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I have long been a critic of the club's comms on injury (and commms in general). But agree, it's only two days since the injury. Let's all chill a bit. The media have conditioned us to need our information sugar hits ASAP. Accuracy be damned. Better to be first than right. I'm going to assume he's not playing again this season. Any outcome to the contrary is a bonus. Personally, I don't think petty out is the blow most in the media are making it out to be. I mean, yes he has looked very good up forward. In the two full game he has played in the role. But its not as if we have relied on petty to score. We kicked north of 100 points against the lions and crows without petts up forward. Or Fritter for that matter. We have fritter, Grundy, Brown, smith and Tmac as potential options. Yes fritter is not the contested mark, bring the ball to ground option we need. But have the media forgotten he was our leading goal scorer in 2021 and 2022? Melk plays tall, and has been terrifc at halving contests against much taller intercepting defenders. Oliver back in, and the brilliant form if gus, allows tracc to still play 60% forward when we come up against the very best oppp midfield. Tracc, when playing forward, demands one of the opposition's very best defenders. And with his sheer strength and ability to win one on ones, they can't risk putting a small on him. With Smith's athletisim and leap, using him as sub gives us tactical flexibility to bring him on if we need some height up forward. And we have JVR, who seems to thrive in big games. I actually think the biggest issue of petts being out is our need for a tall forward who can push up the ground and provide a marking and/or contest option at half back and the wing. Max can't do that all day solo. And we don't want JVR using up his petrol tickets amd/or getting smashed from pillar to post. Grundy can play that role (though his lack of pace worries me). And Grundy doesn't need much forward craft to halve marking contests, smash into packs and bring the ball to ground inside 50 I reckon tmac is the wild card. Much depends on how he comes up, but if he is more mobile than he was when he has played this season (which is possible if his surgery addressed the issue he had with his foot) then he is the perfect fit for what we need. Good kick for goal too. Snake Baker 2.0? I have to say Brown looks miles off, but maybe there's time to get him into shape for a meaningful impact in finals? Snake Baker 3.0? All of which hlights how ridiculous Jon Ralph's assertion that petts is as big an out structurally as daicos is for the pies. Daicos is critical to the pies method of transitioning the ball. Whoever replaces him in that role needs elite endurance, elite vision, elite running power, elite speed and elite kicking skills. Have they got such a player running around in the magoos? And perhaps more importantly, unlike us, the pies have not trialled alternative game plans, sytems and roles during games. Pretty late in the day to do so now.

And high ankle support. Modern boots sacrifice support for flexibility and mobility The old chestnuts. It’s a clinical and evidential truth that high ankle support boots are pointless, cos they don’t offer ANY support. EVERY player has both ankles strapped EVERY game and training session, cos it’s the only evidence-based (external) intervention for ankle injuries. As to the stiff boot/sole/hard cap toe idea, these are a unmitigated disaster in a fast running multi-directional sport. What you limit in movement through the foot (which only creates areas of specific load, thus habitual stress risk) is ultimately born higher up the chain - ankle, knee, hip. The foot and ankle are mobile structures, so we try and protect them from extremes without immobilising totally - flexible orthotics for the foot, strapping for the ankle.

And IIIIIIIIIIIII--eeeee-IIIIIIIII-eeeee-IIIIIII will aaaaaalwayyysss looooove youuuuuuuu-ooooo-ooooo... I hope he is able to get back on the field, but even if retirement becomes the only option, he will still be a very good looking friendly young man with a habit of self-development, a pile of money and at least one magic moment.

One interesting opinion from the media this week is the impact of changing tackle styles since concussion became the focus. if you watch MaKay he tackles Petty and then falls to his knees and leans back. This avoids any chance of Petty's head hitting the ground. What it does do is drastically increase the chance of serious leg injuries. Going to be interesting watching this play out over the next few seasons.

I wouldn't worry too much. English isn't his first language. And he doesn't have another.

Ok, just for context, Harry played one good game forward. He looked great, but we also won a lot without him - including wins against Brisbane and Collingwood. All this stuff about how we can’t win a premiership now is just not true. Our system is ultra competitive. Our best player hasn’t played for 10 weeks, is about to come back fresh, and ready to tear the competition apart. It’s a speed bump, but have some faith. This is a great team.

I’m not going to argue with you JCB, but anecdotal perception in this case is meaningless compared to decades of measurable evidence, experimentation and analysis. Needless to say, the game today is also very different from Don Scott’s era. Skiing is a singular sport, in that it requires a rigid, locked in boot-ski combo. It also doesn’t have anything close to the ground impact forces of running, jumping etc, so the foot is spared loading forces. The rotational payoff of this locked foot and ankle, even with quick release boots, is a huge number of knee injuries. ACL’s meniscal tears, collateral ligament tears, and joint surface trauma.I know this, I rehabilitate them.

A career ending leg injury is no good. But a better outcome than brain trauma and CTE that impacts for the rest of a player's life. And tragically, that life may not be that long for some with the clear link between CTE and suicide and many other adverse physical and psychological outcomes.

It's a huge blow for us. But, in this circumstance we just simply have to move on and focus in on the group we have available. Huge positive is that we'll have a handy full forward exploding into 2024 season. Get well Petts

Our biggest lost in 15 rounds is 15 points. We get no credit for being in games so consistently. Why’s that? Because we’ve been doing it for 3 solid years. Footy commentators hate consistency. Gives them no story to blow out of proportion.

If nothing else at least we know we've got a serious forward line next year of Petty, JVR, Fritta, Kozzie and Chandler. Compare that to last pre season where a lot of our eggs where in the T Mac and BBB questionable basket.

The crowd for those Geelong and Hawthorn finals was the loudest I have heard

It's an absolute classic when: you jump on 'Land at lunchtime to check-up on major news you see the HOT tag against a thread and think "[censored] . . . some big news" you quickly click the thread (in my case the Harley Reid thread) as the thread is loading you're thinking "Melbourne's swapped Grundy into Norf in return for their number two pick" what you find is three 'Landers engaged in a fascinating discussion about anything but Harley Reid LoL and LMFAO.

A lot of fugazi going on here. And way too much being made of a nothing interview from a guy who can’t string two coherent words together. Train tomorrow. Play Saturday.

I don't see that interview as arrogant, rude or whatever....that is just him, awkward and weird plus a hate for the attention. Nothingball.

It’s bad enough when the media at large don’t listen to Goody but surely our supporters should. He has said ad nauseum “WE ARE NOT TRYING TO TURN HIM INTO A FOWARD…JUST LEARN SOME FORWARD CRAFT”. We will see how that’s gone if or when he comes back in. And he will ….

I used to play cricket with Ralphy. He's actually a top bloke. He was a better bowler than footy analyst but (I actually think his news stuff is pretty good - should stick to it).

John Ralph is a peanut. He's Robbo with a tie.

yeah, but it's still perth

I feel for MFC, I feel for Petts, l feel for us supporters, and I feel [censored] right now!! None-the-less, we will band together, and overcome this setback. That’s what good teams do, and we are a bloody good team! Go Demons. We will overcome!

If Tmac can pull a rabbit out of the hat it would be a much needed miracle. Like Melksham, Petty’s bad luck could be Tom’s golden ticket to a second flag and more than likely his last opportunity. That is perhaps all the motivation he needs to push through and bring back the Tmac of old for the last month of the season. That’s all we need. 4 good games.

Assume they are just guesstimating like I did a few minutes ago when I updated the injury list on Demonland. PLAYER INJURY LENGTH Clayton Oliver Hamstring Test Tom McDonald Ankle 1 Week Kye Turner Groin 1 Week Bayley Fritsch Foot 2-3 Weeks Daniel Turner Hand 2-3 Weeks Harrison Petty Foot TBC Blake Howes Hand Season Oliver Sestan Elbow Season

All the fanboys in the media jumping off the pies at breakneck speed. And we really need to do the world a favour and beat Carlton on Saturday because all the fanboys are jumping onto them.

Lol. I always suspected 'binman' was a take on Oscar McDonald = Oscar the Grouch = the bin man.

And you are underestimating theirs. I wasn't aware that supporting one team meant I could be blindly ignorant of the other.

Petty is only 23 and the club are doing the right thing by putting him out to pasture until next season. Hopefully now Tmac is back in the reserves he will be fit and firing on all cylinders just in time for the last round and run into finals. God I hope so anyway.

I definitely feel for Harry. I missed the Sydney Olympics 400m final with the same injury. True story. It’s still fresh in my memory. I had gone to the bathroom and was running back to the TV to watch the 400m final when I slipped on the marble floor and jammed my foot between the couch and floor, sustaining the dreaded lisfranc ligament injury. I was rolling around the floor in agony while the race was run.

Probably hasn't been expressed enough but I'm really feeling for Harry. He works incredibly hard at both ends of the ground and this would be really frustrating for him right now.

Melbourne injury list updated on AFL website. Petty TBC Clayton Test https://www.afl.com.au/matches/injury-list

If someone pays McKay enough money to warrant him being classified as a pick 3 compo they would have to be certified.

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Mary Fowler rocketing up the draft boards. Midfielder. Sublime skills. Beautiful left foot delivery. Courage under pressure. What a star !!!!

i was in perth for work yesterday and let me tell you, its a top top city, such nice weather and the perfect balance of cbd and grassland and not too busy, could definitely live there. and draftees shouldn't knock it until theu try it. also has a lot of nice bars

Great to see Angus with support. I thought his game was one that provided a high percentage of our drive

What’s everyones problem with this? There won’t be any issues, the Commission is independent..

Agree with this, skiing is the best

Sorry going off track for this thread but to answer this Finey wanted a change of scenery post COVID and is now running a deli called Lenny's in Caulfield, slight change of scenery from talking AFL!

Fritta has it down in spades and a great example of this. He's not the strongest or biggest player by any stretch but uses his balance and timing to lean into opponents to move them out of the way or to propel himself into the right spot.

Wanted to bring this up in the Petty injury thread as an aside but wasn't relevant at the time. Horrible luck, it's a long road back from an Achilles injury like this and could really affect long term running ability. I'm not someone who looks out for our ex players every week to see how they're doing but this one does sadden me a bit. I do hope this isn't the last we've seen of him but if it is he's set himself up well for a career outside footy and wish him the best.

Yeah the game is pretty well impossible to "umpire" . Possibly the most difficult (demanding) to play as well. What's clear though is that umpires are not intentionally biased and (as with lbw decisions ,post replay technology.) over a match bad or missed decisions usually even themselves out. Paying more attention to specific players with a yellow card rule would not be unreasonable though

Agreed. We've heard zilch but in saying that, injury news usually comes out on a Tuesday and they will have needed a few days to get scans and advice. Hopefully we hear today.

Dannyz has his finger on the pulse. The journo's are aiming for nearest to the pin.

Who offers a spot on the commission to someone still playing?

Definitely not aimed at you Gonzo. We were all a bit frustrated with that kick I think yesterday even me. Some of the talk today though almost suggesting he should feel guilty? Give us a breather.

Play him at full forward.

Patrick Dangerfield’s resume reads - channel 7 commentator - Geelong COO - Local hero - AFL commissioner - Part time footballer - Proud owner of large shorts and small eyes