mo64

2 minutes ago, demon3165 said:

But his man is able to run off to make position that's the problem, father time and injuries catch up with us all might not like it but the side has to evolve.

Correct. TMac at his best is a dangerous forward, and a reliable shot for goal. To say that his role is solely to create space for others, is setting the bar low.

5 hours ago, Demonstone said:

I think you mean Allen Jakovich 

No he actually meant Weird Al Yankovic.

13 minutes ago, demon3165 said:

Why play Tmac? unfortunately to slow the swans will run off his all day time to inject youth, we have a very good midfield but the problem is, most of them are one paced, Trac, Harmes, Viney even Sparrow are not quick players Clarry got some pace that is one reason we get caught out on the rebound, I understand the game plan is probably a work in progress and as the season goes on it might play out well.

As for JVR I hope they don't do one game in then out, let him go for a few games find his feet and go from there.

I tend to agree with you. Despite having a restricted preseason, BBB looks like he's flying whereas TMAC looks cumbersome. But the coaches are set on a 2 ruck strategy. With this being the case, I'd rather see TMac bash and crash as a 2nd ruckman for 15% of the time, rather than JVR. 

Grundy should play 85% gametime as the no.1 ruck, with no time resting up forward.

54 minutes ago, Lucifers Hero said:

Goodwin on van Rooyed debut:

young-demon-to-make-debut-against-high-flying-swans

"He's trained with these guys for a few years now, so he's got pretty good cohesion with this group already, and one thing you'll see from big Rooey is his ability to compete aerially," Goodwin said.

"He goes at the ball hard, he creates a contest and his follow-up at ground level is exceptional.

"We won't be asking him to do too much other than that for us."

Nice way to keep expectations of him realistic.

JvR effectively replaces Max in our fwd line so we won't need Grundy for that role.  TMac is there to help Grundy ruck at CB and fwd 50.   And to be our marking target when exiting our d50.  It helps that if Ladhams is out, Sydney have no experienced ruckman.

We will miss Max's towering presence but reckon we have his role covered.

I hope you're right Luci. I want TMac to be the 2nd ruck, and JVR play as a KPF.

But I disagree that we have Max's role covered. Grundy isn't capable of dropping into defence and taking contested marks. 

31 minutes ago, Timothy Reddan-A'Blew said:

Roger meant you to not go beyond his 'v'...

Stop teasing us. All the more recent clues lead to my original answer being correct, but alas it was not. 😢

46 minutes ago, Neil Crompton said:

I have a problem comprehending why, when we have so many AA mids, that we struggle with clearances, and not just centre clearances. Because of our personnel, this is the one area of the game that we should, without fail, dominate. So what is the issue? Is it

- that our mids, unless our rucks put it down their throats, are incapable of winning the ball?

- that are mids are lazy?

- that opposition mids are better coached to nullify our personnel advantage?

- that our midfield coach needs to lift his game plan?

- or is it a combination of all these items? And possibly more?

Could someone please explain this to me as I’m dumbfounded by our relative failure in this area, particularly after last night’s performance which was abysmal.

It's all of the above. And that's why most on here were sadly mistaken when they said that we'd be unstoppable with a Gawn/Grundy ruck combination. Losing hit-outs are the easiest thing for an opposition coach to neutralise.

Too many people got caught up with last week's game, in particular Gawn/Grundy. That reality was that Bevo did nothing to counteract Gawn's dominance over English, and nullify our mids. English broke even with Grundy. 

If Max is out long term, our coaching dept have a lot of work to do. Grundy can't play Max' role because he's useless as a contested mark. I honestly don't see what the answer is. 

20 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Don't fear Brisbane one bit.

Give us Kozzie, May, Salem and Gawn back in and we beat them comprehensively. 

And I'm sure the feeling's mutual. All 4 played in the final that we lost badly. 

I can't stand arrogant supporters especially after we were putrid for most of the game. 

4 minutes ago, Jaded No More said:

Troy Chaplin could not be less convincing that May will play. 
 

We clearly won’t risk him. We are just toying with Brisbane. They have to plan around May. 

You really think that the Lions coaching dept will be in a mad panic when they see Tomlinson run out instead of May?

Every coach will tell you that late changes have zero impact on the opposition's game plan.

People seem to forget that the Lions pantsed us in a final last year. They've added Dunkley and Ashcroft.

Week 1 results often throw up odd results. I expect Lions to bounce back big-time. I expect us to win but it's 50/50. 

It's strange that nobody is mentioning how big a loss Kozzie is.

4 hours ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

I wasn't, Grundy because of the contract and Hunter because of his off field stuff. I wasn't dead against them but I wasn't enthused when I heard about it. I know others in the same boat.

Ditto.

But back to the OP, we didn't swap Watts for Fritta. Every other club had the opportunity to draft Fritta before our pick. We obviously had some inside knowledge. 

It would be a huge mistake to move Gus back into the midfield, and bring in Salem. Gus is essential in our backline.

Unless Bowey, Rivers or McVee drop in form, Salem needs to bide his time in the VFL. 

4 minutes ago, BoBo said:

Just putting this out there, dunno if it’s any good?
 

If Mayzie comes back this week and if… IF… TMAC is out, Tomlinson is 1cm short, yes he’s lighter than TMAC, but he looks very mobile and has played across CHF before plus he is hungry to play in a premiership. Considering a part of TMACs role is to open up space for BBB, I don’t see why he couldn’t fulfill that role?

Happy to be wrong?

Why not just play Petty up forward if that's the case? At least he has recent form as a forward.

Personally, I'd rather play JVR as a forward than Tomlinson.

I'm in the rather exclusive Bailey Laurie fan club. I thinks he's got some football smarts and is handy around goal. Hope the kid does well, but I think he may be a sub.

50 minutes ago, Kick_It_To_Pickett said:

The test is one of negligence. The group will have to prove that the AFL fell short of its expected duty of care. I wait with great anticipation to see how it will play out. 

Well they can point the finger at the Cripps decision being overturned on legal grounds, if they want to prove negligence. And the Cotchin decision also proves that the AFL fall short when it comes to duty of care.

I'm staggered that the AFL haven't overturned more MRP and Tribunal decisions. Maybe this is a wake up call.

52 minutes ago, Older demon said:

According to the club they were reviewing the videos to see if they could find the incident but were unable to identify how and when it happened.

Have they checked behind the grassy knoll? I believe Picket Fence was seen lurking around there.

This is awesome @WheeloRatings. I'm wondering if it could be pinned up the top because it's a fantastic reference.

1 hour ago, layzie said:

Again, very impressive knowledge!

I had some inside knowledge.😁

1 hour ago, layzie said:

Very good Mo, never would have cracked it but a great challenge nonetheless.

All I had for your image clues above was that they all enjoy Honeysuckle scented candles. 

St. Bernard of Clairveaux is the patron saint of beekeepers and candles. 😁

11 hours ago, AzzKikA said:

Who is this guy? What did he do?

I'm assuming they're referring to Tom Morris the golfer, who won 4 British Opens. But at the age of 172, I think he's a bit old to be making a comeback.

Congrats to @Mazer Rackham who takes bronze.

The connection for all these players is that they attended St. Bernard's College West Essendon. Some players like James Cook and Daniel Cross came to the school after being recruited by their AFL club.

2 hours ago, Sydee said:

He is so similar to Weid it's a bit scary really. Ironical that he was in effect his replacement on our list.

Has all the skills to be a very good AFL footballer but for whatever reason can't seem to impose himself within games consistently and compete physically when needed. 

Whether either of them will ever truly make the grade is anyone's guess but we all hope Josh can now he has landed at the Dees.

Personally, I am not a fan of forwards that cannot pressure opposition backs when they don't have the ball - this area is not a strength of Josh but it needs to be if he is to get senior games IMO 

I don't think that any of our key forwards or resting ruckmen are good at applying pressure when they haven't got the ball. The issue with Weid and Schache is their 2nd efforts when they don't mark the ball. They need to stay engaged in the contest.

If our gameplan incudes bombing into the forward line with our key forwards/resting ruckmen instructed to bring the ball to ground, then Schache will struggle. If our bigs can get separation, Schache can be useful as a key forward or a depth 2nd ruckman.

Two more clues:

There's one podium place up for grabs, so here's a clue:

There's some real hard-nuts in this team. But there's also some downhill skiers who may require some assistance.

4 minutes ago, Diamond_Jim said:

Excellent article

Weideman got off lightly and no discussion of Meldrum. It also failed to discuss our pocket tendency

Agree that it was an excellent article. 

The player analysis was spot on. If Goody and the match committee were aware of the cracks, they did little to address them by way of team changes.

Article clearly showed ANB's decline in form. It also debunks the notion by many on here that Spargo is elite when it comes to inside 50 connections. His numbers and percentage are less than Sparrow, who gets canned for his disposal. 

Congrats to @Demonstone on solving it and picking up the silver medal.