Gator

Duursma is one of the classiest young players you'd ever see. Is he soft ? That's the question. But with his talent you'd take the punt every day of the week. Back yourself to shift his mindset, assuming it's required.

Thanks. What other footy acts are weighted the same as a contested mark ? Or do weightings differ on a sliding scale ?

Thanks. So contested marking barely rates ?

Thanks, Wheelo. Why is Xerri so high in the ratings ? He's a scrubber. He's a very effective scrubber, granted, but a scrubber nonetheless. Are tackles weighted disproportionately ? Is it the clearances ? Gawn averages more disposals, more marks, more contested marks (more contested marks than Xerri's general marks), more intercepts, more score involvements, contested possessions the same, the ruck stats are similar, ... Xerri is a good player, but nowhere near as athletic as Gawn, or the all-rounder that Gawn is. I suppose the eye test is still underrated. Anyway, I'm fascinated why Xerri has such a strong rating.

You've almost nailed my concerns. Viney is a hack with his skills, but even he occasionally kicks on his right. And many, including Bontempelli are proficient. I've never seen Langford even attempt to use it. He needs to improve his gound balls. You got the contested marking right. Plus, he's not as hard at the footy as I expected. Lindsay is far harder at the ball than Langford. Cue the nuffies on here.

It's actually 63, not 65. Perhaps I'm the only one a little disappointed with aspects of his game. I'll cope.

It's not as simple as that. Some players, like Zorko, Gulden and Wanganeen-Milera, will take on incredibly risky kicks that can be invaluable when they work, whereas many players wouldn't even attempt them. It's a junk stat.

It's not that Wilson necessarily has it in for Melbourne, she just loves old Benny Gale and desperately wants Buckley to coach the Devils due to the Benny love and Richmond connection. That's it in a nutshell.

Smith had a coffee with Buckley prior to round 4.

None of your business.

The definition of a list clogger.

I suppose I can now share the following, which I sent as a private message here on April 3 this year: ''I don't often post rumours but I can tell you with certainty that Steven Smith has met for a coffee with Nathan Buckley re potentially coaching the MFC. I can't tell you how the meeting went or if Buckley has any interest, because I don't know. I only know that they met. I won't post this on the main forum because it serves no purpose and could potentially cause (further) instability. It's just not needed at the moment. For me, Smith should conduct this sort of due diligence and I'm glad he's on the front foot. Of course, it may all come to nothing.'' I then heard from a second unrelated source, not long after, that Melbourne was keen on Buckley.

Culley had 9 kicks and kicked it at 88.9% efficiency against West Coast. Admittedly, it's not a metric I like and such a small sample size means little, but do suggest his kicking was an issue on Saturday is pure drivel. Is he too slow ? Maybe. Does he lack production ? Possibly. Will he make it ? I don't know. But it was a nice debut for the club. As a tall marking wingman with another preseason under his belt, and another year on from his ACL, he's an interesting prospect.

On the contrary, they managed that trade exactly how I'd want my club to.

I'd like Gerry Noonan to describe that last quarter.

I've said that Goodwin should go since early in the year, because 10 years is long enough if your team's performance drops off like it has over the last few years. And I still think he needs to go. That said, where are the cool heads in our midfield or defence ? McVee loses his mind and creates a certain goal with a dumb 50. McDonald lets a [censored] run around him on the mark while he's arguing with an umpire. Goal. Langford is in the box seat to outmark Wood in the middle of the ground and doesn't. Then is too slow and out of the contest. I get it, first year player. Oliver doesn't even have the composure to score. Score anything. Viney is a dumb [censored]. Who could even lose a game with 8 seconds left ? As much as I'm over Goodwin's platitudes, I'm sick of [censored] leaders and half-dedicated players. Big changes needed. But smart changes needed.

So you know what he eats 24/7 ?

Oh sorry, I'll work on my delivery.

He's 27, not 37. I know some supporters are wired to think of the best possible case scenario no matter what, but when a player starts every game on the bench, plays less minutes in every game than previously, and can no longer run like they used to, or burst out the front of stoppages like they used to, there's probably a reason. For an elite mid he's the footballing equivalent of fat. But you're welcome to stay in denial like plenty of others.

It's pretty amazing to me that supporters can't see the difference in conditioning from 2025 to 2021. ''Fat'' is obviously contextual when it comes to a highly paid professional AFL player. I'll let you work out which photo is from which year.

Don't underthink it.

I don't think so. I have question marks too. Not major doubts but concerns he won't quite be the player I thought he would. Obviously, it's very early days and I'll watch closely with interest, as I'm sure we all will.

Russia Russia Russia 🤣🤣😂

Twinkle toes is a great little player but he most definitely does have flaws. On numerous occasions he's taken short steps, which has been well publicized. That said, he seems to have largely eradicated that from his game. The best mids I've ever seen have a physical intimidation and can go forward and take contested marks. Little Nicky hasn't taken a single contested mark in 76 games. An extraordinary achievement. For example, I doubt anyone thinks contested marking is Jack Viney's prowess. Viney took 19 contested marks in his first 76 games. Daicos is 5cm taller. Some players play taller than their stature, he plays smaller. But he's super fast, has an incredible footy IQ, and sublime deft touch. A great little player.

I think Russia-gate is the example you are looking for.