Leaderboard

So I've just wasted 2 hours of my life making notes on all the centre bounces and comparing the setups. I've never done this before so I dunno how useful it is. 1 (Swans clearance). Gawn, Oliver (far wing side), Petracca (offensive side), Pickett (defensive side) Kennedy sprints in to the centre from the wing side and leaves Oliver to eat his dust. The tap is neutral - both ruckman get a piece of it. Kennedy blocks Oliver out of the contest initially. Mills and Oliver compete with the ball; ball falls to Kennedy; Mills blocks Oliver and Kennedy boots it away unopposed. No impact on the contest from Petracca or Gawn. Pickett is standing defensive side ready to block the escape, but the ball gets kicked over his head. Goal results from this clearance. Eventual goal: Swans 2 (Swans clearance). Gawn, Oliver (far wing side), Petracca (defensive side), Jordon (offensive side) Oliver continues to be professionally blocked by Kennedy. Jordon receives what I would call an illegal hold by Warner - no whistle, play on. Hickey jumps, Gawn stays on the ground and wins the tap, hitting it towards the wing side. Balls go to space, both ruckman scramble after it. Gawn wins, handballs it to nobody. Jordon wins it back, handball to Gawn, handball to Oliver, who gets immediately tackled. Handballs it to nobody again. Hickey picks up the loose ball and boots it out of there. Eventual goal: Swans 3 (Swans clearance). Gawn, Oliver (far wing side), Petracca (defensive side), Harmes (offensive side) Kennedy not present in this contest. Gawn wins a tap forward. Harmes chases after the ball and gets friendly fire from Alex Neal-Bullen who slides for the ball and takes Harmes legs out. Both MFC players eat dirt while the Swans half-backs pick up the ball unopposed and clear it. This one should have been ours but for a MFC player error. Eventual goal: Demons 4 (Swans clearance). Gawn, Oliver (far wing side), Harmes (defensive side), Petracca (offensive side) Oliver blocked out of the contest by Mills initially. Gawn again stays down while Hickey jumps. Hickey misses it, Gawn taps down to space and chases it himself. Swans players are all ahead of their MFC opponents. Mills stops blocking Oliver at the last minute and chases the ball, gets there well before Oliver does. Handballs to space to Parker (Petracca's man - seemed to get caught ball watching) who wins the clearing kick. Eventual goal: Demons 5 (Swans clearance). Jackson, Jordon (near wing side), Neal-Bullen (defensive side), Petracca (offensive side) Vastly different setup this time - Petracca as the offensive midfielder starts a lot further away from the contest (he is initially out of frame) and Jordon is starting on the opposite side to where Oliver had been. Bounce favours opposing ruckman (Sinclair) who taps down to Kennedy (Jordon's man). Jordon immediately lays a tackle but it's ineffective; Kennedy handballs out to Parker (Petracca's man) who has bolts out with a clearing kick. Eventual goal: Demons 6 (Demons clearance). Gawn, Jordon (far side wing), Neal-Bullen (defensive side), Oliver (offensive side) Similar setup to previously but Jordon has changed sides. Gawn taps to the advantage of Oliver who hits the contest at speed, handball to Neal-Bullen who gets the clearing kick. Eventual goal: Swans 7 (Swans clearance). Gawn, Petracca (far side wing), Harmes (defensive side), Oliver (offensive side) Gawn wins the tap decisively and appears to be attempting to replicate the previous tap to space, but Oliver doesn't get there this time and the ball is gathered by some Swans mullet on the wing, who was opposing Langdon. Handball goes backwards to Warner who gets tackled, but handballs out to Cunningham who clears it through half back. No eventuating goal; quarter time. 8. (Swans clearance) Gawn, Petracca (near side wing), Pickett (defensive side), Oliver (offensive side) Terrible bounce; ruckman end up competing on the circle on our defensive side. Hickey jumps; Gawn doesn't (again), Hickey ends up jumping over Max and Max falls on his arse. Still manages to affect the tap, which falls to the ground. Kennedy is blocking Oliver out of the contest and Mills is blocking Petracca; Warner (Pickett's man) gathers the ball unopposed. Pickett attempts to smother but is ineffective. Eventual goal: Demons 9 (Swans clearance). Gawn, Jordon (near side wing), Petracca (offensive side), Harmes (defensive side) Gawn wins the tap and taps it to space on the offensive side. No MFC players in the vicinity, Mills pushes off Jordon and gets there first. Petracca was running in the wrong direction to receive this tap and Jordon was comprehensively outbodied by Mills. Eventual goal: Demons 10 (Demons clearance). Jackson, Harmes (near side wing), Oliver (offensive side), Melksham (defensive side) Hickey wins the tap but it goes to Harmes who beats a hold and and breaks a tackle, to run away with the ball and clear it. Unfortunately gets pinged for running too far before the kick. Unlucky because I thought he did everything right here. No eventuating goal; half time. 11 (Swans clearance). Gawn, Oliver (near side wing), Petracca (far side wing), Pickett (defensive side) Obviously different setup here with no offensive side player, and all three mids very close by. Oliver and Petracca are both standing basically at the circle, Pickett only a couple of metres away. Gawn wins the tap and... taps to to the offensive side where there are no Melbourne players (or any players). Parker (on Oliver) is first to the ball, again, and handballs to Mills who clears. Eventual goal: Swans 12 (Demons clearance). Gawn, Oliver (near side wing), Harmes [I think] (far side wing), Petracca (defensive side) Same setup as before but different personnel. Telecast is still showing the replay of the goal as the bounce takes place so it's hard to see (onya channel 7). I think it's Harmes on the far side wing, but whoever it is has gone by the time they switch back to the play. It appears Gawn wins the tap. Oliver receives and tries a hurried kick but it's smothered and goes straight up in the air. Petracca gathers and boots it out (down the throat of Sydney's half back). Eventual goal: Demons 13 (Demons clearance). Jackson, Jordon (near side wing), Petracca (far side wing), Oliver (defensive side) Slightly different setup again. Players are all very close to the contest still but Petracca is at about 2 o'clock (on offensive side) on the circle instead of at 12 o'clock. I reckon if we'd lined up like this in #11 we would have won a clearance instead of Gawn tapping to nobody. Ball is thrown up instead of bounced, Hickey grabs it. It's a scrap with all players in close. Kennedy initially wins the ball, but Jordon is able to lay an effective enough tackle to draw a dud disposal. Petracca wins the ball, we handball it out. All the mids from this contest touch the ball on the way out, including Jackson. Jordon is the final recipient who delivers inside 50 from half forward, but unfortunately the kick is poor. This was the first clean clearance of the game to us though. Eventual goal: Demons 14 (Demons clearance). Jackson, Harmes (near side wing), Petracca (far side wing), Oliver (defensive side) Different setup again, with all the players very close to the contest still, but the wing-side mids now both on the offensive side of the circle - Petracca at 2 o'clock, Harmes at 5 o'clock. Jackson taps to himself and runs the ball out, and wins the clearing kick. Eventual goal: Demons 15 (Swans clearance). Gawn, Oliver (near side wing), Harmes (offensive side), Melksham (defensive side) Back to the earlier setup with the offensive player a fair way out of the contest. Oliver as the wing side mid is more defensive side (about 7 o'clock). Defensive side player has been in the same position every bounce. Gawn wins the tap and hits it to the advantage of Harmes, who runs in to the space and collects. He is tackled instantly by Hickey and the ball spills. Kennedy gathers, fumbles and taps it forward towards Florent who soccers it clear. Eventual goal: Swans 16 (Swans clearance). Gawn, Oliver (near side wing), Jordon (far side wing), Petracca (defensive side) No offensive side player again, players all very close to the contest, Oliver at 7 o'clock, Jordon at 12 o'clock. Tap goes towards Florent and Jordon, who gets the quick handball away to Parker who has peeled off Oliver and is running in to the space where there is no Melbourne player to be seen, and gets a long clearing kick to half forward. Eventual goal: Swans 17 (Swans clearance). Gawn, Melksham (far side wing - 12 o'clock), Petracca (offensive side), Oliver (defensive side) Scrap contest, with most of the players ending up on top of each other. Ball spills out and is collected by Mills. Petracca attempts to interfere but is off balance and ends up spinning away from the contest. Clearing handball goes offensive side towards Parker, who had broken away from the pack and was meters in the clear. No eventuating goal, three quarter time. 18 (Swans clearance). Gawn, Harmes (near side wing), Petracca (offensive side), Oliver (defensive side) No clear winner of the tap, ball goes to the defensive side where Oliver appears to be about to gather, but the ball bounces away and the ball is collected by Hickey, who handballs it to the charging Rowbottom who delivers inside 50. Eventual goal: Swans 19 (Swans clearance). Gawn, Oliver (near side wing), Petracca (offensive side), Harmes (defensive side) Gawn wins the tap, taps towards Petracca who has moved in ahead of his opponent, but the tap is too rich and goes over his and his opponents head. Contest falls Parker and Oliver; Parker clears the ball by kicking it out of the air while wresting Oliver. Can clearly see what we were trying to do here and there was a massive touch of luck in this clearance from Sydney. Eventual goal: Demons 20 (no clearance). Jackson, Petracca (near side wing), Oliver (offensive side), Harmes (defensive side) Seem to be settling back in to the earlier setups again now. Jackson wins the tap, and there's a ground level contest between Petracca and Rowbottom. They both overrun, Harmes and Jackson go for the same ball. A scrap ensues with no clearance and there's another ballup. Eventual goal: Swans 21 (Swans clearance). Gawn, Petracca (near side wing), Harmes (offensive side) Oliver (defensive side/wing - 2 o'clock) First contest where we didn't have a player directly on the defensive side of the circle. Gawn tap goes backwards in the direction of Petracca (basically stationary, still wrestling with Mills) and Oliver (been pushed out of it by Parker) - ball goes right in between the two of them and Parker hits it at pace and runs out. Eventual goal: Demons 22 (Swans clearance). Jackson, Harmes (near side wing), Oliver (offensive side), Jordon (defensive side) Hickey wins the tap, grabs the ball himself and boots it clear. No midfielders touch the ball. No eventuating goal, game ends. Thoughts: I'm definitely no analyst - this is the first time in my life I've ever attempted to scrutinise our setups like this and often I found I had no idea what I was looking at really. But my general notes are: - 3 of our 4 clearances came when Jackson was rucking - but none of them came from good taps, they were all because he involved himself in the midfielder's contest. Gawn does this too, but not as effecively. - They sharked our taps from Gawn. This was a clear strategy. - Sydney's mature midfield combo of Kennedy, Mills and Parker is brilliant. They pantsed our starting midfielders of Petracca, Oliver and Harmes/Jordon. They block for each other too - more than once I would see the player who has just dished the ball off immediately lay a block. I didn't see the Melbourne mids do this once. - While they won a lot of clearances, very few of them resulted in goals. There were a lot of junk kicks out to the wing or kicks to half-forward where they were outnumbered. Overall despite the fact that they comprehensively beat us out of the middle, we still made it hard for them to score. - There was only one drawn contest in the middle. I'm not sure how that compares to normal but I expected more in such a fiercely contested game. I'd love to sit down and do this for a game where Viney plays and see how it differs. I feel like I'll have a better idea of what I'm seeing and how it differs if I have more of a point of reference.

That was one brutal game from ground level and conditions were fairly slippery all night. The hits were hard and our boys just kept fighting on and on. Pure G & D! Such a professional outfit are the Swans and they have tormented us for a decade, absolutely ecstatic we got the W. Oliver’s last quarter has been highlighted already but he literally was everywhere in that quarter. Harmes ran his backside off all game and was very pleased with his return. They all did their bit at different stages but a big shout out to Jordon. Kid is meeting every challenge thrown at him. Coaches recognised Dawson was a problem for us in the third quarter with his intercepts and they put Jordon on him in the last to do a defensive job up forward and it certainly had an influence. On a night where goals were incredibly hard to get T Mac was BOG for mine.

A lot of things to take away from that game, not least that we won while losing the centre clearances 4-17 and that will be discussed in detail elsewhere. I want to focus on one thing here and that is the magnificent game by TMac. I have never seen a more complete game by an MFC key forward under very difficult conditions. Four goals himself - all in different ways - first a classic get separation on the lead in a congested forward line, next a run down tackle and goal from a very difficult angle, then a weaving collection and run in heavy traffic for a great left foot snap and the delicious icing - sure Bolton probably won the car on Friday night but for me Tom's pack mark from four deep to seal the match was the greater mark - just awesome - his confidence was up and his leap at the ball was majestic. And not forgetting that he gave two great goals away - an unselfish great vision spot up of Ben Brown and the other to rival his pack mark - a magnificent running with the flight spoil, clean gather and lightning handball to Trac. Massive kudos to Tom McDonald - match winner.

Just quietly but how bloody good is it to see Hunty back to his running strong form, he couldn’t get a game a couple of years ago but now is having a huge impact on games When he and Langdon go on runs together down the wing, it’s so awesome to watch

I feel a lot of people are really understating the significance of last night's win. Sydney were magnificent. They had 40 tackles inside their forward 50 and they threw everything at us. That was a mostly mature and patient performance. The very definition of "trusting the process". Also check out the Sydney Facebook page. Aside from the occasional winge about the umpires, more supporters are praising of the Swans. In a loss. That says a lot about the oppo. We'll be very battered and bruised after last night. I expect us to really struggle to maintain this level for the next 3 weeks against Carlton, Adelaide and Bulldogs. But last night was as good a win I've seen perhaps ever.

Disposal wasn't great but his defensive positioning is excellent... The Swans couldn't move the ball cleanly from defence & Angus plays a big role in that. Compare it to how North moved it in the first half of last week when Gus wasn't there & you might get the answer as to why he stays.

Sydney were the highest scoring side before this round. We kept them to their lowest score of the season so far. Another big win for our defence.

The centre clearance issue has been evident all season thus far, but is noticeably worse without Jack Viney. As good as Trac and Oliver are otherwise as midfielders, I reckon they too often approach a centre clearance possession like it’s a chance to construct the next move ahead, after their own possession. Viney is more ‘see ball, get ball, and then I’ll decide’, or if the oppo player looks like he’ll get to it first, then get him. Against a team like the Swans, that approach can’t be overvalued. Tonight was staggering in revealing our almost total inability to stop them getting attacking thrust from the middle, and it has to be fixed.

Went to the MCG tonight and enjoyed a Big Mac and a Hash Brown. Tasty! I was disappointed a banana Fritter failed to appear on the menu, so my sweet tooth wasn't satisfied. Still, a good Saturday night out.?

Watch the replay. It was a handball. Oliver special.

So I was terrified in the 1st Quarter with how easily the Swans won the clearances, thank god for the team defense. I was hoping to discuss what is going on in the middle, my op in not meant to be definitive, more just starting a conversation. Our tactics have evolved quite a bit under Roos/Goodwin, we started at a team keen to shake the 'bruisefree' label, as Roos/Goodwin stated 'We built from the contest out' or words to that effect, and you could see it, especially with early Viney, and it was something we could hang our hat on, even if our defense was shakey and we had lovely but useless guys like Dawes in the forward line, we had become respected in the center but other teams worked that out. Then we got better and we had Goodwin Game-plan 1.1, which was to hit the center bounce at speed with blokes running in from the back half and using Oliver's great clearance skills to extract and charge down the ground like a rapier thrust - this was quite enjoyable to watch. The AFL buggered that for us with 6/6/6 and we needed a reset, this took a while, also as seen after 2018, while we were quite good at smashing the opposition, we dinged a few of our own bodies with this high attrition style of collision footy. We then struggled as everyone gathered at the contest and we were put to the sword on the outside. We needed a reboot, as we had reached the Windows equivalent of the bluescreen of death with versions 1.2-1.9. Under much pressure Goodwin has bravely come up with Game-plan 2.0 ( which has also involved some brave and so far fruitful recruiting), what I am particularly impressed with is the players have given up none of their desire for contested footy but are much smarter about leaving a few on the outside. We have also seen an absolute evolution in our defense without ball in hand, meaning we can cope with a loss of a few center clearances. Watching today to see Sydney transition to the fat-side only to find Melbourne players covering the switch made me happier than seeing a forward kick eight, this is a Melbourne I have never seen before. But anyway this version 2 does seem predicated on Max's radar working a bit better, I would argue that if we had won center clearances we would have one easily by more than 6 goals as we make much better use of f50 entries than previously, others have noted, high risk high reward with where Oliver starts and hits the clearance from wide and at speed. But as the coach has said he expects us to win from a superior number of f50 entries, that comes from winning clearance. I am keen to hear what others have observed about center clearances, what they think our plan is, have we given up a bit of our clearance ability to obtain an advantage in other areas. In other words what is going on, is Max a bit off, etc? As others have said I actually thought we were looking better with Jackson taking clearances during today's game.

HM: ‘to put into context, it’s been so long since the Demons went 8-0 to start a season, Whinston Churchill, Michael Jackson and Courtney Love something, something, not born yet, not even dead.’ LD: ‘Even the way Kozi Pickett runs to the interchange bench, extraordinary’ HM: ‘player with ball has played football, XX games, born at Mercy hospital, mum was an elite netballer’ LD: ‘my powder blue jacket really brings out my eyes, impressive stuff’ HM: ‘I’m a grammarian, Et Tu Lingus?’ CL ‘Melbourne are good, but not as good as the team I led to 3 premierships.’ MR: ‘across every line I just can’t see a weakness for the Dees. Geez I wish I played on a team like this.’ CL: ‘You just can’t know what it feels like unless you’ve held it aloft’ MR: ‘I get to hold the Tigers premiership cups every Tuesday 8.30-9am’ CL: ‘like I said, you can’t know. I also own that pier in Geelong, great feeling you can’t know unless you own one’ HM: ‘Steely Dan recorded their first album 23 years after Melbourne’s last victorious season’ LD: ‘I’ve got better hair than Eddie, so impressive. Now I’m going to get excited about something. Jordan Jones!!’ ..... Seriously, while I’m loving the Sat Night exposure, it’s a terrible Seven combo. Richo and Lingy are fine, but Darcy and Mclachlan’

Blessed are they who scrap and fight to the end, for they get to sing the song. Go Dees!

Well now Dazzle if u can say it I can as well, I thought Spargo was instrumental in our win tonight!?

I spent the game in the Swannies sponsors box. Wore my Demons gear proudly and pumped with the result despite the grind. That was a HUGE win for this team. Top 4 side, close game, tested until the final siren. 8-0 is unbelievable. So proud of the boys. This is a new feeling, I haven’t enjoyed footy this much in 39 years. I also won 2 hampers and had a good chat to Dees alumni Luke Williams (for those who remember him) so a pretty great night ?

I can't have that !! Harmes was a genuine contributor and provided more to the team than Brayshaw did tonight. Of course he got found out a couple of times but in his first senior game in 7 weeks he did enough to retain his spot.

Pfft. Not convinced until we beat a team above us

Only the fifth time Buddy has been held scoreless in his whole career

hi Wiz Koz a few facts for you from 1965 - we won the first 8 and then only 2 more games in the infamous sacking year which had only 18 rounds. We finished 7th in a 12 team comp with a Final Four. However, Norm Smith was sacked for only one round and that was Round 13 and not Round 9 which is being talked about on Ch 7 (what would you expect From the Home of Footy)! We only won one game from Rounds 9 - 12. Let's now look at our big runs and I can confirm AFL Tables: Longest winning streak: 19 games[51] Round 15, 1955 vs North Melbourne (MCG) to round 13, 1956 vs Carlton (MCG) don't forget we won the last two games last year so we are on a 10-game streak - only 9 to go! BTW I wish the Filth had lost yesterday - that has nothing to do with your Q but I can't stand the Filth

I already mentioned this in the votes thread, but a most dishonorable mention to Luke Darcy for referring to James Jordon as Jordon Jones several times on the telecast. Sharpen up or get out of the way of the many thousands of footy fans who'd love to be on the money you're on, who actually know the players names. Muppet.

I'm going (have gone) on record to say I'm sticking fat with Harrison Petty, irrespective of Tom McDonald being an awesome forward again. He's young and inexperienced key defender, but given the chance to settle and develop cohesion with May and Lever, he WILL deliver.

I've figured it out. There's an in-joke that I'm not part of, to always just say "drop Melksham" irrespective of how he plays or how the game plays out. That's the only explanation for it.

Watching Ronald Dale singing the song was wonderful

I'll tell ya what. Papley is right up there on the 'Punchable Head List.'

A great win. On the way home from game, I was standing at taxi rank at Caulfield Station, and man waiting as well was former player Paul Callery. He asked what my memory was like, and I told the famous story when Vin Waite knocked him out, and Big Carl knocked out Waite. Waite got 4 weeks at tribunal, and Big Carl zero weeks.

Imagine if you said at half time in the match thread that you thought that the best setup was to have Tom McDonald in defence? Won us the game with that mark and goal. I might have to dust Plugger off again. That was by far the most tough opponent we've had. Definitely not the prettiest win but I'd argue the most satisfying one yet.

Darcy offers nothing. He is a moronic automated cliche machine. I’m Staggered he has a job in media at all, let alone a prominent one take him out and the rest would look better

Even though Sydney kicked the first goals , their players were strutting around like they owned the place and the Swan supporters all around us (how are they allowed to nominate our members area on the ticketing system as the place to sit) were vocal in their arrogance, sure they were about to see a typical Melbourne mental meltdown and capitulation, I was calm, and confident the boys would bounce back. What is this new feeling? Never felt this way at a footy game before. This team is different. After each Swan goal they gathered in their groups and talked tactics, supporting each other, a real team lifter. They didn't panic. They had faith in each other. Yes, some players had an off night, but others rallied to drag them along. The Sydney flood returned, but it was a sign of Melbourne's unwillingness to give in that allowed them to counteract everything the Swans tried. (Note to Sydney players: beating up on young players while the umpires are preoccupied with the centre bounce is not a sign of toughness.) The Big Mac was magnificent. What a master of a goal kicker. When he was lining up on the boundary line on the city end I was supremely confident in him scoring a goal. My friends around me had their heads in their hands. Oh yea of little faith. This is Tommy Mac! Big Ben took a mark right in front of us with one finger. Ho, ho, what a show off!? Looking forward to bigger and better things from BBB. Even though it was a hard fought win and close all night, it was thoroughly enjoyable. I was never worried or stressed. This is truly a new existence.

The time commitment for the podcast is a couple of hours a week at most. It’s entertaining and it’s time donated to the supporters. There are a lot of hours in a week, there’s plenty of time for him to do the cast and not neglect his professional responsibilities. Ridiculous thing to pot him for.

It's not just losing the centre clearance. It's losing the centre clearance and the opposition being allowed to run it out under no pressure. Losing it but applying pressure resulting in hack kicks forward for Lever/May/Hibberd to chop off isn't so much of an issue. Letting them waltz out and spot up target inside 50 is.

He won’t be getting dropped anytime soon. I think you need to watch the game a little closer Doc. His game has a lot to do with the team rather than gaining a truckload of possessions. The amount of running he does to get back and set-up in our defensive 50 is incredible. Yes, we all would like our players to hit targets 100% of the time but it won’t happen. He’s a big reason why teams are finding it hard to score against us. Half his possessions came from intercepts last night.

I thought Harmesy was in and amongst the action tonight, can't quiet gather the angst against the returning soldier. Jimmy Jordan's tackle in the 4th when the game was in the balance was clutch. take a bow young man.

Had Rampe on him most of the night and he’s the Swans best defender. Tmac and BBB wouldn’t have played so well if Fritsch didn’t get the best defender.

The thing that I’ve really noticed over the last few weeks is the consistency in where players are. Ed Langdon is huge for this. We know he’s going to be boundary side 15 metres from every contest, and that Salem’s going to be 60 metres behind the ball. The faith that players have in them means we can move the ball with much more confidence to the outside, in ways we haven’t been able to do before. It also means we can put players like Jordan, Jackson and Pickett into stoppages to offer something different. It doesn’t have to be Oliver, Viney and Trac fighting for every ball, and if we don’t win at the coal face it’s game over. We are a much more balanced team, and are playing with much more faith in each other.

Biggest winner of the night? That’d be the obnoxious Swans supporter sitting behind me. He’s a winner coz he’s going home with his nose intact, as in, unbroken. He’s lucky Dees faithful are not thugs. ❤️?❤️?❤️? Just needed to vent. I’m all good now. GO DEEEEEEEZ!!!!!

Petty was poor but IMO should hold his spot to work on his connection with the others in the backline. Brayshaw's positioning was excellent but his disposal poor. Wouldn't drop him, though. Melksham was significantly better this week than last week. Not the week to be calling for his head if you don't like him. Harmes' fourth quarter was important so I'd keep him but I'm far from convinced. So all of that said, may be no change.

When you win a loose ball and look up and some weird 5ft kid named Charlie Spargo is on your case:

If there’s a better sight in football than Ronald Dale Barassi singing Grand Old Flag then I don’t need to know about it.

Funny how you guys aren’t mentioning Gawn. He has been soundly beaten last few weeks, and co hosts the podcast. Social media engagement is a key part of revenue strategies these days, and Gus is absolutely hilarious so it makes perfect business sense to have him on a podcast with Gawny. Aside from that, they do the podcast in their own time for the benefit of the club. It’s not like he’s skipping training to record it. Some people here have a very strange dad complex with the players and think they have right to comment on what they do in their own time. Totally bizarre to me. Do you honestly think he would play better if he didn’t record a 45 minute podcast? Give me a spell, stop looking for problems to discuss while we’re flying.

centre clearances were 17-4 against! I wonder how long it’s been since ANY team has been beaten like that in that stat. When you think about the quality of the players in there ( three probable AA’s) it’s just hard to fathom. I look forward to seeing our positioning and % of wins in the centre evolve!

Think the word is tenterhooks!

Only Spargo is not on the fringe, or if so, only as much as about 16 or so other players in the side at the moment. He was very much rated in his first season in 2018, had a bit of second year blues in 2019 and somewhat so in 2020, although had some good games towards the end of the season and possibly injured at other stages. However I'd say the way Spargo is playing now is pretty much exactly what we recruited him for, a pretty highly rated role by Goody and makes him just about a lock in the side.

Wow, we watched different games.

Harsh

Ummm he was leading the 1%, he held Buddy goalless. I bet he will feature strongly in the coaches votes. He. Is. A. Star.

Neal daniher in the crowd tonight wearing a Melbourne scarf was great to see

You can't be someone who was upset during the Gameday thread and not be in here in raptures with that win. We dug deep when we needed to and although we didn't cash in on our dominance in the middle two quarters as much as we should have, we remained really tough to play against and put Sydney, a top 4 side, off their game. They lifted immensely from when we hit the 22 point margin. They moved it quicker, took us on more directly, and opened up the ground more. But despite everything they threw at us, they didn't get in front. Which means that's 8 straight games in which we have not been behind at any stage in the fourth quarter (although that was the first fourth quarter we've lost). Oliver and TMac were the big stars. I thought Harmes was poor early but his fourth quarter was really good. Brown's first half was really important, and as TMac said in the post-match interview the two of them were more in sync tonight than last week. May good on Buddy but I reckon he was clearly unfit. Also loved Rivers' game. Petty struggled but IMO we have to keep playing him to work on that synergy with Lever and May.

Probably no change but I’d be interested to hear what others thought of Brayshaw’s game. For the record, I thought he was plumb ordinary

No change.