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So over here in Nairobi, Kenya, you have @Nairobi_Demon and DeeFence (having never met before) who met up to watch the game! Very happy with the result. Crows played a brilliant game, happy with the win, absorbed the pressure. We are a greater team than the sum of our parts, demonstrated yet again. Thanks coach. Viney just a wrecking ball, Pickett's intense energy on display. Our HB line giving great run, Salem/Rivers/McVee with Hibbo in the pocket is gold dust. Chandler came back with endeavour, Woey didn't do much but did it well, ANB some lovely touches a few weeks in a row. Captain doing Captain things. May was off no doubt, but that came off his epic game last week, not worried as he is moving with speed still. Also a few had a chance to kill the game and kicked points. Leaving Adelaide a chance, wasn't just May stuffing it up. Also Umps missed some flagrant holding the balls that ended with Crows scoring and why is Lever 1/10 second late a 50, but Gawn can be cannoned into by a bum to the head after the balls is 5m away...

Petracca is 28 next year. Whoever we draft likely won't be having a big impact until Trac is in his 30s and winding down. This is about finding our next Trac, and we're presented with a rare opportunity at the top end of the draft that we likely won't have again for many years to come.

Since Simon Goodwin became coach in 2017, he has only had one season with a win rate less than 50%. 2019 was that season. Yesterday saw him record another "winning" season. That's 6 from 7. One better than the previous best Melbourne Coach in my life time, Swooper Northey, who went 5 from 7. Neale Daniher had 6 from 10, although his last season ended after 13 games. Norm Smith coached for 16 seasons and had three less than 50% (including his last 2). Congratulations Goody. Only one team can win the flag each year but you have coached a team that has been super competitive over a long period of time.

Woewodin does not have the elite endurance that Hunter has. A few times today he got lost in the transition from half forward to half back. It’s fine, he’s a kid, and it happens. But to play wing requires the freakish ability to run and run and run repeatedly at top speed all day. Hunter and Langdon do that better than anyone. You will not see us place that burden on Woey in his first season. JJ is ok but he doesn’t have the speed. It’s why we went and got another specialist wingman. Hunter is ridiculously maligned here for no reason.

I think it’s okay not to rate Brown or think he’s going any good. I think it’s pretty clear to everyone he’s not moving as well as he used to. I have him as an out in the pregame thread. It’s when you start being all keyboard warrior about it that people will rightfully start jumping down your throat. As a career AFL full forward, Ben Brown would have been scragged, scruffed, punched in the guts, arms and head (half the time on purpose) more than most of the rest of us put together. Soft. Please. Anyway I would have hoped our premiership full forward would have earned a bit more respect from Melbourne fans than that.

That makes it 8-1 at the G this year.

No doubt Harley Reid will be a very good AFL footballer. I just hope that we use our draft hand to balance our list better. We do not need another bull, yesterdays game just reinforced to me that we need some outside players to compliment our inside players. Two outside players with a bit of foot speed and elite foot skills will help sort out the connection issues we have with that last kick into the forward line. Yes Harley can play a bit outside as well but give me two picks over one.

Went out to dinner this evening and was told by one of the others in attendance that Melbourne is lucky to be in its current place because it should/could have easily have lost the last two games which it won by narrow margins (leaving aside the fact that previously it had also lost some games by narrow margins). The same person is in awe of Collingwood’s fantastic ability to win the close ones which is what “makes them such a great team”. Remarkable!

I reckon people are harsh on brown.. he gets sheizen delivery. When he was out in space he was ignored. He was all alone inside 50 in a central position when JVR took a mark in the centre square , JVR turned his back, then kicked to him out wide on the souther stand side , not to his favour. I think he is judged harshly

surprised Viney didn't get the most votes.

How much has Goodwin contributed to the strength of the list? Many key members of our side, such as May and Lever, are imports. How many of them would say, if asked, I was convinced after I got Goody’s presentation? I recall May saying something like that. On top of that, in the last few years in particular we’ve hardly lost a player we’d prefer to have kept other than Jackson, and all our best players have signed long term deals. It’s hard to know what’s cause and what’s effect, but the coach surely gets some slice of the credit for the fact that we’ve been able to attract and retain a talented list.

Viney’s efforts are just unbelievable at times but Gussy yesterday was just as desperate. Gus showed tremendous leadership on the ground, could often be heard directing his teammates. He had a lot of score involvements also, good to see him recognised in the votes here. He was in the top 3 on the ground for me.

Well done Demon Army. When setting up at the centre bounces in the last, out came the raucous, MCG filling chants. Lifted them, as it gave them a reminder, that they have fans to play for. Great work on the banner as well. @WalkingCivilWar

Petty needs to rest for another game and earn his recall back at Casey. I thought his last two games in the ones were VERY ORDINARY!. THOMMO STAYS !!

rubbish....love to see you cop the amount of chops, whacks and attention he gets.... and see how you feel about "Soft" ?? yeahhh....nahhh !!

You don't get many opportunities to add a potentially game breaking, goal kicking, inside-outside mid with power and explosiveness. The game is built around them - Danger, Dusty, Trac etc. - and this type of player is a pretty consistent factor in getting teams a flag. Certainly has been over the last 10 years. Yes - of course you need a team around them - but Richmond would not have won at least 2 of their 3 flags without Dusty. Potentially all 3. We (probably) don't win 21 without Trac. Happy to go on record that Harley would be worth it. He looks as good a prospect as I've seen in the last 5 years of watching draftees. It's the right time to add a player like him into our midfield. Viney approaching 30 and will be banged up as soon as he hits father time. Trac at his peak, Oliver a year behind. If Reid takes 3 years to get going, it will keep us at the top echelon, and that should be the aim with the current draft hand we have. In terms of alternatives, I have some significant doubts on Duursma at AFL level. I have far more confidence in Watson making the grade, even at his diminutive height. He + Koz could be a small forward combination for the ages. Also like McKercher and think he could end up the best or 2nd best player from this draft. What is clear to me is that this draft falls away below the top 5 or 6, so if we need to use our picks in the teens and/or our F1 to get Reid, or Watson and McKercher together (doubtful), I'll have no issue with it.

His overall win-loss record is slightly ahead of Clarkson and Hardwick. Nothing to be sniffed at. The club has been explicit with the goal of making the top-4 consistently to give ourselves the best chance each year of seizing the moment. That's what they are doing and I love that we can be top four while still being a bit rough at the edges mid-season. Of additional significance, I think, is that Goodwin has the best finals win-loss record of any current AFL coach. He was exactly equal with Hardwick, but with Hardwick officially retired that sets Goodwin as the best-performing finals coach in the AFL. Now, three quick finals wins in a row this year, and Goodwin can surpass Norm Smith's win rate. Albert Chadwick might be a little harder to catch at 80%!

He is in the team, like Langdon, for his defensive positioning and ability to understand when to push and when not to. It’s obvious that Goodwin likes to play with the AFL version of wingbacks and he, like Ed, is never going to hit it into the Haymes paint bucket from 30m but they will both be there at the kick out of the D50 and the kick I50. I don’t really think he has been tremendous but meh is an undersell. If Woey had a year like that we’d be salivating.

Tomlinson must stay even if Petty is fit. Doesn't panic, good ball user, super fit.

I’m all for Petty going forward. I’ve said that over and over again. Clearly Goodwin and co want him down back. Brown is playing for lack of options. It’s no wonder they’re trying to force the forward issue with Grundy. They know BB and Tmac are cooked and we need another big body to force a contest, but Grundy will never have the forward smarts or leading patterns of Ben Brown. Go back and watch some of the goals yesterday. The space we were able to find inside 50, was often because Ben Brown was leading higher up to pull his defender and open the space behind him for the likes of Kosi and Chandler, who could never take a mark with a big pack around them (and rightly so, they’re smalls). He still, bung knee and all, commands respect in the contest. Do I think he is just about done? Yes I do. Do I think anyone has the right to call him soft? I think you and I both know the answer to that. A man who has kicked over 300 AFL goals and was an integral part of a premiership winning forwardline, is not, never has, and will never be soft. And on a side note, he is also a magnificent human off the field who gives a lot of his time to worthy causes. He deserves more respect than he’s currently being shown by a few keyboard heroes.

Not for one minute suggesting Maxy has had an AA year, but the bloke almost universally tipped to take his spot, Tim English is only 3 coaches votes ahead him, after Maxy missed three games, was off in the first minute of another one and has spent most of the season sharing ruck duties.

That’s incredible really - massive kudos to Goody and it puts everything into perspective when we, as a collective, are often keen to get on his back at the first sign of a defeat. As Yze said recently: the goal every year for the H/A season is Top 4. After that, whatever happens, happens. But if you can get that Top 4 finish AND build a model of footy that is geared towards finals then you give yourself the best chance. I realised recently that I was getting frustrated and disappointed by narrow victories: I wanted to think that the 2021 GF was the model going forward. I now realise that we just need to get the wins, whether or not they are perfect. With this change in mindset, I really enjoyed being at the game yesterday: my take was that we were challenged 3 or 4 times by a very good team and not once did we relinquish our lead. Yes, there were some clangers, yes there was some iffy disposal but watch the highlights and you’ll see some great free-flowing Melbourne footy (more than I realised) and a team of players that give everything. Which is what all supporters want at the end of the day, isn’t it?

I think you are calling me the clown. I noticed your laughing emoji on on my post. So is it, coaching or lack of 4 quarters? The coaching group, are constantly moving players around on the field. That is why I believe we give the opposition a headache. We don't match up easily. For the other to play better than us, they need "to take it on", play their own style, and hit the corridors. If they play to restrict us, they lose. Good coaching, forcing that, now if we could only stop the oppositions fast ball movement for the 4 quarters. You're a cynic without much optimism, thriving on loss and judgement. Do you see the worst and hope for the best, or are you just stuck in the mire of hopelessness and worthlesness? At least you have the Wobbles to rock your boat.

Relatively measured responses. Selections from the early pages: good: top 6 pick Ugly:The green [censored] giving Melbourne free goals 6.13 at three quarter time. Bad kicking is bad football Play away, look like s**t for periods, play like millionaires for parts, either get in front early and choke, or come from behind and still fall short. Sick of it. I thought we'd get smacked today. That game sums us up really - poor at the crunch (when it counts), pretty good when not expected to be/allowed to be, ultimately not good enough. Season ended this time two weeks ago - play the kids. Although we lost and had shocking accuracy. We didn’t give up and fought to the death. That’s something to be proud of. We’ve lost by under a goal to Pies and Dees at the G. Umpiring. F me. They throw..., the most simple open blatant obvious holding the balls, no whistle…, they call the block on Sloane…, that 50m penalty with the late whistle and crouch played on straight away was extremely harsh. Which moron didn't pick Nankervis until now? There is absolutely no way that Poort Pear can win a GF against a Melbourne team with those umpires. They have to pray for a Brisbane Pear GF. I just love Tex. Deserves a premiership for the way he goes about it. He’s our Buckley. Legend with nothing to show for it. Been the same story most of the year. We've got as much guts, heart, grit, whatever you want to call it as you could hope for from any team. But my god we lack class and polish. A lot more good than bad. Viney’s free kick that was paid against Worrell is just about the worst free kick ever paid. s**t mids always making it hard for our forwards.. although our forwards shouldve converted their chances. Finals are done. Get games into the future and let's finally get a decent mid in the draft. Midfield did okay today but not the future of the club. Bare in mind they played Petracca mostly forward and as soon as he went in there late he won it and set up Gawn for the sealer. My favourites: AI umpiring can't come quick enough. Get the cheats out of the game. I really appreciate your commentary on the couple of minutes you bothered to watch. When we were 30+ pts up I thought my prediction of about 40pts would be on the money. Not to be. They fought it out very well. We got the 4pts, consolidated 4th spot on the ladder, have ND4 in the bag so all in all a successful weekend!!

Melbourne v Adelaide (Round 19, 2023) https://www.wheeloratings.com/afl_match_stats.html?ID=20231906 Key Team Stats Stats highlighted purple were won by Melbourne. Stat For Against Diff Disposal Efficiency 65.3 75.2 -9.9 Kicking Efficiency 58.6 68.8 -10.2 Metres Gained 6015 5880 +135 Inside 50s 52 54 -2 Shots At Goal 29 29 +0 Shots Per Inside 50 55.8 53.7 +2.1 Contested Possessions 149 128 +21 Ground Ball Gets 96 88 +8 Intercepts 64 66 -2 Intercept Marks 12 19 -7 Centre Clearances 15 13 +2 Stoppage Clearances 24 19 +5 Contested Marks 14 18 -4 Marks Inside 50 17 12 +5 Hitouts 43 28 +15 Hitouts To Advantage 11 9 +2 Tackles 47 69 -22 Tackles Inside 50 1 13 -12 Def One On One Loss % 33.3 25.0 +8.3 Pressure Team pressure Quarter For Against 1 184 194 2 201 198 3 177 172 4 168 202 Match 183 191 Source: Herald Sun Most Pressure Points Note: pressure points are the weighed sum of pressure acts. Physical pressure acts are worth 3.75 points, closing acts are worth 2.25 points, chasing acts are 1.5 points and corralling are 1.2. ( https://www.championdata.com/glossary/afl/ ) Player Pressure Acts Pressure Points Season Average* Christian Petracca 26 63 48.9 Angus Brayshaw 25 62 32.1 James Jordon 27 58 23.0 Jack Viney 27 54 54.1 Kysaiah Pickett 20 44 43.1 Ed Langdon 16 35 27.7 Tom Sparrow 16 34 42.1 Christian Salem 14 33 29.4 Judd McVee 12 24 18.5 Alex Neal-Bullen 9 21 46.6 Kade Chandler 12 21 31.6 Jake Bowey 9 20 20.4 Taj Woewodin 9 19 23.3 Jacob van Rooyen 6 17 23.3 Max Gawn 7 17 22.5 Trent Rivers 8 15 23.2 Jake Lever 6 13 15.1 Ben Brown 6 13 12.3 Steven May 5 12 14.8 Adam Tomlinson 4 12 14.5 Jake Melksham 6 8 13.8 Lachie Hunter 5 6 22.9 Joel Smith 0 0 18.0 * Pressure points for rounds 4 and 6 have not been able to be sourced from the Herald Sun. Pressure points for these matches have been estimated from the number of pressure acts for each player. Source: Herald Sun Time in Forward Half Quarter For Against 1 46% 54% 2 44% 56% 3 50% 50% 4 59% 41% Match 51% 49% Source: Match total sourced from the Herald Sun; quarter values are my own calculations. Score Sources Summary Score sources highlighted purple were won by Melbourne. Category For Against Diff G B T G B T Kick-in 1 0 6 0 1 1 +5 Centre Bounce 2 1 13 1 2 8 +5 Stoppage (Other) 2 3 15 2 4 16 -1 Turnover 9 9 63 10 8 68 -5 Category For Against Match Season Match Season Kick-in 6 2.8 1 2.3 Centre Bounce 13 10.8 8 6.8 Stoppage (Other) 15 22.7 16 21.3 Turnover 63 54.0 68 42.7 Chain start region Note: region is from the scoring team's perspective. Against season average represents average points conceded by Melbourne across the season, not average points scored by Adelaide. Category Region For Against Match Season Match Season Kick-in D50 6 2.8 1 2.3 Centre Bounce Centre 13 10.8 8 6.8 Stoppage (Other) D50 0 0.7 6 2.4 Stoppage (Other) Centre 1 2.8 1 1.2 Stoppage (Other) Wing 14 11.4 3 6.7 Stoppage (Other) F50 0 7.8 6 11.0 Turnover D50 31 11.4 9 6.2 Turnover Centre 1 7.6 20 6.7 Turnover Wing 29 28.7 32 21.8 Turnover F50 2 6.4 7 7.9 Region For Against Match Season Match Season D50 37 14.9 16 10.9 Centre 15 21.2 29 14.7 Wing 43 40.1 35 28.5 F50 2 14.2 13 18.9 Points from defensive half For Against Match Season Match Season 66 36.0 43 25.2 Shots at goal Team Shots G B T Acc. Set Position Melbourne 18 12 5 77 66.7 Adelaide 14 4 10 34 28.6 General Play Melbourne 11 2 6 18 18.2 Adelaide 15 9 4 58 60.0 Centre Bounce Attendances CBAs CBA % 2023 % 2022 % Jack Viney 28 90 70.3 74.6 Max Gawn 27 87 55.3 65.5 Angus Brayshaw 19 61 27.9 16.0 Tom Sparrow 17 55 47.2 32.2 Christian Petracca 14 45 62.4 74.6 James Jordon 11 35 26.9 0.2 Kysaiah Pickett 4 13 11.8 1.3 Jacob van Rooyen 4 13 6.2 Trent Rivers 0 0 3.9 0.0 Alex Neal-Bullen 0 0 2.9 3.5 Clayton Oliver 82.8 86.5 Brodie Grundy 55.7 83.7 James Harmes 27.8 14.6 Tom McDonald 5.4 0.0 Harrison Petty 0.9 0.0 Josh Schache 0.0 13.8 Ruck Contests and Hitouts Ruck Contests Ruck Contests RC % 2023 % 2022 % Max Gawn 69 80 50.0 57.8 Jacob van Rooyen 16 19 10.6 Joel Smith 1 1 0.2 0.0 Ben Brown 0 0 2.3 3.6 Steven May 0 0 0.1 0.0 Alex Neal-Bullen 0 0 0.1 0.0 Christian Petracca 0 0 0.1 0.1 Brodie Grundy 49.5 77.4 Tom McDonald 8.9 7.0 Josh Schache 6.7 13.4 Harrison Petty 2.0 0.0 Clayton Oliver 0.0 0.0 Hitouts Ruck Contests Hitouts To Adv. To Adv. % (2023) To Adv. % (2022) Max Gawn 69 38 11 31.9 33.6 Jacob van Rooyen 16 5 0 23.8 Alex Neal-Bullen 0 0 0 0.0 Ben Brown 0 0 0 0.0 14.3 Brodie Grundy 30.8 30.2 Tom McDonald 25.0 33.3 Harrison Petty 22.2 Josh Schache 33.3 Opposition hitouts Ruck Contests Hitouts To Adv. Reilly O'Brien 68 20 8 Riley Thilthorpe 18 8 1 Expected scores (Champion Data) 98 - 86

This was what I heard too, so I went into the replay later on focused on what BBB offered and couldn’t disagree at all. Keep making leads, was our exit target outside 50 (successfully and unsuccessfully) on a number of occasions, kept impacting the ball in the air and bringing to ground, and forward of centre was minded by two opponents in his own and what I assume was a float spare (i.e the Lever type role) without being beaten in the air - but not having the support there to stop the turnover once it hit the ground. Was a bit surprised by the DL opinion on his game - I’m hoping he keeps getting a game and gets some more reward like his start to the 2023 season.

Tonight is our 200th Podcast

Lol at Clarry playing for Casey.

What do you mean "starting"? He's been doing this for weeks now. We've had more players rotating through the middle than in 2022. We've rested/managed players who haven't been fit instead of pushing through (with Petty the only exception I can think of). We've gone away from the 2021 preferred forward structure and indeed we're also now trying out a single ruck model. We've tried two tall defenders instead of three. We've dropped Spargo and Harmes more than once, we kept Brown out for weeks, we're now keeping Hibberd out. We currently have three 2023 debutants in our line-up as well as Chandler who had 5 games' experience before this year. And above all, we've spent huge portions of this year developing a turnover/transition game, rather than going all in on our stoppage game.

Hunter does one thing very well. He gets the ball a lot. You cannot do anything if you don't have the ball.

But the Pies are going to win the flag so who even cares

Easily, hands down the most successful coach we’ve had since the golden era of the 60s. One injury decimated year of being non-competitive in 7 is outstanding. I’ve seen posters that still prefer Northey or Daniher and it makes my head spin. It really amazes me how little recognition he gets.

Hunter is the new ANB. Everyone wants him dropped every week. And he never will be.

Oliver under done? I reckon more like a caged starved lion ready to kill. He has been able to get the KMs in. He will not be underdone. He might be a little rusty with his touch but even a rusty Clarry is 99% ahead of just about any player in the competition. I think the way Salem came in and did not seem to miss a beat is how Clarry will come back in.

i think the issue any of the complainers have on here is that what they expect is perfection week in week out. I totally get it i have been guilty of it myself and have to try and snap out of it and remember where we have come from. The 2021 experience in particular the finals series was something that i joke with my Melbourne supporter mates about how it was almost like a video game i have created where we just blitz everyone and everything goes perfect all the time. Like think about it Max kicks 5 goals we stomp the Cats by 80 odd then come back from the dead and kick 15 in a row in a granny. It's not normal or regular and we all loved it haha. Unfortunately its probably too much to ask for it week in week out but deep down you know the players are capable of it. I saw a glimpse yesterday with the run and gun play from Lever baulking in the backline and it flowed into a goal a few moments later. Whether we can get back to it i dont know but its better than any footy being played right now which is why us supporters get frustrated. We know this group deserve more than one flag!

I love this! Many of our youngsters are developing beautifully under Choco’s unique style and guidance, and we have another group of high-end youngsters joining our Club in a couple of months. Well done Choco and the Melbourne Footy Club!

Brown is still our best key forward option as he consistently provides a target and leads up at the ball. It’s not his fault his knee seems cooked. What he needs is more key position forwards around him to take some pressure off him.

Straight up I'll admit I don't follow junior footy and don't claim expertise in this area. However, I don't see the wisdom in trading three very good draft picks for one untested kid. ( Unless he has been shown to walk on water)

Hmm, it is hard to judge. And by how much does the 'best list' increase your chances of a premiership each year compared to second, third, fourth, best list? Bontempelli, Liberatore, Treloar, and Macrae being rucked to by English is a midfield that keeps pace with ours. Having Naughton and Ugle-Hagan would turn us into an unstoppable killing machine. The three Baileys and Caleb Daniel are a great running set. Really the only area where we definitely have a better list than the Bulldogs is in defence, which includes multiple players with around 50 games or even fewer. I'd argue that Sydney have seriously underperformed given the extraordinary block of talent they have accumulated. Those two teams aren't even in the top 4. Unlike our impending draft pick! Bwa ha! I got your best list right here, buddy! (Saying that to the rest of the league, not you personally) Lol, having four picks in the first two rounds make me a little giddy sometimes.

We have had great list over different periods and never won a flag. Goody has won us a flag and kept us in the top 4 for 3 years now which is a fantastic effort. Premierships are extremely difficult to win and just because we think our list is better than everyone else’s this is not the reality in an extremely even competition.

never before has it felt like i've gone for a successful year-on-year contender goodwin is a huge part of that

So we are going to trade an AA ruckman for an average forward who has done his ACL? Yep that sounds like exactly the sort of thing we’d do.

Harley Reid is no doubt a good U18 footballer but 3 first rounders is a bit rich for an untried player with potential to be a star of the competition but playing against U18 against opponents who have less strenght is different to playing against men like Petracca or Cripps or Wines or Viney or Bontempelli who know how to push/tackle younger players with the ball or put them under pressure when they have the ball effecting their disposal. I hope we use our 4 picks under 40 well since it would se up a decade of success.

Adelaide were decent, we were just better for slightly longer. Another game where guts, grit, determination and a ‘never say die’ attitude got us over the line. These are outstanding qualities to take into the finals, but gee, there remains plenty to work on before September. The dream lives on!

Adelaide are the second best offensive side in the comp and have a very healthy percentage. It was amazing that we let them only kick 6 goals in the first 3 qtrs. Once the shackles came off and with some costly turnovers, they did kick some easy ones, but overall I think beating the two best offensive sides back to back is a great relief. I think we’ll defend Richmond much better next week given their lack of tall targets. All we need to do is win 2 of our next 5 and top 4 is guaranteed. It’s unbelievable how well we’ve done without Oliver. One other thing, Chin over Spargo any day. He has so much more depth to his kicks.

I am really happy for Choco to continue. Brings a real toughness mixed with humour which I believe our side needs.

Yze says North. Goodwin suggest 2-3 weeks away. I would say he'll be back for the Carlton game which gives him 3 games under his belt before finals. That would be a good result. We have no business losing to North, regardless of the Clarko factor and the game being at our bogey venue, so I'm happy for them to wait for Carlton.

Made my week. Well done choco

Just trying to work out why you supposedly support the MFC