5 hours ago, old55 said:

I prefer to be behind the goals over the wing but that's not necessarily thought of as "better" by the ticket allocators.

I’m intrigued as to where these seats are. 

56 minutes ago, Demon Dynasty said:

I assume you mean a medium/tall interceptor / spoiler to replace like for like or close to it GtG.

Am i right in saying the only realistic list option at this point that fits the bill is Disco?  And he's probably still two to three games away at the very least.  Would also need to tick all the boxes at Casey.

He probably is but gee I'd love to get a few games into him. 

3 hours ago, Gawndy the Great said:

If Lever doesn’t play we need to setup an intercepting defender.

Rivers

10 hours ago, poita said:

The problem is that a number of our players have history of declaring themselves right to play when they are clearly not. Most recently Hibberd and Lever against West Coast and Brown against Sydney are examples of players who have subsequently missed games by trying to play through injury.

Viney and Gawn are both repeat offenders, which is why I would be treading well clear of playing Gawn before round 8. I really don't care what he can add against Richmond or North - as a supposed premiership contender I expect us to win both games with or without him. I do care how he he is travelling in August and September when he will be desperately needed at 100% health and fitness. If that means missing a few games during the year, so be it.

Brown against Sydney? Didn't we sub him off as soon as his back seized up?

4 hours ago, Young Blood said:

I hope Gawn is back in (yes yes if fit etc.) 

Grundy did well in the two games we won against the opposition playing one, single, less adequate ruck: Ladhams (SYD) and Williams (WC)

However playing against two decent rucks proved problematic in both games we lost against Bris and Essendon. Seems Tigers are sticking to playing with two Rucks even if Nank is out. So I image similar tactics that were used and explained by Essendon post match to target Grundy will again be used if he goes alone.

Food for thought.

Sure, but Samson Ryan and Ben Miller are not a patch on Draper and Philips.

5 hours ago, RyanD said:

Any idea on crowd size? Hoping for 75k.

Anyone going to 'the lounge'? I noticed it free beer, wine, soft drinks and food as part of my membership. 

Free beer, wine, soft drinks - after you've bought a ticket to "The Lounge" is my understanding.

Prices vary depending on the game. Melb v Rich costs $300 - details in the link below:

 https://melbourneexperiences.com.au/Catalog/AssetRegister?assetRegisterId=92b5785f-85ba-40f7-8ef3-956c43629512

15 hours ago, dazzledavey36 said:

It's actual fact. 

It's been well documented now that we had at least 7-8 players goes into the finals series completely under injury cloud.

I mean, we legit played Petracca with a broken leg...

13 hours ago, TRIGON said:

Only one though.

13 hours ago, layzie said:

*Insert Monty Python skit here*

...couldn't help myself...(🤣)

4 hours ago, Lou C. Fur said:

...couldn't help myself...(🤣)

He can play on that. It builds…

RESILIENCE

9 hours ago, titan_uranus said:

 

Sure, but Samson Ryan and Ben Miller are not a patch on Draper and Philips.

Still two rucks vs one whose still finding his fitness and feet in a new side. Grundy will hold his own and most likely beat both for hitouts but its having to cover ground to make them accountable both forward and back thats the issue. Grundy looks great in the stoppages/ball ups/throw-ins but quite vulnerable covering the ground still. Even two lesser rucks can take advantage of this.

Edited April 18, 20231 yr by Young Blood

Hopefully we at least get Lever back this week.

I've been thinking about the loss and about how poor we were, by our standards, behind the ball. Our intercept game was off and Essendon scored far too easily going inside their forward 50.

I started wondering: when was the last time we played a game without both Gawn and Lever?

The answer? Round 16, 2019.

3.5 years since we've played a game without at least one of our two elite intercept marks in the side. 

I doubt it's a coincidence that we looked so poor defensively as a result.

Edited April 18, 20231 yr by titan_uranus

1 hour ago, Young Blood said:

Still two rucks vs one whose still finding his fitness and feet in a new side. Grundy will hold his own and most likely beat both for hitouts but its having to cover ground to make them accountable both forward and back thats the issue. Grundy looks great in the stoppages/ball ups/throw-ins but quite vulnerable covering the ground still. Even two lesser rucks can take advantage of this.

Grundy's ground work and follow up efforts at stoppages are exceptional, would like to see us try to keep it in tight more and force some repeat stoppages. The game last week was predominately played on the outside and he had to do a heck of a lot more running as a result.  

13 hours ago, titan_uranus said:

Brown against Sydney? Didn't we sub him off as soon as his back seized up?

Sure, but Samson Ryan and Ben Miller are not a patch on Draper and Philips.

True but we have had trouble in the past against really tall fwds.

Mason Cox, Reid from Sydney, Draper and Philips, Hipwood, Sampson Ryan in the pre-season game and even Lobb on occasions..

1 hour ago, layzie said:

Grundy's ground work and follow up efforts at stoppages are exceptional, would like to see us try to keep it in tight more and force some repeat stoppages. The game last week was predominately played on the outside and he had to do a heck of a lot more running as a result.  

Grundy is clearly still finding fitness. He was out a long time. Exposed how we rely on max going back to help out the defence against tall fwds.

16 minutes ago, jnrmac said:

Grundy is clearly still finding fitness. He was out a long time. Exposed how we rely on max going back to help out the defence against tall fwds.

And that fitness will come, I'm confident.

Makes us really appreciate what we have. 

Edited April 19, 20231 yr by layzie

1 hour ago, jnrmac said:

Grundy is clearly still finding fitness. He was out a long time. Exposed how we rely on max going back to help out the defence against tall fwds.

Fair to say coming into this season it was expected the Taps Bros to share the load...  Grundy resting fwd... Max...well.. Max just cruising everywhere picking off grabs when not rucking.

It wasn't expected for Grundy to carry the load nor that extra sweeper in defence to not be there.

And thats where we are . Our PLAN B got dusted off far earlier than ever possibly anticipated.  Remove Lever and thats a serious hole in the wall. May's not superhuman.  He can get flustered on days he has to try reinventing his back half forces only to realise its really just him ( if support staff are underachieving or similarly overwhelmed) 

I really liked Tomlinson before his injury.  Never quite seemed as good since. Needs to back himself more....in same way Lever does. Hes playing a more reactionary game atm....  no flair...little anticipation....to me.

We quite a clever outfit when humming... but if a few threads come unstuck.....so do we....majorly.

I still think May was injured through the whole game last week. He looked stiff and proppy. And played that way too. He looked to me like he had a crook back, and if so we can only hope that it was a minor strain and not something serious. But more generally, I think Goodwin was right in saying that it just wasn’t us playing last week. I have no doubt we will be much much much better this week, and hopefully for the rest of the season.

 

You know it’s a long break between matches when the pre-game thread drops off the front page of DL. Everyone gets stir-crazy and threads about Goody cuddling and smiling pop up. 😁 And it’s the No T$ thread’s time to shine.

 I don’t have to wait until Monday to see Fritsch playing. I’ll be watching Fritsch play this Saturday. DARCY Fritsch, that is. I’ll be barracking for Coldstream (of course) and because Coldstream’s colours are navy and white I just need to fossick through my wardrobe to find some mothballed relics from my days of masquerading as a Blues supporter and I’ll fit right in. Big bro Bayles will also be there but I’m guessing he won’t be nearly as loud as me. I’m also guessing he’ll pretend he doesn’t know me, and who could blame him, right? I’d pretend I don’t know me, too. 😁

53 minutes ago, WalkingCivilWar said:

You know it’s a long break between matches when the pre-game thread drops off the front page of DL. Everyone gets stir-crazy and threads about Goody cuddling and smiling pop up. 😁 And it’s the No T$ thread’s time to shine.

 I don’t have to wait until Monday to see Fritsch playing. I’ll be watching Fritsch play this Saturday. DARCY Fritsch, that is. I’ll be barracking for Coldstream (of course) and because Coldstream’s colours are navy and white I just need to fossick through my wardrobe to find some mothballed relics from my days of masquerading as a Blues supporter and I’ll fit right in. Big bro Bayles will also be there but I’m guessing he won’t be nearly as loud as me. I’m also guessing he’ll pretend he doesn’t know me, and who could blame him, right? I’d pretend I don’t know me, too. 😁

Why don't you wear your rose-coloured glasses - literally, of course? That should turn the white into a nice shade of red.

So changes for the game:

IN Gawn, Lever, Brown

OUT Spargo, Tomlinson, T Mac

maybe Laurie or Harmes for Milkshake. or JJ in for sparrow? if i had to pick i’d make a fourth change - Laurie for Milkshake and play him fwd in Spargos position 

hopefully we get our big leaders back in. looks dry and sunny at this stage

5 minutes ago, DubDee said:

So changes for the game:

IN Gawn, Lever, Brown

OUT Spargo, Tomlinson, T Mac

maybe Laurie or Harmes for Milkshake. or JJ in for sparrow? if i had to pick i’d make a fourth change - Laurie for Milkshake and play him fwd in Spargos position 

hopefully we get our big leaders back in. looks dry and sunny at this stage

Can’t see it being sunny Dubdee, not as it’s a night game 

2 minutes ago, Pennant St Dee said:

Can’t see it being sunny Dubdee, not as it’s a night game 

ouch! walked into that one

clear black skies work? uncloudy?

22 hours ago, Ollie fan said:

I still think May was injured through the whole game last week. He looked stiff and proppy. And played that way too. He looked to me like he had a crook back, and if so we can only hope that it was a minor strain and not something serious. But more generally, I think Goodwin was right in saying that it just wasn’t us playing last week. I have no doubt we will be much much much better this week, and hopefully for the rest of the season.

 

It was the same May we saw the week before against West Coast when he didn’t chase Darling out on a lead, the same May who got ripped up by Hipwood and McStay in the finals last year.

He’s 31 and doesn’t like being vulnerable over the ball, nor does he like going back with the flight in marking contests either, he’ll often drop or double grab those ones.

We have to adjust our standards now he’s in the veteran stage of his career. Still a heck of a player but can’t be relied upon to be a complete wall, especially if the ball is coming in white hot.

Lol..

 

Surprised if Gawn plays due to the 5 day break that follows.

Can only assume they have supreme confidence he can play 2 games within a week.

29 minutes ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

Surprised if Gawn plays due to the 5 day break that follows.

Can only assume they have supreme confidence he can play 2 games within a week.

I’d like us to better manage the squad when it comes to games with short turn arounds but I think it’s fair to play Gawn in the game he’s first available for even if he’s in doubt for the second.

If he’s healthy they can potentially manage his loads through the matches too with Grundy doing a larger share of ruck work.