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Axis of Bob

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Axis of Bob last won the day on March 31

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About Axis of Bob

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  1. Axis of Bob
    Way, way back in the day, it was only match reports to be found online. Whispering Jack was doing it way back then too, plus Hoju had his own going, with the Melbourne Chronicle along with Demonology. There may have been a few others too. There was nowhere for people to talk about the footy and it was more having some knowledgeable people shouting their thoughts into the universe. Jack was the only place I could find out how the Melbourne players went in the VFL at Sandringham. Demonology was a really interesting place during its heyday. It had a very simple layout that often made it har
  2. Axis of Bob
    A 32 year old Trac is still going to be a hell of a player. He could play in a forward pocket for the last 3 years and still be a nightmare for the opposition. There is a history of power based midfielders like him having excellent longevity in the game too. Shaun Burgoyne had 24 touches and 2 goals in the 2014 Grand Final at about that age. Spreading his contract out over 7 years also provides us with the flexibility to move it around to accommodate players, either by bringing some of it forward or pushing it back. It's much harder to do that with 3 year deals. Also, all decisions l
  3. Axis of Bob
    I think the lack of clearances is because we replaced Viney with players who aren't Viney. He's a bit polarising on here, but Viney is really crucial to our midfield setups because of his insane intensity and power, especially defensively. He's able to control where the space is and, if something goes wrong, shut it down really well. When you replace that with Brayshaw, for example, then you are getting a big body who hits in straight lines to replace a shifty but powerful tackler. We had one player get 7 tackles against North (Jordon), whilst Viney averages 7 a game. Oliver had 4 and nobody e
  4. Axis of Bob
    I don't there's any need to change our tactics. Thankfully Tomlinson's role is the easiest to replace, although he was doing it well. His job is just to run with the opposition's big forward and be competitive. At the best teams this role is played by the least talented tall defender, as all they have to do is stand and engage the opponent whilst support flies for the ball. Think of the likes of Astbury, Broad, Balta, or Marcus Adams, or Clurey, or J Kolodjashnij. These are good, honest, reliable talls that have a specific role to play, but the role they play isn't impossible to replace.
  5. Axis of Bob
    I'm not for the Goodes comparison. Goodes was a linebreaking, power athlete who played ruck at certain times because he wasn't being exposed by him opponents. His best ruck year was comfortably 2003, and he only averaged 12 hitouts a game that year whilst his back up ruck Jason Ball averaged 15. Playing Goodes in the ruck was the equivalent of playing Joel Smith in the ruck, if Joel Smith was a superstar. Also, Goodes was a straight line runner with immense power. He broke into open space and, once he got there, he was devastating. Such a good player to watch. Jackson is more like a balle
  6. Axis of Bob
    I’m watching too. Already it looks like the Dogs trying to handball through, but the second tall is a real issue for them. Very interesting.
  7. Axis of Bob
    I don't have access to it you could get an idea from players. That said, a midfield intercept may often created entirely by forward pressure, and a defensive intercept by midfield pressure etc. It's complex. But, FWIW, here are our top 10 interceptors: Rank / Name / Games / Intercepts per game 1 Jake Lever 6 11.17 2 Christian Salem 6 7.67 3 Steven May 5 6.40 4 Max Gawn 6 6.17
  8. Axis of Bob
    I know it's going to sound really boring and cliche, but I think it's mostly to do with the players just 'playing their role' better. We've always been really strong at the footy but we just haven't had anyone holding their position on the outside. This means that we have people ready to receive in better positions .... but also those players outside will drag defenders away from the ball and create opportunities for others. By not going for the ball (or sometimes even coming within a kick of the contest) you are able to stretch the defenders and stop them helping each other out. And that
  9. Axis of Bob
    I think the difference with the handballing we did is that most teams handball as a way of shifting the pressure away from themselves and on to a team mate, because they are under intense pressure. Handballing, in itself, isn't a bad way to play but it depends on how and why you do it. Richmond relies on pressure around the ball to either turn the ball over or to force a longer kick down the line. Teams often feel this pressure and shift the ball to a safe player behind the ball (putting that player, who is in a worse spot, under pressure) or chip it sideways to a free player (which slows
  10. Axis of Bob
    Trust me, there's plenty of rubbish that I've got in my post history. But don't look too hard for it! 😁
  11. Axis of Bob
    I think Jackson suffers from the fact that he looks so much less like a young ruck/forward than most young ruck/forwards do. He moves so smoothly and with so much coordination that he gets judged like he's a 25 year old. He actually looks too good for his age so people can get fooled into judging his forward play like he's a mature player like Tom McDonald. But he's 19. He's a ruck forward. What he's doing is remarkable. He was beating Ben McEvoy, a 31 year old premiership ruckman comfortably in the ruck and then spreading like a midfielder. He's beaten or halved against every mature AF
  12. Axis of Bob
    I love Chunk. He's been a really good, durable player and the sort of player and role model that we're been lucky to have had. Started as an outside runner with an inside midfield's body and he worked hard early in the VFL to change his game to suit what he'd need to be at AFL level. Some players are coach-proof. They don't complain, don't wallow, and just work so hard that they can succeed in any system. Nathan Jones is one of those players. He won B&F's in terrible teams because he just kept turning up and doing the work when others didn't. The journey of an older footbal
  13. Axis of Bob
    A Kozzie taking down Selwood thread, that becomes a TISM thread. What time to be alive. Although it does need more Les Murray.
  14. Axis of Bob
    As a key forward, Jackson is currently the best contested mark (statistically) of any Rising Star qualified player. He has 5 whilst the next best (Georgiades, Koschitzke and Treacy) have 3. He's also second for contested possessions, first for hitouts, third for clearances, etc. So, for a 19 year old tall forward who also chops out in the ruck ..... he's doing exceedingly well. Dr D is just a troll, but blows up his credibility too often to be any good at it.
  15. Axis of Bob
    We do lack structure up forward. We look best with either Cunningham or Zanker marking well but that has be oh so rare. Obviously Bannan is the hope here, and she shows so real promise, but is just too light at the moment to be a really target against stronger opponents. We are kicking scores with our smalls but our next step forward needs the big forwards to win against settled defences.
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