titan_uranus

Yeah that was epic. They threw everything at us in the first 15 minutes. Most other sides in the comp would have folded. In any other year we probably would have folded. The way we steadied, didn't lose focus, and then turned the game completely around and bullied them for 3.5 quarters was remarkable. Our forward half pressure was immense. They had a stack of inside 50s but they were repeatedly delivering it under our pressure, and with no structure forward of centre because they were sucked up the ground trying to move the ball through our defence. Some will criticise by saying Richmond had two injuries. Reality is we were dominant when they had a full squad. Salem was BOG and deserved the medal. Petracca was great though, Lever gave up that one goal in the fourth but was otherwise fantastic. ANB lifted on last week, TMac started slow but became a force as the game went on. Jackson's getting better every week. Special mention to Hibberd for his incredible tagging job on Dusty and Tomlinson for being the rock that lets Lever and May do what they do. And finally, congrats to Nathan Jones. Played a reasonably good game. Really wish Oliver had passed to him late in the fourth, but he got chaired off after one of our best wins since he started.

Opinion or source-based? Not sure about Harmes getting Jones' spot. We may find that we need to roll TMac or Jackson up the ground to fit B Brown/Weideman into the forward line. Sparrow was the sub and we haven't made anyone the sub in consecutive weeks when they didn't play (Sparrow was the sub vs Geelong as well as Hawthorn, but played 60%-odd after May went down). So you'd therefore think that Sparrow will either get into the 22 or play for Casey this week.

I'm really rapt with how this all sits. Having Gawn, Oliver, Viney, Lever, May, Salem, Langdon, B Brown, Pickett, Rivers and Tomlinson all signed up to at least the end of 2023 is really good work IMO. Now to work on Petracca, Fritsch and Jackson.

Fantastic news. On the back of his form, 5 years is spot on for Salem. Yes, we gave 5 to Harmes and he's subsequently struggled to recapture the form that got him that contract. But that doesn't mean we should avoid long contracts altogether. For core players, and Salem is one of them, long contracts are critical to sustaining success.

If @Yokozuna's mail is good (and IIRC it usually is), big call bringing in neither of Weideman or B Brown. Maybe after his 300th Jones might find himself in the sub role to free up a spot in the 22 for Weid/Brown?

Sunday games by Round 10: Fremantle - 7 Hawthorn - 6 West Coast - 6 Melbourne - 5 North Melbourne - 5 Carlton - 4 Adelaide - 4 Essendon - 4 (one is ANZAC Day) GWS - 4 Geelong - 3 Port Adelaide - 3 Collingwood - 2 (one is ANZAC Day) St Kilda - 2 Bulldogs - 2 Gold Coast - 1 Richmond - 1 Brisbane - 0 Sydney - 0

Yeah at first glance this sucks. We're 5-0 but get given a Saturday twilight game and our fifth(!) Sunday game. St Kilda are rubbish and Geelong play boring football but they get a Friday night game. These are largely the AFL's prior problems though. They had to put a Marvel game on the Friday for Round 9 because there are three that week, and whilst Richmond v GWS would be the better game, that would mean Richmond has four straight Friday nights (because the AFL, in its infinite wisdom, previously gave Richmond consecutive Friday nights in Rounds 7 and 8). At least our Carlton game will be on FTA, which is better than Foxtel. We're also at least on the Saturday in Round 10 which makes it easier for the AFL to give us potentially the Friday night game in Round 11 vs the Dogs (albeit that's an away game unfortunately). The Adelaide game won't be: Saturday twilight, not night, so that will be Foxtel.

Who are you and what have you done with the old @praha? Absolutely no way Tomlinson gets dropped on his current form. He's in great form and playing his role really well. We've worked hard on the Lever-May-Tomlinson combo and it's working. I like Petty but right now he's cover for those three. Fritsch's forward half game this year means he has to play forward, not wing.

100% we lose on Saturday now. (I do love the stat though. When was the last time Melbourne had the longest gap to its most recent loss?)

The best bit about the Richmond board is their comments that we haven't beaten anyone good. Richmond's beaten Carlton, Hawthorn and St Kilda. We've also beaten Hawthorn and St Kilda, but instead of Carlton (11th) we've beaten Geelong (8th), Fremantle (9th) and GWS (12th). So yeah. So are you saying if we win this weekend you'll think this is different to 2018?

Just looking over our fixture again helps to reaffirm how important these early season wins are. Our final seven weeks is brutal: Port away, Hawthorn, Gold Coast away, the Dogs, West Coast away, Adelaide, Geelong in Geelong. Every second week is interstate/in Geelong, and one of the home games is against the Dogs. It's going to be a tough run into the finals. We won't want to be relying on late-season wins for a finals berth.

I'd like to think we're beyond the point of picking super athletes who make skill errors.

It's a special moment. Thoroughly deserved by one of our club's genuine legends.

It's far too many inside 50 at the same time. I could see Brown, Weideman and Fritsch, with Jackson/Gawn resting down there after rucking, leaving the other spots for Spargo, Pickett and ANB. Requires TMac to play higher up the ground though.

There is 100% no way we are moving Tomlinson back up to the wing after the way our back half has started this year. Reliability and predictability are critical to why we've conceded the fewest scoring shots of any side so far this year. Tomlinson's playing good football as a defender and he stays there now. Brayshaw's doing well on the wing. He's not at Langdon's level but he's not being asked to be, either. He's defending well and pushing back into defence to help out. He's playing a role, and playing it well.

Gawn didn't poll a vote in Round 1 either, which means he's polled 32 out of a possible 40 since then.

Yep as many have said, his midfield/ruck work is improving by the week, but his forward work isn't all that great. Really needs to hold his marks inside 50. But the talent is otherwise clear to see and it's becoming increasingly obvious by the week that the amount of time he can spend in the ruck is benefiting Gawn. Does anyone else feel like Jackson's running gait looks identical to Naitanui's? They both seem to glide as they run.

There's very little chance we go in unchanged in the forward line. If any of Weideman, B Brown or Fritsch are ready for AFL football, they all replace M Brown. Mitch wasn't terrible yesterday but he wasn't that good. Agree, this is a fair issue to raise. When we're in form and winning, is the right play to bring players back after one good game in the VFL? I know 7 goals is a super performance, and I'm not suggesting Weid isn't necessarily ready, but I think we need to be careful about picking players off one good VFL game. Same goes for Bedford, who I've seen popping up in some posters' ins for this week. There's no way he gets a game over Spargo or ANB until he strings consistent performances together at Casey whilst Spargo/ANB put repeated sub-standard games together. Whilst I'm 100% in favour of Jones playing and accept he's likely contributing in ways we as spectators can't know, the bolded bit is an argument I can't accept. It is not a fait accompli that because we're winning, all 22 each week are ticking the boxes being set for them by the FD. After a win, it is possible to make our 22 better, and right now with the depth not in the side (B Brown, Weid, May, Fritsch), pressure is on the 22 who played yesterday.

We have conceded 47.31, so that's 78 scoring shots against. For comparison with the rest of the top 10: Bulldogs - 42.43 (85) Brisbane - 58.48 (106) Richmond - 53.55 (108) Geelong - 54.55 (109) West Coast - 59.53 (112) Fremantle - 57.56 (113) Port Adelaide - 54.59 (113) Adelaide - 65.59 (124) Sydney - 56.69 (125)

Agree with the sentiment. I don't know who thinks it's a good idea because I don't know any fans who like it. If you need constant music and noise to entertain you at the football, you're doing it wrong.

Petty injured?

He's in amazing form. How much of it is because of Jackson? Today Gawn attended 44 ruck contests to Jackson's 27 and TMac's 3. That's 59% Gawn, 36% Jackson. Surely that's a serious change in the figures on 2020 and previously?

TMac doesn't get dropped on current form. Instead, IMO he goes up the ground into Jones and/or Jordon's role. Melksham and/or Jackson could do the same. Frees up room for Weideman, B Brown and Fritsch.

He plays this week. It's the right thing to do on a number of levels. However, I think he eventually has to make way as we bring Weideman, B Brown and Fritsch back into the side. Spots are limited and he's playing a forward/mid role that we could use Melksham or TMac in, freeing up room forward of centre. So let's celebrate his 300th and hopefully we can win a memorable game to honour him. But from there, IMO he's not best 22 and he should head back to Casey unless/until that changes.

If May is fit he replaces Petty. If he's not fit, Petty stays. We can't mess with structure by forcing Lever to guard Lynch/Riewoldt. Richmond could well just decoy whoever he sits on and it will throw us out. Lever needs to have freedom to peel off which means he needs Tomlinson and Petty/May covering him. M Brown makes way for Weid or B Brown. To get both Weid and B Brown into the side, IMO Jones is the other one to make way. That won't happen this week so for now only one of the two big guys comes in. Will probably be Weid after the 7, with B Brown to get one more full run at Casey. Then we need to get Fritsch back in. I think one way we do that is he replaces Jordon, with Melksham pushing up into Jordon's midfield minutes. Another option will be if ANB plays more like he did in the first quarter today and less like he did in the second half. ANB absolutely does not deserve to be dropped yet, but as the players start to press for selection, he has to ensure he doesn't play like he did in the first.