stevethemanjordan

He’s clearly closer if he’s training with the main group.

Cringeworthy to say, but ‘spiritually’ speaking, it’d be huge to have him play round 1 even if he’s slightly underdone. His value to the side exceeds his game-day performance imo. Just like Selwood for Geelong. He’d lift his team mates, the crowd and he’d make certain opposition players nervous. Hopefully it’s not all just optimistic fluff.

Given you’re not employed at the club, you’re in absolutely no position to be commenting on whether or not the poster should be sharing the information. It is his and his only to share. We have no idea who his connection is and so the risk is his to take if he decides to share it. It’s the same with any of the posters on this forum who have connections at the club and share information from time to time. Whether it’s trade news, injury or anything else. The risk is theirs. I suggest you put him on ignore, like you have with everyone else who rubs you the wrong way on here. It’d be beneficial for you, but more importantly everyone else on here who is sick of you bobbing up anytime a poster shares something that you’re not privy to.

I heard Cornes refer to David Warner as “an exemplary example” when listening yesterday. I immediately turned the radio off.

Fair enough. However, in a 50/50 aerial contest, I'd back Hibberd, Hunt and Wagner to get a fist in. Membrey seems to only worry us when he is given silver service.

Last year it wasn't as bad as years previous and that's a reflection of the growth and improvement of our side as a whole. Especially through the midfield and forward-line. Why did Membrey/Bruce and Reiwoldt always seem to trouble us? When I think about those particular games, I remember easy coast-to-coast goals, a dysfunctional back six and Oscar probably playing when he shouldn't have. (Srsly). I also remember a midfield of ours not batting as deep, not possessing enough skill or intensity and not running as hard defensively. The same can be said about our half-forward line. All of these things contributed to what seemed like a one or two man show for St Kilda. And they're not the only forwards that have had their way with us over the years. We are so much stronger all over the field and we also have the number one intercept defender in the AFL added to our back six. Let's see how it pans out on Thursday night.

I'm not sure if you're aware that Membrey only stands at 188cm. Wagner is 189cm, Hunt is 187 cm and Hibberd is 186. Height is simply a non-issue but it seems to be the opposite on here at times. One reason it's a non-issue is because of the way in which we defend as a side. We are constantly zoning dangerous space and tend to press up the ground in a very aggressive formation. Our entire backline unit relies on unrelenting defensive pressure from our half-forwards and midfielders so that opposition entries are both limited and/or of poor quality. Any forward-line will be a threat if our system breaks down further up the field. This is hardly news to many. I don't understand your comments. Frost may well get a run, although I wouldn't bet on it. I reckon it's obvious to see that we'll be running with two talls only in our back six for round 1. Re-visit the North game. Brown and Waite both had limited opportunities due to pressure from our midfield and half-forward line. The aim will be to again replicate that intensity and defensive pressure to limit opposition scoring opportunities.

I can only assume that you believe the groin exists somewhere above the waist?

I agree. And I’m happy that Frost and Oscar will be battling for that second tall position. It will make them better players individually and will hold them to higher accountability on game day. All of it being a positive for the club. We’ve also got the best crop of 21-23 year olds in the comp and it sound as if they want to stay together given their love for one another. That’s what excites me most about our future. They’re all super close.

Smartest thing I’ve read from a Collingwood supporter.

Nah

Hardly a slap. I’m just using you as an example of the demonlander that greatly overrates our players.

It’s a contributing factor, sure. But it’s only structural now that we have Lever at the club. And that trade in itself said a lot about how the coaches viewed a backline of Oscar and Frost in tandem as talls. His footy fundamentals have never been up to scratch and he’s been trialled in almost every position, failing to lock down any of them. I was baiting supporters who loosely throw around the term ‘gun’. Which is an annoyance.

Not sure the title of the thread is entirely accurate..

Frost simply has too many question marks to his game, not sure why that’s not obvious to some posters. Especially @Drunkn167 who has termed him a “gun”. His best go is in the backline. But Oscar has had an enormous summer and is looking solid. I wouldn’t be surprised if Frost missed against St Kilda either, unless we were to rest Oscar/Lever.

A stark contrast to practice games in years gone by where we’ve seen our side underperform/lose the game by some margin, with posters usually defending the performances without really being able to see warning signs either good or bad. (Usually bad up until last year). Regardless of the fact that these games are not worth points, if a team is fielding a near full-strength side, then these games should be taken seriously from many angles. Individual development, synergy between positional lines, observable gameplan, arousal levels/urgency at contests. All of those things were on show yesterday which is an enormous positive imo and the warning signs are positive in this case.. I don’t care that North will most likely finish in the bottom five this season. They similarly fielded a strong side and the end score-line flattered them tbh. There’s now an obvious and real blueprint in the way we are both playing and talking about ourselves as a club. Whether it’s Jennings in his post AFLX interview last week or Bernie in his interview during yesterday’s match, the line “playing the Melbourne way” is becoming thematic. We’re back it up in the way we’re carrying ourselves on-field. Whilst I don’t wish to bring it up as a discussion point, it’s easy to see why Watts was pushed out. A player who simply doesn’t display the traits that Goody and co hold every player accountable to. If you want to create and breed a culture that will stick at a club, everyone needs to display those traits. I don’t care that it was a JLT game. To me these changes are real and what we’re building is very real as opposed to years previous. The list, personalities, coaches and board are all clearly hell bent on re-branding this club. And I love it. Of course I know there’ll be plenty of downs this along the way and this season especially. But for the first time in many many years, I genuinely love watching us play, the “Melbourne” way. Go Dees.

No thanks. It's been an easy observation over the last couple of years, no need to count. Cheers.

Training?

I'll wait. I'm just pointing out a weakness. He holds onto it for too long in tight and gets caught, more often than his team-mates. I imagine that'd be universally recognised.

Oscar was definitely solid. But if we're being honest, none of our defenders were made to work that hard thanks to our mids and forwards working so hard both ways.

One of Tyson's weaknesses is most definitely his refusal to give first option. Maybe he's not "run-down" when on the fly, but in contests or congestion, he definitely gets caught holding the ball.

3 - Clearly today proved that we have no plans right now to play all three of Frost McDonald and Lever. Which is what I suspected anyway. If not, why wouldn’t we have trialled it given how seriously we are taking these practice games? 4 - I’m pretty sure North Melbourne are a taller forward-line than Geelong and again, today proved that if you have a strong team defence and limit opposition opportunities, height is not an issue. Oscar and Lever are more than enough as tall defenders. Which leads into your point number 5: Today we defended exceptionally well as an entire side. Our Forwards right through to our midfield zoned space fantastically well, which resulted in North’s inefficiency going forward. Oscar and Lever really didn’t have to do too much thanks to this. There’s no way we need Frost as well as those two in our side. It takes way too much away from our defence by playing those three talls. Oscar was really solid today and I’d have him ahead of Frost as that second tall position due to his football specific skills over Frost’s athletic capabilities. As you can see with the way we play as a defensive unit, the “key” position backman that sits in the square has almost become non-existent. By playing three talls, you’d be taking away too much from our side. Frost and McDonald battling for the same spot is just what we need.

It’s great that Tyson has had a full pre-season up until now. Its great that we have very few serious injuries and most of our young core have had full pre-seasons. Alls it means is that Tyson will have to play at his absolute best as an extractor to get a place in our team due to his lack of positional versatility, poor two-way running and obvious disposal weakness.

If it's mostly peer voted, then it's clear he didn't have enough support from his team mates. Tommy is a strong-minded, hard working and articulate individual. But if I were a player, I wouldn't be voting in a 26 year old who is still prone to making diabolical errors on gameday. Whether that's an awareness thing or skill thing. Imo leaders should maintain the highest of standards in all areas of the game, and in the past we have continually had players in the leadership group who underperform in some of those areas. I like the small quartet. I hope Nev gets a gig next year though.

Given both Jetta and Hibberd’s ability to compete in the air as a third-man up, I’d love an explanation from those who have selected all of Frost, O-Mac and Lever in the same backline? To me it makes little sense. Especially when one considers the way we play as a defensive zone. Rarely do we see any of our backmen have one-on-one lock-down roles for the entirety of a game. They’re often caught out in between opponents. One of the benefits of having defenders who possess elite intercept skills in a setup like ours is that we don’t need to rely on an overly tall backline. We have one of the most aggresive backline setups in the AFL. Jetta, Hibberd and Lever are elite intercept players. Oscar and Frost are not. I believe that Oscar and Frost should and will be competing for the same position. Thanks to the acquisition of Lever, I hope that it allows Oscar/Frost to play a more simplified role due to their inconsistencies as players. I feel comfortable if Frost or Oscar are playing on a key opposition forward knowing that we have one of Jetta, Hibberd or Lever to nearly always impact that contest as a third man. And by impact I mean kill the ball or win the contest. Frost and Oscar are not that player. Here’s hoping the coaches feel the same way come Round 1.