On 21/07/2023 at 03:59, Demonland said:

 

good grief, kornes AND king debating ruckmen?!??

  On 20/07/2023 at 10:49, Roost it far said:

I mean the reason we have Gawn, who led us to victory with a game for the ages, fit, fresh and firing is because we have Grundy. Grundy’s done his job and if he can add a goal and a half a game he’ll be worth every cent.

I think I heard before Grundy was brought in that a lot of people here on Demonland, including myself thought that it would help Max play a little longer without being knackered come finals time. Things are going in the right direction.

  On 20/07/2023 at 10:44, Roost it far said:

So he says you don’t need them and then quotes the Pies as the stellar example…..who just happen to play 2 rucks as Geelong did last year with Biklavs and Stanley. Fair dinkum he’s an absolute peanut

Just on the above, Blicavs is an incredible footballer with his flexibility to play in basically any position on the field. 

Also, as much as I had admitting this, Cox is twice the forward of Gawn and Grundy.  He's been clunking a few big grabs this year and is kicking a goal and half a game.

Personally, I was all in on the Gawn/Grundy combo until recently - noting there is enough of a sample size now.

They're both really struggling up forward to give us anything and I'm shocked at how poor Brodie's hands not only up forward, but around the ground.  He definitely has a case of the butter fingers.

After seeing Trac up forward (which I think Clayton can have a similar impact there also) and seeing Brayshaw play high quality footy on a back flank, I'd rather ditch the second 'pure' ruckman and get some more high quality midfield depth.

Again, feeling ill writing this, this is exactly what Collingwood did in bringing in Mitchell.  He keeps quietly accumulating clearances and making the mids look even better.

  On 21/07/2023 at 07:00, Deeko2 said:

Just on the above, Blicavs is an incredible footballer with his flexibility to play in basically any position on the field. 

Also, as much as I had admitting this, Cox is twice the forward of Gawn and Grundy.  He's been clunking a few big grabs this year and is kicking a goal and half a game.

Personally, I was all in on the Gawn/Grundy combo until recently - noting there is enough of a sample size now.

They're both really struggling up forward to give us anything and I'm shocked at how poor Brodie's hands not only up forward, but around the ground.  He definitely has a case of the butter fingers.

After seeing Trac up forward (which I think Clayton can have a similar impact there also) and seeing Brayshaw play high quality footy on a back flank, I'd rather ditch the second 'pure' ruckman and get some more high quality midfield depth.

Again, feeling ill writing this, this is exactly what Collingwood did in bringing in Mitchell.  He keeps quietly accumulating clearances and making the mids look even better.

Cox is a spud. The only reason he looks better up forward is because of the quality entries Collingwood produce. Put Cox in Melbourne’s forward line and after he’d wiped my vomit from his eyes he wouldn’t get near it. So please don’t even mention Cox in the same sentence as Max Gawn. It belittles all of us.

  On 21/07/2023 at 00:36, Demonland said:

Anyone else think Max is carrying a 

head cold?

  On 21/07/2023 at 08:56, Demons3031 said:

Anyone else think Max is carrying a 

head cold?

Well temperatures are generally colder at altitude

  On 21/07/2023 at 05:01, whatwhat say what said:

good grief, kornes AND king debating ruckmen?!??

They call their show Fireball Friday, as in you'd rather set fire to your balls than listen to it

  On 21/07/2023 at 09:08, John Demonic said:

They call their show Fireball Friday, as in you'd rather set fire to your balls than listen to it

King of hysteria, that is all he is.

  On 21/07/2023 at 10:28, drysdale demon said:

King of hysteria, that is all he is.

Is that near boronia?

Goodwin in todays Post Game press conference…

’I’ve said all along we aren’t trying to turn Brodie into a forward, we just want him to have more impact when he is forward’.

He also said they really liked his game at Casey yesterday. I have a feeling he’ll be back very soon.

  On 23/07/2023 at 09:51, The heart beats true said:

Goodwin in todays Post Game press conference…

’I’ve said all along we aren’t trying to turn Brodie into a forward, we just want him to have more impact when he is forward’.

He also said they really liked his game at Casey yesterday. I have a feeling he’ll be back very soon.

I want him back, the issue is (even when he was at Collingwood) is his marking.

Today highlighted how badly we need more marking targets forward of the ball.

I’m not sure Grundy is the solution but he is one of only a few options we have.

Also, I’m firmly of the belief that we can’t rely on Gawn as much as we do without running him into the ground.

  On 23/07/2023 at 09:59, Clint Bizkit said:

I want him back, the issue is (even when he was at Collingwood) is his marking.

Today highlighted how badly we need more marking targets forward of the ball.

I’m not sure Grundy is the solution but he is one of only a few options we have.

Also, I’m firmly of the belief that we can’t rely on Gawn as much as we do without running him into the ground.

Why is Tomlinson getting dropped this week for Petty, when he was our best tall defender today, instead of Petty going into the forwardline? 
I will never understand this logic. 

  On 21/07/2023 at 09:08, John Demonic said:

They call their show Fireball Friday, as in you'd rather set fire to your balls than listen to it

 

Surely this is post of the day?

  On 23/07/2023 at 10:01, Jaded No More said:

Why is Tomlinson getting dropped this week for Petty, when he was our best tall defender today, instead of Petty going into the forwardline? 
I will never understand this logic. 

It’s part of my comedy routine that I have perfected in pursuit to win the affection of fellow Melbourne nuffies on an internet forum.

  On 23/07/2023 at 10:01, Jaded No More said:

Why is Tomlinson getting dropped this week for Petty, when he was our best tall defender today, instead of Petty going into the forwardline? 
I will never understand this logic. 

Tomlinson was great for a half before reverting to being too slow and consistently losing contests to Fogarty when our defensive pressure dropped. May started panicking because he couldn’t trust Tomlinson (which is a May issue but not ideal). Petty needs to be healthy, might even need to play at Casey to prove himself but I still have no doubt he’s the best option to get our backline the best it can be.

Up forward, who do we replace? Could only be BBB and the big fella was good for most of 3/4’s. Petty forward didn’t seem to be working 

 

  On 23/07/2023 at 22:55, Demonland said:

 

The wheels on the bus go round and round!

  On 23/07/2023 at 22:56, layzie said:

The wheels on the bus go round and round!

I wonder what his trade value would be if he did request a trade… 

Unlike the pies, we value him, want to keep him and are only invested at 650k not a mil… 

  On 23/07/2023 at 10:15, Clint Bizkit said:

It’s part of my comedy routine that I have perfected in pursuit to win the affection of fellow Melbourne nuffies on an internet forum.

After watching Goody’s presser I’m guessing he comes in for Brown this week. 

  On 24/07/2023 at 00:46, Dee Zephyr said:

After watching Goody’s presser I’m guessing he comes in for Brown this week. 

It's a hard one for Brown. He's probably our smartest forward with his leading patterns, other than maybe Fritsch.

But watching him you can just tell he is really struggling with movement.

Is it better to play Petty forward, who doesn't have as good craft but is more mobile and better when the ball hits the deck.

I think if you're serious Grundy needs more weeks in the VFL - are we wanting him to genuinely work on his forward craft / impact forward of the ball or just wanting to get a media headline?

I actually think BBB was ok yesterday.  We got a lot of goals from people leading in the space behind him - I have a feeling that JVR / Smith / Petty  wouldn't be able to create this at the moment.

I think Smith as the sub is the perfect option for Brown in the last quarter when we need more run / pressure.  We did a similar thing against Sydney earlier in the year (Brown kicked a few and then was subbed out I think injured).  Obviously that plan doesn't work if we get an injury.

For me Goody / the FD don't trust a forwardline lead by Smith / JVR.  They want one of Brown or Grundy in the mix.  As good as JVR is, he's essentially in his first season.  He's great when he's allowed to run and jump but no top 4 team is going to allow him to do that.

 

  On 24/07/2023 at 02:57, deelusions from afar said:

I think if you're serious Grundy needs more weeks in the VFL - are we wanting him to genuinely work on his forward craft / impact forward of the ball or just wanting to get a media headline?

I actually think BBB was ok yesterday.  We got a lot of goals from people leading in the space behind him - I have a feeling that JVR / Smith / Petty  wouldn't be able to create this at the moment.

I think Smith as the sub is the perfect option for Brown in the last quarter when we need more run / pressure.  We did a similar thing against Sydney earlier in the year (Brown kicked a few and then was subbed out I think injured).  Obviously that plan doesn't work if we get an injury.

For me Goody / the FD don't trust a forwardline lead by Smith / JVR.  They want one of Brown or Grundy in the mix.  As good as JVR is, he's essentially in his first season.  He's great when he's allowed to run and jump but no top 4 team is going to allow him to do that.

 

I'm not sure he does need a heap more time at Casey, the 'demotion' for a couple of weeks might have done the job. It was never to reset him as a player but reset his mindset of what's required when he has to play forward, how to compete and continually move, rather than the old ruck/forward pocket who just stood there being tall. 

I like that it meant JVR had to go in and ruck, he seems very good against the 2nd rucks of other clubs (he's had a few great taps and then competed really well after it's gone to ground). Hopefully it's given JVR a real shot of confidence, because watching yesterday I think his leading patterns went to another level after his ruck stints. 

With BBB though, I struggle to see him holding his spot for much longer. Smith is the perfect sub and ideally you'd have it so he could take BBB off at 3/4 time, but if there's an early injury then that comes undone and BBB has (to my eye) been much worse as games wear on. Since coming back from injury he's averaged 8.5 disposals, 2 marks and only kicked 2 goals. We are carrying him at the moment and I think Grundy's overall impact will be much greater, and hopefully he knows as a forward he has to keep moving to create that space BBB does, but Grundy has the agility to actually get back and go again and then fight at ground level a lot better than BBB. 

Might be a bit of truth in all this beyond Port thinking Grundy would make a nice cheap addition, in that I think Hinkley would clearly see us as a key obstacle on the road tothe flag & he has seen an opportunity to try to cause some instability within our ruck dept.

Doesn’t mind a few mins games old Kenny & Grundy has a big part to play for us in finals, make no mistake.