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Harsh on Petty. I thought he was fantastic today

IN: MAY, VINEY, MCDONALD OUT: J.SMITH, SPARROW, MELKSHAM

16.8 These guys are deadeye sharpshooters

Well done Joel Smith. Played your role well Credit to the Crows they came to play but we got the win, kicked accurately for a change, no injuries and playing for the minor premiership next weekend Great time to be a Dees supporter

Petty - won't back down

Our first 100 point win of the year. Then we send shockwaves through the comp by rolling Geelong at Kardinia Park next week to hit the finals as the in form team. We then go on to win the flag. [censored] it, I'm in.

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Let’s try this again. To the people who feel the need to comment on how negative the gameday thread is. Yeah, ya don’t say. Gameday threads are full of venting. Some of it mindless. Some of it ridiculous. Always have been. Always will be. If you can’t accept that, just don’t open them. Easy. Casting judgement on them just makes you look like a turnip. And if you really want a gameday safe space full of sunshine and rainbows, go nuts. Just keep your “gee this place is so negative” drivel out of the gameday threads. It’s an emotional game.

I spoke to Shane yesterday, he’s pretty bullish about Taj getting drafted and would love him to play at the Dees. As expected he kept his cards close to his chest, but I got the impression the club have been in regular contact

I just looked at time on ground stats. A lot of our better players had a lot less TOG than usual. Trac was on the bench almost 20 minutes today. Oliver 15 minutes. Gawn 27 minutes off the ground. Gus had a full 30 minutes on the bench. We clearly went in with a plan to rest guys. We tried a few different things in the middle. We rested May. We wanted to get over the line and we did with minimum effort. Perfect outcome!

Easy to praise the man after kicking 7 goals but just wanted to acknowledge the improvement in his goal kicking. He has now kicked 46.18 for the year. Outstanding accuracy by any measure but particularly for someone that used to look shaky in front of goal. Also brought up his 100th goal with his second major of the day. Kids a jet.

Smith - didn't surprise binman

How good will it be to see No 31 kicking goals in Finals Dare we dream.

No way.

I'll take a 7 goal win anytime. The game was by no means pretty but I'm pleased that we controlled the game in the last quarter and didn't allow Adelaide to get back in it. The standouts were Langdon and Fritsch. They both had their best games for weeks. I also felt really confident when the ball went in Lever's direction. He's one of the best intercept markers in the competition.

Somebody please sign Dogga up for a further 5 years. This kids goanna have a stack of AAs by the end of that!

Bayley Fritsch, take a bow! Take his final three goals out of the equation and I think he still had a career best day. Was chasing and tackling all afternoon.

“Let’s drop Fritsch” from the game day thread. NFI.

Some great performances but for me, Smiths solid performance coming in late with FA matches was a standout.

The biggest upside today was Langdon, spargo and Fritta all back to their best. Great work from Trac, Petty and Jackson.

Did anyone see Peter McKenna out there? He was wearing no 31 and had a funny haircut.

I hate that we can’t be there to enjoy this climb that we’ve all waited so so long for. We deserve to be there to cheer on the club, but my god if our performance in 2021 hasn’t been the biggest joy giver of the year for you, then you’re doing a hell of a lot better than most. It has been a glorious distraction and something truly worth keeping going for. So thank you Melbourne for making 2021 a year that we might actually all never forget for the right reasons!

Fox just had rankings over the last 6 weeks for ability as a team to: not concede once the ball enters D50 stop coast to coast transition win the ball back between the arcs apply pressure. Melbourne ranks first for all of them. Far and away the best team without the ball.

He had 28 touches, 5 clearances, 7 tackles, 348 metres gained, 8 score involvements, 28 pressure acts (our most) and got to spend 12% of the game on the bench.

Loved that. Wasn’t pretty, but ticked all the boxes IMO. Kicked goals against the run of play in the first, weathered the challenge in the third and buried them when they put up the white flag in the last. Very content with that performance. Did what we had to. Bring on the minor premiership battle next week.

Cudos to Joel Smith- has done well. Pleased for him

Apologies if this has already been mentioned but thought Petty was superb today. Hard to imagine he'll be playing at Casey much over the next decade

In the 18 the comp, no one has ever beaten all 17 other teams in the one season. Not sure how many have beaten 16.

I for one am hugely grateful for the game day thread this year. I want and need to vent, and understand others need to do likewise. If I say dumb stuff, or bag any players for, you know, being a human AFL footballer with flaws, I’m even more happy to be called out for it, and I’ll do the same. As weird as it is, we’re all here because we’re invested in the club. We need to sublimate our lack of control somehow, and as personally varied as that is, game day thread is a (mostly) harmless part of that sublimation. All that said, Fritsch just has to go.

7 Big Ones today

Our backline did look fairly shaky in parts, Steven May is clearly an incredibly important cog in the backline system. I thought Petty was outstanding, his trajectory of improvement this year has been quite phenomenal, deserves any and all credit he gets. and the Crustless quiche strikes again!!

Dropped marks. That’s what makes him elite, and we build the game around him down the line. He dropped 5-6 from memory and was very dirty on himself.

Jackson's set shots have improved out of sight in the last half of the season. Really impressive.

I hope this isn’t the Last time we play on the MCG this year

It feels like the season has turned the final bend and we’re now looking down the final straight. Our players will know quality performances will ensure a place in our finals team and nothing is guaranteed. Coaches have us peaking with a couple of final touches to add next week in TMac and Viney. Expect us to be on today. We’re in a position to make history. Go Demons.

Thought we were lazy at the start and later on, but a stunning win. Loved seeing Fitch on spark. 7.0. What an effort. Now we have equaled or highest ever winning season (1956.) Go Dees.

Bit harsh I reckon, Col. Fogarty is enormous, and uses it very well. He also had the ideal position on the ball when he took his marks. Unless you’re similarly built, it’s near impossible to shift a guy like that in that situation. Not sure there’s any more Petty could have done. He was excellent today as our key defender otherwise.

May Comes in yes, but Joel could make the I/C Did his chances no harm

I actually think that was the perfect game for us. First and foremost, no injuries (as far as we know at least). Comfortable win in the end, and a comfortable final quarter (which meant A-graders got to rest in the forward line/on the bench). Got to trial new things - those final few centre bounces we had Jackson, Brayshaw, Sparrow and Jordon in the middle, for example. Found some form for Fritsch, Langdon, Spargo and Salem. Kicked 100 points with Brown and Fritsch both only playing a half of football and Pickett struggling for most of the game. And we got challenged, which IMO is far better preparation for next week and the finals than to have had a GC-like romp. The reality is this match was very close to a dead rubber - the only benefit we gain is that if the Dogs win, we'll finish top 2 even with a loss next week (but if Port wins, we have to win next week or we end up going to Adelaide for the first final). But all in all I'm really pleased with how that played out. Bowey looks so composed for a third gamer. Give Jackson the Rising Star award right now. Petracca played a more mature game, which I liked. Thought Lever and Petty did really well in May's absence (I'm going to need a hell of a lot more convincing about Smith).

Would have called for a straighjacket if you'd suggested at quarter time that Fritsch would snag 7.

This didn't age well!

Mine has a wire screen in front of it Blues Bros style..

If Joel Smith leaks less than 3 goals, that’s a win. I hope he makes me eat my hat.

Not a lot of incentive for Adelaide to win and go from draft pick 2 to pick 4 or 5 and push out later round picks. Walker did most of the damage last time and he is out. Lever and co won't fall for the same trap again - he will make sure we 'block the corridor'! Keep their small fwds under control and we will win. And hopefully, we have learnt how to defend a lead in the last minutes of a game. Hawthorn gave a masterclass in that yesterday.

A win with no injuries is that aim of the day. Could be a big day for BBB. Maybe the day he breaks out as a Dee.

You’re a Melbourne supporter??

Reckon it's a Ben Brown kind of day. Tipping 4 or 5 goals today and really stamp himself, and remind the competition that he's still got it.

Eat Mexican last night?

This gives me the sheets. We were only doing what half a dozen clubs had done before us without issue from the media or AFL. If we didn't tank I would have been fuming. What p1zzes me off most is that we were the ones hung out to dry by the hypocrites. The other clubs before us forgotten about.