watchtheeyes

Missing component? McDonald.. he was our mobility who took a defender out of D50 or to other areas to create space in behind for our leading forwards. It’s not a coincidence our scoring has fallen off a cliff. We bomb it in because we have no option. And when we bomb it in we get outmarked.

Like Brayshaw back to the wing. He has been uniquely terrific, he can still help in D and we can use his ball use going forward.

The people having a crack at Petracca on here are being lead by their emotions. Is he off form.. yes. But he had more clearances and more i50s then anyone on the ground. Could they have been better i50s? Sure… but to bloody who??! Zero presence up forward, out marked again and again and again and again and again and again and… you guessed it, again. We have no forward line. If it comes in badly, no chance. But if we’re running in with more space, we’re being presented with nothing because Brown and Brown have zero mobility = zero advantageous lead, and no space in behind.

Hunt has to be nervous with hibberd now back, much much better 1 on 1 defender

Maybe McDonald is really important after all…

Was Ben brown playing? Absent spectator, watched the game from the dunny

Giants stadium... eh. As a Sydneysider I was pumped to watch them at the SCG on Friday. Alas.. Oh well, does anyone know where in giant stadium most Dees supporters will sitting? Will go, but would prefer not to be sitting in acres of cavernous space..

Lol.. How fitting a Dees fan forum would have page after page of puns dedicated to classical composers!! Bravo!

A few people suggesting LJ would be one to make way for Weid/BB in a month or so.. I thought his ruck work was really good on Saturday, some of the best I've seen it. If he can do a job there and give Max the ability to go behind the ball or in to the goal square it makes us such a better team. Can't rely on Weid/BB to do that. Realistically 1 or even 2 of Weid/BB/TMac will be in the twos.

Quote: "The midfield will need to sort out the problems of last week with their cohesion with Max and each other. I am not asking for perfect, just an improvement. If they can exert proper pressure in the midfield and get some ascendancy, then that will greatly help defence. I also want to see them shut down any run through the corridor. Time and time again last week Freo ran down the corridor seemingly unopposed. We need to ensure that out transition from attack to defence in the midfield is much sharper." Critical! Our midfielders have to be accountable defensively. Put pressure on the ball and that will give Lever/May a chance to intercept. If we kick like we did last week however, and are caught on the wrong side of goal, we will get obliterated. They won't miss targets like Freo did. If we lose, goals from turnover will be a telling stat. If that stat is comparatively low, we win.

https://www.afl.com.au/news/511202/marathon-men-telstra-tracker-reveals-your-club-s-endurance-kings Top-five most distance covered in a game in 2020 Ed Langdon, 13.3km v Sydney, round 15 Christian Salem, 13.3km v Gold Coast, round 6 Ed Langdon, 13.1km v GWS Giants, round 17 Christian Salem, 13km v Collingwood, round 12 Christian Salem, 13km v GWS Giants, round 17 Top-five most distance covered per game in 2020 Ed Langdon, 12.3km Christian Salem, 11.9km Adam Tomlinson, 11.5km Clayton Oliver, 11.3km Sam Weideman, 11.3km There was another article like this last week which showed who our fastest was, and to my surprise it was Christian Salem. It's not immediately obvious, but he is clearly a far better athlete than many give him credit for. The other stand out here is Sam Weideman. He has a lot of big detractors on this site, but it's obvious the bloke works extremely hard to provide an option and create contests. We get another genuine marking target up forward next year, and he could seriously break out in my view. I have been very cold on the notion of Ben Brown (mostly because of his hair..), but if all we're getting him for is to lead hard at the ball, it opens up the ground for Weids, Fritsh etc to go to work.

To be fair, I haven't yet seen OMac actively run away from players showing aggression..

Someone that's not often spoken about in these conversations is Salem. Hear time and time again that he is a ripping bloke that everyone loves at the club. Think he is a real lynchpin... if he goes, problems.,

I did.. clearly remember watching that game and the pure elation at the goal! Was very upset when he was let go, emailed the club, complained to anyone that would listen. Was one of my favourite players, admittedly I was perhaps always blinded by his glimpses and potential. Sad way to end his career, as his game/s before the leg break looked like he was playing well. All the best Jack!

Wow! How negative are you people. We had to win, we won. Clearly the better team on the ground. Think the Weideman hate is a bit much too, as for those who say he’s not playing with intensity... give me a spell. Bloke repeatedly hits packs and gives our smalls a chance. Would love for him to clunk marks, but he is working so hard to create contests. No way he’s dropped.

I'm confused about all this Viney trade talk.. can someone enlighten me on where it has come from? The bloke basically grew out of the side of the building and bleeds red and blue. He's vice captain.. does anyone really think he'd go? I just can't believe it. And from the perspective of the football department. He is again VC, he's one of the first picked each week.. why would they trade him? The whole thing has me berfuddled.. Don't get it.

I’ve seen Lever commit to a number of courageous acts through the last few weeks, even in the Port debacle.. so I think it’s a bit unfair to say he shirks contact. Everyone can have off games, think he’s coming along nicely.

Best half of football from Brayshaw this year... after stinking up the first!

To be fair it was coming in so fast and with such little pressure, very few defences would've been able to stop it. I personally think they're starting to look pretty good. Thought May was good, and I saw Lever really put his body on the line early on, plus he seems to be getting to better spots.

Good post, but I’d move Petracca up a level

Gee whiz, I’m mean I get the 2nd half was highly disconcerting but I just spent 15 minutes going through multiple threads... I mean we did win. That 1st quarter was exceptional. Petracca. We haven’t played in months and this round had the chance to throw up anything. Lots to work on. But we have a win, and I’m going to hang my hat on to the first q until at least next week.

He's shown he can be a decent decision maker and 1:1 defender, so I think he can play a role. What I like most about it is that we have someone down there who can win it in the contest, I think we've been let down in that area. If the ball comes in, and we're not intercepting, then we've got to be able to win it on the ground and get it back out cleanly. Don't mind it to be be honest.

As you say Goody's mantra is very telling, and reveals the culprit in my mind. I think he has drilled contested ball above all else and now players instinctively go to the contest. 100% this is coaching and I pray Goody has the humility to see the error of his ways before the preseason. The effort thing is as much despondency i reckon. Yes I think there is a little bit of 'what's the point', which is crap, but mostly I reckon its the response to consistently poor skills and decisions. It happens, the ball goes back the other way and players throw their hands in the air. I started very much in the bad preseason, injuries and the impact that had on confidence camp.. and to a certain extent still believe it has been a factor. But I'm also now increasingly of the view that the coaching has been a large culprit and would have no issue with Goody being replaced early next year if we're heading the same way again. This year has completely undermined my enjoyment of the sport. I can't stomach watching other games at the moment and watch most of our games on fast forward.

Surely worth consideration as a rookie.. what do we lose?

Lyon was overly emotional, which is fine as a supporter and really was just expressing our collective frustration. But I don't buy the aberration bit. You can't fluke 2 finals wins against quality opposition. You can't fluke a percentage of greater than 130% - that is a reflection of a large body of work. An aberration is a couple of wins against good side, not a whole season. I also think about it this way.. What makes more sense? That ordinary (not good) players dramatically outperform their abilities over a sustained period of time (season 2018) or very good players underperform their abilities over a sustained period. To my mind it is extremely difficult to perform at 140% of your abilities even once, let alone a whole season. But it is very easy to perform at 70%, for a whole host of reasons. The reasons? I've said it before, I'm also a subscriber of the preseason, injuries and impact on confidence theory. But I'm also open-minded to the coaching criticism. Fritsch being played out of position ALL year is just one of several examples of that. Looking forward to 2020...