At the break of Gawn

3 hours ago, titan_uranus said:

We've tied the record with Fremantle in 2015, who beat 16 of the 17 other sides, missing out on Hawthorn only.

Oh wow, there you go. Geez forgot how dominant Freo was that year.

After beating Adelaide we have now beaten 16 of 17 other AFL teams this H&A season. I swear that must be close to some record since the inception of 18 teams. 
 

A win agains the Pies on QB would have been a clean sweep.

Melb in front by 5 goals at 3/4 time against the Cats with the premiership seemingly in our grasps. A delay to the start of the qtr due to lightning gives the tired Cats an extra 15 minutes. The Cats run over the top of Melbourne with Hawkins kicking a goal after the siren due to a blocking free.

If this club truly has changed its culture it will beat Adelaide by 10 goals+. It’s time to get our revenge on these [censored] for beating us in round 10.

Well done to AnB. BoG in his 100th game.

And credit to Harmes, was easily our best midfielder and one of his best games all year.

I don’t know if it was because of no Viney, but for those 3 and a half qtrs I thought our midfield purred and we dominated clearances.

1 minute ago, DeeZee said:

Frittatas opponent is wearing him like a glove.

They would’ve identified him as our leading goal kicker and put some work into him.

 

Have notice that. Has had no space. Sheppard is a good player.

He’ll probably get a week.

His defensive pressure would be handy against the Eagles’ mids but it’s really not all that much to fret about. He was our worst player on the w/e (putting Sparrow aside).

I hope Jones comes in for him. He’ll be like an uncaged lion trying to grab his chance and would probably match Viney’s intensity.

Geelong had a home game against Richmond last week and asked the AFL to move it to GMHBA due to no crowds. The AFL denied it and the game went ahead at the MCG.

Whateley said that the main driver of this was that the AFL didn’t want to set a precedent. The AFL knows Geelong will have a home final and they will want it played at the MCG.

We’d have to be one of the unluckiest teams ever if we’re forced to play at GMHBA in week 1 of the finals.

Considering most of us (including myself) demanded Jackson to be dropped last week, shows that the coaches still have a fair better idea than us!

Harmes won’t be dropped. I think every match report I’ve read he was listed in the best.

The only change I can see are forced changes for Tmac or Salem if they can’t get up, or potentially Sparrow out for his mate Jordan or potentially Jones.

I’m still concerned with Viney but his grunt might be pretty valuable against the Eagles midfield.

I thought Harmes’ second half was ok. He still provides good contest work. I’m more worried about Jack Viney. I’d be very happy to see Jones come in and replace him.

Kind of funny that 2 of our poor performers today each had a chance to get us the 100+ win but both failed.

Viney still has no idea. Doesn’t kick when he needs to, tries to take everyone on and gets caught holding the ball. In the bottom 2-4 players in the team.

Probably not as noticeable, but AnB playing very well.

1 minute ago, Demon Disciple said:

Here’s hoping the 4 hours in the air doesn’t dimish performance levels of the playing group (probably will be dictated by mental strength)

 

Was just wondering this. I wonder how the delay by one day stuffs up preparation? Surely an early 2hr flight, then sitting around then another 2hr flight can’t be good. 
 

Do they do another mini captain’s run or just let the players go home?

4 hours ago, Pates said:

My guess sadly is that it will be fly up on the day, which means a stupidly early start. These sorts of situations can be seen as obstacles thrown up that suck or challenges that can galvanise the group. 

It’s bloody well time the players stuck their heads in and got the job done, we’ve had our slump, it sucks but move on and get the [censored]ing win. 

I love Max but his leadership has been found wanting in the last month, him, Jack, and the other leaders at the club need to be the ones to pull us out of this funk. You can’t expect the kids to do it. 

Oh and thank you @Lord Nev, you basically said everything I needed to say re: Jackson/Weid. 

If we’re flying up the day of the game, then you can forget about a win. The last same day flight with an early start was North in Tassie where we almost stumbled. Max said in an interview that he needed a nap before the game even started.

We also lost to Sydney in that Cairns debacle when we did a same day flight game. The boys struggle immensely with it.

Jackson extremely lucky considering he’s had about 3 kicks over the last two weeks. Gobsmacked that he’s been kept in the side.

Goody never makes too many changes, but there’s no way Jackson can keep his spot. He has been so ineffectual lately it’s not funny.

I think it’ll be

Out: Jackson, Jordan

In: Weideman, Sparrow.

14 minutes ago, Doug Reemer said:

Viney’s second half kept us in it last night.

Those who consistently question his role, don’t have much idea about the game.

You do realise he was accountable for Bont for that stoppage in the last qtr where he gave him a paddock of space to let him kick that goal? He was also then on Bont at the centre bounce where he got sucked into the contest and let him on the outside which resulted in another goal.

Viney’s second half was better, but his two consecutive mistakes killed the game for us. He is the epitome of see ball get ball. Goodwin needs to shift him out of the middle ASAP before it’s too late.

3 minutes ago, Docs Demons said:

I think you do not know much about footy Picket. Viney did well tonight. At least he showed some leadership.

Two of Viney’s loose checking in the last qtr changed the margin from 4pts to 16pts. He showed the opposite of leadership when the game was in the balance. Also had a very quiet first half. Surprised anyone has him in their votes.

I called it earlier this morning in Gameday thread that Bevo would outsmart us. They certainly had our measure on clearances and Gawn’s dominance was null and void. 
 

Viney had a better game, but he was on Bont when he kicked that goal in the last (gave him a whole heap of space and didn’t even look to put his hand up on the mistake). He was then again on Bont again who got clear in the centre clearance after Viney got sucked into the contest. It was [censored] leadership and I hope the coaches make mention of it to him.

Dogs free kick imbalance was ridiculous and it’s been like that all year. Gawn should have approached them at half time.

I’ve been a BB supporter, but If he can’t nail his set shots he is of no use to us. Might as well replace with Weid at least he crashes the pack better

4 minutes ago, adonski said:

So you place higher value on mauling lower sides than beating the best ones? Interesting. We could lose tonight, because the dogs can be a good side, but they’re not a premiership threat. Literally Port Adelaide 2.0, look amazing against sides 7-18 but shaky against the rest 

The Dogs have also beaten top sides (Brisbane, Port) and lost to Geelong by a kick after the siren in Geelong.

They are a predictable side, we are not. The fact that we haven’t lost to a top 8 side yet this year is very commendable, but until we start winning the games we’re expected to win, we won’t be taken seriously. If we win tonight, we then need to win our next 3 against two bottom 8 sides and a struggling Eagles side. There’s no excuse not to.

Just now, adonski said:

I think it's more to the fact that the dogs are highly overrated (and still have a couple injuries) rather than our top 8 record

At least the Dogs haven’t had shock losses to bottom 4 teams which makes their supporters shake their head in frustration.

I think we’ll lose tonight but then have some come to Jesus moment amongst the playing group and win the next 3. 

Hate to be a wet blanket but I reckon we’ll lose tonight. Beveridge and his coaches will outsmart us this second time around. 

Honestly perfect for us so we can bounce back and beat them again.

18 minutes ago, Colin B. Flaubert said:

The bloke's disposal has been lamentable since he's come back.

However, this can be fixed. When he wants to, while he's not exactly an Isaac Smith or Christian Salem, he is capable.

Trade talk is just silly, emotional venting.

He gets very little to no momentum with his kicks. They pretty much always drop short. I'm not sure how fixable his kicking is.