titan_uranus

Chapman and Cox are defenders, Cox was in the AA squad in 2022. They are both better than Pearce, as is Luke Ryan. At full strength they are a strong defence and one which I think most people don’t appreciate.

Not sure about Fremantle's depth. Yesterday was only North but they were missing Chapman, Cox, Darcy, O'Driscoll and O'Meara, plus OMac and Worner who played last week, plus a few others (e.g. Corey Wagner and Ethan Stanley). Perhaps against a better side they wouldn't have won but they're 2-0 with quite a lot of talent to come back. And I wholly disagree that they "need" key defenders. Their best 22 defence is top 4 quality.

A consequence of the injuries being to talls and the lack of a rotation was that TMac played 100% TOG and Brown 96%. I'm fairly confident that wouldn't have been our plan going into the game and so it may result in either/both of them pulling up sorer than we'd have wanted. They may get up for the Port game but may not be able to do that and then do a 5-day break into the Adelaide game.

There have been a few posters on here who have felt we're showing some signs of the selflessness that many saw in 2021 and felt they didn't see enough of in 2022-23. One effort doesn't define culture or attitude but the Trac defensive goal-line effort yesterday IMO shows more than just Trac's own mindset. They showed the behind the goals footage of it on the afl.com.au The Round So Far last night. Petty, Rivers, Windsor and TMac can all be seen instantly and instinctively raising their hands in celebration of Trac's effort, and we know Gawn gets straight to him as well. That acknowledgement from his team-mates is equally as important as Trac's effort in the first place. It certainly supports the proposition that there's something a bit different about us this year, in a good way.

Some MFC supporters started getting frustrated at our kick-mark play in the fourth. I thought it was smart - we were down one on the bench and hadn't been able to give Brown or TMac any rest. Keeping the play a bit slower for a period made sense to me.

Looks like we will need two of Hore, Petty and Tomlinson in the starting 22 to cover for May and Lever. The Petty decision presumably comes down to how badly the FD want him in the forward line. Personally I think we will be OK with Brown and JVR forward as we were in the second half today, and therefore I'd go with Petty back. That also perhaps avoids the need to bring Tomlinson back if we think Hore can do the job.

6 - Petracca 5 - Fritsch 4 - Gawn 3 - ANB 2 - Langdon 1 - Howes

Yes, Hawthorn were bad. Really, really bad. But we just adapted so brilliantly to losing two of our most structurally critical players. It wasn't just Petty moving back. TMac was good too (and played 100% TOG!), Hore played his role and I cannot get enough of Howes and McVee. And it goes beyond that. To compensate for the lack of rotations and to ensure we still had the ability to get Petty onto the bench in the fourth, Brown played 96% TOG. 96%! He wasn't amazing today but his leading and presenting at the ball carrier sparked us in the third and remains vitally important. Trac's game was incredible, but the sign that this was a good day for us was that after him, it isn't all that clear who our next best handful were. He was so far in front of everyone else (give him all 6 Brownlow votes) but we had so many players play well. Bear in mind Oliver was down on the previous two weeks too (side bar - Finn Maginness can GAGF). Langdon and Chandler hit some form, Windsor's running is a beautiful thing to see live, Pickett is a weapon, and JVR improved as the game went on (I like him rucking, I think it helps him get into the game when he's otherwise quiet). The second quarter could have been better but the way we professional dismantled them in the second half despite May and Lever being injured was precisely what a good side should have done.

Collingwood are so far off it that I’m not sure beating them right now is necessarily a sign that St Kilda are any good.

I wouldn’t have picked him. What we saw with Spargo in OR is what I’m concerned we’ll see this week, and that’s before you consider tall/run balance (we either drop a runner for a tall or we play a tall as sub which IMO isn’t a good idea).

Meh, the Dogs choose to play games in Ballarat, who cares if it’s their first home game of the year.

We're now undefeated against Hawthorn over the last 6 years (7 wins and 1 draw in that period). If you could go back in time to 2016 and tell a Melbourne fan that we were going to be unbeaten against Hawthorn for 6 years you would have been ridiculed. We lost 13 straight games across 10 years at one point there, and ended up losing 15 out of 16 games across 12 years.

It's a good thing that a genuinely quiet game from Fritsch still resulted in him having three shots on goal (all of which were kickable). I think he was only goalless in a game (not including when he got injured in Alice Springs) once last year so it's a very rare occurrence.

Way too much Schadenfreude going on here. They've lost to arguably the two best sides in the competition, playing games in March.

If Sam McClure did even a cursory bit of research he'd find that in 2023 we had the 2nd highest rate of converting members into home attendances (Fremantle was 1st). Our home crowds are excellent given our lower supporter/membership base overall. However... Whilst the vast majority of us cannot go to every single game even when we want to, I have always felt that there are too many Melbourne supporters/members who use their attendance as a form of protest too much; in other words, people who could go, don't go, because they're unhappy with something (on field or off) and want to send some sort of message. That sort of attitude is evident in the thread about Kate Roffey's "be like Collingwood" comments. How many people said "I'll go when we play exciting football" or similar?

The other promising thing was kicking 100+ with Fritsch being blanketed most of the day (he should have kicked at least two goals from the shots he did get though, but he was otherwise well beaten by Jones).

6 - Oliver 5 - Petracca 4 - May 3 - Gawn 2 - Billings 1 - Chandler

I've now been able to watch the entire replay. I felt our defensive structure was just so good and was the catalyst for the win. They had plenty of reasonably good looks only to find May, Lever, Howes, TMac and Hore impassable. Their forward line is talented and is going to rip other sides apart at various points this year so holding them as well as we did, particularly in the middle two quarters, was excellent. We clearly moved the ball differently to 2022-23, too. The marks figure shows that, but there were a number of times players took marks, looked to reset, but then changed tack and played on instead. Most of the time it worked. And it felt like we kept out forwards deeper and didn't have them all pressing too high up the ground. I loved Billings' game. Yes, it wasn't full of contested ball. I don't think it needs to be. His gut running to create options and his (generally) good kicking is a missing part of our transition play. Brown did everything he would have been asked and on a better day would have kicked all 4 of his shots. We kicked goals at least twice due to him making up ground on his opponent to bring the ball to ground in a marking contest and his mobility was as good as it's ever been. As I've said a number of times though, the test with him is whether he can do it for multiple weeks/months in a row but we clearly have an option that many thought we didn't have with him.

Wasn't this because Harmes headbutted May (for which many on social media have said he is a chance of being suspended)? I haven't seen any clip but it's been Tweeted heaps.

Please no. Less is more.

I’m only a quarter into my replay but McVee has started this year so well. It’s hard to remember he’s still only a second year player. We are onto a massive winner with Judd. I like what I’ve seen from Howes so far too.

Thanks @Demonstone, I mucked this up. I missed a whole year! I think it’s 72 - 23 in each of 2021 and 2022, and 24 in 2023, then 2 so far this year.

Haven’t seen the full game so I’m surprised to see he had no CBAs. Is that just us making room for Pickett and Salem?

I forgot to mention the "best" bit. The late surge to the 45-point margin meant our percentage increased over Geelong's, and means we are in the 8. It keeps our streak alive (we've been in the top 8 every week since Round 1, 2021). No idea what the record is, but we're now at 49 (I think) H&A rounds in a row.

I wasn't able to get to the game today and have only had the chance to watch the first quarter replay. A few have said "it's only the Dogs". I'd be keen to see how they go next week vs Gold Coast before saying they're no good. However, there's a fair chance our Opening Round game got some cobwebs out and miles into the legs which benefited us. From what I've seen so far and interpreted off the stats sheet, the defensive transition was so much better - both as to intent to get the ball moving and in the personnel involved in these chains. More Windsor, Pickett, Billings, Salem, Rivers and McVee. Great to see Brown hit the scoreboard but more importantly look lively. Remember though that in 2022 and 2023 he started the season well, but his form dropped off as the season went on. We're a much better side with a fit and able Brown in it, so I love seeing him perform, but the test is whether he can do it for weeks on end.