At the break of Gawn

Credit to Carlton. They made some big tactical changes at half time and won territory. If only our coaching staff would make in-game moves…

To be fair, Grundy has a very good record at the SCG. The smaller dimensions suits him and his limited tank isn’t exposed. I remember one time he got like 65 hit outs there in 2019

Love how we got shafted with the humidity last night and Carlton get none of it tonight.

For me it wasn’t the forward connection issues (as that’s hard to judge in slippery conditions), but rather our inability to stop the opposition from piling on multiple goals when they get territory and no way to transition out of it. This happened time and time again last year. Here are a few examples Port round 10 - last qtr Carlton Round 22 - kicked the first 3 goals of the last and then held on Even against Collingwood in the QF. We need to get better at transitioning out of our d50 when we lose territory. I think losing Bowey was crucial as it forced May to take the kick outs in that last qtr and he has literally no other way but kick it long. Also, people are forgetting the Richmond practice match too easily. A bottom 4 team piled on 10 goals against us. There’s no way that would have happened in ‘21.

Pretty sure they don’t train at night when the ball is slippery. The problem is that they’re a kicking side and the conditions suited that and our players are dumb and still do handball chains in horrible conditions.

Heeney has absolutely killed us.

Damian Barrett having Geelong as Runners up is wild. Probably the most unhinged prediction I’ve seen. Considering we’ve gone out in straight sets twice as premiership favourites, it’ll be interesting to see how we go without some of the pressure.

I know this is frivolous, but does this also mean the end of Gus and Gawny? Today’s news is just a [censored] sandwich. He’s a heart & soul player.

Maynard’s medal will always have an asterisk for mine.

Missing finals for me. I think we’ll finish around the 10th to 12th mark. For me, it’s not the off-field stuff it’s the lack of upcoming talent in key positions and injuries. May will be on his last legs by season’s end, Gawn will be exhausted and our lack of leg speed off the half back line will really be exposed. This competition moves at break neck speed and there’s quite a few teams that will unfortunately leap frog us.

I know it’s only a praccy, but to lose to a team expected to be bottom 4 further cements my thinking that we’ll slide out of the 8 this year.

Winning the flag this year would be so incredibly sweet with the media pile on and to shut up all the Pies supporters who think they're going b2b. Unfortunately I just can't see us making the leap. I can't see where the improvement is really going to come from in our front half and to do it in a reliable and consistent manner. I know I'll get flamed for this but I think we'll finish just outside the 8.

Not sure how accurate the Swans numbers are as a lot of assumptions thrown into that. Collingwood probably does have the biggest supporter base. I hate to admit it but with yesterday’s victory you’d probably argue Collingwood has probably been the most successful club out of all the original foundation clubs given they’ve won the equal most AFL/VFL premierships and contended in the most grand finals.

We were realistically the best chance of beating them but we had two really unlucky things not go our way. 1. Brayshaw getting knocked out 2. A wet night at the MCG. If the weather was like the Carlton game, I think we would have won.

I despise Collingwood but their defending in their back 50 in the last qtr won them all three finals and the flag. Something to be learnt about backing in your defenders as opposed to pressing so high up that you defend well but can’t score on the counter.

Probably already been said, but we would have killed it in this heat if we were playing today. Very Melbourne to have to play the first final in the wet while the rest of September has been a scorcher.

Any news on Stafford on the move? Been with us for 10 years and it’s probably time we have fresh eyes.

Neale will get 6 in rounds 23 and 24.

I think we’ll make finals again in 2024 but we won’t be able to judge us properly until after our first final.

What strikes me about JDG is that he doesn’t seem like someone who thinks too much. Probably why he’s such a good finals player.

This is like the QF but the Giants limited the damage better than us in the first qtr and have gained momentum quicker than us.

What was the scuttlebutt around Jennings leaving us? Did him and Goody clash? I know there was no 6-6-6 in 2018 but some of our offensive work was bloody good with Jennings there.

Campbell Brown has always hated and disrespected us. I don’t think he tipped us at all in the 2021 finals series because he couldn’t possibly accept that we’d be successful. The guy is a fringe media commentator these days. He’ll be lucky to be in the industry in a couple of years.

He basically orchestrated the Grundy trade though. He wined and dined Grundy.

Fair analysis although maybe a bit harsh on Grundy. I thought he was very good in a couple of his solo ruck games. Gawn as a forward failed miserably though.