The goal kicking was deplorable as was our effort. Can we get Hawkins (or similar) in to fix our forward problem? I love Max but he even smiled before his attempt on goal as if he knew the outcome.

The problem is not isolated this year and must be our priority. Two players in the reserves who can kick straight in front JVR and TMac must be bewildered.

Why oh why did we let them switch so often and then leave 15 directly in front uncontested? Can anyone explain that? Our season was on the line and we fell into a pretty obvious trap.

Give away the soccer balls at training. Is this the only sport in the world where some professional [censored] limits time spent of the most important aspect of winning.

Forwards practicing goal kicking.

2 hours ago, dazzledavey36 said:

It was very clear cut. Even two separate articles from the Age and Herald Sun noted this. It was also evident just from watching the game.

Was very disappointed with Clarry. Just when we all thought he was starting to come good. He never wore a tag well even during his prime, but he simply did not work hard enough yesterday and we lost the usual inside dominance that we carry over teams like Saints.

I don't know what is up with this bloke, what is it that is really holding him back. i need to watch some of his work pre issue to remind myself how good he was, just cannot remember what his 4xAA and 2AFLCA performances looked like.

17 hours ago, At the break of Gawn said:

For those just blindly blaming our inaccurate kicking need to have a look at the shot map in wheelo's stat files.

We barely get any opportunities straight in front. For all the strides we've made over the last 6 weeks, our forwards continue lead into the pocket leading to difficult shots on goal. The Saints used the corridor much much better for better quality entries. They kicked 7 goals basically dead in front within 30m.

Our entries still aren't good enough, and if you go back and watch the QF against the fifth in '23 you'll see the same thing. If you pressure the opposition and force them wide, guess what? They have difficulty converting.

Given how close the competition is, I think we need 14 wins to definitely make it. That means we basically can only afford 2 maybe 3 more losses for the year but still have Collingwood twice, Gold Coast in GC and Adelaide away.

Expected scoring takes into account the difficulty of the shots (angle, distance, set shot vs in play etc) and we finished on a higher score. Sure, we could make things easier for ourselves by marking in the goal square but our goal kicking IS the problem.

People blaming the goal-kicking are just looking for an excuse for why we lost. We were out-planned and out-coached all day. The Saints are known for switching the ball from the backline and were allowed to do that all day without an attempt to man up. Players got sucked into the contest, leaving Saints free to walk the ball out. Players continually handballed boundary side to running players with nowhere to go but down the line, where they were cut off. Forwards and backmen were dragged up and down to the center line, thus being exposed. Players watched their opponent run to free space and did not even bother to chase. The list goes on. If we play like that next week, the Valentine's day Massacre will seem like a teddy bear's picnic.

Edited Monday at 05:273 days by demon3165

3 hours ago, DubDee said:

Windsor. For at least some of them

Needs to continue to work on his defensive game and positioning

Need to TOTALLY SHELVE this idea of Wimdsor of Half Back! We are killing this kids confidence and career. PUT HIM BACK ON THE WING!

6 minutes ago, picket fence said:

Need to TOTALLY SHELVE this idea of Wimdsor of Half Back! We are killing this kids confidence and career. PUT HIM BACK ON THE WING!

He needs to learn how to defend even when playing on the wing. I look fwd to him moving away from the backline but I reckon it is the best thing for him right now to learn to defend and will benefit for this

6 minutes ago, picket fence said:

Need to TOTALLY SHELVE this idea of Wimdsor of Half Back! We are killing this kids confidence and career. PUT HIM BACK ON THE WING!

I agree. I'd like to see Lindsay rotated to the Half Back. He has a defensive capability too. I think this stuff will be relooked at in next years pre-season. But the Windsor at HB experiment didn't work IMO. Id also like to get all other experiements out of the way this year too, so we dont kill another season with poor planning.

1. Rivers in the Midfield or HB - i think we need to let this one play out a bit more as well

2. Turner Defender or Forward - we know he is a super defender. Can he be the forward answer we are looking for .... i reckon we need to persist with him in the forward line a bit more just to satisfy ourselves.

3. Bill Laure & Woey - give them a last chance block of games otherwise induct them into the THoF (Toumpas Hall of Fame) and delist/trade.

4. Jed / Sestan / Jeffo and Brown Jnr - give them all a solid go and see whether we persist development or delist/trade.

Turner looks too good in defence, especially when we have JVR and Jeffo who's job is forward, hope they step up.

Rivers at Half Back for me, he's so good there, just keep him there. Not sure about Windsor but we had lots of issues yesterday but oh my the goal kicking was dreadful. Put everything into fixing that please, we should be better at that.

I really don't want to see AJ in the team again for a while until he can kick! Not his fault, but his kicking seems to be the worst of the bunch.

My take.

I know not everyone agrees with me (or perhaps do, to some degree, but think i over egg the pudding) about the impact of loading.

But i'd make three points:

One, as i have noted for the last 4-5 seasons on Demonland, EVERY year during this phase of the season (ie the mid-season byes period) there are ALWAYS a huge number of anomalous results. This is a fact.

And the results are not just upset wins; there's also heaps of weird margins (eg massive blowouts, games that are much closer than the bookies have pegged it at etc). For example, in the GWS v Tigers' game the Tiger's line was +45 points. Which means the punters thought that GWS would win that game by nearly 8 goals. The tigers lost by 3 points, covering their line by a massive 42 points.

I have zero doubt the anomalous results are in large part are a function of where teams are at with their high-performance program.

To be clear I'm not arguing the high-performance programs are the only reason for this long-standing clear pattern of anomalous results in the middle of the year. But it is without doubt a significant factor, one that is all but completely ignored by media and fans alike.

Two, i think our performance against the Saints was impacted by us loading. And I'm not being smart after the fact.

In a pre-game post on DL arguing i thought we were too short in the betting and that it was the very definition of a danger game i noted one of the 6 reasons for this opinion was:

• 'I wonder if our high-performance program is geared towards being in optimal shape on Kings birthday at the potential expense of this game (ie bigger block of training into this game then taking advantage of the 8-day break to taper into the pies game)'

Following up to a comment by Bring Back Powell that he hopes I'm wrong because he'd rather we prioritized the game we have a better chance of winning, for risk of losing both games, i responded that i can see that logic, but that:

• 'I just wonder, given how poorly we have played in the Queens, Kings birthday game in the last few years (ironically, in large part because, IMO, we have been loading at this point in previous seasons) if the idea might be to be cherry ripe for the game.'

I'm convinced that proved to be the case, ie we took a calculated risk and did a big block of training ahead of this game, with the goal of optimizing our condition for the Pies game, and our performance suffered as a result.

My final point is in regard to the push back i often get when raising this topic - if all teams do it how come the Pies (or insert other top teams) don't drop games they should not lose whereas we do.

My answer is that it is a very good question, and that the answer includes factors such as having too many poor kicks and in previous years having a game plan more dependent on pressure than other teams (pressure is the thing that most noticeably drops off under the fatigue of loading*).

But also, that it's reasonable to question our mental resilience (what is leading teams doing?), planning and coaching. I would note, however, that the top teams DO lose matches during this phase of the year.

*Pressure is by the best measure of fatigue, with contested possessions second. They said on the fox coverage that:

• Our last quarter pressure rating was the lowest pressure rating in a quarter EVER under goody

• The average for the game the fifth lowest EVER under goody

I suspect that the majority of our top 10 worst pressure rating under goody would be within two weeks either side of our mid-season bye. @WheeloRatings do you have access to our historical pressure rating data?

Edited Monday at 07:312 days by binman

How many weeks for A.J??

48 minutes ago, DubDee said:

He needs to learn how to defend even when playing on the wing. I look fwd to him moving away from the backline but I reckon it is the best thing for him right now to learn to defend and will benefit for this

There is definitely something in this. He's having a pretty ordinary year by almost every metric.

That being said, he is learning to play a new role and is also suffering from the 'second year blues'. Not uncommon at all. Not excuses, but reasons for the drop off.

He's a great kick, so if we are going to play him in a new position - why not up forward?

As for the people having a crack at Petty and AJ; Petty has been really good for us structurally this year up forward. He competes and brings the ball to ground. Saying we need to get rid of them for a KP forward is largely nonsense, players like that don't really exist anymore - theres maybe 3 or 4 in the league. The rest are talls that average ~2 goals a game. The majority of our goals come from a spread of players, which has worked since the gameplan started coming together, but fell away in wile-e-coyote off a cliff style on the weekend.

AJ is exactly what it says on the tin, be mindful of expectations. Very likely he is off on holidays for a bit, so I dare say JVR will be back.

26 minutes ago, picket fence said:

How many weeks for A.J??

It was really agricultural.

32 minutes ago, picket fence said:

How many weeks for A.J??

If consistent then one as no concussion.

Think Callum Mills smashing Spargo for one week.

Edited Monday at 21:412 days by Redleg

1 minute ago, Redleg said:

If consistent then one as no concussion.

Think Callum Mills pleasing Spargo for one week.

Good thing he didn't annoy spargs then.

7 hours ago, Adina88 said:

It's Reconciliation Week. Call me old fashioned, but I reckon an Indigenous elder from Alice Springs is allowed to make a statement in their language for the local community on the subject of reconciliation.

If that's old fashioned thinking then we'd really have no problem.

49 minutes ago, binman said:

My take.

I know not everyone agrees with me (or perhaps do, to some degree, but think i over egg the pudding) about the impact of loading.

But i'd make three points:

One, as i have noted for the last 4-5 seasons on Demonland, EVERY year during this phase of the season (ie the mid-season byes period) there are ALWAYS a huge number of anomalous results. This is a fact.

And the results are not just upset wins; there's also heaps of weird margins (eg massive blowouts, games that are much closer than the bookies have pegged it at etc). For example, in the GWS v Tigers' game the Tiger's line was +45 points. Which means the punters thought that GWS would win that game by nearly 8 goals. The tigers lost by 3 points, covering their line by a massive 42 points.

I have zero doubt the anomalous results are in large part are a function of where teams are at with their high-performance program.

To be clear I'm not arguing the high-performance programs are the only reason for this long-standing clear pattern of anomalous results in the middle of the year. But it is without doubt a significant factor, one that is all but completely ignored by media and fans alike.

Two, i think our performance against the Saints was impacted by us loading. And I'm not being smart after the fact.

In a pre-game post on DL arguing i thought we were too short in the betting and that it was the very definition of a danger game i noted one of the 6 reasons for this opinion was:

• 'I wonder if our high-performance program is geared towards being in optimal shape on Kings birthday at the potential expense of this game (ie bigger block of training into this game then taking advantage of the 8-day break to taper into the pies game)'

Following up to a comment by Bring Back Powell that he hopes I'm wrong because he'd rather we prioritized the game we have a better chance of winning, for risk of losing both games, i responded that i can see that logic, but that:

• 'I just wonder, given how poorly we have played in the Queens, Kings birthday game in the last few years (ironically, in large part because, IMO, we have been loading at this point in previous seasons) if the idea might be to be cherry ripe for the game.'

I'm convinced that proved to be the case, ie we took a calculated risk and did a big block of training ahead of this game, with the goal of optimizing our condition for the Pies game, and our performance suffered as a result.

My final point is in regard to the push back i often get when raising this topic - if all teams do it how come the Pies (or insert other top teams) don't drop games they should not lose whereas we do.

My answer is that it is a very good question, and that the answer includes factors such as having too many poor kicks and in previous years having a game plan more dependent on pressure than other teams (pressure is the thing that most noticeably drops off under the fatigue of loading*).

But also, that it's reasonable to question our mental resilience (what is leading teams doing?), planning and coaching. I would note, however, that the top teams DO lose matches during this phase of the year.

*Pressure is by the best measure of fatigue, with contested possessions second. They said on the fox coverage that:

• Our last quarter pressure rating was the lowest pressure rating in a quarter EVER under goody

• The average for the game the fifth lowest EVER under goody

I suspect that the majority of our top 10 worst pressure rating under goody would be within two weeks either side of our mid-season bye. @WheeloRatings do you have access to our historical pressure rating data?

Sometimes horrendous pressure ratings are structural. Sam Mitchell spoke about it after they got walloped by the Pies, making the point that they just did not get in the right positions to apply pressure and tackle, ending up with only 38 tackles.

It looked like we were the same. The Saints just got extras back into our forward line and then had loose players everywhere when they ran it out. We were totally unable to get near them. It reminded me of the performance against Geelong where we just let them have the extras in defense.

Well, that game was hard to watch without breaking the monitor.

A few observations:

• That was one of the strangest games I have seen us play. No pressure particularly in the midfield. Loose Defence. Bad goal kicking...... And a lot of the metrics pointed to a win for us. It would have been brutal for the Saints if we had stolen it.

• Where did our pressure game from the last two weeks go? The midfield, that has been our main driver recently, was nowhere to be seen. Nothing out of the center, lead footed, no pressure and no connection. If it is down to loading then I would suggest that we are not doing it properly if it has such a detrimental effect on the quality of our performance.

• Our inept display of kicking for goal was masterful. Our forward 50 has been a problem for a number of seasons as ha our accuracy. The frustrating part about this is that there has not been any improvement or any, from the outside, attempt to remedy this critical problem. Williams was hailed as an answer but he has had no effect what so ever. Thanks and good-bye.

• Our coaching team had as bad a game as the players. Not pro-active and not re-active. Did not look to have any idea of what strings to pull. No plan A, B or C.

• We need to play players where they are most effective. On Sunday's game I would play Windsor on a wing, Petty back and Turner forward as a starting point for the KB game.

• We need to use Casey properly. I know it is a badly structured competition but it is what we have. Players returning from injury come back through Casey until they show fitness and form. Casey form needs to be rewarded. Senior players to use Casey to find form.

We have undone a lot of what we had rebuilt in the last 6 weeks but the damage is repairable if we can notch a win this next round.

Onward and (I hope) Upward.

1 hour ago, binman said:

My take.

I know not everyone agrees with me (or perhaps do, to some degree, but think i over egg the pudding) about the impact of loading.

But i'd make three points:

One, as i have noted for the last 4-5 seasons on Demonland, EVERY year during this phase of the season (ie the mid-season byes period) there are ALWAYS a huge number of anomalous results. This is a fact.

And the results are not just upset wins; there's also heaps of weird margins (eg massive blowouts, games that are much closer than the bookies have pegged it at etc). For example, in the GWS v Tigers' game the Tiger's line was +45 points. Which means the punters thought that GWS would win that game by nearly 8 goals. The tigers lost by 3 points, covering their line by a massive 42 points.

I have zero doubt the anomalous results are in large part are a function of where teams are at with their high-performance program.

To be clear I'm not arguing the high-performance programs are the only reason for this long-standing clear pattern of anomalous results in the middle of the year. But it is without doubt a significant factor, one that is all but completely ignored by media and fans alike.

Two, i think our performance against the Saints was impacted by us loading. And I'm not being smart after the fact.

In a pre-game post on DL arguing i thought we were too short in the betting and that it was the very definition of a danger game i noted one of the 6 reasons for this opinion was:

• 'I wonder if our high-performance program is geared towards being in optimal shape on Kings birthday at the potential expense of this game (ie bigger block of training into this game then taking advantage of the 8-day break to taper into the pies game)'

Following up to a comment by Bring Back Powell that he hopes I'm wrong because he'd rather we prioritized the game we have a better chance of winning, for risk of losing both games, i responded that i can see that logic, but that:

• 'I just wonder, given how poorly we have played in the Queens, Kings birthday game in the last few years (ironically, in large part because, IMO, we have been loading at this point in previous seasons) if the idea might be to be cherry ripe for the game.'

I'm convinced that proved to be the case, ie we took a calculated risk and did a big block of training ahead of this game, with the goal of optimizing our condition for the Pies game, and our performance suffered as a result.

My final point is in regard to the push back i often get when raising this topic - if all teams do it how come the Pies (or insert other top teams) don't drop games they should not lose whereas we do.

My answer is that it is a very good question, and that the answer includes factors such as having too many poor kicks and in previous years having a game plan more dependent on pressure than other teams (pressure is the thing that most noticeably drops off under the fatigue of loading*).

But also, that it's reasonable to question our mental resilience (what is leading teams doing?), planning and coaching. I would note, however, that the top teams DO lose matches during this phase of the year.

*Pressure is by the best measure of fatigue, with contested possessions second. They said on the fox coverage that:

• Our last quarter pressure rating was the lowest pressure rating in a quarter EVER under goody

• The average for the game the fifth lowest EVER under goody

I suspect that the majority of our top 10 worst pressure rating under goody would be within two weeks either side of our mid-season bye. @WheeloRatings do you have access to our historical pressure rating data?

Well if we win this week I’ll never think about the Saints game again.

11 minutes ago, Roost it far said:

Well if we win this week I’ll never think about the Saints game again.

If we only win this week and don’t win again until round 23, I would walk away from 2025 happy

2 hours ago, binman said:

My take.

I know not everyone agrees with me (or perhaps do, to some degree, but think i over egg the pudding) about the impact of loading.

But i'd make three points:

One, as i have noted for the last 4-5 seasons on Demonland, EVERY year during this phase of the season (ie the mid-season byes period) there are ALWAYS a huge number of anomalous results. This is a fact.

And the results are not just upset wins; there's also heaps of weird margins (eg massive blowouts, games that are much closer than the bookies have pegged it at etc). For example, in the GWS v Tigers' game the Tiger's line was +45 points. Which means the punters thought that GWS would win that game by nearly 8 goals. The tigers lost by 3 points, covering their line by a massive 42 points.

I have zero doubt the anomalous results are in large part are a function of where teams are at with their high-performance program.

To be clear I'm not arguing the high-performance programs are the only reason for this long-standing clear pattern of anomalous results in the middle of the year. But it is without doubt a significant factor, one that is all but completely ignored by media and fans alike.

Two, i think our performance against the Saints was impacted by us loading. And I'm not being smart after the fact.

In a pre-game post on DL arguing i thought we were too short in the betting and that it was the very definition of a danger game i noted one of the 6 reasons for this opinion was:

• 'I wonder if our high-performance program is geared towards being in optimal shape on Kings birthday at the potential expense of this game (ie bigger block of training into this game then taking advantage of the 8-day break to taper into the pies game)'

Following up to a comment by Bring Back Powell that he hopes I'm wrong because he'd rather we prioritized the game we have a better chance of winning, for risk of losing both games, i responded that i can see that logic, but that:

• 'I just wonder, given how poorly we have played in the Queens, Kings birthday game in the last few years (ironically, in large part because, IMO, we have been loading at this point in previous seasons) if the idea might be to be cherry ripe for the game.'

I'm convinced that proved to be the case, ie we took a calculated risk and did a big block of training ahead of this game, with the goal of optimizing our condition for the Pies game, and our performance suffered as a result.

My final point is in regard to the push back i often get when raising this topic - if all teams do it how come the Pies (or insert other top teams) don't drop games they should not lose whereas we do.

My answer is that it is a very good question, and that the answer includes factors such as having too many poor kicks and in previous years having a game plan more dependent on pressure than other teams (pressure is the thing that most noticeably drops off under the fatigue of loading*).

But also, that it's reasonable to question our mental resilience (what is leading teams doing?), planning and coaching. I would note, however, that the top teams DO lose matches during this phase of the year.

*Pressure is by the best measure of fatigue, with contested possessions second. They said on the fox coverage that:

• Our last quarter pressure rating was the lowest pressure rating in a quarter EVER under goody

• The average for the game the fifth lowest EVER under goody

I suspect that the majority of our top 10 worst pressure rating under goody would be within two weeks either side of our mid-season bye. @WheeloRatings do you have access to our historical pressure rating data?

Hnmm, Just wondering how many Demonlanders will load up after the result on Monday!?

So true Stevie J

2 hours ago, binman said:

My take.

I know not everyone agrees with me (or perhaps do, to some degree, but think i over egg the pudding) about the impact of loading.

But i'd make three points:

One, as i have noted for the last 4-5 seasons on Demonland, EVERY year during this phase of the season (ie the mid-season byes period) there are ALWAYS a huge number of anomalous results. This is a fact.

And the results are not just upset wins; there's also heaps of weird margins (eg massive blowouts, games that are much closer than the bookies have pegged it at etc). For example, in the GWS v Tigers' game the Tiger's line was +45 points. Which means the punters thought that GWS would win that game by nearly 8 goals. The tigers lost by 3 points, covering their line by a massive 42 points.

I have zero doubt the anomalous results are in large part are a function of where teams are at with their high-performance program.

To be clear I'm not arguing the high-performance programs are the only reason for this long-standing clear pattern of anomalous results in the middle of the year. But it is without doubt a significant factor, one that is all but completely ignored by media and fans alike.

Two, i think our performance against the Saints was impacted by us loading. And I'm not being smart after the fact.

In a pre-game post on DL arguing i thought we were too short in the betting and that it was the very definition of a danger game i noted one of the 6 reasons for this opinion was:

• 'I wonder if our high-performance program is geared towards being in optimal shape on Kings birthday at the potential expense of this game (ie bigger block of training into this game then taking advantage of the 8-day break to taper into the pies game)'

Following up to a comment by Bring Back Powell that he hopes I'm wrong because he'd rather we prioritized the game we have a better chance of winning, for risk of losing both games, i responded that i can see that logic, but that:

• 'I just wonder, given how poorly we have played in the Queens, Kings birthday game in the last few years (ironically, in large part because, IMO, we have been loading at this point in previous seasons) if the idea might be to be cherry ripe for the game.'

I'm convinced that proved to be the case, ie we took a calculated risk and did a big block of training ahead of this game, with the goal of optimizing our condition for the Pies game, and our performance suffered as a result.

My final point is in regard to the push back i often get when raising this topic - if all teams do it how come the Pies (or insert other top teams) don't drop games they should not lose whereas we do.

My answer is that it is a very good question, and that the answer includes factors such as having too many poor kicks and in previous years having a game plan more dependent on pressure than other teams (pressure is the thing that most noticeably drops off under the fatigue of loading*).

But also, that it's reasonable to question our mental resilience (what is leading teams doing?), planning and coaching. I would note, however, that the top teams DO lose matches during this phase of the year.

*Pressure is by the best measure of fatigue, with contested possessions second. They said on the fox coverage that:

• Our last quarter pressure rating was the lowest pressure rating in a quarter EVER under goody

• The average for the game the fifth lowest EVER under goody

I suspect that the majority of our top 10 worst pressure rating under goody would be within two weeks either side of our mid-season bye. @WheeloRatings do you have access to our historical pressure rating data?

I only have pressure rating data since the start of 2023 (only missing rounds 4 & 6 2023) and only for Melbourne and their opponent.

Firstly, Melbourne's average pressure this season is lower than the last two seasons, but it's marginally higher than our opponents.

Melbourne's average pressure by season

Season	For	Agn
2023	181.4	183.5
2024	178.6	180.4
2025	175.9	175.4

Melbourne's best quarter this season is the third with an average of 182.3 (opponent 175.6) and worst is the fourth with an average of 170.7 (opponent 175.0) - which probably wouldn't surprise.

Apologies for the formatting, but here are the pressure ratings per game (For | Against | Differential). I have highlighted Melbourne's worst games in terms of pressure differential (-10 or worse) OR absolute pressure (175 or worse). It was clearly worse around the byes last year but not as clear in 2023.

2023

R1: 188 | 169 | +19

R2: 187 | 177 | +10

R3: 170 | 168 | +2

R5: 174 | 191 | -17

R7: 169 | 163 | +6

R8: 184 | 177 | +7

R9: 184 | 175 | +9

R10: 194 | 205 | -11

R11: 185 | 198 | -13

R12: 170 | 170 | +0

R13: 183 | 186 | -3

R14: BYE

R15: 196 | 196 | +0

R16: 186 | 187 | -1

R17: 172 | 175 | -3

R18: 168 | 180 | -12

R19: 183 | 191 | -8

R20: 181 | 183 | -2

R21: 175 | 182 | -7

R22: 200 | 206 | -6

R23: 180 | 163 | +17

R24: 187 | 197 | -10

QF: 178 | 192 | -14

SF: 178 | 189 | -11

2024

R0: 182 | 190 | -8

R1: 177 | 162 | +15

R2: 189 | 172 | +17

R3: 182 | 189 | -7

R4: 190 | 182 | +8

R5: 168 | 201 | -33

R7: 170 | 171 | -1

R8: 176 | 170 | +6

R9: 202 | 194 | +8

R10: 184 | 189 | -5

R11: 174 | 160 | +14

R12: 175 | 181 | -6

R13: 164 | 187 | -23

R14: BYE

R15: 189 | 195 | -6

R16: 172 | 190 | -18

R17: 191 | 168 | +23

R18: 176 | 190 | -14

R19: 173 | 154 | +19

R20: 180 | 189 | -9

R21: 172 | 176 | -4

R22: 179 | 186 | -7

R23: 181 | 175 | +6

R24: 161 | 178 | -17

2025

R1: 189 | 190 | -1

R2: 172 | 176 | -4

R3: 174 | 175 | -1

R4: 166 | 181 | -15

R5: 164 | 178 | -14

R6: 187 | 164 | +23

R7: 193 | 161 | +32

R8: 173 | 182 | -9

R9: 176 | 172 | +4

R10: 165 | 169 | -4

R11: 190 | 190 | +0

R12: 162 | 167 | -5

14 minutes ago, WheeloRatings said:

I only have pressure rating data since the start of 2023 (only missing rounds 4 & 6 2023) and only for Melbourne and their opponent.

Firstly, Melbourne's average pressure this season is lower than the last two seasons, but it's marginally higher than our opponents.

Melbourne's average pressure by season

Season	For	Agn
2023	181.4	183.5
2024	178.6	180.4
2025	175.9	175.4

Melbourne's best quarter this season is the third with an average of 182.3 (opponent 175.6) and worst is the fourth with an average of 170.7 (opponent 175.0) - which probably wouldn't surprise.

Apologies for the formatting, but here are the pressure ratings per game (For | Against | Differential). I have highlighted Melbourne's worst games in terms of pressure differential (-10 or worse) OR absolute pressure (175 or worse). It was clearly worse around the byes last year but not as clear in 2023.

2023

R1: 188 | 169 | +19

R2: 187 | 177 | +10

R3: 170 | 168 | +2

R5: 174 | 191 | -17

R7: 169 | 163 | +6

R8: 184 | 177 | +7

R9: 184 | 175 | +9

R10: 194 | 205 | -11

R11: 185 | 198 | -13

R12: 170 | 170 | +0

R13: 183 | 186 | -3

R14: BYE

R15: 196 | 196 | +0

R16: 186 | 187 | -1

R17: 172 | 175 | -3

R18: 168 | 180 | -12

R19: 183 | 191 | -8

R20: 181 | 183 | -2

R21: 175 | 182 | -7

R22: 200 | 206 | -6

R23: 180 | 163 | +17

R24: 187 | 197 | -10

QF: 178 | 192 | -14

SF: 178 | 189 | -11

2024

R0: 182 | 190 | -8

R1: 177 | 162 | +15

R2: 189 | 172 | +17

R3: 182 | 189 | -7

R4: 190 | 182 | +8

R5: 168 | 201 | -33

R7: 170 | 171 | -1

R8: 176 | 170 | +6

R9: 202 | 194 | +8

R10: 184 | 189 | -5

R11: 174 | 160 | +14

R12: 175 | 181 | -6

R13: 164 | 187 | -23

R14: BYE

R15: 189 | 195 | -6

R16: 172 | 190 | -18

R17: 191 | 168 | +23

R18: 176 | 190 | -14

R19: 173 | 154 | +19

R20: 180 | 189 | -9

R21: 172 | 176 | -4

R22: 179 | 186 | -7

R23: 181 | 175 | +6

R24: 161 | 178 | -17

2025

R1: 189 | 190 | -1

R2: 172 | 176 | -4

R3: 174 | 175 | -1

R4: 166 | 181 | -15

R5: 164 | 178 | -14

R6: 187 | 164 | +23

R7: 193 | 161 | +32

R8: 173 | 182 | -9

R9: 176 | 172 | +4

R10: 165 | 169 | -4

R11: 190 | 190 | +0

R12: 162 | 167 | -5

Begs the question.... are we fit enough??

4 hours ago, picket fence said:

Need to TOTALLY SHELVE this idea of Wimdsor of Half Back! We are killing this kids confidence and career. PUT HIM BACK ON THE WING!

How damm true with that statement.