20 hours ago, jnrmac said:

Didnt we get smashed last year because of their two talls? I recall it was gather round and they pumped us when we were Ok and they were bad.

Oh and they have added Goldstein since then.

 

 

Yep and it rained the entire time. As you said, Essendon were bad. Everyone expected us to win that day which made the loss even harder to take. Many of their disgusting fans made the trip and boy did they let us know about it. The only ‘good’ thing about it was that I had $100 on them to win. Dirty, dirty money. 🤬

LOL on the drive home I said to my road-trip buddies “Welp, we’re back here in five weeks (vs Port), it can’t possibly be this bad” Yeah nah, it was worse. It rained the entire time, only way heavier this time and it was so cold. Ponchos are next to useless in those conditions. We spread all our clothes and belongings around our hotel room in an attempt to dry them (it failed) and the next morning my DA roomie went out in damp clothes to buy more clothes and a (dry) backpack. I just wore my wet clothes home on the plane. Good times 😳

12 hours ago, Oxdee said:

and we aren’t a good marking team? May, lever, tmac, petty fritch, jvr and turner. That’s a third of the side are elite contested marks 

I agree in part Oxdee. The players you list have a good marking record, but as for contested marking, only JVR and May are showing their best at the moment. Petty strong in patches.

But I think Draper, Wright, Laverde, Langford, Jones, McKay, Duursma and even young Caddy are all in better form for contested marking. They do get a lot of marking stats from chipping it around, uncontested footy, but when the contest is in the air I reckon they cover us at the moment.

If Max played, he covers Draper easily, but I don't reckon either of Fullarton or Verrall will be as strong against him.

4 minutes ago, WalkingCivilWar said:

Yep and it rained the entire time. As you said, Essendon were bad. Everyone expected us to win that day which made the loss even harder to take. Many of their disgusting fans made the trip and boy did they let us know about it. The only ‘good’ thing about it was that I had $100 on them to win. Dirty, dirty money. 🤬

LOL on the drive home I said to my road-trip buddies “Welp, we’re back here in five weeks (vs Port), it can’t possibly be this bad” Yeah nah, it was worse. It rained the entire time, only way heavier this time and it was so cold. Ponchos are next to useless in those conditions. We spread all our clothes and belongings around our hotel room in an attempt to dry them (it failed) and the next morning my DA roomie went out in damp clothes to buy more clothes and a (dry) backpack. I just wore my wet clothes home on the plane. Good times 😳

I got the flu just reading that!

Essendon 1 wood is outside uncontested footy. If it rains, it will be a scrap and dirty. As much as we suck in the wet, it will take away their strength. 

23 minutes ago, jnrmac said:

Just went back and checked the stats. He had zero hitouts in the GF.

Just looking at that year, Stats as follows Ruck Contest/Hit outs

R1 -  24/4
R2 - 20/2
R3 -  14/5
R4 - 23/6
R5 -  14/6
R6 - 19/7
R7 - 13/1
R8 -  47/4
R9 -  10/1
R10 - 17/3
R11 -  15/2
R12 -  16/5
R13 -  13/2
R14 - BYE
R15 - 17/4
R16 - 16/1
R17  - 16/4
R18 - 0/0
R19 - 0/0
R20 - 0/0
R21 - 0/0
R22 - 0/0
R23 -  0/0
FW1 - Did not Play
SF - 12/0
PF -  22/1
GF -  11/0

So Total of 339/58.

Whoever we put up is going to have a difficult evening though.

 

9 hours ago, dpositive said:

Id have Tomlinson in the defence to take ruck and run Maxs defensive lines.

Fullarton to do ruck duties and maxs forward lines. Verral as sub to replace him.

Fullarton and Verral to be physical, run into and over whoever is contesting ball ups as appropriate.

Id try and leave JVR and Kozzie in forward line with few rotations into the centre.

Our backs are pretty solid with May, McVee, Bowser, Lever. Did AMW play back? to match and hold the bombers forwards

We've found a few with Kolt, Windsor. Rivers in the centre. Melks back to support JVR, Fritter, Disco forward to worry the bombers backs. Match em up appropriately

ANB, Sparrow, Vines, Clarry do their thing rotating off bench and matching  the bombers mids

and of course Lingers on the wing just running forward and back and adding that normal outlet in defence or forward.

There's plenty of options in the squad, we are about to see it.

we can and should beat this mob.

forgot 2 (at least)

backs include Tmac 

forwards include Chandler

2 hours ago, zeldacat said:

This is very interesting and have been watching what TDK is doing at Carlton. (oppo watch) At centre bounces maybe every third bounce, he stays down and doesn't jump in the ruck giving the Blues 4 mids on the ground to get the loose ball. He also does this at boundary throw-ins and clears it. Something to watch.

You highlight a subtle difference..  Need to attend every bounce , throw in.. Handing ANYTHING  on a plate is football suicide.

Contesting 'properly'  may not be needed per se... but need to contain the contest..... or just dont bother turning up....same result.

Is it correct that Fullarton is only 92kg. Not exactly a big lad....

Not sure if playing Fullarton or throwing all of JVR, Petty and Turner at the oppo's rucks is the better option??

Looking at Fullarton's stats over his career, he once had a 17 possession game against Collingwood in 2021 and his highest mark tally is 5.

 

Apparently Maxy is trying to get back for the Freo game...

6 minutes ago, DistrACTION Jackson said:

Apparently Maxy is trying to get back for the Freo game...

I am sure he is trying to get back for Saturday night too. The man is unhinged.

Doubt they'll risk him.

14 minutes ago, DistrACTION Jackson said:

Apparently Maxy is trying to get back for the Freo game...

He is a quick healer.  His knee was supposed to keep him out for 5 or 6 last season and he only missed three.  First game back was a good one against the Tigers, 8 marks, 17 disposals and a goal.  I'll back him in to miss only one or two.

14 minutes ago, DistrACTION Jackson said:

Apparently Maxy is trying to get back for the Freo game...

This simply highlights how desperate we should be to get a genuine strong back up ruck 

it’s just unsustainable to rely on Max fronting up week after week 

Obviously we thought Fullerton could be the foil for Max but so far he looks a long way off being capable of what we need - if he is not playing this week with Max absent then that says a fair bit about how the FD are rating him atm 

If he does get a go let’s hope he performs well as that would be a big boost to our short term prospects 

12 hours ago, Dee-tonator said:

 

3. Fullarton might just surprise everyone.

This!

I'm choosing to embrace this. Get to see another kid or two and see more of the team take on some leadership responsibility. 

Hope 2-3 is a real 2-3 and not a wild guess though. 

19 minutes ago, Sydee said:

This simply highlights how desperate we should be to get a genuine strong back up ruck 

it’s just unsustainable to rely on Max fronting up week after week 

Obviously we thought Fullerton could be the foil for Max but so far he looks a long way off being capable of what we need - if he is not playing this week with Max absent then that says a fair bit about how the FD are rating him atm 

If he does get a go let’s hope he performs well as that would be a big boost to our short term prospects 

I think it shows how much of a professional and hard worker Max is.... it wasn't the club saying this, it his him.

If you've seen his home setup he has (spa, sauna, ice bath etc) you would know why he could get back so quickly.

In 2018 WC lost Naitanui ..,Gaff &

Shepherd & went onto win a   GF …it’s about the collective efforts of every player at each match. Do that &

we are in every match , 

2 hours ago, Sydee said:

This simply highlights how desperate we should be to get a genuine strong back up ruck 

it’s just unsustainable to rely on Max fronting up week after week 

Obviously we thought Fullerton could be the foil for Max but so far he looks a long way off being capable of what we need - if he is not playing this week with Max absent then that says a fair bit about how the FD are rating him atm 

If he does get a go let’s hope he performs well as that would be a big boost to our short term prospects 

I’ve read many training reports bemoaning the lack of talent at Casey

only to see these players come in to the  senior team surrounded by senior players and they preform admirably…AMW springs to mind. No-one replaces Max but let’s see what happens ..back whoever comes in & judge after the game 

15 minutes ago, Deestar9 said:

I’ve read many training reports bemoaning the lack of talent at Casey

only to see these players come in to the  senior team surrounded by senior players and they preform admirably…AMW springs to mind. No-one replaces Max but let’s see what happens ..back whoever comes in & judge after the game 

The main problem with the Casey team is the unlisted players are BOG ordinary other than White and Freeman. It would be pretty hard to play in that side when those players are constantly turning it over.

The club and Casey need to get together to go out and get some good senior players to help ensure our VFL is strong again.

Only a few years ago we had guys like Munro, Buntine, Ellison, Hutchins all running around.

18 minutes ago, DistrACTION Jackson said:

The main problem with the Casey team is the unlisted players are BOG ordinary other than White and Freeman. It would be pretty hard to play in that side when those players are constantly turning it over.

The club and Casey need to get together to go out and get some good senior players to help ensure our VFL is strong again.

Only a few years ago we had guys like Munro, Buntine, Ellison, Hutchins all running around.

I think you need a balanced mix. IMO Casey did the MFC no favour when they recruited Fevola. We’d taken James Cook at pick 10. Cook was probably never going to make it but Fevola’s selfish ‘get out of my territory’ approach to playing did not help Cook.

Similarly Jefferson appears to be progressing better in the absence of BBB and Schache.

1 minute ago, M_9 said:

I think you need a balanced mix. IMO Casey did the MFC no favour when they recruited Fevola. We’d taken James Cook at pick 10. Cook was probably never going to make it but Fevola’s selfish ‘get out of my territory’ approach to playing did not help Cook.

Similarly Jefferson appears to be progressing better in the absence of BBB and Schache.

I think the Casey team was run very differently when Fev played there, but I understand your point.

1 hour ago, DistrACTION Jackson said:

I think the Casey team was run very differently when Fev played there, but I understand your point.

Well I can confirm this absolutely and not disimilarly to when Sautner ruled the roost at Sandy unbelievably detrimentally to Juice Newton. I could tell a few stories about both, but I won't but the Fev thing at Casey was unbelievable!!

1 hour ago, DistrACTION Jackson said:

The main problem with the Casey team is the unlisted players are BOG ordinary other than White and Freeman. It would be pretty hard to play in that side when those players are constantly turning it over.

The club and Casey need to get together to go out and get some good senior players to help ensure our VFL is strong again.

Only a few years ago we had guys like Munro, Buntine, Ellison, Hutchins all running around.

Def agree with the Casey players but the Melb listed players will be playing to the clubs requirements…would have markers they must achieve each week. This is why maybe we don’t attract a better calibre of player because the Melb way comes first? Who knows …or maybe we’ve had a lot of injuries…weird playing schedules & only now have we a few more listed players available…

5 hours ago, DistrACTION Jackson said:

Apparently Maxy is trying to get back for the Freo game...

 

5 hours ago, Jaded No More said:

I am sure he is trying to get back for Saturday night too. The man is unhinged.

Doubt they'll risk him.

There are a lot of different "chip fractures lower fibula".  Some effect ankle stability which would involve many weeks out: others are "just sore" and not structural.  We don't know details so can't really prognosticate.

2 hours ago, Deestar9 said:

In 2018 WC lost Naitanui ..,Gaff &

Shepherd & went onto win a   GF …it’s about the collective efforts of every player at each match. Do that &

we are in every match , 

They were written off 100% when NicNat went down.  Maybe they just had a brilliant coach - then.

4 hours ago, Deestar9 said:

In 2018 WC lost Naitanui ..,Gaff &

Shepherd & went onto win a   GF …it’s about the collective efforts of every player at each match. Do that &

we are in every match , 

That was also the year Collingwood had plenty of injuries going into finals and they only just lost the GF from a clutch kick from a tight angle. 
 

Everyone is gettable this year. 1 or 2 bad injuries to any team is going to change finals.

Edited July 9, 20241 yr by BoBo

2 hours ago, picket fence said:

... but the Fev thing at Casey was unbelievable!!

I was at KPark on the infamous 186 day. Fev and Cook were playing in the early game v the Cats. Probably 20 spectators. Score was something like 65 - 0 at quarter time (Cats way). You could hear Fev yelling to Cook to get out of the fifty.