leave it to deever

Certainly no need for it. That was a lot of body Mass moving at speed focused in a small area ( knee surface) and caused a ton of damage. For every action there is an equal......busted ribs, torn spleen and hole in lungs. Wth? Wouldn't want that force focused on the base of one's spinal cord. Get well soon Tracca.

So strange we are in tenth all of a sudden. Just two games in beating Freo ( which smashed our %) and Eagles....which weren't unreasonable to imagine we could have won ....would see us in second spot on the ladder. Go figure. It's a close season for sure but Traccas injury I feel has cemented our fate of it wasn't already.

As much as it pains me to say, Dons 2000 team were a pretty tough bunch that played pretty hard as well. We had some tough nuts too in Ingerson, Schwartz and Neiter . We may have gone out in straight sets twice in a row lately but the dons 2000 team was earmarked to win three flags in a row. Ha ha .

Always been my go to method for getting out of a funk or dealing with Optus. Life's brighter and filled with panavision colour on the right side of a threatening to flail someone. 😵‍💫 ( Have I gone too far?)

Good point WCW. The usual voice of reason. I did mention this as a possibility tonight a few hours ago. And in more reflective moments, even earlier. But I wish I was less reactive like you With a bit of perspective I definitely think this is a distinct possibility. I'm sure the whole affair has been gut wrenching for the poor bloke and quite possibly he decided to forgive the bloke and move on. And thus perhaps want his teammates to the same. That would certainly explain the hand shaking. In any event it's more than likely Gus didn't want to relive the whole episode by Maynard being in the spotlight. If this was the case, then it was the right thing for the team to leave him alone( although other clubs have their own agenda with him). In this case probably best to ignore this thread and put it down to a knee JERK or MAYNARD reaction .Hopefully it was at least probably cathartic for a lot of supporters at least😄

That's a pretty good effort Sydee. Not sure I could do the same. ( Mostly for financial reasons though I guess).

Either there or time forward. Not the middle.

Are you related to the Donald?

I think as other posters have said that it was likely a coaches call. After the Freo belting, a response was required and I reckon any distraction from winning was ruled out.

It was strange the club let him continue to player and with the benefit of old hindsight, quite stupid. I hope we learn from it and don't let it happen again. One just had to look at how much pain he was in and you'd call time. You can't see inside but you can see the see the external manifestations of severe discomfort and doubling over from pain. Credit to Tracca on some level for trying to play but it's clearly not always the right thing to do. I'm torn on Moore putting his knee out. I mean if he really wanted to he could take out half a dozen players doing this. But in trying to stop it you take away a big part of the game. I guess in this situation where it wasn't necessary you rely on players to do the decent thing and not do it. But the filth are never decent. You cant go for a mark playing against them hoping a behemoth of a bloke won't drill his knee into your spleen and ribs just going the mere spoil and then puncturing your lungs. Nice work Moore. Unless your bravely flying for the mark over the top, keep your blo8dy knees to yourself.

Wouldn't surprise me if pies came out and blamed Tracca for Moore's swollen knee this week.

Hard to tell. What I do know is that it was an unnecessary thing to do. I mean it was a spoil and not a specky. The knee wasn't giving him any altitude so I do wonder why he stuck it out. People argue it's a footy act but imagine if everyone did it on every occasion. There wouldn't be too many players running about that's for sure so one has to wonder why he chose to put out his knee. And nobody can argue that it was a casual affair. I mean four busted ribs, a torn spleen and a hole in the blokes lung ....come on. That's a normal footy act? And Traccas a fairly solid build with a fair bit of muscle and mass around those injured parts. If Moore did that to someone like Bowey or McAdam he probably would have broken them in half. All I'm saying is Moore is a big player at 220 odd pounds and over six feet six, he can do a lot of damage with those knees. Ill concede that knees in the back happen and aren't illegal but Moore would have to be aware it's dangerous to do. But if this happened on a regular basis and we saw these types of serious injuries every week, the AFL would have to do something. So while it's technically legal, it's not exactly fair or sporting. Moore had nothing to gain in doing it and here we are with another Mfc player smashed by a pies one.

We covered him pretty well. That's because JV stepped up big time. This year Jack has gone backwards. And add Oliver's slump to the fray and I think it could get very brutal in the weeks to come. Tracca has been one of our best this year and his loss can't be replaced.

Top post. Not sure if I agree on Sparrow though. Against the pies he accumulated 14 disposals. He started very well and 8 of those possessions he amassed in the first quarter. This for me says a lot about him. Although I do think he gives a lot of effort ( his tackling), he rarely backs up a very good game with another. He's also not a ball magnet and for a midfielder, I don't feel he reads the play as well as he should. Players like Oliver and Trac, have an great instinctual feel for the flow and direction of the ball and are in the thick of it so to speak.

It's interesting that since 2021, we have had Max injured, Oliver injured and now Tracca. As much as one wants to be positive, we probably won't see our midfield anywhere near its absolute best. It used to be our biggest weapon. Let's face it Oliver, Tracc, Viney and Gawn at the peak of their powers was a great combo to behold. And we used to cobble together a pretty good fwd line with Tmac, Bbb, Spargo, Anb and Fritta. Kicking 100 points plus didn't seem so hard. And now ( certainly with Lever out, Petty moved forward and May getting older( we can't boast the best backline anymore ). It's another close season ( minus the Swan's) so we will probably stay in touch of the eight but we've come down to one player being injured, determining if we will make them. There's a chance we will break into them but it's the slimmest of slims. Probably likely to cause one or two upsets between now and the finals but imho won't make them. After our SA success, I didn't think I'd witness our decline like this. Top four seemed assured and so soon we are all pretty sure we won't play finals. What a brutal game. When we went out in straight sets in 22, I think I was still distracted by all the success of breaking an over 50 year drought. Last year, I was gutted. It was really bad luck on the fwd injury front. Especially when Milkshake had really stepped up. I know we would have won with Jake and Gus. Quite convincingly. This time the smoke from the whole Maynard event distracted me. And now with what's happened to us in the last six weeks, I've settled back into seeing things more clearly again. It's just so incredibly hard to win premierships. After 56 years of absence, one would think that fact is seared into my frontal lobes. It doesn't take much to derail a flag chance. Like last year with Jake's Knee and Maynards agro, a while years sweat and tears are erased away in a week The problem is We've tasted success and we realise how wonderful it is. I just wish watching the 21 GF replay hadn't lost most of its magic for me. I think the hardest thing to accept is not seeing a flag in person at the MCG. I was really thinking I would be attending one with this list winning more than just one. The whole COVID thing doesn't lessen our flag to me in the slightest. I just so wanted to see one not through a TV camera. It's definitely not going to happen this year and I doubt if it will in the next few. I'm past blaming players and trying to work out where the club went wrong. For me it's about accepting that the window is closed but that we need to get back to making a new one pronto.

Big deal. I forget I'm not a player every single weekend. The Afl could reprimand 99 % of Demonland. (And such damning video footage they have).

Was probably good at bullying though.

He was supposed to be recruiting for his elite kicking skills. I've watched him closely this year and I'm far from convinced. Seems to be in two minds when he disposes of the ball and has turned it over on more than a few occasions without any real pressure on him.

Was thinking exactly the same thing. Definitely need at least one experienced big bodied forward for Tmac. Plus another one with some rucking ability. ( This one could be young if necessary). And Tommo and Tmac are getting long in the tooth so yep. We are a man down with Gus out so he needs replacement but I'd add we really need two or three more mids. Id be inclined to move Sparrow on. And another small forward wouldn't hurt because I'm not sure where Spargo is injury while and for me Laurie hasn't shown much. I also reckon the jury is still out on Chin. Last year he started with all guns blazing and slowed mid season. Seems to be the same this year. Probably need to invest in another young key ruck.

Really not sure why Harmes and Jordan were mentioned. Not really that relevant to our form this year. Harmes as much as I like him and appreciate his contribution was clearly on the decline with us and JJ never really seemed to get out of second gear. Bbb has been out of it all for two years and Jackson apart from giving Max a few rests was never a great forward.( Although light years ahead of Petty). And Sparrow is definitely not on the ascendency as this article claims. In fact he's far from it and has been very consistent in low impact. For 4 years now he's been averaging 14 disposals a game. Nowhere near enough given hes not required to tag or play fwd often. With Tmac and Bbb out of the fwd line we really have only had Fritta and Jvr. The latter I believe will become a very good footballer but in his second year he's still finding his way so there's bound to be inconsistentency. We have Kozzie but he's been drafted into the middle way too often and compromising his goal tally. And Fritta is a skilled player who requires space to showcase his skill and finesse. The congestion in our fwd line this year has been like Sydney peak hour traffic. As mentioned pre pies game, our named six fwds scored an average of less than 40 points combined each game. We just can't kick winning scores. Plus the inaccuracy is woeful. In 2021 we got almost 100 goals out of the combination of Jackson, Bbb, Tmac and Spargo. Also Fritta, Kozzie, Nibbler and Tracca are all down a large amount of their goal tallies this year from 21. Petty is just making up the numbers and without looking at any stats Id wager that there is not another team gifting 11 games to a fwd for a total 3 goal haul. We have relied on our Python like defence in stopping other teams from scoring but eventually this was bound to fall apart. You can't win games with solid back lines. You need to score. And this year our midfield has fallen away as well. Oliver has played a couple of good games and I'm mindful of being gracious with him because he has been one of the best midfielders we have ever had. But this year he is having a well below par season. And his erratic disposal hasn't helped when he has gone and gotten the pill. Jack Viney is having a below par year as well, with five less disposals per game than his norm. Thankfully we have had Max and CP5 still going strong but who knows how long Tracca will be out for. The reality is after winning a flag the club has been for the most part very poor in its recruiting. We have acquired players who were struggling at other clubs and who now struggle at ours. To say we lack depth is an understatement. Imagine if we had the injury runs some other clubs have endured? Imagine if Max went down. Or Fritta.( He Had a couple of shockers but he's still booted over two goals a game). The truth is we are struggling to cobble a side together this year, even without a lot of injuries. How did we go from our 21 flag side with at least half a dozen competitive enough to just miss out to a team this year where half a dozen playing shouldn't be, week in week out? We were also very very lucky with our lack of injury in 21 so our list was never really seriously challenged. No doubt about it, the club did exceptionally well building the list that won the 2021 cup but it stopped building in 2020 pretty much. For four years we have been treading water, plugging holes, bridging gaps and buying excuses ( plus a few other cliches I can't think of at this very moment). But it is true. The list in 21 was exceptional and all the stars aligned for all the stars to shine. Truthfully we may not have batted too deep in 21 but everything still worked out. Rarey did we have to drop players each week and form and consistency reigned supreme. This year we can't afford to drop anyone and we are seeing injured, tired and consistently out of form players in the firsts. And some of our choices of recruiting have been mind boggling with not a few even getting games. All credit to those responsible at the Mfc for building and developing such a great list to finally bring home a flag. Shame on them for letting in deteriorate to where we are today. And let's not kid ourselves it's going to get worse. We are witnessing the beginning of the end. With Tracca injured we now won't make finals. Back to cliches, I hope we bite the bullet at year's end and make a clean sweep of the list where necessary. And especially stand firm in not accepting mediocre players from other clubs anymore.

Really not sure why Harmes and Jordan were mentioned. Not really that relevant to our form this year. Harmes as much as I like him and appreciate his contribution was clearly on the decline with us and JJ never really seemed to get out of second gear. Bbb has been out of it all for two years and Jackson apart from giving Max a few rests was never a great forward.( Although light years ahead of Petty). And Sparrow is definitely not on the ascendency as this article claims. In fact he's far from it and has been very consistent in low impact. For 4 years now he's been averaging 14 disposals a game. Nowhere near enough given hes not required to tag or play fwd often. With Tmac and Bbb out of the fwd line we really have only had Fritta and Jvr. The latter I believe will become a very good footballer but in his second year he's still finding his way so there's bound to be inconsistentency. We have Kozzie but he's been drafted into the middle way too often and compromising his goal tally. And Fritta is a skilled player who requires space to showcase his skill and finesse. The congestion in our fwd line this year has been like Sydney peak hour traffic. As mentioned pre pies game, our named six fwds scored an average of less than 40 points. We just can't kick winning scores. Plus the inaccuracy is woeful. In 2021 we got almost 100 goals out of the combination of Jackson, Bbb, Tmac and Spargo. Also Fritta, Kozzie, Nibbler and Tracca are all down a large amount of their goal tallies this year from 21. Petty is just making up the numbers and without looking at any stats Id wager that there is not another team gifting 11 games to a fwd for a total 3 goal haul. We have relied on our Python like defence in stopping other teams from scoring but eventually this was bound to fall apart. You can't win games with solid back lines. You need to score. And this year our midfield has fallen away as well. Oliver has played a couple of good games and I'm mindful of being gracious with him because he has been one of the best midfielders we have ever had. But this year he is having a well below par season. And his erratic disposal hasn't helped when he has gone and gotten the pill. Jack Viney is having a below par year as well, with five less disposals per game than his norm. Thankfully we have had Max and CP5 still going strong but who knows how long Tracca will be out for. The reality is after winning a flag the club has been for the most part very poor in its recruiting. We have acquired players who were struggling at other clubs and who now struggle at ours. To say we lack depth is an understatement. Imagine if we had the injury runs some other clubs have endured? Imagine if Max went down. Or Fritta.( He Had a couple of shockers but he's still booted over two goals a game). The truth is we are struggling to cobble a side together even without a lot of injuries. How did we go from our 21 flag side with at least half a dozen competitive enough to just miss out to a team this year where half a dozen playing shouldn't be, week in week out? We were also very very lucky with our lack of injury in 21 so our list was never really seriously challenged. No doubt about it, the club did exceptionally well building their list that won the 2021 cup but it stopped building in 2020 pretty much. For four years we have been treading water, plugging holes, bridging gaps and buying excuses ( plus a few other cliches I can't think of at this very moment). But it is true. The list in 21 was exceptional and all the stars aligned for all the stars to shine. Truthfully e may not have batted too deep in 21 but everything still worked out. Rarey did we have to drop players each week and form and consistency reigned supreme. This year we can't afford to drop anyone and we care seeing injured, tired and consistently out of form players in the first. And some of our choices of recruiting have been mind boggling with not a few even getting games. All credit to those responsible at the Mfc for building and developing such a great list to finally bring home a flag. Shame on them for letting in deteriorate to where we are today. And let's not kid ourselves it's going to get worse. We are witnessing the beginning of the end. With Tracca injured we now won't make finals. Back to cliches, I hope we bite the bullet at year's end and make a clean sweep of the list where necessary. And especially stand firm in not accepting mediocre players from other clubs anymore.

There were no fwds eft other than Smith and Fritta. Jvr suspended against Carlton Bbb out injured. Milkshake out...did his knee. Tmac on one foot. Surely has an impact just as much as anything else. Also Laurie was subbed in for Gus in the pies game. Night and day. I guess I'm saying we came very very close to two flags with this list.

They certainly play the game hard. Even if they bend the rules. And even when they play within the rules they take no prisoners. Maynard tackled very hard yesterday with six of them being very strong. Even Moore the captain plays on the edge. I didn't think going into that pack with his knee going in first was necessary but it was totally legal Often times that will leave most players sore or ruing the fact they put their body on the line. I can't say if it was intentional but the result left one of our best players hospitalized. Their tackle count was much higher than ours and we seldom broke them like they did with ours. I can't imagine Daicos having his career completely ended by a demons player and then pies players not responding to him in the next encounter. Rightly or wrongly they would target him at every turn. They certainly wouldn't shake his hand. There is nothing wrong with tackling players hard or bumping them as long as it's within the rules . And in the case of Maynard certainly justified. He's an enforcer for the filth. That's why other clubs go after him. Why shouldn't we. We just don't have that mongrel in us. Maybe we are better for it. Maybe we are gentlemen. I mean as much as I've advocated for Maynard to be roughed up , I don't want us to become like the filth themselves. But this is different imo. We have a beloved player and great contributor removed from the game. What's three or four bone jarring tackles back in response to that. I mean at the end of the day, it's not really a gentlemen's game. Maybe next time. It's probably not going to happen.

From one of the clubs great forwards, David Schwartz)".... "What a load of [censored]. Three years this bull [censored] has been happening in trying to find a forward line… the coaches have to take responsibility. “This isn’t a patch. This is a systematic breakdown of the most important part of your game, which is your forward line. They haven’t been able to address it and it doesn’t matter how many good performances you put in like against St Kilda (in Round 11), it’s just not good enough. “For a club that has got… a good midfield, a good backline and they haven’t been able to address their forward line, (it's not acceptable)." Couldn't agree more with the OX. We tried a few things. We lured big Brodie Grundy even though the bloke takes two marks a game and thought we could make a goal kicker from him. We extended Bbbs career despite the writing on the wall when he kicked only one goal in all our 2022 finals campaign. Tmac was injured .Our fwd line cost us that year. Did the same a year later when we didn't have the players to cover injuries. Tmac managed to do a Bbb and kick one goal in all our finals. This time it was Bbb who w/as injured. Then we have choices like Schache who I can't even remember the last time he played. I remember thinking a he looked very thin. Add others like McAdam who credit to Goody he finally dropped . His distance kicking was strange. Add also Fullerton. Then there are the fwds we do play. Chandler who has averaged this year of not even one goal a game. Who starts each season with a bang and fades into the sunset. Petty who most of us have been screaming for to be dropped. How many forwards if his goal telly is extrapolated is a grand total of SIX for the entire season ( 22 games) get to keep playing every week. Jvr who to his credit tries his all and gives a reasonable return but who is still just starting and it's wrong to he carries such a big load. As the Ox has said, this has been going on for ages For me it's up there with Gone with the wind( much like our kicking accuracy at goal) and I find it past frustrating to almost amusing that a problem so glaring has been patched over or if not ignored for so long now. Want a good gig? Become a fwd at the Mfc. Money is great. No kpis. Free travel. Job security.

Our forward line is a part of why we are losing. We were thumped yesterday but had three less i50s and as many scoring shots. Maybe the entries were not great so that's not on our forwards but their errant shots at goal was solely upon them. And it's been an issue for a few years Jaded. Also I mentioned before the game that our named fwd line of Anb. Chin , Kozzie, Fritta, Petty had a combined average this year of under 40 points. We have kicked 100 points twice this year. I'll give that our delivery to our fwds isn't elite and our mids are lacking in performance this year. But when players like Petty who has kicked three goals in 11 games and mustered about seven possies a game gets a guernsey in our fwd line week in week out, then something's off. And despite all the skills coaching in the world we have displayed a great deal of mental toughness in kicking so many points yesterday. But yesterday our midfield was exposed again. Even with Tracca off Sparrow amassed a mind blowing 14 touches ( eight of which he garnered in the first 20 odd mins. He tackles well but other than that is backup material for the middle for me. And as much as I love Oliver, his disposal yesterday was all over the shop. See ball ...tick. Get ball ..well done. Blindly throw ball on boot...wth? And JV hasn't picked up where he left off last year. I hope Tracca isn't out for too long because if he is, we will see a few more beltings. Despite Tmac playing his best ( has been Tmac of yesteryear back in the backline) even our defence looked shaky. Theee defenders going for the ball. We clearly miss Lever telling people what to do. And Bowey hasn't been the same since he hurt his shoulder. Seems like eons ago since we came back from SA on top of the world and almost on top of the ladder. Someone is going to get tapped to fill in the midfield injury of Tracca. Let's hope they embrace it.