Excellent article....

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/beating-the-dees-what-can-other-teams-take-out-of-dockers-playbook-20220602-p5aqka.html

You play keepings off, it plays into their hands,” Burke said. “We saw St Kilda do it in the first half, which, speaking with Brett Ratten afterwards, wasn’t their game plan.

“If you can be really good at the contest and take the ball forward they can be exploited,” Burke said. “When you’re unsure that’s when the Melbourne way can damage you. You have to be brave, bold and take them on.”

Sydney's best is good but they have been inconsistent with games all year.

They're not as good as they were last year, either. Since Round 2 their only win of substance was last week, a 6 point win over Richmond where they conceded 100 points. 

Having said that, we're not in our best form either, and we're working 5 players back into the 22, which is a huge amount of change for us.

We know that when we bring our A-game in the middle we make it hard for any side to compete. Last week we didn't get near our best, with Oliver tagged out of it and Petracca sick. The hope is with Trac back to fitness, Oliver will have more support if tagged, and with Langdon on a wing we won't be trying to support our mids with Spargo and Melksham.

I'm really hoping for us to return to some of our prime form tonight, but I'm not at all expecting it. I'm predicting a win, but a tight one.

59 minutes ago, Maldonboy38 said:

Kennedy and Buddy out - huge loss for the Swans.

Swans are brilliantly coached so Lever will not be free to intercept all day, and the stoppages will probably be 50/50.

We are close to our best 22, but Salem will be very rusty.

Having Gawn, Oliver, Viney, Petracca, Langdon and Brayshaw across the middle gives us grunt and class that the Swans can't match.

Close most of the day, real dog fight. Dees will have a 10 minute patch where they kick 5 straight, and we win by 20 points. 

Franklin's a huge loss but Kennedy not so much.

Far more importantly for them than Kennedy, Hickey's out. Means they are rucking Ladhams as their first ruck and Sam Reid as his back up. 

Gawn had his toughest opponent yet last week in Darcy. He shouldn't find the going as tough this week against Ladhams.

That, coupled with a fit Trac, the return of Langdon and the return of Harmes, should mean our midfield doesn't get blown apart like it did last week.

35 minutes ago, Sir Why You Little said:

I will be Flying above the Earth whilst the Game is on. We should win, but the Swannettes are never easy 

I hope i see a happy Demonland site in Thailand at about 2am. 
hoping to run into “Bitter But Optimistic” :)

wondering where BBO is of late

55 minutes ago, Deeoldfart said:

After the ‘downer’ against Freo, there have been a few very early signs of the re-emergence of MFCSS amongst some Demonland colleagues.  It’s a horrible ailment, and extremely contagious, but fortunately, a win against the Swans will put that to rest. Dees in a hard-fought 19 point win, to curtail an epidemic for at least another week.

Well I am one of the exemptions. My MFCSS is flying through the milky way after last week. The swans can be a difficult opponent.

8 minutes ago, forever demons said:

wondering where BBO is of late

Having a DL 'holiday' - something to do with 'facepalms'.

Felt a bit like a fish out of water at last week's game, accepting a rare loss for a change. Briefly brought back simmering MFCSS feelings, but didnt last long.

Onwards and upwards!

Swans to give it a crack and then collapse when the MFC burners are applied. Dees by 25

 

13 minutes ago, Lucifers Hero said:

Having a DL 'holiday' - something to do with 'facepalms'.

Is Uncle in the ‘cooler’ again Luci?

2 minutes ago, Dee Zephyr said:

Is Uncle in the ‘cooler’ again Luci?

Yes, again!

3 hours ago, binman said:

Ours.

Because in the ladt couple of seasons the swans have moved away from a contest and territory game plan, to a move it quickly by hands and running from the back half plan.

Which is a style similar to the dogs. And similarly at risk of breaking down under pressure - or in wet slippery conditions.

Plus they simply don't have enough strong, seasoned bulls in their midfield.

I suspect they will bring at least one, probably two extras to stoppages and look to win tge clearance battle. We won't match them so lets hope tracc is fit and firing.

Look for maxy to take more ruck tonight

 

Yes, if we get beaten it will be on the outside as we will win a higher share of contested footy and they will prey on us getting it on the outside. Petracca important as he can power away from inside to outside. Oliver can too but he will have Mills to deal with.

Dees by 35 points 

6 minutes ago, Lucifers Hero said:

Yes, again!

He’ll be back, as abrasive as ever, for our QB match. 
So enjoy the break while it lasts. 😁

3 hours ago, BDA said:

Crazy odds. I'm tempted to back the Swans

A typical Melbourne supporters response after a 17-1 winning record 

12 minutes ago, Billy said:

A typical Melbourne supporters response after a 17-1 winning record 

What’s a typical Melbourne supporter

The loss last week isn’t important, it was always going to happen eventually. The biggest game is the following week. what have we learned? How will our players respond to that losing feeling? How will our coaches react? What has Sydney learned from Freo beating us?

We have been really good at times this year but to be honest our last 3 weeks prior to Freo have been pretty meh. And the loss last week was a capitulation, something we haven’t seen since 2020. So this is where the stars and the leaders need to step up and right the ship. 

Our ins are very good, so there’s no doubting the quality. May out really hurts though. 

45 minutes ago, Lucifers Hero said:

Yes, again!

Uncle " Cooler " Bitter sounds like a refreshing well crafted Beer😛

Edited June 4, 20223 yr by picket fence

Gerard Healy just mentioned (on the Fox Footy pre game show) something about Mitch Brown possibly getting an opportunity tonight.

Sounds like this T Mac out rumour has been leaked far and wide.

Assuming T Mac is out I would be rethinking the medi sub.

Ideally a flexible back/forward.

Any ideas? Not sure Majak fits the bill but perhaps

1 hour ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

Gerard Healy just mentioned (on the Fox Footy pre game show) something about Mitch Brown possibly getting an opportunity tonight.

Sounds like this T Mac out rumour has been leaked far and wide.

And we still don’t know why he’s even out. I assume it’s not Covid or they would have announced it a while ago. 
His ankle must be stuffed. Two weeks out for a regulation twisted ankle seems excessive. Harmes has come back from a hamstring sooner!

1 hour ago, BDA said:

What’s a typical Melbourne supporter

Someone who loses confidence in the team after losing one game after 17 straight 

Myself being one of these😃

17 minutes ago, Jaded No More said:

And we still don’t know why he’s even out. I assume it’s not Covid or they would have announced it a while ago. 
His ankle must be stuffed. Two weeks out for a regulation twisted ankle seems excessive. Harmes has come back from a hamstring sooner!

MFCSS. At the risk of being proved wrong very shortly, we don't know that he is in fact out, so concluding his ankle is stuffed may be premature.

Bored so off to the pub for pre pre drinks

let me know how the game goes

Would like the see us back to our ruthless best please 

On those rumours about TMac being out and replaced by Mitch Brown from the Casey team, I can say that one of the emergencies for Casey, Jack Bell who was selected to play for Old Haileybury in its VAFA B Section game today, didn’t take his place in the team. Could it be that he’s been called up to fill in a vacancy for the Casey Demons caused by Mitch’s elevation to the AFL Demons?

53 minutes ago, Jaded No More said:

And we still don’t know why he’s even out. I assume it’s not Covid or they would have announced it a while ago. 
His ankle must be stuffed. Two weeks out for a regulation twisted ankle seems excessive. Harmes has come back from a hamstring sooner!

How do you know it's a 'regulation twisted ankle'? Or do you think it was worse than we all initially thought anyway? They only reported it as an ankle injury/soreness which leaves it pretty open.

He seemed to tweak it a second time during the game and if it's a higher strain they can take a while to get back near 100%.

Edited June 4, 20223 yr by Lord Nev