His connection back to forward is off the charts, no one has gone to him all year..

He in my view is their most dangerous player, his scoreboard assists might not be apparent, but it all starts from him.

 

 

Edited September 23, 20213 yr by The Stigga

He's like Mitchell to me.  Lots of touches but goes hardly anywhere.    We don't need to tag him.   We just need to do our jobs better than they do theres.  Which we will

On the Gus and Gawny podcast Gawny said he thinks McCrae will go head to head with Oliver.

There is not a single player in my lifetime in 40 years supporting Melbourne their is a player I have more confidence in than Oliver.

Let them go head to head.

It's hilarious how much Macrae's name gets butchered.

In all seriousness we showed the recipe for success in round 9, shut down the source Libba and you beat the dogs. 

Macrae is a gun and goes under Bont’s shadow.  The key is reduce his ability to run it.  He’s a distributor.  Key to Macrae. He’s dominant in his left side. He will baulk and evade.  Don’t be fooled.  He always goes into his left.  

I think if our players stick to their role and the game plan we won’t have a problem in containing any of the Bulldogs players. If we move away from the game plan and go the old “see ball, get ball”, McCrae will kill us on the outside. 

Macrae as good as he is isn't the one to lockdown

A defensive forward on Daniel

Brayshaw on Smith on the wing, or Hibberd to Smith if Baz goes forward is the play.

Stop the run.

We do not need to lock down any one player if we bring our unrelenting pressure to the ball and the ball carrier. Over the last couple of matches we line up beside an opponent at the center and at stoppages but then our structures take over and it is nearest man brings the pressure.

I hope they play like this from the start and gain the ascendancy. Then we have the Doges chasing our tails.

1 hour ago, CHF said:

We do not need to lock down any one player if we bring our unrelenting pressure to the ball and the ball carrier.

I agree with this with one exception and that's Caleb Daniel. We should have a forward tasked with looking after him all day.

He can win possessions but every one of them needs to be under pressure.

1 hour ago, CHF said:

We do not need to lock down any one player if we bring our unrelenting pressure to the ball and the ball carrier.

I agree with this with one exception and that's Caleb Daniel. We should have a forward tasked with looking after him all day.

He can win possessions but every one of them needs to be under pressure.

Benny Brown to Libba is the match up!  He clearly hates him!  😂😂😂😂
 

6 hours ago, adonski said:

Macrae as good as he is isn't the one to lockdown

A defensive forward on Daniel

Brayshaw on Smith on the wing, or Hibberd to Smith if Baz goes forward is the play.

Stop the run.

It depends which side Smith and Hunter play on. Langdon always plays on the opposite side to the bench because we don't take him off.

and Bailey Smith, Liberatore, The Bont, Daniel, Treloar….,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

McCrae won't really hurt you himself. He is not as dynamic as Bont, Oliver and Petracca. 

But if Libba gets first use the Dogs can play their linking handball game which brings in Bont, McCrae, Hunter, Treloar, Daniel, Dale, etc That is where they can win and nullify our strengths. 

It's as simple as they have it, we have it or it's in dispute. 

Cant tag everyone, Liberatore an Daniels tagged with Harmes and ANB respectively. The rest go head to head

19 minutes ago, picket fence said:

Cant tag everyone, Liberatore an Daniels tagged with Harmes and ANB respectively. The rest go head to head

If not Harmes then Viney, but I'm pretty much on with this...

I'm in the tag Libba camp.  Some of his clearance work is unbelievable and he gets them going out of the stoppage.  McRae's ball use is underrated, but if we can win the clearances hopefully we can limit their outside players' influence.

I don't think Max will be able to grab it out of the ruck as often against Stef as opposed to English, who has the core strength of a new born baby.  So limiting Libba's influence at the coal face will be important IMV.

13 hours ago, Gawndog98 said:

It's hilarious how much Macrae's name gets butchered.

In all seriousness we showed the recipe for success in round 9, shut down the source Libba and you beat the dogs. 

I don't bother learning how to spell other teams players names. I get the Melbourne ones correct. Half the posters here couldn't spell Trengove when he was our captain.

Let's hope Oliva is holding the norm smith tomorrow.

Shut the space in front of them like we did to Rich in the Lions game.  Without space, they will struggle.

I see this game playing out very similar to our game with the Lions, i don't think we'll mind if Macrae gets it a bit as long as our pressure is up. 

IF we tag anyone, i'd say it'll be Libba and i think Langdon will apply a soft tag to Smith, make him accountable defensively, this is an area Smith has been exposed before.