Tough test against Port this Saturday. A big night at the selection table as well with the injuries we have.

I have to say that I would bring Tomlinson in to replace May and keep Petty in the team as a swing player for either forward or back as required. The interesting part to that is that we also have TMac able to swing between the two ends of the ground depending on requirements. There might be some interesting mixes in the personnel making up defence and attack on Saturday evening. Looks likely that Lever will be available. this is good.

What we do need to see is our midfield really turned on and bringing the defensive pressure and fast twitch turnover reactions. While I do not see us putting a hard tag on Butters I do see the coaches putting a bit of work into how to curb his game. Maybe Sparrow to run with him at some stage or maybe to utilise ANB to have a role with him around the ground. I am sure we will need a Plan A, B and C.

I think we have the depth and well drilled structure in defence to cover the loss of may for a week or two. It is a critical time for May not to be available with the two games in Adelaide just with a 5 day break but it is what it is. I love the fact that the young players back there have stood up and slotted in so well over the past few seasons. It is a testament to the structures that are in place and the training and development  that is going into the players.

While Ben Brown just kicked a point last week I think he has been of great value to the forward group. the opposition just cannot afford to cover him and pay respect to the potential damage he is capable of. It gives a lot of freedom to the rest of the forwards and in particular the smaller forwards at the drop of the ball. I would look to the same personnel this week as long as there are no niggles. Chandler has been heavily strapped during the week but is not mentioned in the injury list so I assume he is good to go.

Midfield is looking deep and strong. Petracca is on song, Oliver is getting there and Viney is in great form. We have variety and flexibility to rotate through there so I am confident we can play our game through the midfield and not theirs. I do want to see them putting the pressure on and hunting the ball and the ball carrier. Not give an inch.

Just on the injury list, There are seven names on it at present including Lever and Mc Adam that I would say are first team 18 capable. That is a pretty long list and is set to test our depth and flexibility over the next three weeks. given we have a bye the week after that, we should have back 5 of them after the bye.

I see the game this way. Port to dominate the first quarter with us taking the next two quarters to lead by 2 or 3 goals. A tight last quarter with us winning by 20 points. 

Go Dees!

19 minutes ago, Moonshadow said:

Thought this was quite an interesting read from (believe it or not) Damien Barrett:

BARRETT: No self-pity as under-fire Melbourne confronts its demons -

https://www.afl.com.au/news/1095159

Hate to say it, but that is an excellent read. 

Hard to imagine there wasn't some coordination with the club. If so, credit where it is due, that's good comms.

3 minutes ago, binman said:

that's good comms.

That's what we poached pretty Pettyfor for.

On 25/03/2024 at 19:28, Dee Zephyr said:

Not sure if you really wanted an answer bin, but  I thought I’d run some numbers. 

Seasons 2021-2023. 21 losses for an average losing margin of 13.4 pts

Average losing margins.

2021 - 11.75 pts 

2022 - 19.5 pts 

2023- 8.8 pts

From discussion recently about Goodwin's coaching style - is he a good strategist and planner but not a good gameday tactician, if plan A doesn't work there's no plan B etc, it raised a thought in my mind. I wanted to see how many times over the past three seasons where we were well out of games and knew we would lose well before the final siren.  

This is somewhat subjective but the parameters I used to determine when this occurred were:

• If we were four goals down by the halfway point of the last quarter.
• I also included games where the score was slightly closer (around 20/21 points down) at the same mark, but momentum and scoring was very much with the other team

Probably not surprising to @binman, even though we lost 21 games over that period, there was only 5 games that met the above parameters:

1. Fremantle, Round 11 2022 (May was subbed early with concussion, TMac was injured in the warmup, Petracca had the flu, and others were missing due to COVID)
2. Sydney, Qualifying Final 2022 
3. Brisbane, Round 2 2023 (Max went down early with a knee injury, and while we got within 10 points after the lights came back on, we deserved to lose by 40 points)
4. Essendon, Round 5 2023 (Gather round)
5. Sydney, Round 0 2024

Essentially, if Goodwin only has a Plan A, it either works or goes pretty close to working 72 times out of 77. 

P.S. I meant to add to this the game plan and tactics thread but I was having issues with the search function loading any results.

 

Edited March 26, 20241 yr by Stu

12 hours ago, titan_uranus said:

They’ve got Ratugolea and Zerk-Thatcher as their new key defenders. I don’t rate ZT but he beat Tom Lynch on the weekend. 

They free Aliir to be like Lever. 

That might be a reason the FD pick Tomlinson and, if Lever plays, put Petty forward. Make Aliir a bit more honest.

They showed a stat on "On The Couch" that Port had allowed their opponents to score 50% of the time it went into Ports D50, which is pretty terrible for a team wanting to be Top 4. Luckily they've played the worst team in the league, and another that is likely to be bottom 6 (if not bottom 4) this year. If we get solid Inside 50 numbers, I can see us kicking a score they won't be able to defend. 

Edited March 26, 20241 yr by Stu

43 minutes ago, binman said:

Hate to say it, but that is an excellent read. 

Hard to imagine there wasn't some coordination with the club. If so, credit where it is due, that's good comms.

Nice read

Nothing really new in terms of details just a positive spin on the well known facts

If this angle has been influenced by internal forces then kudos indeed, but perhaps it's just Barrett's reflection on a team with backs against the wall, a questionable loss to clearly good team, and then coming out and belting two hopeful teams as we rightly should!

2 hours ago, Jaded No More said:

 

In conclusion, Tom Morris and WCW are possibly the same person 😂

Mods, sure this warrants a 1-week ban at least.

We can't have people on here saying such horrible things about each other.

What if some kids saw it and thought it was okay to go around calling people Tom Morris in the playground?

2 hours ago, mt2 said:

Thoughts on our kick-ins so far this season?

I really liked seeing Judd McVee take most of our kick-ins against Hawks. Most of our best ball users are at half-back - McVee, Bowey, Salem (when he's moved back), Rivers, and Howes if he keeps to the level he's been at so far.

I hope we continue seeing McVee and co on kick-ins, less of May who can pretty much only go long and down the line.

Ta. I was looking for that. 

Judd went from aprox 6% of the kick outs in the first game, 60% second and 100% third game.

He's super reliable and a better short kick than may.

And better on the run and at changing the target late.

He's playing a role similar to Nick daicos in his 2022, but more defensively accountable one on one.

Kid's a jet.

If Petracca, Oliver, Sparrow, kossi,   get off the chain, it will be over very quickly.

17 minutes ago, binman said:

Ta. I was looking for that. 

Judd went from aprox 6% of the kick outs in the first game, 60% second and 100% third game.

He's super reliable and a better short kick than may.

And better on the run and at changing the target late.

He's playing a role similar to Nick daicos in his 2022, but more defensively accountable one on one.

Kid's a jet.

Agree, from what I've seen so far this season he's been given more liberty to burst forward, I hope this continues. I would love to see him get more of the footy, to be looked for as the outlet like Daicos and Sheezel are. He has all the attributes to be that high-possession half back for us, and I love that he is far more under the radar than those two just mentioned.

6 hours ago, Dee Zephyr said:

In the early part of 2021 we were good in the wet. 
We beat Richmond Anzac Eve and Swans a couple of weeks later in the wet.

We beat the Cats and Blues also in partially wet games. 

And last year against Port one of our best quarters of the year was the 3rd where we piled on 7 goals and it was absolutely bucketing down.

That's some impressive Rain Man sheet. 

15 hours ago, Chook said:

Not giving Grundy or Gawn any of the blame for the way that partnership failed is a common mistake. Max was supposed to improve his forward craft and didn't. Grundy was supposed to improve his marking and didn't do that either.

The failure of the combo was not entirely the club's fault - I blame the two individuals just as much if not more.

Chook respectively I completely disagree. We can’t blame players who have focused on perfecting one craft for their careers for not developing another in just one preseason.

I think we should go back to the birth of it - it was the club’s idea. When they approached Max the only question he asked is if it would help us win a premiership and they answered yes.

The club overestimated their ability to develop their forward craft, overestimated the value of this structure, and did not fix our forward issues which cost us a shot at the premiership.

Anyone aware of training times when the lads are training in Adelaide? @WalkingCivilWar 

Hoping there is a training on Monday at some point?🙏

Edited March 26, 20241 yr by YesitwasaWin4theAges

As the world continues to spin at 107,000 kms per hour !!!! Hold on tight everyone… woooooohooooo!!! 

20 hours ago, WalkingCivilWar said:

I trust you’ve also sent this condescending message to Ricky Lever. He was the one MOST certain he’d done an ACL. 

I apologise for my 'condesceding' message, it just goes to show nobody really knows the extent of an injury untill it has been scanned, this includes the injury sufferer also.

I’m sensing a spanking coming up. Dee’s about to show the comp that we’re still in charge 

18 hours ago, Gawndy the Great said:

Will McAdam ever play a game? There are whispers that he is body is failing to hold up to the rigours of AFL footy.

He said he is feeling great (specifically hammy) & roughly two weeks away at Monday's training.

Was kicking goals from 50 so fair to say he's looking good hammy wise.

Edited March 26, 20241 yr by Demon Dynasty

47 minutes ago, Roost it far said:

I’m sensing a spanking coming up. Dee’s about to show the comp that we’re still in charge 

Did you start getting out of bed on the other side?

1 hour ago, YesitwasaWin4theAges said:

Anyone aware of training times when the lads are training in Adelaide? @WalkingCivilWar 

Hoping there is a training on Monday at some point?🙏

MFC TRAINING SCHEDULE FOR ADELAIDE
 

    Adelaide
 

    Monday, April 1 
    11:15am - 12:30pm 
    Hisense Stadium (Richmond Oval)
 

    Wednesday, April 3 
    10:00am - 10:45am 
    Hisense Stadium (Richmond) 
    Signing window available post-session.
 
https://demonland.com/forums/topic/57511-adelaide-training-venue-times/?do=findComment&comment=2446183

13 hours ago, CHF said:

It gives a lot of freedom to the rest of the forwards and in particular the smaller forwards at the drop of the ball.

Blud oath! Almost a perfectly lethal forward line decoy, at that; he is an enforced coverage for most AFL teams, particularly when he has moved downfield for a bit of a run. 

24 minutes ago, von said:

Did you start getting out of bed on the other side?

In my preseason ramblings I clearly stated that we could finish anywhere from 1 - 12 based on our pre season. I’m edging closer to 1 after watching them. There’s a resolve, a clear hunger and want atm. I like it but there’s 20 more games to go before our season really begins. This is the fluff

Edited March 26, 20241 yr by Roost it far

18 hours ago, Gawndy the Great said:

Will McAdam ever play a game? There are whispers that he is body is failing to hold up to the rigours of AFL footy.

He’s nearly thirty and struggled to play fifty games, I wouldn’t be expecting much.

Lever confirmed to play this week and May a chance for the crows game according to Goodwin

Just now, DeeZee said:

Lever confirmed to play this week and May a chance for the crows game according to Goodwin

Not quite.

He said we're confident in Lever playing. He will train today but I wouldn't be surprised if the position is "he has to get through training".

May is doing some running today which is probably a good sign.

14 hours ago, CHF said:

While Ben Brown just kicked a point last week I think he has been of great value to the forward group. the opposition just cannot afford to cover him and pay respect to the potential damage he is capable of.

What I have also loved seeing from BBB over the last couple of weeks is the pure enjoyment he is getting from seeing his teammates’ success. He cheers and celebrates everything with them - it brings a smile to my face each time I see it ❤️💙