Tough week for the match committee! Lever looked flat.   returning players will need to assessed, maybe not all will come back

I forgot to mention that kick hacked out of a ruck contest and kicked forward for forty metres by Gawn which then bounced out and was paid as deliberate oob was one of the worst umpiring decisions I think I've ever seen.

Amazing

Did McDonald have a brain fade with the marking of Harmes kick?

Either that or it was extremely selfish.

1 hour ago, bing181 said:

Random thoughts on what the in/outs showed.

- Sparrow brings more than Dunstan, and probably more than Jordan (though a different kind of player). Most important mid behind the big 3 for mine, and we missed him tonight.

- Ditto ANB. Missed his run and all-over-the-ground presence.

- Interesting Bedford vs Kozzi. Kozzi has that bee-in-a-bottle business, but Belford is more of a traditional small forward. I just wonder if Kozzi would have been in position for that mark that Bedford took (Petracca kick I think). 

- Weideman looks better when he's up and around the ground, gets him more involved. He doesn't have Jackson's mobility, but is more useful than McDonald around the packs.

- Playing Ben Brown up the ground was a kind of smart move as it cleared out the forward line. Unfortunately he's a real liability in general play, slow and fumbly. 

- Lever still rusty.

- Also not sure what's going on with Rivers, not as self-assured and solid as last year. If it's possible, I don't know that I'd be playing Rivers and Hunt together.

- We still don't have a real lock down, one-on-one stopper, and that's been the case since Jetta left.

- Back line looks better with Petty in it. Not sure why, but they seem to work better together. 

BBB "The Liability" KICKED 4 GOALS!!!! Great return!!!

Just now, dazzledavey36 said:

Did McDonald have a brain fade with the marking of Harmes kick?

Either that or it was extremely selfish.

Had his back to the goals. Don’t think he knew that it was going over and had a split second to mark it for fear it won’t go in. 
He did play selfish footy but that wasn’t one of the instances. 

11 minutes ago, CYB said:

No offence taken Beetle. It’s a fair question. Have you ever ran 15km at 10 pm? If not there is no point trying to explain. 

I’ll be honest mate yes. I’ve played night and day football and always found running at night a lot easier than during the day. But that’s just me…

 

edit - I’ll also be honest and say I unlikely ran 15km in a game as a half back. I am no Ed Langdon.

Edited April 30, 20223 yr by Beetle

46 minutes ago, Longsufferingnomore said:

Whose big face will you be holding or will you take on the bulls eye

Isn't it obvious?

I think today was the worst game I’ve seen Oliver play. He had heaps of ball, but most possessions were garbage. Fumbled. Missed targets. Went back into traffic. 
 

my other gripe, is it just me or is Tracc a terrible tackler. For a big bloke, he struggleS to stick tackles. 

55 minutes ago, DubDee said:

I’m sure I am taking it for granted. But we are witnessing our greatest ever ruckman and one of our best players ever

Think we might be taking him for granted, not me but I include the coach who didn’t give him votes last week. If we lost him we would really struggle I reckon. 

I don’t understand all the negativity tonight. The Rona has gone through the Club over 2 weeks, and we are still undefeated 

5 Changes and Senior Coach not available

Viney and Lever were cooked in the last Quarter, but we got the job done 

I am proud of the boys….

IMHO this is our best win of the season. Hawks tested our game plan like no team has so far. Petty is key to our defensive unit as he locks down the best forward allowing May and Lever to do their thing. Wasn’t there. Jackson allows Gawn to have a rest but he found a way to step up even higher and dominate. The other key to our game is forward pressure on the defensive rebound from kozzie and ANB causing turnovers and while Bedford was very good, the forward pressure wasn’t anywhere near the normal standard without them, allowing much easier opposition transition to their forward half. Anyone doubting this was a great win needs to watch the game again without the negativity

8 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Did McDonald have a brain fade with the marking of Harmes kick?

Either that or it was extremely selfish.

I think it was also TMac who had a shot from about 45 out from the Warne Stand side to the city end when he had two players screaming for it on their own about 20 out directly in front. Terribly selfish and he missed the shot.

59 minutes ago, Longsufferingnomore said:

Whose big face will you be holding or will you take on the bulls eye

I’m so new - they’re still kicking the tyres. Entry level - I can’t expect to be holding up anyone’s big face just yet. And have you seen the bullseye guy? He ain’t giving up that job without a fight. Yeah, at this point I’m just getting the occasional hit in the head with the odd flagpole after a goal. Hashtag Noob Life. 😁

Edited April 30, 20223 yr by WalkingCivilWar

10 minutes ago, Jaded No More said:

Had his back to the goals. Don’t think he knew that it was going over and had a split second to mark it for fear it won’t go in. 
He did play selfish footy but that wasn’t one of the instances. 

Exactly my take on that. Got disoriented and made the wrong split second decision. An error but not an intentionally selfish act. 

The noose would rightly be raised if he’d spilt the mark though!

Far from perfect with lots to work on, but 4 points against a very competitive Hawthorn was full of merit.  Our ‘core group’ of stars were imperious once again.

10 minutes ago, DubDee said:

What is it about Melksham that polarises people?

He was not great today.  He was not terrible today.

He will lose his spot to ANB.

As a fill in i thought he went "ok".

The effort was there but the best of Melk a la 2018 is most likely behind him in terms of intensity and finishing off the good work up the field or nearer the goals.

However, he's been a VG servant of this club.   Most of it through some very dark days.  So lets not forget he's played a significant part in our resurgence.

Does he have the penetrating finesse kick coming inside 50 like he once did?  Not tonight he didn't.  He's never been a contested beast so not like we were missing that from him.  Would he usually kick that relatively easy goal from 35 out?  Sure.

Having said that, it's no doubt a bloody tough gig playing at the top level and for Melk to step up a level after so long out and play a role in what is likely a one off against a decent middle of the rung team....i tips me hat.

I've seen plenty of worse games from Melk than tonight's performance!  Given the circumstances i suspect the coaches may have also given Melk a pass mark here.

Looooved that pickup at pace by Bedford F50.  Thought Bowser was fantastic in some crucial moments.  Hoped for a 2 goal draw last quarter but not to be.  4 points.

2 hours ago, pitmaster said:

I wouldn't be reaching any firm conclusions like Lever needs Petty around him on the basis of one game.

I just think Lever was a tad underdone and less certain in reading the flight and the bounce. More fumble.

That will go with match time.

Agree. Lever was going alright before Petty got a regular gig.

3 hours ago, Alex Flood said:

It’s an awesome feeling when the only reason we’re getting frustrated is because we aren’t blowing teams out ❤️

We did the same thing last year 

Goodwin understands odds and probability better than other coaches.

We don't belt teams at the moment because we don't show our hand. 

We'll do it it in the finals again and the other teams won't know what hit them.

Bowey had 7 turnovers tonight … probably the equivalent of his first dozen games.  

3 hours ago, Garbo said:

Nothing tonight made me more comfortable about next week but then again 5 forcefully changes due to covid and we won. Next week will be our first test against a fellow in form team the outcome of which will tell us a lot.

Haven’t you caught up with the game in Cairns yet?

Saints looked pretty ordinary, and may be stuffed physically and mentally.

PS what was Smith’s injury?

Edited April 30, 20223 yr by monoccular
PS

24 minutes ago, Beetle said:

I’ll be honest mate yes. I’ve played night and day football and always found running at night a lot easier than during the day. But that’s just me…

 

edit - I’ll also be honest and say I unlikely ran 15km in a game as a half back. I am no Ed Langdon.

With all due respect, I don’t think Amateur footy compares. Recovery activities , dehydration , cortisol etc will make it really difficult for a good night sleep. 
 

4 minutes ago, CYB said:

With all due respect, I don’t think Amateur footy compares. Recovery activities , dehydration , cortisol etc will make it really difficult for a good night sleep. 
 

That’s fine and I agree. But as I was originally asking you stated that we were coming off a 6 day break like it was a disadvantage?

If it was theoretically the same as a 5 day break (like the Hawks) as you have stipulated, what was the point of the original post?

No need to reply..as I said I wasn’t looking to pick a fight. The conversation isn’t going anywhere. Have a good night.

 

29 minutes ago, monoccular said:

Haven’t you caught up with the game in Cairns yet?

Saints looked pretty ordinary, and may be stuffed physically and mentally.

PS what was Smith’s injury?

It looked very harmless. yze said rolled ankle so hopefully nothing that some ice, compression and an 8 day break can’t fix.

We play the Saints next Sunday which is plenty of time for them to get over the slog in Cairns

3 hours ago, Deedubs said:

True. I just think we should recognise that we aren't in form. We're playing like trash. We won't get close to Stkilda if we play like this.  People love talking about gears. When will we get into gear? If not round 7, round 10? round 18? round 23? finals? Who knows. 

Do you ever stop complaining…