On 06/05/2024 at 02:55, leave it to deever said:

Our three horsemen should be able to shut down their tall and pretty potent forward line. 

If Petty and Oliver and Max play like that again and Jvr lifts a little then yea we should be quite confident.

The five day break has me a little concerned given how hard we played.

 

Remember we will not get free kicks against Carlton no matter what.

Like Brisbane, they siphon frees from the mere touch. One only had to look at the B's versus GC.

  On 06/05/2024 at 08:24, M_9 said:

I live on the Surfcoast and travelled up by train. V Line had an additional train up and back. Not sure it was needed. I have 30 or so mates who are Cats members and attend every home game. Not one attended Sat night. The return train arrives at Geelong at 12:30am. Can’t really blame them although almost as many Dees fans travelling up and back.

Cats fans are bloody spoiled - the only team (other than the NSW & QLD teams) who don’t have to share a home ground and get to always have 90+% of the crowd.  And further their ground is not standard AFL shape which further enhances their home ground advantage.  

  On 04/05/2024 at 22:24, leave it to deever said:

I don't want to be negative but that game probably drained us a lot. The five day break really annoys me. Will it have an impact?

 

Another short break between games is deliberate handicapping, neglect and above all, insulting for the thinking supporters of the MFC, the players themselves and above all, a blaring weakness in contrast to the high morality yardstick so self-considered and 'faked' by the AFL. 

  On 06/05/2024 at 10:54, Deemania since 56 said:

Another short break between games is deliberate handicapping, neglect and above all, insulting for the thinking supporters of the MFC, the players themselves and above all, a blaring weakness in contrast to the high morality yardstick so self-considered and 'faked' by the AFL. 

Thanks Deemania.

And remind me to never cross swords with you on this website.😃

Although to be completely honest a part of me is glad another game is coming around so soon.

Can't wait.

  On 06/05/2024 at 04:21, whatwhat say what said:

nope

the club was effusive in the praise for our fans turning up

felt like we had about 40k of the 52k there i thought

the passionate dees were loud

Don’t disagree with most things you said.  Goody very much acknowledged and was grateful to the supporters that turned up.  Home crowd advantage can be the difference between winning and losing.

I think the point Goody (or maybe it’s just me) was trying to make was that the more fans that turn up and the noisier we are does not go unnoticed by the playing group.

Although it’s a Carlton home game coming up and they will clearly outnumber us, the more  passionate noisy demon supporters that rock up the better. It will be and appreciated by our players.  It may just help our boys get over the line in a tight game.

Edited May 6, 20241 yr by Wodjathefirst
Typo

  On 04/05/2024 at 23:39, Farmer said:

 

Surely we have 2 great wings, Langdon and Windsor . I agree Billing’s doesn’t fit in and I was disappointed with his decision making . I thought Woewodin was quite good . And I’m uneasy about Bowen playing without a Casey game first

Woey in my mind was one of our worse players. I would drop him and Laurie.

Do we want Hunter back in the team?  I re-watched the game last night and honestly Billings wasn't that bad, he made some great kicks, just shanked that goal which was unfortunate but I reckon maybe keep him in.

Would swap Laurie for Bowey but I really want to see Laurie have a great game, I think he's got it in him somewhere.  

  On 06/05/2024 at 08:32, Deeoldfart said:

Not so sure about Turner, Ouch!  If I read the play correctly, Disco payed a defensive roll on Stewart, and limited his impact significantly.

 

  On 06/05/2024 at 10:08, loges said:

Turner was playing defensive forward on Stewart.

I was at the ground and it didn't look like that to me. Most of the time I thought it was Petracca or Pickett who lined up on Stewart.

  On 06/05/2024 at 22:53, Young Angus said:

Do we want Hunter back in the team?  I re-watched the game last night and honestly Billings wasn't that bad, he made some great kicks, just shanked that goal which was unfortunate but I reckon maybe keep him in.

Would swap Laurie for Bowey but I really want to see Laurie have a great game, I think he's got it in him somewhere.  

I fully agree. Billings must be given time to master his role. Garry Lyon pointed out how our  ball movement had altered from the back half. I've no reason to believe Hunter would be any better than Jack. Like Lever, IMV Jack's performance will lift as he becomes more confident and familiar with his team mates.

  On 06/05/2024 at 11:12, leave it to deever said:

Thanks Deemania.

And remind me to never cross swords with you on this website.😃

Although to be completely honest a part of me is glad another game is coming around so soon.

Can't wait.

Y'know, LitD, I am rapt to see the footy as early as it is scheduled but I do wonder about the impact such incomplete non-recovery interludes might take as the season progresses, and the toll it may take with all of our players who are critically important links in the teamwork and gameplan chains.

  On 07/05/2024 at 00:32, Deemania since 56 said:

Y'know, LitD, I am rapt to see the footy as early as it is scheduled but I do wonder about the impact such incomplete non-recovery interludes might take as the season progresses, and the toll it may take with all of our players who are critically important links in the teamwork and gameplan chains.

I'm in full agreement on this.

But I'm sure the footy department knows how to handle such challenges and protect the players as best as possible.

Only two more sleeps to go.

IN: Bowey, Hunter

OUT: Laurie, Billings

Woey sub.

  On 07/05/2024 at 00:32, Deemania since 56 said:

Y'know, LitD, I am rapt to see the footy as early as it is scheduled but I do wonder about the impact such incomplete non-recovery interludes might take as the season progresses, and the toll it may take with all of our players who are critically important links in the teamwork and gameplan chains.

My guess is a player well-conditioned to AFL football would be able to adequately recover after five days under optimal circumstances (eg in Melb likely better than in Adelaide).

The bigger issue is, doing so requires a big reduction in training load between matches and, particularly when repeated, this has a negative impact on maintaining fitness. Of course, a short break one week usually means a longer break between games the next week and thus the opportunity to do extra training to partially offset previous reductions.

I'm sure the high performance team have meticulous plans for all this load management. Getting it right for 20+ individual athletes would be a huge task. 

With the Carlton game likely being predicted to be a tough game a long way out, I'm guessing the players will be allowed to recover to optimise performance (perhaps if we were playing Nth Melbourne they may have pushed the training a little more).  

  On 07/05/2024 at 00:05, La Dee-vina Comedia said:

 

I was at the ground and it didn't look like that to me. Most of the time I thought it was Petracca or Pickett who lined up on Stewart.

Does playing two of your most attacking players in a defensive role make sense ?

  On 07/05/2024 at 01:36, loges said:

Does playing two of your most attacking players in a defensive role make sense ?

Who said they were playng defensively? But lining a good player on Steward means he is to be accountable for a dangerous player, and cannot just be left to intercept at will. It's exactly how we try and shape things for Lever.  

Even if Turner was placed onto Stewart.... he may have blunted Stewarts output marginally, but 7 intercept marks and going at 83% efficiency is still a good night.  

Guess we saw things differently on the night.

Bowey in for Billings 

Hore (sub) in for Laurie

Billings > Hunter at this stage. We have a lot of elite runners in our team but not many who link up as well as JB. 

  On 07/05/2024 at 00:26, M_9 said:

I fully agree. Billings must be given time to master his role. Garry Lyon pointed out how our  ball movement had altered from the back half. I've no reason to believe Hunter would be any better than Jack. Like Lever, IMV Jack's performance will lift as he becomes more confident and familiar with his team mates.

I think the FD understand this and will persevere with him in the side. I see a firing Spargo as his only competition for the link man spot atm. 

  On 07/05/2024 at 02:07, Dee*ceiving said:

Bowey in for Billings 

Hore (sub) in for Laurie

Taking two half forwards out for two defenders?  Might be a little unlikely.

  On 07/05/2024 at 02:01, Ouch! said:

Who said they were playng defensively? But lining a good player on Steward means he is to be accountable for a dangerous player, and cannot just be left to intercept at will. It's exactly how we try and shape things for Lever.  

Even if Turner was placed onto Stewart.... he may have blunted Stewarts output marginally, but 7 intercept marks and going at 83% efficiency is still a good night.  

Guess we saw things differently on the night.

Fair enough but pretty sure it was stated on the commentary Blicavs was playing on petracca 

  On 07/05/2024 at 01:36, loges said:

Does playing two of your most attacking players in a defensive role make sense ?

With Tracc it would help break the tag which seems to be happening most games lately Pickett also provides a great miss match

To reiterate how consistent we've been since 2021, Carlton are the only team to have a multiple game (2) winning streak against us. If we win on Thursday, the only losing streaks we have are single games against Sydney, Brisbane, Collingwood, Fremantle, and GWS. 

Such a contrast to those losing streaks to Hawthorn and North Melbourne during the dark days.

  On 07/05/2024 at 02:14, MrFreeze said:

I think the FD understand this and will persevere with him in the side. I see a firing Spargo as his only competition for the link man spot atm. 

Was thinking this yesterday. He certainly seems to get the ball more often than Charlie did in 2023 but perhaps Charlie had more reliable disposal.

I think Charlie will find it difficult to regain his spot assuming no injuries to his competitors.

I'd be looking at Hunter as an impact sub assuming he can improve his speed and kicking style (low bullets). Not really sure what other role there is for him

The 5 day break shouldn't be an issue. Stats show that it becomes an issue when you either have a significant difference to the break of your opponent, or when you're having multiple consectuvie short weeks.

Carlton will only get 1 extra day rest, and we had long breaks between the past two games, so it's not a factor nor an excuse.

It was a fair excuse for the loss to Brisbane. Repeat short turnarounds compounding.

After the Carlton game, we have breaks of 9 days, 7 days, 7 days, 8 days and then a bye. After the bye, there aren't many big games that would get scheduled for a Thursday or Friday, so we should avoid many more short turnarounds.

  On 06/05/2024 at 07:02, monoccular said:

Wells - do you mean a rest or a game at Casey?

I thought that I read that McAdam had concussion.   Please enlighten us, VFL Casey watchers. 
 

 

I meant selection in the 1’s. Honestly I’m 50/50. I think he needs his confidence bolstered.. is it better he tries to get that in the AFL or go back a step to step forward? 

  On 07/05/2024 at 01:07, FTB said:

IN: Bowey, Hunter

OUT: Laurie, Billings

Woey sub.

Bowey hasn’t played since round zero and I saw nothing from Hunter at Casey to deserve a call up 

To me the only two that could put their hand up from Casey were AMW and Roy George who isn’t on our list