Clarrie is a generational player and he is one of the best I have seen. Teams manage to find a way to win and we are not a 1 man team. Port beat us in the midfield because Butters & Rozee are runners not bulls. They kick short and find targets as well as kick goals.

I hope it is a 1-2 week injury and we look at the roles Port used and Collingwood and Brisbane have used successfully and that is small running midfields. Freemantle have improved on the back of Serong & Brayshaw finding some form, small running mids. I had hoped that Kossie & Chandler would fill this role as they have the speed and smarts. We don't need another bull we need some run and pace and ability to hit targets in the midfield and get on the outside. Note sure who we have at Casey that fits that mould. I had hope Bowie may step up into the midfield or that Woewodin would step up this year to complement our mids.

Friday was cold wet and miserable in Adelaide, perfect hamstring weather

Edited May 21, 20231 yr by Older demon

50 minutes ago, RedLegs23 said:

That looks like a decent hammy to me 😮‍💨

https://www.instagram.com/p/CsdECm5rujL/?igshid=MTc4MmM1YmI2Ng==

Probably wont see him until Geelong after the bye. Anything earlier's a bonus.

... But then again, he played on so maybe just cramp?

Idfk

Yeah it looked pretty high. Oliver was also a non factor in Q4 so he was clearly carrying it. 

The lack of news coming out has me more worried now on the damage and severity. They would have had the radiologist confirm the hammy pretty quick. If it was a routine low grade hammy strain we would know by now. But the lack of news suggests to me that more diagnosis / consultation is required. Hope it is not with a surgeon. Because that would suck. 
 

1 hour ago, DemonWA said:

I've been posting on demondland on and off for a reasonable amount of time, but I feel like this place is at its worst now that we're a contender. Seems like everyone expects perfection 100% of the time; as if it's out God given right to be a dynasty team that wins multiple flags. Fmd

We're in the Temple of Doom. 

Every loss is being lowered into the fire pit. And every win, Goodwin retakes the lever and pulls us back up.

But 2019-2020 was easily the worse time to be on here imo. And most of us contributed to that.

Edited May 21, 20231 yr by John Demonic

Also, supporters should go and have a look at first crack. 

They show some of what he lacks or doesn't provide if he's not having great impact with his possessions. 

This is not a knock, so the sensitive types don't need to come to his defence. Nobody doubts his strengths. He's unmatched. But again, the gap between his strength and weakness is too great too often. 

23 minutes ago, JimmyGadson said:

Also, supporters should go and have a look at first crack. 

They show some of what he lacks or doesn't provide if he's not having great impact with his possessions. 

This is not a knock, so the sensitive types don't need to come to his defence. Nobody doubts his strengths. He's unmatched. But again, the gap between his strength and weakness is too great too often. 

Yeah I mentioned in the midfield thread. I think is a big knock on him but hard to say whether it’s by design ( coaching ) or whether it’s him being unaccountable.

Either way Its fixable and I’m also sure he is not the only one. It  puts a bit of substance to everyone’s claim that the miss are not working hard enough defensively.

6 hours ago, Jaded No More said:

Of course we can win without him. But to say that he isn’t an enormous loss is frankly admitting that you don’t watch Melbourne play. 
If tomorrow was the grand final and Oliver was out, would you feel confident of winning? 
 

A BIG FAT NO !!!

I also think he will miss the next month or so, which raises Dazzle's piont, if he did this in the third quarter and played out the game, why, how and by what volition allowed him to keep playing?? Some serious questions need answering here?!?

Edited May 21, 20231 yr by picket fence

If we rely on Oliver to win games then we are in trouble … it’s 22 players, sure will be missed but it’s about a winning list just like all other teams who get injuries 

We really need him for the king's birthday game. 

But maybe put kozzie in the middle and get him in the game and some responsibility.

Harmes has to come in to, he's to good to be at Casey.

Is this the week we give Taj a go. Not to replace Oliver but come in for bowey if he's out or hunter if we don't appeal 

2 hours ago, picket fence said:

A BIG FAT NO !!!

I also think he will miss the next month or so, which raises Dazzle's piont, if he did this in the third quarter and played out the game, why, how and by what volition allowed him to keep playing?? Some serious questions need answering here?!?

Agree, and I'm very surprised the broadcast didn't pick it up. Never saw him getting a rub down either. Did he just think it was nothing and brushed it off? I'd like to hear from goody if he knew 

9 hours ago, Demon Disciple said:

I reckon the players and coaches think we do, but I’m not so sure. Surely we would’ve seen it for more than just half a quarter here and there during games this season. I reckon our fitness levels are poor, as is our attitude.

Our fitness levels are poor? Some really weird stuff on this site since Friday. We had won every final quarter of the season...9 in a row...until the Port A game.

9 hours ago, WERRIDEE said:

If we lose to Freo the short dynasty is over. If we are going to figure in the finals it's a must-win game.

Last week was the must win in my view we are now separated from the top with 3 hard games to come 

Agree 6th or 7th looks a real possibility

The only silver lining here is the bye.

If it's a 4 week hammy, he'll only miss 3 matches plus the bye in round 14.

If it's a 3 week hammy, he'll miss 3 matches but have an extra 'bonus' week to let it heal and be cherry ripe for Geelong.

But yeah, losing your best midfielder is far from ideal. Look at Dangerfield and Geelong. Geelong were flying (albeit against mostly poorer opposition) until his hammy and then they lose winnable games without him.

8 minutes ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

The only silver lining here is the bye.

If it's a 4 week hammy, he'll only miss 3 matches plus the bye in round 14.

If it's a 3 week hammy, he'll miss 3 matches but have an extra 'bonus' week to let it heal and be cherry ripe for Geelong.

But yeah, losing your best midfielder is far from ideal. Look at Dangerfield and Geelong. Geelong were flying (albeit against mostly poorer opposition) until his hammy and then they lose winnable games without him.

Cats have about 4 of their best mids out, Danger, C. Guthrie, Duncan and Menegola plus Stanley.

Edited May 21, 20231 yr by Redleg

The levels of hysteria in this thread are actually laughable....Breathe people!

Of course we are not going to find a like for like replacement for Clarry!

We have been way too predictable to opposition teams with our midfield setups. Without Clarry we get a chance to evolve.

Of all our young players this year i think Rivers has been the one that really upped his output/effort.    Throw him in the midfield for the next month.... we might actually develop a balanced inside/outside player with skills and toughness to match.

This team has been carried by Oliver for a long time.  He gives 100% every week.   You don't need to be as gifted or talented as him....BUT we are going to need the whole team to collectively lift and play closer to the 100% that each are capable of.   (Many in the team are just cruising atm....Maybe we will just be better without him as the penny drops for some within the team?

One soldier out, one soldier in.

We can and will replace Oliver if required.

The replacement won't be the same but we may learn something valuable.  We may improve as a team. 

These obstacles should be seen as opportunities, we may benefit long term.

Platitudes maybe but I believe we will get better.

The sky is a little bit cloudier, but it's not falling in.

1 minute ago, ManDee said:

One soldier out, one soldier in.

We can and will replace Oliver if required.

The replacement won't be the same but we may learn something valuable.  We may improve as a team. 

These obstacles should be seen as opportunities, we may benefit long term.

Platitudes maybe but I believe we will get better.

The problem though is "Learning" and "Winning" are often two very different things.

We as observers watch and learn much about the team.   The Brains Trust seem slower on that uptake. 

Footy games at the top level are not meant to be Learning events. Leave that to the magoos.

I'm affraid i dont see us improving any time soon. Lessons seem lost on those to whom it should matter most imho.

7 minutes ago, beelzebub said:

The problem though is "Learning" and "Winning" are often two very different things.

We as observers watch and learn much about the team.   The Brains Trust seem slower on that uptake. 

Footy games at the top level are not meant to be Learning events. Leave that to the magoos.

I'm affraid i dont see us improving any time soon. Lessons seem lost on those to whom it should matter most imho.

I disagree Beeb, I think every game is a learning event. 

We observer's from the outside are not privy to internal machinations. Players are asked to perform roles that do not allow them to do the things that we think spectacular, but they are doing the team thing. I think Rivers, Brayshaw and Langdon can do other roles and surprise us with their capabilities. Joel Smith could even surprise.

I look for a silver lining, dee-luded  maybe, but I want another flag and this could help. (That's what I'm telling myself)

44 minutes ago, ManDee said:

I disagree Beeb, I think every game is a learning event. 

We observer's from the outside are not privy to internal machinations. Players are asked to perform roles that do not allow them to do the things that we think spectacular, but they are doing the team thing. I think Rivers, Brayshaw and Langdon can do other roles and surprise us with their capabilities. Joel Smith could even surprise.

I look for a silver lining, dee-luded  maybe, but I want another flag and this could help. (That's what I'm telling myself)

I would like to think we learned quite a bit from this one, more than we would have learned from the Hawthorn game. 

2 hours ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

The only silver lining here is the bye.

If it's a 4 week hammy, he'll only miss 3 matches plus the bye in round 14.

If it's a 3 week hammy, he'll miss 3 matches but have an extra 'bonus' week to let it heal and be cherry ripe for Geelong.

But yeah, losing your best midfielder is far from ideal. Look at Dangerfield and Geelong. Geelong were flying (albeit against mostly poorer opposition) until his hammy and then they lose winnable games without him.

Dangerfield also missed 6 games last year and yet they only lost 4 games for the year.

It can still go the opposite way.

I still think we can beat Freo and Carlton. Collingwood are just a different beast unfortunately. If we can go into the bye over the next 3 weeks without Oliver at 2-1 then I'll happily take that.

10 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Dangerfield also missed 6 games last year and yet they only lost 4 games for the year.

It can still go the opposite way.

I still think we can beat Freo and Carlton. Collingwood are just a different beast unfortunately. If we can go into the bye over the next 3 weeks without Oliver at 2-1 then I'll happily take that.

We should do everything we can to beat Collingwood - i mean everything. If we beat them, It will be a season defining moment - similar to beating Geelong in Geelong. . it will seed some doubt in their game and automatically reinvigorate our tilt at the flag. 

Id even accept a 1-2 into the bye with the win coming from the Pies - that is how significant that scalp will be. 

The way Clarrie has been playing of late, a little time off won’t be the worst thing for him. The big question is who will step up in his absence?

1 player is not going to fill the entire void, but several stepping up will. How much of a team do we want to be?

There's every chance the absence of Oliver could make us more unpredictable through the middle and gives us some good results with a different mix that there isn't much film on. Obviously these things are usually short term sugar hits but if it's only a few games we need to do this for that it may work out well for us.

Has his injury and layoff been confirmed anywhere?

Didn't Angus finish high up in the Brownlow playing as a midfielder?

Hasn't Rivers played exciting, tough midfield style footy playing as (but not starting as) a midfielder with his run and strength?

Is it time for Sparrow and JJ to be given a chance to step up and show their wares?

If Goody can experiment with the forward line, then can he not experiment a bit with the midfield?

When will Clarrie get better and does he need a rest?

Why are there so many questions? Because we lost on a rainy, wet night by only 4 points with an arguably poor performing not-best-22 team and Clarrie's hamstring decided it wanted a rest.