Bang Bang Bang

Really looking forward to this game. I'm nervous and a pessimist before most games, but Top 4 is now locked in. We've got a ticket in the raffle. We're set. The last time I was this relaxed about a game was probably Round 23 2018 when we had sewn up finals and obliterated GWS on the MCG. Fritsch will be a certain starter if fit. Goody doesn't believe in VFL for the top tier talent. TMac could be a chance too, but maybe bringing them BOTH back is a bridge too far. So just Fritsch for Laurie is my guess. Best case scenario (of the realistic options) is that all Top 4 teams win and we get Collingwood at the G.

When we drafted him, JT's described him as a "real MCG player" (behind the scenes footage video) and was over the moon Brisbane didn't take him. Excellent foreshadowing. He's good on every ground, but he's a real weapon at the MCG.

Best game Lever has played since 2021. Good time to be hitting form!

This was the original plan I believe. But the problem is that Gawn has no forward craft and is not a good converter. A lot of skeptics felt the combo wouldn’t work and to Goody’s credit, he swallowed his pride and abandoned it as soon as he realized it was a bust. Gawn will play for 2-3 more years which is way too long for Grundy to wait. Grundy will seek a trade and we’ll oblige. Maybe a second round pick comes our way. It happens. No hard feelings and move on IMO.

If you mean adding him to our existing team, then I agree. He’s been excellent for GWS, arguably not a whole lot better than he was in 2015, but he set a high bar early. I still think we’ve been much better off and +1 trophy because of his departure though. We’re not having much success in recent years without May.

The Petracca non-goal is a really interesting one IMO. Marchbank immediately claimed he’d touched it (yes he could he lying but looked to me like it was genuine because of how quickly he did it) One angle looks like his fingers move. Another angle looks like he’s nowhere near it. Ultimately the soft call killed us.

Lachie Hunter.

Honestly thought that was a pretty good win. JVR came up with a huge clutch goal on the HT siren (with some thanks to Jayden Stephenson). North should have gone in with a decent lead at the break but instead they went in with almost none. They were never a chance after that. JVR doesn’t have the best technique I’ve ever seen, but he like, doesn’t miss ever? So good.

Shame about Daicos. He’s actually a really likable player and carries himself well for a young guy. Not his fault he’s so damn good and the media obsess over him. Will it hurt Collingwood much? Time will tell. I remember thinking the sky was falling when Clarry went down and that was before it was 12+ weeks! But we found a way. I suspect Collingwood will be similar.

I saw Jon Ralph grade the Luke Jackson trade as an A+ for Fremantle. Absolutely ludicrous. Dogga is an absolute gun, no qualms about that, but virtually no player in the league is worth pick 4, 15 and 23. You could trade for two stars and an excellent role player with that draft capital!

No Cunnington for them is a plus! Always tears us a new one.

I would hate to think of the reaction on here if Goody actually implemented some of the changes being mooted, and we went on to lose. North are a poor side, but beating them in Tassie is never as easy as everyone expects. Even in 2021 they did a number on us down there before some Bayley Fritsch brilliance got us out of jail. Clarko is back too, just to complicate things even further. Of course I still fully expect to win but I don’t advocate resting multiple players at all. Viney (shoulder) maybe, but only if he really needs it and only if Clarry is back. Otherwise, we should take this game seriously and play our best side. Percentage is another crucial factor. Fortunately Goody has never really been into resting players, even our pre season hit outs are normally best available. With all that said and done, I’d like to see Harmes out for Sparrow. JJ can make way for Clarry the following week. Taj will probably get caught by Spargo at some stage. And then Fritsch will squeeze in. That’s about it.

How does a game of rugby union at the MCG get 84,000? I don’t know anyone in this city that cares about it.

I will never understand why people melt after wins on here when we have rounds like this. Felt guilty barracking for Freo today, but it couldn’t have worked out any better.

Melbourne week 1 with the prospect of Geelong in week 2 would surely make you nervous.

Hunter seems to be quite unpopular on here. I personally feel like he has been an excellent outlet for us all season and has changed the way we play for the better, we actually use both wings to attack now. Very important player for our structure even if he can be a bit cute at times. We’re 8-0 at the MCG with Hunter playing this year and 0-1 without him. We were a poor MCG side up until this year too. Now I am not suggesting he’s THAT integral to our fortunes, but I’d be absolutely staggered if he was dropped. Tomlinson on exposed form has had a better season than Petty, but I get the feeling the coaches see it differently. We have conceded a lot of scoring shots in the past two games, so it seems like a no brainer to slot Hibbo back in there. For who? I’m not so sure. Grundy for BBB seems like a given in the next few games too.

That was a stressful last quarter, but an otherwise enjoyable game of footy with the Dees faithful. Glad the rain went away and 33,000 was a strong showing IMO, particularly with very few Crows fans at the City End. Don’t care how we win them at this time of year. That’s 8 incredibly value points in our last two outings when it could easily have been 0. Collingwood and Port have made winning close ones an art form this season, why can’t we? Kosi was the difference between the two sides and for all the “LoSt At SeLeCtIoN” comments I’ve read over the years, can we say this match was WON AT SELECTION? Tomlinson was excellent and we don’t win without Chandler. Brown off for Smith was genius too. Onya Goody.

I think it’s highly likely we go for it and certainly possible West Coast agree to it. It’s almost an identical play to what we tried last year with Essendon’s pick and Humphrey. Something like: pick 4, pick 15 and our future first For pick 1 and a future third Is mutually beneficial IMO. Eagles get to take Curtin and also get two bonus first rounders to strengthen their rebuild. And we get to draft the heir apparent to Petracca and Oliver. He will be hitting his prime just as they are slowing down / retiring. Yes, there’s no guarantees of Reid becoming a star. But the inside bulls have a MUCH higher probability of making it than anyone else.

So Clarry has gone from 3-4 a fortnight ago, to 4 last week, to 3-4 again today. Hope he can actually get back this season.

There are lots of possibilities, but here are the two I see most likely: 1. Trade up for pick 1 i.e Harley Reid. West Coast might go for it if we get pick 4 and package it up with two of our other assets (our own first rounder this year or next, or Freo’s second pick). West Coast might prefer going for Curtin anyway and using the other picks to strengthen their rebuild. As for us, the Petracca/Oliver/Viney era has been amazing and still has a few years left in it, but we need to bring a genuine A-grade talent in to take over the midfield in five years. Reid is perfect IMO and I’d be happy to go down this path despite the cost. 2. Keep Freo’s pick. My money would be on taking Zane Duursma - from memory he trained with us over summer and played a bit at Casey. I’m sure that works in his favor somewhat and there’s a fair chance he will be best available at Freo’s pick and he fits a need.

I can’t see them catching us. They have Brisbane away, Port, Collingwood, Saints (at Marvel) and the Dogs to come. They will lose at least two of them, surely. If we go 5-1 or even 4-2 from here, then we should have them covered. They’ll be dangerous in September though.

So… you’ll be…. going for…. Geelong… tonight? Never thought I’d see the day.

Went to the game tonight, I actually don’t mind Marvel like everyone else seems to. It’s definitely not as good as the G but it’s always pretty easy to get to on the train and a solid spot to watch a game of footy. 30k was a pretty good turn out, even if we were outnumbered. Was just a “so-so” win at best, but also no worse than our win over them in 2021. And the 4 points were as crucial as they’ll be all season. Puts us in a very good position now. May was masterful, it looked like maybe age was finally catching up to him, but now… perhaps not? We will be in every game of footy as long as May is fit and in form. Beast. Goody will probably be pleased with how the midget forward line worked in tandem. I thought Melksham was very good, Trac was clinical and BB tried hard and did enough. I still feel like we were lacking one tall player down there. Forget Grundy playing forward, he has his strengths but marking and forward craft aren’t it. Gawn too. On that note… I think Gawndy is actually going the way a lot of us predicted it would last October. Just doesn’t seem to work and it’s made Gawn a shell of the player he once was. It’s not really Grundy’s fault either but surely Goody gives thought to replacing him with JVR (or Schache) just to see how it looks.

Give Ben another week or two to show his worth, he was never going to impact in today’s rubbish conditions and should have been a late out if anything. I’d be happy for any of ANB, Kosi and Chandler to be dropped, but this is Goodyball, none will be. As for Harmes, what a poor selection, no hindsight needed, just bizarre to drop JJ for him.

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