4 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Jefferson wont/shouldn't be in round 1 contention.

Last week we ran with the 3 talls in Turner, JVR and Jefferson. There is no way looking past it, Jefferson is counted as a tall with his height and reach.

With JVR back being an uncertainty and Turner going completely missing for two whole practice games other then junk time goals then AJ will simply get a round 1 gig.

finally some common sense from someone regarding this

Quite a few positives, but JVR is head and shoulders above any alternatives and we really missed him.

Similar story at the other end, we missed  either Petty or TMac as big bodied defenders. 

And up forward, hoping Mentha or Henderson or Sharp can step up, Chandler just doesn’t seem to be able to take that next step and if they’re going to play Kozzie further up the ground …

 

Edited March 2, 20251 yr by bing181

Thought Freo really shut down our overlap handball. It seemed each time we handballed fwd out guy was immediately under pressure.

Freo seemed to read that play very well. We need to get more separation when calling for a hb receive  

I thought we started the game really well, but once Freo got their transition game going we really struggled and they piled on 6 in a row. Once we started to dominate in the middle again it looked much much better. 

Overall I thought our back 6 were really poor, and we really struggled against Freo's forward pressure by the likes of Bolton and others leading to a heap of uncharacteristic defensive 50 turn overs.

The positives were that we smashed them in clearance which is something they've done to us over the last couple of times we've played them. Our mix looks much more dynamic and I really liked our forward handballs. 

I think Adam Simpson said at the end "I've probably walked away a lot more impressed with what Melbourne is capable of this year" and I have a similar sentiment. I think we're absolutely capable of having a big year this year if our top liners can stay on the park 

 

Troy Chaplin just said that JVR will be fine for round 1.

2 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Troy Chaplin just said that JVR will be fine for round 1.

Thats what said about princess di , broken leg 

I'll be feeling more positive when Jake Melksham & Judd McVee return from injury. I've seen enough of Billings goal kicking & Howes poor disposal to believe Casey the best place for them. And I've yet to see Adams contribute enough down back to suggest he is even AFL standard. As for Bowey, does he even look when he kicks the ball? He gets plenty of it but unlike his 2021 debut year, his disposal is bloody horrible. 

Also just to add, Freo only missed 7 shots on goal (6 of their points were rushed). We missed 16 shots on goal...

5 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Jefferson wont/shouldn't be in round 1 contention.

Last week we ran with the 3 talls in Turner, JVR and Jefferson. There is no way looking past it, Jefferson is counted as a tall with his height and reach.

With JVR back being an uncertainty and Turner going completely missing for two whole practice games other then junk time goals then AJ will simply get a round 1 gig.

There was no Fritsch (or McAdam or Tracc for that matter) last week, so they needed someone to play the Fritsch role. Jeffo looked every bit to be covering Fritsch’s role last week.

Every training I’ve seen has been Disco, JvR and Fritsch as the A team with Jeffo and AJ on the B team. If they had any inclination to run the 3 big bodied talls together surely they would’ve done it by now.

I also disagree that Disco was missing against North, he did a role throughout most of that game.

Can someone tell me what Chandlers role in the side is?  Still can’t believe we kept him and let Toby Bedford go

9 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Troy Chaplin just said that JVR will be fine for round 1.

Can’t really make that proclamation until he’s made the 4.5 hour flight home and trained a few times. Hopefully just a cork but a bit early to be sure even with the extra weeks rest. 

2 minutes ago, The Trunk said:

Can someone tell me what Chandlers role in the side is?  Still can’t believe we kept him and let Toby Bedford go

Bedford's no good mate

In modern footy, how many teams lose a game despite having 35 scoring shots? All we had to was manage 15.20 (which is still fairly atrocious) instead of 11.24 and we get the win.

Concerned about out our lack of defence, the inability to defend transition and goals from kick ins, and those sloppy goals we concede in our defensive 50’s due to fumbles and mis kicks. In 2024 our defence was off and this continued today.

15 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Troy Chaplin just said that JVR will be fine for round 1.

bont said the same thing about his injury....

49 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

I saw more intent and physical application in AJ then I have in Matt Jefferson the whole time he has been at the club. Just an absolute brute of a forward.

Once he gets some experience at senior level, him and JVR are going to be a good physical combo.

Could have easily kicked 3 tonight. Round 1 debut awaits.

Sorry Daz beg to disagree..not a forwards bootlace, has zero forward craft, battler at best,give me Jeffo's nous and much better separation and potentiality! Good trier but thats it!!

Just now, The Trunk said:

Can someone tell me what Chandlers role in the side is?  Still can’t believe we kept him and let Toby Bedford go

He’s an excellent pressure forward when up and running. Competes overhead, gets first to the ball, seals off his man from attacking. Smart player and accurate kick for goal when up and going. One of the worst games he’s played in a long time today. He was tripped and had a sore ankle early but didn’t seem too badly hampered. Hopefully he was just getting the rust off!

Still can’t believe in something that didn’t happen?

5 minutes ago, The Trunk said:

Can someone tell me what Chandlers role in the side is?  Still can’t believe we kept him and let Toby Bedford go

Chandler VERY overated by many on this site!!

2 minutes ago, DeeSpencer said:

He’s an excellent pressure forward when up and running. Competes overhead, gets first to the ball, seals off his man from attacking. Smart player and accurate kick for goal when up and going. One of the worst games he’s played in a long time today. He was tripped and had a sore ankle early but didn’t seem too badly hampered. Hopefully he was just getting the rust off!

Still can’t believe in something that didn’t happen?

PRESURE FORWARD??? KICK A FRIGGEN GOAL OR PLAY AT CASEY!!

Small defenders and small forwards are a real problem. 

Bowey - don't care how many touches he got - he did extremely little constructive work. Overkicks, runs into trouble and he's actually a very bad defender, weak tackler and not very accountable. Panics under pressure. He frequently has bags kicked on him. I honestly can't remember when he ever shut a good small forward down. But at the same time, he really doesn't offer that much going the other way. Being a nice penetrating stationary kick who takes kick outs is not enough. We can do better.

The gap between Koz and Chandler is too big and without ANB there, Chandler looks lost and not at the level.

Unfortunately all our best forwards are medium sized and don't apply pressure. It's quite the glaring list hole. 

If Langford can show a bit - and I'm not quite sold he's ready - I would consider putting Viney in as a small forward. Not slow, has tricks, will pressure and could be a leader in a forward line completely devoid of it.. 

1 hour ago, Sesto said:

A question for the track watchers if I may:

Do we ever practice goal kicking in any meaningful way?

Surely the official training sessions aren't the only opportunities to practise shots. Some players may have put in hours away from the public over summer.

8 minutes ago, picket fence said:

Sorry Daz beg to disagree..not a forwards bootlace, has zero forward craft, battler at best,give me Jeffo's nous and much better separation and potentiality! Good trier but thats it!!

Jefferson has none of that.

Embarrassingly kept getting out marked last week against North and has no second efforts or physical intent.

You keep banging on about how well he trains or how good hes been, yet the MFC coaches beg to differ otherwise he would have simply played today or at worse named as a emergency. 

He was neither. That's damning for a 3rd year key forward taken as a first rounder few years back. What does it say on him when the coaches prefer a guy that's toiled away at VFL level and can come in today and already look like that he belongs at AFL level and yet he's only been at the club for 5 minutes. 

20 minutes ago, fr_ap said:

If Langford can show a bit - and I'm not quite sold he's ready - I would consider putting Viney in as a small forward. Not slow, has tricks, will pressure and could be a leader in a forward line completely devoid of it.. 

Viney spent a good chunk forward (As did Clarry). His hunt for the contest inside 50 was noticeable. 

Totally agree on small forwards. They are learning a new game plan to give them some outs. We’re going to miss what McAdam could’ve given us even if it was 12 games. At anything like his best he’s the combo of aerial and pressure we need.

Sharp is somewhat handy when he makes a straight line for the footy, even more so if that line continues direct to goal. Having to fill in as the third winger didn’t help his game. I’d be inclined to try Chandler for some wing minutes and see if Sharp can just focus on providing the half forward speed we badly need.

Hopefully Kolt is fit sooner than later. And we’ll see it Jack Henderson has something to offer. Spargo of course as well.

 

Edited March 2, 20251 yr by DeeSpencer

6 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Jefferson has none of that.

Embarrassingly kept getting out marked last week against North and has no second efforts or physical intent.

You keep banging on about how well he trains or how good hes been, yet the MFC coaches beg to differ otherwise he would have simply played today or at worse named as a emergency. 

He was neither. That's damning for a 3rd year key forward taken as a first rounder few years back. What does it say on him when the coaches prefer a guy that's toiled away at VFL level and can come in today and already look like that he belongs at AFL level and yet he's only been at the club for 5 minutes. 

Jefferson is Sam Weideman mk2

2 hours ago, GS_1905 said:

A back spasm is not a nice injury. It is usually a result of something not quite right in the spine. 

Or being crammed up in one of those ****ty little plane/bus seats for hours.

24 minutes ago, fr_ap said:

 

 

 It's quite the glaring list hole. 

 

Ouch! Sounds like it needs an ointment.

24 minutes ago, fr_ap said:

If Langford can show a bit - and I'm not quite sold he's ready - I would consider putting Viney in as a small forward. Not slow, has tricks, will pressure and could be a leader in a forward line completely devoid of it..