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Uncle Bitter subbed on to replace Lucifer’s Hero. As you would expect the optimism meter at Arden Street is either switched off or gone missing. The mood seems to be one of either passive acceptance of the inevitable or more like a vulture waiting to pounce as soon as the roadkill victim stops twitching. Reminds me of the Neeld days. Early opinions below - I’ll update a couple times pre slaughter. “ Watch this 100 point smacking May and lever to break intercept mark record Yikes. just like our list, I’m not interested, really do not even care……. I'll be playing videogames or watching a movie instead. Anything else than the mauling this will be. Dees might break the record for inside 50s this week. Dees looking a little weary hoping they rest 10 Can we just forfeit? Would make the weekend so much more enjoyable and not waste a few hours on Sunday. The side we are sending out on a weekly basis is as good as forfeiting anyway. “ And then there’s this masterpiece "This is going to be Max Gawn when NMFC name their team this week. I WAS VERY PROUD TO BE APPOINTED ENGLAND CAPTAIN. I WENT FOR THE TOSS WEARING MY WHITES & ENGLAND BLAZER. VIV RICHARDS CAME OUT WEARING A BOB MARLEY T-SHIRT, SURFING SHORTS &FLIP-FLOPS. AS AN ENGLAND CAPTAIN SHOULD TO READ OUR TEAM SHEET TO THE OPPOSING CAPTAIN1 GOT NO FUTHER THAN FOUR NAMES WHEN VIV SAID "PLAY WHO YOU WANT. MAN.AIN'T GONNA MAKE ANY DIFFERENCE"

Unconfirmed rumour we have signed with Caulfield Racecourse.

A sad way to end a magnificent career. A generational champion and one of the best modern day forwards. On a selfish note, this is very good for us as we won’t have to deal with the emotions of the Buddy farewell in round 24

I just thought we need to acknowledge how special a player Max Gawn is for the Melbourne Demons. Our Premiership Captain. His 2nd half against Richmond yesterday was incredible. Check the statistics. They are very impressive! Is he still a sneaky chance of making it into this year's All Australian team in 2023? It should also be noted he is getting close to reaching 200 games for the Demons now (finally)! What an amazing player Max Gawn is. Gotta love big Maxy!

At least Jane’s son is a footy fan. My three boys are hipster [censored]-ers who think only the biggest bogans are into footy. All good though, I’m proud of my boganism and I only pay $1 for a coffee (at 7/11. It’s fine once you get it past the gag reflex) whereas they pay $6 for a skinny, soy, almond, whatever, whatever latte. Joke’s on them. 😁

Wanted to give a shoutout to the less mentioned: Nibbler was terrific. He has been consistent all season but some of the critical contests he's winning from and in between the flanks has been key in our success to either win the ball back or get us moving forward. I thought yesterday in the first half especially his efforts to win the contest and find teammates in space really kept us in the game when Richmond had most of the control. His growth in his ball use and especially decision-making has been terrific. Bowey was another one that was not beaten in contest yesterday and his class with ball in hand was evident again

What a great career.

I’ve always loved Dusty because despite being one of the best all time players and achieving everything, IMO he’s remained pretty humble. It was so nice to see him actually talk to McVee instead of rubbing his face in it, when clearly it’s no shame to lower your colours to a champion like Dusty. It’s happened to far greater and more experienced players. He is back in form and that undoubtedly makes Richmond better. An absolute star of the game he is. Some of the stuff he does is mind boggling. Imagine if all those years ago we drafted him ahead of $cully 🤮

He is. Yesterday I saw videos of him on a treadmill and he’s running really well. The treadmill appears to be an ordinary one but as Pauline explained, it has these jets of air coming up from below that you can’t see that are adjustable and that give the effect of a certain percentage of his body weight being used. Right now while he’s running he’s effectively bearing 80% of his body weight, which is more advanced than expected at this point in time. He’ll soon be at 100%. Again, ahead of time. As I’ve mentioned before, the Frittata clan have this genetic thing of healing way ahead of time and healing really well. Besides that, Bayley is a coach’s dream. He strictly abides by everything he is told, almost to a point of obsession. He also has a fierce determination to be back to 100% fit. He’s currently super happy about his level and speed of recovery. He almost wills himself better. It’s so impressive to see.

The thing I loved most yesterday which maybe was more noticeable due to my sitting behind the goals with the Demon Army. How great it was to see two key forwards working in continual motion offering multiple leads not just pointing for it to be put on their heads.

I saw that too. Almost like Dusty was explaining to McVee how to cover the territory better. Helping a first year player. I was impressed by that.

Touk deserves 12 votes. 10 for his game, and 2 for grabbing Zorko by his teeny tiny balls.

At one point in the last, after yet another huge cry for ball after one of our players, rivers I think, actually KICKED the ball, I yelled out at the top of my voice (and that is pretty loud - particularly in the perfect acoustics at the top of the Ponsford!): 'WOULD YOU ALL STOP YELLING BALL!!!!!!!!!!! - LEARN THE BLOODY RULE!!!!' Not witty. Not clever. But very cathartic.

Absolutely. Given the suspensions being handed out for bumps / tackles resulting in concussions, the AFL will be taking a very serious stance against this. I dont think a fine is sufficient. If Port have been proven negligent, i'd push for premiership point deductions for attempted circumvention of concussion protocols - it is that serious that financial penalties will only be a drop in the ocean. By putting a contender out of the top 2 / 4, rest assured, others will take notice and will think twice before attempting to not at least put in a 20 min concussion test.

Good to see. It's almost like Port were cheating the protocols so they wouldn't miss a week, panicking after a few losses, or just plain incompetence.

If he is prepared to do it, i think there is a real role for him as a mentor and (effectively) on-field coach at Casey, as well as continuing his involvement with the women. He is clearly a wonderful person. As i see it, his move to the Dees has been win-win; he got a premiership medal, and he helped us get them.

I reckon the Tigers played out of their skins today. Martin was the best he’s looked for years. Shai is a gun and his speed from contest killed us. I’d be ok with that I saw from them today as a supporter. They tried to win. I like that attitude.

This notion that it was a Covid flag is SO flawed. 2021 was a full season, not a shortened season. We won the flag without a single home ground final. How many teams have done that before?

Yeah, saw that on the replay. That sweep of Dusty's arm seemed to suggest he was telling the kid his preferred working space. Nice. BTW Dusty really turned back the clock yesterday. He was terrific and I hated him for it, of course. Bolton also good so I hated him too. In my glass half-full moments and before it was clear we would run away with it I thought the best thing about the game was that the Tigers brought finals-like pressure. Regardless of the result it was going to be a good workout. As it happened it was our best win of the year, better than Brisbane since the pressure both ways was more sustained. I have been an advocate for Petty forward but that was more than I ever hoped for. With JVR he could be our best forward pairing for a long, long while. Fritter btw, indicated to supporters in the MCC area that he was still four weeks away and Sparrow one week.

Nighty night big Shazza, Queen of the Richmond ferrals!! It's only appropriate that we re-visit this classic post from the legendary Biffinator of Big Footy here in memory of Queen Shazza... Biffinator Premiership Player Jun 22, 2011 #1 “At the heart of every Richmond supporter there lies a streak of self-loathing – that is why they turn on each other like wild animals.” This ex-cathedra maxim was ringing in my ears as I logged off from PuntRoadEnd.com, where I am an agent provocateur (and this is true). One of life’s simple pleasures is pretending to be a (rabid) Richmond supporter, the aim being to throw petrol onto the fire and then stand back in awe to behold the conflagration. Anyway, I was feeling rather pleased with myself when an SMS came through from Deestroy. “Biff, stop being so bloody smug! Your challenge this week, should you chose to accept it, is to infiltrate the Richmond Grog Squad – the mob who congregate behind the Punt Road goals and sing various dirges as the Tigers (sic) take it up the [censored] on the field. Your mission: create havoc. Bonus points if you shag Big Shazza, the Queen of the Richmond ferals.” I accepted the mission on the spot. That left six days of preparation. I bought an old duffel coat from the Opp Shop. Soon afterwards, I purchased a number ‘8’ from Spotlight which I half-stitched onto its back. There was some junk mail in the letterbox that featured a pest control company. I cut out the word ‘Cockroach’, sticky-taped it to the back of the duffel coat and then (lightly) scribbled out the first four letters. Once done, I let the mutt sleep on it for the remainder of the week. I stopped having showers. Eschewing toothpaste, I brushed my teeth in coca-cola. I became a stranger to dunny paper, underpants and razors. It was out with the Mozart and in with the hard rockin’ pub songs and the High Art of Jimmy Barnes. Much to my wife’s anguish, I staged a few domestics which necessitated a visit from the Cop Shop. Come Saturday morning, I was ready. My own self-loathing was in floodtide. Come on the Tiges! Now Richmond were playing the Dees. My first stop was the Cricketer’s Arms on Punt Road. It was midday. I barged through the front door and shouted hoarsely, “Who thinks Dusty Brownlow Martin is a ****ing deadset legend, eh?” I was immediately befriended by five bona fide members of the Richmond Grog Squad: Shane from Scoresby; Wayne from Wantirna; Mike from Moe; Rob from Rowville and Karen from Cardinia. Collectively, they held down one part-time job between them. Rob was an inveterate scratcher: he warranted a flea-bomb. Mike, who had a squint, had travelled all the way from the West Moe Caravan Park to support the ‘Mighty Tigers’ – a Pilgrim’s Progress indeed. Shane & Wayne looked as if they were born to play the roles of Banquo’s killers in Macbeth: “I am one, my liege, Whom the vile blows and buffets of the world Have so incensed that I am reckless what I do to spite the world. . . . . And I another, So weary with disasters, tugg'd with fortune, That I would set my lie on any chance, To mend it, or be rid on't.” The less said about Karen the better, lest cycling metaphors be invoked. Now the quintet was thoroughly intoxicated; the cans of UDLs that were strewn at their feet bore testimony to their liquor of choice. We were all in agreement: whoever barracked for the Dees was a NTTAWWTta and Jacky Watts was a trans at best. The remaining hour or so was spent betting on the Warragul dogs or baiting other Richmond supporters at the bar. Twice I had to avert a cat-fight between Karen and another Richmond slag. It was [censored]-on-[censored] action in every sense. Come 1.30, it was time to lurch over to the ‘G. With the assistance of some healthcare cards – thoroughly fake - we trooped through the gates with little damage to our pockets. Karen had stashed a few cans of UDLs down her blouse; given the aesthetics, they were safer than the gold in Fort Knox. Once inside, we spotted one of the Bay’s most prominent Richmond supporters, Buddha Bing, primly making his way towards the Amway Superbox. He was a sallow looking guy. Hair-gel was trickling down his forehead like sweat. He was also wearing one of his famous Roger David reversible suits with an elastic tie. Sure, he barracked for the Tigers, but to the quintet he was an ideological enemy in a cheap pair of shoes. In no uncertain terms, Mike informed him that he was a ****ing goose – Richmond or no Richmond, only toffs sat in a superbox. And Buddha Bing had better stop trying to foist the Amway soap-powder on his old dear back in West Moe, no less. It took us ten minutes or so to hobble our way over to the Punt Road end of the ground. In doing so, we profusely abused the opposition supporters that came our way – any buccaneer on the Spanish Main would have been shocked by their language but it was par for the course here. Additionally the spittle was a’flyin’. Ditties proclaiming the heroism of Richo or Dusty Martin were coined on the spot. To evade detection, I breathed incessantly through my mouth, made strange animal noises and walked with a limp. Our destination was at hand: the Richmond Grog Squad. The quintet introduced me to their peers. I was promptly accepted as one of their own, particularly when I screeched out: “Scully and Trengove ain’t worth a bum hair on Dusty’s ring!” Much like the Black Hole that lies at the heart of our own Milky Way, I could sense the presence of Big Shazza, but for the moment, a phalanx of uber-bogans stood between the two of us. The game started not long afterwards. True to form, Richmond started to take it up the [censored]. The on-field debacle did not bother the Grog Squad who sang on regardless. It was time to initiate my mission. As it so happens, I am no mean ventriloquist. I targeted a particularly virulent section of the Grog Squad and let fly with the following “Dustin Martin’s tatts are fake. He got ‘em from Cornflakes packet. His mummy rubbed a ‘em on with a twenty cent piece.” A brawl erupted spontaneously. Haymakers were legion. A few unfortunates were kicked as they lay on the ground. The police soon waded in and nabbed the participants, much to the delight of the remaining members of the Grog Squad who sang the usual refrain. Good but not great I thought to myself. I turned to another section and pitched: “Chris Newman is more of a Western Star job than Joel Bowden. He’s as useless as a condom on a dog.” Another brawl erupted, It was more vicious than the first. Minutes later, the main antagonists were hauled away by the constabulary. Stretchers were used to carry off the worst of the casualties. The ranks of the Grog Squad had thinned, but not to the point where I could readily approach Queen Shazza at the epicentre. It was time, therefore, to drop the P-bomb, however untrue it was: “There won’t be any father-sons from Richo – he’s too busy hanging around the dunnies at the Robert Peel Hotel. ‘Fleet’s in, time to sin’ is his motto!” Another fight erupted. The Colosseum itself never viewed brutality of this kind. Not even Leigh Matthews would countenance the king-hits from behind that were being dished out like lolly water. Tannin-stained teeth clattered to the ground. The mist of brain matter saturated the air. Some of the Richmond wenches disappeared into the affray, only to emerge seconds later with big clumps of pubic hair in their hands. The Fight Club re-enactment lasted some five minutes or so, leaving the Grog Squad decimated but undaunted. Accordingly, I pushed my way towards the centre. And there, enthroned in her bogan glory, sat Queen Shazza on a bean bag. In the universe, matter is counter-balanced by anti-matter. As I beheld this anti-regal figure, I realised that she too, in a feral sort of way, was the antithesis to Queen Elizabeth I as portrayed in the famous Armada Portrait. Each one of her monstrous thighs could have been sponsored by Samboy Chips. There was no bra in existence that had the tensile strength to uphold her gigantic mammary glands – nay, bovine udders. Nicotine patches had been attached to her nipples for whatever mad reason. Her skin was covered in blotches, acme and self inflicted scratch marks. Intrepid though I was, I dared not look below her navel to the Valley of the Werewolf. Verily, Queen Shazza was regnant over all that she surveyed. She did not need to see the game itself – she was randomly screeching out imprecations at the opposition as she sipped away on a UDL. “Queen Shazza – so we meet at last. The circle is now complete. The Self-Loathing is with You!” She flicked a toxic glance at me. “What do youse want? I aint gonna suck your dick if that’s what youse wants. I aints no slag!” I looked at her more deeply. It was not hard to foresee that one day she would drown on her own vomit or be smothered to death by one of her own [censored]. Even so, the image of the Oracle from the Matrix flashed into my mind. Perhaps there was an affinity to be explored. “Shazza, will the Tigers ever come good?” She looked darkly into her can of UDL. The wellspring was dry. She threw it away and started to spit on herself, Richmond-style. “The Toiges are always gonna be s**t. s**t – s**t – s**t!” I then realised that the second of Deestroy’s challenges was a ‘Bridge too Far.’ Assuming my hydraulics were sound – an advocate of fat sex I ain’t – I had neglected to bring along a miner’s lamp, rope, and grappling hooks, the second assumption being that the target-area could be safely identified. Failure was mine. It was time to flee from her august presence. Like one of her courtiers, I spat on the ground, adjust my crotch and croaked out: “See’s ya down at the pokies, Big Girl.” Stupefied by the grog, she vomited all over herself and gave me a thumps up. I rejoined the mob. Sylvia, who loves to play against the Yellow and Black, was running amok. Towards the end of the match, sadness overcame me. Standing with the Richmond Grog Squad would make anyone rethink their position on eugenics. Each of its members – indubitably - is a downpipe for DNA of the most degraded kind. Erroneous or otherwise, there is a belief that Man was created in the image and likeness of God. As I encompassed the mob around me – Come on the Mighty Tiges – this viewpoint was entirely redundant. It was the Triumph not of the Will, but of the Swineherd. The match came to a dreary end. Much to everyone’s relief, the siren sounded. Wretches one and all, the Richmond players hobbled off. Sure they wore the same jumpers as players such as Captain Blood, Royce Hart and Hungry, but the comparison went no deeper. This was no Gotterdammerung – the Twilight of the Gods, it resembled, rather, a Requiem for the Pullets. Befittingly, the Grog Squad sang a dirge. Other than a surreptitious vomit on the Moe-bound V-Liner, there was nothing to look forward to. I quietly slipped away. Once home. I washed the Richmond excrement off my personage, apologised to my wife and regained my humanity. The World will hold its breath. Dees by 10 points. Biffinator.

He’ll be back, OD. He’ll be back to play in Sydney, round 24.

Post game, I got drenched walking to Flinders Street Station, then we had a protestor on the line, holding up the train (full of steaming wet supporters from both teams) to Sunbury, into the car and now home in central Victoria. Under other circumstances I would be wet, annoyed, grumpy and ready to rant - but not tonight. Pumped!! That was a great win. In the first half, to be honest it felt like a casual boring game without much oomph. The Tiges were killing us at ground level and our half back line were getting annihilated by Richmond's small runners. Didn't look like a Dees game at all with lots of free ball movement and few tight, contested passages of play. Taranto, Martin and Prestia were running amok seemingly with little effective response from us. Enter one M Gawn. To see him dominate like that in a game with so much on the line will be a lasting memory in my footy-loving life. Leadership, skill, influence, and left nothing to chance. Got to contest after contest and made us win. To see our forward line mark and kick like that was so, so satisfying. Petty, JVR and Melksham were brilliant, but so were a lot of the smalls. An incredible team effort, and the tigers had no answer. Jack Viney should canter across the line in our B&F - he is everything we want, and everything I go to the footy to enjoy. Got crunched a few times heavily, and simply got up, shook it off and ran to the next contest. And in the last 5 minutes he was still sprinting to the next contest. Not sure how it came across on TV, but Lever was instrumental in our backline tonight. Genuine leadership. And JVR is my new favourite player. He just chucks himself at it - marking contest, ground ball, ruck play - he just launches and takes no prisoners. Great win, great day, I'll go and get dry now. Go Dees!

AFL have issued Port a please explain and put both Allit Aliir and Lachie Jones into concussion protocols.

I have a running joke with my wife based on the way Gawn sometimes just starts doing everything and rips open a game. Variations on 'Oops, he's forgotten he's a ruck again'. I think his first loose-ball-get on the run on Sunday was about mid-way through the third quarter, followed not long after that by a handball receive and inside 50 kick. Once the switch is flicked, there's just no keeping up. The effort required by opposition rucks to just try to be anywhere near him blows them up completely. After that they have no chance of recovering as fast as Max can, so Gawn spends the rest of the game physically and psychologically dominating. I suspect it is the same kind of overwhelming surge of effort on a team level which broke the Bulldogs in the grand final - not only beating them in the moment during the third quarter, but pushing them past their recovery rhythm and leaving them heavy-legged for the rest of the game. Gawn is the living example of how Melbourne win!

Petty has a massive presence on the ground and looks imposing. I absolutely love seeing him giving it to the oppo fans and players. Saw an interview with him after the game and he looked like a little kid. Proper stoked for the guy. Long may it continue.

Very early in the first quarter a Demon fan near me ridiculously yelled "ball" when the Tiger's player clearly had no prior opportunity. A Tiger's supporter near him took umbrage (despite the fact that he would not know the meaning of the word) with the call and turned around and yelled that there was no prior opportunity and he was right. He must have forgotten the rules after that because this Einstein yelled ball every single time a Tiger's player laid a finger on a Demon player. I've not seen a redder face out of anger than this numpty in the last quarter. It was beautiful. Credit to him he stayed to the bitter end unlike a few other ferals near me. I don't know why the filth get such a bad name in the deplorables department. Tiger's fans per capita are much worse.

I reckon a condition of entry to an AFL match should be to undertake a quiz re holding the ball rule. The Richmond supporters would literally call "Ball!" every time one of our players were tackled.

How I slept knowing we’ve ended Richmond’s season

I don’t know if you noticed, but at one point he appeared to be talking tactics with Dusty; and Dusty seemed more than happy to share. A nice moment.

Ok so now that we have had our revelry - I have a prepared statement from the Tall Forwards Union (membership card number #2311): To whom it may concern, While we applaud the 6 goals scored by the Harry Petty of the Melbourne Football Club, we would like to remind fans that tall forwards should not be measured only by goals kicked and contested marks inside 50. Mr Petty will have a good game next week when he gets to the spots he got today, when he brings the ball to ground, when he creates space for others, and continues to do selfless running and presenting for his teammates. He will have a good game even if he doesn’t kick 6 straight, including an uncomplicated dead on set shot, and a pearler on his left over Grimes’ head! A whinge? Stay on him then?! Haha. Stay on him! (clears throat) As I was writing; it is not sustainable to expect this every week and please enjoy the little things that forwards do that make your lives easier and better. End Statement.

I reckon we’ve seen 3 absolute crackers at the G the last 3 weeks. It’s been a brilliant reminder of how good that stadium is for live sport.

I'd be resting Viney for Dunstan this week. He's been a battering ram for 5 weeks and copped another big stinger today that troubled him. Get him primed for Carlton

Jack Viney wasn't born, he was quarried.

Buddy saw Petty’s game yesterday and decided to retire I can’t keep up with this star he was heard saying

I’m really happy for Bud. He’s had a brilliant career, achieved it all, and now he can return to his true purpose as a footballing legend… Supporting the Dees.

I've never seen a more influential player since I've been following the Demons (and that's since 1980). His ability to change the course of games is second to none. AFLCA Champion Player in 2018, two time B&F, Premiership Captain and the best ruckman of his generation. No matter what name the AA selectors come up with this year for the ruck position, Gawn is the dominant player in that position and everyone knows it.

Dont have much sympathy for North and we need the %%%. No mercy.

I had two lovely normal well spoken Richmond fans in front of me, who left 10 minutes early to catch a train to Bendigo and wished us luck for the rest of the season on the way out. I nearly fainted. 10/10 behavior from them. They were gracious and really nice!

The HTB call in the goal square was harsh as well. I wouldn’t have been happy if a call like that went against us

Just back from the game. Level 4 City End, just in front of Matt Jones and his kids, all decked out in the red & blue. I was worried at half time. We were just a bit off and said to a mate that we need to find a way to break the game open with four unanswered goals if we're to win this one. Around half way through the third we stopped them getting beyond their half forward line and progressively began to lock it in our forward line for longer periods. In the last they couldn't stay with us and we tore them a new one. Love getting one over that lot and their sooky fans.

This may sound dumb to some people but I would give Max a rest for the week and play Grundy. Just keep him interested. Also after todays game max almost deserves a break. If Oliver fit along with Sparrow then Harmes and JJ out.

No resting players. Viney, Max etc can rest in the week off. Right now it’s full steam ahead, I don’t want us to get cute and compromise the momentum we are building. Strongest available team against North and kick them while they’re down, please.

Petty’s biggest strength has always been his ability to read the play. It’s why he’s such a good defender. So it was never that far reaching that he could be a good forward. The way he positioned himself in spots that were hard to defend just showed you how easy that transition would be for him on a full time basis. Of course it helps that he can also take a good contested grab. I just didn’t know he could kick for goal so well. I assume that might ebb and flow, but his ability to lead to dangerous spots, mark the ball and position himself is not going to change. He played on two very good defenders in Grimes and Balta. Balta is second in the league for intercept possessions, and he only had 5 yesterday because it became obvious he had to defend Petty, not just peel off him. I thought it was a match losing move by Richmond to move him forward in the last to be honest.

At one stage they were 7 frees to 2 and we got a free kick and the Tiger's supporter near me (with face tatts mind you) was carrying on like a European Soccer player who barely got clipped yelling that the umps have been giving us freebees all blinking day. I didn't have the heart to correct him. He didn't seem to be the kind of guy who likes to be informed that he is wrong by someone with immaculate dental hygiene.

Melbourne v Richmond (Round 20, 2023) https://www.wheeloratings.com/afl_match_stats.html?ID=20232007 Key Team Stats Stats highlighted purple were won by Melbourne. Stat For Against Diff Disposal Efficiency 71.1 67.4 +3.7 Kicking Efficiency 65.2 60.8 +4.4 Metres Gained 6300 5870 +430 Inside 50s 73 45 +28 Shots At Goal 33 24 +9 Shots Per Inside 50 45.2 53.3 -8.1 Contested Possessions 144 139 +5 Ground Ball Gets 93 96 -3 Intercepts 70 68 +2 Intercept Marks 18 20 -2 Centre Clearances 18 15 +3 Stoppage Clearances 31 25 +6 Contested Marks 13 6 +7 Marks Inside 50 20 10 +10 Hitouts 48 34 +14 Hitouts To Advantage 17 19 -2 Tackles 62 63 -1 Tackles Inside 50 14 10 +4 Def One On One Loss % 20.0 11.8 +8.2 Pressure Team pressure Quarter For Against 1 183 151 2 170 206 3 188 190 4 187 176 Match 181 183 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* Jack Viney 28 62 54.5 Angus Brayshaw 29 52 33.1 Alex Neal-Bullen 16 42 46.4 Jake Bowey 13 39 21.6 Ed Langdon 15 37 28.2 Christian Petracca 15 35 48.2 James Jordon 18 35 23.8 James Harmes 17 34 36.0 Kysaiah Pickett 16 30 42.3 Trent Rivers 13 29 23.5 Harrison Petty 12 26 19.9 Kade Chandler 12 25 31.2 Jake Lever 13 25 15.7 Christian Salem 12 22 28.7 Taj Woewodin 14 22 23.0 Max Gawn 10 20 22.4 Judd McVee 9 19 18.5 Lachie Hunter 11 17 22.5 Steven May 7 13 14.7 Jake Melksham 6 11 13.4 Adam Tomlinson 4 10 13.9 Joel Smith 2 6 16.5 Jacob van Rooyen 2 5 22.1 * 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 57% 43% 2 44% 56% 3 62% 38% 4 76% 24% Match 61% 39% 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 0 0 0 0 0 0 +0 Centre Bounce 4 1 25 2 3 15 +10 Stoppage (Other) 8 3 51 7 1 43 +8 Turnover 8 6 54 6 4 40 +14 Category For Against Match Season Match Season Kick-in 0 2.6 0 2.2 Centre Bounce 25 11.6 15 7.2 Stoppage (Other) 51 24.2 43 22.4 Turnover 54 54.0 40 42.6 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 Richmond. Category Region For Against Match Season Match Season Kick-in D50 0 2.6 0 2.2 Centre Bounce Centre 25 11.6 15 7.2 Stoppage (Other) D50 0 0.7 0 2.3 Stoppage (Other) Centre 6 2.9 6 1.4 Stoppage (Other) Wing 32 12.5 12 6.9 Stoppage (Other) F50 13 8.1 25 11.7 Turnover D50 7 11.2 2 6.0 Turnover Centre 12 7.8 6 6.7 Turnover Wing 16 28.0 24 21.9 Turnover F50 19 7.1 8 7.9 Region For Against Match Season Match Season D50 7 14.5 2 10.5 Centre 43 22.3 27 15.3 Wing 48 40.5 36 28.9 F50 32 15.1 33 19.7 Points from defensive half For Against Match Season Match Season 13 34.8 8 24.3 Shots at goal Team Shots G B T Acc. General Play Melbourne 12 5 4 34 41.7 Richmond 15 8 6 54 53.3 Set Position Melbourne 21 15 4 94 71.4 Richmond 9 7 0 42 77.8 Centre Bounce Attendances CBAs CBA % 2023 % 2022 % Max Gawn 36 92 58.6 65.5 Jack Viney 32 82 71.3 74.6 Angus Brayshaw 29 74 31.4 16.0 Christian Petracca 27 69 62.9 74.6 James Jordon 15 38 28.0 0.2 James Harmes 9 23 26.9 14.6 Kysaiah Pickett 5 13 11.8 1.3 Jacob van Rooyen 3 8 6.4 Trent Rivers 0 0 3.6 0.0 Alex Neal-Bullen 0 0 2.7 3.5 Harrison Petty 0 0 0.8 0.0 Clayton Oliver 82.8 86.5 Brodie Grundy 55.7 83.7 Tom Sparrow 47.2 32.2 Tom McDonald 5.4 0.0 Josh Schache 0.0 13.8 Ruck Contests and Hitouts Ruck Contests Ruck Contests RC % 2023 % 2022 % Max Gawn 92 82 52.4 57.8 Jacob van Rooyen 15 13 10.9 Harrison Petty 4 4 2.2 0.0 Christian Petracca 1 1 0.1 0.1 Joel Smith 0 0 0.1 0.0 Steven May 0 0 0.1 0.0 Alex Neal-Bullen 0 0 0.1 0.0 Brodie Grundy 49.5 77.4 Tom McDonald 8.9 7.0 Josh Schache 6.7 13.4 Ben Brown 2.3 3.6 Clayton Oliver 0.0 0.0 Hitouts Ruck Contests Hitouts To Adv. To Adv. % (2023) To Adv. % (2022) Max Gawn 92 40 12 31.7 33.6 Jacob van Rooyen 15 5 4 29.8 Harrison Petty 4 3 1 25.0 Alex Neal-Bullen 0 0 0 0.0 Brodie Grundy 30.8 30.2 Tom McDonald 25.0 33.3 Ben Brown 0.0 14.3 Josh Schache 33.3 Opposition hitouts Ruck Contests Hitouts To Adv. Ivan Soldo 87 26 15 Ben Miller 11 5 2 Noah Balta 7 2 2 Marlion Pickett 6 1 0 Dustin Martin 1 0 0 Expected scores (Champion Data) 119 - 83

That kick from McVee in the last quarter that setup the Tracc to Pickett goal was something very very special. Unbelievable decision marking and execution. Gee McVee is a smooth mover. He just glides.

Nothing tastes sweeter than the salty tears of arrogant Richmond/Geelong/Pies/Carlton fans

Here in Finland this week, (Kenya was last week) playing K2K with a new Sherrin and loving the game. Both going mental in the last quarter. We won in the wet and used the ball well, mark of a side with excellent skills, primed for September. Also let me get this in here, our defence is Premiership standard, put under mad pressure today, but I thought Richmond got lucky bounces for a few and didn't see any major breakdown of structure. Salem/Rivers/Lever/McVee(mancrush) rebounding is so good. Great link play by Langdon and Hunter clearly putting his body on line with contact today. Also what ever was wrong with May last week clearly addressed. Shout to the umps for paying HTB in the last. Obvious Richmond tactic to slow the game up and with a parochial crowd they didn't melt and swallow the whistle. Speaking of which, mad love for Melks effort, but he can do 200 penalty push ups for the stupid 50s he gives away each week, just because he's in the fwd line is not good enough. Richmond fans whining that Taranto>Viney... Hahhahah only thing I noticed was Taranto sooking. We are running our second string midfield and it is holding up, Gus and my personal jesus (Viney) holding up without Oliver and Trac. Gawn has had 3 games this year where he has been phenomenal and clearly the games best ruck. I feel like those 3 games have put him back in AA frame, they are that good. I was for delisting Smith and Melksham, clearly I was wrong, while Melks has had his chances over the years, he has changed his attitude somehow and is getting to the ball 1st allowing himself a chance to score. Smith I am so happy for, gives every contest his all and did great work on Dusty, I love these redemption stories, he looked so nearly and now he looks just looks dangerous. Feeling smug about Petty, but the most 21 thing about the fwd line for me was the goal assists are back, am sure there are more lay-offs to a better position. Makes me feel the team is in the best headspace. (kudos to Brown last week leading the way). And seriously ANB was great today, serious fwd half tackle pressure, did alot of work under heavy pressure, the turnovers only tell the story to the simple minds. Our 4th quarter fitness is still there, our whole team provided huge pressure on the Richmond ball carrier, magnificent premiership standard effort. Jordan and Harmes 21 and 22, felt Dunstan was stiff not getting a run today has done the work. Woey stays I like his run.

I thought Nibbler was good today with 22 touches and six tackles. He made some mistakes but so does every player. He's this year's whipping boy though and any little thing he does wrong gets called out by some posters.