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I suspect our "injury" list is bigger than told. Tom McDonald had foot problems pre-season, and still cannot jump properly...means he cannot mark in contested situations, and the failure to not make a 40m kick last weekend is symptomatic. Brayshaw is probably playing on the wing, because he too is carrying some sort of injury. Watching him close up at the GC game, he couldn't accelerate to get to a ball in the open, something he would have gobbled up last year. OP? Bayley Fritsch also cannot kick as far as he was doing last year. His mind still thinks he can, but the clanger last weekend as an example was because the kick was short. OP? The trouble is that these players would have normally been rested, but when we have 17 players injured that leaves us only 4 or 5 to pick from 47, including rookies. Take out Jordon, Bedford, Bradtke and Chandler as they are too young and one can really see our plight. We can barely put a team on the park, and cannot rest any of those who need it, and have no option but to play others who are obviously sub-standard.

Our 'brand' of 'chaos' football is not working because clubs have learnt to counter it: Neutralise Max by: 1). double tag him eg WCE in prelim, 2). rough him up eg Port in round one or 3). opp mids rove his taps eg Hawks in last year's massacre. Win the contest at stoppages then get the ball outside. Hardwick said exactly this pre game when asked how to beat Melb. Deny us the ball around the ground using the kick-mark, kick-mark control game. If the ball doesn't come to ground our 'contested ball' game is rendered useless. Many teams have used this technique. Pressure the mids disposal to stop the i50 entries. Our i50 numbers this year are way down. Again many teams have woken up to this. Clever exit play from our fwd 50 to stop us keeping the ball in, again not allowing our contested ball game. In a nutshell our game plan is predictable, it has been found out and we don't have an alternative or a counter strategy. For mine 'chaos', 'ballistic' football has a role but is fatiguing and not sustainable for 4 quarters each and every week even with a fully fit team. It needs to be a tactic, used in a 'shock and awe' attack style not the basis of our game plan. My concern is that the focus on injuries as reasons for our losses and appalling %age has papered over the cracks in our game plan as outlined above. If so, no matter how many players we get back, if we don't change our game plan we won't get back to winning.

I did... I'm down to the last 4-6 applicants! ?

This explains a lot. For all of those waxing on about flawed game plans, coach errors, kicking skills, etc etc etc they ALL stem from the above statistic and the reality that all year we’ve been approx 9 best 22 players down against teams with far fewer of their top 22 out. Hence the results, hence the collapse of game style, confidence skills etc... The above stat gives me hope. The above stat tells me this phase is either a statistical abboration or an issue with our medical/conditioning. Both will be fixed. The above stat also tells me that it’s the Dons that are the real story in terms of form, game style, coach, as they are crap with an extra 5 top 22 players on the park each week, and only a game (&%) ahead of us.

I get amazed that people only able to see Lewis as good or bad. I've never been a fan and said so early in his first year but it's silly to suggest he was a bad trade and he didn't bring some good things to the list and team. He's played some useful footy but he's never been great. My major disappointment with him has been his complete lack of discipline and on-field leadership. He's helped "direct traffic" at times and he's offered stability down back but leadership is "do what I do". He's exceptionally selective if and when he goes, he's given away countless dumb 50 meter penalties (remember the first game last year against Geelong that may well have cost us the game and a top 4 spot), he smashed Cripps behind play leading to suspension and arguably a spot in the 8 that year and he's acted like an arrogant twatt when questioned publicly on this lack of discipline. On balance I wouldn't change the Club's decision but he should and could have offered a whole lot more. Many here are excusing his latest indiscretion on the basis he wouldn't have been much good in Darwin, well I argue he could have been exceptionally valuable to the Casey side helping our very inexperienced youngsters learn and progress. The Club is more than the 22 in the seniors and he has let it down time and time again. When comparing Lewis at MFC and Hodge at Brissy is damning to Lewis. I think he should stay at Casey for the rest of the year given where we are. With players coming back that's the most likely outcome. TBH, I can't think of a Melbourne player I've liked less but that doesn't mean I don't recognize some of the good things he's done for us.

Except for last year when we had one of the shortest injury lists all season.

Jake leaver player 60% game time in his return, then played a half last week before rolling his ankle. In what world would any other club bring back there star recruit after a year off with his second Knee reconstruction this early, regardless of what situation the club is in This is a desperate club right now that is clinging onto the "stars returning will change our year" narrative. The year is done, we may win a few more games( i still think we will finish bottom 4 - our % is woeful) but its cooked. Dont rush back your stars they are valuable commodities, so why not take the opportunity to get them going before throwing them back into the mire of the senior side.

I’ve been harping on this all year. This is a fundamental flaw in goodwins game style and until rectified will see us languishing at the bottom. The best teams control the ball and will try avoid kicking to a contest. Hawthorn built a dynasty with precision controlled kicking. This affords the marking player space and time until the next possession. Our manic ‘play on’ at all costs football is inherently risky. It predominantly involves handballs and the issue is that handballs don’t allow enough separation from opponents. The 3rd player in the chain has an opponent breathing down his neck and invariably rushes the possession. This is the reason our delivery into the forward line is atrocious and leaves us open to turnovers. Another stat which we would see us last is kicking backwards. Teams that control the ball will continually switch and kick backwards until they can find a free player.

sad so to read this , no words can be said my deepest condolences goes out to you brad and family anyone who has lost a wife ( partner ) , the mother of their children , I can tell you its so F&*King hard , so hard to tell the kids so hard to get up again try explain it to a 6, 9 and 11 year old , I can feel you pain Brad and know exactly whats coming , I really hope the club gets around you and you have support . you will miss your wife everyday , every minute , the little things that break you down , over and over again you never forget , you sadly learn to live with it . I tell my kids about their mum any chance i can. Mark

I haven't done a close comparison but is it the same posters who don't want him playing in the seniors that are now complaining that he's been suspended and therefore can't play in the seniors?

You can add Jetta, Brayshaw (back), Harmes (shoulder), Jones and Petracca who all had significantly interrupted preseasons as well. Basically our entire midfield bar Gawn and his form proves a point. And when Lever, May and others, who have been out for a long time come back they will be nowhere near their best. The majority of our ills go back to the fact that around 13 of the players that played in the Prelim had post season surgery. We should start planning for 2020, simple as that. And frankly I find the criticism of Misson baffling. Nobody knows the real situation regarding the injuries. Smith has OP, a repetition/overuse injury which a lot of players have struggled with. It wasn't the Brisbane game that injured him. Misson was at Sydney when they won their flag and they had virtually no injuries that year and he was at St.Kilda after that and was highly regarded. It's just silly to suggest that he doesn't know what he's doing.

50,624

I find it amazing that some on this site - cannot see beyond a belief that 'whoever is on the park - has to/must be able to perform at first 22 level, irrespective of talent, experience etc'. The How Sick is Your Club stat - represents a lot of why we are, where we are. As a club we have been beaten massively by the injury stick... and these are the real world consequences that every club experience....

Fair enough. Happy we have nice guys with no skill.

Wow, I can't believe the really harsh negative sentiments towards Lewis. Did we think we were getting a gun player at the peak of his prowess? Of course not! When we got him we had a vacuum of leadership and experience and he was bloody valuable at that time. Has he been in decline in the last 18 month? Blind Freddy (and Lewis himself I'm sure) would tell you he has, but guess what that's what happens! Bear in mind we got him for practically for nothing, he has done what we needed him to do for his time at our club. I feel that given our position on the ladder and that 2019 is basically shot we should look at giving games to others in his position, and he can play as an almost on field coach at Casey. That's not to say he can't play for the seniors again but I'm not sure we get what we want from him anymore. As for his suspension, bloody stupid.

But to be fair, the 6-6-6 only applies at the centre bounce. As soon as the ball is bounced, the structures become completely the same as they used to. I feel this is more of a copy-cat thing. Hawthorn started this (they had elite ball users), then West Coast perfected it even more. Collingwood started using it as a way to beat Richmond’s pressure. It feels a bit like Goody is placing all his chips on this while the rest of the table is going another way. He’s either going to be a visionary (if he gets our forward line right) or he’s mad and it’s going to go down in flames.

We obviously did medicals on May and KK.

Fair go! While Lewis is (almost) cooked, he's a 300 game 4x Premiership player who's provided great leadership and guidance to a young team God help us if we'd managed to draft another (+1) Pick 48 who'd be turning 22 this year and probably playing at East Ringwood

He'll go to hawthorn or Geelong for 750k...its why I hate this competition

I don't take issue with what you've said but I'd do it again. Was Harvey available? I doubt it. What a shame Hodge wasn't the one we got. But IMO we were extremely unlikely to win a flag in Lewis's window (2 years) and he offered more than pick whatever in the ND. He did play some good games, he gave MFC a profile to attract others and many of the players have spoken of how good he is off the field. From the outside it's hard to tell but I give the trade a bare pass. As you say and I've said his on field leadership has been disgraceful both in his unwillingness to put his body on the line and his lack of discipline. I don't see how so many haven't seen it, but we're all different. I hope Goodwin has made a point of him to the group pointing out how his suspensions and 50m penalties have hurt the team and this is not acceptable. But I won't miss him when he's gone. He's a Hawthorn player (and what would you expect after 4 flags) who used us for superannuation. Big win for Lewis, bare break even for us. There, is that strong enough for you Rono?

With the same medical/physio team in place.

Lol, the same Roos that recruited Harry O?

This. In the Wagner's, Lockhardt, Spargo, possibly Stretch, and possibly Smith we have five players who are good VFL players who would not be in the team if we had even a third of our injury list available. Add players like Lewis, Petty (who may not be ready) and Garlett who would not be selected due to form if others were available and that is closing on half a starting 22 who should be playing VFL. That is a bridge too far, pure and simple. I just find it ridiculous that so many that people, including people paid to comment on football, don't understand this is the reason we are not winning games of AFL football. One reason is so many footy media people are ex players and the culture of not blaming injury for poor performance is hard wired in of the DNA of football clubs and footy culture more broadly. Stoopid is as Stoopid does.

Lot's of Goal-kicking during and after training today, even more Behind-kicking... No kicking coach visible ?‍♂️

Salem Hibberd and Lever all on track to play this weekend if they get through todays training. Some handy experiencd coming back into that side.

Anna and I have a mutual friend. The complications from her eye surgery is extremely rare. It occurs in 0.9% of cases and to varying degrees. Sadly in Anna’s case it was the most extreme degree. I had exactly the same surgical procedure in January and I vaguely remember the surgeon discussing this sort of complication but as it was an emergency situation and the alternative was to lose my vision, I put this complication in the back of my mind and went ahead and had the surgery with no complications- thank God. Rest assured the MFC community will rally around Brad and their young family. I feel so sad for everyone involved. ??

I thought everyone knew it was OP...at least that's what Joel told a premium member's pre-game function before the Hawthorn game. He said "I am in quite a bit of pain" and used the term "osteitis pubis". So the post 427 pages ago seems to have been on the money. And as for the article that accompanied the chart above, it seemed to significantly understate the impact of Melbourne's injuries by suggesting Collingwood had coped better because of their greater depth. It shows Melbourne's best-22 missed games are 89% greater than Collingwood's and 63% higher than Richmond's!

It's about knowing when to go and when to read how the game is going. Playing on at all costs can look bloody fantastic when it comes off but when your playing and handballing to someone running past they have to have someone to link that chain to. I feel like the best styles that we implement are whe the first few kicks in the chain are controlled with the link up players moving to position further up, I think we are lacking this first initial control as well as the execution for basic deliveries. It doesn't help that our defence is lacking in genuine quality right now, both Jetta and Salem are excellent kicks.

It’s not the play on. It’s the delivery of the footy. Our delivery continues to be very very poor. Footskills are so critical to moving the ball forward and quickly.

2017 Hogan was out of the side and TMac played well as the key forward. I don't buy that he can't be #1 forward, I think it's his toe/foot still giving him problems because he doesn't seem to have any explosiveness, he can't jump for the footy and his kicking is off. If it's not injury it's a massive form slump and unforgiveable for what he's being paid

We wouldn't have got Lewis for 2 yrs... and we had to put salary-cap space somewhere... rather than overpaying kids that hadn't deserved it then. He was brought in to teach and direct, and since he's been in the side, we've improved... and then got to the Prelim final, in his time with us. He has definitely helped us on-field, and off.... but many people are just looking to hang their Angry-Hat on someone... and preferably someone who came in from outside. ... cannibalistic fair-weather supporters, looking to cook someone for no good reason. Just because we're having a poor year, and he's getting past it... some think they can strip his flesh. He's getting older, and less needed. Lew deserves much more respect from the legion, than he's receiving.

Seriously - I cannot believe some of the comments here about Lewis. Just pathetic.

I recall the last game against the Willies in Williamstown was shall we say rather rough and ready, most of the roug stuff coming from the hard nit Willie boys. It sounds to me Lewis stuck up for himself. Posters on this site regularly amuse me. On the one hand everyone wants players to stand up for the Max, then they take the mickey out of a bloke who doesn't take c(r) ap from biffo heroes. In the meantime regular offenders like Ablett and Fyffe walk away scot free...

There goes our premiership chances.

Lever didn't get through training, Hannan needs another game at Casey surely In: Salem, JKH, ANB, Weids, Hibberd,  Out: C. Wagner, J Wagner, Spargo, Petty, Fritsch Edit: Surely Preuss plays... maybe replaces T Smith ? Or even T Mac ffs

It's a reasonable question to ask, but game time is but a small part of the total number of hours of rehab. It's reasonable to assume that Lever has done hours of fitness work including during the last couple of weeks, so I would expect him to be fully fit. If he's not, I would be very disappointed in the club's decision to pick him. I appreciate that his "touch" may not be back, but I'd be dubious about any player trying to regain their touch in the VFL anyway. The pace of the game is so different, I'm not convinced there's much value for a player trying to regain their touch via the VFL. In fact, I have been of the view for some time that players who spend most of their time in the VFL struggle when promoted to the AFL not just because of their inherent deficiencies, but because they've become conditioned to playing in the lower grade and find the transition difficult.

Was Hore, Hibberd, Lever (No sign of Petty Hore calf, still working and looks ok ? Hibberd lots of tackles (think he's now main group?) Lever, run throughs, moving Ok but clearly not 100% ANB has joined Hore now for some kicking

Agree on all points. What I'd add is the above list only covers games missed through injury, not the number of players who couldn't build a proper fitness base in the preseason because of surgery or being in rehab. Tmac (despite his comments it is a form issue), Oliver, Melk prior to his injury and Viney have clearly been hampered this season. That's four of our best 10 players. The pies and tigers do have better depth. Who would dispute that. But both teams had good pre seasons in terms of getting miles into the legs of most players. And besides neither club has suffered as badly us injury wise. Melks latest setback (not back until after round 16 according to the hun) is yet another example. The injury worm will turn. Too late for this season, unless a miracle happens. But it will turn. Fitness is another issue. Facts are facts. Players who have interrupted pre seasons will always struggle to get near their optimal fitness during a season. Too much recovery and too little time to focus on fitness.

I'd like to know the 10 he's suppressing at GWS...

Vanders 2015 - 14 G 2016 - 14 G 2017 - 0 G 2018 - 7 G 2019 - ????

Don't agree. You may be proven to be correct but way too early to write off our game plan. Way too early. And impossible to make an accurate assessment with so many injured and unfit players. A key issue for us is so the injuries and fitness issues we struggle to negate the spread and keep possession style. Just as we did against West coast in the preliminary because we were cooked. But prior to that we were able to neutralize that approach, most notably against the hawks, with hard running to cover the outlet and hold them up. We did the same against wc, this year and it was instructive that it wasn't until we lost Smith and ANB (and late in the game salem) that they were able to reestablish their game and get on top. Without those injuries our game style would have likely prevailed.

Excellent Males. You have to wonder why we are playing on so often WITHOUT ASSESSING beforehand! IMO this is one of so many fails under Goody. Add to this our woeful disposal skills, where we are now ranked the worst in the competition (DE%) and the lack of break away / burst speed by so many in general including the mid field (Harmes the lone exception). Recruiting another! Recruiting too many one paced plodders through mid field and off HB/HF (Wags bros, Lewis, Spargo, Tracc, Maynard to name a few) who are very good at the coal face (see ball get ball) but generally pretty average at escaping from congestion/working back to cover their man or space in defence and ordinary disposal skills (especially mid fielders) is now coming back to haunt us. Other teams know this and know that if they bring the pressure one on one at the ball carrier we will play on most of the time and then (too easily vs the rest of the comp) miss a target either by hand or foot or just give it straight back. Rated the 3rd worst here behind the Power and the Dockers in turnovers. Playing on without assessing then turning it over is also the worst situation for us. With a generally slow plodding team that then finds itself forward of the footy and unable to get back quickly enough to fill space or pick a loose opponent up in time to cover the rebound. Goody finally recognised this post the Swans match with the 10 day break and adjusted to ensure we didn't push as high with our zoning/press and always had a spare deep to cover. Our forward system as highlighted by many already is also crap. There was a classic bit of (rare) decent play in the first half on Saturday where we managed a rare sling shot link up off HB, had someone coming through the middle under pressure, yet all forwards ran away from him towards goal. It was so predictable i was yelling at the time "someone run at him and offer a bloody lead". Sure enough the bail out kick fell short & shallow just inside 50. The quicker Giants were able easily mop up, with some playing in front reading the play better, and that was the end of that rare foray/opportunity! And as much as i love Clarry he has alot to answer for with many of those handballs. Alot of them are lightning handballs to a ghost player just for the sake of handballing/disposing. Might be the two shoulder surgeries playing subconsciously here rather than taking the tackles a little more often as per pre-surgery but that's pure speculation. There are so many aspects to our methods that don't hold up with a mark play on scenario. Then again even if we weren't doing this so often we would probably still be struggling given the above.

Another of footballs many great myths. Exhibit A: Frawley He will recruit horses for courses, he's too smart to be locked into a mantra.

Well, well, put a person down for being suspended spit him out. Our club has many knockers and have noticed it over the year more so than ever before. Really disappointed. Big Bullies Trolls hiding behind the keyboard. SAME OLD SAME OLD. How do you get rid of the Bullies that we have from our great club . Which it isn't great because of them. RATBAGS! GET A LIFE. Hope Jordan plays the year out. ALL of the CENSORED Trolls go to HELL...... Go and have your say somewhere else.

Ridiculous. Lewis has been a phenomenal get, and was a key driver in our success in the finals last year - and in helping install the hardness we needed to get there.

Considering our skills, I think we rarely get the chance to use them with our current ‘rush at all costs’ philosophy. Right now, we rush TOO MUCH. We hit opposition players, kick to the non-advantage side of contests and miss moving targets. The rush at all costs mantra looks great when we pull it off, but most of the time we could use the 1/2 a second more to improve our outcome without negative consequences. Salem is #1 in skills for mine. I think Lever is also very good, and down forward TMAC has been good as a set shot, and Fritsch has shown some serious quality. If they were told to slow it down a bit more, we might get a different perspective on some of these guys.

Garbage, we have got exactly what we drafted Lewis for maybe 1 year to long. May, wait to 2020 he is one of the best kicking tall defenders in the competition, May, Lever, Hore add in Frost you have the base for a strong back 6, just need mids who can kick and run with forwards that can lead and mark and crumb and we are back.

I saw this yesterday on Brad’s Instagram and have found myself thinking about it multiple times over the past 24 hours. What an absolute tragedy, been recently married myself I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to lose your wife let alone the mother of your children on top of that. Really puts life into perspective, a bad day at work, stuck in traffic, the small minute things that we get caught up on in our day to day lives really mean nothing. Let alone a lot of us getting caught up on the current state of our football side, it’s sad it takes tragedies like this to realise what is really important in life. I am sure the club will get around Brad & his family and provide the support needed

We'll miss his outside run and speed in the Darwin humidity.