Copuchas

Just sent the following to the club. If this outfit is ever to achieve it's targeted objectives, there needs to be total professionalism across every facet of the club's operation. "I'm a MCC/MFC premium member and an East Melbourne resident. As tempted as I am to write to the MFC with some observations on yesterday's efforts, that's not the focus of my communication. I regularly venture down to Gosch's for a kick with my son and have noticed the surface is in an increasingly shoddy state such that it's a serious risk for players training on it (overly hard in patches, ungrassed, loose sand / soil). I'm not a trained horticulturist, but it's pretty self evident that the issue in certain parts of the arena is deficient water. This in turn suggests a defective sprinkler system which when combined with the extremely dry summer period has produced the current result. It needs to be remedied immediately before the winter no growth period and hence the questions begged are who is responsible for maintaining Gosch's Paddock to the elite standard claimed (MCC?) and who at the MFC is responsible for making sure they do their job?"

Who are the 5 Tigers? Cotchin, Deledio, Rance, Riewoldt, Martin presumably.. I have to confess to a major blind spot when it comes to RFC....maybe it's because we regularly beat them. But for mine Cotchin's failures in big games and regular ability to butcher the ball under pressure rule him out of something like a top 50. Dusty's lack of discipline at critical junctures has cost them dearly over the journey. Rance I can live with but the "Rance moments" weren't that far back in his career so I'll be watching him closely this year. Riewoldt's much lauded move up the ground last year may have seen a more team oriented approach but the fact is his output was down on prior seasons. Deledio...probably the pick of the 5 and worthy....

Cameron has to be 3 down to 2 with the confirmed cheek fracture. Pedo a good chance of being graded low impact (in which case a fine) given that the Saint's player took his free kick and stayed on

Do you know what game time they played with Casey? Interested as to whether we're going to play less than 24 or whether one of them suits up again today? I see Lumumba got 28 in what was otherwise a pretty sobering afternoon for the VFL side. We need to win today to stake another step towards eliminating the bloody hoo-doos hanging over us. Geelong in Geelong and winning at Etihad (GWS) were two important ones and today needs to be a dress rehearsal for beating St Kilda for premiership points.

JKH has been injured (and has just resumed full training). Should play Casey this weekend. White was injured too but not sure of his rehab status. Ditto Newton (ankle) who seems to have fallen off a lot of people's radar screens (but was talked about as best 22 in the 1st half of last season)

This really begs the question as to what's the issue with ANB? He's not been mentioned in despatches in terms of any of the injury updates and made the NAB 1/2 initial squads. His form last year would've warranted some NAB game time in the normal course of events. What's the story?

See injury update just posted: http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/2016-03-10/vandenberg-in-doubt-for-saints Looks like no Dunn or Vanders and likely that Lumumba will play for Casey. Petracca still a fair way off before playing footy of any kind......sigh...

The thread's very entertaining and there's some great observations and analysis. For mine though, a lot of it misses the key points which are: 1) the appetite for the contest / attack on the footy has improved out of sight and has been a feature both weeks; 2) The game plan has truly evolved and there's now more than a semblance of purpose in terms of inside 50's (both in terms of numbers and quality). Most importantly, the defensive chip the ball around / go backwards element of our game has been eliminated. This team will be a lot better to watch this year than they have been for a long time. I think the attacks on skills might be a tad overdone and a lot of us have forgotten what footy's like on an open to the elements arena on a breezy day. I expect they'll win at least 11 games, take some serious scalps and, with a modicum of luck, play finals.

After NAB2, I think Viney and Vince are locks and Dunn by virtue of being last year's VC. Am less convinced that TMac gets a guernsey. 4 is probably not large enough - need at least one more, maybe two. Lumumba, Dawes, TMac and even Jack Watts could be in the running. Trengove would have been a shot if he was further advanced. Are they announcing it this week or next?

Dogs side very disappointing indeed. We need to make up for Ballarat last year and obliterate them as a confidence boosting exercise. And hopefully avoid any injuries along the way..... It does seem however that we'll play 26. Not quite sure what Jade was rabbiting on about?? Unless the plan is to principally use only 5 of the 8 on the bench?

yeah, it's an interesting point as normally the AFL moves heaven and earth to ensure information release occurs first via their website (and simultaneously the club's). Was just wondering whether Fox Footy have some inside angle just for the NAB Challenge?

Fox Footy website showing the starting 18 as: Jones, Salem, Watts, Viney, Tyson, Gawn, Stretch, Oliver, Dunn, Garland, Kent, Frost, Vince, Pedersen, Michie, T McDonald, O McDonald, Hunt. But I can't find any reference to the three that have been left out. Presumably Jetta is one of them. And maybe Garlett?

Dogs are going to play a very young side if you believe the posts on their site. They did last year up at Eureka in Ballarat and so did Essendon in NAB3 the following weekr. We fell over the line against the Dogs and were pipped at the post by the young Bombers, notwithstanding fielding reasonable sides. We should play our best side (or close to it) and fully expect / demand to monster them and start to ingrain from the earliest opportunity the concept of winning these sorts of games as an expected outcome.

There'll have to be some erring on the side of caution until we fully understand the impact of the 90 interchange cap and the sub elimination on the aerobic endurance of the players (mid-field in particular). For this reason, I can't see it being less than 3 mids. Moreover, we're all accustomed to seeing the players being spent in the early rounds of a season, no matter how much match simulation....and it's an earlier start this year with a warm March forecast. Do we know what the average activation point of the sub was ie including injuries for season 2015? I would assume around the 15 or 20 minute mark of the 3rd quarter. So on the face of it we're getting an extra player for two and a half quarters but copping a hefty hit on the rotations.

Undoubtedly there was a lot to like. Attack on the footy was the key indicator I was watching for and we passed with flying colours. Fluidity of ball movement was another and it's much improved. Dunn had a relatively quiet game and that represents further upside. TMac's decision making and hesitancy are still causes for concern, little brother OMac looks a ways off this level as yet. Sam Frost opened with a flurry but faded. Jetta was good but exploited for pace on a few occasions. Kent provides some much needed mongrel as well as polish. Garlett's one set shot demonstrated lots of practice to address last year's woes. Vandenberg looks extremely composed and comfortable relative to this time last year. Pedo must be persisted with on that display. Need to find ways to get Jesse one out. Thought Watts was great with only a couple of hesitations when the situation called for the ball to be moved quickly harking back to the "old" Dees. Lastly, practice match or not, you can't fake genuine attack on the footy.

It's all about the ball movement for mine and the concomitant impact on game plan. There's a high degree of anticipation as to how much impact Goodwin has had on the game plan and to what extent the young Dees can execute it. Two media articles in the last couple of days are very instructive - firstly Mahoney putting the pressure on the players by saying we're approaching the NAB Challenge seriously and then Roosy in essence saying there's no reason we can't do what the Dogs did. In my mind these are very deliberate efforts to ensure we hit the ground running as there's an awareness that we need to build some momentum and belief early so that we keep our season alive for as long as possible and give the debutantes every opportunity to hit their straps. With some early success, the possibility envelope opens right up......