB, Harmes petty and spargo would be important to our team I’d say ‘well that just shows you where our club is at’ 

thats how far we’ve come when players we wanted gone our now becoming so important in their role in the team 

Edited August 29, 20214 yr by Demongirl35

19 minutes ago, Demongirl35 said:

If someone said to me players like ANB, Harmes petty and spargo would be important to our team I’d say ‘well that just shows you where our club is at’ 

thats how far we’ve come when players we wanted gone our now becoming so important in their role in the team 

It's not just the players you have it's the system, most players selected to play AFL are reasonably good but if a club doesn't have the right system they'll fail. We had a great team in 94 but had to rely on individual brilliance to win games, now all players play their part.

All the players know what's required of them and they know that the whole team doesn't rely on them to win the game for us.

That's how good clubs do it, it's just taken us a few more years to understand it.

 

On 8/29/2021 at 10:32 AM, Engorged Onion said:

Anyone have any thoughts on the vibe around choosing to have Gawn, Petracca, Oliver and May on the bench for the last 5 or so minutes?

Resting/Protection?

Proving that the team can perform without them?

Revelling in watching the lads?

protection. and why wouldn't you. they just couldnt fit Lever on.

23 hours ago, Baghdad Bob said:

This is just absolute rot.  Chris Fagan was continually asked about the disruption to the Lions losing McStay had.  He said it did, they took a little while to adjust but he said it didn't cost them the game, we were just too good.  And at the end he went out of his way to say what a good footy team we were.   Compare that with Chris Scott's pratty presser last week where he thought Stanley beat Gawn and Geelong had the better of the game.

Fagan is a terrific coach and person.  Fagan wasn't making any excuses, just answering questions.  Your comment is just off the mark, there wasn't an excuse to be had.

And on that little twerp Mathieson.  Not only should he be cited for charging Gawn he should go for wacking Pickett in the head. Nothing to commend with him, just an awful footballer and player.

agree. I watched the Fagan presser, he was surprisingly relaxed. maybe too relaxed. with Mcstay has just answered yeah we could have done with that extra tall with the down the line play. very humble in defeat.

11 hours ago, A F said:

On TOG, we had all our young guys (except Bowey) register sub 70% TOG. Incredible management in a final. Rivers, Pickett, Spargo, Sparrow and Jackson carefully managed.

Also, interesting to note McDonald only played 74% TOG, quite a bit lower than Brown or Fritsch.

Keeping in mind that our young kids dominate bench time, as a Brisbane player you must know all hope is lost when you glance at our bench in the last quarter and see Oliver, Petracca, Gawn and May sitting on it. 

21 hours ago, Maldonboy38 said:

Have to edit my opinion about TMac. For most of the night I thought he was with Harris Andrews, trying to keep him from intercepting. Having re-watched a lot of the game, it turns out that Andrews was on Brown, and he simply had a shocker. Brown had his measure in almost every contest, and Andrews was struggling to figure out where to stand or what to guard. 

This also means that simply put, TMac had a shocker. No way do we drop him though. 

Andrews was on Fritsch for a fair period.

1 hour ago, Fat Tony said:

All year we have proven that we are far and above the rest of the AFL in games once we are able to establish numbers behind the ball. Goodwin has developed an incredible defensive system which is based around Gawn, May and Lever. Brayshaw is also crucial, effectively playing a Lever type defensive role on one side of the ground.

We are a bit more vulnerable when the ball hits the deck but this is really a low probability way for the opposition to win because it opens them up to the counter attack led by Langdon, Hunt, Petracca, Fritsch and Pickett and means that we can move the ball into a vacant 50. But it can work as Adelaide and Hawthorn showed in the season if the crucial 50/50 balls go their way.

The other way we can lose is if we get beaten too badly at centre clearance and stoppages. Our losses versus Pies, GWS and Dogs were examples of this. We also nearly lost to the Swans due to losing centre clearance 17-4.

If we can neutralise centre clearance, kick straight and have a reasonable run with injury from here the opposition will need to find something new to beat us.

It also relies on pressure around the contest up the ground. If teams can maintain possession, move the ball quickly and lower  their eyes they have opportunities to hit up leading targets inside 50. The plus for us is that this usually results in shallow forward 50 entries for our opponents meaning they are generally kicking for goal from 40m+.

21 hours ago, Yokozuna said:

Another post game question, considering how well Cameron did, and some commentary on the small forwards from Port could challenge us if we make it to a GF against them, how many small forwards have got a lot of goals against us this year?

I can’t recall many, if any, other than last night.

am I wrong? I think our smaller defenders have done really well all year.

Cameron is just a freak and played a great game and read the ball well against someone who is inexperienced and flew for spoils when he should have just stayed with Cameron who snuck out the back.

not many small forwards have taken us to task this year. I believe a big part has been Hunt who has played more defensively. either directly taking his opponent or indirectly helping out with speed and athleticism.

23 minutes ago, FarNorthernD said:

Keeping in mind that our young kids dominate bench time, as a Brisbane player you must know all hope is lost when you glance at our bench in the last quarter and see Oliver, Petracca, Gawn and May sitting on it. 

Don't think that FOUR will be on the bench should we salute (comfortably) on Sept 25th. Interesting speculation for the future maybe!!!

Wonderful rotations on this bench of older, champion, and very youthful players must also help in injury and freshness of this team. 

Congratulations Simon and your troops all of you we are indeed in good hands ( and brains as well). 

So significant that Maxy's last quarters in R 23 and QUAL Final were his best. 

He just looks as fresh as new with Jacko Tmac and Big Ben all sharing the round the ground ruck duties. Talk about sharing the load and being team first. !!!

Let's  just keep going as well as possible and keep our heads down and bum up producing an honest and team effort from all concerned. 
 

21 minutes ago, Bay Riffin said:

Andrews was on Fritsch for a fair period.

If you could define how Harris played as playing 'on' someone...

50 minutes ago, Bay Riffin said:

Andrews was on Fritsch for a fair period.

Andrews was on Brown for most of the first half at least, wasn't he?

3 hours ago, Fat Tony said:

All year we have proven that we are far and above the rest of the AFL in games once we are able to establish numbers behind the ball. Goodwin has developed an incredible defensive system which is based around Gawn, May and Lever. Brayshaw is also crucial, effectively playing a Lever type defensive role on one side of the ground.

We are a bit more vulnerable when the ball hits the deck but this is really a low probability way for the opposition to win because it opens them up to the counter attack led by Langdon, Hunt, Petracca, Fritsch and Pickett and means that we can move the ball into a vacant 50. But it can work as Adelaide and Hawthorn showed in the season if the crucial 50/50 balls go their way.

The other way we can lose is if we get beaten too badly at centre clearance and stoppages. Our losses versus Pies, GWS and Dogs were examples of this. We also nearly lost to the Swans due to losing centre clearance 17-4.

If we can neutralise centre clearance, kick straight and have a reasonable run with injury from here the opposition will need to find something new to beat us.

I also think our ground level vulnerabilities are overstated. We were excellent against Richmond and Sydney in greasy conditions when the ball hit the ground in defensive 50.

On 8/28/2021 at 10:41 PM, DeeZee said:

Felt a little sad for Elder statesmen, Jones, Melky and Hibbo .

But that’s the story of having a fantastic team, always some hard luck stories.

Clayton Oliver and Christian Petracca are the greatest midfielders of the modern era for the MFC

Gawn the best captain since Barrassi

Good call DeeZee but they are all a huge part of this. They set the standard that the younger players have had to exceed to win their spots. 

I think it’s more to do with speed of ball movement, if we slow teams down and get “the structure” in place it’s very hard to get past. We’ve seen the Lions at times, the Dogs and Pies do it very well against us. 
If we can keep a team to a few goals in the patches when they get a role we will still win it (from what we’ve seen this year). 

On 8/28/2021 at 10:51 PM, The Stewster said:

Always thought 94 and 98 got away from us, is this a better team?

94 and 98 were missed opportunities, but this team is definitely better. 

Better balanced, better organised and more committed to their roles 

Was a good win in the end.

A bit of a scare in the 3rd quarter

Still lots of room for improvement.

More accurate goal kicking and being able to lockdown dangerous small forwards like Charlie Cameron needs to be rectified.

Players need to focus and "reset" for the next game against either the Geelong Cats or the GWS Giants.

A week off will do the players good too. Clayton Oliver would be sore from the knee in the back he got. Jack Viney would be sore too from getting flipped over and landing on his backside. Luke Jackson needs his two front teeth fixed. Christian Salem and Steven May often play sore too. So there would probably be lots of other sore bodies and niggles that will need resting. Lots of ice baths this week I reckon!

Anyway, the Demons players need to not get too far ahead of themselves and drink their own bath water.

Just focus on the Preliminary Final. 

 

Remember we still haven't achieved anything yet.

 

Nevertheless, I dare to dream....

 

Edited August 30, 20214 yr by Supreme_Demon

On 8/28/2021 at 11:50 PM, Colin B. Flaubert said:

The difference between why Clarry got BOG for mine over Neale is simple: penetration and vision. The latter played a Tom Mitchell-esque game, plenty of the pill but plenty of dump kicks, floaty handballs or sideway kicks. 46 touches isn’t anything to sneeze at, but Clarry often was charging towards fifty with lead up forwards coming towards him. Neale didn’t.

Great comparison Col. T Mitch get's 40+ because he loves to get 40+ more than bringing his team mates into the game...and winning. 

Pretty much what stamped his papers at the Swans

11 minutes ago, Dee*ceiving said:

Great comparison Col. T Mitch get's 40+ because he loves to get 40+ more than bringing his team mates into the game...and winning. 

Pretty much what stamped his papers at the Swans

The annoying thing about this, is that this type of player wins a Brownlow - ffs

On 8/29/2021 at 12:50 AM, Jaded said:

I sent in a WA border exemption application this week. Under reason for request I selected medical. In notes I wrote “if I don’t get to see Melbourne win a flag I’ll die. This is a matter of life and death”. 
I will let you know if Mark gets back to me. 
 

This is Gold!!

On 8/29/2021 at 12:50 AM, Jaded said:

I sent in a WA border exemption application this week. Under reason for request I selected medical. In notes I wrote “if I don’t get to see Melbourne win a flag I’ll die. This is a matter of life and death”. 
I will let you know if Mark gets back to me. 
 

It's WA @jaded, they're Cave Men!

That being the case you might want consider re-submitting your application, this time including a photo: