2 minutes ago, Vipercrunch said:

I've finally had a listen to Yze's press conference from Saturday's game.  Very informative.

Sounds like Fritta is the most likely to return for R1, with Viney also quite likely.  Salem is looking like being 2 or 3 weeks after that.

He also said although it's easier to spread the midfield minutes with younger players in the practice games, it's important that they continue to do so during the main season.  Both to reduce the workload of our elite midfielders, but to also develop the younger ones, so it seems that as a general rules, that will continue during the year.

https://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/1279179/tested-and-ready-for-round-1-yze

Salem could be a month or two, to get his thyroid right.

He won’t be rushed back.

Edited March 6, 20232 yr by Redleg

1 hour ago, Redleg said:

Salem could be a month or two, to get his thyroid right.

He won’t be rushed back.

Hopefully no rushing injured stars back in 2023. Let's learn from 2022.

The last 30 seconds or so clears up excatly what happened with that Gawn goal.  

2 hours ago, Redleg said:

Salem could be a month or two, to get his thyroid right.

He won’t be rushed back.

I'm not expecting him to play before the bye - better to get him right fitness/energy wise for a crack at the finals than bring him back underdone.

I've only seen highlights of both games, and 'All Of The Goals' for the second, but it didn't look like we were exposed to particularly high-pressure, tackling games, nor required to apply our own. Those who've seen more of the games, do we look capable of the latter and, particularly, will we vulnerable if teams bring the former?

Also, from SEN:

"Despite the noteworthy performances [ of 'Gawndy' ], Melbourne convincingly lost the hit-out count to Toby Nankervis and Ivan Soldo and was also defeated in clearances."

Any concerns there? Or surprise, at least?

3 hours ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

I'm not expecting him to play before the bye - better to get him right fitness/energy wise for a crack at the finals than bring him back underdone.

Could be a blessing in disguise.  Gives some of our very good back up players opportunity to play in the ones and get exposure and experience.

 Also gives you confidence to then promote these guys when we have injuries/ form concerns / resting players ( to keep them fresh for the back half of the season).

This would also give Salem opportunity to do a ‘pre season’ load so that he comes back fit and ready to go.

Edited March 7, 20232 yr by Wodjathefirst
Typo

12 minutes ago, Timothy Reddan-A'Blew said:

Also, from SEN:

"Despite the noteworthy performances [ of 'Gawndy' ], Melbourne convincingly lost the hit-out count to Toby Nankervis and Ivan Soldo and was also defeated in clearances."

Any concerns there? Or surprise, at least?

We were +5 in hit outs to advantage so no concerns imo

5 minutes ago, Vipercrunch said:

We were +5 in hit outs to advantage so no concerns imo

this

total hitouts were irrelevant as we dominated post-clearance possession

On Kozzie in the midfield. I can recall him starting in the midfield for opening bounces many times in both 2021 and 2022 but I cannot recall him actually getting the ball very often. Of course it could have simply been a tactic to lose his defender but it will be interesting to see if he can bring his skills to the midfield. Same for Rivers.

I'd be interested in comments on why the Gawn/Grundy combination that contributed 6 goals in the first half was goalless in the second half. Was there a tactical change by either side?

1 minute ago, Diamond_Jim said:

On Kozzie in the midfield. I can recall him starting in the midfield for opening bounces many times in both 2021 and 2022 but I cannot recall him actually getting the ball very often. Of course it could have simply been a tactic to lose his defender but it will be interesting to see if he can bring his skills to the midfield. Same for Rivers.

I'd be interested in comments on why the Gawn/Grundy combination that contributed 6 goals in the first half was goalless in the second half. Was there a tactical change by either side?

Gawn said they cleared out of there to give the forwards a go without their presence.

2 hours ago, Timothy Reddan-A'Blew said:

Also, from SEN:

"Despite the noteworthy performances [ of 'Gawndy' ], Melbourne convincingly lost the hit-out count to Toby Nankervis and Ivan Soldo and was also defeated in clearances."

Any concerns there? Or surprise, at least?

Tom McDonald attended quite a few ballups and I doubt would have won one hitout, which wouldn't have helped.

And with so many players rotating through the CBAs our best combination wasn't always in there.  For example Hopper attended 25 and Petracca only 15.  Oliver 20.  Also, Viney was missing.  As whatwhat mentioned, post clearance was strong.

 

I didn't bother with stats - they looked old and slow, and we carved them up. They looked ok in the 3rd qtr, but the damage was done. Gawn and Grundy both looked good inside forward 50, but the delivery was quick and flat, which certainly helped.

58 minutes ago, Gator said:

Tom McDonald attended quite a few ballups and I doubt would have won one hitout, which wouldn't have helped.

And with so many players rotating through the CBAs our best combination wasn't always in there.  For example Hopper attended 25 and Petracca only 15.  Oliver 20.  Also, Viney was missing.  As whatwhat mentioned, post clearance was strong.

 

Viney missing was significant

3 hours ago, Timothy Reddan-A'Blew said:

I've only seen highlights of both games, and 'All Of The Goals' for the second, but it didn't look like we were exposed to particularly high-pressure, tackling games, nor required to apply our own. Those who've seen more of the games, do we look capable of the latter and, particularly, will we vulnerable if teams bring the former?

Forward pressure wise I thought the Saints were good and the Tigers were at a minimum ok. 

Both sides weren’t at their peak in terms of midfield intensity. The saints ran a lot of numbers through and the tigers had experienced players cruising and new guys from gws learning the ropes.

Of course neither were we, with Grundy new to the team and a stack of rotations 

On 3/4/2023 at 6:56 PM, Return to Glory said:

Well, we didn't lose it. And thank God we're not Essendon

I say that all the time, it's my daily mantra!  That and Collingwood!!! 

7 hours ago, Gator said:

Tom McDonald attended quite a few ballups and I doubt would have won one hitout, which wouldn't have helped.

I'd give him half a hit out at best 

14 hours ago, Redleg said:

Salem could be a month or two, to get his thyroid right.

He won’t be rushed back.

And of course once the thyroid is optimized he will then need to play catch up general fitness wise and match hardened via Casey. 

On 3/5/2023 at 6:42 PM, Jaded No More said:

Poor Viney not considered one of our best players? I reckon he’s ahead of Salem

My bad i stupidly forgot our VC, deepest my bads fellow posters.

5 hours ago, monoccular said:

And of course once the thyroid is optimized he will then need to play catch up general fitness wise and match hardened via Casey. 

Good point Mon, no rushing him back straight into the Ones. A  couple of Casey games to acclimatise back to that 2021 GF First Quarter form. 

On 3/6/2023 at 4:39 PM, Vipercrunch said:

I assume the controlling umpire totally missed the part where the ball hit the post and then go over the line and only saw Max kick it through, and thought calling it as an advantage was the way to go.  And as you say, same result in the end.

The goal umpire was standing behind the post directly in line with the ball. Infuriating that they do this. Often they stand in front of the post and it hits them

Clearly they are instructed to adjudicate this way .

The two practice games couldn't not have gone any better. Good experimentation hard running no injuries.

Wins are nice but secondary. We want some early wins as our draw is challenging but its a long season.

1 hour ago, jnrmac said:

The two practice games couldn't not have gone any better. Good experimentation hard running no injuries.

Wins are nice but secondary. We want some early wins as our draw is challenging but its a long season.

Agree.

The other positive is fans could see firsthand the more aggressive ball movement, in particular heaps more kicks to the corridor (and to the top of the goal square) that had been flagged by the club. 

Creates excitement and energy ahead of the season - as does things like Kozzie playing in the middle and Mcvees' selection. 

And we all got to see how impactful Hunter, and to a lesser extent Grundy, will be. 

On Hunter i'm struggling to think of trade that so seamlessly fits into our system and will improve us so much from the get-go.

I mean May was obviously a good in, as was Lever, but the defensive system was still in the process of being developed (and built around them) 

And with Langdon, who is one of the all-time great recruits, how well he fit into our system and much he would improve us only became clear as his first season progressed.

I watch the highlights and the ball movement was better than 2021, the handballs were over 10 metres long giving the clear receiver a  better go at disposal under less pressure.

If we can replicate this in the season we will be a much better side than 2021/2022.

The young players like McVee and Woewodin did not look out of place. 

Before we recruited Langdon and Hunter, we were desperate, and I mean DESPERATE for decent wingers and some outside ball movement.

Such important pieces of the puzzle now.