titan_uranus

I don't think 33,000 is that bad for the game, given the weather and the timeslot. The trend is down with crowds. St Kilda v West Coast drew 16,710. Yes, St Kilda lost badly last week, but that's still terrible. Collingwood didn't crack 30,000 against GWS (the first time ever they've failed to do so at the MCG). Our crowd was only 14 less than what Port Adelaide got vs Richmond on a Friday night. With those trends in mind, 33,000 isn't so bad. However, in a "normal" year, you'd want to see that figure above 40,000. Next week is an away game but I believe a replacement game for our members. If we get some better weather you'd hope to see 40,000+ there.

6 - Gawn 5 - Viney 4 - Lever 3 - Langdon 2 - Petracca 1 - Oliver If we did 7, Fritsch would be next.

TMac won't play defence and nor should he. Hasn't trained there all summer and what is clear now is that our structures and systems are what is making us a good side. Petty to take May's spot, with the only contender being Hibberd if the opposition is small and we don't need another tall. Pressure IMO is on Melksham, Jones and Jordon, and to a lesser extent Jackson. Jackson needs to start holding his marks as the pressure on the talls mounts with B Brown and Weideman approaching selection. Melksham IMO didn't do much to justify his inclusion and IMO Sparrow's commitment once he got in as the sub was really impressive (16 pressure acts, our 7th highest despite being the sub). So whilst I'd be OK with Petty for May, I'd also be OK with Sparrow in the starting 22 to replace one of Melksham, Jordon or Jones.

An excellent performance and a hugely important win. What is noticeable about us this year is that when opposition sides get momentum, we stick with our structures and fall back on how we're drilled and trained. And it works. St Kilda, GWS and Geelong all fought back against us and in each game we relied on our structures and systems to overwhelm them. May going down is disastrous news, but the satisfying thing was the way Goodwin and the players reacted. Tomlinson stood up and played his role, Lever knew he had to play well and did (he dropped two easy marks in the first quarter but then didn't do a thing wrong and starred), we dropped Brayshaw back and he played his role, meaning we mad minimal changes to the side. We didn't throw TMac forward (and won't next week). We didn't mess around with backs/forwards. We had confidence that if we kept at it our way, we'd get it done, and we did. Already mentioned Lever but Gawn was unbelievable today. There's all this debate in the media about hit outs and their worth: well maybe the answer is Grundy is just out of form, because Gawn was turning plenty of hit outs into clearance wins for us whilst spanking Stanley around the ground. Petracca, Oliver and Viney all played well and when they're all on song, we're a good midfield. Spargo, ANB and Pickett are a joint pressure unit and each week it works. Thought Sparrow did his part when he came on, too. Hunt played even better this week, Salem is now producing consistent A-grade football, and TMac returned to Rounds 1-2 form. Based on what Goodwin and Lever said post-match I think Petty will get May's spot. Makes the most sense. Pressure will start to mount on Jackson, Jordon and Jones at some point (edit: and Melksham, too. Not sure he owned that spot today). That list pressure is a good thing, I think. The lid has to stay on a bit though: don't forget Geelong were missing Dangerfield, Cameron, Parfitt, Higgins and Rohan from their best 22. If May goes down and they have Cameron as well as Hawkins, that game plays out differently. But we're now two games and percentage clear of the majority of the competition. Last week our vanquished opponents didn't look so good but look at them this week. Maybe our form is starting to stand up. Maybe we are actually deserving of being in the top 2. Maybe we are a contender this year.

I agree with both @praha and @ArtificialWisdom. This is not new technology. The concept of buying a ticket to an event online is not groundbreaking, or a new invention post-pandemic. To the extent tickets have been able to be bought in-person or over the phone in the past is a reflection of the slowness of this particular part of our society to adapt. Even if the pandemic had never happened, moving to a cashless society is an important step forward in the current age and the use of simple online booking forms to obtain tickets is something we should have been doing for years. However, I also agree that the Ticketek website is unnecessarily confusing and cumbersome. There are aspects of the ticket purchasing process that make no sense and should be completely fixable. In the same way that this is not new technology for consumers, it is also far from a new experience for Ticketek. That its website continually is incapable of handling the rush of people trying to book when tickets are first opened for sale, that its system crashes repeatedly, that its terminology is difficult to understand even for the "younger" generations, and that it cannot work out how to send the confirmation tickets/QR codes out by email or text message prior to the game starting, are all pretty disgraceful failures for a business that should be well capable of doing better.

I wonder if going in with three tall forwards (B Brown, Weid, M Brown) is a trial of what we may want to do in the seniors, i.e. bring in B Brown and Weid to play alongside one of TMac/Jackson?

Maybe, but maybe not. Carlton plays Essendon and the Dogs in those two weeks and got Sunday 3.20pm games for both of them. At any rate, it matters less why we're there and more that we're actually there and have an opportunity to use it to get more exposure. By Round 8 we'll have been on FTA five times (Rounds 2, 4, 5, 6 and 8). Our five games between these and the bye are Carlton, Adelaide (away), Bulldogs (Marvel), Brisbane (Alice Springs) and Collingwood (Queen's Birthday). That's one guaranteed FTA game and if we keep our form up, we might be able to get another couple of FTA games with that bunch as well. If we were to end Queen's Birthday having been on FTA 7 or 8 times out of our first 13 games, that's not a bad result for us.

I'm not against expanding to 20 teams but not in the timeframe being suggested, I don't think, given COVID. I am 100% overwhelmingly against 12 finals teams, or any situation in which more than 50% of sides make the finals. The myopic stupidity of thinking that more finals sides = more finals = more money will eventually be realised to be stupid when half the finals are meaningless "wild card" games whilst the quality of the finals, and subsequent interest/attendance at them, takes a hit.

https://www.afl.com.au/news/579157/r7-r8-fixture-reveal-blockbusters-gf-rematch-derbies-locked-in We can't complain, the North game was always going to be a dud timeslot. But we get FTA exposure in Round 8 with the Sydney game at the MCG on Saturday night. Round seven Friday, April 30 Richmond v Western Bulldogs at the MCG, 7.50pm AEST Saturday, May 1 Collingwood v Gold Coast at the MCG, 1.45pm AEST Adelaide v GWS Giants at Adelaide Oval, 1.40pm ACST St Kilda v Hawthorn at Marvel Stadium, 4.35pm AEST Sydney v Geelong at the SCG, 7.25pm AEST Brisbane v Port Adelaide at the Gabba, 7.25pm AEST Sunday, May 2 North Melbourne v Melbourne at Blundstone Arena, 1.10pm AEST Essendon v Carlton at the MCG, 3.20pm AEST West Coast v Fremantle at Optus Stadium, 2.40pm AWST Round eight Friday, May 7 Richmond v Geelong at the MCG, 7.50pm AEST Saturday, May 8 GWS Giants v Essendon at Giants Stadium, 1.45pm AEST Gold Coast v St Kilda at Metricon Stadium, 2.10pm AEST North Melbourne v Collingwood at Marvel Stadium, 4.35pm AEST Melbourne v Sydney at the MCG, 7.25pm AEST Port Adelaide v Adelaide at Adelaide Oval, 7.10pm ACST Sunday, May 9 Hawthorn v West Coast at the MCG, 1.10pm AEST Western Bulldogs v Carlton at Marvel Stadium, 3.20pm AEST Fremantle v Brisbane at Optus Stadium, 2.40pm AWST

Paging @Jumping Jack Clennett

I personally think Moore is overrated. Good, but overrated. Still, the same people who are gushing over him are the ones picking the AA team so he's in.

This is peak happy Demonland. If we lose to Geelong, there will be a thread next week about how lopsided our list is.

Yep, agree. I thought that Oliver himself, and the others around him, responded to the tag reasonably well. de Boer is good and it wasn't easy to shake him but I at least saw blocks being laid, Oliver trying to help his teammates, and that random thing we did at the start of the second where Oliver started away from the circle but in the square.

That clip on 7 News also said that Oliver went for "running repairs" on his shoulder, whatever that means. Doesn't seem like cause for concern but still.

Darcy Moore would be a lock for the AA team if it was selected now.

Classing Oliver as a "dime a dozen" inside midfielder is a horrendously poor read on his talent. Oliver is the complete opposite of a "dime a dozen" midfielder. It disappoints me that MFC supporters don't appreciate just how good Oliver is. So to answer your question, no [censored] way. (PS before anyone says it, yes I believe Oliver has areas in which he can improve).

I think Mitchell only had one touch to quarter time. He had 24 overall which was -14 on his season average to date of 38.

We did something about it this week. Our mids were trying to block de Boer at stoppages.

Fritsch to Stewart? He took Haynes today (and did it in Round 17 last year too). May to Hawkins. If Cameron plays, Lever takes him.

Nope, haven't missed your point at all. I completely understand what you're saying. You are just saying something ridiculous. Again: signing the song does not stop us from having "brutally honest conversations", nor does it stop us from analysing our performance, critiquing it, learning from it, demanding improvement. You are arguing that we shouldn't sing the song so that we can focus instead on getting better. The necessary implication is that we can't improve on that performance if we choose to sing the song. It's ridiculous. Demand improvement, sure, but don't do it in a ridiculous way like this.

Dangerfield and Rohan are suspended. Menegola didn't play today, not sure if he'll be fit next week. Higgins did a hamstring I think.

1994. Which is also our last 5-0 start. Edit: unless you actually mean our first, which was in 1897.

50,000 would be great but IMO we'll do well to clear 40,000. Hawthorn v Richmond last Sunday at 1.10pm drew 41,051. Today was 50,000 but Easter Monday is a bit more "blockbuster" than next week will be.

Geelong are absolutely beatable next week. They haven't looked that good in any of their three games so far. They don't play a style that traditionally scares us (i.e. they play slow), and Hawkins aside they don't have a forward line that scares me. They set up well behind the ball but the way we have moved the ball so far this year, I think we're capable of scoring against them.

No worries. FWIW, I rate defensive half pressure acts equally meaningful with kicking efficiency, but yes, we want the same thing from Brayshaw, so let's hope he builds on this week next week vs Geelong.