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The mood was light-hearted. Plenty of laughter, even the first few drills were about games and fun. The rehab included Sam Weideman, Marty Hore and Billy Stretch. Jake Melksham in the main group though not doing the contact work and still doing some fitness training. James Harmes on light duties. Charlie Spargo also in the main squad with full participation as was Tim Smith. Oscar Baker appeared to be on the outside of full program, as was Oscar Mcdonald, Toby Bedford and James Jordon. The squad quickly begun simulations. Emphasis was plenty of switches with entry into an open forward area after creating overlaps. They went back to drills of clearing the contested area. Then returned to more simulations. Only at the end did they do work in the line squads. Nathan Jones with the backs, he was vocal and setting up the release with good angles to open up the space. The backs working on blocking, rolling and staying with their opponents. Harrison Petty in the forwards, holding most of his marks and finishing well. Christian Pettraca and Corey Maynard with the mids. I think Jay Kennedy-Harris and Corey Wagner could be a chance for selection. Not much goal kicking practice. The intensity was there at appropriate times.

Eddie McGuire, Miranda Devine, Andrew Bolt and Alan Jones can all go and rot in hell. Bunch of oxygen thiefs

And ..... while they are improving the game ..... I think the AFL needs to take a good hard look at this idea of kicking the football Far too much of it ATM

Last time we played in Alice Springs we won by 91 points with Angus Brayshaw BOG with 37 touches and 3 goals. ANB got the 3 brownlow votes with 3 goals and 23 touches. I'm expecting much the same this weekend.

All the forwards were out at 9.30 with Rawlings practicing goal kicking, did it till the rest of group arrived. Gawn and Preuss also with them Hannan is fully fit, agree looks like he will be omitted

Funny how the loudest voices belong to the fattest whitest most privileged men. A sad reflection of our society and its tendency to stick its head in the sand when it comes to looking in the mirror and acknowledging your wrongness. Imagine if this was happening to Jetta. What an utter disgrace this period was, and how heartbreaking that Goodes retired under this cloud of racism instead of with the grand celebration his career deserved.

Listen I've bit my tongue for 5 months now but this (like your the club will never move forward till everyone involved with 186 is gone) is ridiculous. You are one of the many who lives in the past moaning about your sad 55 years following the club, let me set you straight this playing group has nothing to do with the past They are not haunted by Norm Smith 186 is nothing to them now, (it would if anything made the Elimination final win a little more enjoyable for Chunk Gawn and anyone else who was on the list) The Neeld years The only legacy the past has on this list is the void caused by poor drafting in between the Danners and Neeld eras The players will be well and truly over the Prelim final loss or did you miss Bakers debut at Optus when we kicked ourselves out of the game. This weeks game has nothing to do with last season BB is somewhat right about being run into the ground at the end of the season but they went for broke and fell short. You roll the dice and this is where we are at, seasoned players get conditioned to that I anticipate the old " You just accept mediocrity" response but you couldn't be further from the truth. mark this down. Until the core of Oliver, Brayshaw, Harmes, Weid, Trac, Lever, Spargo, Frost, Baker, Salem, Pruess, Gawn, Hannan, Hore and Petty get a decent spread of between 80-150 games across them and Viney, May, Tmac, Melksham start pushing 150+ we will not see consistent top 4 contention over successive years. Others will come in and out but that is the core moving forward for sustained contention. It's the legacy left because of the recruiting mistakes which left the void

I was really looking forward to seeing Hannan this year and was backing him in for a big year. Unfortunately, he was cruelled by injury. It also seems, however, that he was further cruelled by being selected straight up without regaining match fitness and confidence at Casey. I will be most interested to see how Jetta goes this week as he also came back underdone. I fail to see the logic in this.

Another Demonland nothingburger takes shape.

I have my very own opinion on him. I wont say it on here. How can McGuire walk through a football club after that and speak integrity.. he is a joke

don't forget Newman

Hannan left early with the other Casey guys so suspect he is out and Wagner in and JKH in the squad, also T Smith in the mix for a recall.

Think carefully ffs, I think I understand football a little I'm not happy with this year, it's a combination of things, not just a bad coach, a poor fitnees regime and is certainly nothing to do with Jackson or Roos not being around. I'm not throwing the baby out with the bathwater yet, many lessons should have been learned, I've seen changes in the game plan but mid season it's difficult to change and when the players are put under pressure they resort back to old habits, that will come with experience learning to deal with pressure and adapt to slight changes in game plan week to week Overall where do we start Under done players Satisfied players after improvement each year, becoming content with themselves Out of form players A game plan that once tweaked a little IMO will stand up with seasoned bodies but we ain't there yet Goody is also guilty of the above and like the players needs to learn from this Many of our players have been emotionally shot since round 4ish, they are bereft of confidence, not prepared to take responsibility. overhandballing when gettable chances to score or hit up a teammate present themselves. Big off season ahead for many

Ironically, they could reduce tackling by actually paying holding-the-ball and incorrect disposal more reliably. If the penalty is there for being caught, then players and coaches will work harder to avoid it. More evasive tactics, less barging into tackles trying to mindlessly break through, more effort to get the ball to the outside of a pack rather than current acceptance of just having another ball up on the spot, and so on Meanwhile, tackling remains every bit as much a part of the game and also becomes even more of a spectacle. We can get through this round of HQ neurosis without wrecking the game, I swear.

Hocking mentions people should take some confidence that they are looking at the right things. On the evidence here so far I think it’s the total opposite. Even the people I speak to at work or elsewhere are fed up with the running of the game and constant changes, yet all we hear or read is that there is plenty of positive feedback from the public. Where are those people? I’m genuinely interested to hear if anyone thinks the AFL is doing a good job at the moment and why.

Hawks, GWS, Geelong, Eagles = 4 top 8 sides last season but knock yourself out to suit your argument Not to mention the Crows were in the 8 when we pantsed them in the NT last season FMD the sky is falling

"The AFL is examining the issue of excessive tackling, with football boss Steve Hocking saying the AFL wants to reduce the amount of tackling in the game." Hocking said that tackling had become ‘‘a feature’’ of the game and that the AFL wanted to see the number of tackles reduced, although he did not specify the desired number. ‘‘I have a very strong view on that. It has become a feature of our game and all the stuff that we’re analysing is how to get a balance back in that so that it’s not a feature of the game." Until Gil is gone I think I’m pretty much done with the AFL, is it even Aussie Rules anymore? https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/afl-racing-to-build-new-review-centre-for-finals-20190717-p5284z.html#comments

Powerful viewing. Shame those that should have watched, probably didn’t

Listened to it in its full context, he was on the money and he was cautious in his approach very much talking about the now, he was glowing in his future expectations of Clarrie and Gus

Here is a different take on this. Yes, we have had a terrible year. Yes, on our path, we haven’t beaten too many top teams. #1 On our way up, we had an easier draw and less games against top sides. This year, we are worse and play more of them. Natural progression would have seen us play more top sides, and beat them. This did not happen. #2 Lots of reasons we dropped the bundle this year. It is a complete write off. If we can look to next year, then it is what we make of this car crash that matters. A few things like: Getting a back 6 that plays cohesively together. With May and Lever AA quality, surrounded by a group working and understanding each other (not all flying for the same mark, etc.) Getting a midfield that has some experience, and can shift from ‘panic’ mode with the ball to actually using it productively. Building confidence in each other and doing more than just winning the contest, but winning the quality clearance. Having a forward line that works. TMac back in form (he had been moving like gollum this year) and more development into Weid. A small forward and some clean half forwards. Gaining confidence in each other and improving basic skills. Most of the team are kids, and we have played something like 38 players this year. Getting development into Preuss so he can be the second ruck, He is definitely a work in progress, and not there yet. The addition of some outside run. We are simply young, damaged, without confidence and struggling to apply a complex system under pressure. If they use what is left of this year and the pre-season, it will not be wasted. Then we can best a few more of those top teams (and hopefully get the easier draw and a nice draft pick as additional bonuses.)

As I said in another thread, have a look at who our forward line was on the weekend: Petty, Lockhart, Dunkley, Fritsch, Hunt, ANB, Petracca. Of those, only two would have been in our first choice forward line over the pre-season, and of those two one (ANB) has always had a problem of struggling when the rest of the side is down. Of the rest, two weren't even on the list for the pre-season, one has been mis-managed in terms of being asked to play too many positions in his first two seasons, and one was groomed as a defender. In form and available forwards have been non-existent for us this year. That's a combination of injuries, but also shifting responsibility (e.g. TMac and Weideman) and increased expectation (e.g. Spargo and ANB). But I've said a couple of times now that I don't think we're that far off turning it around, and this statistic (inside 50 retention/scoring) is the one thing that is holding us back more than anything else. We developed our list and gameplan around dominating in the middle and creating significant amount of ball in our forward half. That sort of gameplan just does not work unless we hold marks inside 50, and unleash pressure through our forward half. We've done neither of those this year. TMac and Weideman have struggled to hold marks and we haven't had a proper third tall (J Smith could have played that role, T Smith is just a VFL battler, vandenBerg hasn't played, Petracca is being asked to do too much and isn't always succeeding, Melksham is injured, Fritsch has been in the backline). And with stacks of ball hitting the ground, we haven't been able to lock it in. Spargo and ANB have gone backwards from last year (in Spargo's case significantly), Hunt is just OK but exhausts himself too often, Hannan's struggled when fit, again no vandenBerg hurts, and our midfielders aren't two-way running and putting in enough defensive effort. Without marking and forward pressure, the ball rebounds out of our forward half with ease and our backline gets put under inordinate pressure. Then strip that backline of May, Lever and Jetta, take Hibberd and Salem out for periods, put an out-of-form OMac in there and a first year player in Hore, and here we are at 5-11. My view remains that if we improve our forward pressure and hold some more marks inside 50, our overall performance will lift significantly.

I blame Watts

In particular, he singles out Clarry and Gus: “They’ve got some wonderful players and the two that stand out, they’re going to be fantastic in the history of that club, are (Clayton) Oliver and (Angus) Brayshaw. “Right now, from what I’ve seen this year, I’d rank them, as defensive midfielders, three and a half, four out of ten. “They’ll tackle if in a pack and somebody just gets the ball and they’re half a metre away from them, but to actually go and hunt a tackle is a different thing. “They need to step that side of their game up.” Hard to argue with him Yet neither apparently is going to cop the ultimate message from the coach, again.

There is a special place in hell reserved for these people.

You have to shake your head with the Fossil, Sam. At one point he lists the various days celebrating minorities like the indigenous or same sex people and then asks as a WASP male when is it my time! Sam when it has never been your time you dolt! Look at your life, private school education, 300 games of elite sport, millions earned in the media as a so called footy expert and character, come sporting legend. Sam it has always been about you! For a guy who achieved so much he has the IQ of a peanut.

How many of our players are putting in "AFL standard" performances this year? Selection has turned into a farce and I strongly believe it's creating (or has already created) cultural issues that we thought we had banished from our club. A player's parent was heard to describe the culture of the club as 'Goody's Boys' recently and this is a prime example of that. A bloke is in the best for a month straight yet can't get a game while a massively underperforming team continually picks underperforming players. And if you want to argue something like 'he's not the future of the club' then tell me why Lewis is playing and tell me at what stage of the season it's ok to turn our culture off? I think Goodwin has great potential as a coach, but there is a growing concern with his sheer stubbornness that even has his former mentor quietly fuming behind the scenes.

JKH papers Officially stamped ....unlucky not to be rewarded this year when half the side have been bog ordinary .

Personally, I think it'll be a nice run, part of finishing off the year with six consecutive wins.

No.

Fair call, but I think alot of us are over the pepetual pessimism and self flagellation (well maybe not all on this last part). It's bad enough watching the teams performances this season without having to convince ourselves that we are even more pathetic an unworthy of last year's finals apperance. I do think the question was framed in the most negative way possible though and it's not such a simple issue. Should beating Geelong and Hawthorn in finals be counted because they were games against top 8 sides or should they be discounted, because although they made finals, they turned out to be pretty meek opponents on the day(night). Likewise while Adelaide were technically top 8 when we played them (thumped them) perhaps that too was artificial as they turned out to have a stinker of a season, somewhat helped by what we started. Do we actually discount the West Coast win because they were down some of their stars (Kenedy and Darling mid game, although we were also down Hogan). For me the GWS game was probably the highlight, with two in form teams pushing for the best top 8 position and we beat them convincingly. I do think that last season we turned one corner in mental maturity, but consistently beating the teams below us that we should have beaten, but that in previous years we would have lost to via a combination of complacency, lapses in intensity/concentration and then shittting our pants when the came at us. Winning all those games against the lesser sides was what mostly got us to finals. I think this year we have succumbed to a combination of injuries, mental/emotional fatigue, game plan and lack of maturity. We really need the offseason to reset those things. Moving forward next season, I think we do need to go through that next phase in our development of beating the genuine top 8 sides. I think this has to come with a further maturing of mental application. I think we have both a lack of confidence, of being able to produce sustained effort in games and being able to sense when to attack and defend against the mature sides. Last season for instance, we absolutely smashed Hawthorn in the first quarter of the home and away, but then gave back that lead far too easily and in the end let them play all over us, when we dropped our heads completely and they asserted their dominance. Part of that all was lack of defensive effort, but part of it I think was us also being overawed by the team and the situation. I suspect that it works both ways too, in so far as genuine teams have a sense that we are gettable even when they are being beaten and that keeps them mentally in the game and/or in a position to exploit it if they get on top. This is the sort of leadership issue that having someone like Lewis around should have addressed, but our players now need reconise it for themselves, step up and make the changes within themselves over the seasons ahead. I don't think it is something that Goodwin can significantly influence as these swings within games that we need to address happen within quarters when the coaches now have very little chance of addressing via the runner.

What does this even mean? So H&A wins count but wins in September don't? What stupid criteria.

Hahahaha!!! F Off Hocking.... just do it......NOW....

Thanks AFL for the better quality vision of this day.

I wish we were downhill skiers.

I find him a horrible haemorrhoid exacerbator, but on this occasion, I agree.

Great post, but you're banging your head against a brick wall. The bloke will never, ever change. He thinks the club is haunted by all these things when in fact it's him whose haunted by it all.

Derm was a favourite of mine but like Gary Lyon thank goodness he was never a coach. Great players and personalities but poor analytical skills. Oliver is a beast who hunts and tackles aggressively. Brayshaw attacks the ball with no regard for his physical well-being and tackles when it his turn. To put the blow torch on the tackling of our midfield misses completely why we have plummeted in ladder position this season.

Neither was I my friend. Just taking the mickey and not doing much of a job of it. ?

@david_neitz_is_my_dad * * lineage not verified

I assume that SWYL is still peddling this one, almost a year after it happened? I admire his persistence and marvel at his stubborness.

the other thing i've noticed is once the opponent is tackled to the ground the tackler can tackle any way he wants.....over the shoulder, round the neck, jump on the back etc etc. it gets quite physical on those extra long scrimmages the umpire now allows, with fatigued players getting increasingly sloppy and another......when did we allow the tackler to be tackled? happens all the time. should be a free

Comparison wise, I think Anderson is thought to be in the Bontempelli/Dusty mould who can play fwd/mid, is good overhead, fast, dynamic and similar in height at 188 cm. Rowell is similar to a Shuey/Murphy who can play inside/outside, hard at it with neat skills and good aerobic capacity. As bad as it sounds, i'm hoping the Dees finish 17th so we can secure one of these future stars. But in true Melbourne fashion we will probably start winning games and get pick 4 or 5...lol.

If the AFL wanted to be really courageous, they could get rid of interchange altogether and have four substitutes. The substitutes are needed in case of injuries and would likely all get played in the final quarter, whether there are injuries or not. On first blush it might seem "old-fashioned" but the more I think about it, the more I see merit. I think it would result in the following: it would keep the best players on the ground with ruckmen and onballers resting forward players would not be able to run over the whole ground at high intensity so it should reduce "flooding" tackling would still occur, but it would be more likely only one player doing the tackling (because of the previous point) goal scoring should increase because there will be fewer players in the defensive zone quality full forwards will have a better chance of kicking 100 goals in a season because most of the time they'll be not only playing on the same player, but there will be fewer defenders helping out their defensive colleague team lists would seem to have more apparent depth because instead of having 22 players all expected to be of equal fitness and ability, teams would really only need to have 18 with the four players on the bench being less important than they are now I have no doubt the coaches will squeal, but they're the source of every on-field problem so while they shouldn't be ignored, their opinions should not count for as much as the coaches themselves expect that they should.

There is one change they can make that will solve all their problems. Reduce the interchange cap to 10 per quarter. Players will then have to play more to a position and there would be a lot less rolling scrums resulting in less tackles because there isn't 12-15 players all around a stoppage. We don't need the 6-6-6 rule, that's all they need to do. Back in the 70's and 80's the interchange was more used as a substitute, with players on the been playing very few minutes. If they want to have more 1 on 1 contests then that is the answer.

They need to reduce the number of players on the field. It's the only way to reduce congestion and bring it back to a more man on man style game. Everything else is just shuffling deck chairs.

Here's a thought reduce the interchange and make it a war of attrition were players can't cover as much ground and we get more 1 on 1 One of he most brutal games I recall seeing the 89 Grand final had a total of 72 tackles

Who does he think he is? It's our game, not his. Time to invoke the "up yours" campaign again. In any event, just paying more free kicks for extended possession when tackled eg. 360 or even 720 degrees, and eliminating the stupid rule that allows umpires to avoid ball ups so long as the ball is still moving that causes ugly rolling scrums to form will reduce the number of tackles and the punishment to the players and clean up the spectacle. Watch replays from the 70s and 80s to see how the game should be played. Quick whistles and even quicker ball ups (umpires then took less time to prepare for a bounce than today umpires for a throw) kept the game open and moving.

If that's your standard then we have one of those wins this year - Fremantle. And as to your second line, what about Collingwood last year, who finished the H&A season with one win over last year's finalists (us)?