10 hours ago, CYB said:

I'm still so filthy about this and how the footy public just let it go through to the keeper. Any other player / team would have been rubbed out for 2 weeks minimum. 

Agree.  If Steve May did this to anyone himself he'd be out for half a season.

Hawkins seems to get such a cruisey ride from the umps and AFL these days.

22 hours ago, faultydet said:

Love your work Fork, but it's somewhat of a stretch calling Lever a "defensive beast"

Well last year I saw May, Lever and Tomlinson referred to by some football writer as the 3 Headed Dragon.
The 3 Headed Dragon is now May, Lever and Petty.

Lever might not be built like a monster but he is a defensive intercept marking beast and we miss him when he aint there.

Edited May 5, 20222 yr by Fork 'em

4 minutes ago, Fork 'em said:

Well last year I saw May, Lever and Tomlinson referred to by some football writer as the 3 Headed Dragon.
The 3 Headed Dragon is now May, Lever and Petty.

Lever's a defensive intercept marking beast and it's noticeable when he aint there.

Ah, righto.

And here I was thinking the "3 headed dragon/monster" was English/Bruce/Naughton

I'll take ours every day of the week thanks.

1 minute ago, faultydet said:

Ah, righto.

And here I was thinking the "3 headed dragon/monster" was English/Bruce/Naughton

I'll take ours every day of the week thanks.

Went something along the lines of "the competition needs to work out how to get past Melbournes 3 Headed Dragon."
I just thought it was a cool nickname.

The yanks love to nickname their famous NFL defences.
Steel Curtain.
Purple People Eaters.
Legion of Boom.
Gang Green.

We've got the 3 Headed Dragon 😎
 

On 5/4/2022 at 12:15 PM, DemonWA said:

Absolute gun. 

Had 2 clear marks punched from his hands in Q1 against the Hawks and didn't drop his bundle either. He's a pro

I dropped mine...

In 2020 he only had 10 goals kicked on him during the home & away season yet was overlooked for Harris Andrews in the AA team even though his numbers weren’t nearly as good as May’s. Brisbane were the buzz team at the time behind Richmond and we were playing some ordinary footy. 

Edited May 6, 20222 yr by Bombay Airconditioning

When he first came to the club, his fierce competitiveness and outspoken leadership caused some waves, and he had to learn better ways to express both these attributes. He is still uncompromising, but I think Goody and Max have had a major influence on the way he leads which has made him a better leader and a better player.

He is as good full back as we have ever had and I love his no-nonsense style. He is a very good mark, a very good spoiler, and and absolute gorgeous kick. 

If he gets injured, he is probably our most difficult defender to replace.

On 5/4/2022 at 5:17 PM, Mazer Rackham said:

Inspired by recent articles in the footy media, I now bring you my ...

SECRETS TO BEATING STEVEN MAY

• Bring the heat
• Back yourself: try to get the ball before he does
• Embrace the challenge
• Employ the air: catch the ball before it hits the ground
• Control scoring: kick it through the tall sticks
• Play the full 120 minutes
   

Hold on Mazer, you forgot the most important one

' Always play goalside of him. Never let him get behind you !! '

10 hours ago, DEE fence said:

I dropped mine...

Yeah, wasn't good for the blood pressure 

On 5/5/2022 at 12:05 PM, poita said:

Steven May has been brilliant over the past three years and deserves every bit of praise he gets.

That said, Naughton and Wright both kicked multiple goals against him this year. What is the definition of a defensive 1v1? 

 

I dont think marks on a lead count as defensive 1-1, probably more when body contact is involved

I feel this needs its own thread. What the hell is going on with May? It’s not just this year I feel, the back half of 2022 he wasn’t the same either.

For those who saw the replay of the game on Monday on Fox, there was a segment right near the end on Brayshaw mic’d up against Essendon right near the end. There were a couple of interactions between him and May, and it just seemed May is really lacking confidence. I’m not sure if it’s a niggle, old age, or a mental thing, but he’s just not the same player as he was in 2021 and the first half of 2022.

it’s also getting a bit of media attention now.

 

May is usually incredible 1v1, but when the ball hits the deck, he panics big time. He always has. His lack of calm in those moments usually flows onto his team mates.

I think he's carrying an injury at the moment, because he's not great 1v1 and he's trying to zone off far too much. Part of this could actually be the move of Petty forward unsettling May and creating this psychological do I zone or play 1v1?

I'd look at getting Turner into the team and keeping Petty forward. Turner will free up May and/or Lever.

If it’s a confidence thing, he could not be lower.

I think he’s either carrying an injury or worried about a re-injury, I reckon he’s only able to go at 85%. He’s been poor 1 on 1 and he’s not hitting anything at full steam (opponents/contests or the ball). Even his kicking looks restrained

May had 11 intercept possessions against Richmond and for a fair part of the game I thought he played very well.

Our zone system asks May to stay back inside 50 and let his man go up and mark outside 50. Largely that has served us well. By the time a forward marks around 60m out someone comes and takes the mark, others fill in the spaces and May nullifies the corridor meaning teams can’t get high quality shots on goal.

The issue is teams have identified the 40-50m zone as an area where May will still drop back and surrender leads in to. This is still a low percentage shot on goal but it’s a bit higher than I’d like to give up!

Personally I think May plays his best games where he’s given a dangerous one on one match up and told not worry about the zone. But when he’s not playing on Buddy or Naughton and especially when he doesn’t have full faith in the other defenders he will default to zoning. When the zone works with upfield pressure you end up with teams kicking long to May by himself inside d50. That doesn’t end well for them.

I’m not buying the injury excuse. He looks fine when he’s coming up at contests with confidence. He’s always been a little iffy when forced to attack the ball on the ground and he’s 31 now.

There’s a couple of tweaks I’d like in our zone, the first been for May to trust the deep defenders a touch more and see if he can win contests around the 50m arc. He had one such big win in the 3rd with an aggressive spoil that started a chain of possessions for a goal.

The second one is just more communication with Brayshaw, Rivers, McVee etc when he’s going to let his man come free outside 50. I don’t necessarily think we have to go taller (short term) but the flankers have to be more aware of the handover. And especially for Grundy when he’s the ruck who often takes that handover.

Edited April 26, 20231 yr by DeeSpencer

1 minute ago, DeeSpencer said:

May had 11 intercept possessions against Richmond and for a fair part of the game I thought he played very well.

Our zone system asks May to stay back inside 50 and let his man go up and mark outside 50. Largely that has served us well. By the time a forward marks around 60m out someone comes and takes the mark, others fill in the spaces and May nullifies the corridor meaning teams can’t get high quality shots on goal.

The issue is teams have identified the 40-50m zone as an area where May will still drop back and surrender leads in to. This is still a low percentage shot on goal but it’s a bit higher than I’d like to give up!

Personally I think May plays his best games where he’s given a dangerous one on one match up and told not worry about the zone. But when he’s not playing on Buddy or Naughton and especially when he doesn’t have full faith in the other defenders he will default to zoning. When the zone works with upfield pressure you end up with teams kicking long to May by himself inside d50. That doesn’t end well for them.

I’m not buying the injury excuse. He looks fine when he’s coming up at contests with confidence. He’s always been a little iffy when forced to attack the ball on the ground and he’s 31 now.

There’s a couple of tweaks I’d like in our zone, the first been for May to trust the deep defenders a touch more and see if he can win contests around the 50m arc. He had one such big win in the 

The second one is just more communication with Brayshaw, Rivers, McVee etc when he’s going to let his man come free outside 50. I don’t necessarily think we have to go taller (short term) but the flankers have to be more aware of the handover. And especially for Grundy when he’s the ruck who often takes that handover.

That's a pretty interesting and I think quite accurate assessment.

Agree that his ground ball skills can be iffy but so too are his short kicks over say 25 to 35 metres where he seems to struggle to hit the target or kick to advantage. This is a confidence thing IMO. 

Our coaches would be well aware that opposition teams will to look to take marks 30 to 50 metres out from goal on leads - nobody will continue to bomb long to the square because that's our strength. 

I'm not sure what instructions are given to the wingers re defensive structure, but I think they need to play a big role in crowding that space just inside D50 so that its difficult for opposition forwards and mids to get uncontested marks. 

I think the problem is a result of a few things

1- Fitness. He clearly had a calf issue, and perhaps he isn't feeling confident in his body. He came off sore in the last quarter against Richmond and was very agitated. Took some painkillers. No idea if he is carrying a niggle on top of the calf worry, or he just doesn't feel good with the body at the moment

2- Our backline has been very unsettled. We moved Petty forward. We lost Lever for a week. McVee has been brought in and is a child. Hibbo has been in and out with the calf. We miss Salem. May is feeling as unsettled as the rest of the backline. Apart from Lever who has been rock solid, the rest of the defense has been very hit and miss this year. 

3- Age. He is 31. The drop was going to come at some point and maybe it's here. I like the idea of Petty forward, but we have to develop someone else to play the third tall if that's the case. Tomlinson is certainly not it. Time to either bring in Turner and give him a good block of games, or bring back BB/Tmac and stick with them while Petty goes back to defense full time. 

May is ranked 1 in the AFL for Effective Metres Gained for Tall defenders and 12th overall behind Nic Daicos, Luke Ryan (Fre) other medium defenders. Not bad for a guy that is struggling. 

24 minutes ago, Sydee said:

That's a pretty interesting and I think quite accurate assessment.

Agree that his ground ball skills can be iffy but so too are his short kicks over say 25 to 35 metres where he seems to struggle to hit the target or kick to advantage. This is a confidence thing IMO. 

Our coaches would be well aware that opposition teams will to look to take marks 30 to 50 metres out from goal on leads - nobody will continue to bomb long to the square because that's our strength. 

I'm not sure what instructions are given to the wingers re defensive structure, but I think they need to play a big role in crowding that space just inside D50 so that its difficult for opposition forwards and mids to get uncontested marks. 

Our wingers are excellent at rolling back, so are our mids. If anything our mids we’re caught too deep against Richmond as they squared the ball outside 50 multiple times which worked early. Our half are generally very good although we missed Spargo whos one of the best at getting the spacing set up across the ground.

The issues come on fast transition after clear turnovers or bad inside 50’s where our mids and Hunter all aren’t great on speedy transition. The first line of defending that is better inside 50’s with proper pressure, once that happened after quarter time against Richmond we drastically cut down those problems.

I agree there’s probably a degree of confidence with May’s kicking, but the other thing is just a lack of run from all the backline and mids. Interspersed with guys like Lever and Viney trying to do the team thing and get rid of the ball within 3 seconds offen to their own detriment. Hibbo mainly, with some occasional McVee and Riv stand out for their desire to run and get overlap handballs, the rest of the backline are keen for chip kicks or handballs wide to the pocket. And often to the thin side pocket which is congested and makes 20-30m kicks near on impossible. Get the handballs going and the kicks will follow.

58 minutes ago, djr said:

May is ranked 1 in the AFL for Effective Metres Gained for Tall defenders and 12th overall behind Nic Daicos, Luke Ryan (Fre) other medium defenders. Not bad for a guy that is struggling. 

Does that count kick ins?

1 hour ago, djr said:

May is ranked 1 in the AFL for Effective Metres Gained for Tall defenders and 12th overall behind Nic Daicos, Luke Ryan (Fre) other medium defenders. Not bad for a guy that is struggling. 

Yeah but he takes the kick outs most time so I’m not putting any weight to that stat. 

1 hour ago, DeeSpencer said:

May had 11 intercept possessions against Richmond and for a fair part of the game I thought he played very well.

Our zone system asks May to stay back inside 50 and let his man go up and mark outside 50. Largely that has served us well. By the time a forward marks around 60m out someone comes and takes the mark, others fill in the spaces and May nullifies the corridor meaning teams can’t get high quality shots on goal.

The issue is teams have identified the 40-50m zone as an area where May will still drop back and surrender leads in to. This is still a low percentage shot on goal but it’s a bit higher than I’d like to give up!

Personally I think May plays his best games where he’s given a dangerous one on one match up and told not worry about the zone. But when he’s not playing on Buddy or Naughton and especially when he doesn’t have full faith in the other defenders he will default to zoning. When the zone works with upfield pressure you end up with teams kicking long to May by himself inside d50. That doesn’t end well for them.

I’m not buying the injury excuse. He looks fine when he’s coming up at contests with confidence. He’s always been a little iffy when forced to attack the ball on the ground and he’s 31 now.

There’s a couple of tweaks I’d like in our zone, the first been for May to trust the deep defenders a touch more and see if he can win contests around the 50m arc. He had one such big win in the 3rd with an aggressive spoil that started a chain of possessions for a goal.

The second one is just more communication with Brayshaw, Rivers, McVee etc when he’s going to let his man come free outside 50. I don’t necessarily think we have to go taller (short term) but the flankers have to be more aware of the handover. And especially for Grundy when he’s the ruck who often takes that handover.

The leg rope given to Riewoldt makes sense if he’s marking it 60-70m out as May can then fold back and play as an interceptor, but there were also a few times when he gave Riewoldt significant meters ahead of him which allowed Riewoldt to take some pretty easy marks 30-40m mark. It was obvious that Richmond was using a tactic of lowering their eyes and not kicking in long but it seemed May was still hoping to take an intercept for a long kick and not paying any respect to Riewoldt. He should have been playing back shoulder on him when Richmond were going into their forward 50.

12 minutes ago, BW511 said:

Does that count kick ins?

Good question. Kick-ins, I believe, do not count towards a player's disposal total. When the player plays-on from the goal square, this is included. May does this frequently with good effect. I don't think Goody trusts anyone else as much as May for this role.

100% a beat-up.

Only thing I'll add is that while I think having Petty as a swing option is valuable, he is clearly an outstanding defender and his persistence when the ball spills and things get chaotic is both elite for a tall defender and a priceless part of our defensive system.

May is doing fine. Our talls are under pressure across the board because a couple of our forwards are struggling, but nobody is actually failing in their role.

Our deeper issue is that opponents are catching on generally to the fact that a mad loose slap-happy bumbling pants-around-ankles scramble is the best way to get into our defensive 50.

That can only be dealt with by getting our mids and flankers to properly dominate the corridor. Do that and our opponents will be relying on mad scrambles inside 50 and only close to the boundary, which frankly is just conceding they are beaten!