titan_uranus

I've been thinking about whether we'll see a player or two rested this week. The concern is that with the bye coming up, and the potential for a week off if we win the first final, anyone who gets rested will be having a very stop-start run (will literally be play, week off, play, week off, play, then week off if we win the first final, before the prelim).

I was tired after staying up late watching the game... Neither of them are as bad as Gawn. Spins the ball around, ambles in, hoops out right and then hooks it massively left. Every. Time. At least Fritsch has kicked 39.18 this year and Petracca 22.14. Gawn is 10.14.

I don't think a blanket statement like this is accurate. I think we can be a better team with Melksham in it, when he's on song. But when he doesn't commit defensively, and particularly when Fritsch is also off, we're a worse side, and for large portions of 2019-21 Melksham's defensive work hasn't been good enough.

I agree, although I think we deserve to be cut some flak for last night with the lightning break. But as @DeeSpencer has argued, when we get the ball with a small lead late in the fourth, we seem to think the only option is to wait for a massive pack to form on the boundary and then kick it to that pack. No real short lateral options available, and worryingly we seem to kick to that pack and it spills out into the corridor a lot, not over the boundary line.

Misleading headline in the extreme. Confirmed to have caught it in Melbourne and has been in quarantine whilst infectious.

What sort of approach to his game is this? Is the Jordon passage of play the one where he dropped it on the dive? if so, wasn't that in the final quarter after the break, when the entire 22 was gassed? Ditto the late kick down the line (he wasn't the only player to fluff a late kick, Salem missed one too). Yes he missed a couple of shots, but he kicked three, including two early when the heat was on and we needed to build a buffer. He repeatedly presented an option at both half-back and half-forward and I can only off the top of my head recall one marking contest where he didn't mark it or bring it to ground, and that came from a kick that didn't go to his advantage side. He kicked 3 (more than anyone else), took 7 marks (second-most on the ground and the most for us) of which two were contested (in the wet, don't forget), had 6 score involvements (third-most on the ground, only bettered by ANB and Petracca) and 249 metres gained (our 10th most, more than both Oliver and Jackson). Cherry picking a moment or two where he stuffed up does not substantiate an argument that he's "fighting to say up to the pace of the game", nor that "there's nothing to suggest" that he's playing well.

Current top 8 record against the current top 8: Melbourne: 7-2 Bulldogs: 6-3 Sydney: 5-3 Geelong: 4-4 GWS: 4-5 Brisbane: 3-4 Port Adelaide: 2-5 West Coast: 1-6

Couldn't help yourself, could you. Brown played well last night.

I'm not against rewarding VFL form but this reads as if you're suggesting we give Lockhart the Adelaide game just because they're Adelaide, and then drop him for Hibberd in Round 23? We won't be doing that. We're not messing with form and experimenting with our 22 on the eve of our most important finals series in decades. If Lockhart is the best option outside the 22 to replace Hunt, he gets the spot. If not, Hibberd gets it.

Some have argued that limiting May and Lever's intercept marking is the key to beating us. Well, last night May had 2 and Lever had 1 (and Gawn had 0). The wet will have impacted that, but it's impressive to see that we can play well without those two dominating the air.

Anyone who can access the paywall?

We made the mistake with Melksham, IIRC? In 2019?

Port would have to beat the Dogs at Marvel for this to happen. Port is 2-5 against the top 8, with one of those wins vs GWS (the worst side in the top 8). It's not probable.

Here we go again with the vandenBerg myths. "Professional free kicks"? He [censored] gave West Coast a goal with a ridiculous push in the back when the ball was going over the boundary line. Nothing "professional" about it, it was moronic. Unfortunately he doesn't appear to have improved that aspect of his game. Meanwhile he was only on the ground for 50% of the game but had 6 clangers, our second-most. He doesn't add anywhere near enough to our side to offset his mistakes and what are blatantly unprofessional free kicks. It's insane that he gets praise for that sort of game. If Viney did the same thing he'd be pilloried.

No one placed our 7-2 record against the top 8 "as the pinnacle of our season so far" except you. All I did was note it. You're the one who saw it and blew up. Which speaks volumes of your attitude, one which IMO is horrendous. You're all about the "gold medal", not setting for silver/bronze. We won't win the gold if we don't win H&A games and finish top 4. Last night was a win that secures top 4. It is literally a key step towards the target you say is so important. And again. No one other than you took that post to mean everyone's satisfied with the H&A wins to date.

Would agree with all of that except I'd say: Langdon - good first half Bowey - really, really impressive

My immediate gut reaction is TMac/Weid for vandenBerg (I want the second tall forward back into the side so if TMac's not ready Weid gets the game, and vandenBerg was our 22nd ranked player tonight and I'm happy for a last in-first out principle here). Hibberd for Hunt if Hunt can't play. Other changes to be considered if we need to rest bodies on a tight six day break.

Right. Your first post after the game, other than to bag the umpires, is to say this win means nothing if we don't win the premiership. That's a ripper attitude. And by ripper I mean ridiculous.

I think that was Spargo's fault. He marked the ball and then immediately plays on. I think some are arguing the umpire called play on, which would have been wrong (the kick was more than 15), but I reckon he thought it was touched or something. He handpassed to Sparrow who missed the snap.

Why? We're locked into the top 4 no matter what.

Am I right in thinking we haven't won the minor premiership since 1964?

Last year vs Fremantle in Cairns - loss. 2017 Round 5 vs Richmond (ANZAC Eve) - loss

6 - ANB 5 - Oliver 4 - Jackson 3 - Brown 2 - Petty 1 - Bowey

Petracca kicks that goal immediately after the re-start and the game could have taken a very different turn. But you almost have to write off the last 15 minutes after the break. At the break we were 10.9.

Soak this in. We have beaten every single side in the top 8 at least once this year. Our record against the top 8 is now 7-2.