deanox

This 100%. When a tackle happens call ball up or holding the ball. Don't let them wrestle against each other. Don't wait for the rucks and no inate, just run in and throw it up, it'll solve lots of problems. Similarly, if someone is being tackled and one of their teammates jumps in, and effectively tackles the tackler, creating congestion, then call holding the man against the third man in. It is a tactic designed to stop the holding the ball decision (by wrapping up the tackler and the player with the ball, the ball is now stuck in there so it's a ball up). It's really simple the AFL just have no idea.

If Oliver is on the mark then he can smother the handball, the same as he would another a kick. If he stepped over the mark to smother then it should be 50 unless he played on first. If Oliver knocked it out of his hand before he could handball that would be a 50 too.

I don't know why they scheduled Sydney at home. You could have done VFL gather round this weekend in Melbourne.

I watched the stats guys at a Casey game once and there was 4-6 recording stats just for Casey. They obviously had a system, different people recording different information, it was pretty intense. I am unsure how it works with Champion data at AFL level, but with GPS trackers in every player (and possibly the ball) they may be able to enter data directly into a system that is already catching stuff like possession, and ball location (i.e. nothing whether the ball was kicked or handballed but the system already has the location and the player in possession. And if location of kick and recieve if auto recorded, then the computer would be able to auto compute things like "rebound from 50", "inside 50", long kick vs short kick, etc.

Yup, not gifted, but it might get the nod in a line ball call.

Personally, I think there is space to get someone to 100 games for father son rule, especially if they have a couple of kids. With all of the equalisation measures, there are few areas that can be exploited as an advantage. If you have two players pretty equal for the sub role, I think you'd be willing to roll the dice on a couple of sub games to get him there.

I don't have a hope of tracking everything but I did try to track JVR and Grundy in the Sydney game. There was a clear pattern in all four quarters to how those two interacted, positions on ground and when they went off for a rest. Sort of like: Start of Quarter: Grundy in ruck, JVR forward. 10 min mark: JVR off for a rest, Grundy in ruck 15 min: JVR on and into ruck. Grundy off for a rest. 20 min: JVR goes forward, Grundy back in ruck Very approximate but it followed the same pattern in terms of order and positions each quarter. Against WCE though, this pattern definitely wasn't followed. Timing was different and so were positions, with others including TMac and Petty taking centre bounces. Their time on grounds were a bit different each game too, Grundy dropped from 77% v Swans to 71% v WCE, while JVR was similar with 72% v 74%. I wonder if the change in TOG for Grundy was a preservation thing? We had already won, have a long flight, and play a team with a lot of talls on a 6 day break.

Do you need to post questions in the thread to get Andy to discuss them? Have you ever tried leaving a voicemail in a disguised voice?

A quick google search of GPS in elite sport generated links to a number of published, peer reviewed papers discussingnthe topic. I couldn't see anything about whether the AFL data includes walking around, like discussed here. But it does seem that with devices used at elite level, a <1% error margin seems achievable, particularly given the ground is flat (not inclined) and there is no overhead obstruction (i.e. trees). I am unsure what alternative systems they use indoor at Marvel.

I feel like Jackson is a bit like an all-rounder in test cricket. Unless he becomes good enough to hold a spot as a first ruck or tall forward, he risks being a liability to the team as often (or more than) he is a saviour. In a strong team with a strong first ruck and other KPFs his versatility becomes his strength to be leveraged, because his weaknesses aren't being exploited by the opposition. I don't think Freo are strong enough to support him like this at the moment. I do think one of his best chances of being the true unicorn is becoming a tall midfielder (30-50% of game time) who can also be second ruck and rest forward to help create mismatches. So I applaud them trying this.

On field questions: In the first four games this year we have seemed pretty bulletproof except for the first 3Qs vs Brisbane, where we just seemed off. What do we think was off? Match ups? Player intent? Travel?

Interested to hear the pods view on list management with respect to managing a long term age profile. -Is Jordan a just keep for the future, or does he just go ok in a strong side? -Is it important we keep those younger developing players for the future, or can we plug those age profile gaps through trading in the future? -With a potentially strong draft hand in 2023, should we be drafting now or should we trade for future draft picks, to better time the list regeneration? Similarly, where do we see our list/best 22 weaknesses at the moment? With Hunter and Grundy coming in, the development of JVR and form of Brown and TMac, have we covered a lot of the holes we thought we had last year? And finally, apart from injuries opening up a spot: where to for Salem and Harmes from here?

With the Brisbane game you would have needed even more extra time, or else you would have missed the best bit!

Unless it is miraculous, thats what I read into it too. Almost like "it's minor but it has repeated instead of settled after first occurance, so our course of management/treatment will likely change, but until we review I can't confirm what that means".

Probably, but what was the history making feat?

@Jaded No Moreand @BritishDemonFan in his presser Goodwin described Hibberd as our only injury concern and said he got subbed out because of soreness in the achillies again. He noted we had a short week to next Saturdays game so would need to be assessed.

One of the hardest parts of this question is whether a player gets named based on their whole career, or how they performed at their peak. If it's the former, it often tends to favour some older posts with complete careers! I reckon for the era it's a pretty good crack though, well done. I'd think Hibbo might give Rivers a run for that spot, Fritsch for Bruce as Wells mentioned, and I'd probably give Langdon the nod on the wing over Green (move to the bench over Brown). Great job.

The key forwards right now are JVR, Petty, McDonald. We've effectively swapped JVR and Petty for Max and Brown, but as a result are playing shorter in defence. It will be very interesting to see what happens. Agree RE Salem not being auto best 22, if the others are playing well. There are only a couple of best 22s tbh the rest are truly on form. I just really hope that we play guys like JJ and Sparrow ahead of Harmes and Melksham as much as possible. It's imperative we retain that group from a list profile perspective. Oliver is 26 late this season so has years to go. Below Oliver is a 2.5 year gap to Petty, the next oldest regular player, and the next group are aged: Petty, Spargo, Chandler (all 23), Sparrow, Jordan (both 22), Pickett, Rivers (both 21). Personally think it is crucial we keep that group of 7 so that we don't have a big drop off in 5 years with a dearth of experience. Younger than that we have good prospects (Turner, JVR, Jefferson, Bowey, McVee) but this group probably have another 2-4 years before they start "looking for opportunities" if they aren't playing enough.

Freo sitting 1-3 (lucky win after injuries plagued WCE) and have this the next few weeks: GCS (in Adelaide) Dogs (Home) Brisbane (away) Hawthorn (Home) Sydney (away) Geelong (home) Melbourne (away) If they are better than 3-8 I'd be surprised. Could be as bad as 2-9 is the Sun's get them this week in Adelaide.

He had a great game, and is super stiff but when I look at the 22 it's really hard to drop someone ahead of him, with Sparrow being the only option. With Gawn a walk up start to come back in, I suspect that a small forward (either Spargo or Chandler) will make way as well. Salem is going to add significant pressure to Hibbert, Bowery, Rivers or McVee as well. I do think it is particularly important to make sure that the young guys get as many games as possible to ensure we keep the depth and the list profile/renewal. Sparrow and JJ in particular need to play as often as possible so they are there and ready. Losing them will put a hole in our list profile long term.

Laughed out loud at this, thankyou!

Here you go.

I'm going to counter by suggesting that Goodwin has always been innovative and flexible, but he is also an astute judge of whether the flexibility would work. It's possible that the type of flexibility punters were calling for would have caused worse results! The times when he was called "inflexible" have been when we've had key players injured or out of form and he was inflexible for "not bringing in players players from Casey". Maybe he made judgements that an injured Gawn is a better option than a bball rookie, or an out of form TMac was more likely to find form than a first year undersized kid. Other times he's been called inflexible have been when he sticks with a game plan the players have learnt for 3 years, hoping that the work with pay off, instead of throwing it out and hoping they'll catch on to something new in a single week. What some people call inflexible or stubborn, others might call pragmatic, realistic and risk based. In a game of percentages at the elite level, Hail Mary's rarely pay off

Just FYI I'm pretty sure the goal assist and the 2 goals all count as score involvements.

Fritsch weak in the contest. Magic from Oliver. Fritsch does what he does best with a classic finish. 🤷