Right, so we're currently sitting 14-7 and sitting 3rd.

The last team to be in this exact position to go on and win a flag was Richmond in 2017.

Their form heading into finals is eerily similar to ours right at this point.

Richmond won 4 in a row, came up against top 4 team in Geelong in round 21 and lost by 14 points at the MCG. 

They then won the last two remaining games of the season and went on to have a great finals series which lead to a flag.

My point, I don't think this loss against the blues sets us back one bit. I see it as a positive that we can now tinker some changes and it keeps players on edge. 

Win the remaining two games and then why not us??? 

 

Did our fwd line look totally inept to anyone else?

How are we going to score in the finals?

Is it all on Fritta?

Is Tommo an option?

Anyone else concerned about this?

Grundy is definitely not the solution. 

2 minutes ago, leave it to deever said:

Did our fwd line look totally inept to anyone else?

How are we going to score in the finals?

Is it all on Fritta?

Is Tommo an option?

Anyone else concerned about this?

Grundy is definitely not the solution. 

Wet conditions made our forward like look inept. Scrambley ply in the midfield led to poor entries. Time to right it against hawthorn. Grundy is not the answer. He once again played more ruck minutes and impacted the continuity of Gawn’s game. Good bloke. Good player. Unbalances our side. 
 

VFL today will be very interesting. We get a look at Schache and TMac. I would think one of those two has to be included for the finals to cover the absence of Petty. Say what you will about Schache, but at least he can mark and kick straight (mostly). he can play the Petty role, which is when we looked to have our most balanced side. 

I did notice that Carlton always went back to go forward which gave them a little extra time to escape the contest. The other was Weitering was all by himself during the first quarter and in wet conditions the dump kick is always going to happen. Why we didn't even up the contest is beyond me. Wet footy is completely different to day. It is about gaining territory and not over handling the footy, two things we have not been able to master.

1 hour ago, Kick_It_To_Pickett said:

Wet conditions made our forward like look inept. Scrambley ply in the midfield led to poor entries. Time to right it against hawthorn. Grundy is not the answer. He once again played more ruck minutes and impacted the continuity of Gawn’s game. Good bloke. Good player. Unbalances our side. 
 

VFL today will be very interesting. We get a look at Schache and TMac. I would think one of those two has to be included for the finals to cover the absence of Petty. Say what you will about Schache, but at least he can mark and kick straight (mostly). he can play the Petty role, which is when we looked to have our most balanced side. 

Schacke lacks strength. We need someone like Tommo but it's probably too late to trial him in this capacity.

Now we are back to hoping Tmac can comeback.

And Milk has gone back in his shell.

It's a big concern now.

I'm sure the FD is just as frustrated with our fwd line shocking luck.

Edited August 12, 20231 yr by leave it to deever

All our hopes of a premiership rely on Van Rooyan.

We have no one else

1 minute ago, Choof said:

All our hopes of a premiership rely on Van Rooyan.

We have no one else

No one else fit?

3 minutes ago, Cheap Seats said:

No one else fit?

Or good enough 

Frita hot and cold

Brown and tmac passed it

Schacke useless 

Grundy useless.

 

Joel Smith our best option 

Edited August 13, 20231 yr by Choof

3 minutes ago, Choof said:

Or good enough 

Frita hot and cold

Brown and tmac passed it

Schacke useless 

Grundy useless.

 

Joel Smith our best option 

I think Petty is a viable option, but i generally agree with the rest of your summation.

 

1 minute ago, Cheap Seats said:

I think Petty is a viable option, but i generally agree with the rest of your summation.

 

Petty gone for the season.

 

Huge trade period and a good crack at it next year.

 

Unless Roo or smith become superstars in the finals. 

Pees me off that Carlton have one foot in the finals now. As a neutral watcher of sport and sports entertainment purist it would have been much more exciting seeing their finals aspirations go right down to the last game.

Edited August 13, 20231 yr by layzie

3 minutes ago, layzie said:

Pees me off that Carlton have one foot in the finals now. As a neutral watcher of sport and sports entertainment purist it would have been much more exciting seeing their finals aspirations go right down the toilet.

Just edited your post for you mate 

1 hour ago, Choof said:

Or good enough 

Frita hot and cold

Brown and tmac passed it

Schacke useless 

Grundy useless.

 

Joel Smith our best option 

Fritsch hot and cold? Having a laugh surely.. 

Goalless 5 times in 62 matches over 2021-23. 

Everyone seems convinced TMac is past it based on 6 games this year (in which he kicked 8 goals) before injury, let’s see what he can do now he can run again. 

Schache agree is not the answer. Smith can’t put 4 quarters together but is probably the answer until Fritsch is back.

With petty out and not a lot of options I'd consider throwing May up forward.

We seem to have a glut of defenders and a lack of quality up forward.

Just now, Cheap Seats said:

With petty out and not a lot of options I'd consider throwing May up forward.

We seem to have a glut of defenders and a lack of quality up forward.

No way known we are making this seismic of a change this late. 

The synergy we have between May and Lever and the way we set up our entire side from the backline is nowhere near easily replaceable. 

We are going to have to persist with Grundy, TMac, Brown if fit, or Schache, until Fritsch comes back and we can then try to manufacture enough marks with him as the second tall.

17 minutes ago, titan_uranus said:

No way known we are making this seismic of a change this late. 

The synergy we have between May and Lever and the way we set up our entire side from the backline is nowhere near easily replaceable. 

We are going to have to persist with Grundy, TMac, Brown if fit, or Schache, until Fritsch comes back and we can then try to manufacture enough marks with him as the second tall.

You might be right, and I agree they won't change anything.

Fritsch isn't the mesiah, let's not kid ourselves. The style we play we need tell marking forwards.

Facts don't change that we are too inefficient to be a real contender. We're good enough to win on our day but if it's not our day forgot about it 

20 minutes ago, Cheap Seats said:

You might be right, and I agree they won't change anything.

Fritsch isn't the mesiah, let's not kid ourselves. The style we play we need tell marking forwards.

Facts don't change that we are too inefficient to be a real contender. We're good enough to win on our day but if it's not our day forgot about it 

This applies to every single side. 

For anyone who didn’t see Casey today, forget TMac and Schache. Probably 20 disposals, 5 marks and one goal between them (my guess).

Totally devoid of intensity. Tomlinson terrific, but not a forward.

1 minute ago, titan_uranus said:

This applies to every single side. 

Yeh the egirls and Norf are flying.

We are too inefficient going forward to win the flag. Hot tip - I'd U can't kick more than the opposition you won't win.

I won't be surprised if we bow out in straight sets.

We win a lot of the ball but can't hot the side of barn when the heat is on.

7 hours ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Right, so we're currently sitting 14-7 and sitting 3rd.

The last team to be in this exact position to go on and win a flag was Richmond in 2017.

Their form heading into finals is eerily similar to ours right at this point.

Richmond won 4 in a row, came up against top 4 team in Geelong in round 21 and lost by 14 points at the MCG. 

They then won the last two remaining games of the season and went on to have a great finals series which lead to a flag.

My point, I don't think this loss against the blues sets us back one bit. I see it as a positive that we can now tinker some changes and it keeps players on edge. 

Win the remaining two games and then why not us??? 

 

If anything, last night would be a good wake up call especially to our mids who were poor under pressure early. 
I am not worried about that loss one little bit.

I’m incredibly worried about our forwardline however. 

2 hours ago, Gillies said:

Just edited your post for you mate 

Fair play, but into the toilet in the last game.

Edited August 13, 20231 yr by layzie

36 minutes ago, Jaded No More said:

If anything, last night would be a good wake up call especially to our mids who were poor under pressure early. 
I am not worried about that loss one little bit.

I’m incredibly worried about our forwardline however. 

The Grundy forward experiment was a mistake by Goodwin. I got a feeling from his press conference upon reflection he knew it was a selection blunder.

Getting Fritsch back will help enormously. You're getting your 2-3 goals per game off him so that will be a welcome return. 

We do need a bigger body next to JVR. Do we bite the bullet with McDonald even though he was underwhelming today.

6 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

The Grundy forward experiment was a mistake by Goodwin. I got a feeling from his press conference upon reflection he knew it was a selection blunder.

Getting Fritsch back will help enormously. You're getting your 2-3 goals per game off him so that will be a welcome return. 

We do need a bigger body next to JVR. Do we bite the bullet with McDonald even though he was underwhelming today.

The headline will be this week that Grundy’s dropped again.

I’ve got no confidence in us kicking winning scores with him in the forward line.

My ins are: Tomlinson, Hibberd, 

Out: Bowey, Grundy

Spargo the sub

2 hours ago, titan_uranus said:

 

We are going to have to persist with Grundy, TMac, Brown if fit, or Schache, until Fritsch comes back and we can then try to manufacture enough marks with him as the second tall.

No we really don’t. We could use Joel Smith as the second tall with JVR and give him a good go at it. Of the 4 you mention, at least Joel can take a contested mark, he can lead and he is better below his knees than those 4. He’s trained all year as a forward - and yet he has played mainly in defence when he has come on - let’s give him a go. Why train him as a forward if we do not use him there? We certainly have nothing to lose, and a lot to gain IMO.

We don’t need another tall forward. Fritsch, JVR, Smith and Petracca are more than able to kick a winning score